Christmas Goodies

I have been saving Crew's formula cans for the last couple months in hopes to find a clever way to use them. Then while looking for cute goody packaging ideas I saw the idea of using the formula cans for our Christmas goodies this year. I just wrapped a 4" thick strip of wrapping paper around them and cut a circle for the lid (to cover the Enfamil label). They were just the right size, and I was able to cram a lot of stuff into the cans. I made matching bows out of coordinating wrapping paper using this tutorial I found on Pinterest.
For the goodies, I kept it relatively simple. I dipped some Oreos in white chocolate and put Landon to work making our version of "bulls eyes"(snap pretzel + Rolo + peanut butter m&m). The "hardest" thing I did was make this toffee. I was surprised at how simple it was to make, and it turned out SO SO SO good! I threw in some Butterfinger Bells (for the kids, since I do not believe in sharing Ghirardelli with children) and topped it off with a few Lindor Balls. We had a blast looking at Christmas lights while passing out the cans to our friends and neighbors.

Landon has 4 teachers this year... So since I didn't have enough cans, I decided to make some of the cute paper gift boxes I've seen on Pinterest.

I used this tutorial and can't stop making these! I even made some mini ones for part of my YW lesson last Sunday. I used 12x12 cardstock and filled the teacher boxes with toffee. I made the labels on Picnik.com and cut strips of scrapbook paper to "tie" the box closed.

More Christmas Decor

I made one more little tree and covered  it with little red rosettes. I just took strips of tissue paper, twisted them up, and wrapped them into roses of various sizes.

They're hanging out on my bookshelf along with this free printable and some branches that I covered in glitter which remind me of something from the Labyrinth. And obviously they're prettier in real life.

Jacob's noticed that I've got a thing for covering stuff in glitter lately. We saw some tiny pinecones on our way home from church and he said, "Those are cute. You should cover those in glitter."
I probably will, even though I think he was mocking me.

Christmas Stockings

I decided this was the year to make our family's Christmas stockings. After perusing Pinterest I came up with a perfect combo of all the styles I loved. This is the Tutorial I used for the shape and overall construction of the stockings. For the tops I used this for the pleating inspiration. I pleated a long wide piece of fabric into a strip the size of the stocking top.(WARNING: Pleating is hard!!! If anyone knows a trick please let me know!) I wanted them personalized and decided to cross stitch some buttons (using a button covering kit) instead of spending a fortune on pre-made ones. I let Landon pick out which pictures to use, although I may remove them and just use the letter button with a plain white button. I can't decide.
For my stocking I wanted something more girly so I came up with a bow top I've seen done on some throw pillows.I love how they turned out, and hope they last a while... or until I get sick of them and decide it's time for a change. Now I just need a fireplace...

Oh Christmas Tree

Let the Christmas decor making begin! My first project was these little tissue paper trees. The best part about them is that I didn't have to go out and buy any of those foam cones. I just took some card-stock, wrapped it in a cone shape around a paper cup, and cut from the bottom to adjust the height.

For the fluffy one, I cut about a million little squares of tissue paper, squished them up, and glued them to the cone. I roughly followed this tutorial.
Well that took forever, so for the next one I just cut strips and frayed them at the bottom. I put glue on the top of the strip and wrapped each one around starting for the bottom of the cone.
I'll probably make one more. I'll share if I come up with something brilliant for that one. Really there are a lot of fun things you could do to make these little trees. Get creative!

Spruce up a T-shirt

First, get a plain boring shirt.

Then, find some lace.  Cut a strip and fold it into a little ruffle.  Sew it down (I didn't even pin it, just folded it down as I went, because I'm lazy like that).

Cut a smaller strip of lace, gather it up and put it in the pocket. Sew right across the top of the pocket.

Better, right?  This literally took 10 minutes!

Halloween Garland

 This was so easy to make! It was also free because I used scraps I already had. I just cut strips of Halloween material and tied them onto a black ribbon.  I tied longer strips of fabric together to hang down on each end. 

Watercolor

I don't like the idea of just buying a bunch of stuff for people for their birthdays. I always feel like I should make at least one of the gifts. So this year for Jacob's birthday I decided at the last minute to paint him a picture of the temple where we were married. I am definitely no artist and working with 99 cent Crayola paints probably didn't help, but it's made with love!

I like watercolors, because if it ends up a little sloppy, you can just pretend its "impressionistic" or something and that you did it on purpose.