Christmas Gifts

Here are a few items I've managed to craft this year. Some will be going out as gifts to family and friends. I certainly hope they enjoy them.

Valentine's Wreath, Part Deux

I made a lovely Valentine's wreath last year and used candy conversation hearts after I was inspired by a pin on Pinterest demonstrating how to do it. While it looked great when I was finally done, it did not stand up to the penetrating rays of the early morning sun coming through the glass of our front door. The candy faded and it didn't look as nice at the end of the month as it did when I first made it.

I decided that this year, I needed to find a different idea for a Valentine's wreath and headed back to Pinterest. I found inspiration at this blog post and here's what I came up with when I sat down to make my own.

Obviously, mine is not as nice as the one in the original blog post but what I like about this is that you can customize it to your liking. In sum total, I think I probably spent less than $3 for this little wreath. Quite the bargain, if you ask me.

Christmas Crafts, Part 2

Here's yet another Christmas craft creation. I did this one to fill a void above our fireplace. Very simple. And I can't take credit for this one. My husband actually suggested using these miniature stockings. Kudos to him because it turned out pretty good, I think.

Christmas Crafts, Part 1

I have several wonderful hand-crafted gifts made but I can't post the pictures until after Christmas in order to keep the recipients from finding out what they're getting for Christmas. I can't wait to post the pictures, though because these projects turned out really well.

However, the Christmas decorating bug has bitten me and I've been doing some new things around the house. To quote Dear Husband: "It's like I'm looking at Pinterest with our house in the background." Yes, dear, indeed it is.

Halloween Home Decor

These did not turn out exactly like I wanted, but it wasn't bad for a first time attempt at this sort of craft. I think I'll do it again for Christmas and take what I learned from this experience and apply it to my next set.

Fall Wreath

I've been wanting to experiment with using different wreath forms for a while. It's impossible to find wreath forms where I live and I can't afford to run to the city for one whenever I want/need one so when I came across a series of pins on Pinterest talking about using pool noodles for wreath forms, I was all over it. Pool noodles are plentiful around here during the summer. I picked one up at the store the other day on clearance and used it for this project.

I won't go into detail on how to make the wreath form with the pool noodle as you can find a great tutorial (and adorable wreath) here. As you'll be able to see, I even followed the same steps for using fabric with mine. Note: I cut off about a foot from my pool noodle in order to make it the right size for our door.

I found some beautiful fall leaves at Dollar General the other day and thought they'd be perfect for this project. I think they were a dollar a package and me being me, I misjudged how many I would need and purchased six packages. Depending on your own design and tastes, it may take that many, but I think I ended up using maybe 2 packages. I now have lots of leftover leaves for other projects. Each package contained different colors.

And here the finished product.

 I hot-glued everything, including the loop of ribbon on the back to hang it. In sum total, the entire project cost me less than $10. I used leftover fabric I'd bought on clearance long ago, the pool noodle was on clearance, and the leaves were cheap. It looks great on our door, too, but I don't have a picture of that.

Enjoy and keep crafting!

"Redneck" Cake Stand

I haven't posted in quite a while. When May rolled around, it seemed that my calendar filled up quickly with things besides work. June wasn't much better but after this week, here's to hoping that things slow down until the middle of August.

With Independence Day around the corner, there are always parties and festivities to attend and most of those are going to require you to take some sort of side dish or dessert. Lately, I've been into the taking desserts mode and this month is no different. I volunteered to work on Independence Day but I figured if I was going to work, I'd make it a bit more bearable for myself and my co-workers by bringing in a special treat. My special treat will be these hot treats and I wanted to make the presentation a little more festive. I don't have any fancy carrying cases or cake stands and I definitely don't want more clean-up than necessary, so I cooked up this idea all on my own: "Redneck" cake stands!

Who doesn't have a little fondness for the ubiquitious red party cup? It's so versatile and the universal symbol of fun. And it's turned out to be the key supply to my cake stand. I just hot-glued it to the bottom of a red plastic plate, and viola! Instant cake stand. I'll post more pictures once I've made my tasty treats and put the cake stand to the test.