Ador: December 2010

joy

As I mentioned before, I made most of the Christmas gifts I gave this year. I wasn't expecting it to take as long as it did, but it was totally worth it when I saw joy on the faces of those who received my handmade gifts!

I've already shown some of the gifts I made, but I thought I would show a few more just in case you need some ideas for next year or throughout the year.

This is the burlap wreath I made for my grandparents, Monnie and Papa.

They were so excited and loved it!

Here are two good burlap wreath tutorials at Where the Heart Is and Life on the Ridge Side.

My cousin Mackenzie loved her bag full of headbands, bow clips, and scarf. Doesn't she look so cute in her matching scarf and headband!

This super easy and cute scarf tutorial can be found at P.S. I Made This.

Remember the burlap Christmas signs I made. Well, good news, my cousin Justin and his wife Heather loved theirs!

The other 4 sign recipients also loved theirs too! Hard work paid off!

Baby Lily looked so cute in her big flower headband! This was the first baby headband I have ever made, and I can't wait to make more for other friends and family.

All you have to do is make the flower and get a stretchy baby headband from Hobby Lobby for only $.75!

I made several coffee cozies for friends and fam (and myself). This is me and Anna testing them out.

I used the tutorial at House on Hill Road. It was easy to follow and they don't take very long to make.

Final verdict of handmade Christmas 2010: Success!

christmas 2010

We had a very special Christmas this year!

This is reason number one!

Coco!

My parents got her as a gift to the fam. We all instantly fell in love with her! She is so sweet and loves to cuddle.

Isn't she precious!

I just can't get over how adorable she is!

She is going to make it so hard to go back to Auburn! I will miss her so much!

This is the second reason we had an extra special Christmas:

Our very first white Christmas!!! So wonderful.

Can you believe it? In Alabama?

We will never forget Christmas 2010.

more burlap...

I had a lot of burlap scraps left over from the Christmas signs I made. So I decided to make a few small ornaments to give as gifts.

Of course the Auburn one is my fav!

Confession: I totally copied this ornament design from some I have seen in different boutiques! I just thought they were too cute!

War Eagle!

ring the bell (tutorial)

I saw this ring on katespade.com, and thought it was so ador!

Jingle Bell Ring

I didn't have $65 to spend on a ring so I decided to make my own version for a whole lot less.

What you need:

-jingle bells (They have a million different sizes at Hobby Lobby so just get the size that would look best on your finger)

-craft rings (also found at Hobby Lobby)

-mini wire cutters

-mini needle nose pliers

-a strong glue

What to do:

-Since I didn't want an annoying loud ring, I bent out one of the sides of the bell just enough to remove the ball. (a small flat head screw driver works the best)

-To flatten the loop on the bottom, I used mini wire cutters to cut it in half.

-Then I used needle nose pliers to push up the two cut pieces of the loop.

-Now all you have to do is put a drop of glue on the ring and attached the bell.
-It didn't take me long at all to make a few jingle bell rings.

Cute and festive!

burlap christmas signs

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately! I've been making Christmas presents like crazy! So I thought I would share some of the gifts I've been working on.

Remember my Halloween burlap sign? I decided Christmas signs would be so much cuter! I made several signs for different family members in three different styles...

I can't decide which is my fav.

If you still need a gift idea this is a low cost DIY. I used different colors of burlap, paint, hot glue, batting, and of course a little glitter to create these cute Christmas signs. Just follow the simple instructions from my Halloween tutorial.

For the lettering I downloaded a free font found here, experimented with different sizes, printed the letters I needed, cut them out, then traced them onto the burlap.

These are really simple to make, but mass producing is not for the faint of heart!

If you are short on time try making these at a much smaller scale. They would be adorable as ornaments.