DIY Stained Mason Jars

Have you seen these coloured mason jars before?

I've seen them in pictures, but I've never seen them in a store!

So I decided to make some. Can't be that hard, right?

Well, its not. And bonus: I had all the necessary tools on hand already.

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DIY Wooden Baby Blocks

As a mom, I'm always on the search for cute clothes and toys for my daughter. 

That's why I jumped at the chance to make some DIY wooden blocks for Ellie when I saw

  this template. 

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DIY Baby Closet Dividers

As always, when I'm doing something new, I scour Pinterest for ideas.
I was looking for nursery DIY projects and came across some cool closet dividers for baby clothing.
The problem with all the ones I found, was that they had to be purchased (no thank you!), or they weren't adjustable (i.e. had a permanent 0-3 months stamped across). This doesn't make sense to me because they are only going to be in 0-3 month clothes for 3 months, IF they don't grow fast!

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Twine Letter for the Nursery

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"I LOVE U" Baby Room Frame

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[Belated] Christmas Crafts

This post is a tad belated... but I still wanted to share so read on!

 My husband and I have a tradition of creating Christmas crafts together each year.
The first year we painted ornaments. The second year we decorated picture frames.
This is our third year and we seem to be getting more ambitious!

This year, inspired by a picture in a magazine, my amazingly talented husband MADE these items from scratch in his garage for us to decorate!
I'm so impressed by his talent.
The truck is meant to resemble our truck, so obviously he took all of the little details seriously.

 I got out everything we needed to decorate and we got started.

Here's how the pieces evolved: 

 The trees and the truck were painted.
We were a bit late finishing the craft this year, but these items will definitely make for a nice display in Christmas 2014.

The boxes were decorated with Christmas scrapbook paper using Mod Podge.
I'm excited to add some ribbons, labels, and other little touches when I put them out next year.
Who knows... maybe I'll even hide a gift in one box one year!

This marks the official end to our Christmas season here.
I even packed these decorations up for head to Christmas storage.
I'm sure next years craft will look very different, as it has to include the new baby somehow.
Little hands or footprints? Is 11 months too small for finger painting?
Who knows!  Lots to look forward to!
Hope you liked our 2013 Christmas craft :)

{xoxo}

Washi Tape Tags

Heard of this Washi Tape trend? 

Maybe not.. but if you're immersed in the craft world like I am, you probably have! 

I've been experimenting a bit with different ways to use some of the washi tapes I've collected, and using them to decorate those plain card stock tags is one of the best and easiest ways that I've come up with so far! 

The tape adds a little bit of character, variety, colour, and interest to the otherwise boring design. 

Here are the tags I decorated for our advent tree this year: 

Each tag has a different holiday activity written on it to keep us busy and festive as we wait for Christmas Day :) 

Tags went into some of these bags, and treats in the others! 

I also used the washi tape to label all of my sweet treats in the Hot Chocolate Bar I posted about last week. Adds a little something to the display I think :) 

Now go experiment with your own washi tape!

And let me know what you came up with! 

You can check out some other ideas on my "Washi Wonder" board on Pinterest :)  

{xoxo}

DIY Glitter Ornaments

I get very excited while decorating for Christmas

What a wonderful time of year to celebrate with family and friends. 

In the midst of my excitement, I decided to make some of my own simple ornaments this year
Step two (of the advent tree project): make glitter ornaments.

Beautiful, shiny, glittery Christmas ornaments :) 

Here is everything I used: 

Gold and silver glitter

Mod podge

Sponge brush

Small dowels

Styrofoam balls

Safety pins

Wire Cutter

1. Put the styrofoam balls on the dowels gently

2. Cover with mod podge using a foam brush

3. Sprinkle glitter everywhere
(Make sure to do this over a piece of paper so you can save all the glitter that falls off!)

4. Allow them to dry (I let them sit overnight)

5. Use wire cutters to cut the ends off of the safety pins

6. Remove the dowels (careful not to pull the glue/glitter off) and put the sharp ends of the safety pin through the styrofoam.

7. String ribbon, twine, or hemp through to let the ornaments hang

Done. 

Beautiful glittery Christmas ornaments made by hand :)

{xoxo}

How to Stamp on Muslin Bags

I decided to take the plunge and make an advent calendar this year :) 

Step one: Decorating the Muslin Bags

Don't these look adorable? 

This is everything I used: 

Stamp pads: I used Grey (Slate), Green (Juniper), and Red (Ruby)

Close to My Heart Magical Days Stamps

Muslin bags

An Acrylic block (to stamp with)

A small piece of cardboard

Then it's easy. 

Simple place the small piece of cardboard inside your bags to prevent the ink from bleeding through the material. Use the stamp and ink of your choice and stamp onto the bag. I found I need to be quite firm with some of the stamp colours (e.g. Green) to ensure that they stamped clearly.

And that's it! 

Stay tuned for my finished advent calendar :)

{xoxo}

Easy Christmas Centrepiece

As I was decorating for Christmas this year, I found a few odds and ends here and there.
Some mini pinecones, some HUGE pinecones, some leftover ornaments, some tiny glittery decorations, some red place settings...
So naturally I decided to put them all together :)
I made this super easy centrepiece for my kitchen table out of the decorations I had lying around.
Took about 2 minutes. Total.
Easiest centrepiece ever!

Now I'll have a pretty and festive centrepiece for all of my Christmas dinners and events :)

{xoxo}

Fall DIY Crafts

Just wanted to highlight a couple of the crafts I made this year to celebrate the fall season :) 

Each of these was done on a very limited budget and/or used items that I already had in my cupboard/craft storage! 

Fall Popcorn Candles

Crafts actually don't get easier than this! All I did was put popcorn kernels around some orange candles. Added the perfect touch to my mantle!

Fall Cinnamon Candles

This one is a bit more complex, but still very easy!

Tools: mason jars, cinnamon sticks, glue gun, unscented candles. (and anything you want to embellish with)

Instructions: Use the hot glue gun to adhere cinnamon sticks to outside of jars. Add candles inside. Decorate as you wish!

I chose to use a thick ribbon, and jute string to decorate them. BONUS: when you light them, you get a faint cinnamon smell wafting through your home :)

Mason Jar Lid Pumpkin

Again... super easy and self explanatory! 

Tools: mason jar lids. Felt (or anything for leaves), Cinnamon sticks. String to attach lids. 

Instructions: Gather old mason jar lids in a row so they fit neatly into one another. Tie them all together at the centre using string (I used jute string). Cut felt to resemble leaves. Put felt leaves and cinnamon sticks into centre to resemble the prefect stem! (you can hot glue them on if you wish).

Ta-Da! Simple fall crafts!

{xoxo}