It's Not Too Late!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid was making our gingerbread house each year with my mom and brother.  This is the third year I have made one with my kids, and although Christmas is just days away, it's not too late to make one!  

1.  Assemble your supplies:

Easy gingerbread:

2 3/4 C flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

2/3 C molasses

1/3 C brown sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 C oil

1 egg

Mix, roll out with a rolling pin, use some paper templates to make a front, back, two sides, and two roof pieces... here's where you can get as creative as your little heart desires :)

Bake pieces at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes

Easy Royal Icing:

3 egg whites at room temperature

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 lb. powdered sugar

use a mixer to really fluff it up, use icing bags with a simple decorator's tip to apply it to gingerbread (if you don't have these, a thick Ziploc with a tiny hole cut in the corner will work)... and although this icing is technically edible, it dries rock hard... perfect for gingerbread house glue!

2.  Assemble some adorable helpers

3.  Use the glue to stick on whatever candy you have... a great way to use up Halloween or Christmas party candy!

4.  Glue the pieces of the house together with the icing, and enjoy the finished house as part of your decor for a few days... and if your kids are anything like my brother and I were as kids, they'll enjoy prying off the stale candy after Christmas.  Man, kids will eat almost anything.

Frosty {Ornament}

{This is an oldie, but a goodie.  I posted this quick and easy tutorial last year. If you're in a scramble for an adorable gift, this is quick, and so so cute!}

So if you're like 95% of America... you are in the process of switching over all of your household light bulbs to the new energy efficient CFL variety (if you're not... you should!). At our house, as the old energy guzzlers burn out, we replace with the new and improved. Well, this week the last of our bulbs finally kicked the bucket and that left me with supplies for this adorable little ornament, which will soon be sent off to live at Goofball's teachers' houses. Although, they are just so cute, I think I'll make an extra one for our tree, I just love snowmen!

To get started:

1) Gather these supplies: an old lightbulb, various shades of acrylic paint (white is a must, but the other colors are up to you), some iridescent glitter, modge podge (although this isn't mandatory as I discovered today), fabric scraps, tiny bit of orange felt, sponge brush

2) Paint a thin-ish coat of white paint on the bulb part only (leaving the top silver for now), and sprinkle on the glitter while the paint is still wet (this saves you a step and eliminates the need for modge podge). I found that sticking the silver end in the playdough freed up my hands while it dried.

3) Dab some dark paint for the coal eyes, mouth, buttons, add the tiny orange felt triangle (I used a hot glue gun)

4) Add a scrap of fabric for the scarf, add some detail by cutting some fringe in the ends, hot glue that baby on...

5) Paint the silvery top a color of your choice, wrap some ribbon around the the top, and you've got yourself one darling little snowman ornament... doesn't it feel great to be crafty AND green :)

Fun With Felt {Garland}

I love felt.  It is cheap and easy to use, and I love color.  Here are a couple of easy ideas for some festive felt garland.  All you need are some basic sewing skills, a few pieces of felt, and a night or two in front of  your favorite movie.

{Felt Garland #1}  

Materials:
  *  felt in your favorite shade (or shades), I choose glitter white
  *  a sewing machine, or if you don't have one or are feeling super ambitious, a needle and thread
  *  a couple paper template in two different shapes, pictured are a circle and diamond, duh

Step 1:  Cut out a plethora of the two shapes.  Mine are about one inch each.  I used four 8"x10" sheets of felt, which yielded about 20 feet of garland (more than I needed)

Step 2:  Sit down at your machine and make one long continuous stitch through the middle of the alternating pattern of shapes

Step 3:  Decide where to hang the hand-crafted lovliness.  I hung mine in the opening between our kitchen and playroom, where I will hang all the Christmas cards we get in the mail.  Done and done.

{Felt Garland #2}

Materials Needed:
  *  Felt in a multitude of  fun colors, the more the merrier
  *  Embroidery floss in just as many fun colors

Step 1:  Using a paper template (I traced the top of a mini-playdough container), cut out a bazillion circles

Step 2:  Sandwich two of the same color circles together and sew together using your choice of thread colors using a blanket stitch (use {THIS} tutorial to figure what in the world a blanket stitch is, and how to do it)

Step 3:  Use a long needle, with tape over the tip so it is blunt, not sharp... string emboidery floss through the middle of each felt sandwich to create the length of garland your heart desires. 

I love the look of this garland because it reminds me of candy, and I do love me some sugar.

 

ABC's- A Collection

I finally finished a project that has been on my to-do list for quite some time.  Months.  I stumbled across several variations of this around and fell in love.

I have quite the soft spot for unique typography, and thought this idea would be perfect for a huge, empty wall in Buddy Boy's room.  So, the hunt was on for letters on the cheap.  I spent the past few months using my Michael's and Joann's 40-50% off coupons, browsing ebay, and even making a few of the letters, to complete the collection below.  After I had all 26 letters, I went to town modge podging, spray painting, and overhauling almost every letter, then practiced arranging them on the floor before committing to holes in the wall.

And here's the finished product!  I love it, and most importantly, so does the boy.  I wanted him to take some ownership in decorating his room, so he helped pick most of the colors, and even painted the "N" himself on a small canvas.  I took color inspiration from these things in his room, and went from there:

Most of the letters came from Michael's or Joann's, with the exception of a few cool finds:
H:  made from a ripped children's book and a file folder, I just cut out rectangles and assembled a 3D letter with my hot glue gun

I:  an old wooden ruler

K:  a reflective letter from a highway sign, found on ebay for $7.00

P:  wire letter from Pottery Barn Teen, on clearance for $5.00 plus free shipping... although these are long gone, *these* cute ones are on clearance!

T:  a letter from an old marque sign, $3.00 on ebay

&Z:  this antique school slate was given to me by Gary's Grandma, and I've been wanting to do something cool with it ever since... it was hers from childhood!

Frosty

So if you're like 95% of America... you are in the process of switching over all of your household light bulbs to the new energy efficient CFL variety (if you're not... you should!). At our house, as the old energy guzzlers burn out, we replace with the new and improved. Well, this week the last of our bulbs finally kicked the bucket and that left me with supplies for this adorable little ornament, which will soon be sent off to live at Goofball's teachers' houses. Although, they are just so cute, I think I'll make an extra one for our tree, I just love snowmen!

To get started:
1) Gather these supplies: an old lightbulb, various shades of acrylic paint (white is a must, but the other colors are up to you), some iridescent glitter, modge podge (although this isn't mandatory as I discovered today), fabric scraps, tiny bit of orange felt, sponge brush
2) Paint a thin-ish coat of white paint on the bulb part only (leaving the top silver for now), and sprinkle on the glitter while the paint is still wet (this saves you a step and eliminates the need for modge podge). I found that sticking the silver end in the playdough freed up my hands while it dried.

3) Dab some dark paint for the coal eyes, mouth, buttons, add the tiny orange felt triangle (I used a hot glue gun)

4) Add a scrap of fabric for the scarf, add some detail by cutting some fringe in the ends, hot glue that baby on...

5) Paint the silvery top a color of your choice, wrap some ribbon around the the top, and you've got yourself one darling little snowman ornament... doesn't it feel great to be crafty AND green :)