Christmas Mantle

I had planned on showing a bunch of tutorials throughout December and then having a big reveal of "My Home for the Holidays,"  but then people started having fun linky parties that I want to participate in.  So, I guess I'll just play it by ear and show you guys things as they come up.  (Although I still may do a "home for the holidays" post at the end of the month.)

Anywho.... He is my mantle (okay fake mantle, whateve) all decked out for Christmas!

It's super fun and colorful.  I'll come back and share more detail of some of the things later.  If you want to feast your eyes on more mantle goodness, go check out the mantle party over at A Lettered Cottage.

Christmas Wreath

You can't decorate for Christmas without making a wreath!  Here's the one I made.

It so sparkly, I love it! Plus it was super easy to make, love that too.

Here's my method.

Supplies

A wreath form.  I used a vine wreath so I didn't have to worry about some of it showing, but whatever if fine. 

Leaves. Buy whatever is cheap because you are going to make them pretty later.  I used two sprigs of holly leaves. 

One bundle curly sprigs.  Not really sure what you actually call these, but here is a picture. (you can see my leaves too)

Glitter.  You can buy nice glitter or you can buy cheap glitter.  While the nice stuff would have been...well... nice, I am cheap and got the cheapest stuff I could find.
Glue.  You will need both hot glue and craft glue. (I actually used modge podge because it was easiest to find in my mess)
Ribbon

All you do it rip all the leaves off, paint them with glue and cover in glitter.

Once they are dry, arrange them around your wreath form however suits your fancy.  I made mine go all the same direction.  Hot glue into place.

Add your curlies...

Top with a bow...

Hang and enjoy!

I told you it was easy! 

As always, linking to these parties and events:

 

Inspiration File

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!  We had a fun (but short) trip to visit family and enjoyed some great food.  Now its time to brake out the Christmas storage bins, can't wait!

Here's what I'm loving this week...

Make It and Love It used her silhouette to cut some nativity vinyl and hung them on the wall with some empty frames.  I think this is such a cute and cleaver way to display a nativity.  Love it!



Bev from Flamingo Toe's guest posted on Tatertots and showed us how to use freezer paper stenciling to make this great sign.  I had no idea that freezer paper could be used on wood, oh the possibilities!! Awesome sign huh?!?

Craft Goodies had a great post showcasing a bunch of great crafts kits that she has in her shop.  You all must know by now that I love a good 2 x 4 craft, and this reindeer to too cute!

And finally, A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That shared her Christmas countdown.  I love the simplicity of this.  She painted a chalkboard circle, but another easy alternative would be to just have a paper circle behind the glass and use a dry erase marker to countdown with.  Great idea!

Well, gotta go.  I have a Christmas tree to put up!  If you were featured remember to grab a button. See ya next week for the start of a bunch of Christmas tutorials I have planned.  Its gonna be a busy weekend.

My Fall Mantle

I figure I better show you all my fall mantle since everything will be going Christmas with-in a few days.

(This is where you say, "But Krystal, I distinctly remember you crying about the fact that you don't have a mantle to decorate for the holidays.")

Yes, its true.  I don't have a fireplace. (sniff) But my husband must have been tired of hearing me cry myself to sleep over it and built me this.

Holy Gorgeous, I love you!  Its the perfect place to showcase my seasonal decor and I am in LOVE.  It lives in my entryway so we added the hooks so it would "make sense" and guest would have a place to hang a jacket.... and I could hang my stockings.  (Okay, fine.  I admit it.  I designed it specifically around hanging stockings.) 

Here is a close-up of the beautiful finish that I did all by my lonesome.  I'm a little proud.

And a few more of the display.

So there you have it.  My fall mantle.  I can't wait to show you what it looks like all decked out for Christmas!

Painted Glass Jars

The last Christmas gift idea that I'm going to give you is how to spruce up a plain jar of candy.  This is a great gift that you can make a bunch of to keep in the cupboard for those unexpected holiday guests and neighbors.  I always hate having someone show up with a gift and not having something ready in return. So I went and got a 12 pack of glass jars.  If you remember back when I made a painted candy jar for Halloween, well I've improved upon the idea.  Turns out they make glass paint pens.  They are so user friendly and went on beautifully!  I simply sat down and decorated my jars with a variety of polka dots, stars, Christmas trees and other simple Christmas shapes.  You let the paint cure for 24 hours and then bake according to the instructions.  Once baked the paint is dish washer safe!  Here are a few of my baked jars.

Then all you have to do is fill with your favorite holiday treat, and top with a cute bow and gift tag.  Now you have the perfect little something to give to neighbor's, teachers, and those unexpected visitors.

And because I'm just so nice, I'm going to give you another free printable!  This time of my holiday tags.  All you have to do is click the image and then right click and hit save.  Then print it as a 8x10 image on standard size card stock.  The circles will be the perfect size for a 2" circle punch.

Enjoy!

Scrumptious Sunday- Acorn Squash Rings

Now, I will have to say this is my all time favorite holiday recipe.  We got it years ago off a Martha Stewart show but its no longer listed anywhere.  I've scoured the internet and can't find anything quite like it.  Now I was planning on making these this week so I could take a pretty picture but have been seriously so busy and it just didn't happen.  So this will have to do for now and I promise to update with a picture after we eat these this week.  I can't wait!

Roasted Acorn Squash Rings with Herb Butter

2-3 acorn squash
1 Tbs fresh Parsley, chopped
1 Tbs fresh Sage, chopped
1/2 Tbs fresh Rosemary, chopped
1 stick butter
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 450.  In a sauce pan melt butter, brown sugar, and fresh herbs together.  Seed and slice the acorn squash into rings.  Line squash rings on a baking sheet and liberal apply the herb butter mixture.  Roast for 15 min. then turn over, reapply herb mixture and roast another 15 min. or until tender.  Remove from pan promptly to avoid sticking.

These are amazing, add them to your menu.

Inspiration File

Only a couple things to share this week.  To be honest, this week has been SO busy that I have barely had time to go through my blog roll! 

Frist of all, did everyone see the corn husk table runner over at It's always a party at the Parkers?  Holy Gorgeousness!!!!  Okay, so the whole table is pretty amazing.  I know where I'm going for Thanksgiving Dinner! (sorry Mom)


I also found a new blog to follow,  Vintage Wanna Bee.  Everything over there is seriously adorable but I'm loving her princess inspired accessories.  She's done a bunch of princesses but my favorite (I think) is the "Giselle."  But be sure to hope on over and check them all out.  You'll have a hard time deciding which your going to make first!

Well, ta ta for now.  Be sure to grab a button if you were featured. 

Lots and Lots of Flowers!

Another great gift idea for any of the ladies in your life (big or small) is fabric flowers.  Fabric flowers are great because they can be used in so many different ways.  They can be attached to ponytail holders, hair clips, headbands, safety pins, magnets, picture frames, or used to embellish a tee shirt or pillow... just to name a few.  So, I thought it would be fun to compile a bunch of my favorite flower tutorials from around the web.

 Note: A few are made with paper, but could easily be adapted to fabric.

1. Ribbon Peony  2. Fabric Flower  3. Flower Brooch  4. Sunflower  5. Six Petal Flower  6. Frayed Flower  7. Rose  8. Button Flower  9. Loop Flower  10. Felt Flower  11. Embroidered Flower  12. Fabric Flower

Now for my little contributions to this collection, which will seem kinda lame compared to the rest of these amazing creations.. but since this is my blog I have to add somehow right?!  I have two flowers to show you.  The first is the "burnt felt flower" which I made a bunch of to attach to ponytail holders.  They look super cute in your hair.  And the second is the "ribbon rose" which you saw on my family rules frame a few days ago.

The Burnt Felt Flower

Now I have seen this technique used with many different fabrics and they can look really beautiful, but I really like this particular one because it is super easy, you could bang these out by the dozens, and super cheap. 

All you do is make three circles out of felt (they don't need to be perfect), each one slightly smaller then the last.  Take a lighter and burn the edges of each circle. (be careful!)  Then line them up and hot glue them together.  Finish off by putting a dab of hot glue right in the middle and adding a few beads.  That's it, couldn't be easier!

The Ribbon Rose

To make this rose you take a length of wired ribbon (the longer the length, the larger your rose)  Start by pulling a small amount of the wire out of one end of the ribbon and bending the wire over to secure.  Then gather the ribbon along that wire as tightly as possible.  Once done clip off the excess wire, leaving a small amount on this end to bend over and secure like you did before.  To make the center neater, take the none gather corner and hot glue it to the gathered corn on the same end.  Now starting from that same side, take the gathered end and start wrapping it around itself to form your rose.  To secure, hot glue the rose to a small circle of felt.  Its kinda hard to explain but super easy, just try it. 

(Sorry for the lack of pictures, I wasn't planning on doing tutorials on these flowers when I made them.)

 If you have a flower tutorial you'd like to share, I'd love to see it! Please add a link in the comments

Family Rules

For my next gift idea I'm going to show you guys my version of a family rules print, subway art style.  There are all kinds of subway art prints and family rules prints out there.  I think subway art is a lot of fun because you can really personalize it to fit whatever occasion and it's really graphic.  I had recently downloaded a bunch of new fonts and was inspired to make this as a way to try them all out.  I just LOVE how it turned out!  What a fun way to display all our family rules, now if only I could get my kids to follow them....

What mom wouldn't love getting one of these for Christmas?  And its very affordable too.  The print itself is a 12x12 so you can have it printed anywhere that prints scrapbook pages.  I had mine printed at Scrapping Simply and it cost about $6.00, most of that shipping.  If you have a local resource you could do it a lot cheaper. 

The frame was an unfinished scrapbook page frame from Micheal's and cost $7 (without any coupons).  To finish it I painted it blue with craft paint, distressed it, and then put a coat of wood stain over the top.  All of which I had on hand.  Isn't the finish dreamy?  (I have a dresser in the garage waiting for some love and I thinks its going to get this same finish.)

And then because I felt like it needed a little extra something, I added a few ribbon roses.



So for under $15, I have this adorable piece of art for my home.  Can't beat that! I'm not sure where its going to live yet, but I'll find somewhere perfect... and visible... we need all the reminders we can get!

So do you want one?  You can either make your own family rules sign to fit your family, or you can have mine! Because I love you all so much, I made up a bunch with different background colors.  All you have to do is click on the one you like, save it, and then have it printed as a 12 x 12 somewhere, frame and you are done.

      

 
Enjoy! 
 
If anyone decides to use one of these, I'd love to see a picture!

Linking to these parties and events:

Just a quick note.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I set up a new blog for my blog design business.  When I first started I wasn't sure where it all would go, but since its picking up I though it would be nice to set up a separate blog so I could have more detail and information about the process.   I had a lot of fun setting it up and played around with a different template, which I am loving and going to use more of.  So whether you are in the market for a blog makeover or not, go check it out!  I'd love to hear your feedback.

You can go here or just click on the blog design link on my menu bar.

Thanks!

Scrumptious Sunday- Old Virginia Wassail

Now this recipe I actually made for the first time last year, but it was instantly declared a holiday must. My Father-in-law, who had traveled to Germany when he was younger, said it tasted just like the stuff they served there. It's good, try it.


Old Virginia Wassail


recipe via allrecipes.com, image via liz and kate

2 quarts apple cider
2 cups orange juice
1 (46 oz) can pineapple juice
2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 tbs cloves
1/2 cup honey

Put everything in a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer on low or transfer to a slow cooker to keep warm until served. Strain out cinnamon and clove before serving. I usually make it up and let it do its thing while I'm cooking so it has plenty of time to get nice and delicious.

Inspiration File

Once again, I have a lot to show off this week.  You guys are clever!  I'm starting with Thanksgiving ideas and then will move on to Christmas.

First up, The Magic of Ordinary Things made her own bunting banner, and it is SO SO pretty! Her whole mantle is to die for in fact.  I just love it!

Then, Craft Goodies made these adorable 2x4 turkeys.  They are really cute and would be a ton of fun to make.  I have a fondness for 2x4 crafts.  I think they are just a lot of fun.

And speaking of 2x4's.  Young and Crafty made these adorable Christmas trees.  These are definitely going on my to do list.

 
And then last, but not least, Kristi from Life through the Lens guest posted on Tatertots and Jello and shared the tutorial on this amazing yarn ball wreath.  I think it is such a cool and neat wreath idea.  Great job!


Once again, you guys rock.  I love browsing through blogland and seeing all the fun and inspiring ideas.  It's what keeps me creating. 

If you were featured, feel free to grab a button.