A Christmas Sign

I'm excited to share my first project in about 5 months. I wanted to display a Bible verse depicting the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ. Don't get me wrong, I love my Christmas tree and glitz and glam decor, but it's easy to get lost in it all. I'm thankful for the birth of Jesus, his living testimony, and his death on a cross that paid for my sin. 

Back to the sign...

I mod podged book pages to a piece of cardboard I already had.

 

I didn't take pictures of each step, but after it dried overnight...

• I used stamps to print on the Bible verse
• bought wood from Home Depot
• glued the wood together (it was very light particle wood)
• spray painted the frame red
• attached the cardboard to the frame
• attached a mounting bracket to the frame
• hung it up

Please bear with the lighting and photos. It's not near any windows and it was difficult to fit into one photo and still see the details... 

Right side

Left Side

The verse reads, all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, "the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel." Matthew 1:22-23

Here's the best all-in-one-photo I could get. (taken at night, poor quality)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Craft

I love a good craft and this one won't disappoint. It was simple, quick (1 hour-ish), and festive. Apparently using book pages for decor/crafts is the in thing. After seeing book page designs, blog after blog and store after store, I just had to jump on the band wagon.

I came up with this sign idea and battled for about 2 minutes with myself over what saying I wanted to display. In the end, I settled with a simple Merry Christmas. Keep in mind this can be altered to whatever saying you wish to display.

This craft was created on a school night, so I did not have the time or patience to capture each step of the process with pictures. So I'll do my best to explain in words.

What you need:

• An old book or a new one from the dollar store like I used
• Black marker, pen, scissors
• Ribbon
• A circular object (any will do, I used a roll of painters tape)
• Glitter
  
• Letters to trace or letter stamps and an ink pad
• Elmer's glue
• Hole puncher
• Tape
  

Step 1
Tear out some pages from the book and trace the circular object onto the pages. I used about 3 pages and folded them in half and got 6 circles in one sh-bang.
Tip: I like to complete all of one step before moving onto the next, it keeps this moving and is more organized.

Step 2
Trace, ink, or write one letter of your saying on each circle. I knew my hand writing would not be neat enough, so I traced some foam letters and colored them in with black marker. Choose whatever method you want.

Step 3
Time for the messy part. Place a small rim of Elmer's glue on the outside of the circle and cover with glitter. This step can be a bit tedious but worth it for that extra bit of sparkle.

Let dry. A good hour or two would be best. I only waited about 45 minutes while we watched Glee Christmas and was back at it. They were not completely dry but I wanted to finish and it was almost bed time.

Step 4
Punch a small hole above the letter and string the ribbon through. Once I had all the letters where I wanted them, I placed a small piece of tape on the back holding the ribbon and letter in place. I tired it without the tape but the letters would not lay flat.

Step 5
Hang it up. I just used clear masking tape to hang it up. It could also me tied up. It could be placed anywhere. We did not have many options so I decided to place it on a 2 foot wall in the kitchen/living room area. It is at the end of a long hallway so whenever I wake up or come back from the bathroom, I smile at my new Christmas display. I cut out a few additional stars from the book pages and placed them randomly on the wall.

Did I mention this only cost me $1.00 to make?! All I had to buy was the book because I had everything else. But even you do have to buy a few extra things, it will still be SUPER inexpensive.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Window Display 2010

Hey Gang. I was going to wait until all my projects were done to share my Christmas goodies but that may be a while, and I am excited to share my window display all dressed up for Christmas. I was going for a neutral, rustic theme with some shimmery/sparkly/gold-ish/metallic accents.

If you remember from my fall window display, we don't have a lot of room to decorate or a lot of furniture to place decorations on, so I like the window sill to be the main attraction.I wrapped a few empty boxes in some paper I already had and tied everything together with some gold ribbon. I needed something on top and a bow wasn't cuttin' it. When I saw this little gold reindeer, I knew it would be the perfect topper to my present tower. My mom bought me those shimmery stars on clearance last year.
I picked up this wooden candle holder from an antique shop while out shopping with Katie. It originally had to rustic, metal stars on the front, but JD thought it looked too beachy and I could see his point. So I replaced the stars with this "D" ornament from Pottery Bran. The $2.00 price tag convinced me to buy it.
I placed some glittered covered ornament balls and a string of lights in the vase and topped it off with some "wild hair" in JD's terminology. They are shimmery, silver flower-like things.

The candles and lights really reflect the glittery objects. It is really pretty at night but also very hard to photograph. You'll just have to take my word that is looks nice. These photos were taken around 4:00pm just before it got too dark.

So that's how my window sill looks for Christmas. I wanted to keep it simple, cohesive, and neutral.

Stayed tuned for a Christmas craft that is super easy to make for less than $5.00. Hint: I got my inspiration from that "D" ornament above.

Video Blog: Shopping & Saving for Fall Decor

On countless blogs and facebook statues I've seen people referencing fall. How much they love the cooler days, anxiously awaiting pumpkin pie, switching out their fall wardrobe, the start of football season etc. I was ready to decorate for fall and realized I only had one pumpkin. So...it was time to shop!

I always go shopping, find my deals then come back and write about them. This time I thought I'd bring you along for the ride. So I grabbed my camera, cameraman and off we went. It's my first video blog experience, so here it goes.




I came home and the decorating began. I only spent $15.00 in the video above and I needed a few more things. So I left the camera (and cameraman) behind and went back out to Michaels. I purchased a few more things you didn't see.

I was going for a simple, neutral theme with a few pops of color. Let me remind you, our condo is SMALL. Our kitchen and living room are basically one big room. I have limited space to decorate and needed the perfect balance. Not too much, not too little. Little space=not much furniture=not a lot of place to put decorations.

My focus area was the window sill. I forgot to take a before picture. But it was covered with picture frames. Here's a picture from awhile ago.
Before:
Dressed up for Fall:
I took a few pictures with the morning sun and a few in the evening. It's very hard to photograph a window with good lighting.

Thoughts: Whenever you have a large space or long tabletop it's good to think of decorating with three different heights and clusters. My floral arrangement was the tallest and looked best in the center. Cluster 2 is the books with the silver pumpkin on top. It's great to use books, especially if they coordinate with your color scheme. We luckily had a book with just a little bit of orange. Cluster 3 consists of a small orange candle, a bronze pumpkin and a vase filled with acorns. I picked the acorns up from my back yard. I like the acorns because they are neutral and natural.
Coffee Table:
I just kept it simple. The wooden tray came from Michaels and was originally a frame. I took out the metal hooks and painted it a golden yellow to hold the candles and pumpkins. I also picked up that yellow dish from Michales for $1.00.

Bathroom:
Nothing fancy, just added some pumpkins to a tin I already had and placed a candle on the sink. Smells delicious. Hot apple cider.

Bedroom:I really wasn't planning on putting anything in the bedroom, but I didn't use this little green pumpkin anywhere and it matches nicely in there.

Kitchen:
Our Kitchen already has so much sitting on the counter tops. Coffee pot, microwave, toaster, knives etc. I didn't want to add any more clutter to the counter tops, so I made this sign to sit on the stove. I picked up a wood frame and orange paint from Michaels. After a lot of thought, I found this picture in a Martha Stewart Living Magazine. It's perfect for a kitchen. I cut it out, wet it, roughed it up with a sponge to look vintage and rugged and glued it in.

So the big question? How much money did I spend?
Grand Total: $45.64
$5.64 over budget is not too bad. I am very pleased with my purchases, crafts, and day of decorating.

Thoughts on the video blog? Like it? Did you laugh? Want to see more? Could go without? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

On another note, I want to thank Sassy Sites for featuring me on their blog!

Happy Fall Everyone!

Christmas Decor 2009

My husband and I are celebrating our second Christmas as a married couple. We love the season and celebrating the birth of our Savior. We anxiously awaited the day we would pick out our Christmas tree, put on the Christmas music and adorn our little condo with the Holiday spirit.

After reading a few blogs and design magazines, I decided to go with a shimmery gold/copper theme for our holiday decor. It matches nicely with our gold/tan walls. It brings a classy, glitzy approach that extends into the new year. I was never a huge fan of the bright red and green decorations.

My husband loves colored lights and all of his childhood ornaments, so I left him in charge of the tree. Therefore our tree is excluded from the glittery gold theme.

Our condo is less than 900 sq. feet, so all we needed was just a few simple decorations to jazz up the place.


#1. Flower Arrangement
With a few flowers from Michael's, a vase I already owned, and some gold ribbon I made this arrangement for our window sill in the living room/kitchen. I placed the arrangement on the table, where there is more light, just for the picture. The next picture shows the arrangement on the window sill.
Price: $ 6.00 (thanks to Michael's 50% sale)

#2. Table Centerpiece
I placed some glittery ornaments into a clear vase (both of which I already owned). I purchased 2 small candle holders to add some light and glam to the table. I also added 2 ornaments to our fan for a more dramatic feel.
A close up of the hanging ornament.

I also made little place setting cards out of gold paper and silver letter stickers. Just a small touch to show your guests where to sit. Can never go wrong personal touches.
Price: 5.00 (thanks again to the Michael's 50% off sale)

#3. 3 candle holders to dress up the coffee table. The window sill, Christmas tree, table and coffee table are all within 5 feet of one another so something small did the trick. They match the candle holders on the table.
So there you have it. A shining gold theme for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!