Holiday Decor and Folklore of the Nisse

 

Mr. Chocolate and I come from very different cultural backgrounds, yet we intersect in Scandinavia. His mother was fierce about the origins of her Norwegian ancestry (despite it having been several generations back), which dominated his upbringing. I lived in Denmark in college. So, when we married, I had a love of many Danish and Scandi traditions and he loved their annual tradition of the Nisse coming to visit the night before Christmas Eve. We've kept that tradition going throughout our marriage and raising our son. 

If you're unfamiliar with Nisser (plural), which is what they're called in Norway and Denmark (Tomte) in Sweden, here's some background:

The Story of a Cultural Icon

As he learned it growing up, they're mischievous elves who in return for leaving little gifts, get very cranky if rice is not left out for them. Being a Creative, when we adopted this tradition, I made a production of it. When our son was small, I'd leave notes written by the Nisse indicating whether he was happy with the rice dish we left out. We left it in the same spot every year, and while currently, we've stopped that since the boy is a man now, he and I still do Nisse gifts and act silly about it. 

When I got a new SVG from Craft With Sarah's Countdown to Christmas daily free file, it inspired the idea for this project. 

Supplies:

• Sturdy Box
• Cardboard Scraps
• Misc. Embellishments: Icicles, Greenery, Wreath
• Acrylic Paints
• Hot Glue and Glue Gun

I started with this empty box bottom I'd been using to hold some stuff. You want a good sturdy box that can stand up. 

I cut some strips of scrap cardboard to use to cover these gaps in the box. I put one on each side of the front, and then on the sides. 

I happened to have a couple extra Dollar Tree icicles leftover from another project I'll share this week, and glued them on each corner. I wanted to keep this rustic, in keeping with the folklore origin, so I went with a palette of brown, white, and evergreen. I made the roof out of scrap cardboard. Attached with hot glue and angled each side to meet in the middle which I joined with more hot glue. 

I used the dark brown to dry-brush the front and sides of the box. I grabbed a white paint pen and doodled a design.

This was also a great way to use up some paper scraps. I grabbed some that went with my theme and used them for the door...the thing that started all of this! 

I didn't cut all of the layers from Sarah's file. After all, I wanted this to be rustic and simple. I put the door together using foam squares to give it some depth. 

I had one of these chipboard pieces left over from another project so I dry-brushed it with white and attached. I also found an "N" in some leftover alphabet stickers, so I subsequently added it on top. The wreath is a resin piece from my mystery stash but a small bottlebrush wreath would work too. 

I painted the wreath green, then dry-brushed with a little white, and cut some of the branches from a Dollar Tree Everygreen pick and glued them to the corners. I also had a DT Reindeer ornament from another project, which I glued to the front. I thought I was done but I showed it to Mr. Chocolate (who loves it) and he suggested a sign. Back to the craft stash! I had this little snowman from a Michaels post-season sale. Drilled a hole in his head to hold a piece of bamboo skewer to which I attached the sign. He came up with a play on words that could mean the Nisse has an Inn or the Nisse is in, since in our version, the Nisse neither spells nor writes well. 

So now this will go in our designated Nisse Spot and we'll see what he or she leaves this year! 

 Glædelig jul! 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve and welcome to another party to share what you've been working on. Can you even believe that next week is US Thanksgiving already?! I'm amused that Black Friday seems to be a month-long event these days, compared to the one-day craziness. I see the pros and the cons. Having spent the first years of my working years in retail, I've never been a big in-person Black Friday shopper, but online shopping? Oh my! 

I realized how many Gingerbread-themed things I've been working on so I did an Impromptu Gingerbread Week of projects! You can see them at the links below. It's such a HUGE trend right now and I had fun doing what we do and DIY-ing some things. 

Gingerbread Week: Sweet Shoppe Galvanized Metal Houses

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread Nutcrackers

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread House Village

Gingerbread Week: Repurposed Cardboard Gingerbread Wreath

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread House Storage Jar

Have you been doing any Gingerbread Projects? 

There's still time for some last minute Thanksgiving ideas so let's take a look at a few from last week's party!

Two Chicks and a Mom shared this fun and festive DIY Straw Wreath. If not for this year, definitely Pin for next! 

If your hosting (or these would make a lovely hostess gift!) check out these elegant Velvet Pumpkin Place Cards from Building Our Hive!

Slight detour from Thanksgiving, but many will be doing a lot of decorating Thanksgiving weekend, and this is something I struggle with too! I love seeing all of the themed trees people do. At the same time, every year when I unpack ornament collections (in which I have a LOT invested), they bring back special memories. No judgment on which anyone prefers!! Thanks, Masterpieces of My Life, for tackling the discussion. 

Finally, and I know I say this every year, there's not enough chocolate in Thanksgiving! So these Nutter Butter Turkeys from Drugstore Divas are perfect! 

Thanks to all who linked up! Next week, I'll have the party up and open earlier than usual since it's Thanksgiving Thursday. In advance, wishing all who celebrate a very peaceful and happy one. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread House Storage Jar

 

I hope you've enjoyed this Impromptu Gingerbread Week! This is the last project for that, since my weekly link party will go up this evening. I have a feeling it's not my last Gingerbread project for the season, though!

This was a simple project that started with a "steal deal" find at a JoAnn (RIP) going out of business sale (still angry about that!). You might find similar this season at other craft stores, or thrift shops. It doesn't have a suction closure that cookie jars come with so I won't use it for that, but it will be perfect for storing utensils and things for my hot cocoa bar!

Supplies:

• House Themed Jar
• Acrylic Paint (Nutmeg)
• Paint Pen
• Puffy Paint
• Embellishments

This one was an unfinished ceramic surface. I almost left it white, but then I got on this Gingerbread kick! I got it for 80% off, so it was a no-brainer impulse buy. Better than thrifting even. 

I painted the lid and the main body with Apple Barrel Nutmeg Brown acrylic paint. I wasn't going for opaque coverage since real gingerbread has variegations. 

I used a white paint pen on the windows and raised details. The surface wasn't completely even so the painting isn't meticulous but it work with the vintage look and frost isn't perfect anyway. 

Then I grabbed some Tulip Puffy paint and went over the roof lines, chimney, etc. 

And of course...had to add some rhinestones!

Sharing At:

Sundays on Silverado #276

Gingerbread Week: Repurposed Cardboard Gingerbread Wreath

 

Welcome to Day Four of Impromptu Gingerbread Week! This may be my favorite project and it's something anyone can do and without a cutting machine or tools beyond an X-ACTO or other sharp blade, a paint pen, and some puff paint! If you want to get fancier, add in some glitter and embellishments. 

'tis the season for shipping boxes so the main ingredient is definitely on hand! 

Supplies: 

• Cardboard Shipping Box
• Pencil
• Kraft Knife or Sharp Scissors
• Paint Pen
• Puffy Paint
• Misc. Embellishments 

I cut up a box into three different sizes/shapes. You could do them all the same, or each one different...totally up to you. 

Then I just went to town with a paint pen. I also found some chipboard embellishments in my craft hoard, I mean stash, dry-brushed a little with white paint, and added those to some of the pieces. 

I went over top with puff paints and added some dots with acrylic paint. And of course, I couldn't resist adding some rhinestones because...ya know.

I had a wire wreath form from Dollar Tree on hand, and some burlap ribbon in my stash that I thought would be perfect for this, so I wrapped the wreath form with it. 

You could also skip this step and make a wreath form out of more cardboard or other materials. Use what you have!

To construct, I started with one of the tall houses and then alternated the shapes and covered the wreath! 

I didn't want any of the base showing through so spaced the larger pieces and then used the smaller pieces to cover any gaps. 

And DONE! 

Sharing At:

Welcome to Vintage Charm Party #517!

Creatively Crafty Linky Party #276

Sundays on Silverado #276

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread House Village

 

Welcome to Day 3 of my Impromptu Gingerbread Week! I had a lot of fun last year with a Dollar Tree Doll House to Gingerbread House transformation, and with Gingerbread design being even bigger this year, it was a given that I'd do more. I also had a couple of Dollar Tree Fairy Cottages I didn't use when I made my Halloween decor, so they became little Gingerbread Cottages!

Supplies:

• Dollar Tree Dollhouses. For this project you need two since each one is only half a house. 
• Ceramic Cottages or Small Houses. I got mine at DT which has Christmas Houses in that would work.
• Rustoleum and Acrylic Paints in Nutmeg and White
• White Acrylic Paint Pen
• Tulip Puff Paints
• Acrylic Paint Pen
• Mod Podge
• Glitter
• Misc. Embellishments

This is the style of DT Dollhouse I used. You can go with just one if you don't want a (no pun intended) full house. I took the roofs off. 

These are the Rustoleum paints I used. 

Spray paint the roofs white (shown here with one coat...I did another since the color was peeking through) and the base of the hose Nutmeg. You can pop out the windows and doors, but I find they're a pain to put back in, so I chose detailing them instead. 

Re-attach the roofs then put both halves together. I used a combination of super glue gel and hot glue and it doesn't matter if it shows through because it will get covered anyway. 

If you're like me, you have a stash of leftover supplies from previous projects so I went through mine and pulled out colors that worked. 

I grabbed two of these strips of adhesive rhinestones and used them to decorate the sides of the house. Again, don't worry about gaps because they'll get covered. Reinforced with some quick-dry glue. 

I used a white acrylic paint pen to highlight the raised areas of the house along with the windows. Then I grabbed some Tulip Puffy Paint in white and added snow!

I did a squiggle across the roof and down the sides of the roofline and sprinkled with some fine glitter. 

Et voila, Gingerbread Manor! Like I did with my Halloween Haunted Mansion, I added two smaller cottages using Dollar Tree Fairy Cottages. 

These are the ones I used. Very Spring looking, right? 

I hit these with the Rustoleum Nutmeg. Already looks totally different. 

I had a couple bare spots so I just went over them with Apple Barrel Nutmeg using a foam spouncer. 

Then, I painted the roofs white, added some to the base, and as with the dollhouse, I accented the raised areas using an acrylic paint pen. As always, I added some bling with some rhinestones and a tree charm to the door. 

To finish, I coated the roofs with Mod Podge and sprinkled on some tinsel glitter. 

I liked the way the tinsel glitter worked with the thatching of the roofs. 

Gingerbread Week Day 1

Gingerbread Week Day 2

Sharing At: 

Welcome to Vintage Charm Party #517!

Creatively Crafty Linky Party #276