Christmas Decorations

One last Christmas post.  Here are a few of our decorations this year.  I got to reuse my 3-D cardboard star from the Fourth of July.  In case anyone missed it, you can see my tutorial here on how to make a cardboard star out of a cereal box.

I made some festive holiday pillowcases.  They remind me of candy canes.

Of course I also have to throw in our major project these past few weeks which has been working on our fireplace makeover. 

Hope everyone is enjoying time with their families and thinking about the Savior! Merry Christmas!

Fireplace Makeover

When we first moved into our house, the fireplace was...big and green to put it nicely. The front room wasn't incredibly large and the hearth took up a lot of it.  There was also a decorative oak mantel with a small box on top of it.  Something had to be done. Then I saw this fireplace makeover from The Lettered Cottage.  I was smitten.  I wanted mine to be just like it.  Luckily Layla gave a tutorial which I copied and I couldn't be happier with it.

We started by removing the tile on the hearth and then cutting off the hearth altogether.  The decorative oak mantel was not permanantely attached and so we slipped it off to reveal a small metal box that probably houses the duct work.  Our plans are to basically wall it over to either side of the mantel and up to the ceiling.  For now though we have this...

Much better.  I love the thick chunky wood mantel in contrast with the white wood and our grey walls.

We have it decked out for the holidays.  Well not really decked out, more simply decorated.  I saw a pin on Pinterest with a stocking holder made from a tree branch and I had an idea.  There is a tree right next to our house that had a big branch that was rubbing against the side of our house.  This would be a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.  Sometimes we just need the right motivation to get a job done.  

So we cut the branch down and spray painted it with a light coating of white paint.  We used fishing wire to attach the stockings to the branch.

Ahhh, much better!

Linking to:
http://brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/
http://todayscreativeblog.net/ 
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ 
http://tatertotsandjello.com/

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas... 12 Minutes to a Light Show

Our last day of the 12 days of Christmas isn't homemade.  We decided to do a family activity instead.  A 12 minute drive to a light show.  If you don't have a light show 12 minutes away, you could do 12 treats for the ride.  It has been really fun doing the 12 days of Christmas for the girls.  I loved their excitement when they woke up and couldn't wait to open their present.

To recap, the most used present so far has been the rice warmer bags.  My youngest daughter's favorite present was probably the paper doll kit.  My oldest wears the bow headband practically daily.  I am still waiting for some snow so that we can use our snowman kit and secretly wishing that I had a full size freezer full of Oreo truffles so that I could eat at least 3 after every meal.  And there you have it. The 12 days of Christmas.

On the Eleventh Day of Chrsitmas...11 Delectable Treats

I must have been thinking Oreos when I was putting together this 12 days of Christmas because here is yet another Oreo temptation. These eleven homemade Oreos won't be around our house for long! I added some pink food coloring to the filling. Thought the girls would like that.  Here is the recipe that I used:

Homemade Oreo Cookies

1 devils food cake mix

2 eggs

3/4 C. shortening

Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese

2 Tbsp. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

2 C. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, blend cake mix, eggs and shortening (should be thick). Roll into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool 3 minutes on cookie sheet. Cool the rest of the way on a cooling rack.  Fill by putting filling between two cookies.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...10 Christmas Songs

The 12 days of Christmas are winding down.  For the tenth day we did a CD with 10 Christmas songs on it that the girls love and request. Here is a list of the ones we chose.

1. Santa Claus is Coming to Town- Mindy Gledhill

2. Frosty the Snowman

3. Where are you Christmas-Faith Hill

4. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

5. Little Drummer Boy- Josh Grobin

6. Little Saint Nick- Mindy Gledhill

7. Silver Bells

8. Picture a Christmas- LDS Children's Songbook

9. Away in a Manger- LDS Children's Songbook

10. He Sent His Son - LDS Children's Songbook

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...9 Puzzle Block Patterns

Have you seen those wooden puzzle blocks in various geometric shapes? They have always looked fun to me.  I was about to embark upon making some cool designs and patterns for my girls when I came across these on the PreKinders website.

I printed off 9 different designs and laminated them.  Unlaminated things like this last about 5 seconds in our house before being ripped or eaten.  Now, since we don't have any of the wooden block shape sets, I decided that I would make some.

I had a stack of foam sheets that I used to cut the shapes out. I did this by hand but it went pretty fast. 

These will still probably have some teeth marks in them by days end but I can always hope that they survive.

I can't believe it is day 10 tomorrow! This month is flying by already.

On the Eigth Day of Christmas...8 Paper Dolls

I have been so excited for this eight day.  My girls have been loving doing crafts lately so I think this gift will hit the spot.  I put together a paper doll kit with 8 dolls for each girl.

The kit also includes packs of red, brown and blonde hair,  a bunch of dresses cut out on patterned paper, popsicle sticks and glue sticks for attaching to the dolls if desired.

The dolls needed a little something to gussy them up so I added packs of feathers and sequins.  The box is a open faced cracker box that I wrapped in scrapbook paper.

I can't wait to see what creations they come up with!

Linking to:

http://tatertotsandjello.com/

On the Seventh Day of Christmas...Oreo Truffles

The seventh day of Christmas is more than just DELICIOUS Oreo truffles, it is an opportunity to share them with seven other families. For this day I made a batch of Kraft Oreo truffles. 

The recipe can be found here.  I change it up by using milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet and I freeze the Oreo balls before I dip them.  I find that they retain their shape more.

I cut out seven boxes and snowflakes with my silhouette.   It is not like these little truffles need anything to pretty them up but I wanted the whole package to be a fun little gift.

I even glittered the snowflakes for an extra pop!

I set the truffles in some white mini cupcake liners.

Now who wanted want to open the door to that goodness?!!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...6 Colored Beanbags

I got the inspiration for the sixth day of Christmas from the blog lifeingrace. It was a guest post by MJ from 517 creations. 

I liked how MJ put the names of the colors on the beanbags.  My oldest is learning to read and this will be a good way for her to become familiar with the names of the colors.  I went to the store to pick up some of that printable fabric but man was it expensive.  Even with the coupon it was more than I wanted to spend. 

I decided to go the cheap way out and write the names on fabric with a sharpie.  I had one for every color except yellow but black ended up working fine.

I can't believe that we are already half way through the 12 days of Christmas! Stay tuned for a yummy Day number 7 tomorrow.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...5 Lacing Cards

Day five of our twelve days of Christmas is five lacing cards.  I cut out some simple shapes and lamanated them. Then I punched holes in them and purchased some lacing strings from Michaels.

I have always enjoyed doing lacing cards for some reason. Still do. We will see how much the girls like them. 

 

Day 6 tomorrow...

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...4 Hair Accessories

I think I have mentioned before that my oldest daughter wears a headband every single day.  She sleeps with it under her pillow.  Putting a headband on is the first thing she does in the morning.  I knew that I couldn't go wrong with a couple new hair accessories. So day number 4 is four new hair accessories.

Since my youngest daughter doesn't wear headbands, I had to make some other things for her too.  I made two clusters of three rolled fabric flowers.  I added a headband to one and a pony tail holder to the other.

The other headband and hair clip had a felt bow on them. I just cut out a rectangle and pinched it in the center. Easy peasy.

Day number 5 coming up...

On the Third Day of Christmas...3 Barbie Dresses

Keep in mind that this 12 days of Christmas is for two little girls.  In that spirit, day number three is 3 Barbie dresses.  Barbie dresses are pretty easy to make and don't require a lot of finishing work.  You are basically working with rectangles.  I just winged it on the green and cream dresses but the red dress I looked to this tutorial.  The green dress is made from a skinny rectangle for the bodice and a large rectangle for the skirt.  The cream one is actually made from a little circle skirt attached to a rectangle bodice that I put some darts in.  All the dresses are fastened in the back with velcro.

I realized after I took the pictures that I probably should have used a barbie with less hair. Oh well, you get the drift.

Day number 4 coming up tomorrow...

On the Second Day of Christmas...2 Rice Bag Warmers

On the second day of Christmas, Mom and Dad give to you... 2 rice bag warmers.  A fast gift that is easily customizable.  I remember growing up using rice bag warmers made out of blue and black flannel print.  These are a little more festive.  If you would like a tutorial you can check out this one.

Stay tuned for day 3 coming tomorrow!

On The First Day Of Christmas...1 Snowman Kit

I love doing the 12 days of Christmas.  In the past I have done it for my husband but this year we decided to do it for our two little girls.  I did not want it to be expensive which it can easily become, so I decided that it would be almost totally handmade and low key. We are kicking of the 12 days with day number 1...

1 Snowman Kit

This kit consists of a top hat that was made from an old dress-up hat that we had.  It used to have plastic Mickey Mouse ears on it.  I dressed it up with some felt strips and a felt flower.  The eyes and buttons are made of big black buttons.  I cut off the backs of the buttons and hot glued some cut pieces of a wooden dowel to them.  I painted the wood black and put some Mod Podge on it to hopefully seal it.  The carrot nose is made from Sculpey clay and also has a wooden dowel in it.   The mouth pieces are made of small wooden dowel caps  that I glued on to the dowels with wood glue then painted them black and sealed them.  I also made a quick scarf out of a piece of fleece and simply cut the ends.  

I have tried doing most of the 12 days in secret but some of the time the girls would catch me doing something.  They saw me making the carrot and are sure that we are giving them a carrot garden...hehe. I think they will be surprised to see what the carrot is used for.

If you are interested in making a snowman kit, you could also check out this kit and this kit from which I drew some inspiration from.

Stay tuned tomorrow for day number 2...