Yay For Christmas Time!

I just LOVE Christmas Time! If it were up to me, I would have our tree up the day after Halloween. I think Thanksgiving and Christmas go hand in hand, right? I guess Dan would be embarrassed or something, so we waited until after Thanksgiving this year to decorate our beloved Christmas tree. On December 1st, Dan and I turned on the Pandora Christmas station, sipped eggnog and hung up our Christmas decorations. And then we wrapped ourselves in blankets and watched the Grinch {Dan's all-time favorite}. Now why can't we celebrate Christmas year round? I love this fun stuff.

^^^ Dan cut a wafer from our Christmas tree trunk last year and I made into an ornament so we could always have a little piece of our first Christmas from 2012. {Just let the wafer dry for a few months and use a soldering iron to burn words or a design into the wood -- super easy}.

^^^We found some snow on a hot chocolate walk with friends! The church around the corner made snow for us to play in...I mean the kids, for the kids to play in.

^^^I tried my hand at making snowflakes out of coffee filters. Pretty cool huh?

^^^ A Christmas Wreath Party with neighbors. We all brought our own wreaths and decorated them together while listening to Christmas music and drinking pomegranate mojitos! My kind of party :)

^^^ The finished product!

DIY Striped Garden Pot

Easy. Easy. Easy.

 

 

{Step One}

Use masking tape to tape around your pot. Spray with spray paint. I used a glossy black. Use whatever color your heart desires. Place a piece of cardboard under your pot to keep things clean while spraying.

 

{Step 2}

One more coat of spray paint. Make sure you spray inside the rim up to soil level.

{Step 3}

Let it dry and then peel off that tape! Touch-up any uneven places with a paintbrush. You can spray your spray paint into a piece of crumpled newspaper -- it will hold a nice little puddle that you can use a touch-up paint.

 

Garden Station DIY Wooden Pallets

I have the best Hubby ever. Dan made me a gardening station for my potted plants and tools. I love that he used recycled wooden pallets... so eco-friendly of you Dan! He even made a shelf for my planter boxes and storage for soil and pots underneath. He was the handyman and I was the painter. I also had some fun arranging a few of our star lamps to make the space extra special {Dan wanted me to move them from our umbrella because someone kept hitting their head on them ha-ha}. Yay for team effort. Another DIY successfully completed. I just love him :) What a thoughtful guy!

{Before}

{After}

DIY Leather Tassel { For Your Keychain & Key Ring}

 

 

I've been wanting to make one of these for a long time. I have seen them in shops around town and really wanted to get one, but there was no way I would justify paying $25 to $30 for a tassel! So I decided to make one myself. I think I ended up paying about $3 for some soft pebbled leather at a fabric store and the rest of the supplies were already at home. Yay! I am so excited to share this with you! P.S. It's so much easier to find my keys now -- no more digging in my purse!

 

 

Things you'll need:

 

*key ring

*12 x 4 inch strip of leather

*razor blade or an x-acto knife

*fabric glue

*1 rubber band

 

 

{Cut off a small strip of leather and fold it over the key ring. Glue the inside together}

 {Make 24 - 1/2 inch wide cuts down the length of the leather strip. Leave 1 inch uncut at the top}

 

 

{Roll the leather strip around the leather piece from #1. Glue the inside of the roll as you go} 

 {Wrap a band around the top and let it dry}

 

 

 

Pictures: A Bit of Bees Knees

DIY Chalkboard Coasters

We threw a backyard party a couple weeks ago and our friend Genevieve brought us a cute host gift. She made her own chalkboard coasters -- what an awesome idea!
Thanks Genevieve, Dan and I love them!


What you'll need:
-ceramic tiles
-cork sheet
-glue
-chalkboard paint
-chalk

Here's how to make them:
-spray tiles with chalkboard paint -- let dry
-cut out your cork sheet to match the size of your tiles
-glue the cork to the bottom of the tiles

Simple as that.

Here are some cute ways to use them...

I would also suggest using a chalk marker. It'll help you make those nice neat lines.

Pictures: Rachel, Gouda, W

Make Your Own Cards

 What you'll need:

Glitter

 Fine Tip Glue Pen

Martha Stewart Scalloped Paper Puncher 

I also found some cheaper ones on Ebay

And a little bit of creativity <3

Simple as that.

Our Wedding Invitations

Hey guys! As you probably know, Daniel and I got married last August. We just received our wedding pictures about 2 months ago and I've been trying to organize them so I can begin posting about all the festivities...bridal showers, the bachelorette party, the wedding and some honeymoon pictures too. I thought this would be a good place to start -- the invitations.

 





My wonderful friend Christina Pecora (and also bridesmaid) designed and made them herself! What a gal! We were so thrilled with the way they turned out.

Thank you Christina!

 

DIY: Votives

#1 Romantic Painted Votives

Use complimenting colors of a water based paint and muddle them around on the inside of a clear glass votive (be sure to water down the paint thin enough for the light to shine through). Let them dry and place a small candle inside.

These are so beautiful, but I would advise that you only use them outside...most paints are flammable once they're dry, despite being water based. But they should be safe to put on an outside table for your backyard parties!

 #2 Lavender Love

 Find a narrow glass and cut your lavender stems just below the rim of the glass. Tie with twine. The heat from the candle will help carry the smell of the lavender.

#3 Simple Thyme in Baby Masons

Tie some thyme to a baby mason jar with twine. Simple and sweet

Pictures: Painted Votives, Lavender, Thyme

DIY: Cute I Love You Card

Adorable!

Make it even more special by writing a love letter to your babycakes around the pop-up.

Have fun!

Picture:Duitang

DIY: Lace Bowl

 

You can also check out my shop if you are interested in my bowls.

Edited Picture: A Bit of Bees Knees
Original unedited photo Duitang

DIY: Bracelet Making Board

Ummm why didn't I think of this?

SO SIMPLE.

 I have always tied the loop to my shoelace or placed it under a stack of books when I make bracelets.This looks much easier!

Picture:1

DIY: Valentine's Day Wrapping Ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some cute wrapping ideas for you.

Pictures: gingham, envelopes, doilies, jar lids, clay tag 

DIY: Glitter Dipped Mason Jars

This is a cute idea...
 

1. Cover half of your mason jar with paper (tape down the edge of the paper to get a smooth line) 

2. Spray or paint the other half of the jar with clear glue

3. Dip in glitter 

4. Peel of tape and paper

5. After glue dries, brush off excess glitter 

 

 

 Picture via (thesweetestoccasion) 

 

DIY: Tree Branch Lamp

These lamps are gorgeous! When I get a free weekend, I'll be making one of my own! Here's how I would break this down into a simple DIY project.

You will need

1. A Birch Branch

2. A wooden disc to use as a stand for the lamp * make sure that your disc is large enough to support your lamp, depending upon how tall your birch branch is. These wooden circles can usually be found at your local craft store or Home Depot.

3. Light bulb and cord can be found at any home improvement store such as, Home Depot, Lowe's, ACE Hardware etc.

4. Lamp Shade. Pick your style!

5. Assembling Tools

Power drill and screw driver, drill and screw bits, wood glue and screws.

 

Have fun my friends! Let me know if you make one of your own. I would love to see pictures!

Pictures: Tree Branch Lamp, Round Wooden Disc, Lamp Shade, DeWalt, DeWalt Bits, Wood Glue, Screws