Tree Stump Chalkboard Ornaments

This summer when we went to Ruidoso, NM for vacation, I brought home some tree limbs to be cut for use at our nephews' wedding rehearsal dinner decorations. Shortly after that, I decided to use those cuts for my homemade gifts for my husband's side of the family.

Those cuts ended up being too tiny to do much with, so I had him cut some more that were larger. These may have been a litt too large, but I wasn't going to ask him to do any more. We were leaving for vacation a few hours after I finished them anyway, so it was a chore just getting them done at all!

I painted the cuts with an acrylic chalkboard paint, then used small chalk to decorate and write on them. An eye screw and baker's twine finished out the top. Lastly, I sprayed a fine mist of hairspray to set the chalk. Family members should be able to wipe off my writing and put their own, if desired.

If I had planned this idea originally, little jingle bells tied on top would have been a cute addition. My original idea was a decoupaged chalkboard tag, but it wouldn't have looked good. In my head, it did! :) Too bad my chalkboard writing skills are lacking - especially on small chalkboards.

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Ladies Cookie Exchange 2014

Yesterday I hosted a Ladies' Cookie Exchange.  Every lady that attended brought a few dozen cookies and an empty cookie tin.  Then everyone took their empty container and filled it up with all of the different kinds of cookies.  There were so many different kinds, that it was fun to sample a few as we placed them in the containers.

My daughter had mixed together a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies, only to find that the element was out on the oven!  Her dough is all frozen now - ready to thaw and bake at any time.  I didn't even make any because of the oven situation, but had candy, cheeseball, and other snacks to serve to the guests, so it worked out perfectly fine.

So, here are just a few pictures of the quick get-together to share with you!

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Homemade Christmas Gifts

A fun family tradition on my husband's side of the family: Homemade Christmas gifts.  I'll go through each of them for the next several posts, but will start with mine.  

I hadn't ever done this gift before, even though my mom had actually posted a recipe for it on here several years ago. It didn't seem "homemade" enough for me - just mixing together three ingredients.  But, this fall, when I got some at a ladies' retreat, I thought, "Why is it NOT homemade 'enough'?"  I couldn't figure out why I had thought that before :).  So, homemade gift, it was!

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You will need: 16 oz. baby lotion (My favorite is Johnson's brand.)

8 oz. Vitamin E cream (sorry for the blurry pics). Each of these little jars is 4 oz.

And 8 oz. coconut oil (solid, not melted.)  Mix together with handheld mixer until it resembles icing.  It makes a wonderful, light moisturizer that smells good, too!

To make it even more "homemade", I used these little burlap bags I had bought at The Container Store several years ago.

The bag was stamped with a design on both sides using black ink. After the bag was filled I attached a stamped "Merry Christmas" tag.

I put the cream in a small plastic jar with a black lid. I found these jars in the art section of Hobby Lobby (in the artist's painting section, near the framing station).  I hot glued Chevron ribbon around the jar and topped it with a burlap flower.

With the extra lotion, I filled a few bigger jars that will be used in the future for gifts.  The burlap flower fit on the outside for this size of jar.  My mom got one of these in her stocking.  They were found in that same art section, but are double the size (8 oz., I think.)

Why is everything cuter when it's small???  I loved seeing these little bags all piled up! :)

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Merry Christmas!

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Easy-to-Make Gingerbread House

This is the easiest gingerbread house you will EVER make!  And so cute, don't you agree???! :)

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Graduation Tassel Ornament

I'm showing you this idea before I have it finished, but wanted to share this cute idea I saw somewhere.  It's a graduation tassel ornament. 

I bought the biggest plastic clear ornament I could find. I took off the 13 charm (below) and will attach it when I get the ribbon on the ornament.  Just stuff the tassel into the ornament, and use the big loop to create the hanger for it. I could cut it off, but may just leave it long.  It will be fun to do this with each child when they graduate.  I have a blingy 2013 that I may put on the front if I can find it.  It's MIA at the moment :).  But, the boys wouldn't want bling on theirs, so I may leave it plain, since the charm will hang from there, anyway.

What fun things are you making for Christmas this year?  I haven't had time to do much, but have had fun doing things for other events. I'll show some of those tomorrow.

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Defrosty the Snowman

One of my blog readers sent me this recipe for "Defrosty the Snowman", originally from Family Fun Magazine.  It's such a 

CUTE and FUN recipe!  Thanks, Marsha!

This wistful snowman appears to be going the way of winter, and we have a feeling he'll soon disappear altogether. He's made from a puddle of white candy melts.

What you'll need

• Meltable candy wafers (one 14-ounce package makes 16 snowmen)
• Mini chocolate chips
• Light cocoa candy melts
• Rolos
• Candy corn

How to make it

1. For each snowman, you'll need 6 mini chocolate chips, a light cocoa meltable candy wafer, and a Rolo. To make the nose, cut the orange section from a candy corn, then slice it in half lengthwise. Roll the piece between your fingers to form a carrot shape.
2. To assemble your snowman, melt the white candy in a bowl according to the package instructions, then scoop a rounded tablespoon onto a sheet of wax paper. With the back of a spoon, smear the candy into a puddle. Working quickly, stick on the light cocoa meltable candy wafer, add a dot of white melted candy, then place the Rolo on top. Finally, add the candy corn nose and mini chocolate chip eyes and mouth.

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Christmas Memories Wall Plaque

Last week, I was so excited to find these Christmas Memories wall plaques at Kirkland's. I bought one, then had a sister-in-law pick me up another one the next day.

Several years ago, while eating at Zio's around Christmas, each family member drew a Christmas scene on the brown butcher paper tablecloth. Even my husband drew something.  I've always wanted a fun way to display them, but wasn't sure what it would be.  These plaques are perfect!  I added a few other treasure to those butcher paper ones, too.

Yesterday morning, after posting a picture of one of the plaques on Twitter and Instagram the day before, I had a message that the actual Kirkland's store had retweeted the post!  How neat!  

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Felt Christmas Tree Wall Decoration

My mother-in-law had a cute felt Christmas tree on her wall this year.  It was perfect for the little great-grandchildren our family has been blessed with in the past few years.  I was thinking how cute it would be to have some kind of felt decoration on the wall for each holiday or season.  A snowman for winter, a heart for Valentine's Day, a bunny for Easter, maybe a flower for the spring.  The possibilities are endless!

The tree is probably stapled onto the wall, but you could even glue it to cardboard and just stand it against the wall if you didn't want to staple it.  The "ornaments" have a piece of velcro (the rough part of velcro) attached to the back.  Children can decorate and redecorate the tree over and over again.

Lots of fun for little ones!

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Homemade Gift Week #2 - Hanging Pinecone Decoration

Okay....This is the last sister-in-law gift!  The last few homemade gifts are family, but not sisters-in-law.  This pretty hanging pinecone decoration is simple to make and versatile.  When we first saw these, they were all hanging in a window, by a tension rod.  Imagine how pretty it was having 10 or so of them strung along the window!  So, there's an idea for you.  Of course, one alone is pretty, as well.

Andrea used white spray paint to lightly coat the pinecones and give them a wintery, snowy look.  She then hot glued them to sheer white ribbon, adding snowflakes and more ribbon.  I can think of all kinds of possibilities to do with this example, can't you?  I may do several of these next year for my entry (shown in top picture), where I usually use pinecones and snowflakes.

Thanks, Andrea!
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Homemade Gift Week - FIND IT! Christmas Ornament

Remember when I posted about an "I Spy" Christmas ornament that I did with the 4-H Club, but it didn't work out???!  THIS is the solution to my problem!  I can't wait to do this with the 4-H members next year for the fair.  They'll have lots of fun making these and they work....like they're supposed to!  (That's always good :).  

My sister-in-law, Michelle, made these for her homemade gifts this year.  She personalized them a little big by putting mine and my husband's initial letter in the list below.  Her list is laminated and tied to the ornament.  I haven't looked for everything yet, but will.  It's a lot of fun and will be for years to come!  Be sure to buy the glass ornaments that are big so that the opening is big.  Fill with foam and small plastic "goodies" and fill the remainder of the ornament with pony beads.  Super idea and super fun!

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours!

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Snowman Snacks

You can't resist cute snowman snacks!  White bread peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in rounds and topped with raisin eyes and mouth plus a carrot nose.

Little white donuts make cute snowmen!  Little Debbie works, but Hostess would have probably been rounder and less likely to fall apart.  Oh, yeah!  No more Hostess :(.  Little Debbie worked with mini chocolate chip eyes and an orange slice piece of candy (cut) for the nose.

And a friend also made these cute snowmen cupcakes!  They had mini chocolate chip eyes and I think orange Skittles or M&M's eyes.

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