Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Here is a bit of Christmas cheer from me to you! I apologize for the picture quality. I can never seem to figure out how to photograph a Christmas tree, so you will only get little glimpses of parts of the trees. If you have any helpful hints (my photographer friends) please share!

The Princess' Tree

We'll start with my favorite tree. I really wanted to do a lot more with the ornaments and topper on this tree, but I just didn't have the time this year. Maybe next year. But I love the fun pink color and the super cute garland.

Family Room Tree

This tree has a very rustic feeling. I made these balls a few years ago, and I love them. I just glued small red beans and black-eyed peas to a styrofaom ball and used jute as the hanger.

I the pictures you can catch a glimpse of the garland. It looks kind of like rope, but up close you can tell it isn't. This used to be a broken basket. I just pulled the basket apart and used it as garland. I love the way it looks, and best of all, it was free.

Tree in the Library

This tree was the worst to photograph, so again, sorry. I got this tree topper years ago, not long after I got married. I paid entirely too much for it, and would never even consider spending that kind of money on a tree now, but I do love it. And I am so glad I was frivolous years ago so I've been able to enjoy it for all these years.

I made these ornaments with some frosted balls, ribbon, and two floral picks that I intertwined.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!

I'm linking up to Funky Junk's Christmas Trees Unite.

Let the Countdown Begin

Well okay, it actually began a couple of days ago, but whatever.

Take one unfinshished wood frame. Add scrapbook paper, chipboard, stencils, stamps, ribbon, and of course the everfaithful Mod Podge... and voila! You're counting down until Christmas.

I don't know about you, but I better get off this computer and start getting ready for Christmas.

Confession

There is something that consumes me, and if you know me, you will instantly know what it is, but if you only know me through this little blog, you probably have no idea. That's because this is the one place I try to keep free of my obsession. The one place you will not have to listen to me go on and on and on about EDWARD, and BELLA, and JACOB, and VAMPIRES, and WEREWOLVES...etc. My plan was to always keep this one little area of my life Twilight free, but alas, when something becomes such a fulblown obsession, it is bound to show up everywhere. Nothing can be left free of it. So this is me officially coming out of the Twilight closet on my crafty and -up until now - Twilight free blog.

Is there any relevance of my "outing" to this blog? Why, yes there is, otherwise it would still be Twilight free. For the opening of New Moon I went to a pre-movie party and was asked to bring a dessert. I was so excited. And suddenly my creative juices stopped flowing, maybe I was just a little too emotional over the whole thing to think clearly. I wracked my brains, I scoured the internet... nothing. I found lots of ideas, but nothing "spoke" to me. Then my neighbor sent me this link. Here it was, the idea I had been looking for. The one that finally said, "pick me, pick me!" So I did. And here is the final result:

They are obviously red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The frosting has clear sugar sparkles on top (a nod to Edward's sparkling body). The fork picks, for Forks, WA where the story takes place, are holding quotes from New Moon. And of course, the quotes are typed in each character's font used in the book. I think they turned out great, and they were very fun to make!

Use #158 For An Old Window Frame

A hair clip holder.

I found an old window frame for $3.00. I knew what I wanted it to become almost instantly. I had to paint it so it would match the princess's room, but there was so much texture going on that I didn't want to mess that up.

So I used plain old acrylic paint and just gave it one light coat. It is completely flat and very thin so that you can still see through it in most places.

I stapled some pink ribbon to the back and and screwed in some hooks at the bottom for bracelets and necklaces.

I love it when something is not only pretty, but functional as well. This has them both covered, and the princess loves it, too.

Pink Shabby Christmas

This summer I picked up the most adorable little pink tree with pink lights to go in the princess's very "shabby" (as in Shabby Chic, not as in crappy) bedroom this Christmas. I got it for a just a few pennies.

Yesterday I decided that it would look great with a tied garland. I used scraps from the quilt I made for her bed.

First I cut the scraps into strips.

Why are they sorted on the carpet? Yes, I do have a craft table with a chair... I prefer to work on the floor.

I got some ribbon and started tying the fabric strips into knots around the ribbon. When I was finished, I trimmed all the ends of the fabric to about the same length.

Isn't it lovely?

Garland done, ornaments are next!

Hickory Dickory Dock

This little mouse did not go up the clock, but he was the most adorable little trick-or-treater ever.



I made this costume for my six year old's 1st Halloween. Then when my daughter was 1 I moved the cheese bow up by her ear, and she was the sweetest little girl mouse. Now it has come out again for Baby K's first Halloween. That's not to mention all the times it has been loaned out to friends.

I know there are some great store-bought costumes out there, but this thing has held up incredibly well over the years. Quality - that's what I love most about homemade.

Where Have I Been?!

I love Mod Podge.

No - I adore Mod Podge.

It has got to be one of the greatest inventions of all time. A little Mod Podge, a little paper, and voila! Instant masterpiece. Well, okay, maybe not masterpiece, but you get the idea. This stuff is a crafter's dream.

So as much as I love Mod Podge and as much as I am always searching out new crafty blogs, how on earth did I miss Mod Podge Rocks ?

And why have I always thought it was "Modge Podge"? Did I never once actually read the bottle?

Anyway - back to Mod Podge Rocks. I'm probably about the only crafter in the world who hasn't been to this blog, but if by some chance there is someone out there reading this who, like me has been completely missing this, you must go check it out.

This is the picture from today's post, and I feel so inspired. I'm thinking... little girl... playset... Santa... adorable pictures are swimming in my mind right now.

Boo!

This is a quick and easy craft the women in my church's craft group will be making this week.

Now I get to start thinking about our Christmas craft.

Refinishing Wood

On my last post about my refinished desk, I was asked a question about how I did it. I started to give a quick response in a comment, but I decided it would make a good post. So here is the skinny (or probably not so skinny) on refinishing wood.

1st - you have to consider what kind of condition the wood is in and how you want the finished product to look. If you are painting it you just need to scuff in up a little with sandpaper. If you are staining it the wood will need to be completely stripped with some kind of chemical stripper.

If you are painting it and want the piece to be nice and new-looking, fix any holes or cracks or dings with wood putty. Let it dry and sand it flush. I'm not sure of the exact process for fixing imperfections if you are planning to stain the wood.

I like a more aged and worn look, so I leave the dings and cracks as they are. I think it adds character.

Next - If you are staining it, just rub the stain on, wait a bit, and rub off the excess. Then seal it with polyurethane or wood wax, and you are done.

If you are painting, give a good even coat or two of primer (I like the spray - it's quicker and easier). If you are painting, you need to use a good primer to cover the entire surface. There are different color primers. Basically, if you are painting a light color use a light color; if you are painting a dark color, use a darker primer. Easy enough.Then just paint and enjoy!

Tips (learned from experience):

Paint with primer in it does NOT equal a primer coat. You will have problems with pealing.

Black stain is not really black. If you want black you have to paint.

For the desk I just finished I didn't do any surface repairs. I painted the body with Kilz Semi-Gloss Bulgar Wheat paint. (The guy mixing the paint kept calling it "Burglar Wheat" hehe.) Then I mixed 1 part water and 1 part Ralph Lauren Satin Ebony paint and used it as a wash for the desk surfaces so the wood shows through just slightly.

Hope this was helpful for anyone starting a refinishing project. Good luck!

A New Look for an Old Desk

I loved the form of this old desk. All the compartments and drawers were beautiful. It was worn out and ugly, but I just knew it had potential.

Here is the finished product.

That is one amazing transformation! It's amazing what a little paint can do.

Welcome Fall!

I just love the fall.

And Modge Podge is a very dear friend of mine.

A Fairy Tea Party

My little princess just had her 4th birthday. She wanted to have a fairy tea party. We had the party in the back yard. A party with fairies just has to be held outdoors, if at all possible, don't you think?


The invitations

At the party, the girls sat on toadstools.

The place cards were tiny flowerpots.

We ate flower-shaped sandwiches, fruit wands, and white chocolate dipped strawberries.

We had flower and toadstool cupcakes.

When the girls first arrived, Tinkerbell sent them on a treasure hunt. When they completed the hunt, they each received their own set of wings.

We played Evil Fairy Freeze Tag, Musical Toadstools, and had a buzzing contest. The fairies each made their own wand that matched the color of their wings.

All the fairies sat in a circle on their toadstools while the birthday fairy opened her gifts.

All the little fairies had a wonderful time, and the birthday fairy was so happy with her party that she wants to do it again next year!

Jam, Pie, and a Blue Ribbon

Yesterday I entered my strawberry pie in a neighborhood fair pie baking contest. I didn't take a picture of it because I wasn't going to win. I was just doing it for the fun of it. Well, guess what? I won!!! Can you believe it? I won the blue ribbon!!! (I do have to point out that it was just a neighborhood contest and only included about 9 or 10 pies - I'm not ready for a "real" contest by any means.) But I was still quite pleased with myself. Then I realized I hadn't taken a picture of my pie. Probably the only pie contest I will ever enter and win, and I didn't have a picture of it. AAAACCCKKK!!!! This has got to be documented because I am sure that 100 years from now my great-grandchildren are going to want to know all about how their great-grandma won a neighborhood pie contest thereby changing the entire course of their lives. They will want to know what this wonderful pie looked like, and I will have failed them all because I didn't take a picture. This is all they will have to look at:

The shame, the guilt, it's all too much. So I took a picture of my ribbon with the pie that I had made for my family, because no mother can make a pie to take somewhere else without making an identical pie for her family. She may just find herself kicked out of the house for a blunder such as that. So, although this is not the actual pie that won the contest, it is pretty darn close. The other pie was a bit prettier, it was fuller and the whipped cream was not melting, but it's close enough.

To celebrate my victory I made Triple Berry Jam.... mmmmmmmmmm.

I love homemade jam.

ABC's & 123's

How do I help my kids get rid of "summer squishy-brain," as we call it at our house?

By making alphabet and number shaped sugar cookies. You would be amazed at all the number and alphabet games that were played in our house.

"Summer squishy-brain" has left the building!

Semi-Homemade

A REALLY long time ago I posted about how I was wondering if I should make Baby K's blessing outfit, or if I should use one of the ones I made for my other boys. Later I told you that I had "sort of" made him his own outfit, but that I was waiting to get the pictures back before I wrote my post. I know you thought the day would never come, but I just got the pictures back about 2 days ago, so here is the long-awaited post.

I decided to call his outfit "Semi-Homemade"

Shirt - Store bought

Tie - Homemade

Socks - Store bought

Booties - Homemade

Shorts - Store bought

Blanket - Homemade

There you have it - "Semi-Homemade."

{Thanks to my wonderful friend for the great pictures. She took some REALLY fantastic pictures. Visit her blog here.}

Everything's Better in Miniature!

I have a very girly party coming up soon. Here's a quick peek at something I'm working on for the party.



These tiny terra cotta pots are only about 1 inch diameter. I love these! Why is everything so much better when it is tiny?

Sectional Reupholstery - Day 1

Yesterday began the reupholstery of my sectional sofa. Here is a glimpse of the before:


I thought it would be best to tackle this one section at a time. I decided to begin with the corner section.


The tools I used...

pliers, hammer, flathead screwdriver, seam ripper, and a sharpie for labeling the fabric pieces as they came off. Are they the proper tools for this job - probably not. Did they do the job - absolutely!


Three whole minutes into the project I broke my seam ripper. I guess not all seams are created equal. Is that a bad omen?


30 minutes into the project and here's what we have:


At this point I'm thinking, "This is a piece of cake! This isn't going to take me near as long as I thought. I'll have this piece stripped in another hour."


4 1/2 hours later...


The first piece is stripped and ready to go. Today I get to start cutting fabric!