Personalized Christmas Ornaments

I love to have personal touches in my Christmas decor, so I decided it would be fun to have each member of our family's name on the tree! I was so excited to start this project and my kids just loved the idea of having their own special ornament on the tree. 

Here's how I made them:

I used 2 frames that I already had and got 3 more from the dollar store. I used 4x6 frames cause I did not want them to be too heavy for the tree. 

I spray painted the frames white and roughed them up a little with sand paper. I chose white for the frames cause I wanted it to pop against the tree but you could use any color.

I used the stencils that I had gotten from the Martha Stewart campaign. I think you could achieve the same effect with vinyl or paper and mod pod.  I baked the glass in the oven for 30 min at 350 degrees to set the paint. Then I used a hot glue gun to secure the glass to the frame.

 I then cut strips of ribbon and hot glue gunned it to the back of the frames. Finally we placed them on the tree!

These were so easy to make and I love how they turned out! They just add so much to our tree!

Merry Christmas!

-chelz


Linked to: Rea Gun Ramblings

Printable Teacher Card Set

One of my favorite gifts to give teachers is a set of personalized cards.  They can use them as thank you's, notes home, etc.  I made a set last year but ran out of time to make some for the teachers this year.  I decided a printable set would be quick and easy and I could use just print up new ones each year.

I love this natural brown paper and decided to do a few in white and a few in brown.

After printing, cutting and folding I just added some envelopes and a little bit of bakers twine.  And there you go - a quick and easy gift!

If you'd like to print up a set of your own you can get a blank copy HERE and add in your teacher's name.  Or if you don't know how to do that, you can get a generic "just a note" set HERE.  Enjoy!

-marie

10 Homemade Christmas Gifts

We thought we'd share some of our favorite gift ideas from our blog.  Perfect in time for Christmas!

Yummy Homemade Caramels  

Buff made me a couple batches for Christmas last year and I did NOT want to share them!  They are so creamy and so yummy.

DIY Leather Watches

A super easy an inexpensive project for someone who loves fashion.

 

 Peace, Joy & Soap

These are the perfect gifts for neighbors or teachers.  So easy to put together and inexpensive.  I always have a few extra on hand for gift emergencies.  :)

Raspberry Jalapeno Jelly

This jelly is delicious and different from your tradition jalapeno jelly.

Paper Piecing Frames

Another gift that is easy and inexpensive and totally cute!

Gift Card Holders

You can never go wrong with a gift card! This is a simple tutorial to dress those gift cards up a bit.

Personalized Stationary

This is a great gift for teachers! 

Perpetual Birthday Calendar

This is great for that person who already has everything!  A cute and fun way to remember birthdays and special events each year.

 Vanilla Lime Sugar Scrub

I LOVE this sugar scrub!  Dress it up in a cute jar and it would be a perfect gift.

 Dollar Store Mugs

Chelsea and I just spent the weekend making a couple dozen of these to give out.  Personalize them with names and add some homemade treats or packets of hot chocolate. 

Things We Love Thursdays: Rold Gold Peppermint Snowflakes

My friend introduced me to these delectable little treats. I picked them up from Costco, but I'm not sure where else you can get them. They are snowflake shaped pretzels dipped in peppermint white chocolate. They are soooo yummy! They satisfy my craving for a salty/sweet treat.

Do you have a favorite treat you can only get during the holidays?

-marie

Christmas Bucket List

It's no secret that I love doing fun things to celebrate the holidays.  I've seen a ton of cute advent calendar ideas on Pinterest, but THIS one stuck out to me.  I like the idea of doing activities during the month of December but without being tied down to doing one every single day and without being tied down to what specifically we'd do each day.  A bucket list gives us the flexibility I need but also provides us with lots of opportunities for FUN!

The kids and I came up with a list of things we want to do this Christmas season.  Most of them require little effort on my part and are low-budget.  I'm hoping this will be a fun family tradition.  I printed and laminated the list so we can cross things off as we go and can reuse it again next year.

You can download my version HERE or if you're computer savvy you can get a blank version and add in your own list. 

What are some of your favorite things to do as a family during the Christmas season?

-marie

Christmas Mugs

This was such a fun project to do! I found these cute mugs at the dollar store and had originally planned to do this project with vinyl, but when I was asked to try out these Martha Stewart products I knew they would be perfect for my mugs. Every year, on my husband's side of the family, we do a siblings gift exchange and these mugs are what I chose to make for their gift this year! When I got the box in the mail this is what I found:

Im not sure who was more excited about what was in the box, my kids or me. I told my kids that they could decorate their own Christmas mugs and they wanted to get started right away. They were disappointed that when I told them they had to wait til December to make theirs. Ok, so there are endless possibilities to the things that you could make with what was in the box, but I decided to keep it simple and stick to my original plan.

Step 1: Clean off the surface that you will be painting on. I used alcohol as the products recommended.

Step 2: Place the letter stencils in place where you want them.

Step 3: Run a line of paint across the top of the letters and use a glass paint squeegee to drag the paint down.

Step 4: Choose an embellishment and place it on. I used a paint dauber to apply the paint for these.

I found these stencils very easy to work with and the paint was very forgiving. When I found smudges and bleeding, I took a toothpick and was able to clean it up easily. I had used a more fancy font on a different mug and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, so I left it until the next day. I decided I didn't like it so I took a spatula and was able to scrape it off easily and start over. 

Step 5: Let the paint dry over night and then bake it in the oven for 30 min on 350. This will keep the paint from chipping off.

I made 7 mugs and I love how they have turned out! I love this little reindeer that I used on Brandon's mug. I plan to make more for my kid's teacher gifts and for friends.

These are fun gifts to give out and you can put anything inside such as candy, hot chocolate, and maybe a little gift card.... so many options!

These were such fun and easy products to use. I was very impressed with their quality. My favorite product was the adhesive stencils, it was easy to use on the mugs to help them stay in place. 

I can not wait to make more crafts with the Martha Stewart products that I received! Marie is gonna fly out and spend a weekend with me to see what we can come up with together! 

What would you make with these products?

-chelz

If you want to find out more about Martha Stewart Crafts and Plaid be sure to follow them on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

I received product and payment via The Blueprint Social (www.theblueprintsocial.com) for this post, however, opinions are 100% my own.

Linked to: Fingerprints on the fridge

Fruit Bouquet For Mother's Day

Make a Fruit Bouquet for MOM, using your crafty side, make butterfly's out of pineapple, hearts out of cantelope, and dip some strawberry's in chocolate..... Put styrofoam in the bottom of a planter then slide the fruit on skewers, and sit back & enjoy the beautiful bouquet..she will love it....

                                                               

Frugal Friday Valentines Gifts

I'm always needing to throw together a last minute thoughtful gift or a thank you gift, for someone,right when I have NO TIME to go shopping, and I wanted the gifts to look like I wasn't desperate... Well look what I found..


They look like fun valentines gifts....or "any occasion" gifts

but I got them at WalMart's 75% off after Christmas sale.

For the bathroom.....Can you believe it ? $1.25 I bought x3

"Sink Set" soap & lotion..Yes great neighbor gifts or teacher gifts $1.25each I got x14

Now I'm ready for any last minute surprise.....


-Buff-

English Toffee

Quick, easy and yummy, is my favorite

Need a quick delicious fancy candy to share?

Try this "English Toffee"... ooohh an old family recipe we love to share...

We double this recipe to fill a whole cookie sheet

 2 sticks butter              1 C. chopped nuts

1 C. sugar                    Milk choc. chips

3 Tbsp. Water

Put butter, sugar & water in heavy pan over high heat, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture changes color (amber) and smokes. Take off heat quickly & pour out on buttered cookie sheet with sides (it will only fill about ½ or 2/3 of a small one).  Spread chocolate chips  on hot candy and when they melt spread chocolate over hot candy. Sprinkle nuts on top, cool in fridge till hard & cold, then break up in pieces. Best kept in fridge until serving.

                                                                                                                   - Buff -