Christmas Nick nacks

Christmas tree skirt

White Muslin or cotton base and outline

2 yds of printed or plain fabric

Ribbon or trim

Make a circle. Mark your center and cut

Cut fabric and sew right sides together. Add ribbon! Couldn't be simpler!

Couldn't decided on what color for my ribbons so I just took a few different shots!

Christmas Stockings

 Plain backing

1/4 yd printed Fabric for boot

Small amount of fabric for Trim

I used plain 8*11 printer paper to make a pattern for my stockings.

Trace...cut...

Sew actual boot with out top trim first (right side to right side)

Pin trim right side to right side while boot is still inside out.
Sew one side across the meeting, then the other.
Turn right side out

 Fold the trim in half with the top ends going inside the stocking.
Add your hanging loop (shown below) and sew down one side to secure all in place.
This will make for a cleaner top. 

To make your hanging loop:

I made a band .5 by 6 inches then folded it in half

 fold in half at an angle once more

 Sew a tiny dot and add to the inside rim of the stocking

 Add your bow and your All finished!

  

Simple and the "primitive" look to go with the rest of our home!

Hope you try this one out! Really easy way to personalize and make all your decorations coordinate! And if you are like me and like to change your colors often, just pin the bows you can change your colors every year!

With Love! Christine

Simply Crafty

Im going to be making a tree skirt and stockings to match the new curtains with what else- More gingham! I also fell in love with the white rose print too but until I get my trim in I will just have to wait and work on some other projects!

Like....

Bean Vase fillers

This is one I've seen on Rachel Ray and Hgtv. It has been used for weddings, birthdays, and I plan to use it for Christmas this year to go with my green and white theme!

Items: Flowers, beans of any color, and a Vase

Something I learned is to put your flowers in first!
It may seem harder but this way you wont mess up your layers like I did! 

 I also made a plain white one for our bathroom

Simple, easy, and super inexpensive! Gotta love that! Now its time to work on the menu for Alex's birthday party! Hope you have a great week!

Hope You had a blessed Thanksgiving!

My husbands family held thanksgiving this year in Wichita Falls Tx. We seen all sorts of family and had a ton of laughs! 

We also got out our cameras and took some really fun pictures!

What comes after the huge meal? No not just sleeping- Shopping!! Black Friday shopping! Something I get so excited about but this year with two little boys we decided not to brave the cold and crowds. We did however do some online shopping! Toys r us had a few good deals with free shipping and we were able to get most everything the boys were wanting with out the super long lines! Now its time to start decorating the house for Christmas! As for our tree this year, we are planning to buy our first live tree so pictures on it will have to wait. But my overall theme is going to be silver crystals and lime green!

Different but I love the pop of fresh color against our new red wall! These all are from http://www.save-on-crafts.com and hobby lobby.

Another one of my favorite times is craft fair season!! Every year perryton Tx has a craft fair and oh did we find some real treasures there too!

This painting came from the K Yanke Designs booth and now is in our newly painted white bedroom!

My grandmother also found a beautiful blue and silver wreath and my mom found three super cute hand made quilts! I think we did really well overall! 

Im off to go put up the Christmas lights! Hope you have a safe and warm weekend!

pillow talk

“They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.”  Winston Churchill

There is a story about a woman who buys a pillow takes it home and decides it doesn't match her couch. So she buys a new couch  which then doesn't match her rug. So she gets a new rug and her curtains do not match... Well this week I've been that woman . 

 Only mine went; new pillows that led to the new couches which led to new curtains. 

 Then new black dishes to go with the toil and gingham curtains which led to new table linens which is my craft project this week. Right now it is all still raw edges and needs trim

 Then I needed new paint to tie all the black and white together which somehow also ended up on my front door which made me change the bow on the pine cones. 

that led me to fluffing up the mantel...

 

Which is making me feel like digging the Christmas decorations out.. but that is another story!

“A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's: She changes it more often.” 

 Oliver Herford

Never Say Never

You know that saying "Never say Never"? Well it has come around to show me just how true it is.  There are two things I always said I'd "never" do. 

The first was painting a wall in our home a really bright color. The thought scared me about how bold it might be. Let me interject that my husband and I have a really hard time agreeing on color. I would say green he would say BLAH, I would say blue he would say nursery! The only color he wanted was red. I was so reluctant to buy it that when I was in the store I asked different sales people what they thought! Well after losing the vote 8 yes to 2 no I ended up buying a gallon of "Wild Rose". Three coats later and I think I like it! I know this sounds funny but it looks bright and warm at the same time! With it being on just one wall it really gave our tiny living room that pop that everyone talks about. Now just to put the living room back together! 

My second has to deal with salesmen.. I really don't mind when your in a store and someone tries to sell you something, after all that is their job but it's when they come to your home and bother your children's nap that I start to get my feathers ruffled. (Yes I love Schwans and that's different. I schedule for that! My Schwans lady has her timing down so perfect I never have to worry about the boys)

This morning we all had an apt with the dentist at 8 so we had an early start. Once we got home we had lunch and soon after I put the boys down for their nap. 30 minutes later a young guy Probably late 20's is knocking at my door offering me a "free" pack of Lysol wipes. I asked "whats the catch are they poisoned?!" He runs off laughing and returns with his foreign friend who starts telling me all about this wonderful vacuum. He ask me to bring out mine and begins to vacuum a small portion of the floor. Oh Did I mention that I was in the middle of painting? So my living was all pushed to the front so he had literally 2 ft to work with!  Then he puts mine aside and uses his with the little side dirt catcher. Needless to say to picked up a bunch of sand and hair... all the while I'm thinking yea tell a women how dirty her house is and wake up her kids .. that'll make her want to buy something! The boys come in and he continues on with his demonstration and begins to pour baking soda all over rubbing it in well and giving my boys all sorts of wonderful ideas on how to destroy mommies house. He once again uses the vacuum and shows us how it pulls the soda "all" back up all the while swapping out the little circles and leaving nice little piles. I could see the look on Luke's face just waiting for no one look so he can grab it!  On he went with all the attachments and then he  pulls out a folder with pictures of dust mites to gross you out- as if the dirt and hair weren't enough. Goes on to the sales pitch and I tell him I need to talk to my husband first and he packs up all of his stuff. His partner who has been sitting on the couch this whole time quiet beings to say that they have to get up to Canadian next and starts in on a bunch of Canada jokes about bacon and health care. I just look at him and say yea I've heard that one before but you might not want to mention it to any of them. After laying the boys back down I show them to the door. I walk back into the living room to find those dirty little circles still laying in the floor but all the dirt that was on them... gone.... Wonder who could have done that... ;)   

So I wont say that I will "never" let another salesman in but I shall "try not to" let another vacuum sales person in my home again!

Oh to be little!

A friend of my just found out that she is having a little girl and so I began thinking of a unique baby shower gift. Something useful but not just another pack of bottles... ya know... so

what does every little girl want to be... a ballerina! Or at least I sure did growing up! I started looking up outfits for babies and came across http://www.teacupsandmudpies.com/category_143/Tutu-Dresses.htm

I just fell in love! I thought to myself  "It cant be all that hard to make"... well turns out its not! Its not quite the same because I made just the skirt but once I have some more time I will crochet the top and maybe a bow?!

White Tulle, Pink Ribbon and Lace!

Since this one was going to be for an infant, I cut the tulle and ribbon into 20 inch by 4inch strips so that it would be 10 inches long once finished.

Wrapped a 1/2 ribbon around a large pitcher and began adding tulle.
Slipknot each piece on and after every fourth piece of tulle add a ribbon or lace

(Tulle 4, Pink 1, Tulle 4, Lace 1, Tulle 4 etc)

 Tie up your bows and your all done!

I cant wait to see it on her one day!

With love, Christine

Hand made gifts...

I love receiving something that was hand made. It shows how much someone cares when they spend so much time thinking of you! Last summer I had a bunch of weddings to attend and wanted a statement piece that I could wear to any of them. So needless to say it had to be an eye catcher without being gaudy! This is what I found...

Nest necklaces! 

So cute right?! The first one I found was on etsy.com and so I immediately knew it was something I could put my own twist on. I ordered pearls and wire from limabeads.com and while I was there I came across bird charms and just had to get those too! by the time I was done ordering I had enough to make myself one .. and the rest of my family also! So I did! :D

Some of my supplies

Beginnings of Rebecca's necklace

I used my little finger as a starting point then slide the pearl (egg) on once I have a good foundation.

Then start working the wire around the pearl. I've never seen a perfect nest so the messier the better!

Bind the sides together by wrapping the wire around and through.
Then make two loops on top for where your chain will go.
wrap the wire around the base of the two loops and secure into the back of your new charm. Your done!

This is one I made for my grandmother 

I added a sparrow on the side as if she was flying to her nest

I'm sure you could also make one into a ring if you didn't want to wear it as a necklace!

Hope you have fun!

Gobble Gobble

Its the first of November and the turkeys are coming out of the wood work! I love going to our  friends and families homes to see all the decorations they have up! From the bright colored wreaths to the pumpkins and dried corn strewn about, I love it all!

When I was writing down ideas for a new post an old craft my grandma once showed us popped into my mind- Pine cone garland! It is easy to do with the kids yet is still elegant enough to be displayed.

Materials:

• Small bendable craft wire
• Paint- optional
• Pine cones
• Ribbons

If you are using pine cones from outside in your yard then you may want to heat them up in the oven to kill any spiders or bugs that may be taking up residence! I usually bake ours at 450 for 45 minutes. It will give your home a very woodsy smell! Almost like Christmas! :D

Paint the tips if desired- any color. The white to me looked like snow

 Cut your twine or ribbon to desired length. Wrap wire around the pine cone going under the leaves right up next to the center. Then attach cone to ribbon using the wire. 

Easy right! If you double your ribbon or twine it makes it very easy to hang. In this case I just set it across the top. *Ignore the dust please!* :D

Alex's turkey! he later added some googlie eyes. The feathers were placed on a small card stock circle then hot glued down. This needs to set for a few minutes on its back before you set it up or add any extra decoration.

One more thing....

This idea came from

 http://sweetpaul.typepad.com/my_weblog/

So very different than a wreath!

I used twine to keep with the theme I have going but the original is hot glued with ribbons

Hope you all have a wonderful week, With love from the Reeds!