Christmas Gift Boxes

I bought these cute little 4" tall Gable boxes awhile ago. I thought that they would be cute for little gift boxes at Christmas! I cut my papers to fit the front/back and sides of the boxes. Added a little bit of embellishments and a tag and they are ready to go...The stamps on my tags are from Miss Emma over at: http://www.creativetimeforme.com/

I love how they turned out. Great for little gifts or gift cards!

Crystal Branches

This is another Pinterest inspired project. To do this project you just need some twigs/branches from outside, some Tacky Glue (I used Aleene's), a sponge or paint brush, a bowl for the glue and Epson Salt or Color fill vase filler. I used both Epson salt and Color fill as they had different elements to them that I like, so I mixed them together. The process is so easy, just lay out some newspaper, pour your "crystals" onto the newspaper, "paint" on the glue and then roll your twigs around as well as use your fingers to sprinkle some on. Let dry and voila! I am going to make lots more of these for Christmas arrangements. They are so beautiful, I can't wait to put some on my mantel with clear lights and see the sparkle!

I am linking this project on Pink Cricuts Link it up Tuesday: http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/11/link-tuesday-26/

http://www.brassyapple.com/

Pine Cone Trees

I had picked up some large pine cones for free at a garage sale this summer. I also picked up a bag of small clay pots. I thought that the 2 would go well together. 

Minimal supplies needed. Just add your own embellishments. I sprayed my pine cones with a glitter spray to give them sparkle. I painted my clay pots. 

The pictures dont really show the sparkle to them :(

"Fake" Gifts for Decorations

I love to recycle/up cycle used items. I made these fake presents, to use as decorations around my house, out of old boxes. One was a gift box, 1 was a box that my Stampin 'up stamps came in and the other was a Tissue box! I found this Fluffy, yummy fabric at my local craft store in the scraps pile. I measured each box and then cut 2 pieces of fabric for each box. I hot glued 1 piece to the box (leaving the bottom plain) and then glued the other piece to the opposite side being careful to cover all areas of the box. Once the fabrics were on, I chose ribbons to decorate and complete my wrapping. I am an awful bow tie person so escuse the look of that part. But I do love how these came out. The pictures dont really show how fluffy and fun the texture of the fabric is.

I am linking this project on Pink Cricuts Link it up Tuesday: http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/11/link-tuesday-26/

"Santa" Cones

These were Pinterest inspired. Pretty easy to make. I took 3 paper mache cones, spray painted red. While drying, I cut my shiny black paper to fit as the belt for each santa. I also cut the fluffy white beard like fabric for the base of my santas. Once my cones were dry, I adhered the white to the bottom using a hot glue gun. Next was the black belt, also adhered with a hot glue gun. I added my rhinestones for the belt buckle using tacky glue. And, to top it all off, I used hot glue to stick 1 cotton ball to the tops. See, easy peasy and cute.
The tray I had found at a garage sale for $.50, can you believe it? I took it apart and spray painted it a shimmery red. I will be filling the tray with ornaments surrounding my Santas. I need to get to the dollar store to buy some tomorrow :)

I am linking this project on Pink Cricuts Link it up Tuesday: http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/11/link-tuesday-26/

Lite Up Christmas Presents

Hello ~ I saw a similar project on Pinterest and just knew that I had to try this! I've taken several pictures and will label them by the steps taken to make this project. I LOVE how they turned out but I do need to add another layer of the silver fabric to the smaller present as it is a bit too see through for me but I ran out of fabric :) These boxes are 12" x 12" and 9" x 9". I have a 10 x 10 to finish...

 1. Here is the material that I used to create my "box". 2. I cut 2,  9" x 18" pieces to create a 9 x 9 box. 3. I folded each one in half and then re-opened  4. I laid one on top of the other overlapping by 1 row of squares

5. I used zip ties to connect the pieces, one on each end. 6. I then folded what I had connected

to meet the other 2 loose ends, again overlapped by 1 row of squares and zip tied those together

7. I used my hands to create sharp creases on all sides to form the box shape. It still seems wobbly at this point but it gets better. 8. I cut 2, 10 x 10" squares to form the top and bottom of the boxes. 9. I zip tied the top of the box (much sturdier now). 10. I began to fill the box with 100 clear lights, I used zip ties and zip twists to hold the lights on all sides and top of box. 11. secure the bottom of the box with zip ties. Plug in your lights to be sure they are spaced how you want them. 

Now your box is ready to wrap.

I chose 2 fabrics for my boxes. I wrapped them like a present using a hot glue gun to hold it all down. I then used a glittery red mesh to cover my red fabric to give it more shine and as I said, I will be adding another layer of silver fabric to my smaller present and I also have a 10x10 present that still needs to be wrapped :)

I am linking this project on Pink Cricuts Link it up Tuesday: http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/11/link-tuesday-26/

Halloween Ghostly Yard Art

I LOVE decorating for Halloween. These adorable ghosts just fit perfectly into my yard. I simply took tomato cages, bent the tops down to create different sizes for my family, strung clear lights through the inside of the cages and then covered with several layers of white sheets and drew on the faces. I love them!

Christmas Coasters

I am so excited to share this project. I had begun a list of gifts/projects that I wanted to complete for the upcoming holidays. From that list, I made a list of supplies that I would need. On that list was tiles to create Holiday Coasters. Well, while my hubby and I were garage selling in our community for thrifty finds to complete my projects, I found an entire box of tiles for FREE on the side of the road - how great is that?

For this project I was so excited to use Emma's newest stamp lines which you can find on her site:
http://shop.my-creative-time.com/Stamps_c8.htm

Once I stamped my images and let them dry, I used a clear spray to seal the inks. I love how they turned out and have already 3 sets for Christmas gifts :)

These are the final sets all packaged and ready to give

Halloween Shadow Box

Believe it or not, this is another Garage Sale find. This shadow box was only $0.25 at a garage sale. I altered it for Halloween Decor. I layered 4 different patterned papers across the back and then added adorable embellishments to each section. So fun and easy and affordable to make :)

Isn't it just too adorable?

Halloween Pocket Treats

I ran across a video for these on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oV6RoxlNh8&list=FLt4n_YtoIOXOfj8BCh1UYjA&index=1&feature=plpp_video and fell in love with them and just had to make them sooo, I made 10! It is so much easier to do projects in bulk like this - it was very fun! Aren't they just adorable? Take a look at the video to see how easy these were to make - I did these in about 2 hours start - finish.

Garage Sale/Goodwill Makeovers

So, I haven't been crafting much over the summer which is normal for me. But, I have been spending time at garage sales and goodwill picking up pieces that I knew would make good projects. Most of the "ugly" candlesticks and "horrible pictures frames were bought for .25 each, a few were .50 and a couple at $1.00  So and all I may have spent $5.00 to create these amazing projects.

Once I had my goodies, I wanted to continue to keep my costs down so I only used supplies that I already had on hand. I used spray paints and glues that I already had here at home. So, my first step was to "piece" my pieces together. Once I decided how everything was going to go together, I chose what paints I would be using.

Next, I took all picture frames apart and cleaned all the pieces up. Then I used primer and then began the painting process. Once the paint was dry, I used E6000 to glue my pieces together.

Here are some of my final projects. A few of the picture frames, I painted the glass with chalk board paint to be used for writing messages on.

I also used a few of the candle sticks to place glass jars on for candy dishes.

All in all I am very happy with my projects ~ I took me 3 days to complete them all and now I can redecorate! Thanks for looking :)