Pink Christmas

I admit it, I have an addiction to the styrofoam cones from the dollar store.  I cannot go there without walking out with one (or three).  I man, they're a DOLLAR.  Do you know how much Michael's or AC Moore charges for the same thing?  Well, neither do I, but I assure you, it's not a dollar!

This is the first creation for my stryofoam tree display this year:

Can you say cuteness?  I used up most of my left over pink Prima flowers from back in my scrapbooking days and added a few random pink and white beads to give it some depth.  The pink polka dot ribbon topper is some of my favorite ribbon. 

I admit this took some time pinning all those darn flowers, but I just love the outcome!

Stay tuned for more styroform trees to join the display. Would love to hear any ideas anyone has for decorating the half dozen or so I still have to do!

Always,

K

Candy Jar Christmas

Yes, I've gone a bit Christmas crazy this year.  Christmas is normally a pretty sad time of year for me snce the passing of my Mom, but I'm really trying to get into the spirit this year.  Mom loved Christmas and I know she wouldn't want me to be sad.

I've been wanting to do more ornament jars and this Candy Jar fit the bill.  I picked it up a year ago at a yard sale for .50.  How I beat my sister to it, I'll never know!  This one is going to be the centerpiece on my dining room table. 

What have you been working on?

Always,
K

More Homemade Christmas

I made this apothacary jar last year because I saw a really cute tutorial for it.  Unfortunately, once it was done and filled with gum balls I didn't like it so much.  For one thing, the ball on the top is too big.  It's sat in my craft studio trying to fit in but not quite making it.  I decided the other day that it was time for it to get donated to the thrift store to make room for something I really liked. 

Then I came across a cute idea on Pinterest (where else?!?) and I decided to repurpose it for Christmas instead.  Ditch the gumballs, add some epson salt "snow" and a couple of vintage ornaments and I'm kinda liking it again.  I'm going to leave it as is for now, but I think once Christmas is over I'll repaint it white and scuff it up some.  Maybe fill it with felt hearts for Valentines day?  We'll see!

Here's a close up of the vintage ornaments I scored at a yard sale last summer.  A box of 9 for .50 in perfect condition. They were originally bought from Valley View Farms for those Maryland locals who may know where I mean.  I couldn't find a date, but the box of 8 was 6.99 originally.

I still have several Christmas projects to share, so stay tuned!

Always,

K

Linking to:

Deck The Halls With Buttons!

I love buttons.  What crafter doesn't?  But I tend to horde them, not use them.  Lately I've seen tons of ideas on Pinterest for using them up so I decided to try my hand at a simple button tree.

I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Out of pocket cost was $0 since I used an old frame, buttons, beads and some linen fabric I already had on hand.  This has definately made me want to make more and more Christmas projects early. 

I usually wait until, around December 24th at 2am to start making Christmas projects, so I'm over 2 months early this year.  I will have some more Christmas projects to share in the next few days.  And maybe another fall project or two before it's too late to use all those yummy fall colors in some projects!

K

As usual, linking to  
I swear I wouldn't get my posts done if my wonderful sister didn't remind me that I forgot to link to her weekly blog party!

Christmas Lantern

So far, this is my absolute favorite Christmas project I've done this year.  I'm not sure this one will be topped.  Even J loves it and he seriously hates Christmas decorations.

I got the original idea from Welcome Sunshine Home via Pinterest (of course!).  I was obsessed with making this lantern.  When my sisters and I went shopping this week at several local thrift stores I found this lantern for $2.92.  Score!

It took me about 30 mins (and most of that was fussing around with it) to make it all Christmas-y!

It's so shiny and pretty it may just have to be one of those things that sits out in my craft room year round.

Have you started on your Christmas crafts yet?

K

More Fall Fun

I'm still busy crafting!  Yesterday I made this cute wreath:

I wanted to keep it simple and I like that the star pattern on the wreath is visible. 

I also found a tutorial for this cool star ornament from House Revivals that I kind of modified for my tastes. (Which totally means that I did not follow the directions and ended up with something different...twice!)

Both were pretty quick to make by using cardstock quality scrapbook paper. 

I'll be spending the day doing a few more crafts, so check back soon for another update!

K

Linking to:

Pumpkin Trio

There is no better time to catch up than fall.  I have finally climbed out of the mojo-funk I've been in and have been crafting away at fall and even Christmas projects!

Today I wanted to share the pumpkin trio I made for $3.  I found these cute lil pumpkins at the dollar store for just a dollar each and everything else I already had "in stock" as my sister says.

How cute are these guys? They were pretty quick and easy too, which is a huge plus in my book.

I'll show you some close ups and hopefully you will love them as much as I do!

The polka dot pumpkin was the easiest.  I just made a little ribbon from a tutorial I found on Pinterest (OMG, I am addicted to Pinterest, aren't you?!?) and added the dots by dipping the eraser of a pencil into black paint. 

For the ribbon pumpkin I used dressmakers pins that I had gotten in a batch of stuff picked up from freecycle to pin the ribbon to the top and bottom of the pumpkin and tied another ribbon on the top. The orange ribbon looks kind of off in this picture because of the lights but it matches much better in person.

This one is my personal favorite.  I call it a doodle pumpkin.  I drew the doodles onto the pumpkin with pencil then used more dressmakers pins to complete the designs.  The light really dulled them down, they are very bling-ish in person!  I'm not sure the aqua ribbon will stay.  I was trying to do something diffferent instead of a bow and I think I will have to find something else because I'm not loving the ribbon.

Check back this weekend for some more crafty updates.  I have lots to share thanks to my revived motivation!

K

PS  I'm linking to my sister, Quilted Cupcake's, new feature, Thrifty Thursday's.  Pop on over and check it out and add your thrifty/low cost craft projects!