DIY Christmas Ornaments

This year for Christmas I decided to make ornaments for our friends and family. My mom always made ornaments with us growing up. We had a Christmas party at our house so I used them as party favors and then gifts on Christmas. 

I made one of these Santa ornaments last year and I had a bunch of jar lids so I decided to make these wreaths and these snowmen as well. 

For the Santa ornaments I bought a pack of small glass balls (with a 50% off coupon of course) and some red confetti. I figured that was easier than cutting up small pieces of paper and I have a ton leftover. When I made the one last year I used paint but I ended up just using sharpies. I tried a paint pen as well but the sharpie looked pretty much the same and was easier.

The wreaths took a bit longer. Tying the string on was tricky and I had to mess around with it for a while first. I didn't use glue or anything, just tied it tight. I bought the bells and string at Michael's and used the lids that I had. 

The snowmen took the longest. I used all supplies that I already had. I did a couple of coats of the white paint. If you wanted full coverage quicker I would use spray paint. Once the paint dried Pascal drilled holes in the lids for the string. We should have done this before painting because it took off some of the paint. For the faces I used a black and orange sharpie which was so easy. I like the snowmen a lot and you could do many different things to customize them, like adding buttons. I even made a police officer snowman for my uncle. 

I was really happy with the results and I thought they made nice presents. I think I will definitely make the snowmen again. I forgot to save one for our tree!

Happy 4th day of Christmas!

Ikea Hack- Upbeat Aztec Stool

Stools are a requirement in my house. Due to the fact that I can't reach anything. We have two cheap Ikea stools, one in the master bedroom closet and one in the kitchen. The one that was in the closet is the Ikea Bekvam stool which is solid wood and only $17! Besides the great price and sturdy structure, this stool is great because it is a blank canvas that you can make it your own. Ours sat untouched for two years but I finally got around to it this last week. I also decided that once I painted it I would move it to the kitchen instead of hiding it in the bedroom.

I didn't really have any plan at the beginning. At first I just picked one color. I did not buy any paint for this- just picked from our paint sample collection. I decided to use Valspar's Pitch Cobalt in Satin which we bought to test out on our shed (In process! The weather sorta halted the painting process though...). 

I lightly sanded the stool and then just painted it with a small brush. Normally I use oil based primer first on my wood projects. However...this is a stool. So I didn't care that much. And the raw wood soaked up the paint fine. It only took two coats for complete coverage and there was no bleed through from the wood. 

I thought the stool looked good as is but I wanted to add something else. Some type of stencil. I thought about it for a couple of days. I thought about just doing stripes or tracing a stencil like I did with this dresser. Finally, I remembered a side table that the amazing Emily Henderson had posted. I love the Aztec style and the simplicity of the triangles. I figured that was something I could manage! 

I taped off a pattern on the top with triangles. I did not measure or anything since it doesn't have to be perfect. I then taped off random triangles on the rest of the stool. 

I picked three other colors from my paint stash that coordinated. All Valspar in Satin. The dark blue-gray is Cobalt Cannon (another shed option). The gray is Wet Cement which I used in our office and on our credenza (and also in the upstairs bathroom, almost done!). Finally, the light blue/gray is Barely Blue from the upstairs bathroom-almost done with that project! 

I rotated colors and did two coats of each. Once I was done the second coat, I pulled the tape off right away. I always want to let the paint dry first but then the lines are not as crisp...

After painting, I added two coats of Polycrylic in semi-gloss to protect my stencil. I only did it on the two steps. I worried that this would make the stool too slippery but it feels fine and I want the paint to last. But if this stool was for actual children and not just a child sized adult then I probably would skip that step. 

I am so happy with the finished product! It is much better than the plastic stool that I have now moved into the bedroom. Hmm, I may have to replace that one as well. 

Now we just need to replace those floors so my stool will look better on them. :)

Family Scrapbook 2010-2012

Last month I finally got around to ordering pictures for my next scrapbook to go along with the first one that I made. Once I actually got down to it I got the whole thing done in a week. I kept all my supplies spread out on the living room floor (my husband loves me) and did a few pages after work each day. I already had a lot of random craft and scrapbook supplies so besides the pictures I only bought some new pages, page covers, and double sided tape. Scrapbooks can get expensive and it is tempting to buy all the cool stuff that is out there but I wanted to try to work with what I had. 

My purchases

Trying to organize my supplies

All spread out with a spot for me in the middle. Facing the TV of course.

And of course some of the finished pages. Now that this one is done, in a couple of months I will have to make a new one!

Tuto 2.0

Since my last tutu making I have been wanting to make another one. I thought my youngest sister's 8th birthday was a good occasion to do so. I don't know, is 8 too old for tutus? She is a small 8 year though if that makes a difference. I also bought her a shirt and pants to go with the tutu. I picked up my supplies at Walmart again and I spent $7 total. I decided to try elastic this time around for the waist. I bought 4 yards of tulle for the tutu and I used almost all of it.

Unicorns! Sorry all cell pictures in this post...

For this smaller tutu it still took me about an hour total. First I cut a piece of elastic and hand stitched it together. I used the pants I bought her as a guide for size. I then cut all of the pieces of tulle (doubling how long I wanted them to be in the end) and knotted them on the elastic. I found the elastic harder to tie the tulle on to than the ribbon I used previously. It made the knots at the top bulkier. However elastic is better/easier for fit and for keeping the tutu securely on so I think there are pluses to both methods. 

I think that Cece liked her present :). She actually got some other pink and black clothes for her birthday that  will match the tutu also. 

I made her do a fashion show for all of us afterwards.

I am pretty upset that my baby sister is already 8 years old but she will always be my baby sister. 

Well one of my baby sisters :).