Friday, December 27, 2013

Christmas Wreaths

I made three new Christmas wreaths this year.  All using my Cricut to cut the shapes.  My buddy Kathy turned me on to a great tutorial on YouTube by Custom Crops that got me started with this one:


I gave this one to my sweet MIL as an early Christmas gift.  Notice the Margie-style junk bow.

Then, my sister Kelly made this one, and inspried me to do a square version for me - featuring both a junk bow and jingle bells.


The last wreath I made (just finished last night) uses Rosettes along with some adorable vintage snowman images I found from a fellow Etsy seller, the Digital Chick.  It's got a little bit of everything - junk bows, sheet music, silver foliage, vintage snowflakes and buttons. 


The secret to this one is cutting a bit donut style circle from posterboard or foam core board to act as the base.  Here's a close up of some of my favorite bits:



Hope you're enjoying your holidays - I'm spending my days crafting and relaxing.  Best time of the year!!!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Christmas Craft Ideas: Vintage and New

Here are more fun pics of handmade and fintage Christmas items I saw during my recent trip to Inn Boonsboro.  A full review of the Inn to come after Christmas - in short, it was magical!


Adorable hand-painted snowman pillows - I bought 2!



Pink hat Christmas tree topper - how clever is that?

Love the view from the window at Josies' on Main.

A real aluminum Christmas tree at an antique store - made me think of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Loved the sheet music sparkly cones:


Hope all your holiday preparing is going well.  I've finally finished my last Christmas-delivery Quilted Cupcake Etsy  shop order, and now can begin making family gifts.  I've still got tons of time left :)







Friday, December 13, 2013

Cupcakes+Coffee Snowflakes Garland Tutorial and 50% off Coupon

Remember when you used to make paper snowflakes as a kid?  Paper, scissors and a bunch of random cuts.  Just like the real thing, no 2 were alike.  That's what inspired my new Fabulously Festive snowflake garland.  

This snowflake garland is made using cupcake liners and coffee filters as the base. They're already round, so it's easy to make perfect snowflakes and a Faulously Festive holiday!  And, the cupcake liners come in a rainbow of colors, so you can make pink, red or polka dot snowflakes.

I love how it looks on my Christmas cabinet.  It would also work well on a tree or over a window.

*Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for a 50% coupon for Joann that's valid until the end of 2013 - great for any last minute project supplies.

Here's a closeup to show the fun textures you get from the cupcake liners.


Here are the supplies you need:

Standard (not cone shaped) white coffee filters
A variety of cupcake wrappers - both paper and foil varieties are available at Joann.
  • There are tons of colors, so you can pick whatever matches your decor
  • Get both standard and mini sizes
Ranger/Tim Holtz Perfect Pearls Mist
  • My favorite color is the "perfect pearl", which is silvery. 
Sharp Scissors - I like these by Fiskars.
Sewing machine and thread (optional)
Iron and ironing surface

Directions:
  1. Flatten out the cupcake liner or coffee filter, then fold it into a pie shape
  2. Use your sharp scissors to cut out shapes along both folded sides.  
  3. The most important step - iron your paper snowflakes!  It really helps to keep them flat, particularly the coffee filter ones.  They have a really cool texture after ironing.   Just use a low setting on your iron.  You can place a piece of fabric on top, but I didn't, and it worked just fine.

    Note: don't iron the foil snowflakes - just flatten them with your hands.
  4. Spray the coffee filter snowflakes with the Perfect Pearls mist, and let them dry.  I layed out a few sheets of  wrapping paper to keep the mess to a minimum.  After they're dry, you may need to re-iron the pearly snowflakes.
  5. Take the pile of snowflakes to your sewing machine and sew them together.  Just go right through the paper - I promise it won't hurt anything.  I sewed more through the middle of each than the top to give them a bit of stability.  You can sew a few stitches between each to space them properly.

    If you don't want to use a sewing machine, you could use yarn on a big needle and thread them through the holes.
Hang and enjoy!

You can find more Holiday ideas at the Joann.com Celebrate the Season website.  Or, browse the Holiday Craft Brochure.

Here's another Joann coupon that you can print and use to get 50% off one item.  Be sure to share it with your friends - it's good until 12/31/2013.  



To use the coupon at Jo-Ann, click on the image, save it as a jpeg, paste it on a blank page, and print.


Please note: This project is part of the Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores Celebrate the Season campaign.  I received supplies to create the project featured in  this review.  However, as with all content on my blog, the above project and comments are completely my own, based on my own experience.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Christmas Garland

Who knew that a Dollar Store garland could be jazzed up to look so cool?  Thanks again to Margie Romney-Aslett for another great Spark online class!





Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Favorite Christmas Ornaments

We put up our Christmas tree this weekend.  After a brief delay when I had to run out for more Twinkle lights, the ornaments are now on.  I love remembering the story behind each one!  Here are a few favorites:


  1. This is the oldest ornament on our tree.  I received it as a gift from my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Larson, in 1971.  It's survived 4 moves plus 41 years of packing and unpacking.  That's special!
  2. My sister Jan made this ornament using lace and trims from my wedding gown (which she also helped me to make) in 1989.
  3. First Ravens Super Bowl win in 2000 - a new one will be added this year!
  4. Statue of Liberty - we get ornaments from all the places we travel.
  5. This is a Santa rocket ornament for my hubby.  You push a button and it says "Merry Christmas Houston" - kids love that one!
  6. A Hallmark ornament from our first Christmas tree together.
  7. A patriotic soldier from Colonial Williamsburg
  8. New ornament from this year's Spark Your Holidays - with a big junk bow!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Favorite Things Find: A Rainbow of Baker's Twine

I love Baker's Twine.  I have a cone of red and white that I use in packaging for my Etsy shop.  It's hard to find baker's twine in a vareity of colors or at a good price.

On a recent trip to Joann, I was thrilled to find Aunt Lydia's crochet thread has a new line of Baker's Cotton in great colors.  



Of course, I bought the pink and white, and also the teal and white.  They also have lime, purple, black and red mixed with white.  Love it all!

The best part is that retail price was only $2.99 for 150 yards.  Sweet!  Use a coupon, and the price is even better.

You can use the baker's cotton for crochet flowers, etc.  I'm going to stock up to use them for craft projects and gift wrapping.  


Brown paper packages tied up with string are one of my favorite things.. On that note, is anyone else excited to see the live Sound of Music this week?  I can't wait....one of my favorite shows ever.  I plan to sing along, so I'm sure nobody here will want to watch with me.  Too bad - I can't help myself.