Painted Snowy Mason Jars....

Over the weekend while the boys were away & I had the house to myself I worked on 7 different holiday projects...yes 7..and all but 1 are actually completed hahaha!  Sometimes its easier to do a lot at once when you already have a good mess going right?  And I watched "Sleepless In Seattle" and "When Harry Met Sally" while crafting....two of my most favorite movies so it was all good.  I think my dogs might've gone to bed with glittery fur that night too...hmmmmm ;)

So first on my project list to share with you today are my Painted Christmas Mason Jars.  I've seen these painted mason jars ALL over the web and I've been biding my time to make my own version. I had everything in my craft supplies for this project except for the paint so the total for this cost me a nice $4...can't beat that!

Supplies:

Jars (cleaned & dry)

Paint (any acrylic or chalk paint works)

Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Sand paper or block, emory board

White Glitter (I used Diamond Dust)

Clear Glitter (I used Tim Holtz Distress Glitter)

Modge Podge or other thick glue

Chipboard Letters

Snowflake punches, thick white cardstock, or pre-made snowflakes

Paper Dimensionals

Twine

Mine aren't even mason jars...they are spaghetti jars I've saved and washed out...I cannot throw out a perfectly good jar like these ya know.  I used Martha Stewart's paint in Cloud (satin finish) and just painted it all over the clean jars making sure to paint from top to bottom each time..no swishing it in every direction. (Chalk Paint would work great too) 

Let first coat dry and then add second coat..then let them dry overnight.

After they are thoroughly dried, then you can sand them to your heart's desire.  I used an emory board to get in the letters a bit more and then the sanding block for the larger areas.

I wanted the tops of my jars to have a fun, glittery & snowy look.  So I used a heavy modge podge glue and dabbed it along the top and dipped each jar into some of the Diamond Dust (which is a thicker white/clear glitter).  After dipping I patted it on to make sure it was coated well.

Then I used my snowflake punches and punched a variety of sizes out of some thick, white cardstock.

Then each snowflake got a coating of glue and both kinds of glitter as well.

The chipboard letters I painted white and then added glitter to them as well...this time I only used the Tim Holtz Distress Glitter in Clear Rock Candy.

I hot glued the snowflakes in layers and then glued them directly on my jars.  But I wanted my letters to POP out a bit more from the jars & really stand out.  So I used these dimensional stickies (if you are a papercrafter they look familiar)...only I hot glued them on the letters and then the jar so they'd stay stuck really well.  Otherwise they would probably fall off easily on the painted jar since they are meant more for paper.

I added some twine just to the first jar and tied in a bow...I liked the contrast.

You could also punch snowflakes out of kraft paper and have a variety of colored snowflakes.

Lots of fun options....

And this is what you end up with...I just love how they turned out and the pretty soft gray-aqua color.  They will look beautiful in my finished basement rec-room (its all choc brown, black, white & aqua).

I put flameless battery operated candles in each so they will glow softly when the lights are dimmed.

I would NOT recommend using real candles due to saftey okay...no burning stuff down folks!!

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Just Steal It......

Do you like a steal?  A great bargain?  

I know I sure do. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite buys from the site Decor Steals.  Its a flash sale site that emails you the "steal" each day and they are usually a good bargain compared to what you will find them in the stores for.  I don't buy every steal...sheesh my husband would kill me lol. However I have bought quite a few this year that are some of my most fave things.  I like the unique finds they offer.

My one tip would be:  if you really love it, don't hesitate. I've done that a few times and lost out because they've sold out of the item. So I check right away for my email each day and if I can't live without it or will regret not having it I put it in my cart.  Lots of popular items like the holiday pillows sold out within the first few hours.

If you'd like to join you can click the LINK HERE and once you sign up for an account you will get $5 off your first order.  There is no obligation to buy a steal EVER...if you like it you buy it, if you don't then just delete the email LOL!  But if you like unique finds for your home then I would suggest you try it out.

I just received these pillows this week and I ADORE them.  They look like vintage feed sacks but are super soft.  The backside of the Reindeer pillow has the song lyrics to Rudolph so both sides are pretty.

The blue-grayish lanterns were bought from them as well...they sit on top of my media center.

And I love my little hobby horse...they offered it in different sizes. This one is sitting near my fireplace right now, but once I get my foyer Christmas tree up it will sit with the other vintage toys in front of it.

Love these whitewashed metal baskets...the smaller one holds fruit in my kitchen, the med one will be ready for holiday greenery and the large holds magazines in my bedroom.

And I love this bucket...it will be filled with greenery & twinkle lights in a few weeks.

Those are just a few of my faves I've gotten from them this year.  I have others including more holiday items that I will share as I start decorating for Christmas.

Enjoy your weekend...it is COLD here in Virgina!!

Rustic Country Shaker Ornaments!

Every year I choose a few ornaments to create for my trees because I love to and its a bit of a tradition. I've been making ornaments for my trees since I was first married and the budget was tight.  Now I do it because I enjoy it and it makes my trees unique and special for my family.  I keep a folder of Holiday Ideas full of magazine tear-outs that I've had for YEARS (long before Pinterest people lol) and dig through it! And I believe it was Country Living (I think) that made some similar ornaments but without the trees many moons ago...but I pulled it out this year because I saw the letter beads at Hobby Lobby that looked similar to those they had used.  They are inexpensive to create and you can customize them for your decor and taste!  These ornaments I finished later than I wanted in the season but that's ok...they're done and that's what counts right LOL!  

These are for my kitchen tree (above) which is more rustic and countrified and they look pretty scattered all over it because they reflect a bit of light.
I think they'd be also fab as gift toppers or table favors on each holiday plate! Change the sentiment to a name or nickname...just remember to not make them too long that they fit awkwardly in the ornament!

(sorry my tutorial pics during the project had some "issues", I think there was a smudge on my lens and I didn't want to reshoot, forgive me, please? lol)

Supplies I used for these:

-Some clear glass ornaments..whatever size you choose

-Rustic Letter beads like these

-Faux Snow

-mini bottle trees either bought or homemade 

(click here for a tut to make your own)

-small pinecones

-some faux greenery

-burlap

-ribbon of choice

-scissors

-craft tweezers or regular tweezers

-hot glue gun

1) Pop off the metal hanger on each ornament.  Hold a bottle brush tree at the very top with tweezers and add hot glue to bottom of tree...quickly place brush in ornament where you want it (the tree will squish thru the opening). Let that dry for a few minutes.  (if your bottle brush tree has a tiny wooden bottom it may fit thru hole, if not clip it off and add glue to the bottom of the trunk instead)

2) While waiting glue your letter beads together to create a holiday sentiment...keep it short & sweet and hot glue the beads together where the holes are so you can't see them when you are finished.  Set aside.

3) Spoon or funnel in some faux snow...I used 2 spoonfuls in my ornaments but you can always add more or less.

4) Then put in beaded sentiment, pinecones and greenery and place the top/hanger back on the ornament.

5) I cut strips of burlap and hot glued it around the metal hanger to cover it.  I tied a simple knot with another strip of burlap through the loop of the hanger and glued on a simple gingham bow.

Here is one done without the bottle brush tree inside...I made a few variations of each for my tree.

PROJECT COST: 

Bag of Letter Beads - $2

Bag of Faux Snow - $1.50

Glass Ornaments - FREE (given to me)

Faux Greenery - Free (my stash)

Small Bag of Mini pinecones - $2

Burlap - Free (my stash)

Gingham Ribbon - Free (my stash)

TOTAL for 6 Ornaments:  $5.50

And that's it...quick and easy to make!  Switch them up and add different words or different objects inside of each ornament...that's what makes them special!!

Merry Christmas!
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Wintry Muslin Trees!

I've seen lots of versions of crafty holiday trees on the web and in magazines and love them all.  But I wanted to put my own spin on some and I had some styrofoam trees tucked in the back of a closet that were screaming calling out to be used (I think I purchased them on sale after Christmas 3 years ago..shhhh)!  So I bought a yard of cream muslin at JoAnn's for $1.56 on sale and was ready to create.

I used a hot glue gun for this because I wanted the fabric to adhere quickly so I didn't have to "hold" it while it dried.  You can use whatever kind of adhesive you like and YES the hot glue melts the styrofoam a tad, but really not that much that it was an issue.  If you have cardboard or other tree forms on hand those would work as well...I only had styrofoam so that's what I used.

I cut squares of muslin (I doubled up fabric and then cut it).  Then I started at the bottom and pinched the fabric in the middle and glued on..going around the tree base.  Each of the next layers hang over the one before it.  The more rough & varied the edges the more rustic it looks and that's the goal...well it was my goal ;)

*for the top..glue a small piece of fabric over it and then cover with layers of smaller muslin squares

I added dried hydrangea blooms from my garden and twine (it came off the roll curly which I loved) to add some interest to the top in the place of the usual star.

I just love the raw edges of the muslin and varied layers...perfect for a rustic wintry look!

Here they are on my holiday table!  They would be cute done in any fabric or color you chose of course..I liked the "wintry" look of the cream muslin for mine though.  I made another set for a friend for their Christmas present too...I sure hope they love them :)

TOTAL COST:  $1.56 for just the muslin

The rest of the supplies I had on hand & blooms were from my garden.

Super easy to make for yourself or as gifts..watch out for burned fingertips..and just be patient as you work around each layer of the trees.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
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Our Holiday House Tour--Part 1!

Hello & welcome to our holiday home this year!  Warning: I decorate a lot for Christmas...I mean A LOT!  Which is why I'm doing two separate holiday posts for you so as not to put you to sleep with my photo intensive posts.  But I love Christmas so much and even though its just one month of the year, I always like to make it magical. There is nothing like a house lit up with the glow of many Christmas trees, the smell of greenery & cider and just the excitement of the holiday season.  When I pack the decorations up in January the house always seems so bare so I'm enjoying every minute now.  Plus if I didn't decorate members of my family would pout..majorly ;)  And yes it takes me a full week to get everything done including the outside.  And there are MANY things in my house that I use to decorate that have lots of memories and are special to me...decorating with items like this make it super special.

This is what we woke up to Sunday morning...a nice wintry covering of snow and ice...in fact its icing again today. I hate winter...no surprise to many of you that know me..but I do find this light coat of snow during the holidays very pretty.  Course I didn't have to go out in it nor shovel it ;)  Our front porch gets a tree too decked out in red lights, red burlap ribbon and pinecones.
*Before you ask why the cars are out welllll....my car is inside the garage and the truck is always outside BUT hubby's car got stuck outside because the other side of the garage is filled with items/furniture for GoodWill that he hasn't taken yet..oh well lol.*

Let's start in my dining room...my favorite room at the moment due to its major makeover (see more about that here).  The tree in the dining room used to be red & gold but I changed it over to a more rustic, vintage feel this year.

This tree got some burlap weaved through its branches, rolled up vintage Christmas music sheets and gold/cream ornaments mixed in with some sprays of fruit and pinecones.  Everything on this tree I owned already in my holiday stash so I didn't have to purchase anything for this re-do.

My new pictures in rustic frames surround my buffet now...more on that in another post.

On the table is one of my many Santa's along with his gold reindeer that I've owned for years.  Some burlap, greenery, my lanterns and a sled filled with pinecones & sheet music.  Again nothing new on this table this year, just going into my stash to pull out things I hadn't used in awhile.

Greenery is one of the most inexpensive ways to bring holiday magic into your home...its beautiful and it smells good.  I have many trees around my house that get a good haircut trim this time of year! :)  Another one of my vintage Santas in woodland gear, some gold trees and votives added to the mix.

This is the view from my front hall to the dining room...entry door is on the right.

This is my 9 ft foyer tree dressed all in reds, burgundys and golds--this is one of my trees that ONLY has amber/gold lights on it...I love the warm glow they provide.  This tree holds many of our White House ornaments (the old car is one) from over the past 20 years.  Also a Maryland Blue Crab ornament because I was born & raised a Maryland girl...and lord knows I love my blue crabs!

In front of the foyer tree is my large Santa holding his naughty good list :)  And a trunk full of toys I've collected...including vintage holiday books, an antique car and some of our 40+ Nutcrackers.  Alexa did ballet for 13 years and the Nutcracker every year...so we have MANY of them scattered around the house during the holidays.  I like to mix in fun animal prints when I can...just because I can...so that's why my zebra trunk makes the cut LOL!

This is the topper of my tree...lots of hydrangeas (my fave flower) and some swirly-twirly gold sticks from the floral dept of Michaels years ago.  My garland this year is of simple Magnolia leaves...I used to have a heavier lighted garland but I didn't use it this year...I wanted something simpler instead.

This is looking from the dining room across the foyer into the living room.

My living room tree is all gold & white...it is home to most of my Precious Moment ornaments that I've collected since I was young.  It also holds most of our ornaments from any trips we've made or I've made...so there are a LOT of ornaments on this tree that mean a lot to me.  This is always the first tree I put up (I put them all up but the family room tree by myself) and it takes me awhile because I like to thing about the memories associated with each of the ornaments when I pull them out.

Sitting next to the tree is my childhood rocking chair that each of my kids used as well.  It holds a Fisher Price "My Best Friends" doll...I've collected them all over the years from Ebay because I love them, always wanted them when I was young but never got one.  Funny how as an adult I collect MORE toys than I once had as a child...hmmmmm LOL!  And an angel that I've had for 18 years tops this tree.

Working our way into my kitchen & eating area...which is part of our great room and where we spend our most time.  Yup there are cats in some of these because it was dinnertime and well...I have 6 cats so they're always into something :)

That's Winston waiting patiently for his dinner hehehe...the door at the right goes into our mudroom/laundry.  I really want to paint my island black this winter with Annie Sloan chalk paint..hubby isn't on board..but that never stops me ;)

 Looking from my kitchen into our family room...you can see both the family room and kitchen trees here.  And yes that's football on the TV..its football weekend...college ball on Saturdays and NFL on Sundays...always!!

Both Riley and I adore penguins..these came from Costco last year and proudly sit on my kitchen island.

At the end of my island are some of my collected antiques that I love..tins, lunchboxes, scales and more.  I tuck in some greenery and lights to add a bit of sparkle.

And one of my fave kitchen vignettes:  Baker Santa with an vintage toy stove (that I adore, from Ebay) that I added some holiday cupcakes & candy (from Etsy) to.  I tuck in greenery in my kitchen too..its easy to move around to clean and when it dries I just add new.

This is our kitchen tree...its all creams, sage green and woodland inspired.  I wrapped it in toile ribbon and grapevine ribbon (like the wreaths & yes incredibly stubborn to handle at times).  If you don't have a tree skirt, buy inexpensive material on sale (2 yds) and bunch around the tree and hide the seams...I do this for most all my trees.  They can easily be washed if something happens too!

My kitchen table with my vintage Coca-Cola crate filled with greens, an old pitcher filled with more greens and a folk-art Humpty Dumpty made by an artist years ago in Vermont.  I can't have real poinsettias in my house because of my flower-eating cats...arghhhh. But they don't bother the greenery..go figure!

Our family room...do not be alarmed the paint color is actually a creamy yellow but in these photos it looks brighter than it actually is LOL!

And here's our beauty...our almost 12 ft live fir that we hunted (in this post) at our tree farm.  Its a beauty and smells so good!  If you don't have a real tree get some of those Scenticles..they smell so yummy.  And my mantel, mirror and banner from other posts on the blog...see sidebar for those.

More pics of some of my fave ornaments on this tree to come in Part 2 including my vintage Coca-Cola ornaments I collect.  My tree skirt was made by mom mom for me and my husband as a wedding gift..it gets used every year !

This is my antique crate filled with greenery & twinkling lights...just adds a bit of "magic" to the other end of the fireplace.  Easiest & most inexpensive decoration to add to your decor...cut some greens, add some lights in a favorite container and tada..beautiful!

Here's a pic of me & Riley decorating the family room tree.  This is the tree the whole family participates in and is filled with ornaments that the kids or I've made.  I also buy them each 2-3 ornaments a year and they have quite a collection going..this way when they have their own homes they will have something to decorate their tree with.  And the ornaments are fun to look at because they chronicle their ages so well...Alexa's Barbie and RugRats mania...Riley's obsession with Star Wars and penguins and animals. I also have their baptismal shoes on the tree and some wedding favors from my wedding.  

As far as I'm concerned you can add anything to a tree but what really makes it special are the memories :)

And now that we've finished half of the tour let's have some White Chocolate Peppermint Tea from Teavana using my new tea kettle that I adore and sit a spell yes?

Any questions or comments on anything...leave a comment & I'll message you back :)

Stay tuned for Part 2....are you tired yet???

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