DIY Christmas banner

12 days 'til Christmas!  How crazy is that?  I still have many gifts to make/buy.  Isn't it funny how that works?  A month ago I had just about all of our gifts figured out (minus a few) and now I'm scrambling to finish creating them!  Sheesh.

I have, however, been creating little Christmas goodies for me.  Selfish, I know.

I wanted to share this easy and cute DIY project that I did recently.

I stole borrowed the idea from this wonderful blog and made it my own.  She has her letters hung individually on a coat rack thing.  I didn't want to have to buy a wood board/coat rack so I decided to just make it into a banner instead.


Here's what you need:
CD's - enough for the word you are going to use.  We actually had a LOT of old mixed CDs and mix n match old computer programs.  I'm sure you could find some for cheap.
Paper - whatever patterns you want
Stencils
Paint - to use for the stencils if you want
Christmas ribbon
Drill - or something to punch holes into CD's

Let's begin!

The first thing I did was to trace the CD's onto the patterned paper and cut them out.  Make sure you have enough so you can cover both sides of the CD.

You can either do this after gluing paper or before, but I chose to do this before.  Drill holes into your CD's one at a time.

It seems really scary - I had my husband do one first to test it out - but it really isn't.  Just drill down where you want the hole and once the hole goes through, drill back out.  I only cracked one CD while doing this.  If you go straight up and down you shouldn't crack any.

Glue on your patterned paper.  I just used mod podge and it worked great! Don't forget to glue it onto both sides.

 

After that, stencil the letters you want onto the CD's (or write them.  I have horrible handwriting, though),
poke holes where the drill hole is (I just used a pencil for that),
string your ribbon through (I tied the ribbon off so the CD's wouldn't slide around, but you do what you think is right),
and hang!

I love it and I only had to buy stencils and ribbon for this project (about $4 for them).  If you don't have enough CD's, just go buy some from a thrift store.  They usually have plenty.

Turn on your Christmas lights and enjoy :)

A Pinteresting Christmas

Remember that time I posted this post about November Pinterest goals?

Yeah... about that...

I honestly didn't do any of those.  They were great ideas, but they just didn't happen.
I think it might be because most of those required going out and buying certain things to make them with.  I don't just have rope, wood, small big headed nails, and whatnot just lying around ALL THE TIME. 

Anyways..

I wish I would've done one for Christmas because I have been cranking these Pinterest pins out like no other.

Like this one:

Source: buddingbaketress.blogspot.com via Alison on Pinterest

this one:

Source: recoveringcrafthoarder.blogspot.com via Alison on Pinterest

and this one:

Source: thepapermama.com via Alison on Pinterest

 I'll share 'em all later.  Promise.

I also have a couple of awesome pins in the works (really.. I do.). 

Source: marthastewart.com via Alison on Pinterest

Balloons + Yarn + Glue.  So easy and it'll look great!

Source: thepapermama.com via Alison on Pinterest

A variation of this, but it's my inspiration.  It's so cute and hip and I already have the base for the wreath and cute yarn!

Why is Christmas time one of the best times to get super crafty?  I feel like I'm ten times more crafty in the winter.  Maybe it's 'cause we're cooped up all day and we're all in the giving mood to make crafts for everyone.  I'm sure that's my reason.  I still have too many crafts/gifts to make for people.  I even had them picked out a month ago!  Why haven't I started yet?!

Now onto some of the things that I really want to get done before Christmas.  This time it's really going to happen.

Source: oleanderandpalm.blogspot.com via Alison on Pinterest

I can do these with the girls.  I think they'd love to make ornaments.  We'll probably end up painting some, stamping others, and cookie cutting some as well. 

Source: blog.craftzine.com via Alison on Pinterest

I have some of these big light bulbs.  Actually, one strand that I got from my parents in college to use as decorations.  What am I going to use with one strand of big light bulbs?  Maybe I'll take the bulbs and do this.  Do you think that'd be okay and not wasteful?

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Alison on Pinterest

I need to make some stockings this year.  We don't have ANY in our house.  I'd also much rather not buy them.  It'd be way more meaningful anyways if I made them.  I wish I had burlap lying around the house (or have it accessibly cheap).

On the same note as stockings...

We don't have a mantel in our house.  We have a gas stove, which heats up our house, and no fireplace!  Sad, I know.  If I'm going to make stockings I should have a place to put them.  What do you think of these ideas for stocking holders?  I could whip up something like this from pieces at the re-store in town (awesome place to find used EVERYTHING dealing with housing materials - paint, wood, pipes, cabinets, etc). 

Source: etsy.com via Alison on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Daffny on Pinterest

What are you pinning for Christmas?  Any great craft ideas I should know about?!

Linking up with Michelle for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday.
And Jane for Wednesday Walkabout.

A few Christmas crafts

This past Saturday I went to my good friend Holly's house for a day of crafts and fun.  We spent the day making some really fun goodies and just catching up.  It was so great seeing her.  Did I mention that she's also 4 months pregnant?  :) :)

Anyways, we made a few things that I want to share with you.  One of them was some very inexpensive coasters.
She had bought plain white tiles from Home Depot for $.16 each.
We each picked out some cute paper and mod podged it on to the tiles.
After a few hours they were dry and we sprayed a sealant on top so that the glue wouldn't get removed from water or heat.  Those dried for a few more hours and then we added some felt to the bottom for the protection of our tables and viola!  We had cute coasters!

We also made some really cute Christmas cards.  I found the ideas for these two on Pinterest.  Aren't they cute?!  They were really fun to make, too!

I hope that your weekend was fun!  I'm very excited for Christmas to get here.  I'm ready to spend time with family and friends.

A few Christmas decorations

One of my goals for this blog is to share with you some ways that I have created things by being frugal.  I'm going to call this frugal-ness.  :)

I believe that everyone can find goodies with very little money.  So this is my first post regarding frugal-ness and I'm excited to share with you what I've found/done!  I spend a lot of time finding ways to create things for as little money as possible. 

This is our first Christmas as a married couple and we're also hosting our first Christmas party in a few days.  I wanted to make sure our house looked somewhat cute & decked out in Christmas gear.  I found a few great ideas on Pinterest (check out my Holiday Pinterest Board).  I took those ideas and put my own twist on them so that it would be a little of my own as well.

The first thing I did was fill some glass jars/containers with candy canes and ornaments.

I found the smaller containers at the local St. Vincent's Thrift Store and the large ones were a wedding gift (although I have seen some similar at the dollar store).  The ornaments and candy canes came from the dollar store.  You can get a pack of the little ones (glittered or shiny) and it comes with 15 of them!  All I bought was 4 boxes of small ornaments, 2 boxes of big ones and that's it!  I think this whole decor (included on both sides of my fireplace) cost me about $11!

I also saw an idea for framing wrapping paper and cool Christmas-y quotes.  That is where these frames came from.  The only ones that aren't wrapping paper are the "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on the top and the middle frame.  All of these frames were bought from Walmart for about $2-4 (I can't really remember, it's been awhile).

This frame has a wonderful Dr. Seuss quote from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I just took the quote in Microsoft Word and played with font sizes/colors.  It was fun and the hubby even helped! 

I hope that gives you a little inspiration if you are looking for some.  Nick and I did another art project yesterday, not Christmas related, that I'll show you when it's finished drying.  :)