A Homemade Christmas 2

This year we decided to make some of our Christmas gifts again. It's always fun to make gifts, but it can also be very stressful coming up with ideas and then trying them for the first time not knowing if they will work or not. Fortunately, we had some great successes this year. You can also check out last years Homemade Christmas.

I was inspired to do these by something I saw in Hobby Lobby (LOVE that place!!!). The picture I saw was a very large wall hanging, so I decided to do my own version scaled down a bit.  I took the glass out of the frames and used Mod Podge with scrapbook paper for the background.  I bought the wooden letters and small clothespins at Hobby Lobby and painted them with acrylic paint.  I added water to the paint to give the letters more of a stained look. I attached it to the twine and there you have it.  I did glue the letters and the clothespins down to make it more permanent especially with wrapping them.

I bought these small wooden boxes from Hobby Lobby and painted them black.  Then I printed out family photos and used Mod Podge for the top.  I got the tutorial for the necklaces here.   I bought the tile pendents and Diamond Glaze from etsy like it suggests in the tutorial.  I printed out pictures for the necklaces on an inkjet printer. The problem with this is the ink will start to run and make your picture look terrible when you put the Diamond Glaze on it. To keep this from happening, I took clear packing tape and put it on both sides of the picture before glueing it to protect it.  It worked perfectly.

I bought the bracelet kit here. I printed out old and new family photos in black and white. Again, used the packing, and glued it using Diamond Glaze.

I found the headband tutorial here. I love this headband. I can't wait to make some more that I get to keep!

For this gift, I had to sneak on my dad's computer and get some photos that he took this summer while he and my mom were in Europe. I bought 8x10 canvas and some gel medium. I printed out the pictures. You will probably want to flip the picture on the computer before you print them because they go on the canvas backwards.  When I was doing research for this project I noticed everyone said to use a laser printer.  I don't have a laser printer and decided they didn't know what they were talking about.  I have now learned that they were right. Inkjet printers do not work for this project. I repeat, inkjet printers DO NOT work for this project! So, I printed them off my inkjet and took them down to Office Depot to make laser copies.
Once you have your laser copy, cover the canvas with your gel medium. Place the photo face down on the gel medium. Smooth out all the wrinkles and let it dry overnight (or at least 6 hours).  Once it is dry, use a spray bottle and spray water on it. Use your fingers to start rubbing away the paper. This process will take AT LEAST 30 minutes. I think the first one I did took me 1 hour. It will seem impossible to get all the little paper pieces off, but keep rubbing and you will eventually get it all off. Just be careful not to rub so hard that the picture starts coming off. Finally, when all the paper is off, you are left with your picture on the canvas! Cover it with gel medium to seal it and you are done. I love how these turned out! I will definitely be making many more of these for my house!

I bought these mugs at the Dollar Store. I bought this marker and wrote their name on the mug along with an encouraging word or something we love about them. We filled the mugs with candy.  For some of the mugs we also put hot chocolate mix and marshmallows, and for the others we put some Starbucks Via packs and biscotti.

For the cookies, we took Oreos and dipped them in melted white chocolate chips and then in crushed candy canes.  They were so yummy!

So there it is, another Homemade Christmas.

Happy New Year!

This year our church had a New Year's Party! I love being a part of a church family that loves to party!!! We always have such a fun time together. We spent the night eating, playing games and of course dancing!!! This year the theme was "Classic Hollywood". We all came dressed in styles from the 1920's, 30's, 40's and 50's.  Some came dressed for the red carpet, others came dressed as celebrities from that time and others as characters from movies. We had such a wonderful time!

Along with everyone dressing up, we wanted to have some decorations to help set the scene for classic hollywood.  We couldn't have a hollywood party without a red carpet, but we did not want to spend a lot of money.  The actual red carpet was not very expensive at all and can be purchased at any party supply company such as Party City or even from Amazon (I love Amazon Prime!! It's Awesome!!!) The lights down the hallway we made from Kleenex boxes.  I took the boxes and emptied them. Next I wrapped them with silver wrapping paper.  We bought flashlights from Wal-Mart that were $3 for a 2-pack, and there you have it. A cheap decoration that is a lot of fun! We wanted to add ropes around the carpet once the guest entered the room. If you have ever looked into purchasing the poles (called stanchions. Something I learned in this process), you would know that they are very expensive. Since we didn't want to spend that kind of money for the party, we decided to make our own.  We bought plastic tupperware containers for the base. We glued the tops on the containers, turned them upside down and cut a hole the size of the pole in them. We bought PVC pipe and cut them to the size we wanted and spray painted the base and poles gold. We filled the bases to help weigh them down. For the rope we used red velvet like ribbon and attached it to the poles and there you have it! It was a great addition to the red carpet!

For the tables, we bought picture frames from the Dollar Store and printed out pictures from movie stars from that time. We also ordered mini Oscars from Amazon. We added New Year's hats, horns and tinsel and it created a fun, festive table decoration. And what New Year's party would be complete without an amazing M&M bar!!!

We bought a few disposable cameras for people to use as the guests came in and walked the red carpet.
It was fun to have all the flashes going off to make each guest feel like a celebrity!

We also had a photo booth at the party. I love photo booths! I don't know what it is about them, but they are always fun! And a big thank you to Lynsey for helping with some of the photo booth pictures! She is an amazing photographer. Check her out here!

We decided to have a contest for the best dressed. We called everyone who wanted to enter up front to show off their costumes. We had a voting booth for all the guest to vote throughout the night.

And the winner is...

Winners of the best dressed adults

Winners of best dressed under 16.

We had such a great time dancing in the new year. And of course we couldn't end the year without the Cupid Shuffle and Gangnam Style.

And here we are...

It was such a fun night and a wonderful way to bring in the new year! Happy New Year everyone!!!

Christmas and Self Photos

I love Christmas! It really is the most wonderful time of the year.  Now that it is the new year we are trying to catch up on some sleep. As much fun as the Christmas season is, it is also very busy! We had five Christmas parties in one week, then it was Christmas day which we spent with my family and Jon's family. After that it was off to north Georgia for Christmas with my mom's side of the family and then back home for a New Year's Party (pictures coming soon).  We are pretty tired but it was well worth it.

Every year for as long as I can remember, a couple days after Christmas, all those that can make it travel to my mom's home town and spend Christmas with my aunts, uncles and cousins. We have missed it the last couple of years due to work schedules, but this year we were finally able to go! I feel so blessed to be a part of this family. We have such a fun time together. We laugh probably the whole time we are together!

We decided to go spend some time downtown reminiscing. I don't know why, but when we were little one of our favorite things to do was walk on the wall that went around the downtown area. It was so much fun when we were little so we decided to reenact it this year.

It was such a wonderful time with family. And here is a video from a few years ago for you to enjoy!



Jon and I also did some fall/Christmas photos. I am so grateful for a husband that is such a great sport about doing pictures. We actually have a blast together every time!