My "SANTA" Shelf

I stayed up late doing a little more decorating. My husband was hanging pictures and shelves for me all day... our poor white walls (we are renting) were needing something. This little shelf normally holds 5 little 3x3 pictures, but 99% of my family photos are in this little box I call my laptop. So I thought of some holiday words with 5 letters and decided on "SANTA". I cut out festive 3x3 backgrounds, and had my little cricut cut me the letters. I LOVE how this turned out!

When I finally did go to bed, I brainstormed forever thinking of all the 5 letter words I could use for the different holidays all year round!! I'm kinda crazy like that!

Vinyl Giveaway!

One of my all time fav blogs is having a giveaway, NOT SO IDLE HANDS, you MUST check it out! If you are a new cricuteer, like myself, then a huge roll of vinyl would be the BEST giveaway win E-VER! While you are there, you should take a minute, or 10, or 837 and scope out the rest of her blog! It's awesome, and why I stalk read it every day!

Or, click on her botton on my sidebar to the right!
Contest ends Monday... so hurry! Or don't... that will just increase MY chances of winning!

Christmas Countdown Tutorial

My kids are always asking "how many days until Christmas?" or "When is Santa coming?".... so I decided to make something to help them count down to christmas.

I saw something similar to this in a vinyl lettering catalog and wanted to try it out for myself! Plus, it would be my first "BIG" project I could try on my new Cricut Expression!!! (tee hee)

You will need:
New Cookie Sheet with a hole for hanging
Craft Paper
Scissors
Mod Podge
Paint Brush
Magnet
Letters 1-25
"Merry Christmas" letters or whatever wording you want at the top
Christmas Scene Cut out (optional)
Embellishments (optional)
Ribbon (optional)
Glue gun

1. Lay out craft paper and cut to size INSIDE your cookie sheet. I chose 3 different papers and layered them and cut the edges with craft scissors to give them a little "flare". I also rounded the corners.

I chose red for the top for under the "Merry Christmas", a striped paper for the divider, and a solid green for under the numbers and christmas scene.

*I ended up putting the paper on the bottomside of the cookie sheet because I thought it would hang better, but when I make another one, I will probably make the paper go on the inside of the cookie sheet just because I think the overall appearance is better. (due to the curling of the edging of the pan) It just depends on the style of cookie sheet you have and your personal preference.

2. Lay out your letters, numbers and scene to get an idea of where you want your paper layers to go.
3. Mod Podge the surface of the cookie sheet and lay each layer of paper on the cookie sheet.

4. Lay out your wording along the top and Mod Podge over it to hold it in place. Then place your numbers, embellishments and scene and do the same. I just eyeballed the placement, but if you want, you can draw out lines to make them even and centered.

5. Let dry completely, then take a large foam brush and brush a final coat of Mod Podge to make a shiny finish and lock down the lettering, numbers, ect.

*I added a swirl above my numbers and a fancy circle around the 25 so my kids new which number we were counting down up to.
**You'll notice the paper might look ripply or wavy after applying the Mod Podge. Don't worry, once it dries, it should flatten out. Mine did, anyways.
6. If you have a magnet ready to go, great! If not, you can embellish one like I did to match the calendar. I cut out a circle and a star and Mod Podged them to a clear magnet.

And lastly, depending on your hanging options for your cookie sheet, you can run a ribbon through the holes, or just use a glue gun (Like I did) and glue a coordinating ribbon or two on it.

And voila!

There you have a Christmas Countdown/ Advent Calendar!

The Elf on the Shelf

My sister got my daughter "The Elf on the Shelf" for her birthday. Its the cutest little box with a little toy elf and a book.  The book tells you the elf's story and purpose.  He was sent by Santa to sit in your house and watch over the children. Each night when the children go to sleep, the elf flies to the North Pole to report to Santa the children's behavior for the day...good or bad!

Then before the children awake, the elf returns to your home for another day of "scouting". Only he will be sitting in a different spot!  So the kids get to wake up and see who can find him first!

My kids are so excited to start this new tradition!  I am excited to "see where he sits each day"! And can I tell you I've already had to say "uh uh uh.. the elf is watching!" and it stopped a tantrum right in it's tracks!!! Can you find our little elf?  My 5 year old helped name him "ELFIN ELFA".

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Amanda!  She is the "chosen one" thanks to random.org !
Thanks to everyone who entered! Check back again soon for lots more crafting and fun... and possibly another giveaway!

Hello Love...

I am madly in love with my new Cricut Expression. I have only begun to scratch the surface of all its abilities, but I'm in heaven!!!

I started out making tags/labels for my Christmas gifts this year.  My kids are always snooping around to see whose is whose... so I have made some semi-discreet labels that blend in with my wrapping paper so its not quite so obvious.

I placed the first initial of my kids' name on the top corner of their packages.  You can't really see it unless you look really close because the letters match the color of the wrapping paper! Then, I made shadow name labels for my brother and brother-in-law's gifts. 

As for Santa's gifts... I made a few fancy ones to coordinate with the wrapping paper I'm using for those special gifts!

I love the swirly designs

Here's a sneak peek at a fun project I've been working on. I'm already a week behind on this, so I'll hopefully have the final photo up soon!  Maybe tonight!

And lastly, this has nothing to do with Christmas, but since we have moved into our new house, the kids have had to get used to wearing coats.  And since 3 of my 4 can't reach the hangers in the closet, I found these letter hangers at Hobby Lobby and hung them inside our door near the laundry room.  Now the little ones can hang up their own coats and school bags when they walk in the door. 

I just love it and wanted to share it with you!

And as always, if there is anything you see here that you'd like, shoot me a line and I would be glad to list it for you in my Etsy shop!