This was the first Christmas in 3 years that we haven't been on the move. Over the last few years I've collected a few decor pieces from Hobby Lobby's 80/90% off sale. There were a few things still in the original box or still with tags on it. The last few years I've also collected quite a few ideas, thanks to Pinterest. Here's what we made this year....
1. Wooden Nativity Sign - I originally pinned this a year or two ago. There is a wife here that owns a Silhouette machine and we (my friend, Marque, and I) paid her $10 to print the scene for us. We bought the wood and painted it for less than $6 and she came over and put the vinyl on the board for us, and wa-la!
2. Wooden Merry Christmas Sign - Back in the beginning of November I set up a Mini Christmas Photo Shoot for 5 clients. Inspired by the link above I made this sign as one of my props to use. I figured if I made it well enough I could use it as decor as well, so I made it out of wood. Unfortunately, I didn't have strong enough hooks to hold it this year and it fell down after about a week of hanging across our big living room window.
3. Wooden JOY Sign - Not quite the same as the inspiration piece, but I had some extra wood from the "Merry Christmas" sign so I decided to put it to good use.
4. Fingerprint Ornament - I'm sure you've seen this floating around Pinterest. The fingerprints don't really come out looking like the fingerprints on the inspiration piece, but it still works.
5. Stamped Salt Dough Ornaments - Who knew?!! Some stamps and colored ink?! The possibilities are endless! Thanks to Tim's Grandma and the box of stamps and ink she sent me a few months back we had plenty to choose from. We made a good amount of the above ornament and handed them out as gifts to friends this year along with our annual cookie tins and bread loafs. Ryan and his friend, Liam, also had a great time making these! The following is one of Ryan's!
Side Note: I compared two or three salt-dough recipes and had trouble with the first batch. I ended up having to add 3 to 4 more cups of flour. After we were done with those, we still wanted to make a few more and the next recipe I tried turned out great! I had it mixed, rolled out, stamped, and in the oven within 10/15 minutes! Just in case you are looking for a good recipe..and just so I don't forget...
*1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 of water. Place on a baking sheet lined with Parchment Paper. Bake at 250 for 2 hours; turning every 30 minutes to keep flat.
6. Cinnamon Ornaments - No picture for these. ( I think there's one in the background two pics up.) I tried making these last year and they were a complete failure. I had trouble with the consistency in the dough and I ended up chiseling them off the pan. I searched for a different recipe and I figured you can't go wrong with Martha. I was right! The boys were even able to help with them as well. The above link takes you to her recipe.
7. Subway Art Printable - I have two frames that I kept out and just added a Christmas themed printable to them. I printed the Subway Art from the above link and cut it to a 4x6 and it is a bit squishy. If you have a 5x7 frame it would probably work better.
For this second frame, I just played with a font and size on Word and printed out "NOEL".
8. Pine Cone Tree - At some point in the last few years Target had this gorgeous pine cone tree for around $25...if I remember right. In some after season sale at Walmart I came across small boxes of mini pine cones. I bought them and stored them away. This year I found the tutorial linked above and made my own; also getting the worst hot glue gun burn to date! If you are up close and personal there are some obvious holes, but from a general view, it looks great!
9. Scrap Paper Tree - I'm sure most of you have seen this on Pinterest. At first I just had the boys make one for themselves and they decorated the trees with stickers and such. I still had a ton of paper left and had this grand idea to make our Christmas cards this year based on that idea. The boys helped make a few of them, but I was left to the other 40 by myself. :)
10. Ruffled Tree Skirt - My biggest project! I just finished it yesterday. The original tutorial is a no-sew project, but of course my crazy brain decided that it be better long term if I could make it more permanent and washable. About $15 worth of broadcloth fabric and 10-12 hours of labor and I have this beauty! Finishing this tree skirt concludes my Christmas projects for this year and I'm so excited to put it all away and move on!
Next year new stockings! Someone hit up the sales at Hobby Lobby for me!!!!
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