Spoon Ornaments

For the past several years, I have participated in an ornament exchange with a group of ladies that I have grown to love.  The only stipulation is that the ornament has to be hand-made.  I found this little ornament on Pinterest and knew this is what I wanted to make for this year's exchange.  They are made out of spoons!  If you would like a tutorial, click here.  These were so fun to make and they took on a life of their own.  I have already started thinking what I could make this coming year!

I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend.

Merry Christmas!

Hand-made Ornaments & Garland

 

I have been busy making ornaments this season.  My latest ones are made from Scrabble tiles.  I drill tiny holes in the top and bottom to do the beading and added a dough ornament at the bottom of the beading.  I made the boys' teachers all one with their last name on them. 

 

I made a photo ornament of each boy using their school picture.  The frames came from the Dollar Tree.  They are not very fancy but I like to see them on the tree.  Do you see my garland?  It's crocheted with gold jingle bells.  I took the yarn to school one day and had my students help me space all the bells in the yarn.  Good thing I asked the 9th graders to help me; I don't think my upperclassmen would have been as willing. 

 You can see another scrabble tile ornament on the right side of this picture.

 

When Christmas is over (or when I have a chance - which ever is first), I plan to write the year on the picture frame.

I'm linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend since I had all the supplies on hand to make these ornaments.  Of course, I had to have bought them at one point.  So, maybe I should say that I just used my stash!

PS - I have had several questions about my Scrabble tiles.  I ordered a 100 tiles from Amazon.  No Scrabble game was hurt in this process.  I will be looking at thrift stores for some more tiles.  Secondly, I use a vice to hold the scrabble tile while I drill a hole in the end.  I did not want my fingers in the way!

Advent Wreath - Revisited

 

I worked on my Advent wreath again today.  I appreciate all of your kind words but I just felt it needed more.  For starters, every time the boys tried to move it, the candles would fall and get dinged - can't have that.  This is much more secure for them to move on and off the table.  

I had this idea when I was taking a shower yesterday.  The shower is the only place I have where no one bothers me!  LOL!!  I think this will work fine.

I wonder if this is now an Advent Basket?!

Advent Wreath? I need help!

Advent has started and I am so unprepared.  I do not have the traditional wreath of evergreens and berries.  I did well just to have the candles.  I had bought them back in the summer at Big Lots.  They are not exactly what I wanted but much cheaper than ordering them online.  I tried hundreds different candle holders, plates, bowls, etc...  I'm frustrated.  But, since I needed the candles for our meal tonight, I used what I had.  I like the simplicity but feel that the candles need dressing - maybe with some twine or a band of brown paper?  I don't know, maybe you could suggest something?

The vintage cloth that it is sitting on is the only thing I really love.  Isn't it pretty?  I can just imagine some housewife laboring over this.  I thought it was perfect for Advent.  It reminds me of poinsettias.

I am linking to Heidi's"Make Do and Mend."

Thankful Tree - New Beginnings

I decided that even though I liked my first tree, that it did not have enough branches for all of us to hang our thanksgiving leaves and it was asymmetric (which kinda bugged me as well).  So, Deniska and I went into the woods and he found this branch, which I love so much better.  It even still has a few green leaves left on it at top.  I left those on to remind us that even when we feel bare and deserted, we can always find some joy and life.  

Thankful Tree

 

This year, our family started a thankful tree.  Every day we write down what we are thankful for.  Each of us has a different color.  Dennis is brown, Nikolai is red, Deniska is orange, and I am yellow.  By the time Thanksgiving get here, we will have listed 92 things we are thankful for - and this will just be a drop in the bucket of how richly God has blessed us.   

 Deniska helped hang the leaves tonight.  He is such a good helper!

Of course, he had me take a silly picture showing how hard it was to hang all the leaves!  Silly boy!

This is a very frugal project.  The tree came out of the woods, the acorns (around the top of the bucket) also came from the woods.  I cut the leaves out of construction paper.  I used a leaf die cut.  And, the scissors and thread are necessary as well.  We had all these things on hand and did not have to buy anything.  That's my type of craft!

I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend page.  

And, to Sew Many Ways

Maxie's new dress

Maxie is our 6 month old Sheltie.  She came to live us this past Thursday and taken over the house.  We all love her except for the cats.  They just tolerate her.  Deniska begged me to make her a dress to wear.  So, Saturday night, he picked out the material and I made a pattern.  It didn't cost anything except a little of time. She looks cute, don't you think?  I don't see her wearing this very often but it made Deniska happy and that is all that matters.

I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend Monday. 

Happy "Home-made" Halloween

When I was growing up (back in the dark ages), we never bought Halloween outfits.  We always made our own.  This year, that's the path we traveled.  Matter of fact, Nikolai did not decide to be a zombie until last night in church! 

Here's my boys for Halloween - a zombie and a hippie!

Nikolai cut his outfit himself.  He made the zigzag cuts for his pants and shirt.  The shirt was too little for him and the jeans were in the worn out, play pants pile.  His cost?  0$!!  We had everything on hand for his outfit.  He even used my make-up for his face.   This suits him, don't you think?  He was careful NOT to smile because, "Mom, zombies do NOT smile!"

Deniska wanted to be a hippie, a love child.  Now, I do admit that we paid a little for his wig and glasses but not much - under $5.  He had tie-died his t shirt at a birthday party back in August.  He is very proud of his outfit.This suits him as well.  He was born about 40 years too late!

And, finally, their sweet daddy has taken them for Trunk-or-Treating at one of the local churches tonight.  Tomorrow, they go to their daddy's office for trick-or-treating.  They do not want to go out tomorrow night because they say they will have too much homework to do!

Since this was all made with supplies on hand, I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend Monday!

Happy "Home-made" Halloween everyone!!

Fall Cinnamon Stick Candles

What's a girl to do when she wants new fall decoration but does not want to spend the money on new items?  She makes something new out of the things on hand.  I have seen these candles on the internet and honestly they are not hard to do.  You gather your supplies - 

For this project, you will need candles, cinnamon sticks, raffia or ribbon or twine, a glue gun, and a little furry cat to help you!

 You simply hot glue the sticks to the candles and tie a string of some sort around them.  Hard - huh?!

 

I am linking to Heidi's Make Do and Mend today.  

 and to ...




Happy October everyone! 

Blogging Friends are the best!

 

I have made the best friend in the blogging world.  Jane, Cottage at the Crossroad, gifted me this sweet award, The Versatile Blogger.  Is she not sweet to do that?!  Thank you Jane.

There are some rules associated with accepting this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 10 recently discovered blogs.

 I'm not sure there are seven things about myself to share, but I will try:
1.  I have been teaching Special Education for 28 years. 
2.  I am planning on retiring at the end of this year.
3.  I married a big city boy and converted him to country living.
4.  I am the proud mama of 2 ten year old boys.
5.  I am a homebody - there is just no place like home!
6.  I love to craft using different medias.  There is always a new craft that I want to try. 
7.  I have been sewing since I was old enough to thread a needle.  I could sew and play a piano before I could read. 

Now, I need to pass this along to 10 recently discovered blogs:
This will take some time to ponder on since there are so many good blogs out there.  Perhaps, if you are reading this and you would like this award, just feel free to take it and let me know! 

Make Do & Mend Monday - Crocheted Coasters

I started crocheting Sunday on these cute little coasters.  They take no time at all and perfect for TV watching.  I am making them for gifts.  Each Peaches & Creme ball will make 6 coasters.

They are addictive....

The boys like this one the best since it has so many colors in it and will match anything.

Glad you could stop by.  I am linking to Heidi's Make Do & Mend Monday.

With fond stitches,

Make Do & Mend Monday - Spray Painted Candlesticks

Welcome to another fun project!  I have seen these painted candlesticks all over the web and thought they were so pretty.  So, I rounded up all of those old, brass candlesticks and my spray paint for a fun project.  While I was at it, I also spray painted a lazy susan that need a face lift.

Let's start at the beginning.  Here's a before picture of what I spray painted.

I took it all outside and spray painted my heart out.  It was only 102!!  Needless to say, I was hot!

The good thing was, since it was so hot, it did not take long for everything to dry!

Hmm, I am not sure that I like the "family" painted yellow.  I might need to change that to another color.  Maybe red?  First I need to decide where I am going to place it inside.  See the pool?  Deniska and I got in and played while these were drying!  Smart - huh?

Here they are on my table.  I just need to add candles, or maybe not.  I kinda like them just as they are.  See my chair covers?  I did those on Saturday.  You can read about them here.

I am linking to:
Heidi's Make Do and Mend Monday

Thanks for dropping by!  I would love to hear what you think about this project.