Fun Christmas Craft Ideas

I realize Thanksgiving isn't even here yet but I signed up to participate in an ornament exchange. The ornament has to be mailed out by Dec 1 so I am on the hunt for something quick and easy yet still pretty. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment and let me know.

As I was perusing YouTube, I came across a couple of super fun looking crafts and messy is always better, right? :-)

This one uses paper and glue (lots of glue!), food coloring and sea salt. 

I'm pretty sure you could do the same thing with clear plastic ornaments and it would be safe for the kiddos to make some too!

I am a fan of rustic and shabby so this next ornament might be my favorite!
I think I will definitely be trying this one out.

What do you think? Any of these ideas you might want to try?

I'll be sure and share my finished Christmas ornaments!

~Happy Crafting~

Jazzing up a Napkin Holder

I love searching for items I can use in our home to make it feel more welcoming! Several months ago I came across this wooden fish shaped napkin holder in the thrift store. Even though it's pretty as is (it's made out of beautiful Koa Wood from Hawaii with detailed engraving for the fins and eyes), I wanted to give it a little pizazz for my table decor.

Keeping the project simple, I gathered up supplies of Liquitex, Mod Podge, crumpled Tissue Paper, Sand Paper, Paint Brushes and White Spray Paint.

I started out by roughing up the finish using *extra fine sand paper so that my spray paint would adhere better. After wiping off the powdery residue, I spray painted all of the napkin holder except the bottom. Gotta be able to sit it down to dry ;-)

Once dry, I applied Liquitex using my sponge brush, one side at a time and then carefully pressed each piece of tissue paper onto the surface, leaving a little bit hanging over the edges. This was kind of tricky as it wanted to keep sticking to my fingers and pull away from the surface of the holder, but I was victorious! I let it dry for about 10 minutes then applied the Mod Podge to completely seal it. I trimmed the edges when fully dry.

I'm quite pleased that the detailed etchings of the fins and eyes are still visible. The 'new' napkin holder adds a nice splash of color.

What have you re-purposed or recycled lately? 

Please feel free to share in the comments below. I am always looking for new ideas!

~Happy Crafting~

*I used extra fine sand paper so it would not scratch the wood

Sharing @

Quick & Easy Heart Wreath

I don't usually do any crafting for Valentine's Day anymore since my children are pretty much grown,  but I saw this cute DIY Heart Wreath over at The Happy Runner and couldn't resist giving it a try.

Who knows, maybe next year I will make one with my grand children.
It's that easy and kid-friendly!

The instructions are pretty simple.

Shape a piece of lightweight wire into a heart.

♥ My husband did this for me since I have slightly arthritic hands ♥

Cut a bunch of strips (at least 50, depending on the size of your wire frame) about 1" x 4" (or 6" if you prefer).  They don't have to be perfectly cut unless you are a perfectionist...which I'm not.

You can use anything, I think. The Happy Runner used an old shirt but I used felt. 

It looks kind of pink but it is red.

Tie each strip onto the wire that you bent and shaped until you had that great heart shaped frame.

And then you have this...

It didn't come out too bad but there are a few things I would have done different:

Used a lighter wire

Made a larger frame

Made a less obvious hanger

I'm linked up at:

No Time For Flash Cards

Rurality Blog Hop

Down Home Blog Hop

The Country Homemaker Hop

Did you make any Valentine's Day crafts? If so, what did you make?

Happy Valentine's Day!

NEWLY LINKED UP @

Altered Art is...

~ Collaging, embellishing, enameling, stamping or doing anything else to a book  or other household item to reflect a creative idea, theme or narrative.

Collecting items to create Altered Art has become almost an obsession. I see potential in EVERYTHING! I save tea boxes, yogurt cartons, jelly jars, plastic trays, spaghetti boxes, and cereal boxes. Have I made anything out of these wannabe trash to treasure goodies? Well, no but I'm going to. I will. I promise. I just need more time in my day. I do like to read, you know. And I have two boys that I homeschool, laundry to be done, dishes to be washed, and I like to read. I said that already, didn't I?

I have made one really super cool box, though. If you're on my Facebook then you've already seen it, but you can hang around and ooohhh and aaahhh over the photos again. Be kind. It's my first one.

Pretty, huh? It was so much fun! And I learned alot doing this one. Like what type of glue NOT to use.