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Christmas Home Tour 2014

Christmas Home Tour 2014Welcome!

I have been waiting for this day for so long.  Another holiday season is upon us and I am thrilled you are here to take the tour of my home decorated for Christmas.

If you are following along on the Jennifer Rizzo Holiday Housewalk (start the tour here), I am house #24 and you just came from Monica’s home at East Coast Creative.

east coast creative

Wasn’t it awesomely decorated?  She has such a creative style!  I am so happy to be on the tour for the second year in a row (click to see last years Christmas tour) and let me tell you… you are in for a treat!

Over the past year, I have made many changes to our beautiful abode and it has been enjoyable to put new touches on our latest additions.  Without further ado, grab a cup of something, put your feet up, and enjoy.

Let the tour begin…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Our front porch + (new) front door are adorned this Christmas season with gorgeous greenery in a mix of cedars (thanks to my awesome friends at Lynch Creek Farm).  The garland on the front columns & the wreath on the door beautifully surround our entry and create the most perfect welcoming feeling.

We just had this new glass front door installed a few weeks ago and even though it’s only primed – yes the brownish red color is how it came primed – I am loving how much light in filters into the front entry.  I have more planned for this door (like a pop of color) but it’ll have to wait till Spring.  For now, I hung this beautiful wreath and I am calling in done!

Come on in…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

For seasonal decor, I don’t believe that every space needs to filled with floor to ceiling decorations.  Often a few small touches, are ideal and just enough.  Our entry isn’t overly spacious and with 5 of us, there is a lot of foot traffic throughout all hours of the day.

My holiday decorating approach for the entry/foyer space was to set the tone for the other spaces and to add a few festive layers to our everyday decor.  I loved the ornament tree (small colorful ornaments hung from tree branches found in our backyard) that I created for our buffet last year, so this season I reenacted a similar idea on the gold dresser (which isn’t only glamorous but actually is functional too holding shoes, keys, and lots of stuff), and brought in a few festive favorites.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

A few weeks back I mentioned my design ‘theme’ for this Christmas was to be inspired by nature.  With that in mind while decorating, I was able to hone in on what made sense and to not overwhelm the spaces with non-meaningful things.  The result being, we truly feel surrounded – inside and out – by many natural elements and things that we love most.

Along the stair railing, I hung a beautiful magnolia garland that I got from Balsam Hill – simple, but sophisticated.  It’s artificial, but it has a realistic look without the fuss.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

To the right of our entry is the office / living room.  I love how the room glows in the evening with our sparkly white tree…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

As you can see from the light that filters into the photo, this space is incredibly bright.  I chose to display our all-white tree in front of the stair railing this year and decorated it with colorful ornaments in shades of pinks, purples, browns, and golds. It’s beautifully lit with white lights and finished off with my easiest + fastest + cheapest tree skirt EVER!

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

A mirror turned horizontal makes for the perfect seasonal coffee table vignette. The festive montage is topped with a few Christmas favorites including gold trees (from the Christmas Tree Shop), the light turned vase filled with ornaments, and of course Santa.  Also displayed in a tray on the coffee table is a colorful poinsettia (fake artificial) in a bright yellow vase (which I typically have filled with a fern).  Pops of color all around…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

As we come down the stairs each morning, this is the view we are blessed with…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

As we continue on the tour, my living room/office leads us to the kitchen and dining space…

This is our main dining table for breakfast & dinner, so again the space had to remain functional for the every day, so a few seasonal layers were just enough to bring in the magic.

Above the sliding door, I added another (faux) magnolia garland and below is a simple boxwood wreath (last year from Lowe’s) hung from the door frame by a pretty gold ribbon.  Hanging from the chandelier are some colorful + bright ornaments and for the table centerpiece, I used the stained wood box that I recently made and filled it with small Christmas trees, greenery, and more ornaments.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

I love decorating with trays.  It makes creating vignettes so easy & moving them (especially at the dinner table) is a cinch.  There is no way a display like this directly on the table could be moved twice a day.

Here’s a closeup…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

For the recent Craigslist-found china cabinet the I transformed, I let the color stand strong and draped a simple paper garland from edge to edge.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Using a round 1.5″ diameter paper puncher, I cut out circles from Christmas scrapbooking paper, and sewed them together with the method I used to make the crib mobile. So simple, yet festive.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

The Christmas Countdown pallet tree that I made last year is still gong strong and is still one of my most favorite creations.

Christmas Countdown Pallet Tree

Here’s an overall view of the entire space…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

As you continue from the dining room, the adjacent space is our family room where we put our feet up and chill.  It’s a comfy space with a big ole sofa and a fireplace to keep us toasty warm.

This year we have a new (artificial) Christmas tree that is the focal point of the room.  Our previous tree hit it’s life span.  Of course once the old tree went curbside, the big debate of choosing between white or multi-color lights for the new tree began.  Well this tree is the perfect solution… It has both!  As easy as you can change the lights with a scroll of the mouse, is as easy as we can change from white to color with a click up a button.  When in life, can you make everyone in the household happy???  Well I did it with this great find!

white…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

and

color…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Here is the overall space with a roaring fire and all!  The Mister is a master at making the best, toasty fires.  Me?  Not so much.  I attempted to make a fire a few weeks ago and forgot to put up the flue.  Enough said.

That cute, colorful yarn garland hanging over the window is a recent creation that I used this tutorial to make.  I love how whimsical it looks.  Here is another glimpse of it hanging on my fireplace that I shared on Instagram.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

As you continue in the room, our fireplace is decked out this year with a little old and a little new!

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

The fun, vintage JOY sign is something I made a few years ago and is a favorite of mine as the focal point of the mantel.  The wood sign made of pallets is layered in front of a larger espresso stained wood sign/backdrop.  A few other glittery, sparkly favorites like the wreath, trees, and ornaments are scattered about.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

To the side of the fireplace, I hung our Christmas Card holder.  It’s a new spot for this DIY creation and I am really loving it.  The cards are starting to arrive and before we know it, this card holder will be all filled up.

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Here is a separate post with more pictures of the mantel!

And that’s a wrap.  Thank you for stopping by for my Christmas Home Tour 2014.  And don’t forget to give a little jingle, jingle on your way out…

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Home Tour of Jenna Burger, one of the homes featured on the Jennifer Rizzo 2014 Holiday Housewalk

I hope you take the time to continue on the Jennifer Rizzo Holiday Housewalk.  Next up is the home of Between You & Me

between you and me

I wish you a happy holiday season!

You may also be interested in checking out my Christmas House Tour from last year >>>

Christmas Home Tour 2013

As well as ALL the creations I’ve ever made for Christmas time (5 years of seasonal projects) in my EVERYTHING CHRISTMAS post >>>

Everything christmas - All Christmas and seasonal creations in one post!

Dip Dyed Easter Eggs using Food Coloring

I am blown away by how many of you have read + pinned my Easter Egg post that I recently shared.  Over 100,000 so far and it’s only been a week & a half.  Since y’all loved my alternative idea for dying eggs, I have another fun + inexpensive + super easy way to create Easter Eggs that will give you a vibrant + unique result!

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

I was inspired to create these dip-dyed eggs when flipping through the pages of the recent All You magazine that I picked up while shopping at Target.

The magazine has so many creative ideas for Easter egg dying that there will be no reason to ever buy a box again…

All You magazine is filled with so many great ideas for Easter Egg Dying!Use this $1 off coupon (while supplies last) to snag your own All You magazine on newsstands now!

Can I just say, the gold decorated eggs are killer.  I didn’t have a chance to get to the store to buy gold leafing (which I will be doing soon though), so instead used what I had on-hand and chose to try the dip-dyed decorating idea.  Food Coloring… most everyone has that in the cabinets and eggs are a staple in our house.

Supplies Needed:

  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Boiling Water
  • Vinegar
  • Food Coloring
  • Paper Towels
  • Tongs or a Slotted Spoon

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

To start off…

1. Put the eggs in a pot and fill the pot with cold water so it covers the eggs about 1-2″.

2. Once the eggs come to a full boil, remove the pot from the stove and cover for 12 minutes (so they create a hard-boiled egg).

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

3. Carefully remove the eggs from the pot and let them stand for about 1-2 minutes (the eggs will be very hot, so be sure to use tongs when removing them from the pot).

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

4. Once cooled, it’s time to make the magic dying formula

For each color, you’ll need this mixture:

  • 1/2 cup of boiling water
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 25 drops of food coloring

and mix together.

Magic Formula for Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs using Food Coloring!

Now here comes the fun part…

Egg 1

For the first egg, I chose to use 2 different colors (blue & yellow) and dip 1/3 of each side into the colorful mix.

1. Dip 1/3 of the egg into color 1 (blue)

2. About 60 seconds later (longer to achieve a darker color), remove the egg from the dye.  Let it air dry for a few minutes, then pat it with a paper towel.

3. Flip it around and dip 1/3 of the other side into color 2 (yellow). 60 seconds later, take it out, and you’re done!

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!The result…

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Egg 2

For the second egg, I created an ombre style (color fading from light to dark) egg.

1. Dip the entire egg into a color (red) and immediately remove.  Pat with a paper towel.

2. With your fingers or tongs, hold 3/4 of the egg into the dye for about 30 seconds, then lift out slightly so 1/2 the egg is in the dye.  Hold in place for 60 seconds.

3. To finish the ombre look, hold 1/4 of the egg in the color for a few more minutes to get the darkest hue.

Ombre Easter Egg: Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Egg 3

To achieve a bold, deep color, I suggest using a few more drops of food coloring and leaving the egg in the dye for a few minutes.  I’ve tried this when using a box, and it never worked, but with the food coloring, I was able to get a really dark hue.  Take a look at these two…

  • This two-toned blue egg was created with a quick dip for one side, while the other was left in for about 5-7 minutes.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

  • This intense red egg was completely submerged in the food coloring dye for about 5-7 minutes.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

My little lady got involved in the process too…  It was fun. Not every egg turned out perfect, but that is the joy of it, right?!

I think our Easter eggs came out pretty good…

It was fun to mix colors, which then created new colors.  Some even created a plaid pattern.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

They are so colorful and so much more vivacious than the results from a typical box you can buy.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Want to save this project and/or pin it for later use?  Here’s a quick graphic to remember the steps…

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using food coloring to get vibrant + vivid Dip-Dyed Easter Eggs. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Enjoy and Happy Easter Egg Decorating!

Want another great idea for egg decorating?  Try my melted crayon idea…

Decorating Eggs with Melted Crayons

Disclosure: This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group and All You Magazine, but as always all opinions are 100% my own. #pmedia #lifeforless http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Creating Colorful Easter Eggs with Melted Crayons

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

In just about a month, another Easter will be upon us.  Along with focusing on the importance of Easter, creating colorful eggs is often a tradition that many kids enjoy as the holiday approaches, mine included!  A basket filled with eggs of varying hues can make a gorgeous centerpiece and is the ideal reminder that Spring is on it’s way – I hope.

A new and unique alternative idea that you may want to try this year is to use crayons instead of the traditional food coloring or store-bought dye kits.  I have to tell you, the result will be unexpectedly awesome!  Have you ever felt that the traditional food coloring or dyes don’t create an intense enough color?  Yes, you can leave the eggs in the dye filled cup for hours, but what child wants to wait that long? Mine certainly don’t…  With the technique of using melted crayons, the color can be as bright (or subtle) as you’d like and the result is instant…

Here are the steps I took with my kids to create Colorful Easter Eggs Using Melted Crayons…

Supplies Needed:

  • Eggs (steps to hard boil the eggs are below)
  • A colorful collection of crayons

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!To start off…

1.Put the eggs in a pot and fill the pot with cold water so it covers the eggs about 1-2″.

2.Once the eggs come to a full boil, remove the pot from the stove and cover for 12 minutes (so they create a hard-boiled egg).

3.Carefully remove the eggs from the pot and let them stand for about 1-2 minutes (the eggs will be very hot, so be sure to use tongs when removing them from the pot).

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Here comes the fun part…

4. Using crayons, start drawing on your egg.  Be creative. Get the kids involved.  It’s a lot of fun to try different patterns and to mix the colors. For our eggs, I used one color as the base, then added another color on top.  I smudged in the background hue which gave a fun, swirly look.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Because of the hot exterior of the egg, the crayon will melt on the egg’s surface.  Once your masterpiece is finished, gently place the egg into the original egg holder and place it into the refrigerator.  After a few minutes they will be cool and the decorated eggs can be handled and displayed as you’d like.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

They’ll make a beautiful addition to any centerpiece – paired with other Easter decorations or simply on their own.

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Want to save it and/or pin it for later use?  Here’s a quick graphic to remember the steps…

Create colorful EASTER EGGS using Melted Crayons. It's easy to do + KIDS will LOVE it. Read the tutorial now or Pin for Later!

Enjoy and Happy Easter Egg Decorating!

Christmas Card Holder – A Lowes Creative Idea #LowesCreator

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and stuffed your tummies full of turkey and mashed potatoes (with butter of course) – my personal favorite.  We traveled and enjoyed the Holiday very much, but the only bummer about not hosting was the lack of leftovers.  Anyway, let’s get on to something fun…

I’m super excited for today because I have so much to share with you!  I’ve been busy preparing for the Christmas season (yes, alreadyI know for some it’s early), but wanted to let Thanksgiving pass before bombarding you with all my Christmas inspiration.  Now that the Holiday season countdown has begun, brace yourself for a fun few weeks ahead with DIY creations and decorating ideas and tips!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the first Christmas cards started trickling in over the weekend and since my December Lowe’s Challenge was to create something for the upcoming Holiday season, a new Christmas Card Holder seemed so apropos.

This card holder is one of my favorite projects I’ve ever made.  I got the idea when creating the family pallet photo holder a few weeks ago.  At the time, I mentioned how I felt the photo holder was so versatile and didn’t have to just hold family photos, but also christmas cards during the holidays, as well as invitations, announcements, etc anytime of year.  Thus my Christmas Card Holder was created…

I started off my hitting the lumber and paint aisles of my local Lowe’s and picked up a few must-have items:

  • 6′ long X 12″ wide wood board
  • clothes pins (30 – 35)
  • spray paint (I chose Valspar Glossy Cut Ruby)
  • stencil (purchased at AC Moore / a silhouette would work too)
  • white paint & stain (for the distressing)
  • paint for the letter (I chose metallic gold)

I began by…

1. Distressing the Wood

I was going for a worn look and wanted the wood to look old and distressed, so I banged-it-up a bit and layered it with a combo of paint and stain.

I began by using  nails, chain, and a hammer to bang up the surface to make it “used and abused”.  This is a great way to get out some of that pent-up aggressionhehe.

Once I achieved the desired “wear”, I added one coat of white paint.  I used a semi-gloss finish paint that I had laying around, but any kind will do.  Once dry, I sanded the wood thoroughly so some areas of the raw wood showed through and the surface was smooth.  I added a light coat of stain focusing more on the edges and ends. I applied it in small sections and quickly wiped it away so only a thin layered remained. Then I added another coat of white paint and sanded the surface once more.  This layering process resulted in just the right amount of wear.

Old to New in 30 minutes!

2. Stencil

I found a pretty stencil at AC Moore which I got for about $3+ (using a 50% off coupon). The letters are 3″ high and the words CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS fit just right on the 6′ board.

3. Paint

Once I outlined the stenciled letters with a pencil, I filled them in with a nice metallic gold craft paint. At first, I was going to use red or green for the letters, but I am so glad I chose gold – I’m loving the hue, especially with the other goldtones in my other holiday decor.

4. Adding the Clothespins

While the letters were drying, I spray painted the clothes pins with Valspar Glossy Cut Ruby.  Once they were ready, I attached them to the wood board with hot glue.  The spacing between each clothespin is about 5-6″ and there are 16 on each side.

 And it’s done…

I’ll admit, the Christmas cards are from last year – I haven’t received that many yet.  I always keep my cards and then use them the next year as tags for presents, so that’s what these will be used for in a few short weeks.

My new card holder is such a unique and fun addition to our Christmas decor. I have it situated right next to the Christmas tree so we can enjoy the treasures that are sent from family and friends – true Christmas Blessings!

If you’re looking for more ideas on how to display Christmas Cards, check out the roundup I did last year, by clicking on the link: 15 Creative Ways to Display Christmas Cards.

And I created another card holder last year if you want to see that as well.  I love this one too, but with all the cards we receive, it ended up not being large enough.  This new one though, has lots of room! Click to see: Holiday Card Holder.

I’m still working on putting the finishing touches on the rest of the house, and hope to share a Christmas Tour next week.  In the meantime, I’ll be showing you a few more DIY projects, as well as some easy and fun decorating ideas.

Have you decorated for the Holidays yet?  How to you display your Christmas cards?

Disclosure: I am part of the Lowe’s Creative Team and was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase items for my project.  I was also compensated for my time to use the products.  No one told me what to create, what to buy, how to use the product, or what to write.  All opinions are 100% mine!

I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Tip Junkie

DIY: Christmas Stockings

Did you check out my newly decorated Christmas mantel?  If not, that’s okay (but head over there now).  In that post you got a little sneak preview of the Christmas stockings that I recently made.  As a family of four, we’ve never had matching stockings.  The mister and I have the same (since we bought those together after getting married), but then came child #1 and he got a different style stocking, and after that child #2 came along and she has an even different style stocking.  Anyway, each year it’s been a mish-mosh of different color and style stockings hung on the mantel, until now.

You know my love for drop cloth, so what did I use?  Yes, you guessed it…the big DC!

I’ve always wanted to make stockings, but was intimidated thinking it would be too difficult – but IT WASN’T!

Using drop cloth material for the main stocking, creme colored felt for the cuff, and the basic sewing essentials, I created these stockings, that now sit at the mantel, in no time!  To start off, I used the old stocking as a template to create the “boot-like” shape.  I then cut an 8″ x 12″ piece of felt for the cuff, and sewed the “right” sides together (see pictorial).

I made 4 stockings (which have 2 sides each), so I had a total of 8 sides.

Once the cuff is attached to the “boot”, open the cuff and iron.  Then put the “right” sides of the boots together and pin all around.  Using a 1/2″ inseam, sew around the entire boot, EXCEPT at the top edge of the cuff.

Once you finished sewing all the way around, turn the stocking to the “right” side using the opening at the top edge.  Then iron the edges flat.

The stocking form is made – YAY!

At this point of the stocking-making-process, the tops of the cuffs will probably not match – that’s OKAY!  Taking a scissor or rotary cutter, trim the top edge of the cuff to get a straight line.

Then it’s time to make the cuff – turn over the felt fabric and adjust it to the amount that you want to see for the “cuff”.  I’ll admit, at this point, I was a wee bit mad at myself for not forethinking what I’m about to share.  There are many different ways to make stockings and honestly, I didn’t do any research beforehand, and just “went for it”.  Kind of a mistake.  When I went to turn the fabric over to make the cuff, I realized that you could see the stitching on what was before the “inside” of the cuff (see right pictorial).  At this point, I was about to ditch the project, but then I realized because the fabric is felt, it won’t fray and it actually gives the edge a decorative look.  I trimmed the edge about 1/4″ off the seam and I’m pretty happy with the result.  Another (slight) fail to success project!

Essentially it’s complete at this point, but of course you need something to hang the stocking.  Using another piece of felt, I simply made a loop that I sewed on to the inside edge of the stocking cuff.

Now they are ready to hang!  If you saw my Christmas mantel the other day, you may have noticed that the stockings were plain and unembellished.  Well that only lasted a day.  Using the ornaments from my Organic Centerpiece that I displayed on my dining table last Christmas, I looped them through clear fishing line and hung them around the felt loop of the stocking.  Also adding a chocolate glitter snowflake, the collection was a beautiful accent to the neutral-colored background fabric.

Also placed on two of the stockings are pins that were favorites of my husband’s late grandmother. A little way he remembers her around the Holidays.

I really love the simplicity of these stockings.  Each year as I change my colors and Christmas decor they will always be a beautiful accent to different embellishments that I can add.  Do you hang stockings at the fireplace?  Are they matching or a mish-mos of different styles like I had for the past years? (and just to set the record straight…  I don’t mind mish-mosh…  it’s eclectic!)

I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, Creation Corner, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Under the Table & Dreaming

5 Minute Autumn Centerpiece

This past weekend when I got my DIY groove back, I made a centerpiece for my dining table that literally took less than 5 minutes and cost nothing!  The pictures, staging, and post took longer than the actual project.  Thankfully I am SO pleased with the results and now my dining table is complete for the Fall season.  Here’s a sneak peak of the final outcome, but let me take you through the steps so you can make one for your table!

Log Centerpiece that takes minutes to create and can be used for so many holidays & occasions!  Designed by @Jenna_Burger of www.sasinteriors.net

A few weeks ago, while going for an evening walk around the neighborhood, there were a pile of cut down trees on the side of the road ready for the next day’s garbage pickup.  I couldn’t stop myself, and ended up grabbing this 4′ beauty and piled it into the Radio Flyer wagon along with the two kids (the remainder of the trip home sure was tight for the kiddos).

As soon as I set my eyes on this log, I knew exactly what I wanted to do – make a centerpiece with tea lights.  I envisioned a simple, yet sophisticated backdrop that can be updated and changed throughout the seasons and holidays!

Unfortunately, it sat and sat in my garage for too long.  Then this weekend, my husband FINALLY got a drill bit that was large enough (1.5″ diameter) to drill into the log to create what I was desiring – My centerpiece creation was finally coming to fruition.

The mister and I drilled 6 holes about 10″ apart, and it was done!  Finito!!  It was that easy and it took less than 5 minutes to create this beautiful centerpiece.

And here it is.  Complete and shining bright!

So simple, yet so beautiful!

I had planned on putting it on my dining table and leaving it alone.  I thought it would “speak” for itself and it’s organic appeal would shine.  I still plan on doing that since we eat at this table everyday, but I also wanted to see how it would look all “dressed up”.  Soooo I took some of the Fall decor from the other vignettes I created and embellished this new log centerpiece.

I surrounded the log centerpiece with varying sizes of sugar pumpkins, pinecones, berries, and artificial leaves – perfect for a Thanksgiving table!

I was so happy to finally get this project complete and I love how it turned out.  How do you decorate your table for Fall?

I link to these parties: Cottage Instincts, Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, The Lettered CottageAll Things Heart & Home, Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, Shabby Chic Cottage, Finding Fabulous, Creation Corner The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk, Under the Table & Dreaming

Valentine Burlap Wreath

Even though I said goodbye to the Christmas decor days after the 25th of December, I only took down my Christmas wreath from the front door last week . The wreath didn’t scream Christmas, but it was time to say ‘See you next year’!  So the entrance to our home was naked.  My bare apple-green colored door just wasn’t cutting it till Springtime, so I adorned it with a crafty, handmade Valentine Wreath.

DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net

Ta-Da…  The new and improved front door, dressed for V-day!  It’s beautified with the newly created handmade wreath using burlap and a few pretty flowers!

Supplies

  • Wire hanger (from any ole’ laundry mat or cleaners)
  • Scissors
  • Burlap
  • Florist wire (optional)
  • Plyers
  • And some crafty lovin’

Here’s the Process

Start with a wire hanger…everyone has them, right?  NO…not I.  I actually had to get one from my friend, Paula (thanks Paula!).  I am SOOO against hanging clothes on wire hangers and the only way to prevent my husband from hanging his clothes on them is to TOSS EM’.

Total diversion…  Here’s the next step…

Round the wire hanger (you may need two hangers depending on the size wreath you want to create), to look like this.
The wire hanger is probably too difficult to bend with your fingers (unless you’re the Hulk), so a pair of plyers or two, will definitely be helpful!
DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net
1. Cut your burlap (I used 3/4 yard for the whole project / 1 yard was $3+/-) into 4″ wide strips.
2. Fold the burlap strips into an accordian style (as shown).  The fold should be about 3-4″ wide.
3 / 4. Poke and feed the wire through the center of the new accordian bunch.  Just keep on doing this until you create you wreath and you’ve used enough burlap to cover the wire.  I would actually recommend using at least one yard so the wreath is dense.  (I only had 3/4 yard at the time).
5. This step is optional.  If you have to attach two pieces of wire hanger, then follow this step.  I had to piece-meal two pieces together and attached the wire hanger with thin wire (florist wire) is good.

Done!

Well…NOT YET!
???

How about pretty little flowers? Yes, that will do the trick.

Welcome to My home

The flowers are made of felt and I attached them with a safety pin to the burlap, so I can use the wreath for other occasions throughout the year.

DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net

Do you love these little felt flower beauties?

DIY: Valentine burlap wreath with handmade felt flowers by @Jenna_Burger, SASinteriors.net
Check out the Felt Flower Tutorial {HERE}

How do you adorn your front door for Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Mantel Decor

This week has been very busy and I took on WAY too many projects!  One positive result = I have LOTS to share with you.  My main focus was to decorate for Valentine’s (didn’t I just un-decorate from Christmas??).  To be honest, I’m really not into Valentine’s Day (doesn’t everyone say that) and I don’t usually change my decor for this somewhat minor holiday, but I had fun styling my home with a few homemade crafty creations!
Earlier this week, I posted pics of some Valentine’s ideas from other talented bloggers and I gave you a preview of the pillows (and now the mantel) that I pulled together for this LOVEly Holiday!
These cute pillows were super easy to make, especially using my all time favorite stand-by, Stitch Witch!  I own a sewing machine (thanks to my mom), but do not sew (YET!…it’s on my resolution list for 2011).  The other day, I picked up some fun V-day fabrics and accessories (ie: colorful buttons and iron-on appliques) and my creative juices started to floooow….  I had an idea in my head of the kind of pillows I wanted to create and here is the result:

The heart shape pillow is adorable, especially donning some colorful pink, orange, and yellow buttons!

And what about the L-O-V-E pillow ~ What do you think??  I used cheap inexpensive Muslin fabric ($2.50/yd) to create this vertical beauty.  I cut out the letters L, V, & E from felt and ironed them on, along with the heart applique for the O.  SIMPLE!
The other two pillows are basic sizes ~ the pink is 16:” x 16″ (which I’ll put in my daughter’s Honeysuckle colored room after V-day) and the black pillow is 8″ x 16″.  And of course the little mini….4″ x 6″
{The LOVE Mantel} 

Mostly everything on the mantel is repurposed from other places in my home. 


The candle pillars I purchased awhile ago from AC Moore ($5-$8).  The two taller pillars hold candles and the smaller version has newly made yarn balls.  They are so stinkin’ cute!!  Many of you knitters out there probably have a ton of ‘real’ yarn balls, but these are fake using styrofoam balls with yarn wrapping around (shhhh…)Jenn just did a tutorial on how to make them ~ check it out.  

Standing in front, is my latest LOVE plaque that I bought from AC Moore for less than $1.  It’s actually a picture frame, which I removed and added a little love heart. 

Adorable Valentine Subway Art ~ Get it for Yourself.
And of course, our tribute to Philly: a mini LOVE sculpture.
I dressed up the candles on the candelabra (from Willow House) using some burlap strands. 

That’s my wedding bouquet from 7 years ago….how nice to incorporate into my LOVE mantel!

LOVE the garland on my newly retiled fireplace?  I cut out hearts from white construction paper and hung it with two layers of red yarn (used from the yarn balls).
This was a really fun project to work on…I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Have you decorated your mantel for Valentine’s Day?
I’ll be linking this to Home Stories of A to Z

Valentine’s Mantel Decor

This week has been very busy and I took on WAY too many projects!  One positive result = I have LOTS to share with you.  My main focus was to decorate for Valentine’s (didn’t I just un-decorate from Christmas??).  To be honest, I’m really not into Valentine’s Day (doesn’t everyone say that) and I don’t usually change my decor for this somewhat minor holiday, but I had fun styling my home with a few homemade crafty creations!
Earlier this week, I posted pics of some Valentine’s ideas from other talented bloggers and I gave you a preview of the pillows (and now the mantel) that I pulled together for this LOVEly Holiday!
These cute pillows were super easy to make, especially using my all time favorite stand-by, Stitch Witch!  I own a sewing machine (thanks to my mom), but do not sew (YET!…it’s on my resolution list for 2011).  The other day, I picked up some fun V-day fabrics and accessories (ie: colorful buttons and iron-on appliques) and my creative juices started to floooow….  I had an idea in my head of the kind of pillows I wanted to create and here is the result:

The heart shape pillow is adorable, especially donning some colorful pink, orange, and yellow buttons!

And what about the L-O-V-E pillow ~ What do you think??  I used cheap inexpensive Muslin fabric ($2.50/yd) to create this vertical beauty.  I cut out the letters L, V, & E from felt and ironed them on, along with the heart applique for the O.  SIMPLE!
The other two pillows are basic sizes ~ the pink is 16:” x 16″ (which I’ll put in my daughter’s Honeysuckle colored room after V-day) and the black pillow is 8″ x 16″.  And of course the little mini….4″ x 6″
{The LOVE Mantel} 

Mostly everything on the mantel is repurposed from other places in my home. 


The candle pillars I purchased awhile ago from AC Moore ($5-$8).  The two taller pillars hold candles and the smaller version has newly made yarn balls.  They are so stinkin’ cute!!  Many of you knitters out there probably have a ton of ‘real’ yarn balls, but these are fake using styrofoam balls with yarn wrapping around (shhhh…)Jenn just did a tutorial on how to make them ~ check it out.  

Standing in front, is my latest LOVE plaque that I bought from AC Moore for less than $1.  It’s actually a picture frame, which I removed and added a little love heart. 

Adorable Valentine Subway Art ~ Get it for Yourself.
And of course, our tribute to Philly: a mini LOVE sculpture.
I dressed up the candles on the candelabra (from Willow House) using some burlap strands. 

That’s my wedding bouquet from 7 years ago….how nice to incorporate into my LOVE mantel!

LOVE the garland on my newly retiled fireplace?  I cut out hearts from white construction paper and hung it with two layers of red yarn (used from the yarn balls).
This was a really fun project to work on…I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Have you decorated your mantel for Valentine’s Day?
I’ll be linking this to Home Stories of A to Z

The Simplest Pinecone Wreath!

I love the look of wreaths filled with pinecones, and was about 5 seconds from buying two over the weekend, until I looked at the price tag.  I was not paying $25 for pinecones, when my own backyard is filled with these lovely organic treasures.  But before putting the pinecone wreaths (that I loved) back on the shelf, I looked to see how they were made, and couldn’t believe how easy it appeared.  So off to the craft store I went…


Play by Play…Pinecone-Style

I bought an 18″ round wreath for $1.99 and collected a bucketful of pinecones from the backyard.  Now I have to confess, that I also used some store-bought pinecones because they were rounder and fuller, opposed to my skinny, sap-filled, backyard pinecones.

Using brown or green (green is all I had) wire, wrap it through the pinecone and twist, so it’s secure on the back side.

After adding the pinecones, the back of the wreath will look like a wire craze…that’s OKAY!  You won’t see the back.  If you want, trim the pieces about 1/4″ above the twist for a cleaner look.

Continue attaching the pinecones around the wreath and overlap them to add interest.

Voila – The simplest pinecone wreath is complete.

And I actually made 2.  These beautiful pinecone wreaths hang in my dining area on the sliding glass door, but you can hang them anywhere….on your front door, interior door(s), the wall, etc…

This year, my color palette is chocolate gold.  I love how gold looks with brownish tones.  Also in this space, is the new Organic Centerpiece I created!  It’s complete and ready to enjoy.

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