Christmas Recap - The Rest

I still have more Christmas projects to share, so here is everything else that I worked on for Christmas.

Up first is a little hanging I made with a vintage photo and a Tim Holtz cabinet card frame. I added some glitter around the image and a sparkling title along with some vintage trim at the bottom.

I love making tags all year, and at Christmas I actually have a use for them! For these two tags, I took a card that our bank sent to us (I had no worries about cutting it up since I knew I wouldn't be saving it) and used the background scene in completely different ways.

In this first tag, I left the image as is and added a rub-on swirl and a Maya Road kraft house. The "silver bell" and tinsel trim complete it.

For this tag, I obscured the background using a Tim Holtz stencil and two colors of paint dabbers. I inked a paper doily and added a piece to the left side behind my fairy ballerina. I added sparkle with a glittered edge, rhinestone bling, and tinsel trim.

And lastly, I made this box as a gift for my sister. I took a cosmetic/jewelry box and turned it into a candy box. I dressed up an image from an old card and added some beautiful Prima flowers.

Then I filled the box with fancy chocolates!

I'm still not ready for Christmas to be over and all the decorations to be put away, but I can look forward to doing it all over again in a few months!

 

 



Christmas Recap - The Village

A friend and I got together for a Christmas craft day back in December. Our mission was to create a little Christmas village, reminiscent of the vintage putz houses everyone used to decorate with. We ordered a set of DIY chipboard pieces and assembled our little villages.

Since nothing can ever be too feminine for me, I decorated my village in pretty pastels dripping with glittery snow.

Each got a coat of paint and a layer of glitter. Then I decorated with faux snow, bleached/dyed/glittered trees, and tiny decorations.

I added velum to the windows for an authentic vintage look.

I formed greenery pipe cleaners into garlands and wreaths.

 

Metallic pipe cleaners finish the bases.

I hope to add more houses to it for next Christmas!
 
 

Christmas Recap - The Ornaments

I always enjoy adding to the sparkle of my Christmas tree with a new handmade ornaments each year. I got a very late start on my Christmas crafting this year, so I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but I did manage to complete these ornaments.

You've probably seen ornaments similar to these on Pinterest. I had so much fun making little snow scenes.

The Sugar Plum Fairy ornament is my favorite. I bleached and dyed all the trees.

And added a little pile of snow for each of my characters.

Sparkly tinsel finishes them off and helps hide the glue seams.

For this next ornament, I used an small tart pan that I found at an antiques shop and created a little snow fairy scene. I painted the tin with Martha Stewart glitter paint to give it a little more sparkle. Her glittery wings and snowflakes are all she needs to get a winter storm going!

And finally, a simple rosette ornament with a glittered snowflake, foil paper, and shimmering tinsel.

 
 

Christmas Recap - The Cards

I never got around to sharing the holiday hoopla around here. Better late than never, right? Besides, I'm not ready to pack it up until November just yet anyway.

Here are the cards I made this year.

This was my assembly line card. I used an image from a vintage Christmas card for the background and embellished it with glitter and puffy "snow" flocking.

Then I added a deer that I cut from October Afternoon paper.

I made a small series of cards using another vintage image. This time, I experimented with textures and patterns for the background. I layered woven paper that was the texture of a dryer sheet with vintage sheet music and wax paper.

This one got an extra-special treatment with the addition of a glittered snowflake.

And finally, I had one deer left over from the other cards and used him on a card that I made by layering vintage sheet music, wrapping paper scraps, ribbon, a stamped sentiment, and festive jingle bell.

I have a few ornaments and some other things to share. I've had trouble getting Blogger to work properly, so I hope I can get those posts up soon.
 
 

New Junk

I spent more than a week with my family in NJ for Easter. I had so much fun with Lily Munchkin. We made Easter cards, dyed eggs, and had a few egg hunts.

Lily made these little bunnies for everyone. She named each one. My bunny is named Ann, and Husband's bunny is named Pop Pop. My dad received one named "Bathroom." I don't know how or why she came with the names she did, but we were quite amused.

I got to spend a little time junking, and here is what I came home with.

I fell in love with the Easter Parades on Holly's Cotton Pickin Fun and Elizabeth's Creative Breathing blogs. They used vintage baby planters to create adorable vignettes. I already have a little lamb planter, and I found these two to add to my collection. I also picked up a vintage pink bottle brush tree, some old Christmas cards, and a sweet old book (in the background).

Christmas carols sheet music, ornaments, and a stack of old ironstone plates. I found these for 50 cents each! Isn't it amazing what some people see no value in at all? I plan to use them to create some altered plates to display around the house.

A vintage needlework kit - I plan to list this in my etsy shop. I've had a lot of luck with old crafting kits.

My sister had a bag full of vintage decorations for me. She got them at her work - they were being discarded and this was the "old junk" that no one else wanted. Can you believe it? Lucky for me, she scooped them up and now they are in my collection! I have a pile of the little chenille stockings. They will be perfect for a banner.

I love being able to visit the flea markets and thrift stores when I'm up north - there is so much old junk that I treasure and can bring back home to Texas. I found two flea markets that I had never heard of before, so they will be on the list for my next visit!

 

Goodbye Christmas

Now that the Epiphany has passed, I have no excuse not to take down the Christmas stuff, but I don't want to. I force Husband to leave the outside lights on until January 6 (the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day), and I usually start taking down the Christmas stuff the following weekend. I just know the house is going to look and feel so bare and cold without all of it. So, I thought I'd share one last shot of Christmas with you.

I found these little treasures right before Christmas at a local thrift store. I got them all for 25 cents! I'm sure I'll repurpose them in projects for next Christmas.

We brought our Christmas guests to my favorite little town in OK last week, and I had to stop in for some bargains at one of my all-time favorite antique malls. I picked up a few treasures.

Antique ephemera: 100+ year old TX property deeds, an Easter card, and a couple of Christmas/New Year's cards.

A bag full of vintage light reflectors. I'll add these to my collection to make more ornaments next year.

More ornaments. The striped one will be used as a hot air balloon, and maybe some of the small ones, too.

Now I can sigh, "Christmas is over."
 
 

The Gifts

I hope you had a wonderful holiday celebration! I got a new camera - the Sony DSC RX100, so I've been busy learning how to use it.

I made a few Christmas gifts this year, and I plan to make even more next year.

I made a set of cards for my sister, and had to make a pretty gift box to put them in.

I recycled a chipboard mailer, covered it in vintage wallpaper, and then decorated the top with pretty seam binding, vintage millinery, and tiny bird's nest.

I enclosed six note cards for various occasions.

A vibrant Thank You card:

A nature-inspired note card:

A Glitzy Thank You card:

Another brightly hued note card:

An embossed kraft card:

And a pretty Birthday card:

Then I made a pair of earrings that I loved so much, I had to make a pair for myself.

I packaged these on vintage sheet music, embellished for Christmas.

 I also sent a gift card, which I packaged in a printed paper bag, embellished with paper snowflakes and a sheet music rosette.

I used this same design to create an envelope for the odd-sized card I made for Husband. I stitched two pieces of sheet music together on three sides, then cut the open end with scalloped scissors. I sealed it with a paper-punched poinsettia, and added another to the front.

 
I have a few more treats to share later. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things after being home from work for many days, and having Lily Munchkin here visiting. We had a wonderful, and exhausting, time!
 

Merry Christmas

I have one last Christmas decoration to share with you as I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

I'll be taking some time off to celebrate Christmas with  my family, but I'll be back in the new year to share the gifts I made for Christmas.

I've had this vintage ornament box in my stash for a while, waiting for the right inspiration for a small Christmas shadowbox.

First, I had to construct a bottom for the box (I only had the top). I adhered Jenni Bowlin paper to the box, that matched the colors and pattern on the box front perfectly. Then I cut out the children from another sheet of Jenni Bowlin paper (these are both from the Holiday 2011 collection) and adhered them onto a piece of chunky foam. I added a tinsel garland and strung vintage ornaments.

On the front, I adhered a sentiment and Santa image, both from Graphic 45 collections from seasons past.
 
Have a merry, happy, festive, special, and spectacular Christmas!
 
  

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

... in a hot air balloon!

I've been wanting to make some hot air balloon ornaments out of some of my junkier vintage ornaments for a while, and finally got around to making one. He won't be the last.

I started with a paper nut cup, which I stained brown using Distress Stain and then wrapped with a perfectly-sized scrap of very old lace trim. I cut a small scalloped border from vintage sheet music, and the basket was complete.

I used silver pipe cleaners and vintage tinsel to make the balloon ropes, which are attached to the inside of the basket and to the sides of a vintage glass ornament.

Inside the basket, I placed a vintage Santa ornament, a bleached and glittered bottle brush tree, a few small glass ornaments, and sparkly sequins.
 
Santa also has a small jingle bell to announce his arrival. I hope he's coming to see you tonight!
 

Pink Christmas

It is no secret that I love pink. My craft room is the perfect shade of ballet pink, so I wanted some decor to match for Christmas.

I put one of those no-mess stick-on hooks on my craft room door and just threw up a few things I had on hand - ruffled crepe paper, lace trim, a glittered sign, and vintage bells look so "put together."

While I was at it, I wanted to try making some paper houses. Here is the only one I finished, but I'm planning on more. Let me show you how I made it.

First, I drew the front panel on a piece of printer paper, cut it out twice and then measured and cut out two rectangles for the sides. Then I taped the pieces together to form a pattern. I added a tab on one end to use to glue the house together. I also cut out a long rectangle that will be the roof. It is slightly wider than the side rectangles and a little wider than the front/back piece so it will have a nice overhang.

I traced my paper pattern onto a recycled cereal box and cut it out. Once cut out, I scored all the fold lines (the tape "joints" of my paper pattern). I also cut the roof piece and scored it, and cut out a 4" square base.

I applied gesso to all of the pieces, and then a couple of coats of craft paint - white for the roof and base and pink (or turquoise) for the house. Then I added a layer of white pearl paint to all the pieces.

Before gluing everything together, I used my craft knife to cut out three small windows. I used small pieces of wood for shutters and added a piece of lace behind each window for curtains. I made a paper door from a scrap of lined paper - perfect for replicating wood slats.

I glued the house together using the tab to join the two ends together. Then I glued the house to the base and glued on the roof.

Then the fun of decorating began! I added Delta's Decorative Snow here and there on the roof and base to create piles of snow. Then I added my decorations on the base - a painted deer (brown would not have matched), a bleached tree, and pink and white roses.

I applied glue to the entire roof and base, and here and there on the walls of the house and sprinkled clear glitter over everything.

After shaking off the excess and allowing to dry, I applied more glue here and there and added mica flakes for even more sparkle.

Since I didn't get the turquoise house finished in time for Christmas, I'm thinking an Easter house would be perfect!