It’s Christmas Prep Day!

The 25th of the month has rolled around again and it’s time to talk Christmas 2012 which is only ten months away!
I have worked on some ornaments this month, but since they’re for an ornament swap, I cannot show you a photo. Suffice to say they were quick and easy, but I love them! I love them so much, in fact, that I made extras for family. You’ll get to see them after the swap is complete.
Since I cannot show you my project this month, I thought I’d share my Christmas board from Pinterest. I have pinned some decorating ideas, ornament, sewing, and craft ideas, Christmas cards, gift tags, and a recipe or two. Take a look:

Here are some of the things from my Christmas board that I’ve already done:
Santa mugs – I have a collection of old Santa mugs gathered from various sources. This year they were displayed in the Hot Drinks station created in the sunroom.

The popcorn ornaments I made a few years ago for the movie theater Christmas tree. I shamelessly pinned that from this blog.

This is the original photo of the crocheted jingle bell garland that inspired me to make one for Jessica’s tree.

This bread pan with greenery and candles was meant to be an Advent wreath. I did a similar arrangement, but with only three candles and they were red. Since it had the greenery, I didn’t light my candles. (We won’t talk about the time we had an Advent wreath made of a slice of wood and some real greenery and I fell asleep on the couch while it was still lit. Greg came home from work in the nick of time…)
From homespunliving.blogspot.com






I hope this post works as inspiration for you to be thinking about the Christmas season in February. After all, it’s wonderful to keep Christmas in your heart all year-round, right?

Tammy

A Crafty Friday

When Jessica and Scott moved into their new home, she found several old windows stashed in the small storage shed outside. We spent this gray, rainy Friday afternoon personalizing the window as a birthday gift for Jessi’s cousin Sara.

After some Pinterest searches, she settled on a monogram from vinyl to decorate the window. Sara is getting married in June, so the monogram is the first initial of her fiancé's  last name, then she added both their first names.

I borrowed the Cricut Expressions from the library and cut the components for her. Originally we were going to use the vinyl adhered to the glass and call it good. I offered her the option of etching the monogram onto the glass, and due to the obvious antiquity of the window, we both decided that was the best option.

We used the vinyl I cut as a stencil for the etching cream. It took us about an hour to place and adhere the vinyl to the glass, then we each grabbed a paintbrush and started applying the etching cream. The window is so large, it was quite a feat to wash off the etching cream in my tiny kitchen sink, but with the two of us, we got it done.

I wish I could have taken photos during the process, but for most steps, two sets of hands were necessary. Here is a photo of the finished product:

 

It’s not a crisp photo, but you can see the ornamental handle at the bottom. It’s kind of scrolly and fancy. This house was built in the early 1900’s, so this window is over 100 years old. The glass is bubbly in a spot or two, and there’s a line across the window that at first I thought was a crack, but it’s actually inside the glass – just an imperfection.

Jessica has a few more of these windows, and I cannot wait to make one of these for Greg and I.