Okay, okay, I don't have any directions for this. I basically combined two ideas I saw over at Tatertots and Jello to make something I think is really fabulous for the Christmas season. One of the bloggers over there made a Christmas tree shape out of the scripture found in Luke 2: 13-14. Another showed of her ornagami skills (get it - ornament origami) by making a 3D star. So I put the star on top of the scripture tree, and its' probably my favorite part of my Christmas decor.

Stocking Hanger

Time Needed: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 2x4 cut to desired length, paint, paint pen, hooks


Directions: Paint the background and let dry. Then, paint on the words or designs you'd like with your paint pain. Again, let dry. Add the hooks, using as many as you want/need to accommodate all the good little girls and boys in your home. Then, hang on the wall. Nice and easy and very fun. Thanks to Monica for making this for me - what a cutie!

Mistletoe

Time Needed: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: green felt, glue gun, scissors, pearl beads, ribbon or raffia

Directions: Cut out the pattern you'd like to use for your mistletoe. (I got mine here.) I also double backed mine to make it hold its shape when hung, but you do what works for you. Glue on the beads wherever you'd like the mistletoe berries to go. Glue on the ribbon or raffia however you'd like in order to hang, then hang and find your hubby! Woo woo!

Christmas Feet

Time Needed: 5 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: red, green, and white nail polish, toothpick

Paint your toes red and green, alternating toes. Then, once that's dried enough, use the toothpick to add white dots. Aww, Christmas!

Holiday Ornament Wreath

Time Needed: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: wicker wreath, glue gun, various assorted ornaments, ribbon

Directions: OK this could not be any easier. Hot glue your ornaments around your wicker frame in the pattern/layout of your desire. Pack them in as tightly as you can so that you can't see the wicker. And, feel free to use as much behind-the-scenes glue as you want to hold stuff in place. I used like 5 sticks. When you're done, tie a ribbon on the top and hang it from your door. Voila!

Helpful hint: I got all my supplies at the dollar store for a total of $6. Nice.

Owl Stockings

Time Needed: 2 hours
Level of difficulty: intermediate
Materials needed: sewing machine, buttons, needle and thread, felt, 1/2 yard flannel, ribbon

Directions: Cut out the shape you'd like the stocking to be in. Then, cut out the owl, his beak, his wing, the branch, and the leaves. Pin them together and sew them on the top layer of the stocking. Leave the buttons off for now. Then, fold over the top of the stocking and sew down so that the lip is pretty. Pin the two sides of the stocking together and stick the ribbon to where the back seam will be. Sew together with the fronts touching and then flip right side out. Stitch on your button eyes and button holly berries. Hang over your fireplace (or in my case, closet) and bask in the glow of your wonderful creativity.

Fall Applique Shirt

Time Needed: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: intermediate
Materials needed: t-shirt, brown and orange felt, brown, orange, and green embroidery floss, scissors, needle, pins
Directions: Cut a circle out of the orange felt. Cut a dent in the top and bottom to make it more pumpin-y looking. Then, cut a stem out of the brown fabric. Pin them to place on the shirt and embroider around the outside the same way you would stitch a pattern (like in the "I love you" or the "buon appetito" signs). Make sure you use extra thick thread this time to ensure it stays on the shirt and make sure your knots are tight. Then, make the pumpkin look more like a pumpkin by adding 2 curved lines down the length of it. Take the green floss and make yourself a curved vine. And.. there you go! You can wear it from now clear till Christmastime because it's a plain pumpkin and that means fall. If you wanna make it Halloween-y, take some black felt and make eyes and a mouth and sew them on. I left it as is because I want to be able to wear it longer. Have fun!

"I Love You" embroidered sign

You may be thinking to yourself: Self, this looks all red and covered in hearts and... um... it's October. Doesn't this girl realize it's more Halloween than Valentine's day? Well, dear reader, let me assure you that I get it. For those of you who don't know, my last name is Valentine, so I get to do this kind of craft whenever I feel like it. :)

Time Needed: 1 hour
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: picture frame, scissors, embroidery thread, needle, embroidery hoop, fabric (both colored and plain), Fray Check, quilt batting, pencil, computer and printer (optional)

Directions: Use your computer to print out the design you want to embroider. Then, trace it on to the fabric. (Or, just free-hand your drawing on the fabric.) Take your colored fabric and cut out a heart. Line the edges with Fray Check and let dry. Put the batting behind the fabric and put it in the embroidery hoop. Then, use the embroidery floss to trace the outline you drew on the fabric. This is done by poking the needle through the top of the fabric and then poking it back down a few millimeters forward and pulling the thread through. The next stitch will poke through a few millimeters ahead of the completed stitch and work backwards to where you've previously stitched from. This gives a clean, thin, even line. Continue until done. Lay the dried heart where desired and sew on using a fat stitch. Don't worry if the stitches are uneven - it makes it look really cute if they are a little off. Tie off the thread when done. Then, use the cardboard form in the frame to back the finished stitched product and put it in the frame. Or, use the glass as your form and let the fabric be on the outside.

Festive Fourth Flops

Time needed: 30 minutes
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 3 swatches of fabric in red, white and blue, felt, scissors, glue gun, flip flops
Note: The entire cost of this project was $4.25, and I had enough leftover fabric to make at least one more pair for just the cost of flips, which I got at Michael's for $1.

Directions: Cut 18 circles of the white fabric (I used the bottom of a soda can as a stencil), 18 circles of the red fabric (I used the bottom of a hairspray bottle as a stencil), and 18 circles of the blue fabric (I used the bottom of a nail polish bottle as a stencil) and get that glue gun heated up. Start with the white fabric. Lay down 2 circles to be the base of your white flowers. This pattern is very similar to the foursquare flower pattern, so take a look at that if you need more help. Instead of folding the circles in half, fold them in thirds and glue them down. This way, you'll have 6 poofy petals rather than four. After you do this to both base circles, you should have four circles left. Using two per flower, crinkle these and glue them to the middle to continue the poofy petal effect. Follow the same directions for the red and the blue fabrics. (If you wanted, you could mix the fabric colors for a multicolored flower or two.) Then, cut 6 squares of felt to fit the back of the flowers and glue them to the back of the flowers for some extra support on the backing. Take the large white flower and glue it to the thong of the flip flop. Place the red and blue flowers just to the side (or, what the heck, place them wherever you'd like as long as you think it's cute), being sure to glue them to the thong as well. Then, take a few strips of the felt and glue them to the back of the flower and around the backside of the thong to add some extra staying power. And there you go - cute summery flips that are going to be just perfect for your Fourth of July celebration! And, this technique is so cute, who needs those expensive flips you see at the store? You can make your own, feel just as cute, and be so proud of what you came up with. Woo hoo!