photo post

I got sick right before Christmas too ~ wouldn't you know it! While I sit here on the couch I thought I might as well try to get caught up on photos. Time is quickly running out!

Last week or maybe 2 weeks now, I created a series of Holiday Frames for a Crate Paper blog post. I found a group of frames at thrift stores and used Crates Peppermint to make these.

I took these photos at the beginning of the month. I keep meaning to go back and take better ones ~ I'll have to put it on the to-do list. I decorated our living room with Silver and Gold, white poinsettias and glittery reindeer.

I put this tree into my craft room. I wanted one old-world tree so I could use all those vintage bulbs I had collected. It's especially pretty at night! I've stashed all of the presents under this tree so it doesn't look quite as bare underneath.

We added a little tree to one of Chase's cars and placed it in between collections of pink and red glass bulbs and vintage candle sticks on the kitchen table.

I think it's time for some more tea and maybe another nap tonight. I need to get better in a hurry!

Homemade Ornament Party

Last weekend Alaina and I held a little ornament making party. A few of her friends were invited, one of my good friends came to help so it was like a girls craft day with the addition of one little boy. Chase loves to paint - so painting ornaments with a group of girls didn't phase him one bit.

I set out silver trays filled with craft supplies for each ornament, jars of paint brushes, a muffin tin filled with small tubs of paint and buckets of glitter and glue. I put down lots of newspaper to cover the table incase of spilled paint (which happened more than once) oh but what fun we had and what an incredible mess we created!

{Alaina's ornaments - the kids got a tiny bit carried away with the puff paint and glitter!}

We made my cinnamon cutout ornaments decorated with white puff paint and glitter, mini frosted cupcakes and large frosted/glittered cupcakes, Clay lollipop ornaments (the idea came from Creature Comforts blog - I altered the ornaments a little by using a glue gun and thinner clay) and beaded candy canes.

I could really see this becoming a yearly tradition for us. What's amazing is that the kids stay entertained for over 6 hours creating their own ornaments. Needless to say, I was wiped out but the homemade ornament party was a huge hit!

be-gifted

The little elves around here have been busy wrapping up gifts this week! I always choose a color combination to wrap my gifts and for this grouping it was red-pink-yellow-silver and kraft. It's an interesting combination but I kind of like it!

I still need to wrap the kids' gifts, it's going to be a very gift-wrapping week!

twinkly lights

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." ~Norman Vincent Peale

I found this quote last night and thought it matched the photo pretty well. I was taking some photos the other day when, without warning, my camera started getting fussy with me. It didn't want to focus on anything in particular and instead blurred some of my photos. Somehow, I think it's even lovelier this way!

Candy Holiday Shadow Box ~ Crate Paper

So last week sometime, Christine and I were on the phone discussing projects that we could do together for the Crate Paper blog. We thought about making ornaments and then the idea of a Christmas shadow box was brought up and we just had to decide on how large to make the boxes. Because I think good things come in small packages, the smaller the box - the better. Christine mentioned using Jello Boxes for our project which meant a shallower box.... but I'm always up for a challenge!

After a couple of "rass-a-frassa's & who's idea was this again?" My shadow box came together really quickly. I completed it - from start to finish- in one evening even while being distracted by the Home Alone 2 movie that the littles were watching for the 879th time this month. ;)

The outside of my box is covered with Crate's Peppermint Collection Papers. I painted the inside of the box a warm shimmering gold color.

I used a crop-a-dile to punch a hole through the back of the box, just big enough to fit a light through. The gold paint on the inside gives my little box scene a warm glow.

I'm not sure how I did it but I managed to fit 8 pieces of Peppermint chipboard into this little box. To make them secure, I covered the bottom of the box with white modeling clay. This way, I just pushed in each of the chipboard pieces into the clay and they stayed put! To cover the clay, I used a hot glue gun, some sparkly "snow" and a few pearls for added texture.

If you visit the Crate Paper blog you'll get to see Christine's box too and she even created a tutorial to help you in creating your own mini box! I think this project would also be alot of fun to create with kids.... especially over that long Winter break that's fast approaching! I have all sorts of projects to post this week. Christmas is just around the corner!

Holiday Snowflakes- photo tutorial

In my house everything has the possibility to be transformed into something else! I'm pretty confident that given enough time, I can find a second use for just about anything. Neck ties are sewn into necklaces, t-shirts make really cute scrapbook flowers and coffee filters are perfect for holiday snowflakes!

Alaina and I love to use coffee filters, they're already round and super light weight so when we created a garland with them, they almost appeared to floating in the window-sill!

I photographed the steps for making one last week!

Hope you are doing something fun this weekend! I have a little crafty get-together with friends planned for tomorrow but first I think a wee bit of scrapbooking may be in order for today! happy Saturday!

8 things I love: Saturday

Neutral by taraanderson featuring gold tone jewelry

1. ruffly neutral top
2. Black Velvet Jacket
3. Dark boot cut jeans
4. Black boots
5. Betsey Johnson bag (I have this one!! It's one of my favs ever!)
6. thin long necklace
7. sparkly rhinestone ring
8. cute polka dot scarf

Doily Envelope- Tutorial

Here's the tutorial! I made a much smaller envelope this time and it's the perfect size to tuck a gift card into. Pretty appropriate for this time of year! With just a couple of supplies and a few steps - you can whip one up in no time - let's get started!

the supply list:


1 round doily
thread and needle
giftcard
button

Step 1. Place the gift card in the middle of the doily as a measuring guide. (You'll want the doily, when folded up at the bottom, to cover about 3/4 of the giftcard.) Cut the bottom of the doily off.

Step 2. Fold the bottom of the doily up covering most of the giftcard and cut the edge of the doily, leaving about a 1/4 inch of doily on either edge.

Step 3. The edges of the doily are going to be sewn, because the doily that I'm using is a loosely crocheted pattern, I used a pin to hold the edge together. The pin will help stop the doily from shifting too much during the sewing process!

Step 4. Sew the edge of the doily. I went back and forth, about 3 times, sewing down the edge of the doily and then back up again to make sure I had sewn the edge completely closed.

Step 5. Repeat steps 2-4 with the opposite side of the doily.

Step 6. Using a needle and thread, sew a button onto the top front of the doily.

* To crease the edges of the doily use a hot iron and press along the edges. Just be careful to not touch the iron to the button!

The size of your envelope will depend on the doily size but I have to admit that the smaller envelope was my fav. It makes giving a gift card this holiday season a little more exciting!