Canvas Christmas Tree Guest Post and a Giveaway!

Today I’m over at Skip to My Lou as part of the Bake Craft Sew & Decorate series. I am sharing a Canvas Christmas Tree Banner , these are quick to whip up for holiday gift giving. In fact, you won’t want to miss all the handmade gift ideas! I have joined over 100 bloggers to share some amazing homemade gift ideas……..Plus I get to be part of an amazing sewing giveaway too. See Below… This is one is sew AMAZING! She is a gem and her name is Rachel.

One lucky winner will receive this beautiful…

Baby Lock Sewing Machine ($799 Value) and $100 Worth of Fabric from Riley Blake Designs.

Ready to take your sewing to the next level? The Baby Lock Rachel is the star of any sewing class, and she's here to help you. This computerized sewing machine is equipped with 50 stitches and push-button features to make every project easier. The value is $799. Click here for more details.

Riley Blake Designs colorful fabrics include cottons, flannels, sparkle cottons, organic cotton, knits, dreamy, and laminates in a range of designer and basic prints. You will love this beautiful fabric.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Holiday Deer Head Art

*I was given a stencil from Royal Design Studios to complete this project and will receive compensation in the form of credit to their store for this post.  I hope that the fact that I am working for more stuff from Royal Design Studios shows how much I like their products. ;)  The ideas and opinions are all my own.

You know when you see something and you just really have to try to make it for yourself?  I have been feeling this way about this darling sign from Peabody and Sassafrass.  Did you click over?  Isn't it gorgeous?  The whole look they create is just fabulous.
When I was contacted by Royal Design Studios about creating a holiday project I was excited for a reason to create some new art inspired by their gorgeous creation.  And when I went to Pinners Conference and saw this deer head from The Wood Connection- I knew exactly what I was going to do.
Here's how it came together.

 

I started off with a piece of wood.  This one is 15 1/2" square. It actually part of another project that I never put together so it was already cut with the holes drilled in before I started.  I started with a coat of dark gray paint.  Once it was dry, I used this Photo Texture Cream from Poppy Seed Projects and layered on a thick coat that was full of strokes and peaks.  This will make sanding in some texture at the end much easier.  Allow to dry thoroughly.  I let it dry overnight because I really did lay it on thick.

 Once the texture cream was dry it was time to start adding the colors for the final project.  I started out adding the cream.  I used Antique White from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint because I had some on hand and it was the perfect color, feel free to use any kind of paint you want.  For the red, I wanted a color that would match a project I am still working on, so I ended up mixing up my own color, but I simply used acrylic paint so find whatever color you love.  This is where the Royal Design Studios stencil came in.  I wanted something that would add some interest and dimension to the project and finally decided on this Herringbone Pattern Christmas Stencil.  I absolutely love the look it gave my project.  They have so many fabulous options it was hard to choose, but this one was a simple, classic design that was exactly what I was looking for.  Because there was so much texture on my board, it was hard getting the lines exactly perfect, but I was hoping for a bit of a handmade/ distressed look, so I wasn't worried about it.  When you purchase a stencil from Royal Design Studios they send you directions on how to stencil if you don't know already.  I found these tips really helpful because I am definitely no expert.
While my paint was drying I prepped my deer head.  I traced the shape onto the paper I wanted to use, cut it out and mod podged the paper to the head.  Then I let it dry.  Once it was dry I sanded the edges of the deer to get rid of any extra paper that might hang over the edges.
The final step before assembling is to distress our board.  I used a fresh piece of sand paper and sanded over the whole thing.  You will see that the raised parts exposed the gray underneath.

Once I decided where to place my deer head I realized that the brown head wasn't standing out as much as I would like, so before I glued it down I went around the edges with some charcoal ink and it was exactly the touch it needed.

 As I said in the beginning, I was loving the look of the Peabody and Sassafrass piece and the thing that really sent their piece over the top was the felt flowers on the bottom.  So I pulled out my bucket of felt and went to work.

 I started out with my go to pom pom flowers using strips of felt that were about 6" long and only 2" wide.

 

The next flowers I made were these pinched posies.  I cut out small irregularly shaped circles and put a dab of glue in the centers and pinched them up.  I used about 6 circles per flower.  Once the glue dried I glued all the pieces together.  The last flowers are just strips of irregularly cut felt rolled up into a flower, super simple.  I cut out some holly leaves and ran a line of glue along the center then pinched it in half.  Once the glue cooled I opened it back up and it it had this great ridge in the center.

 

 Of course the last step is the ribbon.  I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this on it forever, but for now I love how simple and understated it is and that it lets the deer head and flowers take center stage.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Do you change your holiday decor every year?  I like to add a few new pieces each year, and I try to retire others too, just so I don't have a gazillion boxes to store from year to year.
Have a fabulous Friday!
xoxo,
Amy

Scalloped Advent Banner

 

 

*Disclaimer- this project is participating in the Cricut Design Space Star Contest and is eligible for prizes.  All ideas and opinions are my own.  This post also contains affiliate links.  I truly do love my Cricut Explore and  if you think you might want one, clicking through the links to purchase will result in a small cash compensation for me.  That is all- on to the project. :)

Can one have too many advent calendars?  I don't think so.  We have a few at our house.  I have five kids, so I'm thinking if I have 5 advent calendars they'll all be happy and there won't be any fighting about who's turn it is that day.  I can dream anyway.   One of my favorite ways to count down to Christmas is to have simple daily activities that bring us together as a family for some fun, reflection or service.  This scalloped advent banner is perfect for that.

The tags inside the bunting are the perfect place to write that day's activities.  Some of our favorite things to include in our countdown are:

make gingerbread houses

read a Christmas story

watch a movie

play a game

make cookies

take a treat to someone

shop for presents

take a drive to see holiday lights

enjoy a treat

write a note to someone

wrap presents

have hot chocolate

visit family

have cinnamon rolls

play in the snow

do a craft

Sometimes we do an activity more than once, for instance read a Christmas story is one that we do at least once a week since we have so many favorite stories.  My main goal with this is to make sure we are taking time every day to stop the craziness and just be together.  But, with that being said- life gets crazy- especially during the holidays- so I really don't want to add one more thing that makes things even more hectic.  I edit the activities and make sure they are simple and reasonable for that day.  For instance, I won't plan the drive to see holiday lights on the same night as a work party- it wouldn't get done and we would all be disappointed and stressed.

This banner was pretty simple to put together with the Cricut Explore.  I uploaded the pocket file and cut out 12 pockets out of a pearl white cardstock.  I find that when I'm using textured cardstock- especially one with a sheen- I need to use the posterboard setting to get it to cut cleanly.  Then I uploaded the cutout file I created that created smaller accent pieces that wouldn't distort the scallops and cut it out once of six different patterned papers.  My team decided that our theme for this round would be Dreamy White Holidays- so I tried to keep the palette pretty muted and focused on white tone on tone paper with just a few hits of green and red.  I cut out tags and labels from the same left over papers and numbers as well.  It took some arranging to find combinations that worked, but I'm thrilled with the final result.  

To assemble the banner fold the pockets on the score lines and crease well.  Then I ran them through my sewing machine to close up the sides.  You could also use glue or double sided tape, but it might make the pocket opening a little narrower and you may need to adjust the size of the tags.  Glue or tape on your patterned pieces, labels and numbers.  I used 3D glue dots to lift the labels off the flag a bit.  Then just run some ribbon through the holes at the top of the banner.  I tied extra ribbon between each of the flags for some extra texture and color.  Add ribbon to the tops of the tags and write your activities on them.  Place them in the right pocket and enjoy your holiday season.

If my project wins this round all the project files will be available in Cricut Design Space.  I'll keep you posted. :)

XOXO,

Amy

Black and White Christmas Shadow Box

It's time for another Cricut Design Space Star contest post.  :)  This one is pretty simple, but I really love the impact it makes.

To create this project I simply cut lots of shapes using a single sheet of black cardstock and arranged them in the shape of present on another sheet of glittery white cardstock.  You can find the file with the Christmas shapes here.  The bow is the TomKat bow in the Cricut files.  I used a glue pen for the fine detailed pieces that I wanted flat against the background, then I used foam adhesive to pop some of the shapes off the back.
I put the whole thing in a shadow box.  Super simple.

I wanted some simple decorations to stage the shot of the shadow box, and came up with a second, super simple project.  I cut out these trees at 3 different sizes, 6, 9 and 11.5 inches high.  This file has the tree and the mirror image of the tree so it is the same on the back and front.  Just make sure if you use it and change the size to change it on both trees.  Sew around the sides of each tree leaving the bottom open.  I used bamboo skewers and these wooden discs with a small hole drilled in the center as the base.  I think they would be cute with spools as a base too.

And there you  have it, two simple but stunning Christmas decorations to freshen up your holiday display.

xoxo,
Amy

If you are interested in a Cricut of your own- you can find my affiliate link here. (an affiliate link just means that if you purchase a machine after clicking my link I will receive a small payment- your cost will not change)

Point of View Reveal Nov/Dec- ORNAMENTS

I can't believe we're already into December.  The days and weeks and months just fly by.  I hope you're all more prepared for your Holiday celebrations than I am.  But, I still have a couple of weeks left, right?  Anywho- Are you ready to share some ORNAMENT goodness?

Pretty awesome right?

This is my full project.

Wait- you want links?

 Okay:
Gwen: Gwenny Penny
Leanne: Organize and Decorate Everything
Amy: scroll down past the link party
Jonie: Just Between Friends
Ashlee: I'm Topsy Turvy

And now you:  Link up your ornament goodness right here-

Now for the Details about my project.

 There is this opening between the kitchen and the family room in my house.  I really like that it helps keep the children and their messy eating habits corralled in the kitchen, and it's a fun place to decorate.  This year however, we needed a little change.  First, with the addition of the homework station, there is a lot more color this area is exposed to.  Second- we moved our sofa so it's right under this opening, which means anything that gets put there is fair game to be touched/ grabbed and/or handled in some way by small children.  This necessitated the creation of some new decorations.

These babies were quick, cheap and virtually indestructible.  The triple threat of holiday decorations in my house.

I have just two tutorial pictures.  The rest I think you can handle on your own.  First, I cut out various sized circles out of boxes.  This gives the ornaments some stiffness.  Second, I traced the circles onto a double layer of felt and cut them out.  *Two bits of advice: Pin, pin, pin.  I know I typed it three times, but it's just the first bit of advice. ;)  The second is, don't do what I'm illustrating and cut the felt larger, once you've traced the circle onto the felt, cut your cardboard template just a bit smaller so it won't show through the sides.
The rest of the project involves hot glue and your imagination.  Have at them and hang them all over.

Here is a closer look at my three largest ones.

I hope you're having a wonderful season, full of cheer, family and happiness.  I look forward to seeing you and what you've been up to.
xoxo,
Amy

Getting into the Spirit {a Mom-day post}

Saturday was a no-good-very-bad kind of a day.  A lot of arguing, tantrums, crying and grumpiness- oh, and the kids were acting up too.  I was feeling un-loved, un-appreciated, and unhappy.  I was ready to call it quits on everything- my business, my mothering, the holidays- Bah and Humbug!! 

I pouted all day.  If no one else was going to be happy, well then, by golly, I wouldn't be happy either.

Sounds like a good plan, right?

After a good cry, a good venting to my sweet friend and a good dose of church I was ready to begin again.  After all, it is Christmas.  And I am the mom.  And if we are going to make memories, get in the Christmas Spirit and enjoy the holidays, well, that's my job. 

We were going to take a train ride, but it started raining, and with a 4 month old, we just didn't feel like it was a good idea.  So, we opted for a family movie night instead.  After deciding on that activity- I would like to say it was magical. But we had to have some arguing first over which movie we were going to watch. 

Awesome.

I ended up learning something.  The less I leave open for debate, the better.  So, I picked the movie and the treat. :)  We ended up watching Christmas Oranges which led to more tears and protests.  But I held firm.  If they wanted treats after the movie, they were going to have to watch this one. 

So, here is where the happy part of the story comes in.  The movie was wonderful.  It was delightful to watch the children and see how involved they got in the story.  My 6 year old was indignant about how the little girl was treated, and everyone was happy with the end of the show.  Then we went upstairs and made these:

Yum!

My purpose in telling you this story is one of encouragement.  Motherhood is frustrating. And this time of year seems to magnify that frustration.  You see pictures, movies, commercials and cards- all showing perfectly happy families, enjoying perfect moments, with perfect smiles in perfect settings.  Everyone wants that feeling- that moment.  And it seems like is should be much easier than it actually is to get there. 

The reality is much harder.  And messier.  And full of a lot more tears.  But, it is also much more worth it, and more enjoyable knowing how much effort it required to get there.  You have to be determined, and thick skinned, and persistent.  It is possible, though.

So, don't give up.

The moments will come and go.  So make sure you see them.  And enjoy them while they last.  Because once you've had your moment, you'll have to clean it all up. ;)

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season.  I'd love to hear about the special things you do with your family, or the things you try to do, or the things you want to do but it's just not the right time or season.
XOXO,
Amy

Jolly Holiday Pillow

 

It's my turn to post as part of Gwen's Haul Out The Holly event.  There have been some amazing projects done already, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it again this year.  If you are visiting from Gwenny Penny- Welcome!  I am delighted to have you. :)

It's probably no surprise to any of you who come here often, that the project I chose was a pillow. :)  I love pillows because they are fast, inexpensive and fun to try new techniques on.

Initially I planned to create a grid using buttons with a cute Christmas fabric border.  In the search for the right fabric, I found this fat quarter I had purchased and suddenly a new plan was hatched.  I decided to make my grid using felt embellishments pulled from the fabric itself. (the fabric is Ornaments in White in the Sleigh Ride collection by Caleb Gray)  Since your fabric is likely different from the one I chose, I'm not going to go into specifics about how I created each embellishment, but I will show you close ups of a few of them:

I did a lot of hand stitching on them, but you could easily use glue instead. (It would be MUCH faster)

Once your embellishments are made, we're ready to start creating the pillow.  For this 16" pillow I used 3 fat quarters and a scrap of muslin that was 10 1/2" square.  You will also need some quilt batting cut 16 1/2" if you want the quilted look I created.

First off let's cut the fabric:

10 1/2"X10 1/2" square of muslin, Red fabric border: (2) 1"X10 1/2", (2) 1" X 11 1/2"; Main fabric: (2) 3"X 11 1/2", (2) 3" X 16 1/2"

Now let's get sewing:

Take the two short red border strips and sew them on opposite sides of the muslin square.  (through the whole project we will be using a 1/4" seam allowance)

Press the seams toward the red border.  (this fabric strip is thin so you will want to make sure you don't stretch the fabric)

Take the longer red strips and pin to the remaining two sides.  Sew down.

Repeat with the accent fabric.  Again press the seam allowance toward the red border.  Add remaining sides and you have a finished front.  Well, almost.  Now we need to add the accents.  Typically I just eyeball spacing on things, but I figured you  might not be that laid back. ;)  The center square measures 10" so I measured the center point and went out from there.  I knew I wanted to hand quilt the border around the embellishments, so I wanted to go ahead and draw my circles for that before I added the embellishments (I used a water soluble marker).

You can see the arrow pointing to the center dot where an embellishment will be placed.  To make sure the traced circle was centered, I took a paper circle the size I wanted, folded it in quarters and punched a hole in the center.

I used that to find the center dot and traced around the template.

Here's the front all ready for embellishments.  I wanted the embellishments to have a quilted look to them so I put the batting behind the front panel before I added them.  I used embroidery floss and stitched them down around the border using 2 strands.  For the hand quilting border I used 4 strands of floss.  

I didn't have a large embroidery hoop (note to self, BUY ONE!) so I just basted the dickens out of the front panel before I did the stitching.  Once the embellishments and quilting are done- we need RUFFLES!

Take your ruffle fabric and cut it into 3" strips. (I used a fat quarter so I ended up with 6 strips)

Sew all the ends of the strips together forming one large circle, press the seams open and press the whole strip in half along the length.  Fold in quarters and finger press each fold- mark with a pin.

(make sure that there aren't seams at the folds, if there are, adjust the folds a bit so the seams fall along the edges)  At this point you can sew a running stitch along the raw edges and ruffle the fabric, but I decided I wanted the look of more of a pleat than a ruffle so I just chose to fold under pleats as I sewed the fabric down along the edges. (use a scant 1/4" seam to do this)

All that's left is the back.  I chose to use the left over pieces of my remaining fat quarters, so I have two different panels.  Cut each panel to 16 1/2" long.  Finish one long side of both panels with a 1/2" hem.  

Place the panel you want on the OUTSIDE - right side down on the front panel, line up the un-hemmed side.

Place the remaining panel down, lining up all the edges.  Sew around all four sides using a generous 1/4" seam allowance.  All that's left is clipping the corners and turning right side out.  At some point you will need to spray the front with water to dissolve the pen markings (don't soak the fabric, just a light spritz will do). Stuff with a pillow form and step back and enjoy.

And now you're set to have a Jolly Holiday!

Thanks again, Gwen, for having me in this year's event.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the celebration holds.

XOXO,

Amy

Linked up to Friday Flair Link Party at Whipperberry

Guest Posting at Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Hi friends!  Today I'm over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff sharing one of my family's favorite Christmas traditions.  It's our version of an advent and it's lots of fun, I hope you'll hop over and take a peek!

See you soon!
xoxo,
Amy

Point of View Reveal- Gifts

I was pretty excited for this month's theme for Point of View.  It's not very often that I get a jump start on getting gifts crossed off my list.  But I think it backfired on me because looking at the awesome projects on the collage, I'm thinking that now I have to make many more gifts. :)
Are you interested in finding out more about these projects?  Click on the links below to find more details:
Michelle's adorable doughnut snowman at A Little Tipsy
Leanne from Organize and Decorate everything has a great idea for personalizing napkins.
Me- scroll down
Gwen has a tutorial for these adorable fleece hats at Gwenny Penny
Debra from Housewife Eclectic- one of our Guest posters for the month (please head over and give her some love)- has a gift with a secret- go check out what it is.
Caitlin from Cait Create  (another guest that we are so excited to have- please say hi to her) Has an inexpensive but lovely gift that would be great to keep on hand for those unexpected moments when you need something to give.
Jonie from Just Between Friends is back from having a new baby and we are so glad to have her!  Angry birds are a big hit at our house, I think this one is going on my to make list for sure. :)
Now- on to the full disclosure of my project:

I am all about cute handmade gifts, but even more about gifts that have a catchy saying to go with them.  For instance one of my favorite neighbor gifts I have ever received is a can of chili and a 2-liter of root beer with a tag that said "Have a Rootin' Tootin' Christmas!"  I still laugh about it. :)  So when I saw these cute dishtowels (made even cuter with some fabric scraps) at IKEA for $.49 I knew I would love to use them as gifts for my friends, but that it needed a cute card or saying to go with it to complete the effect.  So I came up with this:

In case it's hard to read it says: "A good friend sees you through the messes in life.  A better friend stays and helps you clean up!  Thank you for being the best kind of friend"  It would be cute to use this quote with some great cleaning supplies, hand knit or crocheted dishcloths or anything else along those lines.
For a quick and dirty tutorial on how I embellished the towels:
I used Heat n Bond lite (the sewable kind) because I know they are going to get a lot of use at my house so I wanted to sew them down.  To make this a no sew project just use the regular Heat n Bond that doesn't require sewing- it can still be washed but you won't want to use it as heavily.

Trace your shape on the wrong side of the heat n bond (the paper side), if your shape is directional, you will want to trace the reverse image.  Iron the heat n bond to the wrong side of your fabric (follow manufacturers instructions).  Cut out shape and arrange on fabric, remove paper backing and iron down.  If you are using heat n bond lite you will want to stitch down the fabric.  I used a decorative blanket stitch on mine.

Package it up and you have a cute, custom and inexpensive gift to give friends, neighbors, sisters- everyone! :)  You don't have to make these seasonal, you could choose fabrics that match the recipient's decor, monogram them or just keep them simple- the possibilities are endless.
Now it's your turn.  What gifts have you come up with?  Remember they can be new or old, your own ideas or someone else's you've implemented yourself.  Just come party with us and let your Point of View be heard.  You can join the fun at Leann's blog here.
We will be taking December off from Point of View and resuming in January so watch for announcements about upcoming themes and dates, and as always, we love having guests participate with us, so if you'd like to join in the fun leave a comment or e-mail any of the POV blogs and let us know, we'll get you on our list. :)
Have a great Friday!
xoxo,
Amy
p.s. Am I the only one slightly panicked that next week is Thanksgiving?  I have SO much to do! :) http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx93/SaSites/freeforallfriday1.jpg" />