Monday, December 9, 2013

Winter Wonderland Repurposed Storage Jar

Christmas Jar 3

We visited our favorite little antique town this weekend and while there, I picked up a clear glass storage jar. Maybe it was seeing all of the vintage Christmas displays in the stores but I immediately had an idea mind for my jar which also provided another chance for me to bleach  more bottlebrush trees. You can check out this post for more on the trees.

Christmas Repurposed Jar

For this project you will need:
  • Large glass storage jar with removable lid
  • Bleached bottlebrush tree
  • Epsom Salt
  • Jingle Bells (large and small)
  • Snowflake pick
  • Wood Word or letters
After cleaning up your jar, glue the bleached tree to the bottom.

Christmas Repurposed Jar 2

I put a big glob of hot glue on the bottom of the tree since I wanted it to stand firmly in the jar. Once the tree’s glued in, pour in some of the epsom salt and then drop in a few of the jingle bells, add more salt. When satisfied with the depth, place the snowflake pick and phrase inside the jar. I sprinkled some iridescent glitter on top.

Christmas Repurposed Jar 1


Christmast Repurposed Jar 4

Cover the rim of the jar with a coordinating washi tape, twine, and ribbon, and then tie a few jingle bells to the ends.

VIntage Repurposed Christmas Jar

It’s sitting on my Winter Wonderland vintage mantle with my other bleached trees.


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Thursday, December 5, 2013

BFF Open House Link Party #134

The Answer Is Chocolate

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving was already a week ago and Hanukkah has come and gone. December shows no signs of slowing down. We had a smaller party last week due to the holiday but here are some fab features. Can't wait to see what everyone's been up to this week !


Tis the season for baking so whip up these adorable and festive peppermint mocha cupcakes. They are too pretty to eat! Visit Life With the Crust Off for the details. 


Printables are such an easy and inexpensive way to update your decor. This one from 24 Cottonwood Lane is no exception. 


I think your table should be as amazing as the food you prepare. Digiscrapboutique  shared how to use scrapbooking supplies to dress up a holiday table. 


The holidays just scream chocolate and mint don't they? How about these Nutella Mint stuffed crescent rolls? Yes please. Stop by This Silly Girls Life for the how to.  

Now, onto this week's party! 









Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Ghosts of Christmas Ornaments Past: Paper Mache Ornaments

You could say I love ornaments. Did you say it? I have all kinds but some of the ones I love the most were the simplest to make.

 One of the easiest types of ornaments to decorate are the plain paper mache ones that every craft store carries. They come in all kinds of shapes...the basic ones like circles, squares, etc can usually be found year round, and during the holidays there are lots of choices.

I thought I'd share some past projects using them . The original posts / tutorials are all linked. They are an easy and inexpensive way to add to your decor or to make as package toppers, gifts etc.



For these, I stamped directly onto the ornament and embellished with rhinestones and glitter. 



These were done the same way as the first but I added some beads to the end of the ornament. 




These use a combination of vintage sheet music, graphics from The Graphics Fairy, and Mod Podge. The only limit is your imagination!



These are a combination of the two. Mod Podged with sheet music and edged in glitter. The focals are metallic snowflake stickers. Again, you could use any combination of papers / stickers, buttons, jewels. 



These I actually used in a banner for Valentine's Day but the idea could easily be adapted for Christmas. PEACE, JOY, NOEL are all words that could be used. 


Each year when we get out the Christmas stuff I get to re-live memories of the years I made these. I hope you find some inspiration !


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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Vintagey Merry Christmas Printable


After a couple of years of a bright mantle, I'm feeling neutrals and silver this year.  Sharing this printable I made using PicMonkey which I could sit and play with all day but I have decorating to finish! 

It's sized to 8x10 but you can resize smaller if you like. Click on the image to bring to full size, then right click to Save As. 

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Friday, November 29, 2013

BFF Open House Link Party #133

The Answer Is Chocolate

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I didn't put the party up last night figuring everyone was too pooped to party. So for those of us avoiding the Black Friday craziness, let's heat up some spiced cider and take a look at some features from last week. 


Hanukkah Gifts

Hanukkah started the night before Thanksgiving. If you still need an idea for the remaining days or want to pin for next year, Doreen at Altered Artworks has a fantastic idea. Hanukkah in a jar!

DIY Tabletop Christmas trees

If you're spending the weekend decorating for Christmas, whip up a few of these tabletop trees to supplement your decor. Very Anthropologie! Details at  Philzendia 


Mason jars are everywhere and they're a wonderful way to package gifts. Whether for food gifts or craft supplies, they come in handy. Dana at This Silly Girl's Life has more. 

cheesecake recip

Tis the season when you need to whip things up quickly. You'll never guess the secret to these Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Turtle Bites. Head over to DigiScrapBoutique for the recipe. 

Now for this week's party!




Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you a day spent with friends and family as we pause to remember all for which we have to be thankful.




Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Bleached Bottlebrush Trees

Botttlebrush Trees

I love the look of vintage holiday decorations and have long wanted some vintage bottlebrush trees. I’m automatically drawn to displays of them in stores. I am not always drawn to their price so once again, I decided I could make my own.  SO easy. Another why didn’t I do this before project.

You will need:
  • Bottlebrush trees. Can be found at hobby and craft stores or where Christmas villages etc are sold. I bought a big bag at JoAnn’s last year for 75% off after Christmas knowing that I wanted to make some this season.
  • Household bleach.
  • Water
  • Container
  • Time
  • Spray adhesive
  • Glitter
I googled around for some hints on how to bleach the trees. All of the instructions were similar: mix equal parts bleach and water in a container; submerge trees, wait. Time is the tricky part and my conclusion is you just have to keep an eye on your trees vs an absolute amount of time. One tree took 15 min. Another the same size took 30. Just bleach until they’re the color you want. I wanted natural but may do some more and stop at pale green. I've seen tutorials where people have dyed them all kinds of colors or used spray inks etc.

Bleached Bottlebrush Trees
Mr. Chocolate only looked at a little oddly when I told him I was bleaching trees. He just doesn’t ask anymore. What’s weird is the color bleaches out but the flocking stays on the trees.
Glittered Bleached Bottlebrush Tree

While the trees were drying from their bleach bath ( rinse with plain water once you get the color you want), I made their bases by wrapping some wood spools with washi tape.

Washi Spools

When the trees were dry, I used a spray adhesive (Elmers) and silver and iridescent glitter. Spray, sprinkle, turn, repeat.  Then hot glued them to my spools.

Natural Bottlebrush Trees


Bleached Bottlebrush Tree Closeup

They’ll likely end up on my mantle but since I’m a diehard about not decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving , I haven’t totally decided yet.

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