Monogram Christmas Wreath
Easy, Easy-grab a wreath you have laying around-run to Hobby Lobby and purchase a large unpainted wooden letter ($2.99)-paint, add a ribbon, glue together and you're done-simple, inexpensive, cute!
Gift Topiary
This is part of my "interchangeable" decor. Remember the pumpkin topiaries from Fall? I pulled those off the pot, and replaced it with these boxes. Once I figured out the logistics of these, I got them put together faster than I expected.
They are made from three different sizes of cardboard boxes-6", 8" and 10". I already had the 6" and 8" (Walmart used to carry the 6, and Home Depot had 8" on clearance after the holidays a couple years ago) For the 10", I purchased a 12x12x10 from Walmart and cut to down to make a 10" square.
My crafting partner, Lucinda, made hers so that they could be stored inside each other-brilliant! I have a little more storage room so I didn't bother to do that. She is displaying hers outdoors so she used vinyl tableclothes to cover the boxes. We get such winds on our porch that mine will be indoors so I used fabric. You can use Christmas paper-it's whatever you like.
I first got my holes where I wanted them, for the pvc pipe that runs up through the middle, and then I covered them with fabric and added the ribbon. Once they were stacked, I added the bows.
If anyone is serious about making these, I can do step by step directions if you need them. The hardest part was making the connection in the vase-hardware and pouring cement. If you have a set of the small Christmas trees that sit in pots (on rebar), you could easily do this with rebar and use one of those pots, instead of displaying the Christmass tree in it.
Jingle All the Way Shadow box
This craft is SUPER EASY also!! (If you can find a shadow box!) I found my 8x8 shadow box at Walmart (not in every store-some are clearancing them)-FYI-Michaels does have a package of them-set of 3-use a coupon or wait till they are 40-50% off and they aren't bad.
The paper and ribbon are from Hobby Lobby, along with the bells. The shadow box only holds up to 3/4" deep items-so I had to clip the backs off my largest bells, and hammer them just a tad, to get them to fit. I have three different sizes of bells.
Cut a little vinyl, add to the glass-cut your paper and use double-sided tape to adhere to the back of frame. Add the bells, add a ribbon (adhere to top, sides and bottom with double-sided sticky tape), and you're done! We made these for craft night and everyone loved them!! If you want to make for next year, snag some bells when they go on clearance after the holiday!!!!
Jingle Subway Art and Glitter Trees
I know, who does turqoise for Christmas? Well, it seems like now days, anything goes-I even saw black ornaments this year!! I saw this on Pinterest and fell in love with it.
The graphic I downloaded and printed to fit a 16x20. The frame I've had stashed for years (it was oak), so I gave it a ton of paint. The trees are made from the styrofoam forms. I took some skewers and stuck them in the bottom of the forms so I'd have something to hold on to while I "painted" them with elmer's glue. Once they are coated in glue, I held them over a paper plate and poured the glitter on. (paper plate makes for easy clean up-and so you can reuse it) I stood them up in a vase to dry. Then I took some old glass candlesticks that I had from my wedding, and spray painted them white-let them dry, and then super-glued them to the bottom of the forms. Easy!!! The site on Pinterest gives step-by-step directions on these.
Christmas Countdown
I can hear it now, "Don't you already have on of these-you used to sell them!!" The answer is "kind of". Yes, I have a set, but it's not functional. My paper totally bubbled when I was making them, so I attempted to pull it off and redo it, and it ended up a big mess. So when these appeared on Pinterest again, I decided it was time to attempt them again.
I'll admit it-something that was bothering me about my old set was the rounded edges-I KNOW, I'm picky!! But they bugged me. Luckily, when we renovated our kitchen this year, I had some left over wood from the spindles, and it has 90 degree angles!! So I cut it down to size and decided that I like using the same wood for both the tops and the bottoms (no more 2x4s). I painted the wood with a wash, and added my paper.
Modge podging-this time, I actually read the directions on the bottle-I didn't use "Modge Podge" but a bottle of "Aileen's decoupage" that I had sitting around. It says that you spread a thin coat on the PAPER, adhere it to the wood, and then WHILE STILL WET, add a thin layer over the top-to get the bubbles out, you wet your fingers and smooth it out. So that's what I did. I coated my paper, applied it to the wood, brayered over the paper, added the top coat, and then took my wet fingers and worked out the bubbles. It WORKED!! I don't think I have any bubbles this time.
My decoupage still seems a little tacky-a week later, but I read you can use your Krylon spray to give it a coating to protect the paint and help get rid of the tackiness. I will be doing this as soon as the garage is warm enough to use the spray!!
Those are my Christmas crafts-I have two more than I am working on, and then I'll be done. What are you doing this year?!
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