Monday, December 31, 2012

Advent

 Okay, these advent calendars didn't get finished for our 2012 Christmas celebration but you can bet that they will be in full view and well used for Christmas 2013!
 
My friend contacted me about making these beautiful calendars and I couldn't resist, our inspiration came from here. While the original is lovely we wanted it to be a bit less busy and are happy with that decision.
 
The below pictures are a friend's calendar, we had fun picking out our paper colors and I think that they turned out super cute! I love the color scheme she went with.

 
These two photos below are of my color choices, after getting it all put together and seeing how the above green complements so well I was a little bummed that I didn't incorporate some myself. Oh well, I've got all year to make some more!

Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

water bottle

I love the opportunity to personalize things and Christmas was the perfect time to do such a thing! My son runs cross country and LOVES this quote. I thought it was very appropriate for a water bottle and hopefully I can work it into other projects as well....about that later!
 
"My sport is your sport's punishment"....I LOVE it!
Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Merry Christmas to all the wonderful teachers!

Merry Christmas to all the wonderful teachers out there who take time each day to teach and love our children. It's been pushed to the forefront of everyone's minds just how blessed we are to have wonderful teachers who love our children like we their parents do, and as a parent of a student I am very thankful for that.
 
 
Here's the Christmas Teacher gifts I made this year for my boy's teachers. It's super simple, I found some {cheap} plastic ornaments at Walmart in their craft section {Walmart is wonderful for their prices but fail in customer service! It took two sales representatives who couldn't find these clear ornaments, they then left me on my own. Luckily I happened to come across them when searching out another item on my shopping list...shiesh!} anyway, I just filled them with cocoa mix, some mini chocolate chips, some red candy pearls and mallow bits.
 
 
What you'll need:
  • Clear plastic ornaments
  • favorite hot cocoa mix {I'm not a coffee drinker but I LOVE Starbucks cocoa!}
  • mini chocolate chips {not pictured....darn kids left the regular chocolate chips and made cookies with the minis!}
  • Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits {I found these at Safeway near the marshmallows on the baking isle on the top shelf}
  • red candy pearls
  • funnel for getting all these goodies into your ornament
Remove the ornament hanger from the plastic ornament and wash ornament thoroughly. Set aside to dry fully.
 
Once dry, use the funnel to pour in the cocoa mix a little at a time until you have your desired amount. I filled these ornaments at least half full or more. *after each ingredient is added tap ornament on counter to get everything to settle in, you want it a little snug so things don't mix all together before you're able to give this fun gift*.
 
Still using the funnel pour in mini chocolate chips shaking ornament side to side gently to get it to spread to the edges. Repeat this step along with the pearls remembering to tap and shake as you go, then the mallow bits. I really packed the mallow bits in, tapping and shaking until not another one could be added.
 
Replace the ornament hanger {yes some bits will get crunched, that's the price that has to be paid}. Attach a label with instructions. With the cocoa I had, these were the directions I used:
 
Directions:
1) sift contents
2) mix 2 Tbsp. cocoa mix with 8 oz. warm/hot milk
3) sprinkle toppings if desired
 
Top it off with a wonderful bow and there you have it a great teacher gift!
 
Hope you enjoy making these as much as I did!

Rectangle Ornament
 
Bulb Ornament
 
Happy Crafting!

Friday, December 14, 2012

It has {turned} her brain

I love making Christmas presents when I can. My daughter showed me a similar necklace a while back and I knew this would be one I could pull off, it was super simple!
 

This quote is PERFECT for her too, she's always got her nose in a book, hope she enjoys it!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Sneak Peek {Advent Calendar}


Just wanted to give you a little sneak peek on a project I'm working on with a friend. It turned out to be a bit more work then we had anticipated but it will be worth it in the end....who wants to craft junk? Not me!
Here I've laied out the pictures and card stock how I want them to look on the calendar, now the task of keeping this all in order! 

 Up close of one of the images of Christ. I just LOVE Liz Lemon Swindle's art! This one is called Prince of Peace, she's one of my FAVORITES when it comes to images of Christ.

 Wish us luck on this one! Hopefully it will be completed BEFORE Christmas this year....at least we'll get plenty of use out of it in years to come!