it just isn’t a holiday without a special, custom made pillowcase. the boys look forward to picking out their fabrics, every holiday. luckily for me, i can whip these pillowcases out in about 15 minutes.
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From the category archives:
not your mama’s craft projects
red velvet cupcakes. smothered in ever-green cream cheesey frosting for christmas-in-a-jar. or, use your classic creamy white cream cheesey frosting for a pepperminty candy-cane-in-a-jar. all i know, the holidays never tasted so good. cupcake in a jar tutorial HERE. red velvet cupcake & cream cheese frosting HERE. (simply use green food coloring to make your frosting christmas green.)
& if you want to make your cupcakers in a jar really fancy – download perfectly sized, blank mason jar labels HERE, then cut out with a sharp pair of scissores, or a 2-inch circle punch. & fyi… these labels make great gift tags.
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it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas
ev’rywhere you go
take a look in the five-and-ten,
glistening once again
with candy canes silver lanes aglow
it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas
toys in ev’ry store
but the prettiest sight to see
is the holly that will be
on your own front door
a pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
is the wish of barney and ben
dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
is the hope of janice and jen
and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again
it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas
ev’rywhere you go
there’s a tree in the grand hotel,
one in the park as well
the sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow
it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas
soon the bells will start
and the thing that will make them ring
is the carol that you sing
right within your heart a
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inspired by family fun, these super-duper-easy-to-make cupcakers are sure-to-impress the fussiest of teachers as we head back to school. really & truly, cross my heart, hope to die – these cupcakers are so unbelievably easy… one boxed cake mix, red cupcake liners, red sprinkles, red food coloring infused frosting, a few tootsie rolls & pretty soon you’ll be whipping up apple cupcakers of your own.
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for your canning pleasure… easy, breezy, downloadable mason jar labels for jam (raspberry, peach, strawberry, raspberry peach), applesauce, apple pie filling & canned peaches. that’s right,you can download your very own, perfectly sized mason jar labels right here (although, if you’re using wide-mouthed jars, you’re on your own).
print raspberry jam labels HERE.
print peach jam labels HERE.
print strawberry jam labels HERE.
print raspberry peach jam labels HERE.
print applesauce labels HERE.
print apple pie filling labels HERE.
print canned peaches label HERE.
print labels on paper (& tape or glue down), or use avery sticker paper. then, cut out with a sharp pair of scissors, or a 2 inch circle punch.
now you too can play little house on the prairie.
linked up with today’s creative blog’s get your craft on tuesday & skip to my lou’s made by you monday.
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welcome to our holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along.” we are baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season. dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects. a southern fairytale is spotlighting lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss. & to check out ALL of our crafty & creative projects go, you just have to keep reading…
now that we’ve spent literally weeks playing filling your pretty little heads with all kinds of crafty & creative things to make, bake & sew, it’s time to play show & tell. be sure link up YOUR best handmade gift ideas, how-to’s & tutorials below. let’s gather all of the best handmade gift ideas in one handy-dandy place.
Thumbnails: 47 entries so far… you’re next!
You are next…
Click here to enter
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welcome to our holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along.” we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season. dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects. a southern fairytale is spotlighting lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss. & to check out ALL of our crafty & creative projects go HERE.
unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. but, don’t worry, we aren’t quite there… yet. be sure to stop by tomorrow for the big finale. one final wrap up of EVERY project. & don’t think i am going to let you escape without doing any work. so be prepared. tomorrow i will be asking YOU to link to your best homemade gift ideas, how-to’s & tutorials, to share with all the world.
so today, our featured blogger or should i say (bloggers) are the sisters jennifer, jamie & jodie – the fabulous ladies behind the the fabulous eighteen25. what good is a crafty & creative handmade gift, if you don’t have a crafty & creative tag to go along with it?
this sheet of 6 printable tags are the perfect finishing touch to any handmade gift. & don’t worry, skip to my lou is featuring “sewn with love” tags & a southern fairytale has “from the kitchen of:” tags… so, really & truly, we’ve got you covered.
in order to make these tags your very own crafted with love gift tags, simply download the pdf HERE, or save THIS jpeg to your computer. then handwrite, or use your favorite photo editing software to add your name. & don’t worry if you don’t have photoshop (or something similar), you can even use picnik (a free photo editing software). simply upload THIS jpeg to picnik, choose you photo to edit, click on the “create” tab, then the “text” tab. type your text, select your font, color & font size (i prefer something basic like “arial”, or if you have the paid version “ff market” is cute too, in the color 86B545 – it’s green & matches just perfectly!), save it to your computer & viola! perfectly personalized gift tags!
for more great ideas visit jennifer, jamie & jodie at eighteen25. stopping by there is always such a treat. tons of kid’s crafts, delicious goodies, but my personal favorites are their free printables. teacher & pretty much any kind of “appreciation” printables, treat jar toppers, “to do” frame & so much more.
about eighteen25: born + raised (and still here) in vegas. us three sisters grew up in a little brick house on the east side of town. the number hammered onto our mailbox was 1825. we live only miles from each other now and get together as much as possible to play. with 11 kids between the three of us, the more playtime, the better.
baking, crafting & sewing along at home? don’t forget to play show & tell… upload your photos to our flickr group HERE. follow along with all of our featured bakers, crafters & sewers on twitter HERE, & tweet about the holiday-ispired “bake, craft & sew along” using the hashtag #handmadeholiday.
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welcome to our holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along.” we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season. dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects. a southern fairytale is spotlighting lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss. & to check out ALL of our crafty & creative projects go HERE.
today, our featured blogger is the girl that always manages to bring a smile to my face, jessica of happy together. jessica writes…
Have some of these?
Well, did you know that you can totally customize them for yourself?
It’s so much better to have things that make you stand out in a good way because no one else has them.
You get to put your own personality into it. Your favorite colors. Your favorite yarn. And the list goes on and on.
It’s really easy to do and looks cute too. See?
I have totally been rockin’ these since I made them. I go through a love/hate relationship with hoop earrings, but right now I’m in the love phase.
Here is how to cover them in thread by knotting. You will need thread (or you could use yarn) and a hot glue gun.
a. Cut a long piece of embroidery thread place the middle of the strand underneath the earring. Make a knot.
b. You can hook the earring onto something like your shoe to help hold it in place if you like. I also stuck it in between my knees to help.
c. After the first knot is made, one strand will be to the right and one to the left.
d. Take the piece on the left side and slip it under the earring to the right side. Then take the original piece on the right and slip it under the earring to the left side.
e. Now the strands look like they are coming from underneath.
f. Tie a knot. Continue repeating d-f a few more times. Then, dab some hot glue on the end of the hoop where you started knotting. Slip the first few knots over it to help secure it. Then continue on with knotting until you completely cover the hoop. End by dabbing a small amount of hot glue on the end and putting the knots over it. Cut the ends off and dab a bit of glue over that spot where you cut them.
*You can change the color as well to create a striped look. Just simply take a new color and knot it where you did the last knot, but making sure to knot over the previous colors strands. Knot over the other color a few time them trim them. You can also do this if you run out of thread and need to add more.
For these, just grab a crochet hook and yarn of your choice. The size of your hook and yarn will determine the final look.
a. Yarn over hook.
b. Place hoop over yarn by hook.
c. Yarn over hook (I grabbed the little strand as well to cover it up)
d. Pull top loop (or in my case, two loops) under bottom loop.
e. Place crochet hook under hoop.
f. Yarn over hook and pull back under hoop. Now you should have two loops (in my case three because I was still using the small beginning strand too, but it ran out soon and I clipped it off). Pull the top loop under the bottom loop. Repeat e-f until covered.
*After crocheting over the hoop a few times, I dabbed some hot glue at the end of the hoop where I began and put the yarn over it to secure it. Do this again at the end. If the yarn ends are sticking out (like below), glue them down too. I kind of wrapped mine a bit then glued them.
You can easily add a trim to the earrings as well. Here I just hot glued on a mini pom-pom trim. You could glue some pretty ribbon on or whatever you might have in your stash.
And, how easy to use up some leftover fabric than this? Just cut some skinny strips of fabric to begin with. Then hot glue the end of it at one end and start wrapping the fabric around. Continue placing hot glue on hoop to help hold the fabric in place.
for more great ideas visit jessica at happy together. there you will find a plethora of tutorials. everything from scribbled flower t-shirt how-to’s, quick & easy glass dessert stands, & look a like ribbon & pearl necklace.
about jessica: my name is Jessica and I am blessed to be a Coastie wife, to stay home with my daughter, and craft on the side. I have a blog , Happy Together, where I share my crafting endeavors, tutorials, and more. I also have an etsy shop (www.ohsohappytogether.etsy.com) where I sell my patterns and other things.baking, crafting & sewing along at home? don’t forget to play show & tell… upload your photos to our flickr group HERE. follow along with all of our featured bakers, crafters & sewers on twitter HERE, & tweet about the holiday-ispired “bake, craft & sew along” using the hashtag #handmadeholiday.
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welcome to our holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along.” we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season. dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects. a southern fairytale is spotlighting lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss. & to check out ALL of our crafty & creative projects go HERE.
today, our featured blogger is the amazingly talented, crazy crafty stephanie lynn of the site under the table dreaming. stephanie writes…
Hello everyone! I’m Stephanie Lynn from Under the Table and Dreaming. I am thrilled to be apart of this years Holiday Craft Along. Thank you so much Kelly for including me!
I just adore the holidays and simply love giving to all of the special people around me. Each year as my ‘give to’ list continues to grow; I like to come up with small handmade gifts to ensure I have a little something for everyone, to show my appreciation. {Plus it is always nice to have hostess gifts on hand for multitude of holiday gatherings that pop up}
Today I like to share an easy and simple recipe for Scented Room Spray that essentially anyone can put together. The initial supplies cost just a few dollars and you’ll be sure to have enough finished product to cross of many people on your list.
Today I like to share an easy and simple recipe for Scented Room Spray that essentially anyone can put together. The initial supplies cost just a few dollars and you’ll be sure to have enough finished product to cross of many people on your list.
The base ingredients for the spray are Witch Hazel and Distilled Water. Witch Hazel can be found in the health and beauty section and costs just a little over $1. Distilled Water can be found at any grocer and runs just under $1 for an entire gallon.
Just about any scented oil can be used to scent the spray. You can use essential oils or fragrance oils, such as the ones above, which are mainly used for scenting candles and soaps. I purchased mine from an online retailer, however many local craft stores also carry them as well.
To make, simply mix;
4 ounces of Distilled Water
2 ounces of Witch Hazel
and 1 tablespoon of Scented Oil
The recipe can be adjusted as needed to fill any size containers.
Stir to mix well and let sit while you prepare your bottles.
{Note: the picture above is prior to stirring; the oils and water will combine}
You can purchase spray bottles however I like to recycle bottles I have on hand. If you do decide to use recycled bottles make sure they are cleaned very well. You do not have to worry about removing the labels as they can be easily covered up!
Using scrap fabric, cut into strips making sure they are wide enough to cover the labels completely. Using tiny dabs of hot glue, adhere the fabric directly onto the bottles.
You can really get creative with embellishments; I made simple rosettes from fabric to customize mine. For the rosettes you will need long strips of scrap fabric cut in 1 to 1 1/2 inch widths. Start by rolling one end into a small ball and then twisting the remaining fabric while rolling and wrapping around the center; hot gluing the end to secure. These are quick and easy to make and can be made in many varying sizes.
Cover the back of each rosette with hot glue and adhere to the bottles.
Now you are ready to fill! Give the spray mixture another good stir and funnel into the bottles. The oil will rise to the top of the bottles once they have been sitting for awhile so be sure to add a little tag that says ‘shake well prior to using’.
With the tremendous amount of scented oils available you can customize the sprays to any liking or center them around traditional holiday fragrances. I like to mix my own combination of scents and make up a cute name to personalize for each recipient. Have fun and Enjoy!
Thanks again Kelly for letting me share with your readers!
I hope everyone has a wonderful week.
for more great ideas visit stephanie lynn at under the table dreaming. she posts the most amazing tutorials & how-to’s, many of which are perfect for gift-giving. be sure check out her erasable dinner menu, fun soap balls, lemon sugar hand scrub or the yummy smelling vanilla brown sugar body scrub.
about stephanie lynn: I am a blessed Mommy to one precious little boy and married to one great guy {who also happens to be my best friend}. We recently moved into ‘Our Dream House’ and have been working hard at making it ‘Our Home’. Last year our son was diagnosed with autism. Together we enjoy and embrace all the little things that make this a wonderful crazy life.
baking, crafting & sewing along at home? don’t forget to play show & tell… upload your photos to our flickr group HERE. follow along with all of our featured bakers, crafters & sewers on twitter HERE, & tweet about the holiday-ispired “bake, craft & sew along” using the hashtag #handmadeholiday.
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welcome to our holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along.” we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season. dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects. a southern fairytale is spotlighting lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss. & to check out ALL of our crafty & creative projects go HERE.
today, our featured blogger is the cute & darling (because they really are two totally different things), colorful & bright, julie of the blog joy’s hope. julie writes…
Tiered Tray Tutorial
A rainbow of Dollar Tree goodness has descended upon my house.
Meet the new family of tiered trays.
I have a feeling they might just make you smile.
Then want to have a party.
Or organize your jewelry.
Or desk.
But first you need to head to Dollar Tree and pick up:
One tube of Super Glue Fix-All Adhesive,
three silver-esque trays,
two crystal-esque candlesticks,
per tiered tray that you plan to make.
Be warned.
You will want to make many more than just one.
Many, many, more.
On your way home stop by your fave hardware or craft store to get
spray paint,
spray primer &
a mask.
This is stinky business.
Also get a canvas tarp if you don’t have one.
Canvas tarp: $20.
Husband happy that you didn’t spray paint the patio: priceless.
Best investment ever.
First spray the front and back of each tray and candlestick with primer.
Sort of an annoying step, but so very worth it, considering how shiny and smooth they are.
This will help the color stick and stay on through what is sure to be many a use.
Then start your rainbow party.
Two to three light coats is the way to go.
Be patient. Spray paint dries fast, but drips and goops if you get all crazy and lay it on too heavy.
Spray the bottoms of the trays too, since you will be able to see them, if even just a little.
The starfish has nothing to do with this project. It is just another casualty of my need to change things. Nothing is safe when I have a can of spray paint in my hands. White starfish on a white shelf. Lame. Sunshine yellow starfish on a white shelf. Awesome.
Mix and match the colors together to find what combos you like the most.
I thought that I would like them all together.
I don’t.
Which is weird since I adore un-matching things.
But this was a bit too…
Too something.
I also thought that I would leave some of the candlesticks clear, but as usual, I can’t refrain from the paint.
After trying a few different glues, I was happiest with Gorilla Super Glue.
J/K!!!
Apparently if you want your tray to hold more than air and if you ever want to touch it or move it, DO NOT use Gorilla Super Glue. It is awesome for many other uses. Tray making, not so much.
I went back to Dollar Tree and picked up a tube of Super Glue’s Fix-All Adhesive. It is amazing. Stinky, but amazing. E-6000 is another great choice of adhesive. Stinky though.
Run a bead of glue along the bottom of each candlestick and then press it to the center of the bottom of two of the trays.
Let dry.
By using the candlesticks upside down, you get more useable area on your trays.
When the glue is dry, flip it over and attach the third tray on top.
Again, let dry with added weight for better adhesion.
When this tier is dry, add the other tray and candlestick beneath it.
Let dry.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Smile, smile, smile.
I really only meant to make one tray.
But how could I resist these colors?
From Home Depot-
Rust-Oleum:
Sun Yellow Gloss
Berry Pink Gloss
Key Lime Gloss
From Michael’s-
Valspar Petrol Blue- Silk
The Valspar is my new boyfriend. Not only is it the best color EVER, but it covered even better that the Rust-Oleum which actually covers pretty dang well.
I heart you Valspar.
{Keep in mind that these trays are
NOT food safe or dishwasher safe.}
But don’t let that stop you from using them for parties. You just need to be a little careful and creative. I plan on using cupcake liners, doilies or scrapbook papers underneath the food, to keep my guests from dropping dead at our parties. That would be brutal on our already expensive homeowner’s policy.
But mostly they are going to be eye candy organization.
I think even a stack of bills would become suddenly delightful on one of these beauties.
I can’t decide which one is my favorite.
My husband can’t decide if I have gone tray crazy.
Perhaps I have.
But that is just fine by me.
Peace out, girl scouts.
for more great ideas visit julie at joy’s hope. she’s fun & cute, & makes you wish she was your new bff. if you don’t mind my making suggestions, i just know you are going to love her accidental chalkboard tutorial & her recipe for salted caramel cupcakes – yum!
about julie: Hi. I’m Julie. A nerdy, Jesus loving, recovering Diet Pepsi addict. I am all about flip flops on rainy days, English literature, going to the movies alone and anything turquoise. I can’t be in the same room as someone eating a popsicle and the smell of ketchup or bananas makes me gag. I used to hate the color pink, but now have a houseful of girls. I am married to a youth pastor, wish I was still a teenager and would go back to high school in minute. I look forward to the day when vampires are “so 2010″ and am not ashamed to admit my love for Star Wars or the fact that I pretend that Dave Matthews is my boyfriend. I am a horrible sleeper, have a compulsive need to sew something every day and fight with my A.D.D. on a continual basis. I hate talking on the phone, or talking in general, but am the best listener you will find, fiercely loyal and way too sensitive for my own good. I don’t remember the last time I was bored and having a day with nothing to do is what I dream about. I may or may not need to enter a twelve step program for spray paint addiction. My blog makes me look much craftier, cooler and funnier than I actually am. {DrewB. is responsible for making me so sassy.}
baking, crafting & sewing along at home? don’t forget to play show & tell… upload your photos to our flickr group HERE. follow along with all of our featured bakers, crafters & sewers on twitter HERE, & tweet about the holiday-ispired “bake, craft & sew along” using the hashtag #handmadeholiday.
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