Christmas Projects

I'll start off by saying that I have never claimed to be one of those crafty people who can just whip up a craft off the top of my head and submit it into the Better Homes & Garden magazine. I have friends like that...but that is not me. It's like school....it didn't come easy for me, I had to work hard for an A or a B but when I worked hard I could do it. I am not sure why I chose Christmas time to try and get an "A" in crafts this year but...I suppose it is because I love Christmas and LOVE Christmas decorations. With hosting a few parties this year it was extra motivation to get some of these done. I will note...that you can't look closely at any of my projects. Although I mostly enjoyed doing these...well I enjoyed when they were done much more...I am in no way shape or form a perfectionist when it comes to these. So from a distance they look OK but you can't get too close or you might seriously wonder what happened!

Here goes my attempt at being crafty :-)

Coffee Filter Wreath
Sams Club sells 1,000 coffee filters for a couple bucks, some wreath pins from Hobby Lobby (about $4 for a big bag) and a pool noodle (30 cents on clearance!) duct taped together. It took a few hours to put this together...and truth be told I actually was making it for a friend for Christmas but after it was done I couldn't part with it. So I made her another one a few weeks later. :-)

Paper Wreath
This stinker took me over a month to make. It was one of the desired projects to get done before our parties but it didn't happen. This was made from an extra book I had on hand, some poster board and the middle cute little thing was an ornament I bought at Kohls. I have no clue how long this took me...but I was very glad when I was done with it (a few days before Christmas). I just googled how to make a paper wreath and found a you tube video and watched it many...many...many times. I hope I never have the urge to do one of these again.

Ruffled Christmas Tree Skirt
Oh yes...this was a project I wanted to do last year (2011) and didn't get to it, so I told myself I would do it this year (2012) waaaaaay before Christmas. Yup...that didn't happen. My ever so talented friend Christy showed me how to do this and told me it was cinch! She...is one of those crafty ones. :-) I bought the drop cloth (for the ruffles to be glued onto) just as she did, watched an instructional video on how to cut it into a skirt and that didn't exactly turn out the way I had hoped. I had a bunch of triangles lying on the floor after I was done. So I went to Walmart and bought a $2 felt pre-made Christmas tree skirt. I realize that is not too smart because I am hot gluing the fabric on to felt which melts with very high heat BUT...other than the hot glue coming through on the tile and the skirt sticking to the floor each time I glued the fabric strip on it worked out sort of fine. The perfectionist in me hated that the skirt was red and the fabric was cream but once under the tree you couldn't tell. If and that is a big IF I were to make another one of these I would use different fabric and perhaps re-attempt to cut one out of drop cloth so it was a bit more sturdy. For now...it's done.

Merry Christmas Banner This was quite the undertaking! I have a friend who literally could be Martha Stewart's daughter. :-) She helped me make a Halloween banner for Halloween and has made her own cute Birthday banners and all sorts of fun stuff. So I got the idea to make a banner myself. New sewing I might add. Just some special fabric glue, fabric I picked out from Joanne's (I would have picked a different kind looking back now), drop cloth (for the back), craft paper (for the circles), letters, ribbon, glitter & modge podge. Whew! I won't bore you with the details...let's just say I had a different plan in mind and ended up with this. I was super excited to do this & honestly if they were not so awkward to store away I would make more! I did end up making another small banner (not pictured) out of craft paper for the chandelier in the kitchen. All in all it was an eventful and productive project making extravaganza & I think I've probobly had my fill for many...many...months. :-)