Chalkboard Christmas Tree

Today I have a really simple but fun piece of Christmas decor to share with you; A chalkboard Christmas tree.

I found a fun unfinished wood tree kit. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I knew I wanted it. After having it for a few weeks, I decided that it would be lots of fun to paint it with chalkboard paint and leave notes for each other on it during the month of December.

I got some green Martha Stewart chalkboard paint off of Amazon. I used 3 coats of the paint on each board. Truthfully, it was fully covered after 2 coats, but since it is going to be used and not just looked at I added one extra coat of paint since I had more than enough. 

We're already having lots of fun leaving each other notes about what Christmas movies are on TV tonight, or what we want to do (like look at lights or have hot chocolate). I have a feeling this is going to fast become one of our favorite pieces of holiday decor.

Powder Mountain

Just a quick winter layout today using Bo Bunny's Powder Mountain. It's a really fun, bright winter line.

It's just a simple layout, done to fit as many photos on as possible. I had so many great ones from this fun fort building and snow fight we had.

 I punched out some Pow! Glitter Paper with my Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch to create the glittery falling snowflakes.

I decided the layout needed a pit more pizzazz, so I added rhinestones to the centers of all of the snowflakes in the background paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Santa's Key

I'm continuing to try to work ahead on my Christmas projects this year.

We don't have a fire place, so this year I decided to make a magic key for Santa to use. You see, when Santa picks it up it magically turns into the right shape to fit the lock on our front door.

I used some of my favorite ribbons from May Arts for this project (they can be found by the yard at A Walk Down Memory Lane's Brick & Mortar Location).

To create the red bow, I cut 4 pieces of the red ribbon about 7" long. Then I secured the ends into a loop shape with an Ultra Thin Glue Dot®. I added another Glue Dot® to the inside seam of the loop and pinched it to create a bow shape. Then I layered all 4 loops on top of each other (securing each loop to the next with a Glue Dot®) into a large bow shape.

When I completed the bow I sewed it in place on the key. I also embellished the key with stickers from Simple Stories Handmade Holiday, Echo Park This & That Christmas, a snowflake punched from Pow Glitter Paper with this punch from Martha Stewart, a Prima Crystal, and last but not least a Christmas Token from Tim Holtz.

I can't wait to show this to my boys when it gets closer to Christmas time!

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team. 

Teal and Orange Party Decorations

 This month, Glue Dots® challenged its designers to create teal and orange party decorations. I happen to have Christmas on the brain, so mine are geared toward a teal and orange Christmas party. However I'll explain simple ways to change up the decorations to make them fit for other party situation, too. I have 2 ideas today. First up is a fun centerpiece:

I chose to make mine look like a Christmas ornament, but you could just as easily make yours look like a pumpkin, apple, or even switch out the shape for a star. My finished piece is just about 6" x 6". If you'd like to make one about the same size you'll need:
 

Ultra Thin or Craft Glue Dots®
A way to cut circles (or any other symmetrical shape). I used the Lifestyle Crafts nesting circle cutting dies.
3 - 12" x 12" pieces of paper (I used Authentique Gathering Grow and Together and Little Yellow Bicycle Hellow Fall Bundle-up Blue)
A scoring tool
A topper for your centerpiece (I used Fiskar's Scalloped Sentiments border punch to create an ornament topper).

Cut 12 circles and score them down the middle.

Attach the wrong sides of the circles together from the score line to the curved edge with Ultra Thin or Craft Glue Dots®. Repeat until you have a 12 adhered into a circle.

I cut the bottom of my circle off slightly to create a flat base instead of a rounded edge. Add your topper (ornament topper for an ornament, stem and leaves if you're making an apple or pumpkin).

For my second project I decided to make something that can be hung from a light or the ceiling. Make a dozen or so of these to really add ambiance to your party:

 For this project you'll need
Mini Glue Dots®
18" of orange ribbon per decoration
1 Teal pearl (If you don't have teal pearls, use a white one and color it teal with a Copic Marker)
Glitter paper (I used American Crafts Pow! Glitter Paper)
String to hang your piece from when you've finished.

 Cut your 18" ribbon into 3 - 6" pieces of ribbon. Form a loop with each piece. Adhere together using a Mini Glue Dot®

 Form each loop into an 8 shape by placing a Mini Glue Dot® in the center and pinching together.

 Layer all 3 loops on top of each other, adhering with mini glue dots.

Cut a shape from glitter paper for the center of your ornament. Depending on your theme, you can pick appropriate shapes: hearts for a wedding or baby shower, snowflake for a winter party, flowers for a spring party. Attach the glitter shape to the center of your ornament with a Mini Glue Dot®

 Add a teal pearl to the center of your glitter paper using a Mini Glue Dot. Add string and hang! My boys and I are going to add string and use a snowflake shape in the center and hand them out as Christmas ornaments to our family this year.

Happy party planning!

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

Halloween Envelope Album

 I'm getting a jump start on my Halloween photos this year. Every year, when the costumes come, my boys put them on to make sure they fit and to check that we have all the accessories needed. I usually take this opportunity to take photos. That way on the actual day of trick-or-treating, I only have to snap a few photos of them in the act. Since I already have some of the photos, I decided to get a mini album started and half decorated.

This year, I'm making an envelope album, but instead of using pre-made envelopes, I made them myself from My Little Shoebox's Trick-or-Treat collection. It's bright, fun, and has spiders and bats in it, which is perfect for highlighting my little Spiderman and Batman.

To make the album, first you'll need to decide what size envelopes you'll want. I chose A7 which is the size that fits a 5" x 7" photo (so the finished envelope is slightly bigger than  5" x 7").  No need to re-invent the wheel here, if you have the Martha Stewart Scoring Board it gives you all the measurements you'll need if you stick with a standard size. Otherwise, Google the size you want to make. No need to try to figure it out for yourself.

For an A7 envelope, cut your paper to 10" x 10". Place your paper so it's shaped like a diamond. Score at 3 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, sore at 4 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, score at 3 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, sore at 4 1/4".

Cut the notches out where the score lines overlap.

Now you're ready to fold and assemble your envelope. I like Glue Dots® Glue Lines the best for this task. They're thin and come pre-cut in just the right size sections.

 I used 4 lines per envelope, 1 at the middle and one at the bottom of each side. Fold the bottom  flap up over the side flaps. Leave the top open (just like a regular envelope). 

Make as many of these envelopes as you want for your album. I made 7.

To assemble your album place a few glue lines along the flap of the envelope where the adhesive would normally be on an envelope. I also placed one in the middle just above the flap fold line. Take the envelope with the adhesive flap open, face down. Take another envelope, face up (if this is the first page fold the flap backwards, otherwise the flap will already be folded into another page). Insert the flap of the face down envelope into the pocket of the face up envelope. Move into place until both edges match up. Press down to seal adhesive in place. Repeat until all of your envelopes are gone.

Now the fun really begins: you can decorate your album. By creating an album from envelopes, you'll have pockets on every other page so you can:

...hide journaling

...stash a photo

...or seal right over it an use it like a normal page.

Happy haunting!

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.

You Can Fly

Remember when swinging was sooooo much fun? I love the joy in these photos. Jillibean's Watermelon Gazpacho was just perfect for capturing the moment.



I hope you and yours are enjoying the simple pleasures of summer!