Craft Mash-Up

Sometimes, when crafting, you come across the Brangelina of crafts; two crafts from different blogs that seem destined to be made and used together.

Last year, we were obsessed with Inspired by Charm's Colorful DIY Forest.

This year, we couldn't wait to make Parents' Clothespin Skiers.  As soon as they were done, those little skiers couldn't wait to hit the slopes.

Their destination, a mountain covered with whimsical, colorful trees.

 

I'm not sure what the blogger equivalent to Brangelina would be for this craft mash-up.  Maybe something like 'Inspired by Parents' or 'Parent Inspired Charm'.  Not quite as catchy as Brangelina but I think a much better mash-up.

The best part of this Brangelina craft?  Kids can easily decorate both of them.

Who am I kidding?  The best part of this craft mash-up, how beautifully both Inspired by Charm's Colorful Trees go with Parents' Clothespin Skiers.

A Christmas Tour

Our halls and walls are decked with festive touches.

Grace helped me our tree, this year. 

It turned out to be the tallest tree we've ever had. 

The star, perched atop the tree, is scraping the ceiling.

Though the tree is the star of our holiday decorations, we have lots of lovely Christmas decorations throughout our house.

Most of our decorations are simple and understated.

For the first time ever, I changed up our built in shelves to showcase more Christmas decorations.

My two loves...a set of vintage deers, purchased by my parents on their honeymoon, and beautiful bottle brush trees, are the main attraction on the shelves.

Most of my pictures have been changed out to show Christmases of the past.

These pictures remind me of how many memories we create and cherish every year.

And how lucky we are to continue to make those memories this year.

My favorite picture, a picture of my dad, as a little boy, meeting Santa.

My favorite decorations, our front porch.

Bundles of birch, tied with twine decorate my stairs...

And, fill my flower boxes.

Evergreen branches also accent our porch.

And, fill our hanging baskets.

 

Sadly, since our house is over 100 years old, we have no outlets outside to string Christmas lights.  So, when I came across this battery operated Christmas tree, at Goodwill for $8, I quickly grabbed it and added it to our front porch.  Some lights is better than no lights.

Hanging by my front door, another Goodwill find.  A pair of ice skates.

And...each time I walk across our front porch, my heart is filled with JOY.

Now that we are all decorated...the only thing left to do is celebrate.

Merry Christmas Banner

Because Christmas is just a little more special with handmade decorations, I decided to make a merry and bright Christmas banner...out of felt.  Christmas and felt.  There isn't anything much better than that.

This inexpensive handmade Merry Christmas garland can be customized with the colors you select and/or the holiday saying you want to create. 

So, go grab some felt and let's get start.  I opted to go bright and cheery as opposed to traditional.  Make this garland your own and select colors that make you happy.

Using a water soluble pen, trace your letters.  Each letter will be layered so you'll need to cut out 2 of every letter.

Using a running stitch (or a sewing machine, to save yourself time), sew around each letter.  Leave roughly 1/2 an inch unsewn on each side of your letter.

By leaving this section of every letter unsewn, you will be able to string twine or ribbon through it and adjust your letters later, based on where you decide to hang it. 

Finish stringing your letters...

Find a place to display...

And, enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

JOY Burlap Sign

Joy to my front porch...oh yes, and to the world.

 My JOY started like this, a $1.99 Goodwill frame.

I took apart my frame, grabbed some left over burlap I had and some Easy Tack adhesive.

I sprayed the back of the board from the frame and attached the burlap.

I drew the letters out on paper, traced them in pencil onto the burlap

and hand painted JOY in red acrylic paint.

When it dried, I put it back in the frame and put it outside for all my neighbors to admire :)

JOY.

 

Update:  Since last year, and because of our growing barn wood collection, the woodaholic made a beautiful custom barn wood frame for the JOY sign. 

 

 

 

Oh Christmas Tree

I promise, this post isn't just about how we bought our Christmas tree this past weekend.

Which we did do. 

But this post is more about sharing a few Christmas decorating tips...

like using Christmas tree clippings to fill empty flower boxes.  Add pine cones or some non-breakable red ornaments for a pop of color.  It's an easy way to dress up your flower boxes and decorate for the holiday.

And about hanging Christmas lights.

This year, we decided to try Martha Stewart's tip and string our lights up and down the tree instead of stringing them moving around the tree.  Hopefully this will make taking them off much easier than it has in years past. 

And, of course, these tips were inspired because we bought our Christmas tree this weekend.

I am going to enjoy experiencing Christmas through Grace's eyes this year.


And be sure to check out my other Christmas inspired posts:

Star Wars Ornaments	DIY Pottery Barn Candle	DIY Advent Calendar
DIY Santa Beard