Day 19

Day 19 is a double project.  I saw these on Pinterest and wanted to make one for Avery. I made a beanie and a flower to complete todays challenge.

I can't read a pattern very well, but I love watching crochet on youtube and found this video to make a hat.
crochet beanie

She also has one for a simple rose.
crochet rose

I made both very quickly and created this hat for Avery's First Birthday!

Note: The video for the hat wasn't working out quite like I wanted, so I went my own way with it.  I simply half crochet in each space, crocheting in a spiral until it was the right size.  I had to increase the stitches as needed.

Get your hook and yarn and make up a quick beanie today!
Cheers!

Day 18

Day 18 is another book page project.  If you haven't noticed, I love books and book pages!  I was happy to find this on Pinterest so I could make some of my own.

book page stars

This was a pretty simple paper folding project and I was quite happy with the results.  

You could use wrapping paper, brown craft paper or what ever you want!  Give it a shot!   Cheers!

Day 17

Day 17 is a special project!  I found this pin and knew it would make a great housewarming gift for my Mom's new house! 

advent calendar

Here is the calendar I made.  It is filled with little gifts on certain days and the others are simple gift tags. 

I have been patiently waiting for her to receive it so I could post it here!  She loved it and I feel wonderful to have made her such a great housewarming gift!

This was a time consuming project, but I assure you, IT WAS WORTH IT!  I challenge you to create an advent calendar before December gets here!  It can be as easy or detailed as you feel comfortable with!

Cheers!

Day 16

Day 16 brings me to a project that is so easy and fun to do! It also makes the most beautiful ornaments!

cornstarch dough recipe

I love this recipe because it has such a fine finish to it, unlike the rough surface of the salt dough.  I got out my stamps and ink to create some special ornaments.

Have I inspired you to make these yet?

Cheers!

Day 15

Day 15 is the perfect day to sing Jingle Bells!  I saw this pin and started singing right away!

I threaded the bells onto yarn and crocheted them into a garland.

I think they are adorable!

This is a simple project you can do very quickly that can add a fun holiday feeling to your home.

Give it a try, won't you?

Cheers!

Day 14

Day 14 was full of sunshine. What a perfect day to get this project done!  

When I saw this pin on Pinterest I was so excited because I had wanted planters since spring! 

I had some precut and painted cedar boards ready for a project I never got to, so I decided they would be much better as a planter box!

Travis built built them and I put them up on the posts on the front porch. I cut some fresh boughs from across the street to fill them up with.

You can add a simple planter box to most anywhere on your house! Fill with greenery for the holidays and then you'll have a place for flowers in the spring!

Cheers!

Day 13

Day 13 is perfect for getting the outdoors ready for the holidays.

I used this image to inspire my front porch decor this year.

I bought two hanging baskets at the thrift store this past summer and decided to fill it with fresh evergreen branches and wrap it in lights to recreate the look.

Grab some lights and give your summer pots an extended season!

Cheers~

Day 12

Day 12 has me sewing stars!  This project from Pinterest was perfect for me because I have tons of old denim to use!

denim stars

The only problem is that I have TOO much denim and I bit off more than I could chew...

I had to start my project later in the afternoon and spent too much time cutting stars instead of focusing on completing a project.  

I did get a few stars sewn together, but they will all need to be done before I throw them in the wash to fray the edges.  

It looks like I will have to finish this one up in the morning!  I am too exhausted to sew any more!

Do you have an old pair of jeans you could use for stars?  Stick to one pair, instead of 3 (like I did)

Cheers!

UPDATE!! I finished the garland and I love it!

Day 11

Day 11 has me singing "Jingle Bells"!  I found this photograph on Pinterest and decided I was crafty enough to make these!

Here is what I came up with!

I love these little jingle bells! They add just enough "jingle" to get you in the holiday spirit! String up some bells with yarn or string and add them to your front door!
CHEERS!

Day 10

Day 10 is all about keeping warm!  I decided to whip me up a pair of mittens to wear today!! I found this on Pinterest and decided it would have to do until I could sit down and knit/crochet my own pair.

I found the perfect sweater at Goodwill and gave it a good wash! Then I traced out 2 mitten shaped sections and pinned and cut them for sewing.
Here are my mittens for my coffee in the morning!



I'm sure you have an old sweater you could turn into mittens in just moments... Don't you! They are easy enough to hand sew if you don't have a sewing machine!

Cheers!

Day 9

Day 9 has me seeing stars!

I found this pin on Pinterest and just knew I had to make it for the holidays!

The Winding Road Blog

I hung mine on my old wooden mirror and I am IN LOVE!!!!

With a paper punch and needle/thread you could whip a few of these strands up while your pumpkin pie bakes!

(That's what I did!)

Cheers!

Day 8

In preparation for Thanksgiving, I decided it was time to make my FIRST Pecan Pie!!!!!  Grandma always had a stash of Pecan Sandies around, but I never really liked them, UNLESS it was the ONLY cookie left in the house...   You can imagine my disgust when my husband told me PECAN PIE WAS HIS FAVORITE!!!  ugh... That means I will have to make it for him and soon enough I will have to have my first bite...
Until then, I will share this recipe with you, because if you are like me, presentation is everything when it comes to food.
I ran across Pioneer Woman recipes a while back and haven't been disappointed yet, so when I saw her pin for pecan pie, I just knew I had the perfect recipe for my first experience.

The Pie That Will Make You Cry

She made a great point about presentation when it comes to pecan pie... It was hard to cut nice, clean slices with the pecan halves placed on top of the pie, so she recommends finely chopping them, themputting them in the bottom of the crust and then pouring the pie mixture over it.  

BRILLIANT I TELL YA!

Here she is!!! Oh... I can't wait until its cooled off so I can have my first bite! Good thing I've got another one in the oven for Turkey Day!!

I challenge you to bring something new to your holiday festivities or rework an old favorite!

Cheers!

Day 7

Day 7

Hooked on crochet! I found this cowl on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot!

Here is the link to her lovely blog:

Living Life Creatively 

(although I was not able to find the post about the cowl, there were plenty of other beautiful photos/projects to admire and inspire me!)

Here is what I made!  I love it! I put it on every morning with my coffee and have it on until I go to sleep. Keeps me cozy warm all day!
I challenge you to create a cowl for your winter mornings and evenings!  You can knit, crochet, sew or recycle an old sweater!

Cheers!

Day 6

Day 6 comes after a quick walk to replace my pinecones!  I found this image on Pinterest and fell in love with it, but then quickly realized I didn't have the beautiful (but expensive) garland to use!

Pretty Pine Cones

My kitchen has a country Christmas feel to it so I decided to add red bows to go with the valance my Mom made.

It doesn't have the same feel as the photo, so I think I'll collect a few more and hang them with white bows on my big mirror in my dining room. I'll update when I get it done.

Pine cones are great to use for holiday decor! I always love the cinnamon scented ones! Go collect a few pine cones and string them in your window or on a mirror to add some natural decor to your home for the holidays!

Cheers!

Day 5

Day 5 comes happily with my favorite thing to make... DINNER!

The other night I was torturing myself by looking at all the Pinterest food! Here is what I decided to make:


It is a chicken Alfredo lasagna. It has artichokes and sun dried tomatoes. Yum! Too bad I had neither of those items in my pantry...

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided
12 lasagna noodles, cooked

Directions
HEAT oven to 350°F.
COMBINE chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture.
SPREAD half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover.
BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.

I omitted the artichoke and sun dried tomatoes, but added peas and carrots and fresh tomatoes on top instead! It was delicious!


What will you make for dinner tonight??

CHEERS!

Day 4

Here we go!

 I was delighted to see this pin because I was sad inside when my tree's color scheme didn't allow for the vintage-y pastels of the ornaments I have been collecting over the years.

Here is the photo from Pinterest.

hanging ornaments

These ornaments are special to me because they were the ornaments I used to bring some holiday cheer to our Rv back in the day!  I also received a few very special ornaments from a good friend.  I am proud to display my collection and love how well they go with the decor in my family room!  (Added bonus!  They make my dreary backyard look spectacular too!)

Vintage ornaments from Kari! How darling!

Do you have any special ornaments that maybe don't get to go on the tree as often as they'd like? I challenge you to visit your ornaments from Christmas' past and give them new life!

Cheers!

Day 3

Today's project was the result of a massive untangling of yarns!!!  I had seen the dainty crocheted crowns all over Pinterest and decided I was going to make one! I found this pin and realized it was the perfect tutorial for making my first crocheted item!

I was surprised to find this was pretty simple! Here is what I came up with!

 These will be perfect for Avery's First Birthday Party!

I challenge you to get out your crochet hook and yarn and crochet away!  Even a basic chain with red or green yard can create a garland for  your tree! DO IT! :)

Day 2

This next project takes me back to my school days! When I saw this photo on Pinterest I immediately thought of the stacks of red and green construction paper, rounded safety scissors and Elmer's Glue!

paper chains

I just knew I could add my own twist to these elementary paper chains and make them into more of a mature decoration for my home.

I used old book pages and cut them into strips and glued them together as I linked one to the next.

In no time at all, I had a super long garland that I could tear to any length to fit the desired area.
I used it behind my Christmas tree to add a bit of dimension to my plain walls. I'll be making more of these to go above my bed and maybe along the mantle!
I challenge you to make one with your family! You can even do a Christmas countdown chain. JSUT DO SOMETHING!
Cheers!

Day 1

Happy Holidays! It's never too early to start your holiday craft projects and decorating!  I have been scouring Pinterest for the perfect holiday decor ideas, projects, gifts, recipes and photo shoots to do!

Since we travel for the last 2 weeks of December, we lose 2 weeks of "Christmas" so I decided to start 2 weeks earlier!  The tree is up and sparkling! I made my Holiday Planner and now I'm all organized for my holiday season!

My first project was to recreate this "NOEL" letter display.

I love the wooden texture of this set, but I was  wanting a bookpage styles look to mine, so I printed out the letters and the star in the size I wanted, cut them out and traced them onto some clean cardboard. I cut out the letters/star with and Exacto Knife.  Then I cut stripes of book pages from a book that had fallen apart.  I glued the strips on until they were all sufficiently covered.  I also covered the star with book pages and then traced it onto a sheet of red paper, to cover one side with.

*Side note; I uses a thicker, corrugated cardboard so I covered the thin edge between the front and back sides, just to make it look cleaner. Next time, I'd use a thinner cardboard, like from a cereal box or something.  

*Side- Side Note: you could also just go to Micheal's and buy their cardboard letters and cover them with book pages, music sheet paper, wrapping paper, yarn, macaroni... I like to be as thrifty as possible ;)

Here is what I made:

Now that my mantle is decorated, it's time to start the fireplace and enjoy a snuggle on the couch to watch Elf with my family!

I challenge you to find one item off one of your Pinterest boards and do it!

Until next time...

Cheers

December Planner

I decided it was time to make a planner for the holiday season!

I found this post last year and never got around to it, but this year... I did and I am so proud of myself!



Here is the link to the original idea http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/11/christmas-planners.html?m=1

I am horrible with following directions because I tend to tweak things too much so I just went for it and this is what I came up with.



I used an old hardcover book with holes punched in it, secured with 2 rings as my cover.



Used up some old day planner paper along with scrapbook paper cut to various sizes. I used washi tape to create the categories I wanted. Categories include, calendar, deck the halls, crafty, food, gifts, holiday fun and I added a section for Avery's Birthday since it is coming up.

I also created a weekly calendar to help me schedule things.


Then I printed out my Pinterest ideas and glued them into the correct section. I also made notes about the items and created a shopping list and a to do list that incorporated the projects into them.


I also added a few envelopes to hold important papers and lists.



You can put anything you want into these books because the rings open and close to allow for more pages!


Have fun with it!


Just so you know, I did not purchase anything new to do this entire project. It's made entirely of things I already had. (Before you get too wowed by that last note, understand I've been collecting "stuff" for over 10 years and rarely ever make anything with it, so I pretty much had a Micheal's store in my studio!).

Remember to keep the book size small enough to take with you when you are out and about! You will always have your info with you!

What can you come up with