Grandparent Gift

I have been trying to figure out something for my mom for Christmas. All she says she wants is family pictures, which is a great and easy gift. But since all 4 of my siblings and their families are going to be at my parents for Christmas - the first time in over 8 years - we are having family pictures taken. So I wanted to do something different. I searched Pinterest and nothing caught my eye. So I googled "DIY grandparent gift ideas". I came across this blog that had a bunch of ideas.  But this one jumped out at me: 

I loved the idea, but knew that waiting until the last minute like I have, I wouldn't be able to order it, plus I know that I could create something similar. So here is mine:

I used Photoshop Elements 8 to create it. I have tons of digital scrapbook files, so I selected a background and started playing. I'm not very proficient with Photoshop Elements, so it did take me some time to play around and make things work. I am so excited with how it turned out. I sent it to Costco to print and put it in a 12x12 frame I picked up from JoAnn's Etc. 

I can't wait for her to open it on Christmas!

Happy Creating!

Holly

Neighbor Gifts: DIY Candles

I made 3 candles HERE for November craft group. My husband liked them enough that he wanted me to make more - 9 more to be exact.  The difference from from putting together the craft in October to making them in December is amazing. Plus the fact that I needed to make 9 of them. I didn't care to use the hot spoon variation, so I bought a heat gun (used in embossing) at Hobby Lobby-of course using a 40% off coupon. If you use a heat gun, just be sure you move it around a lot or it will cause the wax to come through the tissue paper and run down the sides.

 The candles I originally used were unscented from Hobby Lobby-because their Christmas stuff wasn't out yet. I found Winter Wonderland scented ones at Walmart. They were a tad bit more than those from HL because I wasn't able to use a 40% off coupon. But I wanted scented ones as gifts. I also found more options for the tissue paper. I added a few Hershey Kisses, changed out the sisal with tulle-because I had some on hand and I personalized the tag using my Cricut.

Craft Group: Christmas Table Topper

So the Halloween Placemats were such a hit, that I decided to try the same technique and make table toppers for various holidays. I had some left over red burlap that I cut into 2 squares (they are about 22 inch squares). Using my Cricut, I cut vinyl stencils for each of the corners. After applying the vinyl to the burlap, I used newspaper and painters tape to cover the rest of the fabric. 

Here is the final results of one I made for Valentines Day and one for Fourth of July:

(sorry I was too lazy to actually iron them before I took the pictures)

If you look close at the stars, you will see crooked edges and the white doesn't look filled in. I had tried using acrylic paints with a fabric medium mixed in. It took I don't know how many coast and it still looks a bit pink. So when I did the hearts and the blue stars, I switched to using spray paint. Worked much better, but it still took a quite a few coats (just not as many as the acrylic paint). 

So when it came time to get things ready for December's Craft Group, I thought I would try using Duck Canvas instead of the burlap. I sewed a decorative stitch on the edge, like I had done with the placemats. And this time I wanted to try using freezer paper to make the stencils. If it worked, it would be a lot less expensive then the vinyl. So using my Cricut, I cut the designs in the freezer paper. Then ironed the freezer paper - shiny side down on the fabric. Then spray painted.

And the final product was a fail!  The freezer paper didn't adhere to the canvas so well, so there was over-spray as well as edges to the designs that just didn't look good.  It won't be a give like I hoped, but I was able to  "save" it to use on my kitchen table by using a black Sharpie and outlining it.
Fail #1:

So since that failed, I checked out other options on Pinterest. I came across one that used contact paper from the dollar store. Well that was a fail as well, but nothing could "save" this one. The contact paper didn't adhere well either, plus once you got spray paint on it, the edges would curl up, which only allowed for one coat of paint. Even one heavy coat of paint didn't work.
Fail #2:

What did work?
Using the stencils created from the contact paper and we painted them with acrylic paint. It took 3-4 coats and a little bit of touch up once the contact paper was removed.

But I did fail again
 by not getting a picture of the final product.
I need to make more for gifts, so when I do, I will add a picture.

Happy Crafting!
Holly

Craft Group: Christmas Candles

In my planning for our November craft, I was thinking a head for Christmas and was trying to come up with something that was inexpensive that you could give as neighbor gifts, teacher gifts or that would work in with holiday decor.  I came across Stylizmo's Christmas Candle, and thought it would be perfect.  I hunted for the just right napkin, but ran into the fact that - unlike now - not very many places had Christmas napkins or tissue paper out at the end of October.  So I ended up using an everyday foil tissue I found at the Dollar Tree and digging into my supply of Christmas tissue paper (the Christmas colored stripe and the snowflakes).  

This is what I came up with:

I got the candles at Hobby Lobby in a 2 pack (except the one with snowflakes-it's an old candle I've had for years), I used my Cricut machine to cut out the tags and used a stamp from Stampin' Up that I already had. You could use stickers or if your penmanship is better then mine, then you could always write it. 

A couple days ago, my hubby gave me a list of more I need to make. 

I better get a meltin'.

Happy Crafting!

Holly

My Favorite Part of Christmas - The Decorations

I know I'm a little slow posting these. My decorations have been up since Thanksgiving weekend, but I just didn't get around to taking the pictures until today. I usually have my shopping done just after Black Friday, but not this year.  I finished up yesterday. So now I'm finally sitting down and enjoying the decorations.

Inspiration

My Version - My 7 year old races down stairs every morning just so she can put another magnet on. I used my Cricut to cut the lettering and I bought the magnets from KJMagnets.com. I used neodymium (the little silver magnets) because they are stronger and there are multiple layers of paint and paper so I wanted to make sure that it stuck.  (Obviously I'm not as good a photographer!)

My version:                                                                    Inspiration

I love Shanty-to-Chic.com ! They are very creative! They are the inspiration for many projects that I have done. 

This is my kitchen table.  It's ok now, but when I finally finish the table topper, it will be way cute. It will be one of those things that I finish after Christmas. I will post it when it is finished, but it will just have to be an inspiration for everyone next year. 

I love nutcrackers! My parents started my collection with the one on the left  (blue striped pants) when they brought it back from Germany. I have them all across the top of my kitchen cabinets. There are 21 in all. I try to purchase one each year, but have missed a couple of years or picked up a collection of 2 or 4 here and there. You can't see the full effect in the pics, but I have little lights around the base of the nutcrackers. It gives them a "glow" when it's darker. My hubby and I like the effect enough that we are talking about keeping the lights up there once I put all the normal decor back up. 

That's about it for the kitchen, now off to the living room. I have an old trunk that a friend of mine bought many years ago, but is moving and can't take it with her, so I bought it from her. I love the vintage charm it brings. That is the original paper liner you see in the lid. My hubby and I bought the Jim Shore nativity the year that we were married. We love the detail that he puts into each piece. 

I really like the look of hanging ornaments from the banister like here,

Inspiration

But I don't have garland and I am on a really tight budget this year, so I had to improvise.  I had the ornaments (I only buy my holiday decorations after the holiday so that I get them at 50% off or more). I did buy the ribbon though at Hobby Lobby when it was 50% off.  

We also collect Christmas lighthouses. My hubby and I love nautical inspired things, so when I found lighthouses as part of JoAnn's Christmas villages I started collecting them (on the piano). The ones on the table are Harbor Village brand and my hubby, knowing my love of light houses and the collection I had prior to us getting married, found these at a Ace Hardware of all places and so the collection grew.

Close-up of the ornaments on the banister

There aren't many fireplaces in Phoenix, so this is my mantel if you will. I use to put my nutcracker collection here, but changed it up this year after I made the NOEL and the subway art.

There are many of the NOEL's throughout blog-land. Here is a link with a tutorial: NOEL. I used 

Rust-Oleum Hammered in Dark Bronze because I liked the metal look.

Here is a tutorial on how to make your own subway art: Subway art. Mine is 10x14, so you need to adjust the settings you enter, for the size, to 3000 and 4200.

(the key is 300 times the width and then 300 times the height that you want)

My tree. It is an artificial tree. I LOVE the smell of real trees, but being in Arizona, they dry out so dang fast. My hubby is from Oregon, so we did have real trees for a few years, but even he said that he wanted to go back to using an artificial tree. It is 12 foot tall and smaller around than a lot of artificial trees out there - but we like that because it doesn't take up as much space. We bought it at Sam's Club last year.  

I have two girls from a prior marriage and as a result we have them for Christmas every other year. So I made a deal with them about 5 years ago, that the years that they are with us they get to decide how to decorate the tree and when they are with their dad, I get to pick how it is decorated. So they do it in bright colors like hot pink, turquoise, bright green and orange. It turns out really cute. But this year since they are with their dad, it's my turn to decide. So I decided on red, white and silver. I had this in mind a few years ago, so after Christmas for the last 2 years, I bought ornaments when they are 50% off or more, plus I went through all the ornaments that I already had pulled ones in those colors out.

And the train. You can't have a tree without a train. Well at least in my family. Ever since I was a little girl, my grandpa had trains. Smaller ones than this, but he had a room all set up for his trains and there was a train around the Christmas tree. One year for Christmas, my parents bought me and each of my siblings this train so that we could have a train around our tree. It does make it difficult when putting the gifts under the tree, but the fun it adds makes it totally worth it!

Well that's about the extent of the decorations on the inside of the house. There are a few little things here and there that didn't make the cut for the pictures, but this is the majority of it.  I hope you like and that it may inspire you for future Christmases.