Last minute holiday crafting

Yesterday my friend Jessie brought over an early Christmas present for me. Yay me!

The package was beautiful, but Jessie wanted me to open it in front of her. Not wanting to disappoint I ripped right into that bad boy. She got me a package of various fancy sea salts. Right up my alley. I've already got a recipe picked out!

But we're not talking about the sea salts, we're talking about crafting aren't we. That's what the title of the post says. I'm getting to the crafting part.

This is what the package looked like before I ravaged it:

Gorgeous, right?

It was even better in person. The ribbon was so soft and silky and felt like butter. Also, those snowflakes aren't printed on they're velvet. That's not something you just throw in the trash.

I knew I needed to do something with it. I considered making ornaments out of it.

But I already made a couple for our tree this year out of old holiday cards.

So I decided I should make some garland.

I set out to do just that, but about half way through decided it wasn't going to work. The "garland" didn't hang right and it would have driven me crazy.

What now? I was already half way into my craft and it wasn't going to turn out like I'd hoped.

Then I had an inspiration! We're having Christmas dinner here with Andy's family on Christmas eve and I'm planning on using my fancy dishes.

Only problem is that my fancy dishes are silver and white and don't match my holiday table decorations.

See?

Those place mats and utensil mittens are perfect for my every day dishes, but not so much with the silver and white stuff.

What's a girl to do?

I'm really not this dramatic about it. I usually take the decorations off the table and just let the dishes be the decoration.

But not this year. Not anymore!

I rearranged some snowflakes and turned my failed holiday garland into the perfect table runner for our Christmas eve dinner.

I think I'm in love!


I didn't take step-by-step photos. It's really kind of a no-brain-er. I just cut out the snowflakes and backed them with black cardstock to make them sturdier. After I laid them out like I wanted them I used ribbon, glue and metal grommets to hold it all together. Viola!

It was quick, easy and painless. Well, mostly painless. I did cut my finger with a pair of scissors, because I'm totally smooth like that.

Do you like to do holiday crafts? Or are you all retail all the time?

Ornament centerpiece how-to

I've been making these ornaments for a few years now and I always get asked how to do it. The process is really simple once you get the hang of it, but it's easier to show someone than tell them.

So this time when I was putting them together for Julie's shower I photographed the steps.

Here it is:

First, cut out 20 circles. They all need to be the same size. You can use just paper or incorporate photographs into the ornaments like I did with these.

In the picture you can see the beginning of two different ornaments and the cutting system I used. I used two different sized circles for the ornaments I made this time, but I've made them much smaller than this. Keep in mind that the larger the circle the larger the ornament.

*Click the photos to see a larger image*

Next you need to fold the circles. I have cut out a guide to help myself fold them more quickly. I place the triangle (equilateral) in the center of each circle and simply fold around it. I use a paper creaser to help make the folds more defined.

After you've folded all your circles you're ready to start assembling your ornament. I like to lay it out to see how it might look when I'm done and to make sure I don't have any matching circles next to each other.

This step is simply to satisfy my obsessive need for order. If you want you can just start gluing. Whatever floats your boat.

You want to make the center of the ornament first. Line up ten circles in a line and glue the folded tabs together. I use craft glue that dries clear. Elmer's works fine too. Once they're all secure circle the line and glue the two ends together to form the center of your ornament. Like so:

You will have ten circles left. Choose five and glue the tabs in a circle to create the top of the ornament. Repeat this step with the remaining five circles to form the bottom. This is what the top and bottom should look like:

Now place the top piece on and position it the way you want it. Glue the tabs together all the way around. Repeat with the bottom piece.

Viola! You're ornament is finished. Set it aside to let the glue set up.

When all of your ornaments are assembled and the glue is dry it's time to string them.

This is how I do it, but if you want something simpler you can just punch a hole in one of the tabs and string a ribbon through that.

I do it this way because I'm obsessive and anal and I can't bring myself to punch a hole in any of the ornaments I just made.

Take a piece of wire and give it a loop on one end. I use a piece of floral wire folded in half and twisted so the ends don't get in the way.

Cut a length of ribbon that is long enough to thread through the ornament when it's folded in two. Thread the ribbon through the looped end of your wire.

Now, the ornament will have small holes where the points of the triangles meet. Stick the wire in one and then out the other side. Pull the ribbon through.

Tie the two ends of ribbon in a knot so it won't slide through the ornament.

Now the ornament is ready to be displayed and enjoyed!

See?

For the whole centerpiece I just filled the bottom of the bucket with foam (floral foam is cheapest) and stuck the branches into the foam. You want to use branches that have been cut recently. At first I tried to save a branch and use ones that had already fallen off. That was a mistake. The dead branches were brittle and broke easily so I was left with a big stick in my centerpiece.

Once the branches were in place I covered the foam with fake moss and pilled on the apples. Use real apples; they give the weight that you need to counter balance the branches and they stay put better. Plus when you're done with the centerpiece you can eat them!

These ornaments are great for gifts! At then end of the shower I gave them to Frank and Julie.

They also are a good way to use up old greeting cards that you can't bring yourself to throw out. I used our wedding cards to make them the first time and they make a great sentimental addition to our Christmas tree.

Give them a try. They really aren't that hard!

Leaf vase how-to

I made this smaller centerpiece as an extra to use at the shower. It worked out perfectly because the chandelier over the food table was too low for the big centerpiece.

This is one of my favorite ways to decorate!

First you need two cylindrical vases



Clearly, the small one is much shorter so you need some way to prop it up so the tops of the two vases are almost level

I had some floral foam scraps lying around so I trimmed them to fit and then used a toothpick to hold the pieces together.


Place the smaller vase inside the larger one. Now it's time to fill it up.


I didn't get a picture of the filling process because I needed both my hands.

Basically just get some fake fall leaves in various colors/sized and fill in the crack between the two vases. I filled in about half way up before I put the smaller vase back in the larger one, then filled around it.

It takes a little time and effort to make the leaves look right, but I probably spent a total of 10 minutes on this project.

When you're done this is the result:

You'd never know there was a smaller vase inside!

Fill the bud vase with the flowers of your choice. I got these mums out of the clearance bucket at the local grocery store. Yes! They are real!


I have also done this with candy corn. Just pour the candy corn (or any small candy - m&m's would work great) into the bottom of the larger vase to hold up the smaller one. Then fill in as needed.

Like I said, this is one of my favorite fall decorations and the possibilities are endless for the holidays. I think I'll do it with candy hearts for Valentine's Day!

A few more shower photos...

Yesterday, just after I hit publish, Julie posted some photos that she took at the shower. Here you go!

A close up of the monogrammed cuppies

Mina diggin' her bouncer

Bonnie and I with the guests of honor
Me, my grandmother, my mom and Mina

Ma-maw and Nana with Mina
Julie asked my mom to be Mina's Nana
It pretty much made her day

Possibly the sweetest picture on the planet

The Baby Shower

The baby shower went off without a hitch.

Frank, Julie and Mina took home quite a haul at the end of it.

Seeing them again was so nice. I haven't seen Mina in person since she was born and she has changed so, so much. But not so much that she wasn't still small enough to cuddle.

They gave me a DVD season of The Office as a hostess gift and Andy and I have been working our way through it-watching all the special features as we go. Julie knows me so well!

Here are some photos of the details and the day.

The favors
"Caramel Apple" Popcorn balls
How-to found here

The centerpiece
We put it on the mantle because the chandelier
was too low over the table
The ornaments are made with photos
from Mina's birthday and
the banner says her name.

Monogrammed cupcakes
The food spread.
My co-hostess, Bonnie,
did all this food (except the cupcakes)
She was wonderful!
Mina with her PapaDaddy swaddles the best
Frank put the bouncer together after they opened it
so Mina would have a place to sit
This is the first photo I have with Mina
We didn't get one of us in the hospital
The best present!
Julie's mother passed away two years ago.
She was an amazing seamstress and she always made
quilts for new babies in their church.
Some of the ladies re-gifted their blankets so
Mina could have something from her Grammy.

There are some other photos floating around out there on other cameras. I get an F for not charging my camera battery and it died about halfway through. So I'll post a couple more when I get them.

While I was putting everything together I documented some of the craft how-to's on film (or memory card). I'll be posting those throughout the week. Stay tuned!

What I did on my blog-cation...

Hosted a grilled pizza party and didn't take a single picture. I did, however, drink a lot of margaritas. And ate my weight in lemon cupcakes.

Had a picnic with my man.

Experimented with a carrot cake recipe. The cupcakes turned out pretty well.


Got my first speeding ticket.

Added some pizzaz to our plain black bookshelf

before

After

Nearly watched every episode of Gilmore Girls.

Started the countdown to get my braces off. October 21st here I come!

Took a 7th grade field trip.

Cleaned out my bedroom at my parents' house. My mother took it harder than I did.

Held my best friend's head while she gave birth. It was amazing.


As soon as I said I was taking a blog break I had blog material coming out of my ears. I'm back!

Ghosties

After we worked out the small matter of a dead car battery my mom came up with my niece and nephews in tow. They are visiting my parents this weekend. We spent some time making white chocolate ghosts in celebration of the upcoming holiday, All Hallows Eve, or Halloween as some people like to call it. They were supposed to be lollipops, but the grocery store didn't have the sticks and since I wasn't going all over creation to find them we just called them cookies. Solid chocolate cookies.

First you put some white chocolate chips in a double boiler

After they are melted mix in 1.5 tbs vegetable oil

This makes the chocolate easier to spread
and shiny when it's hardUse a tablespoon to spread a dollop of chocolate around
on wax paper in a ghost shapeHave a helper put mini chocolate chip eyes
(and sometimes mouths) on them
(It's ok if My Little Pony wants to help too)

Wait for them to harden

Sometimes that's hard to do

Maybe giving them a pep talk will help them harden faster

With the right distractions waiting isn't hard at allThen have Nana try to take a staged fall picture
with a lens smudged with little boy fingerprintsOnce they finally harden take them off the wax paper
and they're ready to eat