Christmas Archives - Page 2 of 2

Christmas Candy Tablecloth

December 20, 2011 By Taylor 51 Comments

Just four days left until Christmas and I’m sure I’m not the only one crafting into the wee hours to get everything done. Sure, the majority of my gifts are store bought but I always like to have at least one homemade thing for everyone. Homemade gifts are always better! The only bad part- I can’t share them on the blog yet. I literally have a folder full of projects that are blog ready… but they will have to wait. So, I give you a tablecloth that I made a year ago. I was scrambling then too, imagine that! I had great plans for a tutorial but when the night before my dinner party came and I had no tablecloth, I thought… these crafty people can figure it out on their own :) This is what I did:-started with red tulle and trimmed it up-made wide bias tape with green and white polka dot fabric-sewed the bias tape all around the tulle-made “Christmas candies” out of felt-glued (with fabric glue) the candy into the overhanging part of the tablecloth-used a piece of felt cut to the exact size of the table under the tulleFelt “Candy”gumdrops in blue, yellow, green and purple with clear sugar beads

candy canes and peppermints – duh

Christmas Cookies

My favorite/hardest part was the bias tape binding. I love the final product, it’s really cute but it really wasn’t easy. A single layer of tulle is really hard to see haha! It kept slipping and I didn’t even know… clearly I’m still bitter a year later.

I had more candies planned too but due to my time constraints/tulle issues I didn’t get them on. Even still, I love the finished product. What else should I add? It’s a work in progress… maybe it will be done by Christmas 2012?

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A “Make Your Own Ornament” Party

December 5, 2011 By Taylor 23 Comments

Ah sequins, so festive. I have a group of girlfriends who I have remained close with through the years and we all are living back in the same area again. We go by the “coyotes” – don’t judge I think we made up the name when we were 14ish. We grew up together and have been a group since 6th grade, some of us were even in the same kindergarten class! I am lucky to have them because I know its rare. Once a month, we take turns hosting “Coyote Night” and this past month it was my turn… craft hour and wine… yes please.

How to host your own Ornament Party:sequins, sequins, sequins – I got an array of colors and sizes

I also got a variety pack

You need sequin pins, which are not the same as sewing pins and will be located by the sequins at the craft store. I bought gold and silver, and we were picky about which ones we used, then we realized you couldn’t even tell the difference.

Styrofoam Balls, these came in a 6 pack

extras: ribbon for the hanging part, foam glue is optional, extra little dishes for each person

There doesn’t have to be any rhyme or reason to the ornament making and that is why it was fun. It is perfect for a girl get together because it it mindless so you can still talk, eat and drink :)

Some of us had a color scheme, some did a pattern, and some were totally random, I love them all!

Progress… it does take a while, thankfully for us we never run out of things to say.

A little later…

I wanted to keep all of them :)

This is the one I made, happy on my tree.

Has anyone else had a “make your own ornament party” yet? I think you should.

Play Kitchen

December 30, 2010 By Taylor 32 Comments

I finally got around to re-taking some pictures of the new kids kitchen since all of my other pictures are in purgatory. (Still, keep your fingers crossed). So, this was the big present from Santa this year. I have seen quite a few play kitchens out there in the blogging world and there is even a Flickr group for them. There are a ton of ideas! I saw many people making them out of nightstands and entertainment centers. My mom had the perfect shaped nightstand that she didn’t need and thankfully she donated one to the cause. My husband and his dad did all of the “woodworking” on it. I drew them a picture and after a few trips to home depot it started looking like a kitchen! Then we spent many nights adding to it. I even found a lot of good materials at Goodwill. Here is what we ended up with, I really like the way it turned out and my son loves it! It was a bigger hit than we thought it would be.

We used wooded plaques from Hobby Lobby for the burners. I painted them with metallic black paint and cut out the red swirl for the burners then applied 2 coats of Mod Podge. The dials are wooden car wheels painted and Mod Podged also. We didn’t bolt them in all the way so they spin.

We cut a hole in the back wall and I found that frame that fit perfectly at Goodwill. I just printed out a picture of that field on my computer for the window scene.

My favorite part is the backsplash!! We just hot glued and caulked those tiles on the back. The sink is a bowl from Goodwill and we had trouble finding a used faucet so that was our most expensive purchase. It’s from Home Depot for $9.00 but it looks so perfect!

For the oven, my husband added that shelf in between where the drawers were then just removed the bottom drawer for storage. He cut a hole in the top one and we added the Plexiglas and a hinge so it really opens and closes.

Final touches are some hooks on both sides for “utensils” and cookware. I’d say he loves it! Here he is on Christmas Morning. Maybe you will see him on Top Chef in 20 years?

Christmas Calendar

December 2, 2010 By Taylor 2 Comments

My calendar that is!! Aaaand I made it by December 1st. This is exciting because it only took 4 weeks, geez I didn’t think all of those little ornaments would take so long. I am so happy with the finished product and I know “the kids” will love it when they get older. I didn’t take a picture of the tree with ornaments on it because I want to be surprised :)

Here are the remaining ornaments I made; I don’t love the presents but I wanted something hanging from under the tree.

I made an ornament to “represent” everyone in my family; Bryan got a t-bone steak, Finn of course got a ball and I got 2 because I made the calendar he-he