Christmas in October- Your Dog's Paw Print Ornament

I mention my kids all the time on my blog, but have not talked much about the fact we have a dog. Oscar, our little old man of a dog, is the best pet anyone could ever ask for. He loved us and the kids beyond belief and it truly a member of our family. Here is our little old man.

I have looked for years for a way to make an ornament with his paw print and have not found anything that I thought would work well. Oscar is getting old, he turned 10 this year, so I was determined this was the year I would get his paw print so we could have it forever.

Well, when I made the corn starch and baking soda ornaments ( see post with full instructions here ) I had really hoped I could use the same technique to create a paw ornament. I am absolutely overjoyed to share with you that it worked! It worked far better than I had expected.

For the full instructions on how to make the dough, check out the original post here.

There recipe I used for this was:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups cool water

Once the dough cooled, I rolled out a large circle to be approximately 1/4 inch thick. With the help of my husband, we carefully placed Oscars paw on the dough. Be sure to put the paw down from the top (not coming in from an angle) and press down on all 'toes' gently. Then lift the paw straight back up again.

Oscar has longer hair and I found that this left no residue on his paws. My mistake was I did this paw print right after he came in from running around outside and it appears he had some dirt on his paw. It adds to it :) I then used a scalloped cookie cutter to make the ornament shape and a straw to make the hole to hang the ornament. I made 3 just in case.

I carefully transfer the ornament to a flat plat (be sure it is flat otherwise the ornament will have a curve). I let them dry for 24 hours, carefully flipping them every once and a while.

Once dry, I took the ornaments outside to my spray paint area and carefully sealed them with a clear flat spray finish. I am sure you can use Mod Podge to seal the ornament too, perhaps even glitter Mod Podge.

 

Do 3 or 4 really light coats to prevent the ornament from getting too wet. If you are a little heavy with the spray and it appears the ornament is damp, don't worry it will dry again over the next day or so.

You can write the name and date on the back before or after you seal the ornament. I just used a black Sharpie permanent marker.

Once sealed and dry, add some ribbon or raffia and call it a day!

Isn't it great?!

I am so excited about this. I just keep on thinking of all the uses for this recipe. Obviously a baby hand print ornament would work great but I will be making an amazing idea very soon for all you new parents out there that isn't an ornament!

Do any of you out there love their dog as much as we do?  Anyone else as excited as I am by this ornament idea?

P.S. This is a great gift idea too. I managed to get my mom's dog (Oscar's sibling) and make a couple for her too. If you have the dough ready, you can keep it in the fridge in a sealed bag. Once the pet visits, it only takes a few minutes to make the ornament!

Let me know what you think,
Stephanie

Christmas in October - Capture a Photo of Santa in front of your Tree for FREE

WARNING: If you have little ones looking over your shoulder or in the near vicinity, come back and read this post later. Be sure to come back because this is AMAZING!!! But be warned there is a potential spoiler that I do not want to be responsible for sharing. 



I am going to leave some space here just in case :)




Just in case my little ones somehow manage to read this: Guys... I will admit it is next to impossible to capture a real photo of Santa in front of our tree because, as we talked about, Santa moves so fast you can't see him. How else does he get all over the world in one evening? So this is just something to make little ones out there smile.

Last year I was lured to a blog by the idea of creating a photo of Santa standing in front of our Christmas tree. I thought it would be amazing to set up a camera with the kids before they went to bed on Christmas Eve to see if we can catch a glimpse of Santa. Well, when I got to the site, all they were doing was providing a link to a site that sells those photos (a digital download) for $10.

I knew it was something I could make myself...but I did not have the time last year before Christmas. So, since I have a couple of months until I need this, I thought I would take a crack at getting Santa in front of out tree. Well 5 minutes later, with very little effort, this is what I produced. Might not hold up the scrutiny of my curios kids as a professionally printed 8x10, but when printed as a 4x6 or viewed on a camera and it is amazing!

This is not my tree. I used a free wallpaper download to make this... I was too lazy to try to find the photos on our other computer.

If my kids do not see this, I plan to take the 'final photo' of our tree on Christmas Eve so that everything will be exactly the same (i.e. mess on the floor :) ) and insert Santa. I will then save the image back onto our digital camera so when the kids come down Christmas morning and look at the images on the camera they will find the one of Santa! The would be so excited...I am so excited right now. How amazing will this be? That is why I am sharing this in October because I just had to get the idea out there for all of you as soon as possible.

Here is exactly how to do this! I do recommend practicing this in advance of when you need it so you won't be disappointed!

Go on the internet and find a free PNG image of Santa.  I found a site that offers one image that works perfectly, so here is the link but I can't guarantee it is a virus free site. Nothing came up with my million virus blockers but just be cautious. This is the image I found by searching for 'santa photo png' , you will find other images too that might fit better. When you find the image you like, right click and select 'save image as'.

Source

The PNG image has a transparent background so you can overlay it on top of your tree image. It is hard to tell which images are transparent when looking at them on the internet (they usually have all white around them), but once you save them, you can see that the background is transparent. See how the Santa png 2 file has no white around it below when I save it on my Desktop? That means it is transparent.

Using Publisher, I created a new image 8x10 image but size doesn't really matter. That is what she said... sorry couldn't help myself I love The Office.

Select 'insert' 'Picture'. Find the background image you want i.e. the photo of your Christmas tree.

Enlarge the photo to be the size of the background so you don't see any white.

 Then insert picture again and insert your Santa png. If Santa appears behind your background image, click on the background and select 'Send Backwards'.

 This is how mine looked. Santa looked like he was floating in the air, so I moved him down, cropped off the bottom of his feet and enlarged him a bit to fit the proportions of the background.

 

 The save the image as a JPEG by selecting 'Save As' andthen select 'JPEG' fro the pull down list.

 Be sure to change the resolution to 'High Quality Printing'

Here is the finished image. I prefer the first image where the background is brighter but this is the one I used to make the tutorial and I didn't want to do it all over again.

You can either print this image at any photo printing location (i.e. Walmart, Costce, etc.) or save it back to your digital camera memory and have the kids find it there.

What do you think? Will you be able to use this?

Is anyone else as excited by this as I am?

Please let me know what you think! I would really love to hear what you think about this.
Stephanie at Full of Great Ideas

Christmas in October - Free Printable I am Thankful for..

This is one of my all time favorite poems, quotes, whatever you want to call it I love it. I originally made this  piece for myself to hang in my hallway where I see it everyday. If you have never seen this quote before, please take a minute to read it because it really does make you think. (If you click on the image it will open larger in another window)

The timing for me to share this is appropriate for my fellow Canadian's as this weekend is our Thanksgiving. I know most of you reading this aren't even thinking about Thanksgiving yet, but you can always Pin it and come back in a month and a half if you want to use it for Thanksgiving decoration.
I do not know if this will be a Christmas gift that I will give  (perhaps to a couple close friends), but I thought you might like it for a significant other or just for yourself like me.

"I am Thankful" was originally printed in the Family Circle magazine in November of 1999 by Nancy J. Carmody. I have taken her article and changed the order slightly so that 'I am alive' appears at the bottom. I have known about this piece for a while but do not know 100% if the version I have is exactly as she wrote it. To be honest with you, I can't find the original source. Also, there are two different spellings of her name, so please forgive me Nancie/Nancy if I used the wrong one :)

I produced this as an 8x10 image in two different colors. I hate to say this, but please use this only for personal use. I love offering free ideas and cheap gifts to everyone but hate when I stumble upon someone making money off it.

To download the image:

• leave me a comment :) (not required but I really do love to know what you think)
• right click on the color image you want and select open in a new window or tab
• on the full size image, right click again and select save as
• save it to a place on your computer where you can easily find it
• send it to your favorite photo developer, find a frame and you can cross another Christmas gift off your list.

Here is the red image for download

Here is the teal image for download

If you would like another color or one without the box on the top, leave me a comment and I will try my best to make the changes you want.

What do you think of this? Do you think you will use it for Thanksgiving, Christmas gift or just for yourself?

For all my Canadian readers, have wonderful Happy Thanksgiving and for all my other friends, have a great weekend!
Stephanie

Christmas in October- Free Printable - Be Yourself Everyone Else is Already Taken

Over the next couple of weeks I plan to make a lot of framed quotes for Christmas gifts. I really like the idea of finding a quote that matches the person I am giving it to and since I can make these for next to nothing, I plan to add one to almost every gift I give.

I received such amazing feedback from the last image I shared here for Grandmothers, I will share all the others with you as well. You can download them for free (as long as you use them for personal use only) and print them off as gifts too. Frames can be bought at the Dollar Store, so you too can have a gift for under $2!

I found this quote by Oscar Wilde and immediately thought of my nieces and daughter. I remembered when I was young and struggling with who I was and how I should act. So I thought this would be a nice reminder for the girls to be themselves.

Here are the fonts I used in case you would like to find them:

• Be and Else is Already -  Ashley font
• Yourself  and Taken- Algerian font
• Everyone and Oscar Wilde- Rosewood Std Regular

I created this with Publisher as both a 5x7 and an 8x10 image. I think I will give the girls 5x7s to my nieces so they can put it their bedrooms without it seeming too large, but since I made both sized I thought I would share both options.

Here is the 5x7

 Here is the 8x10

To download the image:

• leave me a comment :) (not required but I really do love to know what you think)
• right click on the size you want and select open in a new window or tab
• on the full size image, right click again and select save as
• save it to a place on your computer where you can easily find it
• send it to your favorite photo developer, find a frame and you can cross one Christmas gift off your list.

UPDATE: I have added a few images with more masculine colors below in case any of you want this for nephews or sons or it just fits your decor better.
5x7 images

8x10 images

 

I would love your feedback about what you think of this and who you would like to give it to. If you would like other colors, leave me a comment and I can see what I can throw together?

How is your Christmas planning coming along? I am working towards a home made gift Christmas and am loving it!

Have a great day!
Stephanie

Make Scented Wax Cubes for a Warmer with your Favorite Candles

I found my absolute favorite candle scent of Yankee Candle in the world! I have not been a fan of the majority of scents out there; I don't like sweet or berry scents, but I do love apple and balsam fir. So when I was in the Yankee Candle outlet over a year ago and found a Macintosh apple scent I literally let out a scream of joy.

I have only burned that candle on special occasions, just so I could keep it for as long as possibly. However, I am sad to say that it no longer burns. I shed a tear the day when the wick would not burn anymore. I was so sad, I kept the jar with an inch and a half of left over was in it. I hated throwing it out because there was still wax in there and I felt it was such a waste.

For those of you who have been following me for a while know that last May I had a little incident with my candle warmer wax being dumped on my white carpet (see here). Well one day when I was waiting for company, I had an Aha moment. You know exactly that I am talking about! When you suddenly think of what seems like the best idea in the world and wonder how you never thought of it before! I would melt my precious 1.5 inches of Macintosh apple candle and use it in my wax warmer!

So I placed my candle in a pot and put approximately 2 inches of water around the base. Be sure not to get water into the candle because wax and water don't mix. I know this because I tried to wash out the empty Yankee candle jar after I was done with this.

I put the pot on the stove and turned my element up to high. I stood by and watched, the entire time the smile on my face grew bigger and bigger as the wax easily melted into a liquid.

It really is that simple! It took only a few minutes of the water boiling for it all to melt. Be sure not to walk away because I am not sure how long the glass will last in the hot water.

Once it was completely melted, I scooped out the metal wick base with a spoon. I had two containers of scented wax cubes so I thought I would use them to create my new scent cubes.

I took out the Better Homes wax and poured in the new Macintosh apple.

My 1.5 inches of left over wax made 12 cubes or two full containers! I let them sit out until they hardened and then put 2 in my wax warmer and the rest in a sealed plastic bag for storage.

So for almost nothing (except the cost of electricity) I was able to convert my favorite candle scent into scented wax cubes that can be heated whenever I want to. I have been using these first 2 cubes for over a week (only a couple hours at a time) and they still are going strong!

I am going to throw this out there...please be careful when doing this. I don't know if these jars are meant to be heated (although they do get really hot when the candles are burning). I had no problems doing this and I loved the result..but be careful just in case.

I am going to make a few sets of these as Christmas gifts for my sister and my mom. I have a few more candles that are almost burned down!

What do you do with the left over wax at the bottom of your candles?

Have a great day,
Stephanie

Fall Pumpkin 4x4s - Decorating on a Dime

My husband went away a few weeks ago for a guys fishing weekend and while he was away I decided to spend the weekend doing crafts. Initially it was to be all Christmas crafts but I decided to throw some Fall items in too.  You know the adage, when the cats away, the mice will play....well in this house it is when Daddy's away, mommy will craft!

You might have seen in previous posts, I have a corner sink in my kitchen. I absolutely love the 4 windows that surround it but I have always had some difficulty deciding what to do on the large triangle shaped ledge behind it. How do I decorate the little nook? I have thought it might be nice to make that my seasonal decoration spot. In the summer I had herbs there, at Christmas I put my ornament tree and at Halloween I tend to put gourds.

I had a left over 4x4s from another craft, so I decided I would cut 1.5 inch  slices off the end of the 4x4 on my husband's miter saw. I have only used this a few times since he bought it so I had to work up a little nerve. So I put on the gorgeous safety glasses he left out for me (why can't they make some that actually fit my small head), plugged in the mighty machine and cut 4 slices of the 4x4. I was grinning from ear to ear after I was done. I ran inside and said to the kids "Look what Mommy just did!" They weren't nearly as excited as I was.

I lightly sanded the rough edges and I painted each piece with a mix of pumpkin orange and burnt umber acrylic paint.

I wanted a deep but not bright orange so this mixture worked well.

I had some large branches left over from the other craft involving the 4x4, so I cut them in 2-3 inch sections. I liked the ones cut on an angle the best.

I hammered in a long finishing nail (I think that is what they are called - the ones with no real head on them) appropriately half way.

 I then pulled the nail out of the 4x4.

I flipped the nail over and hammered the head of the nail into the hole I just made. I honestly don't know if this damages the head of the hammer, but I assumed it was ok. My husband hasn't said anything about it yet, so all is good.

I hammer the nail approximately halfway into the pilot hole.

I took the twig and lined the middle up with the nail.

Hammer the top of the twig until the other half of the nail goes into the twig.

Here are the 4 done. Aren't they cute? I like the ones with the knobs on the twig and the one on the angle. I roughly sanded along the edges with a low grit sandpaper to give it a worn weathered look.

I then cut out of vinyl the words Fall and Boo! on my Cricut. So on one side of the pumpkin it says Fall in white and the other side has Boo! in black. I like the idea I can put these somewhere you can see both sides.

I tied some raffia around the stems and made some curly ques with left over paper covered wire from making the wire pumpkins.

I am very please with how they turned out. The wood has started to dry and it has cracked on a couple of the edges making it look a little more rustic, I like that.

So since I had all the materials on hand, this project cost me nothing.

What do you think? Do you do seasonal decorating?

Stephanie