Christmas crafting

I recently went on a Christmas crafting frenzy so I could stock my space at the shop with some cheerful goodies for those early-bird holiday shoppers. I gave you a sneak peak of some of them in this photo a couple of posts ago.


And today I'm going to give you a closer look.

I've said it before and I'll say it again- I am not terribly original but I can copy just about anything. Most of these projects were inspired by others, so I'll be sharing the links to them so you can try these projects yourself if you want.

These mason jar snow globes are an Anthropologie knock-off.

I made some more this afternoon and considered doing a full tutorial, but they're just so easy it seemed silly. So if you want to make some, here's a mini-tutorial.

You'll need:
mason jar (mine are from Hobby Lobby)
mini fake trees (got mine at Dollar Tree in a 2-pack with one big and one small)
any other little items you want inside, like mini pine cones
fake snow (any craft store)
glitter
hot glue gun and sticks
ribbon or rope to decorate

Hot glue your trees and other knick-knacks to the inside of the lid. While that dries put a little fake snow and some glitter inside the jar. Place some hot glue along the very inside edge of the top of the lid (where the top of the jar will touch once it's screwed on). DON'T put the glue on the threads of the lid. Carefully screw the lid on tight. Tie on some ribbon to decorate it a little further, shake and enjoy!

Moving on...

I really love old sheet music and have collected quite a few vintage hymnals. I found one recently that had the edges of the pages dyed red, which was perfect for these Christmas crafts. I used it to make some ornaments (inspired by Miss Mustard Seed).





And a couple of nice big wreaths.

These book page trees on timber bases look pretty cute clustered together. (Inspiration found here.) Instead of folding every page like the linked tutorial says, I just cute through the pages with an Exacto knife from the top inside corner to the bottom outside corner (or an inch or so in from the corner for a skinnier tree). Each tree also has a skewer glued inside the binding, which fits into a hole that I drilled into the base. That way the trees can be more secure on their bases for display but can come apart for storing.

Here's a closer look at the candles like in the photo above. The possibilities for these are endless! (Tutorial found here.)

Remember my thrifty finds from this post? Here's what I did with them.

These silver pieces were pretty cute as-is, but they got a little polish before going into my space at the store.

Did you know that plain old white toothpaste is a pretty good silver polish? That's what I've used on the last few pieces of really tarnished silver that I've cleaned up and it works great! Just smear it on, let it sit then, wipe it off with a clean, dry cloth.

This artichoke finial just needed a little spruce.

So I painted the base of it a creamy white, glazed and distressed it and then used some Antique Gold Rub 'n Buff on the center designs.

I forgot to take an "after" photo of the gold candlestick in the photo below, but it also got painted creamy white, then glazed and distressed. For now I'm keeping the silver photo holder.

The wooden box got some new rope handles and some lovely French typography on the side. (Oh, and there's that newly polished bud vase next to it!)

The typography was an image from The Graphics Fairy (of course) and I used my tutorial to transfer the image onto the wood.

I have to admit, even after all that Christmas crafting, I'm not really in the Christmas mood yet. It's after Thanksgiving and I have no desire to pull out my Christmas decorations. I hit a thrift store today and found a few boxes of vintage ornaments that prompted the cashier to ask me if I was setting up my tree this weekend. I felt kind of silly when I said no.

Still, I listened to Christmas music on my Pandora station while making snow globes. Hopefully the mood strikes soon! Are you in full-blown Christmas mode yet?

Tutorial: Make an embroidered fabric photo ornament

Last night I finally sat down and made my baby's first Christmas ornament. I have a thing for photo ornaments, but I also wanted to incorporate some of the fabric I used for his crib bedding, as well as a little embroidery. Here's what I came up with.

Even if the ornament itself hadn't turned out well, how could it not be cute with that little face on it?


I didn't take photos while I was making it because I wasn't planning on doing a tutorial. But this morning I figured I could give it a try using (bad) drawings. Don't be fooled by all the steps. This really is a very easy project. So here goes:

How to make an embroidered fabric photo ornament.

You'll need:
sewing machine
thread
pins
scissors
fabric
thin, clear vinyl (optional)
pencil or disappearing ink marker
photo
embroidery floss
hand sewing needle
embroidery hoop (I used a 3" hoop)
hot glue gun
felt
ribbon


1. Using your embroidery hoop as a guide, cut 2 pieces of fabric for your front that are about 1" larger than the hoop.

2. Cut one back piece of the same size in a plain fabric (this will not show).

3. Lay front pieces together, right sides facing, and trace a circle in the center with a pencil or disappearing ink marker that is about 2" in diameter.

4. Stitch along your marked circle.
5. Trim away the fabric inside the stitched circle to about 1/4".

6. Clip notches in the seam allowance very close to the stitching, all the way around the circle.

7. Turn fabric right side out by pushing one side through the hole.


8. Finger press the circle, then press with an iron.


9. (This step & step 10 can be ommitted if you don't have or want vinyl to protect the photo.) Place a larger circle of vinyl over the fabric circle. Pin together carefully at the edges so as not to make any pin holes where the vinyl shows through the fabric circle.


10. Turn over so the vinyl is on the bottom and stitch close to the edge of the fabric.


11. Embroider whatever you'd like very near the hole (year, baby's name, etc.).


12. (No photo) Print photo of your subject to appropriate size for hole.

13. Center photo on the back piece and stitch along the top to keep in place.


14. Place front piece on top of photo and back piece, centering the photo behind the vinyl.


15. Carefully place into wooden hoop, tightening fabrics evenly on all sides.


16. (No photo) Trim excess fabric on back to about 1/2" and glue to the edge of the hoop with hot glue.

17. Cut a piece of felt the same size as the hoop and glue to back to cover raw fabric edges.


18. Add a ribbon to the top and hang on your tree to enjoy!

Christmas decorations

I completely forgot to post photos of my finished tree!! Man, what a slacker I am! Anyway, here she is:

After I took this photo I made a proper skirt from oyster colored burlap and trimmed it with a wide plaid ribbon. I'd have posted a photo but my couches are now pushed back together and they hide the whole base of the tree, and frankly I'm just too lazy to move them out of the way. :)









We cut several low branches off the tree so there'd be room for presents underneath, and here's what I decided to do with them. (Keep in mind, these photos were taken a few minutes ago so the branches have had a couple of weeks to dry out and curl a bit, but I think they still look okay.) You can click to enlarge and see the details a bit better.





Here are a few more decorations I have around my house this season. I'm in love with this beautiful feather wreath that I got at Joann for 50% off. I added in the little bronze ornaments for some sparkle, but they're removable because I just couldn't bear to mess with such a lovely wreath.


For fall I'd hung some grapevine garland along my curtain rod, then just stuck in a few red berry sprigs to add a little color for Christmas time.


I made this wreath for my front door after seeing this one featured on someone's blog (can't remember where, I'm afraid) and totally loved it. I had some of this webbing left from an upholstery project so I just bought an inexpensive straw wreath form at Michael's and wrapped it up in jute!


And here's today's project, found on this blog by way of this blog. I love hanging things above my dining room table. I don't know why, but I do. And I do it a lot. These paper ornaments are festive and pretty, and so so very easy (and inexpensive!) to make. I love that they go with the blue theme I've got in my dining/kitchen area.




If I don't get back here before the new year, I hope you all have wonderful holidays!