Christmas wreath

This is another project that I *think* may have looked better in my head. I haven't quite decided yet.

I'm perplexed. I'm not really sure if this looks good enough to hang on my door. I don't know if it looks 'professional' enough. I don't want people to look at it and think: wow, she must have thrown this together fast. I have self-esteem issues when it comes to my crafts :/

Anyways, I knew I wanted to try a square wreath. I don't know what it is about them but I just like the look of them. I found lots of them on Pinterest and I loved the idea of a different shape for a wreath

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I already had an old frame so I was all set. I just had to let the rest come together in my head for awhile. When it finally did I was so excited to start. I actually got some of the ideas for it after I made my I spy ornaments . The only thing I had to go out and buy was the ornaments. Everything else was already in my possesion. Score at least one for me on this project!

 

 

I took an old frame that was already silver and wrapped it in some pine garland and then wrapped some Christmas ribbon around that. I googled the types of pictures I wanted for my center, punched them out using my 2" circle punch, carefully rolled them (very loose) then placed them in the ornament. I used 2 larger ornaments and one small one. Then I used a crochet hook to unfold them and get them where I wanted. If you want the picture to stay (mostly) in place, put some epsom salts in there. Stopped them from moving around a little bit! I tied my ornaments in the middle and added a wire hanger on the back and its on my door. I really do like it and am glad I was able to pull it off.

 I went through my stash of ornaments and found the gold stars I knew I had. They were part of my 'college student on a budget' Christmas decor that I had saved :)

My favorite part is that it showcases the real meaning and origin of Christmas, which I am trying so had to instill in my almost 3 year old as she loves all over Rudolph and Frosty and Santa. No fault in balancing things out a bit!

 

 

Candy Arrangement

I made this for Father's Day but in reality it could be given for any type of occasion.

I wanted to give my husband something on the actual day of Father's day. I told him about his big gift a week prior since he began talking about it. I only had one idea for a gift and I didn't want to disappoint him if he wanted to pick something out for himself. So, I told him we would go to the store together and he could choose a new radio for our boat. He was pretty excited.

Still I wanted something for our daughter to give him on the morning of his day. I went to the Dollar Store and came home with the makings of an inexpensive gift.

My husband doesn't like many sweets but I got him some stuff that I've seen him munch on before. I also bought a bag of shredded paper filler. Yes, you could make this part yourself but I didn't want to! I already had the flower pot, styrofoam and those are wooden skewers I use for shish kebabs down at the bottom of the picture.

With a little bit of hot glue I attached the skewers to the candy (after measuring and cutting the skewers); the jolly ranchers and lemonheads got two skewers each. Stick them into the styrofoam, fill in with the shredded paper, add a sentiment or message and there you have it. Very inexpensive and incredibly fun!

Valentine Hair Bows

I decided to blog about this one while watching my nieces and my daughter all lay together and watch TV today. They are all sporting hair accessories made by moi.

I love making hair bows. I wish I could figure out how to sell them...in the meantime though my daughter and every other little girl I know has a HUGE stash of hair apparel to choose from for any occasion.

They all looked so cute this morning and it made me smile knowing they looked so cute because of something I made :) (please excuse the fact that two of the bows are in uside down-evidently my sister doesn't care about things like that!)

Valentine Door Decor

Ok, so I am cutting this really close. I was going to blog about this weeks ago but this mom of two thing still gets the best of me sometimes :)

Anyhow, just stash this away for next year. It would be fitting since I made this last year and it took me a year to post about it.

I found this online somewhere and I swear saved the link to it but can't find it anywhere. So, I do not take credit for this one. Someone else thought it up and I followed their instructions. I just can't give them the proper credit. Sorry, I'll keep looking for the blog....

In the meantime here is my door 'wreath' for the month of February.

I cut the letters out of an old diaper box first. You just need any thick cardboard but I have an overabundance of diaper boxes usually. I cut strips of red felt and ruffled them with my sewing machine and then hot glued them onto the cardboard. The heart I painted red first since you would be able to see it through the moss-which I bought at Dollar Tree. I glued all the pieces to a long piece of ribbon that I also got at Dollar Tree. The hanger is made from a piece of ribbon that I had laying around. All in all this was a very inexpensive project.

Plus it looks great :)

Our Christmas Card

I love to get Christmas cards in the mail.

But, I love, love love it when they are photo cards! Which mean I in turn always try to send a photo card.

Last year since it was the first year we had our daughter we did family portraits and used that for our card. It was a hit.

This year since I would be nine months pregnant come Christmastime I was not about to put my picture on a card and send it to everyone we know. Call me crazy.

I like to use the paper cards that have the frame slot on the front that you slide an actual photograph into. That way the grandma's and anyone else can just remove the picture after the holidays and still display it without having to display our whole Christmas card. In fact I am pretty sure that last year's picture ended up being framed by most of our family after the holdiay's had passed.

I try and buy my cards the year before at the after Christmas sales and I scored big at Target last year. I bought several boxes of really nice, shabby chic-like Christmas cards for less than $3 a box.  And, because I already had then I was able to work on them well before Thanksgiving so they were ready to mail right after Turkey day and before I got too worn out and caught up from the end of my pregnancy.

Our picture this year...well let's just say I am obsessed with how great it turned out. Right after our tree was decorated and lit we dressed our little girl in a velvet dress with Christmas adornments and sat her down. We just sat her on the floor, handed her each letter and she did whatever she wanted. It was fun! I bought the letters at Jo-Ann's with one of my % off your total purchase coupons so they were relatively cheap. Plus, I am now planning on turning them into a decoration for next year now.

So far our pictures have received rave  reviews and so many people have told me how cute and creative they thought they were.

Just in case I am not on anymore before the 25th (my last doctor's appointment is tomorrow and we start discussing eviction of the little one!)from my family to yours I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Topiary

It seems all fall long I couldn't wait to show off my Christmas projectsI made last year. I go ALL OUT to decorate my house and last year I took pictures of what I did in every room. Yes, that's right...I decorate every room. Even my bathroom :)

Sadly this year I haven't put out nearly half of my things! The basment has NOTHING in it this year.

But, with our biggest project in the making planning on arriving very soon I made the decision to cut back this year. I figure everything I take out I will have to put away too. And, I don't want that big of a job with a newborn and 2 year old to handle too!

This project is one of my biggest ones and I am so proud of it. I saw a picture online somewhere last year and couldn't wait to try it myself.

If you buy your ornaments out of the dollar bins at Target like I did you shouldn't have to spend much either. I think I ended up using altogether 6 tubes of ornaments in a mix of large and teeny tiny sizes. And, I have a few little ones left over.

I spray painted the styrofoam ball red before I started sticking the ornaments in since I knew I would have the smallest little spots left uncovered. I did and you can see some of them in the picture. I also covered the top of the ornament with hot glue before smashing it into the ball. I also painted and glued the dowel too. I didn't want it shifting too much or too far into the foam on either end so I put hot glue on each end before inserting it into both the ball and the foam in the flower pot.

I painted the flower pot (one I had on hand) myself and didn't even try to make it straight or even...which you can also tell! I like the way it looks that way much better :) I filled the bottome with some stones before stuffing floral foam in it. This is SO top heavy so I needed to balance it out.

I put a few dollar store gift packages underneath it and it makes a cute little picture!

First Easter Decorations

My brother and his wife are having a baby; the shower is this weekend and I am helping host it. I decided to make most of the things I am giving them so that has occupied most of my time lately. As soon as the shower is over I can post pictures of what I made them and move on to more fun crafts :)

I can't wait to decorate for Easter. Even if it isn't Spring outside, decorating for Easter at least allows spring to be inside. Again, once I have more time on my hands my Easter decor will begin to come together.

I hosted a Craft-In night with my sister and two girlfriends this weekend so I did get to work on some fun things for Easter then. I have so many things bookmarked to make it isn't even funny!

First, I found this guy for $1 at Salvation Army

I knew just what to do to make him ready for Easter. A whole bunch of primer, yellow spray paint and a few coats of Pearl Enamel and he is ready! As soon as I pull all of my other decorations out he will have some buddies. Until then, this is all I have to show for him:

Much better in my opinion!

I also threw this together after perusing Dollar Tree and coming up with an idea. I LOVE topiary's and saw these little picks and really liked them. I knew I could use them somehow! The pots came three to a pack so I was all set. I painted them white, added the ribbon (had on hand) around the top, put some styrofoam (had on hand) in each one, topped with Easter grass and I have a cute decoration for about $2!

They were supposed to be taller :( I liked them much better with the longer sticks but alas, I was a klutz. I do my crafts in an area of our basement and when I brought them upstairs I had too many things balanced between my two hands and one of the pots fell! It landed on the egg end and the stick cracked <tear>. The picks come 5 in a pack but the blue and purple ones (while my favorite colors) just weren't soft and spring-y looking enough for me. So I just cut down the other two picks and they are all short now. Still cute but I am considering going to find another pack and maybe redoing it but then I couldn't say it only cost me $2 to make :)

Can't wait to put all the Easter stuff around the house!



Holiday Candy Jar

I love my local thrift store. I try to go about once a week. I have bought so much for Miss C and the house from there. My favorite thing to do though is to wander the aisles and find things I can turn into something else. I am semi-good at this. It also helps alot that my favorite thrift store is right next door to the Dollar Tree. I find my hidden treasure then head to the DT next door to get my supplies on the cheap! This is something that I made right before Christmas. I only took the one picture after making it which is why it is decorated as such.

I simply found all of these things at Salvation Army:

A $3 candle stick and a $2 glass jar with lid. The small wooden knob I got at michaels for $1. Altogether it cost me $6 to make.

I simply took my go to black spray paint that I keep on hand and painted the candlestick, lid and wooden knob. I did rough up the candlestick with sandpaper before spraying; so far nothing has chipped or come off!

I used my gorilla glue (LOVE that stuff!) to glue the knob to the lid to make a handle. I originally thought about gluing the jar to the candlestick but since it already has that little indentation where the candle would go I figured I would just sit the jar in there and make it removable for easy cleaning.

I change out the ribbon, decorations and candy for the current holiday/season and I have a year round use for it! The final look: