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Romancing the Mantle

It’s true, I JUST took down the rest of the Christmas decorations. Yes — I know it is February — but honestly I’ve been a bit busy lately. I carved out a little time to spray paint a lantern and hot glue a new wreath. And that was all it took to put me in the mood to decorate for the season.

I wanted some cozy warmth and a little brightness on our mantle, so I hung a soft faux fur throw up. To avoid nailing into the brick, I used a wooden dowel rod that spans the width of the throw. I added two screw eyes in either end of the rod and fishing line that feeds through the eye hooks and wraps around nails that are secured into the crown moulding on either side of the fireplace.

I really like the softness of the throw.

A berry wrapped white bird on top of a paper wrapped book helps bring in a little more romantic red.

Michael’s has this crackle vase on clearance now, but be careful about filling it with water because it will leak. Inserting a small yogurt container inside made it possible for me to use it for fresh flowers.

I am really excited about the book page wreath I made, but I think I’m more excited about that old light fixture that I revamped. One of my facebook fans thought it was from Pier 1. That was the ultimate compliment for something I paid $5 for at the Habitat ReStore!

The paint color I used on the lantern is Rustoleum’s Lagoon, and it has sent me on a big aqua kick!

More books and a plant to balance the right side of the mantle.

I’ll have a tutorial for this book page wreath on Wednesday, so get busy finding an old book and a ceiling medallion!

I used the chandelier turned candelabra to bring some Valentine’s whimsy to our kitchen table.

The hearts on a stick were purchased from the Dollar Tree, I just slipped green straws over the stems to beef them up a little.

I did pull the stems off the rest of the hearts and piled them in this other lantern with some faux grass.

A few recycled jars pulled together make a crisp and clean flower arrangement. We have some flowers blooming in our yard already (only about one month early), but I picked up these agapantus and alstroemeria (peruvian lilies) from the grocery store.

 I think of my sister everytime I see agapanthus, because they grow right outside her front door! Lucky duck.

My friend, Leen the Graphics Queen will recognize this bottle from our antiquing trip to Southport, NC. I’d never been to Southport before, but I will definitely have to go again. It is a really neat little town by the sea.

I couldn’t neglect the mudroom.  This is where my tree branch heart wreath hangs out.

Because this is our family’s main entrance, I chose some sweet smelling daphne and daffodils to create a fragrant and colorful welcome home.

I couldn’t truly welcome spring yet (since technically it is still a month and a half away.) So, I scribbled “Hello Spring?” on the chalkboard.

I hope you have a fabulous February and a sweet Valentine’s Day.

 P.s. How many of you watched the SuperBowl (or at least the commercials and/or halftime show) last night? What were your favorite commercials? I have to say I really liked the VW, Doritos and E-Trade commercial. And my son and I were up off the couch and dancing with Madonna! I thought she rocked the halftime show.

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A Valentine’s Day Wreath from Tree Branches

Valentines Day Wreath

When I saw this mirror frame Jaime from That’s My Letter made, I was instantly head over heels in love with the branch circles.

Valentines Day Wreath

Valentine’s Day Wreath

So much so, that every branch I passed by I would think, “Hmmm, I wonder what the disks on that branch would look like. It’s a sickness y’all.

So, this past weekend, I hauled in a bunch of branches and began to formulate a design for my Valentine’s Day Wreath that wasn’t overtly cutesy.

Valentines Day Wreath

I even called my neighbor to ask if I could have one of their logs from their woodpile. (Yes, I was coveting thy neighbor’s wood. Sheesh.)

I am thrilled with the final results. Although I had to engage in a few extra spray painting steps to get here, I’ll spare you the details. Let’s just say that no matter what color you paint thin wire, it just doesn’t show up on top of wood disks.

Valentines Day Wreath

Here is the tutorial y’all. Take it or leave it, but just be sure you ask before cutting down your neighbor’s cherry tree.

Valentine’s Day Wreath Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Start by setting up a stop block by clamping a small piece of wood against the fence of your miter saw. (Or be prepared to be diligent about measuring every slice you cut. My slices are 1.5″ wide.) IMPORTANT: Wear your eye protection and hearing protection!

Valentines Day Wreath

Hold your branch against the fence and cut into the log. The larger logs cut fine, but the smaller branches and sticks tended to kick back all over the place, so be sure you stay on the right side of the saw and the slices are on the left. This way you’ll be out of the path of the flying disks. Cut, until you have a large collection of wood slices in a variety of sizes.

Valentines Day Wreath

It was at this point that I looked down and noticed this little worm squeezing out of the log!

Valentines Day Wreath

Ewwww. I rushed inside to research killing bugs in wood. I read you can either bake your wood in the oven at 175˚F – 200˚F for a few hours. Or microwave the wood for a minute. Being the perfectionist and neurotic termite-fearing person I am, I did both!

Valentines Day Wreath

After roastin’ and nukin’ those little buggers, you can lay out the slices onto the plywood in a heart shape.

Valentines Day Wreath

Trace roughly around the shape.

Valentines Day Wreath

As I said I’m a perfectionist, so feel free to skip this next step.

Fold a piece of scrap paper in half and cut out a half heart shape to give you a symmetrical heart shape. Trace around the template onto the plywood.

Valentines Day Wreath

Use a jigsaw or Dremel TRIO to cut out around the shape.

Sand the edges until they are no longer jagged.

Lay the scrap paper template back on top of the heart shaped plywood. Fold it in half. Drill a hole through the top of one of the sides of the heart (through paper and wood.) Open the template back up and mark where the hole is in the paper. Drill through the other side.

Valentines Day Wreath

Thread a length of ribbon through one hole. Tie a washer onto the end of the ribbon on the back side.

Valentines Day Wreath

Hang the heart up in your desired location. Adjust the length of the ribbon and then tie another washer onto the ribbon.

Valentines Day Wreath

Begin to lay the wood slices back onto the plywood and start gluing each one using Liquid Nails.

Valentines Day Wreath

It may take a little maneuvering and trials to get the slices to fit neatly within the heart shape. But, hey it wouldn’t be fun without a little trial and error.

Valentines Day Wreath

After your shape is filled, lay a folded towel, some scrap wood and heavy weights on top. Do a few bicep curls before setting them down, just because.

Valentines Day Wreath

While your wooden heart is drying, bend the word “Love” into the wire using needle-nosed pliers.

Valentines Day Wreath

Wrap white pipe cleaners around the word.

Valentines Day Wreath

Then wrap red pipe cleaners around leaving space so the white pipe cleaner shows through.

Valentines Day Wreath

Tie a bow at the top of the hanger ribbon. Thread another length of ribbon through the bow and secure it to the “L” and “e” in Love.

Valentines Day Wreath

Find a spot to hang your unique wreath.

Valentines Day Wreath

I wonder if I can put another word on there for St. Patrick’s Day? Maybe “Luck” with some green ribbon.

 Valentines Day Wreath

Valentines Day Wreath

Valentines Day Wreath

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Creative Gift Wrapping Day #5 – Polar Bear, Dove, Holly and a Sleigh

Sleigh Gift Wrap

This is it, the last day of the Creative Gift Wrapping tutorials. I hope you have had fun with some of these creative gift wrap ideas. In case you missed any, here are the previous days of gift wrapping:

Day #1 – Monogram & Name Plaque

Day #2 – Frosty & Rudolph gifts

Day #3 – Butterflies & 3-D Tree 

Day #4 – Chalkboard Tags

Today I have my favorite gift wrap! I have to admit that the polar bear is my favorite animal, so I might be biased. But, it is a really easy look to re-create.

Materials:

  • Wrapping paper
  • White card stock paper
  • Snowflake hole puncher
  • Key tag
  • Satin ribbon
  • Jingle bell
  • Black & white pom poms (nose & tail)
  • Small black button
  • Elmer’s glue
  • Hot glue gun

Wrap a present with gift wrap.

Using the template below (click on the photo for a larger version and then print it out), cut out the polar bear shape on white card stock. Better yet, if your printer can handle it, print it out on card stock and then flip the bear over to the white side.

Glue the bear onto the gift package.

Punch out some snowflakes. (I used some white and some light blue that would show up better on top of the white bear.)

Cut one piece of red ribbon for the bears collar. Glue the collar and snowflakes onto the package using Elmer’s glue. Use hot glue to attach a button and pom pom for the eye and nose.

Thread a jingle bell onto some satin ribbon, then tie a bow onto a key tag.


Hot glue the bow/jingle bell onto the bear’s collar.


Factoid: Did you know that a polar bear’s skin is actually black? And the bear’s hair is actually transparent hollow tubes. This serves three purposes:

  1. The tubes are hollow so they store air in them. This acts as an insulator.
  2. Plus, it helps the polar bears buoyancy while swimming.
  3. Remember how I said their skins is black? Well, because the fur is actually transparent, it allows the sun to reach the bear’s skin and help warm them. Cool, huh?!

Materials:

  • Wrapping paper
  • White card stock paper
  • Satin ribbon
  • Sprig of rosemary or other evergreen twig
  • Hot glue gun

Wrap a present with gift wrap.

Add a ribbon on the diagonal corners.

Click on the dove silhouette below to see the full size image. Print it out on the cardstock paper and cut out the shape to use as a template, or use the reverse white side of the shape.

Use a hole punch to cut out the eye. Hot glue the dove to the package and hot glue the rosemary underneath the dove’s beak.

Have fun with this creative package. Add the words PEACE, or bend the wings up to make them three dimensional.

This dove will work on a variety of sized gifts. Try one on a vertical present.


“Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men”

Bonus: Here are two more creative gift wrappings to try. The holly leaves are simply pieces of scrapbook paper folded and glued onto the package.

The sleigh was so much fun to create! I wrapped pieces of foam board and cut out a scrapbook paper sleigh.

Glued cotton balls for snow and some buttons and buckles make this a gift the recipient will want to stare at instead of open.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas day, a Happy Holiday and a terrific New Year!

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Creative Gift Wrapping Day #1 – Using Elmer’s Holiday #GlueNGlitter Supplies

Every year I try to come up with new and creative ways to wrap Christmas gifts for my friends and family. For me, making beautiful packages is almost as fun as opening the gifts Christmas morning. In fact, I usually invite a few friends over to wrap presents with me. We spend a few hours chatting, cutting paper and creating little present masterpieces.

After last year’s get together, I needed to stock up on more gift wrap supplies. A quick trip to Walmart provided plenty of embellishments, paper, and exciting new crafting supplies.

I was especially excited about trying the X-ACTO template, decorative edge scissors and the swivel knife. I’ve never seen these products before. Fun, fun, fun!

Want to join me for a little gift wrappity wrap party? Go ahead and grab these supplies and I’ll show you how I created my scrapbook inspired presents.

Materials:

Let’s start with this red and white graphic shape gift.

Begin by wrapping the present with a solid color gift wrap.

Use the Elmer’s double stick tape underneath the edges of the paper for a hidden (no tape lines) closure.

Cut a piece of the Colorbok decorative scrapbook pages (die cut lattice page) to the same height of the package and about 2/3 the width of the gift. Trim along the edges of the design using the X-ACTO swivel knife.

Rub the Elmer’s glue stick onto the back of the lattice pattern. Then flip it over and press it onto the gift.

Fold a letter size sheet of paper into quarters. Draw one quarter of a decorative shape onto the paper (I tried to emulate the lattice hole design.) Make sure that your paper folds are in the center of the shape.

Cut out the shape you drew on the paper. Open the paper up and use it as a template to trace and cut the design out of black foam board.

Use the regular X-ACTO knife (and a brand new blade) to cut around the template. (Take your time with this task. You can make multiple cuts from different angles if you need to.)

Play with the layout of the graphic shape on your package. Mentally note where the graphic shape will go, then lift the black foam board shape off of the present.

Wrap ribbon around the present forming a cross shape. The center of the cross should line up with the center of your graphic shape. Tape the ribbon to the back of the package.

Adhere the black foam board shape to the center of the ribbons. (I find the CraftBond medium glue dots are super strong and perfect for the task of gluing the foam board shape.)

Dress up the black foam board graphic by outlining the shape with Elmer’s sparkle glue.

After the glitter glue has dried, write the recipient’s name using the silver Painters opaque paint marker.

Add  a ribbon to the top using another glue dot to hold it in place. You can learn how to make professional bows from Mural Maker & More.

And you are finished! Isn’t that beautiful? I really like the graphic shapes and the layers of textures.

Let’s try another gift wrap design! This green and red gift with a monogram letter is just as easy to create.

Begin by cutting out a piece of scrapbook paper. Lay the X-ACTO decorative shapes template on top of the paper and carefully run the X-ACTO swivel knife around the edges. Be careful not to cut or chip the template edges. Because they are plastic, they can break. I “tiled” the template to create an elongated shape.

Lay the cut out scrapbook paper on top of another piece of coordinating scrapbook paper. For this 2nd sheet, I decided to use the decorative scalloped edge scissors to compliment the X-ACTO decorative shapes curved template. Cut out the second sheet about 1/2″ wider than the first one.

Remove the scrapbook papers and tape a ribbon around the present. By using the Elmer’s removable double stick tape you can hide how the ribbons are secured. Be sure to have the ribbons cross high up on the gift to allow room for the monogram.

Add some more double stick tape to the backs of the scrapbook paper. Center the smaller piece on the larger one. Then, adhere the papers on top of the ribbon using the double stick tape.

Print out a large letter from your printer. Trim some of the excess paper from around the letter. Lightly tape the letter printout on top of a piece of black foam board.

Using a fresh X-ACTO blade and knife, carefully cut out around the outline of the letter.

Use some Elmer’s Craft Bond Medium Glue Spots on the back of the foam board “A” and adhere it to the present.

Write the gift recipient’s name onto the letter using the silver Painters opaque paint marker. Tie a separate bow and then adhere it with more glue spots.

You now have an adorable monogrammed present for someone special.


These two Christmas presents are too beautiful to open. But, if you put them in front of five and seven year old brothers, they won’t hesitate for a second to rip into the frilly bows and lines of these presents. So, save these for someone special! 😉

How did you like this tutorial? Want to learn more ways to spruce up the presents under the tree? Check back everyday this week to see some more creative gift wrappings.

 

 

 

Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #Elmersholiday #GlueNGlitter #collectivebias and #CBias. I was paid a small fee to shop at Walmart and use a selection of X-acto and Elmer’s brand products. The ideas, tutorial and opinions expressed in this post are solely my own.

 

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Tree Branch Ornaments by Laura Makes

Today I have a special guest with a special holiday project. Laura is going to show you how to make those adorable tree branch ornaments! But, first, let me tell you a little about Laura.

This is Laura with one of her four fur babies!

Laura writes about making on her blog Laura Makes. She writes about a variety of projects including crafts from knitting to making mosaics (and everything in between), food & drinks (mainly vegetarian), baking, and home improvement projects with a focus on healthy living and environmentally friendly projects. She even faux tiled the concrete floors in her home using soy based concrete stain. The results are nothing short of amazing!

Laura’s Stained Concrete Floors

Will you all please give Laura from Laura Makes a warm welcome!

Every year, I make some percentage of my gifts rather than buy them. At first I started out with grand ambitions and would pick one or two recipients to get a labor-intensive gift like a crocheted afghan. In the last few years, I’ve scaled my efforts back and now make small gifts for multiple recipients. I typically will make a handful of one style of gift to boost my holiday time efficiency.

This year I started thinking about what type of ornament I could make from materials I had lying around. I settled on ornaments made from branches we cut off our trees a few years back. Basically, I cut thin slices of the branches, added a painted Christmas design and a ribbon for hanging and they are ready to go!

So you’re probably wondering how you can do this too… Well, you’re in luck because I’m ready to share!

Step 1: Cut your wood slices

Find a branch with a diameter of 2 – 3 inches (or large enough to fit your design) and cut thin slices. I used a reciprocating saw with a 9” wood blade on it to cut slices about an inch thick.  I just have a photo of the saw, but remember to securely clamp your branch before starting to saw it and to wear safety glasses while operating the saw.

Step 2: Sand your wood slices

The reciprocating saw left a rough finish so I used sanding blocks to create a smooth surface. I first used a very coarse grain sandpaper to get the surface level and then a fine grain sandpaper to create a nice finish. The sanding blocks were very handy – I held the block still while moving the wood slice to sand the surface.

Step 3: Drill holes for small eyelets

This is as easy as it sounds. Use a small drill bit to drill a hole in the top of your wood sliced and then screw in a small eyelet. This will allow your gift recipients to hang your ornaments. You can pick up small eyelets at any home improvement store.

Step 4: Create your designs

I like to create my own linocuts (a print-making method) so I decided to create reproducible designs by basically making holiday stamps for my wood slices. You could also simply buy stamps or paint a design if cutting your own stamps isn’t your thing.

I started by drawing my designs on paper – a snowflake, a Christmas light bulb, and a Christmas tree. I traced the outline of my wood slices so that I would be sure to create designs that fit on the slices.

After that, I transferred the design onto my carving blocks.

And then I used my speedball cutter to carve out my designs.

Step 5: Get that design onto your wood slice!

Whether you make your own stamp, buy a stamp, or paint your design free hand, it’s now time to get the design on to your wood slice. Because two of my designs were meant to have two colors, I used a paintbrush to apply my paint to the stamp before stamping the wood slice. Of course, before doing any stamping I first tested my carved stamps to make sure they looked how I expected and also tested the amount of paint that need to be applied.

The snowflake design only used a single color so I used a small brayer instead of a paintbrush to apply the paint.

I found that it worked best to lay the stamp on the table, place the wood slice on top of it, and press down with firm (but not hard) pressure. This helped transfer the paint to the wood even if some small ridges remained after the sanding step.

The trick is getting the right amount of paint on the stamp so I recommend practicing on paper for a while before moving on to the wood slices. If I painted the paint on too thick, I would first lightly place the stamp on paper to absorb some of the extra paint. Of course if you are just painting directly on the slices you can just jump to that step! I made one freehanded design of a snowman for a particular snowman lover in my life.

Step 6: Embellish your designs

Because I felt that my Christmas bulbs and trees turned out a bit plain, I broke out some leftover red glitter glue to embellish them. For the red bulbs, I painted on the red glitter glue. For the trees, I added little dots to signify tree decorations.

Step 7: Seal your ornaments

I wanted to add some sort of sealant coat to my ornaments for protection. I settled on Mod Podge because I had some at home. Experimentation taught me that I couldn’t use a sponge applicator to brush on the Mod Podge or it would smear the paint even though it was dry. Instead, it seemed that using a paint bush to dab the Mod Podge on top of the paint worked the best.  When first applied, it looks somewhat white but it does dry clear.

Before drying:

After drying:

Step 8: Add a way to hang those ornaments

I used ribbon to create a small bow at the top of the ornaments and also to create a loop so that the ornaments can be hung. Hooray! They are complete and ready to be gifted!

Don’t you just love her ornament idea?! I was watching Celebrity Holiday Homes on HGTV last night. And one of the designers who was decorating Jo Dee Messina’s home, glued her family photos to the center of a wood cut out and turned them into ornaments. I bet Laura inspired him!

Thanks for sharing your tutorial with my readers Laura!

Do you want to be a guest on Pretty Handy Girl? Go ahead and submit your idea! I love having people over.

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