Naughty or Nice? Vinyl Charger

One of my décor staples has become those vinyl chargers that you can get at Michaels in a variety of colors. I look at them as blank canvases to play with. I did one for Thanksgiving and picked up some others to use for Christmas. Charger + Vinyl = easy peasy

I cut the letters from red vinyl  and placed on the charger. Since the message was “Naughty or Nice” and Santa is the one who knows which one you’ve been, it was a perfect use for more glittered ornaments I found at the Dollar Tree ( 5 for $1 )

I ended up going over the face with silver RubnBuff to give it more definition but had already taken the pic.

Finished off with red and clear rhinestone strips I had in my stash, picked up on sale after Christmas last year, and dotted the letters with individual clear rhinestones.

So which one does Santa think you are? Naughty or Nice?

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Guest Posting At The Scrap Shoppe Today!

Happy Tuesday all. I'm over at The Scrap Shoppe today, sharing a super easy and inexpensive Christmas decor idea that would also make a great gift. Hope you'll drop by. Michele has a wonderful series going with tons of inspiring ideas !

Blast From The Past: Tinsel Trees (Stinkin' Easy)

OK this was the easiest thing ever. So easy it’s not really even worth posting about but what the heck.

I have lots of different styles of Christmas décor. I like different looks, and since I decorate just about every room, I figure I can do different styles in each. This year I’ve caught a glitter bug and am doing a kind of retro mid-century modern mantle. Enter the tinsel!

What the heck are they you ask? Tinsel trees I answer. With Snowflake toppers.  Here are the complicated ingredients for this crazy concoction:

Styrofoam Cone and Tinsel Garland. I hoped to get the cone at Dollar Tree but apparently they don’t have them anymore so I got one at Michaels with a 50% off coupon and one at JoAnn’s with a 40% coupon. The tinsel garland I did get at Dollar Tree. 50 Feet for a buck.

For the topper, a VERY expensive glittered snowflake from Jo Jo’s ( JoAnn) $.79 and 50% off . I know…pricey!

I didn’t even use glue. Just started at the bottom of the cone and stuck a straight pin through the tinsel garland and a few more as I went around the bottom to make sure it was on there good.

And wrap. And pin…from time to time in random places on the way up to the top.

Before I stuck my snowflake pick in, I added a glittery red pom pom I had in my stash.

The mantle’s not quite finished but getting there and I’ll show it soon. In the meantime, I’m in the mood to watch some cheesy 60’s sci-fi Christmas movie like Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. OK so that may be the ONLY cheesy 60’s sci-fi Christmas movie and I don’t even know how I ever saw it but somehow I did. Don’t judge!

“Take me to your leader. No not the crazy woman with the glue gun. Anyone but her!”

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BFF Open House Link Party #30 Wrap Up and Features

Slow down December! Thanks to everyone who linked up to Friday’s BFF Open House. I hope you all enjoyed meeting Aimee from It's Overflowing.

Clearly there are some busy Elves out there in blogland producing some amazing holiday creations. Here are just a few!

Carolyn from homework can always transform the most mundane object into something amazingly beautiful. These little box ornaments are no exception:

Likewise, Bev from Flamingo Toes outdoes the original inspiration for an ornament from Anthropologie with this interpretation of it:

I love this mesh wreath from Gray Cardigan and would you believe this is her first attempt?!

And check out this peppermint wreath from Brown Paper Packages! Looks good enough to eat:

Finally, of  course I have to feature something chocolate! Check out these tempting treats from Pressed Down and Shaken Together. YUM!

Can’t wait to see what everyone gets up to this week. Make it a creative one! If you were featured, please feel free to grab a button.

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Second Annual Treat Exchange

I had a treat exchange to go to last night so thought I’d share the goodies I brought. A girlfriend of mine did this for the first time last year, everyone brings 5 of something and everyone leaves with 5 of something…can be sweets or appetizers. It’s now become a tradition.

Last year I made cake pops. This year I made dark and white chocolate peppermint bark and salted chocolate pecan toffee.

Barks are one of the easiest candies, OK THE easiest candy to make! I used a combination of chocolate chips and candy melts for both the dark and white chocolates. For the peppermint, I used candy canes and Andes Crushed Peppermint thins.

In a clasically brilliant move, I broke my candy thermometer right before I needed it. Do not have candy thermometer on counter when breaking up candy canes and pecans! So I had to eyeball my toffee but I think it turned out OK.

I used this recipe : Salted Chocolate Pecan Toffee

I love packaging things. For these, I used ceramic mini loaf pans I found at Michaels for $1. Put my candies in cello bags, then put them in the loaf pans:

Then I wrapped each in polka dot cellophane, and finished with gift tags I made from scraps from my Christmas cards. I used a holly wreath graphic from The Graphics Fairy as part of my labels.

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BFF Open House Link Party #30 and BFF It's Overflowing

Happy December 1 everyone. Let the countdown begin! I can’t believe it’s December already. Really?! But time waits for no man, or woman, and certainly no crafter!

I met this week’s BFF when I saw a project of hers at a link party and just knew we’d hit it off. Meet Aimee from It’s Overflowing who blogs about the fun she has with her hubs and three kids and their adventures remodeling their 1950’s era home. She rocked it when she knocked off these Anthropologie Mason Jars:

As you know, I’ve recently had a slight addiction to putting things in jars and when I was out shopping last Friday and saw they wanted $30 – $38 for theirs at Anthro, then saw Aimee had done these…well the rest is history. Had to check out her blog!

Look what else she’s whipped up!

Click on the pic to see the tutorial for these. You’ll never believe how they started out.

And it’s not too late for an super cute Advent calendar idea and Aimee’s got one for you:

While you’re at it, whip up a batch of this:

A perfect neighbor gift too!

You’ll definitely be inspired by Aimee so I hope you’ll go and visit.

Now let’s see what all you creative geniuses have been up to this week. The rules are simple. If it was made by you, link it. Please link to your specific post and not your main blog page, and please no advertising or shops.

Epsom Salt and Glitter Crushed Peppermint Ornament

I love all the things you can do with clear ornaments but my favorite ones are the flat ones. I’m sure there’s a name for them but they’re the round ones that look like you took a ball an flattened it.

I needed something I could make multiples of without breaking the bank so thank you Michaels for having these 50% off. Picked up a few packs of these (4 for $2.50) along with some of these glittered snowflake ornaments  by Darice ( $1.99 for a package of 12).

Glued a snowflake on one side and cut out white vinyl snowflakes using my Cricut Expression (Damask Décor cart) and stuck one on the other side.

Got out some tinsel glitter and Epsom salt, and spooned a little Epsom salt, silver, and red glitter into my ornament. Finished with a bow from red with silver polka dot ribbon.

I think it looks like crushed peppermint.

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Easiest Advent Calendar Ever!

I’m terrible at Advent calendars, so I figured what could be easier than circling the date ? I can actually remember that ( I think!) . And what’s easier than using a dry erase marker? A trip to Goodwill, a major score, a printable and :

Since I usually go to GW with the intent of finding something to paint or alter, I am still feeling weird about not doing anything to this frame. But why would you when you find POTTERY BARN frames at GW for $.99!

Of course you buy more than one.

That and a printable and you can’t really get any lazier than that.

Sharing the printable here in case there are any other Advent Calendar challenged people out there!

Click to bring to full size; right click to Save As and then re-size as needed.

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