Christmas Ornament Tree

Do you remember the beautiful Christmas ball wreaths from last year? Well I made two of them and absolutely love them! So I was trying to figure out what I could do this year with Dollar Store Christmas balls and here is what I came up with.

Materials needed:
Styrofoam cone
Tinsel garland
Medium and small (plastic) Christmas balls
Glue gun and LOTS of glue
Ribbon bow





Method:

I wrapped the Styrofoam cone with Dollar Store tinsel garland and glued it down as I went. I have tried to spray paint the styrofoam before putting the ball on, but it doesn't work. The tinsel really hides any gaps and imperfections..definitely worth the $1.

I then started to glue the balls onto the tinsel, starting with the medium sized ones at the bottom and then filled in the gaps with the smaller. The ornaments just seem to be hanging from tinsel but they stick :)

Keep turning the tree around as you go or it will topple over. 

 I was amazed at how much glue was used. In the end I had to go around and clean up the tree of glue strings :)

I couldn't figure out exactly how to finish off the top so I tied a ribbon bow and glued it down. It did not look bad with the ornaments alone on the top but I felt it needed something else.

I think the total for this was $5 or $6 for the ornaments, $1 for the tinsel and $3 for the Styrofoam.

Enjoy!
Stephanie

Ballard inspired Burlap covered vase

When I was in the US a couple of weeks ago, I was overjoyed to visit and (fill my trunk full of stuff) at Dollar Tree.  I bought a few of the $1 vases that everyone has been turning into hurricanes. I have not got around to doing this yet but when I saw the Burlap vase at Ballard Designs I knew I could easily do that at home for $1.  Why pay $49 when you can do it for $1? Then I was thinking about how I could personalize this to fit into a wedding and here is what I came up with.

$1 to make

$49 to buy (source Ballard Design)

Materials:
Burlap (preferably free like mine:) )
$1 vase from Dollar Tree
Hot glue gun

If you want to personalize it:
White fabric paint
Stencil

 Method:
Cut the burlap to approximately 5 1/2 inches high. If you want to fold the edges over to prevent fraying, add 2 inches to the height. You will need to iron the inch on either side. I did not do this because these vases will not be touched really and there is little chance of fraying.

 

 Using hot glue, glue the one edge to the vase. You can use a more permanent glue if you like but I liked the idea or reusing the vase when I get bored of the burlap.

 Wrap the burlap around the vase and glue the other end to overlap the burlap. Cut the excess off.

 This is my first one I made for myself.

 Then I wanted to make one for my brother who is getting married in the summer. I thought I would try to duplicate what people use to carve into tree..you  know the S+H. So I made a stencil of a heart and of their initials. Using fabric paint and a sponge brush I stenciled the white paint onto the burlap.

 Here is what it looked like when I was done. I wonder if I should have done the heart in red.

 An now with some hydrangeas that were still on my plants.

 

 What do you think?
Stephanie

Burlap Stockings out of Free Coffee Sack

My younger brother Chris and his fiance Elissa are earth conscious people who happen to be getting married next summer.  As we all know, the hot trend for home decor is burlap but for those of us who do not know someone getting married..burlap is also hot as wedding decor!  So Chris and Elissa have been wondering what decorations they can make for their wedding out of burlap.  So obviously I am willing to help :)

Through a amazing idea from fellow blogger, Mel at Junkin Junky, I was able to get as many FREE burlap coffee sacks from a local coffee roasting company. You heard me right FREE!!!  I wasn't going to be greedy on the first visit so I only took a trunk full :) I shared with my sister and mom too.The only downfalls to this are my garage stinks from the burlap, I am always covered in fibers and we have unroasted coffee beans everywhere. But I still don't care..Free is great!

With a garage full of burlap and me just itching (not only from the burlap) to make something, I thought I would test out a few techniques on the burlap that could be used in the future to make wedding banners, gift bags, etc. etc.  I wanted to make something seasonally appropriate i.e. Christmas so I thought I would try my hand at a stocking for Chris and Elissa.

I had planned on running to the local Dollar Store to pick up a $1 stocking to be used for the shape but I was far to anxious and could not wait. So I taped some paper together and drew something that resembled a stocking.

 I knew I wanted to keep three things on the burlap sack I was using.

1. the twine tied spine
2. the "Save the Amazon. Use jute" logo
3. the green stripe

I lined the pattern up to allow me to keep these three things and cut it out.

 I turned the attached pieces inside out (matching the right sides together) and sewed a straight stitch. I then went back and sewed a wide zig zag stitch to prevent fraying. 

 I did the stitches in green hoping I could show you clearly but it really isn't clear. Sorry.

 I turned the stocking right side out and ironed it.

 Using freezer paper and a Cricut cutter, I cut out Chris' name in the font and size I wanted.

  

 

 I ironed (with medium dry heat) the freezer paper template for the name onto the top of the burlap stocking.

 I put a piece of paper between the two layers of the stocking and painted in black the name.

Carefully remove the freezer paper and let it dry.

 I think I might grab a stocking for shape next time because I don't think it is perfect. But I am so happy with the end result.

One custom made, environmentally friendly burlap stocking...for free!

Five fingers/ Handprint snowman ornament

Every year I make a Christmas ornament with my kids for our tree plus one for Grandparents. My daughter made the five snowmen/hand print snowman ornament at school when she was 4 and I have always loved it. So, I decided to make it at home and am pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.

I bought the 6 red Christmas balls at Dollar Tree for $0.25!!! I went to the US on a girls weekend away a few weeks ago and I have to say I am officially jealous of all of you who live by a Dollar Tree. So the grand total for this entire project is....drum roll please....25 cents!!! 25 cents to make 2 ornaments (one from my son and one from my daughter) for me, 2 for my mom and 2 for my mother in law!! I could not be happier.

Materials:
Christmas balls (medium size, solid color of your choice)
White craft paint
Sharpie markers in a few colors

Method:

Put craft paint on a paper plate and have your child press their hand into it.

Carefully put the ornament in the palm of your child's hand leaving their fingers flat.

Have your child slowly close fingers around the ornament.

Hold the top of the ornament and have the child open fingers and lift the ornament from hand.

Place the ornament on a cup or in an egg carton to dry.

Once dry, use sharpie markers to draw accents i.e. arms, eyes, hat, etc. Don't press too hard or the paint will come off.

I wrote my child's name and date on the bottom so we know when it was done and by whom.

I also wrote 'Merry Christmas' on the back but you can't really see it in the picture.
Tie a ribbon around the top and you have a grandparent gift! 

Enjoy!
Stephanie

A few additions to this post: 
If you are doing this with really little hands, use the small ornaments and paint their hand with the paint. This will work far better.

If you don't like how the fingers look after you have put them on the ornament, you can easily wash the paint off the ornament and start over (as long as the paint is still wet). This is the joy of working with non-permanent paint :)

As someone mentioned in the comments, there is a poem that goes with this. I personally don't use it but here it is for those of you who want the poem:
These aren't just five snowmen
As anyone can see.
I made them with my hand
Which is a part of me.
Now each year when you trim the tree
You'll look back and recall
Christmas of 2010
When my hand was just this small!

Super Cute Grandparent Gift - Kids feet and hands Christmas Rug

YEAH! My first Christmas post...I can't tell you how excited I am.

Do any of you have problems at Christmas thinking of unique gifts for Grandparents from your kids?  I struggle every year with this. So I thought I would share my absolute favorite gift I have made with my kids for their grandparents.

I love using hand and foot prints for crafts as you can see how the kids have grown over the years, so that year I decided to use both hands and feet to make a small rug for the grandparents.
(The rug in the picture above was not 100% done, I put scarves on the snowmen and I wrote Merry Christmas on the top of some of them. I wasn't planning on posting them on a blog when I made them :) )

Materials:
Small area rug with a low 'pile' texture
Permanent fabric paint in white, green, black and various accent colors
Painters tape
Children who will listen (the listening part is not mandatory :) )
 
Method:
I used a small mat with a low pile or texture to it. If the pile is too high, this won't work. You can find mats at Walmart for $3 (the one I used I got at Walmart for $15) or even go to a Carpet store to see if they sell the sample colors.

I taped the border of the rug with painters tape so I didn't have to worry about paint getting on the outer edge.

I painted both of my kids feet white with permanent fabric paint and then lifted them up and put both feet down at the same time on the rug to make the snowman. Your kids toes will be the bottom of the snowman and the heel is the head. Push down on the foot (not to hurt them) to make sure as much paint comes off as possible.

 

My son requested some of the snowmen do hand stands so some snowmen were upside down. Do you see how flat my son's feet are? You can see the arches in my daughter's snowmen but my son's look like little bricks :) So cute!

I did the same with their hands and green paint to make the trees.  

If the paint on the snowman or tree is a little light (i.e. not enough ends up on the rug), just dip your finger in the paint and dab it on the rug to darken the color)
I then add a little bit of extras (e.g. scarves, hats, arms, lights and star on the tree, etc.) to the rug.



The cost for this can be really low. If you get a mat for $3 and the paint is around $1 each color (it goes a long way) you can do both sets of grandparents for around $10!!

I gave these to grandparents, aunts and friends. My kids had a great time and I think the recipients love that these gifts come out once a year for a couple of months and then get packed away.

Let me know what you think.

Stephanie