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!

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:

Safety Pin Bracelet and Napkin Rings

I'm still waiting for my shipment... dang postal service.  So in the meantime I have rearranged my schedule so I can hopefully get back on track.  That's the problem with making yourself a schedule, if something doesn't go as planned then everything gets thrown off.  I guess the lesson learned is quit trying to be organized! ;)

Since I'm going to be sharing some Christmas gift ideas over the next couple of weeks, I thought it would be great to start with this fun, easy and inexpensive idea that would be great for any of the women in your life.  Let me introduce you to the safety pin bracelet.

Super fun right?  I of course made a Christmas bracelet but you could used any color beads to make whatever suits your fancy.

Its really simple to make too.  All you do is get a pack of safety pins and some beads.  Be sure your beads are big enough to fit onto the safety pin.  Then just open the pin, add some beads (I used 5 per pin) and then close them up again.  Once you have all your pins beaded you take a couple lengths of clear stretchy cording and string them up.  One string going through the back of the pin and the other through the front.  Make sure your beads all face the same directions and turn the pins around each time.  Once its long enough, just knot closed and you are done!  (Does that make sense? I was going to do a picture tutorial but it is really so simple I felt stupid taking the pictures so I stopped.  If any one has any questions, just email me.)

After making my first bracelet I had the brilliant idea of making them into napkin rings.  Super cute too!

They are made the exact same way, just smaller.

So for about $20 in materials (that's with 2 packs of safety pins) you can make 4-5 bracelets or 3-4 (set of 4) napkin rings.  Now that's a cute $5 gift!

As always, I will be linking to these parties.