DIY Burlap Ribbon Card Holder

This is a super simple… and I do mean simple solution to all of those holiday cards that are likely piling up at your house right about now.  All you need is a frame (I picked mine up at a thrift store a while ago and gave it a quick coat of red spray paint… it was originally used as a photo booth prop at Owen’s first birthday), scissors, measuring tape, hot glue gun and two roles of burlap ribbon (picked up in the floral section at Walmart for about $3.00 each).

Begin by measuring each side of your frame so you can figure out how many strip of burlap ribbon you will need.  For my frame, I determined that I would need 5 strips in one direction and 4 in the other.  Cut your burlap strips, leaving just a little extra length on each end… just in case.  Then flip the frame over and mark off where you want to place your burlap strips.  I decided to start placing my burlap in the middle and working my way out… that way I could make sure that things were all even.

Shoot a small bead of glue down the top and bottom and attach your first set of burlap ribbons.  Repeat the process on the sides, weaving the ribbons over and under before fully securing them.

Once everything’s all glued down you can trim off any excess burlap that’s hanging off of the sides.

And that’s it!  I told you it was so super easy!  I think it maybe me 30 minutes to complete this project from start to finish… possibly less.  I LOVE the alternating patterns on the burlap!  I think it adds a little extra fun!

I stuck it up on the mantle beside the scrap fabric Christmas tree art I had made.  I can’t decide which is more fun to look at… the scrap fabric tree or the burlap ribbon card holder.  What do you think?

DIY Pallet Crèche

I absolutely love my nativity set!  I picked it up at a local artist gallery a couple of years back.  I look forward to displaying it each year, but have always struggled with how best to show it off.  I’ve always wanted to have a crèche to go along with the nativity set. 

A little over a year ago I found this pallet at the local recycling center and I decided that I would take it home an try to build a crèche out of it.  Unfortunately, I never seemed to have the time to get the project done.  So the pallet has just been laying around… waiting to realize its full potential.  And finally, this year I got the job done!

I got to work disassembling the pallet, which I can say now was a much harder job than I ever expected it to be.  But luckily, once it was done I ended up with a nice big pile of wood to work with.

I measured my nativity pieces and did a rough sketch of what I wanted the crèche to look like.  I didn’t have an exact plan in mind for it… just a general idea of how I wanted it to look.  Then I just started cutting the boards and piecing them together.  I called Craig in a couple of times for an engineering consult… just to make sure that whatever I had in mind to do would actually work.  And thankfully it all turned out great!  Even better than I expected!

The completed crèche measures about 3 feet in length and 18 inches tall.  It’s also about 18 inches deep.  IT’S MASSIVE!  But considering that my nativity pieces average about 12 inches tall it’s perfect!  And the price can’t be beat—100% F-R-E-E-!!!

I decided to display the crèche on the buffet in the dining room… pretty much because that was the only spot where it would really fit that would also be out of the reach of little fingers.  I added a little bit of straw to the manger and then draped a strand of lights around it.  And I think that the results are absolutely beautiful! 

What a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas!

DIY Scrap Fabric Holiday Art

I found a massive, 23 inch wide embroidery hoop at a thrift store for just a couple of dollars about a month ago.  I used one when decorating my Christmas mantle last year and thought that it could be fun to add another one into the mix.  But I wanted to do something a little different this time around… something more than just a few simple, painted words. 

So I gathered all of the supplies that I thought I could possibly need to make some sort of Christmas art. 

 

I wasn’t quite sure what I would come up with, but I knew I’d figured something out… eventually.  After a bit of thinking and a little bit of Google inspiration I decided to make a scrap fabric Christmas tree. 

I cut a large circle out of some inexpensive muslin.  Then I began raiding my pile of scrap fabric in search of anything green or even semi-green to use for the body of my tree.  Luckily, I had some Ikat patterned fabric left over from a project a while back that seemed to be perfect for the job (p.s.  the “project” I’m referring to turned out to be an epic fail… the roman shades were beautiful, but definitely couldn’t stand the test of time… especially in a house with two young kids).  So I cut out the green and brown portions of the pattern and began constructing a tree. 

The next step was to some how adhere the fabric cut-outs to the muslin fabric.  Instead of gluing or sewing, I decided to go a simpler route.  I used an iron-on adhesive (Heat n Bond Lite to be exact).  This was a much simpler application because it allowed me to place each piece of scrap fabric where I wanted it and it allowed me to fine-tune things if needed.  It would have been so much more difficult to scoot things around just a smidge if I had been using glue or sewing.  Luckily the iron-on adhesive worked perfectly!  And this is the sweet little tree I was left with. 

I suppose I could have stopped here, stuck the fabric in the embroidery hoop and called it a day.  But I didn’t!  I decided to add to the charm even more by adding a couple lines of a very appropriate Christmas song… “Oh Christmas Tree”

Using Microsoft Word I printed out the words you see below.  I grabbed a fine-tip black paint pen, slipped the paper under the thin muslin and began tracing out my lyrics.

Once finished with one side I slid the paper over and did the same thing to the other side.

When I was all done I popped scrap fabric tree into the embroidery hoop and stuck it up on the mantle!  And I’ve got to admit… I’m in LOVE!!!  It’s adorable and fun and it fits the feel of this year’s mantle perfectly!

Oh Christmas Tree…

So, remember that little tree we picked up last week during our visit to the the Cartner Christmas Tree Farm?  Well this is what it ended up looking like after we added the lights, star and all of the other trimmings!

Another nice, simple tree!  Just what our family likes!

Not to mention that Santa looks pretty pleased with it too!

A Holiday Door

They say that “there’s no place like home for the holidays”…

…and that is certainly true when you get to come home to a nice welcoming front door like this one!

It puts a smile on my face every single time I see it!  Never underestimate the power of a couple of strands of Christmas lights, fresh garland and a beautiful wreath!

Cartner Christmas Tree Farm

We always have a real Christmas tree.  In fact, we even cut it down ourselves.  I don’t know why… it was a tradition in Craig’s family when he was a kid and it just kind of stuck.  And now that we’ve got kids of our own it’s kind of become our family tradition instead of just his.  For the past several years we have visited Christmas tree farms that were just around the corner (Fall Branch Christmas Tree Farm and Roan Valley Tree Farm).  This year we decided to go just a little bit further from home. 

We drove over the mountain and a little over an hour to Newland, North Carolina to Cartner Christmas Tree Farm. 

The kids enjoyed exploring the tree farm and playing in the last little remains of snow from earlier in the week.

Once our tree selection was made we headed back to the barn to ‘cozy up’ for a few minutes while we waited on the fellas to cut down and load up our tree.

We also got to visit (from a safe distance, of course) with Santa.

And when asked by Santa what she wanted for Christmas, Bailey leaned in and whispered her request in my ear… asking me to play the messenger.

We had a great day at Cartner Christmas Tree Farm!  We spent the day out in the sunshine and fresh air.  We were able to continue our little family tradition.  We brought home a ‘perfect for our family’ tree. And we may have even snuck in a quick little Christmas card photo shoot (complete with props) while we were there!  All in all, I’d say that was a pretty successful day!

A Haunted House

I spent a little time today finishing up our Halloween decorations.  Typically, we don’t do much more than a pumpkin on the porch, so it was a lot of fun to raise the bar a little. 

The neighborhood kiddos will have some spooky spiders to contend with if they want their treats this year.  They’ll first be greeted by this guy when they arrive in the driveway. 

Then, if they’re brave enough to continue down the sidewalk they’ll run into these two.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but these guys would have made me think twice about how bad I wanted the candy as a kid.

And speaking of candy… there are spiders there too.

Are you sensing a theme yet?

A Christmas Mantel

I realize that this post is more than late.  I had every intention of writing it 2-3 weeks ago, but work, the kids, the house, etc. just kept getting in my way.  Sorry about that, but better late than never, right? 

Anyway, here are some pictures of our mantle all decorated for Christmas this year.  It was so different from the mantel that we had last year and the year before.  It has a much more casual feel to it, which I love!  Hope you love it too! 

Happy Halloween!

Each year I try to be creative yet keep things as simple (a.k.a. cheap!) as possible when it comes to Halloween costumes.  It always amazes me how expensive so many store bought costumes can be… and most of them are really poorly made. 

In the past, Bailey has dressed up as a clown and a lion, which were both a lot of fun.  This year, since we now have two children, I decided that the Halloween costumes had to coordinate!  I honestly had no idea where to start. 

So when I remembered having this brown, bear suit that friends (thanks Laura and Travis!) gave us for Owen I decided to keep it simple and dress him as a bear.

Then came the tough part… trying to figure out a coordinating costume for Bailey.  Then suddenly it hit me one day… Bailey could be Goldilocks and Owen could be Baby Bear! 

I found this sweet little dress at the local Goodwill for $2.99 and thought that it would make a perfect Goldilocks outfit.  It was sized 2T, but with Bailey being so petite I figured it would probably still fit her.  So it took a chance on the dress and took it home.

I tried the dress on Bailey to check the size and was thrilled to see that the dress was almost a perfect fit.  The one and only problem with it was the length.  You know those girls you see out places and you think to yourself that if they bent over even just a little bit you’d see everything?  Well imagine that… only shorter!  You could actually see everything while Bailey was standing! 

Fortunately, it wouldn’t take much to solve the problem… just a little bit of fabric sewn onto the bottom of the dress.  And best of all, my mom was in town and she was looking for little projects that she could do to keep herself busy.  So I put her to work!

The end result was this sweet little ensemble…

…and this even sweeter little pair!

Have you ever seen a better looking Goldilocks or Baby Bear?  Surely not!  They are just so sweet! 

Unfortunately, thanks to some pesky shots at the pediatrician’s office Halloween morning and some very chilly weather outside Owen wasn’t able to go trick-or-treating.  Instead, he hunkered down at home with my Mom while she handed out candy.

Bailey on the other hand was good to go!  And go she did!  She had a great time visiting at the neighbors’ houses and getting her trick-or-treat on! 

Definitely another very happy Halloween!