Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

Wow!  3 posts this month.  We are on a roll.  I made this cute sign based off of something I found on Pinterest.  It was pretty easy and now it is on the back of my Halloween sign.   I am loving my silhouette.  It is fun to play with and so easy to change things around.  This is actually wider then the 12 inches and so I had to cut each line separate and then paste them together.  I did a reverse painting technique, where you paint first white.  Then put the vinyl on, then paint again over the top with the red color.  Then take the vinyl off.  I only had a little trouble with the top part bleeding through.  So I just sanded it and now my white looks a little pink.  Although you can't tell and it looks like it was supposed to be that way.  Right?  Maybe with a little weather and sun it will look like it has been around for awhile.
Oh, and the green.  Before I added the vinyl I painted a section green.  It was fun to play with.

Here is the back.  I guess I have been to crazy busy with life to post it.

Sorry you can't see everything.  It says "Home of the Wicked Witch and all her Little Monsters."

Another EASY Neighbor Gift!

I found another great idea this year for a friend/neighbor/teacher gift. I always try to give something that is not just food {even though I do give some food} and not something that you have to store or keep. I like gifts that are consumable and you don't have to hang onto them forever {or feel guilty for giving them to someone else}.

This year I made this amazing Holiday Spice Simmering Potpourri. I found several ideas on Pinterest and combined what I liked best. I added all the ingredients to a cellophane bag and tied it with a ribbon. I attached the tag and delivered them to my friends. It was super easy and it smells AMAZING!!

I added:

1 orange
1/2 C cranberries
3-4 cinnamon sticks
1 nutmeg {for them to grate into the pot}
5-6 cloves

You could also add:

vanilla bean or lemon

The top of the tag says Merry Christmas and the bottom has the instructions. Don't worry, the download doesn't have my name on it, but you can add yours easily with Photoshop or Picasa {or any photo editing software}.

Basically, put everything in a pot and add water. Bring to a boil and simmer to make your house smell amazing. Be sure to watch the water and don't let it boil dry.

HERE is the Printable so you can print the tags. Merry Christmas!!

If that Link does not work, try this one HERE.

Burlap {or mesh} Wreaths

Our friend Meagan took over one of our craft classes and taught us how to make these AWESOME burlap wreaths....we made all sizes, shapes and colors...we might have gone a LITTLE crazy, but they all turned out SO cute! Because Meagan already wrote up all the instructions, I'm just going to refer you to her post. Find instructions HERE. {NOTE: we did NOT end up using the safety pins to pin the ribbon together, just hold it together, it works fine...also, we found that the wreath looks more consistent if you use a zig-zag pattern on the wreath form, going from the inside to the outside and back again...so put one inside, one in the middle, one on the outside, back to the middle, then the inside, repeat....you get the idea.}. If you want some pictures, HERE is another tutorial with the same idea she just didn't make hers as full as we did. {Let me know if you have any questions}

My only addition is to make sure you count your loops {6-8 works best} and make them approx the same size so your wreath looks uniform. Here is a close up of the zip ties. As you can see, if you leave them a little "loose" you are able to adjust the loops before you tighten them up and make it "final". 

Because it turned out SO cute in the burlap, I decided to try it in this awesome mesh. {purchased at Hobby Lobby}. You will need 2 of these {60 feet} total to make it full like mine.

You use the same idea to make this one, EXCEPT you need about 12 loops in each section of the wreath form. It will seem like it's not full enough, but when you are finished it will be. I added a big piece of candy, a big green bow and a bunch of Christmas picks. {just secure everything with zip ties too}. I LOVE how it turned out!

Thanks Meagan for all the fun wreaths! Now go make you one....or ten! ;)

Pinterest Projects

I LOVE Pinterest. Recipes, project ideas, tutorial, ALL with PICTURES! Best idea ever!!!!

I have found so many cute things to make on Pinterest. {probably too many}. Today I just wanted to share a few.

Last year I saw this ruffle Christmas tree skirt and I KNEW that it was what I wanted for my Christmas tree. Over the years, my Christmas decorations have evolved into a LOT of white/red, candy canes, and peppermint candies. I wanted my tree skirt to look like a big peppermint, with white and red fabric.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how it turned out.....exactly what I wanted! I can't wait to put it under my tree.....

I followed the directions on pinterest, except I sewed each row, instead of hot gluing. I think it will hold up better and will last longer.

I also made a cute little elf hat {in the same colors}....for a special someone on my gift list. {a baby doll for my niece!}

I used THIS PATTERN from Oodles4Noodles and adjusted the size smaller to fit a baby doll.  {mine is only 34 rows instead of 43. She includes instructions to make them bigger at the end of the pattern. I hope her baby doll likes it} :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

I've been trying really hard this year to get in control of my never-ending list so that I can enjoy the holidays. I started early working on a few projects {and I lowered my expectations and didn't add so many new things to my list this year}. It might be because I work full time this year and I KNOW that I don't have time to add new things to my list.

I redesigned one of my designs and added a little more to one of my aprons.....I added an extra strip of the green striped fabric to the top and the pocket. I added three smaller ruffles to the bottom and then covered it up with a strip of the green. It turned out super cute. {too bad I made it for someone else to give as a gift...oh, and I can't find the Christmas fabric this year}

Just in case you are wondering: The original tutorial is HERE, I added a 2" strip to the top and pocket. The strip across the ruffles is 1" and the ruffles are 4" each.

Christmas in July Craft Group

We are pretty excited that Meagan Johnson has decide to do Christmas in July for our next Craft Group activity.  She has some ideas that she is putting together.  Here is the link to her pinterest ideas.
http://pinterest.com/meaganjohnson/christmas-in-july-ideas/ (see pictures below also)

Date:Friday July 20th from 6 pm until we are done.

She is looking at doing one craft in each of these areas:

• Home Decor (paper star wreath or stocking advent)
• For Kids (laminated nativity puzzle or file folder game)
• Christmas Cards (the reindeer one will be really easy...I also have an ornament punch and stamp set that would be really easy)
• Gifts (the glass ornaments and tags for brownies in a jar)

She is trying to keep each craft super simple! 

More details are coming as we figure what exactly we want to do.

http://pinterest.com/meaganjohnson/christmas-in-july-ideas/

A closer look at the ideas.

The Christmas Dresses

YES, I AM CRAZY.  If you haven't figured that out yet, then you will when you see these two photos.  This year I decided to make Christmas dresses for the girls and then it snowballed into something for everyone except Dave.  But he really started the whole thing by buying that Burgundy colored shirt.  I was in love (with the shirt) it was beautiful.  {Funny side note: you can barely see it in the pictures.  Trust me it is the most beautiful color.}
So the quest began to make dresses to match the shirt.  Then the snowball began moving and TA-DA - The DRESSES.

Oh, yeah, two matching ones for the girls, one for me, and to make it fun - a vest for Peter.

I saw the idea for the girls dresses on one of my favorite blogs - Make It and Love It.  She is amazing and she made a ruffle dress for her daughter with a t-shirt and ruffle material.  I wanted to step it up a notch and so I made the shirts out of stretch velvet.  I actually found my ruffle material at Hobby Lobby, where I was able to use my 40% of coupon to bring the cost down a little.  You can buy the material at the Ruffle fabric shop but I wasn't sure how much I needed and didn't want to pay the price for it.  I can't say anything about the quality of either compared to each other.  But I liked the ruffle material, but with any of them you are going to have to match ruffles on the sides and that was a pain and I did clip some of the ruffles unintentionally when I was cutting my top out.  It worked out okay.  Anyway, when I bought the material I was a bit generous in my purchase because I had come up with an idea for me.  NO, I was not going to wear ruffles on my butt (it is NOT little and I don't need to accentuate that point.)  I think I bought 2 yards. 

For the girls I used various patterns I have at home and patterned the tops after dresses they already had.  The skirts are just pieces of the material gathered on just like Ashley did in her tutorial.  I also followed her instructions for the sash.

I had found a dress at a swap our church has yearly for clothing.  It was too large for me but I had hopes that I would be able to take it apart and adapt it for me.  When I started thinking about this project, that dress came to my mind.  It was perfect.  I cut off the top and "designed" myself a top.  To be honest, I had some knit fabric that I made a muslin out of to test the sleeves and the neckline.  It turned out okay and so I proceeded.  It took me a couple of days to get the sleeves right.  First try I looked like I was going to be playing in a Mariachi band.  I have to admit I was a bit down and didn't want to try any more.  I thought to myself.  This "designing" thing is for the birds.  But as you can see, it turned out beautiful and I was excited to walk into church as that "MATCHY MATCHY" family for Christmas.

You would not believe how close of a match the material for our sashes and Peter's vest were to Dave's shirt.  Dave even said it looked like they were cut out of the same material.  Peter's vest came together in a little more then and hour.  He was pretty grumpy this morning when we pulled him away from his toys and MADE him where THAT vest.  I promised him chocolate kisses (and mommy kisses) if he wore it and the tie.  I used a pattern I bought a year or so ago.  But you could really use an old vest and make a pattern off it.

Lastly, I am quite proud to say that I had them finished the day before Christmas Eve.  I finished up the final touches around 1 pm and was able to spend the rest of the day playing with my family.  So I made the flowers from instructions form Vanilla Joy for Satin Peony Flowers.  I made two for the girls hair and 3 for our dresses.  For the girls I used a tutorial from Make it or Love it for non-slip hairbows - and Esther's stayed in the whole time at church.

Okay so here is a better picture of the dresses.  I like all our faces (except Peter) in the one above, but this one is actually a better picture (and took less time to photoshop out the table in the background.

This is one of those times I am proud of my sewing skills.  It was crazy for me to make these but it worked.  {Of course the kids didn't get new sewn PJ's for Christmas because it took me longer to make my dress then expected - but they got a TON of things for Christmas anyway and didn't notice.  I guess I'll try and get them done for New Year's instead.:) }

**My jewelry was made by Liberty.  She is so awesome.  Now I have a really beautiful set of jewelry from her.  And for a special treat, I had her make bracelets for the girls.  They loved them.  Esther kept hers on the whole time.  She is really one of those girly girls.  She loves to put on jewelry and carry around purses.

Merry Christmas

What the back of the card said:

This year has been full of many FIRSTS

Kirsten started FIRST grade * Esther had her FIRST birthday * Dave started his FIRST commute on the bus and train to his new job in Chicago * Peter started going to his FIRST preschool * We took Esther (and her siblings) on her FIRST airplane ride and trip to Utah * We lived through our FIRST blizzard in Chicago * Kirsten had her FIRST toothless school picture (missing both top teeth.) * Esther took her FIRST steps around Halloween * Kirsten passed her FIRST spelling test with flying colors * Peter had his FIRST ride on the Metra Train (along with the rest of the family) *

Hopefully we can be the FIRST to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

EASY Christmas Idea!!

My mother-in-law found this ADORABLE idea. It's super easy and I even made the printable for you so you can just print it and attach it to a roll of paper towels and you have a super easy gift for your neighbors and friends. Get the printable HERE.  Or try HERE.

just add a little felt....

I love before and after posts. I love to see the difference between what was and what could be. I wanted to change out my boring old candles so I made these super cute felt covered balls. They were so easy. {a little time consuming, but I've had a lot of time how with a sickie!} I love them. I was going to just use them for Valentines Day, but I might just leave them up all year round. The original idea and tutorial can be found HERE. I used the same idea and made Christmas trees at Christmas time {I guess I forgot to post them! oops.}.



Here are the Christmas trees...{found on my 365 blog here}

"Santa" wrapping {note for next year}

Yes, I know that Christmas is over. I CAN'T WAIT to get it all down and cleaned up! {that's the project for tomorrow}. I wanted to share an idea for "Santa" wrapping. Santa always wraps our presents, and he likes to use all the same paper! {The Santa Paper}. My son is 11 and is "pretty sure" that Santa is not real. {can you believe it?}. I always like to just label the gifts and usually just put a little initial on the bottom of the gift...but this year, I decided I would use my sticker letters to label each persons gifts. I love how it turned out...and there was no question what belonged to who!




Ever since I started digital scraping, I have to come up with ideas of how to use my ENTIRE room of Scrapbook Supplies.

And the Stockings were Hung . . .

For those with out a fireplace mantel to put your stockings on, we have the perfect solution.  A wooden sign with the cute saying . . . "the stockings were hung . . . "  This was another project from our craft group last year.  We did them in a variety of ways.

Like this one with stars above the nails. . .

Or you could add names . . .

Or this one with stars on the ends and a 3 foot board . . .

 We had a lot of fun painting, sticking vinyl on our boards, sanding and banging those nails in.  Hope they don't mind I posted some pictures of them hard at work.  The boards were the same size as our Family Home Evening boards that we have made in the past and so they could hang them in the same place during December.