Merry Christmas!!

May your day be merry and bright

As you celebrate our Lord’s birth

Last Minute Gifts

We have some of the sweetest librarians at our local library.  I wanted to make them some fun little gifts.  Without thinking I headed to Pinterest to look at all the amazing book page ornament ideas.  What was I thinking?  Would theses sweet librarians think that this was a bad joke.  I have passed on that no library books were harmed in this process.  Only books that needed a new life.

I looked at all the amazing ideas on Pinterest and set to work on my own.

This little ornament started with a wooden snowflake.  I painted it white and then glittered it.

Then I added some cardstock to the middle and a vellum snowflake.

 Accordion folded some book pages and hot glued them to the back with a ribbon for hanging.

 This one is similar to the previous one but I used strips from the book pages.

 Folded them in half and hot glued them to the back.

The last set of ornaments were made with larger, thicker snowflakes.

They were also painted and glittered.

 I folded one and a half inch squares of book pages into small cones and glued them.  Then I let them sit for a bit.  Finally, I glued them on and glittered the tips of the cones. 

 The best thing about this project is that I had everything at home.  I purchased the snowflakes and vellum items on clearance a couple of years ago.  It was a thrifty, fun and chic little gift.  I am thrilled with how they turned out.

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Finishing Touches

It's almost Christmas, hard to believe it's almost here.  I love all the amazing Christmas decor ideas in blog land.  I am so inspired by so many of you. 

One of my favorites is the Anthropologie knock off snow globes. I love jars and collect them all the time so I knew this was something I would have to try.

These are my knock offs.

 The silver tray is actually from the Dollar Tree

 I also found the small villagers there, too

 The trees I picked up at Michaels for 60% off

 and the jingle bells, too

 I love them.  It looks fabulous!  I put it in the kitchen to brighten it up.

 My dining centerpiece

 I was able to pick up a bag with many different trees, different sizes and all on sale.  I have been using them everywhere.  I love them and will be sad to see them be put away.

 Our little beagle with her Christmas sweater.  She is always cold and lays in front of the wood stove all the time.

 Isn't she a cutie!!

This week includes building our gingerbread house.  This year I am going to be brave and bake my own.  I will let you know how that goes.  We will have fun though.  

We are also working on some special gifts for neighbors and friends.  These great ornaments are on our list. I saw them on Pinterest and knew they would be on the to do list.  I will post pics of both projects as we complete them.

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Recreating Our Christmas Decor

This season is a time to enjoy one another, remember our Savior's birth, and gifts for those you love and appreciate.  I think most people are on a tight budget and we are no exception.  I decided that I would not even think about the things I could not purchase but use my creativity to recreate the things we already have. I spend very little, mostly on floral picks that were highly discounted and a few things from the Dollar Tree.  

Our tree is very eclectic.  I would love a theme tree that is color coordinated but our tree is filled with memories.  Our ornaments each hold special meaning for us.  Each year the kids choose an ornament.  It is so much fun to see their tastes change.  Now that they are older, the ornaments remind us of their interests when they were young.  Some day they will move out and take them all with them.  Then I will have my theme tree.

 For now I enjoy the memories each ornament holds.

 I am extremely thrilled to have all our gifts wrapped early this year.

 Crocheted snowflake ornament I made a couple of years ago.  I love these.  They are some of my favorites.

 Our daughter now loves the Eiffel Tower~these are recent ornament choices.  She dreams of someday traveling to see these places.

Another favorite 

 

Our angel-she is so pretty

 My secretary that is on the to be painted list.

 Glittery pine cone that I found last year at Walmart on sale

 This little box was from a Bath & Body Works gift set that hubby gave me years ago.  It was a dark green color and this year I gave it a coat in white paint with touches of silver glitter paint.  I am loving it.

I filled it with pine cones that I have had for a long time but this year I painted them in blues and silver.

I watched a video on HGTV's website of Sarah Richardson (whom I love) painting pine cones in the easiest way.  I knew I wanted to try them.

 You water down some paint in a plastic container that has a tight sealing lid.  Drop in the pine cones, put the cover on and shake it.  Open the lid and your pine cones are completely covered, remove them and place them on wax paper to dry.  I sprinkled them with some glitter while the paint was wet.

 I forgot to take a before picture but I didn't paint the bottom-this is the original color.

Our fireplace mantel.  We start off with the big tv.  It is the bane of my decorating. I envision it decorated so differently.  I would love a mirror, frames in various sizes and shapes and so much more but there really isn't a better place for it.  So the tv sits on the mantel.  I work with what I have.

 We are in need of new stockings.  Not sure if I will look for some on clearance or just make some.  They are well over ten years old.

Garland to hide the wires behind the tv.

 The white candles looked plain so I wrapped some silver ribbon around them and glued some snowflakes to them.  The white ones I crocheted.  The blue one is a floral pick I found for 49 cents.  It was the last one. Would have loved a couple more at that amazing price.

 More painted pine cones 

 Our son's ever expanding nutcracker collection.  The newest edition is Sherlock Holmes.

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour.  I have had so much fun creating things to decorate for Christmas.  I am never truly finished.  Each day I seem to find just one more thing I would like to try.

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Blue CricketDesign