Crinkle Ornaments

I have plenty of scrapbook paper leftover from other projects, so I wanted to use it to make some more tree ornaments.

I came up with the "crinkle ornament."

First, I gathered my supplies (does a silly kitten count as a supply?).

I cut a strip of paper, folded it over and over accordian-style, and then folded it lengthwise to make a little fan. (I used double-sided tape to stick the edges of the fan together.)

I grabbed my trusty buttons.

And I glued them in the center.

Now they're ready for the tree!

(P.S., I'm linking this to Creative Share Wednesday, Blue Cricket's Show and Tell, Strut Your Stuff Thursday, Beyond the Picket Fence, House of Hepworths, Inspiration Friday, Feathered Nest Friday, Sassy Sites, Remodelaholic Friday, Saturday Night Special, and Saturday Soiree.  See their buttons at their permanent home on my sidebar!

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Sweet Christmas Yarn Wreath

Everywhere I turn, I see cute yarn wreaths, and being a wreath lover myself, I had to try one.  I wanted it to be part of my Christmas decore, which I finally started putting out today.

Here is my Christmas yarn wreath:

Since there is not a huge amount of Christmas green or red in my house, I'm having to be a little creative with Christmas decore, opting for white, tan, and maroon for this wreath.

The process is quite simple: take an inexpensive wreath from Hobby Lobby and yarn you already luckily have...

...and wind it around the wreath.  I was surprised at how long this took, and I didn't worry about "winding it pretty" until near the end when I was doing the top layer that would show.

For the embellishment, I cut out some felt circles.

I put the smaller circles on the larger ones, pinched up the bottoms, and ran a needle and thread through them.  Then I pulled it tight and tied it off so that it gathered up nicely like a flower.  (I can't remember what magazine I saw this in recently....maybe Southern Living?  Probably.)

I used hot glue to attach some little glittery berries that I pulled off another holiday stem.  I also glued some berries in a circle along the wreath.

Subtle.  Christmas.  Easy!

(P.S., I am linking this to Craft-O-Matic Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Topsy Turvy Tuesdays, What's Up Wednesday, and White Wednesday...see their buttons at their permanent home on my sidebar!)

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P.S.

What did I do with the leftover toile scrapbook paper from the gift plaque I made for my mother for Christmas?

Cut it into strips and decoupaged it onto a little heart-shaped paper mache Christmas ornament.

Sweet!

Chistmas Gift Plaque

The homemade Christmas streak continues for my mother.  In addition to the sheet music topiary, I made her this initial wall plaque. 

There is something so gratifying about handmade, and for me, the joy of handmade is magnified when I can "repurpose" and thrift my way to a beautiful, "new" creation.

This plaque started out as Halloween decore I got at Ross five years.  I liked it, but decided I could let it go for the sake of something better (anyone else ever have that happen?).



I slapped on a few coats of acrylic paint in the color "Sand."

Here is a little something I got at Goodwill for fifty cents.

It got a "Sand" paint, vintage sheet music, and Mod Podge treatment.

Here is some pretty black toile scrapbook paper I got at Hobby Lobby.

I decoupaged it onto the larger plaque.

Then I glued the smaller plaque onto the larger one.

I bought a $.99 chipboard "I" and painted it black. 

I also smudged a little of the taupe paint on the edges to make it look weathered.  Then the initial went onto the top of the smaller piece.

Two little wooden accents got a coat of black paint and Mod Podge to finish it.

And they were placed on the top and bottom of the large plaque.

The end!

Another handmade gift completed!


(P.S., I linked this to Someday Crafts and Trendy Treehouse.  Please see their buttons at their permanent home on my sidebar!)

Master Bedroom--Filling a Blank Wall

Slowly but surely, I'm making my way through our whole house, decorating and taking no prisoners.  There was a large wall space in our bedroom that was blank, and I didn't have tons of money to buy/make something huge to fill it.  So this is what I came up with...

This is how it looked before. Definitely needs a little something.

Three small items combined.  The grapevine wreath on the burlap ribbon was "made" by me; I hot glued the flower embellishments onto it.  The small pitcher in the middle is an extra creamer pitcher I received for our wedding with some sale flowers from Hobby Lobby, and the grapevine ball on white ribbon was "made" by me as well; I wove in the green vine and white flowers.

The cascading placement gives it a little interest, I think.

(I also added a topiary I made awhile back to the nightstand.)

The cost broke down as follows: $3.99 for the grapevine wreath, $12.99 for the white shelf, and $2.99 for the grapevine ball (I already had everything else).  About $20 for the whole get-up.  To fill a larger space...worth it!

Sheet Music "Topiary"

I find topiaries irresistable.  And decoupage. Anyway...

In addition to making our Christmas ornaments and just being crafty in general, I'm working on making many of my Christmas gifts for this year.  Since my mother is a pianist, and I love topiaries, I decided to try to merge the two into a gift for her.

A sheet music topiary!

Not only was it fun to make, it was inexpensive. Here's how the cost broke down:  $1.50 at Goodwill for the candlestick, $1.99 for a styrofoam ball, $3.99 for craft moss, and $3 at an antique store for vintage sheet music (I already had wooden dowels, and Mod Podge).

I cut the sheet music into thin strips.

Inserted a wooden dowel (I broke the end off to shorten it a bit) into the ball, and decoupaged the strips of music onto it.

I cut down a piece of foam and glued it into the candlestick to support the dowel and ball.

And I glued a little moss to the base of the dowel to hide the foam and glue.

Not hard to do at all, and it turned out very pretty and unique. 

I think she'll love it.



(P.S., I'm linking this to  Second Time Around Tuesday.  I'm also linking to Transformation Thursdays, Saturday Spotlight, Saturday Soiree, Style Feature Saturday, Saturday Nite Special, Just Something I Whipped Up, Motivate Me Monday, and Make it For Monday.  See their buttons at their permanent home on my sidebar!)

Rustic Initial Decore

While working on something similar for a Christmas gift for my mama, I decided to make a little something personalized for our house as well!  After all, I've only been married for five months, so I'm still enthralled by the idea of having a new last initial. :)

The cost of this project broke down as follows:  $1.99 wooden plaque at Michael's, $.79 scrapbook paper, $.99 chipboard letter.  (You will also need a few paint supplies, but I already had most those, luckily!  And if you don't, they won't set you back but a few dollars.)

I painted the edges of the wood "Milk Chocolate."



And decoupaged some pretty scrapbook paper on top.

I painted the "B" with tan paint, then applied a crackle medium (my first time!) and followed up with more Milk Chocolate.  It really did crackle!

And finally, I glued the "B" onto the plaque after sealing everything with a good coat of Modge Podge (love that stuff).  Very simple.

Rustic, pretty, and cheap....just the way I like it!



(P.S. I'm linking this little creation to Inspiration Friday , Feathered Nest Friday, and Remodelaholic....see their buttons at their permanent home on my sidebar!  I'm also linking up to The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday...it's such a pretty blog!)