Christmas Card Display

Each year I get Christmas cards in the mail and I end up putting them in a pile.  So many of them are beautiful pictures or pictures of friends that I would really love to display. 

So.......here's a thrifty suggestion:

Grab an old shutter from the Habitat Restore.......

Grab a bottle of Rustoleum Heirloom White.....and spray!

Get your Christmas cards and a cheap container of wire ornament hooks.

Hang....

I am thinking that it needs something more....maybe a red ribbon around the center of each shutter.....any suggestions?? 

Update:

I just couldn't handle the plain....so I added some ribbon and I love it now!!

Just take some Dollar Tree ribbon and staple it to the back.....

...ahh...a little more festive! 

(Now I just need to grab the screwdriver and take off the hinges and add my glass doorknob for the handle....)

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Joy Blocks

Kathy at Dandelions and Dust Bunnies made these a few months ago and I just couldn't wait to make my own for Christmas!



Start with a 2x4 piece of lumber that you cut into squares....we just have these things around the house, so I didn't need to purchase one.  My husband saves every scrap of wood!

....I tried using the table saw, but quite honestly, that thing scares me to death....so I got my husband to cut the squares!  I just put my vinyl letter on the block and guess-timated how big I wanted the block.

Grab some red paint....mine was from Walmart!

Paint your blocks....you can even have your 5 year old help you!  It's that easy!

(Please ignore the hairbrush on my kitchen table....that's the 5 year old....)



.....buy some gorgeous vinyl from Jill at Utah Vinyl and apply to the painted block....

Add some sheer ribbon from Walmart......It took about a spool to finish one set of blocks.

They turned out exactly like I wanted them to!!


Total cost:  one 2x4.....free
red paint:  $0.97---1 jar could do at least 4 sets if not more....so count $0.25 for 1
vinyl:  $4.50 per set
ribbon:  $1.99 per spool

Total Cost:  about $6.75 for a gorgeous gift idea! 

(and my Mom made them without the ribbon and made them red and green....she also made a gorgeous set antiqued with glaze!)

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Linking Up

I'm linking up my Goodwill Fruitstand with:

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Cute (and inexpensive) Gift Idea: Grocery Notepad

Do you need a quick teacher gift??  Beckie at Infarrantly Creative has THIS idea.....a grocery list pad!




  

She has the complete directions!!  It's sooo easy!   She even includes a template for the grocery list!!

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Goodwill Fruit Stand

So I've seen these fruit stands eveywhere and I have to confess....I have been coveting!  They are just gorgeous!

Well....I stopped into The Gift and Thrift....I can't even remember why, but it was on Black Friday and everything was 50% and the place was empty.....everyone else was fighting in line at Walmart!

And I found this!!!!

And it was 50% off of this price:

Yes....I spent a whole $1.50 on Black Friday!!!

Now...you may be wondering why I would want an ugly, outdated fruitstand......or by now are seeing its potential through SPRAYPAINT!!!

Yes....grab the can of Rustoleum Heirloom White Satin...add a little distressing, a little glaze and you get this...

(oops...you can see a spot that I missed with the spraypaint...I'll just add a little extra glaze there!)

Add some Christmas balls that were purchased last season at Kmart at 90% off....yes...that is not a mistake...a $39.99 container of Christmas balls was purchased for the total cost of $3.99 in January!!

Lovingly request your husband to go back out into the freezing cold to "borrow" some more greens from the empty lot next door and you get this:

Come January....I think that I have found a new home for my yarn balls!!

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Antiqued Table

I just had to share this picture of the table refinish that my friend, Cheryl did.......all with spraypaint!!

Isn't it just GORGEOUS!!!

Here are her instructions:

"I did it in 3 days and it wasn't all day either. Just a few hours. I primed it with Rustoleum Ultra Cover, sprayed it with Rustoleum Ultra Cover Satin Heirloom White and then attacked it with sand paper. I used Minwax dark walnut stain and just applied it to a small area and then polished it with a rag, wiping most of it off. It really didn't take long at all and it looks kind of like a boy ran into it with an atv and then used it for a tool bench. Hmmm...maybe I should do this to all of the wood in my house so people think it's supposed to be like that!  (She has 3 boys!)  Cost was about $30 or so."  

Spraypaint is amazing!!  (....and isn't her centerpiece adorable!)

(Cheryl followed my instructions for how I refinished my Craig's List kitchen table and chairs if you'd like more detailed directions and photos.)



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Advent Wreath Tutorial

Okay...so I have a confession to make.  My friend, Melissa, inspired me!  She actually sent me this picture in the morning before my husband brought home some taper candles to "make" his advent wreath.  THANK YOU Melissa for perfect timing!!

Sorry...it's super blurry....but you get the idea!  So, when my hubby walked in the door and I RAN to The Dollar Tree....I knew what I was going to get... (kind've)

I had a variety of glassware in my cart and exchanged them a number of times and finally decided on this:



My 5 year old was "shopping" with me ...enough said!

I had 1 roll of this ribbon left over....I had bought it for garland for our Christmas tree....which, after 5 nail holes, is now anchored to the wall....please don't ask!

So after a little of this....(sorry, we got a new camera, so there will be an abundance of photos!)

You get this:

I "shopped my house" and used my picture frame tray and ended up with this:

We "borrowed" some greens from the empty lot next door and I had bought another $1.00 spring of sparkly
beady things from The Dollar Tree.

Total Cost for my Advent Wreath.....drumroll please:

5 glass jars @$1.00 = $5.00
1 roll of ribbon @$1.00= $1.00
1 sprig of beady's @$1.00 = $1.00
1 bag of votive candles @$1.00 = $1.00
picture frame tray---free, already had it
greens----free..."borrowed"
Total cost $8.00!!!

Hearing my children fight over who gets to light the candles.....priceless!


All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).   Matthew 1: 22-23

A little background on Advent  (excerpted from here.)

The first is called the "Candle of Hope." It symbolizes faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. The second is called the "Candle of Preparation," reminding Christians to "get ready" to receive God. The third candle is the "Candle of Joy." It recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ. The fourth candle, the "Candle of Love," reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth. The "Christ Candle," the white candle in the center, stands for Jesus Christ himself.

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Dollar Tree Advent Wreath

I grew up Presbyterian, so Advent was a HUGE part of our Christmas.  We couldn't even open our Christmas presents on Christmas morning until we lit the center candle!

I've always wanted to bring the Advent tradition into our family....but have you seen the cost of Advent wreaths???  Every year I say that I am just going to suck-it-up and buy one and every year I just can't put down the cash.....

One year, my husband made one.....he took nails and pounded them through taper candles and a board....it was lovely.....(kidding!)  Actually, the candles bent in every direction, but I really appreciated his effort.

Well...tonight, when he walked through the door with some more taper candles and a desire to "make" an advent wreath.....I RAN to The Dollar Tree!

And this is what I made.........

I'll tell you how tomorrow!

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Christmas Wreath....my version

One of the most popular posts has been this wreath.

Well....as I was unpacking the Christmas bins, I found this....

.......and I felt inspired to try to replicate the Poppies at Play wreath....so off to The Dollar Tree and our local Mexican grocery store.....



After about 20 minutes and 2 blisters on my fingers from the hot glue, I had this....

(and I was too lazy/impatient to soak my cornhusks!)

I grabbed a can of silver spraypaint and headed to the garage.......(where I promptly received a lecture from my hubby about how many spraypaint fumes I've been inhaling....really honey, I'm fine!!)



I let it dry for a day....because I had other things to do....

I found some of this silver ribbon at the bottom of another Christmas bin and added it as a hanger.



I added my clear beady stuff, but it looked a little plain, so I grabbed some red beady stuff that I had on my Goodwill picture frame tray.  I bought the red beady stuff at The Dollar Tree.

I just randomly hot glued sprigs here and there....I was probably a little too random because when I hung it up, I realized that they were not as symmetrical as I would have preferred and I had to rip them off.....grrr!!



And the finished product........the flash picked up a husk that wasn't painted well, but in real-life, you can't see it.  I am thinking that I need to raise it a little higher on my old window.

And please ignore the crooked Christmas tree.....they should be sitting on crystal candlesticks from The Dollar Tree.......but The Dollar Tree has been SOLD OUT of those for days......have you crafty people been making the Williams and Sonoma knock off vases and using up all the candlesticks?????

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Poppies at Play Contest

Hi Everyone.....I entered a Christmas wreath/sign contest at Poppies at Play and need your help!

If you have time, please hop over and comment that you like my Christmas Plaque and I will have a chance to win some free vinyl.

I'm #17....but there are AMAZING ideas on her site!  I'd pop over just to look!

Thanks!

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Gift Idea: Christmas Plaque

I've been using a lot of scrapbook paper recently and I had some scraps left over and when I looked at my pile of scrapbook paper, my bottle of Mod Podge.....an idea struck!

Now...I don't have a Silouhette machine...or a Cricut...or anything that can cut for me.....but I'd love one!!  I've seen a lot of people using their machines to put vinyl on tiles and it's gorgeous!!  Check out Kathy's idea at Dandelions and Dustbunnies. 

So...I needed to improvise!!   My husband has a bunch of old 12  inch tiles in his scrap pile in the garage, so I took one! :) 

I just used my word processing program and printed on normal paper a verse from Isaiah...

Then I rearranged....and rearranged....and rearranged....

I think that if I were doing this again, I would glue down all the "little" pieces first.  I just temporarily attached them.

I then started to Mod Podge.

Mod podge everything to the tile and the bottom piece of paper.

Finished product....a little more wrinkly than I would have liked.....

I think that gluing first and Mod Podging second would eliminate that..... 

Overall though....It looks really pretty by my oven and it's just another opportunity to get God's Word in my home! :)

And a miniature version.....I made it the same way on a 4 inch tile.

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Christmas Gift Idea: DIY button rings

I am dying to make these!

Yes....they are homemade......with BUTTONS!!!!  The Creative Crate shows you how to make them with these materials!

My problem has been finding the ring blanks....I keep going into Michael's and AC Moore asking for them and the sales people look at me like I am speaking Portugese......really.

I say...."Do you sell ring blanks?"
Salesperson:  "No"  (without pausing or looking up)
Me:  "Are you sure....maybe in your jewelry section?"
Salesperson:  "No...never heard of them."
Me:  "But the blog online told me that I could buy them here...."
Salesperson:  (now thoroughly annoyed with me!)  "No, we don't sell them!"

I actually walked back and found an empty box of them at one of those stores......I really felt like carrying it back up to customer service and saying..."SEE!  I told you they exist!"

I've given up trying to buy the ring blanks at a craft store, but you can find them here.  It seems like a good deal, but I haven't bought them yet....I haven't had time.....

But I really want my hand to look like this......oh well.....maybe someday! :)

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