The Pajama Elf

The Pajama Elf visits our house every year on December 1st to give the kids new PJs and a couple treats. I know a lot of people do pjs on Christmas Eve but this way the kids get to wear them a little bit longer, especially since now is when it starts to get a bit chilly at nights. :)

Maybe some day the PJ Elf will get a bit more creative in his note.  ;)

Bead Board Christmas Sign

After getting rid of a few outdated Christmas decor and stuff that didn't really match our new house, I realized I was left with very little to work with.  This is what I put up on my fireplace mantle and let's be honest, it looked pretty pathetic.  Too much empty wall space, too few/small decor.  So I needed something else.

 

I started out with a piece of bead board we had sitting in our garage and I spray painted it a dark reddish color.












Then I used sandpaper to rough it up a bit.













I cut out "joy to the world" in white vinyl on my cricut and placed it on there, along with some glitter snowflake ornaments I found at Dollar Tree. My other Dollar Tree find -- spray painted star -- worked perfect there.   Then I added some green garland I already had and a flower garland (thank you once again, Dollar Tree!). It makes my fireplace mantle look SO much better! :)

Now I need to get to work on my OTHER mantle .... ;)

Spray Painted Paper Stars

I am so glad I came across THIS post from A Perfectly Crazy Life because I NEVER would have thought of this on my own.  :)

I picked up a paper star from Dollar Tree and assembled it. It was a sort of disco ball-ish color.  Not really my thing. 

So I found some Platinum spray paint in the garage and gave it a good coating.   It came out great and you'd never know it was from the dollar store!  I need to go back and pick up some more of these.  I'm thinking they would be PERFECT for 4th of July! :)

Its Wednesday again!

I love "What I Wore Wednesday" cause I get some great ideas for cute outfits! Here is what I came up with this week:

 Jeans: Norstrom Rack
White shirt:TJ Maxx

Cross sweater: TJ Maxx ($10)
Bib Neclace: local store
Bag: Shopko (OLD)


















Shoes: Discount Shoe Factory
Watch: I made it here

- chelz










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DIY - Leather Watches

I saw these cute watches here and figured I would try to make one myself!

What you need: 1 watch face
                          10 feet of craft leather

I found my leather at Michaels. They had a great selection of colors there. I only got the white and the pink for now. I used the watch face from my old beaded watch.

Take the Leather and fold it in half twice. Then thread it through the watch so that the face is on top of the leather.

Pull the leather behind the watch face down and
put your wrist through it. Pull the strings tight and then wrap each side around your wrist once and then tie it under your wrist.


This was an easy watch to make and I cant wait to try more colors!

TIP * The more you wear your watch, the more loose and relaxed it will become!

-chelz


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Caramels

Yummy Home-made Caramels

   
-Fun neighbor & friend gifts-

2 C sugar
1 ½ C Karo syrup
2 C cream 
2 sticks butter


Bring all to boil except 1 Cup cream. Boil 5 min, add cream 1 Tbsp at a time stirring constantly. Boil to soft ball stage. Pour into greased 8x8 pan, cool completely. Cut into bite size squares, wrap in clear cellophane squares or wax paper. Recipe can be doubled.

This recipe came from my friend Janyce, who had received this down through her family.

........" the Holiday Spirit starts from within "...............





 Getting ready for Christmas can be so simple yet cute....
we had fun making these and it was so quick & easy....










Cook to soft ball stage -
 





Drop a few drops of sauce into ice cold water to test for soft ball readiness.



 


 
Pour into 9x13 lightly greased pan.




Cool, cut into bite size pieces, wrap in cellophane from   " funfinity " in Orem Utah 222 E. Univ. Pkwy.

- Buff

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Holiday Cushions

DIY-  

Wanted some new Christmas Cushions in a different color & this whipped up really quick -

                   I just took a white pillow that I already had and wrapped it like a gift with some cute ribbon that I got from Michaels and tied a few ornaments that I had to match. It turned out cute and you can customize the colors to fit your home!                                                                                
                               
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                                           -Buff