It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like . . .

I am so excited, and there is so much stuff I want to show you guys. As luck would have it, I've been slammed at work and haven't had time to do anything bloggy. Here is one thing I have done -- the banister.

It's super easy to decorate a banister if you haven't done it before. I use the cheapy 9-foot faux garlands (you can get these for a few dollars at the craft store). Wind two of them together to give them more body. Then you wind in strands of mini lights, which you can hold in place with the garland's bendable branches.

You can attach the lighted garland to the banister with small gauge floral wire. Then add whatever embellishments you want. I used an extremely long strand of "pearl" beads that I got at Hobby Lobby, some awesome ribbon I love from Martha Stewart's K-mart collection and the blooms off of silk lily "bushes" I got at Michael's. One other thing -- if you have any framed art or pictures you can take down, you can stick a wreath on the nail or hanger for the holiday season.

I sure hope I'll have time to get back on here any show you some more cool stuff I've seen and read recently. Until then, I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season!

Make These Easy & Cute Wooden Ornaments

I had two issues. First, I needed non-breakable ornaments for my little girl's miniature Christmas tree. Second, I had some fancy stickers and other things I didn't want to "use up" because then I couldn't look at them anymore. Soooo, I decided to make these little wooden ornaments using the stickers. These are not limited to Christmas, and you can make them without the hangers and put them together as wall art. In any event, it's super easy, and here's how you do it. Start with some unfinished wooden discs, which you can find at any craft store. The packaging will look something like this, although these are much smaller than the 3-inch discs I used.

Here is what they look like before you start.


Lightly sand both sides and the edges with fine grit sandpaper.

I covered the back of my ornaments with coordinating paper in case the ornament gets turned around on the tree. If you want to do that, trace your disc on some paper to get the right size circle.

Then cut out your circle.

Paint both sides of the disc and the edges with craft paint. I used two coats since the wood is pretty soft and really soaks up the paint.

Once the paint is dry, glue down your paper backing on the back and your embellishment on the front using Mod Podge. Three-dimensional embellishments may not lay flat, so you might want to put something heavy on top overnight to glue it down flat. Cover both sides of the disc and the edges with two or three coats of Mod Podge. Let each coat dry thoroughly before adding the next coat.

If you are making a hanging ornament, drill a tiny hole at the top of the disc. I realize this photo does not show a safe drilling technique, but I trust that you will do your drilling carefully!

For the hanger, get some teeny satin ribbon (or the ribbon of your choice -- just make sure it will fit through the hole you drilled), and a needle with a large enough eye to accommodate the ribbon. Thread your needle with the ribbon.

Push the needle with ribbon up through the hole you drilled, and pull one side of the ribbon all the way through. tie at the top.

And there you have it! I'll try to get some better pictures of these ornaments on the tree when I set it up this weekend.

Have a great day!

Top Five Holiday To-Do List Items

I am so EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even though my plan to work on something Christmas-y every week during 2009 didn't exactly pan out, I am excited to say I've already knocked a couple of things off my to-do list. I hope this helps inspire you and get everyone excited for Christmas. Woo! Sorry in advance for the boring, bossy post, but I LOVE making lists!!!

1. Order or buy your holiday cards. There are tons of options for photo cards (the best kind in my opinion!), from fancy pants places like Tiny Prints to your local drugstore. You can also sign up for Kodak Gallery or Shutterfly and get 50 free photos just for signing up, which you could stick inside regular store-bought cards. Just do something! It's an inexpensive way to keep in touch and spread cheer! Hand addressing is nice and of course more traditional, but I print address labels on Office Depot brand labels and just stick them on the envelopes. Most of the big-name labels have instructions for downloading the label templates on their website. Go ahead and get your label templates made now so all you have to do it print them out when the cards arrive. Also, get your stamps NOW! The pretty Christmas ones sell out! I did my labels and ordered my cards on November 1. PHEW! CHECK!

2. Use your computer (or pen and paper!) to make a spreadsheet of everyone for whom you want to buy/make a present or give a holiday tip (hairdresser, babysitter, trainer, etc.). Brainstorm ideas for gifts -- look at those holiday shopping guides on the websites for your favorite magazines and stores. Check out the Etsy gift guides. See if your giftees have Amazon wish lists. Surreptitiously ask for suggestions from the giftee's spouse or close friends. Your list should have several colums: Name, Gift Idea, Gift Purchased, Wrapped, Delivered. Just check off as you go.

3. Plan your FOOD! What events will require you to make/bake something? A school party? Open house? Family dinner? Plates of goodies for your neighbors or office? Make a list of what needs to be made and the deadline for doing so. Gather all your recipes in one place and start gathering your non-perishable ingredients every time you go out. Figure out what can be made in advance and frozen (like undecorated sugar cookies and shortbread). Most important: once you've decided, consider not adding in other treats that you see in magazines, blogs, etc.! You'll get too bogged down! Save them for next year!

4. Make a plan for decorating. Even write out or sketch your thoughts for how the outside of your house and each room will look. Determine whether you need to buy anything and go ahead and order it now before everything is picked over. Also, places like Hobby Lobby already have Christmas stuff for 50 percent off. Or use your Michael's coupon! Look at catalogs for decorating inspiration -- one of my favorites is Ballard Designs. Don't forget to check out thrift shops and consignment stores for decorations. Lots of places save this stuff in the back and then haul it out onto the sales floor before the holidays.

5. Get your schedule in order NOW! Make a list of every event you want to attend, such as family gatherings, parties, open houses, holiday concerts, church events, lights displays, caroling, living nativities, artist markets, Santa visits, etc. If you don't have a big calendar that lays flat, tape several pieces of scrap paper together and draw a big November and December calendar and write in all the events. Make sure you have plenty of time for these activities by getting all your shopping/decoration planning/etc. done early! Like asap!

I'll be back later with some more holiday stuff! Also One Pretty Thing has up what appears to be the FIRST CHRISTMAS POST of craft ideas (including my faux-quilted stocking tutorial). I want to make everything on there! Thanks for including me again Rachel!

Halloween Cuteness

I have never been a "Halloween person." Just never really got into it. BUT since Halloween is like The Most Important Day Of The Year for kids, I am going to have to learn to love it. Here are some cute things I am loving for Halloween.

This owl banner by Homemaker Hobbies is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Yesterday I got a look at this Bat Chandelier at the Pottery Barn Kids store. I wanted to look at it to see if I could make one myself. First of all, it is SO MUCH CUTER than it looks in the picture. Second of all, it looks like it would take forever to make.

A neighbor has some of these gigantic, four-foot-wide, posable spiders stuck to his house and they are so creepy! In a good way! This one is from Halloween Express, and they also have a 30-inch size.

How scary are these crows from Oriental Trading Company? I know they're just birds, but geez. They look creepy.

I also like this lace spider web table topper from Oriental Trading. I definitely could not make that myself unless I learn to tat in the next month (unlikely).

Last but not least, you know Bakerella is going to have some Halloween awesomeness to share soon. Here are her Mummy Pops from last year. Too cute to eat (almost)!

Happy Halloween!

Faux Quilted Stocking Tutorial

Last Christmas I came up with this method for making a quilted Christmas stocking without actually knowing how to quilt. The key is to use a quilted pillow sham. You can get a quilted sham lots of places -- this one is Simply Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashwell for Target. It's green and red and shabbily Christmas-y. It was $12 on clearance (yes, pricey, but I really liked it).

Lay the sham face down and cut off the back. Save it for another use. Be careful when cutting it off not to cut the ruffly that goes around the sham.

Fold the sham in half, right sides together. Use another stocking as a template, and lay about .75 inch from the fold.

Line up the top of your template stocking just below the ruffle at the top of the sham.

Using a disappearing ink pen, outline the template stocking on the sham, leaving a one-half inch seam allowance. Cut along the outline and lay scraps to the side.


Keeping right sides together, make sure your two stocking pieces are lined up exactly by lining up the top seams and then smoothing down the rest of the way. Starting at the top, pin the pieces together and set aside for a minute.

Now you need to make a hanger for the stocking. From the scraps of the sham, cut a piece about 6 inches by 2.5 inches.

Rather than trying to sew rights sides together and turning the bulky material, I sew wrong sides together with a straight stitch and then a zig-zag stich. Trim close to the stitching and no one will even notice.

Now back to the stocking. I put it on the sewing machine with the toe pointed to the right. Start sewing at the top of the toe side. I used a triple stitch for durability.

When you get near the end of sewing around the stocking, it's time to add the hanger. Fold the hanger in half (stitched side toward the bottom of the stocking) and place INSIDE the stocking so that when you turn it right side out, the hanger will be on the outside of the stocking. It should look like this.

This part is a pain to sew. Look at how far away the presser foot is from the sewing machine! I prefer to use the handwheel for this part. After you've sewn past the thick part, go back to the triple stitch to finish sewing the last bit of the stocking.

Once you've sewn all the way around, if you are dissatisfied with the shape of your stocking, just use your marking pen to redraw then lines you don't like, then sew again and trim the edges.

Turn the stocking right side out, press it and you can cross one more thing off your handmade Christmas list! Email me if you have any questions.

Have a great day!

Texas Christmas Cuteness

Look how our neighbors decorated the two giant cacti at the end of their driveway! So cute!

More Stocking Ideas

I know we are getting down to the wire on Christmas decorating (woo hoo, only six sleeps till Santa), but I love the awesome stocking ideas I received via email from Better Homes and Gardens (I love them now, does this mean I'm an old lady?!). Here's the link for you to check them out for yourself. Some have patterns included. P.S. I want to make a wreath like that, with the fabric sash...have any ideas on where I can learn how?

Simple "Quilted" Christmas Stocking

So, in the aforementioned Better Homes and Garden issue, they showed some beautiful white matelasse stockings. I decided to get some matelasse pillow shams at TJ Maxx and turn them in to stockings, but alas, the closest they had were these quilted shams for $12.99 each. Close enough.

I love how the stocking turned out! All I did was: (1) cut off the muslin back part of the sham (cheesy thing wasn't quilted all the way around); (2) trace around another stocking onto the wrong side of the sham, leaving a .5 inch seam allowance; (3) fold over and cut out two stockings; (4) make a small tube with left over fabric to use as the loop for hanging; and (5) sew right sides together and then turn right side out. The whole process took less than an hour, and that was interrupted several times. I'm going to make another one tomorrow, and I'll try to get a better photo than this one.