On the 10th Day of Christmas...

Wow! I just cannot believe it's the 10th Day of Christmas already! Where has the time all gone? I'm not done with my shopping and decorating yet!

Luckily if you have just a wee bit of time, you can crank out a few fun handmade gifts quickly and easily! Check out my Nightlight tutorial below for a quick and easy gift for those of you who are as short on time like I am!

Step 1: Head over to a dollar store or discount chain and nab a covered nightlight. (This one was formerly a Spongebob Squarepants Nightlight from the Dollar Tree.) Take apart pieces, remove the insert and measure the acetate.

Step 2: Cut out a heavy Cardstock piece the same size as the acetate. Using your favorite diecut, cut a space out in the center of your cardstock strip. Set aside. 

Step 3: Print/stamp out your image in the middle of a sheet of thin copy paper and color. (Note: It is important to use thin copier-type paper so that you can see the light through the image, without creating a fire hazard!) Use a smaller diecut to cut out your image.

Step 4: Using high temperature glue, sparingly glue the image to the center of the soft acetate. (Note: I recommend E6000 Glue, because it is flexible, and is not flammable!) Center your image behind the cut out section of cardstock and sandwich the hard plastic shell and the softer acetate slip around the image and the cardstock slip. I used a bit of glue on the hard plastic too - but *only* where the shadows are - otherwise it might show through!

Step 5: Snap all layers into place and glue edges. (Note: I used binder clips to clamp the layers together until they dried. You can find binder clips in any office supply store.) Attach to lighted plug unit, and you're all set! Easy peasy right?

Enjoy your new nightlight, or give it as a thoughtful handmade gift!

I hope you like my tutorial today and would love to hear your comments and see your finished projects! Please leave and questions or bloglinks for your finished projects in the comments section below! Happy Holidays!

On the 9th Day of Christmas....

We wanted to share our Christmas decorations.....Share with us a photo of your Christmas Tree, Holiday decorations - anything that's a favorite decoration for the holidays.

We just finally finished decorating this past Monday night - and I thought I'd share with you a photo of one of my favorite decorations that changes every year - our Christmas Village.  Every year we add a little something to the village that reminds us of the year.  As you can imagine, each year adding a little 'something', we have totally outgrown our village area, so now we have to rotate buildings and little add ins each year.  My husband creates this beautiful scape every year with the most care. 

There's nothing like enjoying a fire and this beautiful Christmas Village.

Gorgeous isn't it??

Here is Shelly's tree.

Some of the design team girls wanted to share their holiday decorations with you too -

Audrey's Lovely tree is dressed and ready for Santa!

Stephanie is sharin' her tree, complete with a little 'gift' under it this year!

Sammi's Glittery and Gold tree is lit for all to enjoy!!

So, join us in celebrating the holiday and show us your favorite holiday decorations - it could be a tree, outdoor Christmas lights, a favorite ornament or a decoration that you just LOVE looking forward to unpacking every Christmas.  Share it with us by posting a link the comment section below- we'd love to see your decorating to help get us in the holiday spirit. :D  One random reply to this post will win an image of their choice from the store.

Heck, if we get enough Christmas decorations it will be like we visited all of our followers and got so spend some Christmas time with them - now doesn't that sounds like fun!

8th Day of Christmas

8th Days of Christmas!

Now how fast is the time going by! And Christmas is coming closer and closer!

I am busy here with decorating the house now. And I have so much fun with all the great tutorials Shelly and her Team have put together. 

This year my house is decorated with selfmade projects and this makes that this year will be extra special!

So I thought I would share this idea with you all.

I love to burn candle's all over the house. Especially the little cupholderlights.

So this year I all dress them up!

I made this Lumaire for you girls as example.

- First I messured the size of the glass holder on top and at the bottom.

hen I printed out the beautiful Holly and colored her. And the berry's I used Sparkly Stickles and let them dry.

- I used sparkly red cardstock from my stash and cut that according to the size of the glass holder. 

- Then I took a Martha Stewart punch with holes in it and punched the bottom of the paper.

- I choose a little ribbon and waved it true the holes

- I taped and glued the paper together around the glas holder.

- I made the bow.

- Once the Stickles were dry I added the Holly on the paper just above the bow.

Attention: Make sure nothing sticks out above the glas edge. This in case of the ope fire.

to be honest I use electric little candles when I use these paper ornaments!

I hope you like this one and make them for you home. Oh and before I forget, you also can use the Pine image from Shelly!

I can't wait to see what you girls make! Hope you let us know in the comments below!

Thanks and see you soon!

xxx

On the 7th Day Of Christmas

Welcome to another fun day in our 12 Days of Christmas Event!

Christmas dinner is such a wonderful tradition for family and friends to visit and spend time together. When I was a little girl, my father's entire family met at Grandma's house for Christmas dinner and the exchanging of gifts. Of course, Santa would always show up, too!


Today, on the seventh day of Christmas, we're starting our own tradition, and we're inviting all of you to join us! Today is our big virtual Christmas dinner, and we'd love for all of our followers and friends to join us and bring a favorite dish! (If you'd like to include the recipe, that would be even better! Maybe Santa or one of his elves will even compile them all into a downloadable cookbook for us, too, if we're all good little crafters!)

Christmas Dinner just has to include Ham or turkey, or it just wouldn't be Christmas! Since we are hosting this fabulous dinner, it's only fair that Shelly's Images provide the turkey!





Mmmmmm and what a yummy looking turkey it is!

Now, for my contribution, I'm bringing dessert. Yes, yes, I know, we need some side dishes, too. I'm counting on the rest of you to bring those! I absolutely have to bring a no bake cheesecake, because it is a tradition in our house. If I don't make cheesecake for Christmas, I would have lots of frustrated hungry relatives on my hands who feel like they've been cheated if they don't get their cheesecake! Usually, I make three varieties, plain, cherry topped and blueberry topped. Today, I am bringing a plain cheesecake and toppings on the side, so that you can top it with whatever you like!

This cheesecake if very light and fluffy and people usually love it. If you've never tried it, you really need to! It is so so so yummy!





And for those of you who want to make it yourself, at home, here's the recipe:


No Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip, thawed
1 graham cracker crust
1 can of cherry pie filling

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with mixer on medium speed till fluffy. Add sour cream, sugar and vanilla; Beat until combined. Fold in whipped topping, then spread into crust.

Top with Cherry Pie filling. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set.



Now that I have made you all hungry, who else is coming to our virtual Christmas dinner?! Tell us you're joining us and what you are bringing for dinner!

On the 6th Day of Christmas.....

Today I want to share one of my favorite holiday projects with you. I made one of these Christmas Shopping Planners for myself a few years ago and I absolutely LOVE it! There are pockets inside of the planner for each member of the family. An insert helps keep track of which gifts I have purchased and which gifts I still need to buy. The reverse side of the insert even has spots for keeping track of the stocking gifts. I add each child's letter to Santa to their pocket so I always have those with me when I am shopping. And I add receipts to the pockets for those dreaded returns. The very best part of a Christmas Shopping Planner like this is that the shopping list is hidden. I can't tell you how many times I have pulled out my paper list only to have my husband clearly read what he is getting for Christmas. With this planner his part of the shopping list is hidden in his own pocket of the planner while I show him the lists for the kids. :)

So...let's get started making our Christmas Shopping Planner.

For this project you will need

....

1 color of cardstock for every pocket that you plan to make. I used Bazzill colors.

Any cardstock you plan to use to decorate the front of your planner. I used Crimson, Leap Frog, and Natural.

2 coordinating Patterned Papers. 1 will be for your covers and the other for an accent on the front of your cover. The red is something from my stash (sorry that I don't know the name). The paper I used for an accent on the front is "Evergreen Christmas Mix" from the Paper Studio.

Ribbons and Fibers for tying the book closed and decorating the wire edges

Bind it All or other items for binding your booklet

Copic Markers or your choice of tools for coloring your image

Image for the front. I used Shelly's Images "Santa"

Adhesive

Bone Folder Tool

Embossing Folder (optional)

Cricut and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge for cutting pockets or template (link below)

ChristmasShoppingPocket.doc

(If you have Design Studio but don't have the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge send me an email. I will send you a Design Studio file to cut the pockets)

Document for inserts (links below)
Shopping List Insert

Stickles, Embossing Powder, VersaMark pen, embossing heat gun, and Diamond Dust (optional)

Old Cricut cutting mat or chipboard for front and back cover

Scissors

First cut all of your pockets for your planner. I cut out one for each member of my immediate family and then one "other" pocket. It holds multiple shopping inserts for the Grandmas and Grandpas and other gifts that I need to purchase.

Fold your pocket as shown. Add adhesive to the flaps and fold to close the pocket. (From experience, liquid glue really is the better choice of adhesive for these pockets. It holds better.)

At this stage I would write the names on each pocket. In this picture I am showing the pockets from my personal planner. I didn't put names on the new planner that I made for this tutorial.

Now we need to measure for our cover. If you are using the template or your own Cricut cuts then your pockets might vary slightly. Please measure as shown here. My pockets measure 5 inches from what will be the bound edge to the top of the front of the pocket. We want the "tab" part of pocket to extend past the cover of the book.

My pockets measure 4 3/8 inches from what will be the top to what will be the bottom of our book. So I want my front and back cover to measure 5 x 4 7/8 inches.

Now we are ready to measure the patterned paper that will wrap our front and back cover. Place your patterned paper wrong side up and place your covers on top of the paper. Measure the patterned paper to be approximately 1/2 inch larger than the covers on each side.

Apply glue to the cover base. Place the cover-glue side down-on the wrong side of the patterned paper. Take time here to really press and rub so that the glue is evenly spread. Turn the cover base and patterned paper and rub on the right side to spread the glue.

Cut the corners of the patterned paper. Make the cuts about 1/16th of an inch from the corner of the cover.

Now fold the paper over the edge of the cover base on all sides. This will make gluing easier. Add glue to the patterned paper edges and fold over the edge of the cover base. Repeat so that both the front and back cover are wrapped with patterned paper. *Tip* Corners not matching perfectly? No problem. Just glue the corners that you cut off onto the corners of the cover base. Now when you fold the flaps over you can't see where the corners don't match perfectly.

Now measure a piece of coordinating solid colored cardstock. Since my covers are 5 by 4 7/8 inches my cardstock for the inside of each cover will measure 4 1/2 by 4 3/8 inches.

Glue one piece of cardstock to what will be the inside of the front cover. Before gluing the inside of the back cover you need to attach the ribbon that will be used to tie your planner closed. My ribbon measures 29 inches long. I glued my ribbon about 3/8 inch from the right side of the back cover.

Once the ribbon is glued down it is time to glue down the solid cardstock on the inside of the back cover.

Now you are ready to decorate the front cover of your planner. Keep in mind where your binding will be and where your ribbon will be. I used the Versamark pen to emboss the jingle bell and the glasses on Santa. I also used Diamond Dust to give a little "snow" to Santa's hat.

Use the Bind it All to punch holes in your front and back cover. You can also punch holes in your covers and just tie with a ribbon. Another option would be using large rings.
Once your covers are punched it is time to punch your pocket inserts.
Use the Bind it All machine to crimp the wires around your book. Take care before crimping the wires that your book is put together correctly and that the pockets are all facing the right direction. (Yep...the voice of experience talking again) I used 7/8 inch wires to close my planner.
Print the inserts for your pockets. Feel free to add names to the tops of each of your inserts. In my book I print the Stocking gifts on the reverse side of the gift list. You can alter your inserts in any way that works best for you.
Now cut ribbons and fibers to decorate the wires of your planner. In my opinion various sizes and colors really look great. And I love the look of the fibers. Just don't choose any ribbon that is too wide. There you go. A finished Christmas Shopping Planner that will be quite a conversation piece with your friends and store clerks. And of course you can vary this project for other booklets and planners.

Do you want to win this planner? Just respond to this post and we will choose a random winner to receive this beautiful Christmas Shopping Planner.  Be sure to check back on December 13th to see who all of our winners are.

On the 5th Day of Christmas

It is hard to believe that we are almost half way through our 12 Days of Christmas event here at the blog.  But we have so many more wonderful things to share with you and more freebies and prizes.

For the 5th Day of Christmas we have a few presents for you.  I have made some wonderful free sentiments for you to use on your cards.  Please leave me a little comment if you decide to save the sentiments.  And we will choose one random winner on December 13th from the comments made to this post.   

(psssst.....wanna know a little secret?  You will need the "Making a List" sentiment for the project we are showing you tomorrow.)

Adding a second copy of Jingle Bells as .png  Just not sure that the quality is as good.

On the 4th day of Christmas

On the 4th day of Christmas

Today I would love to show you how you can easily make a lovely table ornament!

We all use napkins on our Christmas table. They can be from cotton or paper.

And to give them a bit more of flair I made these napkin holders.

You need:

 as many pieces of red cardstock 5" x 3" as desired holders.

border punch doily lace Martha Stewart (or any other)

glue and tape

Holly image from Shelly's Images 

colored with copic markers

Hotfix red rhinestones.

First you punch the both sided of the red papers.

add the tape and glue on top of the tape and add together so you get a round circle.

Then color the Holly in the colors that you like.

Glue them on top of the holder and add the rhinestones.

Enjoy the crafting and please let us know what you think of it and show us what you made!  One random person will be chosen from the comments of this post to win a free image from Shelly's Images!

Thanks for stopping by!

xxx

On the 3rd Day of Christmas - Christmas Place Cards

I hope everyone is enjoying our blog event.  Be sure to keep coming back every day.  We have so many wonderful things to share with you.  And be sure to continue to add to our Christmas Cookie Exchange.  We are still accepting recipes there.  We hope to have a nice collection of recipes to make a nice printable cookbook.

Your guests and family will definitely "ooh and aaah" when they see the table decorated with today's project.  

To make our Christmas Tree place cards just start by cutting out the tree.  You can use the template or I am also providing a cut file for use with Make the Cut.  For my glasses I chose to cut my tree at about 5 inches tall.

Just click on the image to save the template.  Or use the .mtc cut file.

SI Tree Place Card

I wanted to give my tree a little shape.  I used my glue bottle to roll the edges of the tree.

I sprayed my tree with some Glitter Mist from Tattered Angels.  And since I was so impatient I dried the mist with my embossing heat tool. 

Now write the names on the place cards.

And continue to decorate as you wish.  I chose to use gold Stickles to put dots around the tree.  I also decorated the star at the top of the tree with the Stickles.

 See how easy!  You can make up a bunch of these in no time at all.  And what a nice gift to give to family and friends too!

Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think of our tutorial.  And if you try it be sure to send us some pictures.