Ho Ho Ho Marquee Box

November 14, 2016November 15, 20166 Comments

Well, I am starting some of my Christmas posts! Can you believe it is almost here? I actually worked on some different Christmas projects during the year so they would be ready to post. Good thing I started early!

I received this gift box last year for Christmas and knew I could do some cool project with it. Haley just rolled her eyes at me when I told her that. 🙂

I started with my box, and a string of lights. The lights were a 20 count, but I ended up using 100 count.

I punched holes with a pencil from the front to the back. This way I could place them in the right spots and I wouldn’t have the extra cardboard sticking out on the front. I placed the holes in each of the letters of the ho, ho, ho. Then I started pushing the lights into the holes from the back. (sorry for the blur!)

Here it is, from the back, with the 100 lights. There were some lights that didn’t go into holes, but 50 wouldn’t have been enough either.

And the front. Then it was just a matter of plugging it in and seeing if it would work

Yay! It works! And you can even tell what it is supposed to say!

Now I have my own little marquee light!

Such a simple idea with a lot of impact! I’m sure you can find boxes similar this at the store too. I will be back next week with another idea!

2016 Ornament Exchange and Blog Hop

November 11, 2016November 12, 201626 Comments

Welcome to the 2016 Ornament Exchange & Blog Hop! I’m so excited to be joining this group of ladies again! Thank you to Erlene at My Pinterventures for putting this all together. This year, there are 11 pairs of partners or 22 talented ladies participating in the exchange. The rules of the challenge were simple – create a handmade ornament for under $15 to exchange with a partner and create a tutorial to share on the blog hop!

Erlene ⋅ My Pinterventures Kim · Made In A Day Amanda · The Kolb Corner

Shirley · Intelligent Domesticatons Michelle · Our Crafty Mom

Robin ·Redo It Yourself Inspirations Sherry · Olives-n-Okra

Nicki · Sweet Parrish Place Sherry · Savvy Apron Megan · C’mon Get Crafty

Jelica · A Pretty Fix Emily · Two Purple Couches Christene · Keys to Inspiration

Kati · Houseful of Handmade Beverly · Across the Blvd.

Jeanie · Create and Babble Erin · Suburban Simplicity

Terri · Christmas Tree Lane Maureen · Red Cottage Chronicles

Debra · Shoppe No. 5 Donna · Two Chicks and A Mom

Pamela · Home On The Corner

I love creating new ornaments for the holidays, and making one for someone else is even better! This year I was partnered with Kim, at Made in a Day. I have been following Kim for awhile now, so I was honored to make the ornament for her. I took a look at her tree from last year and saw that she liked anything rustic, gold and deer. I came up with something that incorporates all three elements.

I started out by looking for a deer silhouette on a Google search. Of course, there are hundreds to choose from, but I didn’t want my design to be too complicated since I was going to have to cut it out of felt. I found one I liked and printed it out. I also picked up supplies from Michaels- 2 sheets of felt, 3 small wooden plaques, small Christmas wreaths, and some ribbon. I also needed some cardstock to help the deer keep their form when they were mounted. I already had that on hand.

After printing out the deer silhouette, I cut it out. As you can see, I added a little extra to the neck so I would be able to mount it on the wood plaques.

I then traced with a pencil around the deer onto the felt.

To make sure all my pieces came out the same, I layered them before cutting. I placed the cardstock between 2 pieces of felt. I paper-clipped them together so they wouldn’t move while cutting, and cut all three pieces at the same time. The trickiest part was the antlers, but they came out okay in the end.

I added some tacky glue to the cardstock and attached the felt pieces on both sides. I trimmed up any pieces that needed it.

In order to attach the deer to the wood plaque, I took a little bit of one of the felt sides and separated it from the cardstock. Now I could glue those pieces onto the center of each of the wood plaques.

Embellishing each one was the fun part and is what helped them become more personal. I added a Christmas wreath to one, a red polka-dot ribbon to another and bakery twine with a bell to the last one.

I love how they turned out and hope Kim enjoys them on her tree!

I’m so glad you all came by for a visit today! Be sure to visit the other ladies too and check out all the great ornaments. There is also a link-up if you would like to link up your own creations. Have a Merry Christmas!

FIND MORE HANDMADE ORNAMENT TUTORIALS BELOW AND SHARE YOURS TOO!

An InLinkz Link-up

Gold, White and Fall Leaves Tablescape

November 7, 2016November 8, 20165 Comments

Good morning everyone! Is your weather cool now or maybe cold? Brrr! We have had some beautiful days and even some much needed rain! It’s been so nice. One of the downfalls in our area, is that we don’t really have a very long fall. Our trees are just starting to change color now and then suddenly it will be cold. That’s it…all done. I just try to enjoy these days while they are here.

“The contents of this blog are sponsored by Oriental Trading.”

Even though the outside trees aren’t in full color yet, I can bring some of it inside to enjoy. I decided to put a tablescape together for a soup party since the weather has been cooler. My only issue was that many of my dishes were already packed away for the move. So here I was, digging through boxes I just had packed looking for various pieces! Thankfully, I had labeled the boxes fairly well and was able to find things without to much digging.

I love the Autumn Leaves String Light! This is perfect for transitioning into Christmas lights. It looks so pretty along the center of the table. I used another one along the back of the buffet too.

I used lots of gold and white and then added in several natural elements, such as the leaves, Burlap Mini Drawstring Bags and burlap ribbon and a Pinecone Votive holder.

I love these Gold Birch Napkins! They are nice and thick, but soft too, so they aren’t rough on your fingers.

I used Premium White Dessert Plates with Gold Edging and Premium Gold Trim White Bowls to serve Taco Soup and chips. Delicious on a cool night!

I love these Burlap Mini Drawstring Bags! I added a few caramels inside for sweet treat dessert.

I think this Pinecone Votive Holder adds just the right touch to a fall table. Actually, it could be used at Christmas time too, along with the gold and white theme. Perfect transition!

If you would like to order your own Thanksgiving items, here is the link to take you directly there : http://www.orientaltrading.com/holidays/thanksgiving-a1-550877.fltr.

Well, I have to pack everything up now :(. I won’t be posting much for Christmas Decorating either, which is very sad for me. I will see how it goes at the new house and give you a few sneak peaks when I can! Thanks for visiting today and have a great week!

“The contents of this blog are sponsored by Oriental Trading.”

p.s. You can click on any of the links above if you would like to purchase any of the items from Oriental Trading.

Here are a few other posts you might enjoy!

Black, Orange and Green Halloween Table-Finds and Fashions

October 19, 2016October 18, 20164 Comments

Welcome back to a Finds and Fashions! I haven’t posted one of these for awhile. I haven’t wanted to buy too much since we will be moving, but good news! We finally found a house!! It has taken us a while, but we finally found one that has all the different features we were looking for. It will need quite a bit of updating-good blog posts! For example, the sink in the kitchen is chocolate brown. Really!! I think I see a farmhouse sink in the future!! I will be posting lots of updates as we get projects done. But for today I have a Halloween tablescape for you.

I decided to go with the color scheme of black, orange and green this time. A little dark, but a little fun too. I started out with a white tablecloth and layered my black and white striped runners horizontal across the top.

I found black charger plates with skulls on them at the 99 Cent Store and placed a white plate on top of it. Lauren had some black fabric that was reversible, so I made napkins out of them. I like how they have two patterns on them. I placed a polka-dotted treat cup on top and a black crow keeps watch.

For the centerpiece, I used an oval chalkboard and drew some spiderwebs on it. Then I added some black spray-painted candlesticks (one of my finds at $3.00 for 8 candlesticks), with black taper candles. Some small orange and white pumpkins and some green sparkly ribbon add to the color scheme.

I had the black flowers and the silver spider from a pumpkin Haley made several years ago and I just picked up the ’31’ at Goodwill last week. Only 29 cents each!

I also found this handsome guy at the 99 Cent Store. Love his top hat and sparkles!

I love how the wax is dripping down the candles. Adds just the right spooky touch!

I don’t do a whole lot for Halloween, but this sure was fun to set up!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great week!

Fall Front Porch with Pumpkins

October 17, 2016October 16, 20164 Comments

Good morning! I think fall has really arrived here in Central California! At least today!! Our weather will go up and down at least until Halloween. But for today, it is nice.

I was able to pull out some things to decorate my front porch. I decided to decorate with all things pumpkin! I got out all the different pumpkins I have-fabric, plastic, ceramic, wooden, big and little.

I made this pumpkin window box last year at a Home Depot event. I filled it with a turquoise painted pumpkin, a few small faux pumpkins and some fall leaves.

The big twig pumpkin is my favorite! The orange pumpkin is just fleece covering a roll of toilet paper. One of my girls made this years ago. I made the sweater acorns last year and the ‘Gather’ sign.

A few more pumpkins with a bright striped pillow (I used the same one last year! :))

I draped a cozy blanket over the chair for those chilly mornings or evenings. Another painted pumpkin, a glittery one and some leaves look festive.

We have a huge oak tree in our backyard and it drops lots of acorns in the fall. I glued them onto a piece of twine and draped them across this old door and window.

Henrietta , my hedgehog, made an appearance too!

I hope you all have a wonderful fall day!!

P.S. A hot new offer from Redbubble is launching today, Monday, October 17th and lasting through the 18th. Starting today, shoppers can get 20% off site wide from Redbubble with code SPOOKY20.

Deal: 10/17 & 10/18 Only – Take 20% off site wide with code SPOOKY20
Code: SPOOKY20
Run Date: 10/17/16 – 10/18/16, valid 48 hours only in local time zones