DIY Paper Garland

I seem to be transitioning into a vintage book theme for much of our Christmas decor. Last year my boys and I made some beautiful heart paper ornaments, along with a rolled paper star for the top of the tree.

This year I decided to try my hand at making a paper garland. I posted a pic on my instagram this afternoon, which sparked questions as to how it was made. That is where this blog post comes in :).

I know that there are a bunch of people making similar garlands, and I in no way claim that this is my own original idea, this is just my own interpretation. 

 

You will need a big stack of paper; from books, sheet music, maps... whatever you would like. A paper punch of the size and shape that you desire, but at least 1 1/2" at it's narrowest point. And a sewing machine with heavy white thread, set at a fairly wide stitch.

 

Start by punching out a big pile of paper pieces, you will need quite a bit to make a long garland. 

Pull out several inches of thread from both the spool and bobbin before starting your stitches, this will be for hanging later. Sew 4 paper pieces at a time, right down the middle. Between each little stack of papers, make several "empty" stitches to create a space between each paper ornament.
Continue along until you have the length you desire.

Leave another few inches of thread on this end for hanging.

Now you can begin fanning out your pages. Press each piece open to create a 3D effect.

Now you have your very own paper garland =).
I will be adding mine to my wall tree, once I get it put up.

No classic literature was harmed in the making of this garland. I generally use books that are damaged, or that were destined for the dump.... especially copies of old Reader's Digest books ;).

Dollar Store Christmas Village, Revamped

 I am SO excited about this little village! 

 My Mom has a village that she has collected for years and has it set up all winter on top of her piano, complete with a little skating pond. I have always wanted one, I just haven't found one that was "me"... that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg!! 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon this blog, via Pinterest, that really got my wheels turning. She had taken a cheap village, the kind you can find at the dollar store or Walmart, you know the ones with the poorly painted details. What she did was GENIUS!

Here is my version.

I started with a dollar store village. I really liked the shape and texture of these three houses, and of course I had to have a church =). I haven't decided about the little people yet... but I picked them up just in case.

 On the other blog she had spray painted the pieces, which admittedly would have been much easier, but I decided to use what I had on hand. I mixed equal parts white and antique white acrylic paint, with just a little bit of pearlizing medium for a bit of shimmer.

 

I then started applying coats to the houses with a 1" artist's brush. It took about 4 coats to cover everything, especially the roofs and little nooks and crannies. Once that was dry I painted all the raised "snow" areas with white paint, to make the snow stand out against the ivory a bit.

I forgot to get a before pic of the trees.... but they are just basic bottle brush trees that you can get at Walmart, or anywhere they sell the villages. Walmart has them in white, and "flocked" green. To make them match the houses I dipped them in a white wash solution of my paint mixture with quite a bit of water, mixed really well! Spray painting would work much better for this, but again, work with what you've got ;).

The last part is making everything "snowy". For this I used modge podge and mica flakes, but glitter would work just as well. I applied the modge podge with a small brush on the houses, just where the white snow areas are, then sprinkled heavily with mica flakes.

 I brushed the trees lightly with modge podge, just on the tips of the bristles, then rolled them in the mountain of mica flakes that was covering my workspace ;). Nothing wasted!

 After that it was all about gathering up the perfect accessories around the house and making a little vignette. 

We have several old books that I use for various projects, and also for photo props, so I thought these would be a lovely addition.
I also added a few antique electric insulators that I have collected, and placed battery operated tea lights underneath, as well as gold painted pine cones as bushes.

 My boys were sweet enough to donate a vintage looking truck from their matchbox collection =). I will be adding a tree to the back as soon as I have an extra one.

I am excited to have a bit of winter up in the house! Can't call it Christmas decor until after Thanksgiving or the Hubby might just blow a gasket ;).

Next will come our "tree", which I have found the cutest idea on Pinterest for that too!!
Pics of that to come soon!

YAY!

Christmas Preparations

Well, there's only one week to go.... and i'm going crazy lol! I just wanted to share a few things that i'v got going on right now. Here's a pic of a really prim angel doll that i made for my SIL for Christmas. She loves the dolls that i have brought in to sell in the shop, and her room is decorated with a mix of prims, angels, and sunflowers. So i thought this would be a nice mix.
I just LOVE the way it came out!! I'm thinking i'll be making some Valentine theme angels like this for my site starting the beginning of the year.


Oh!!! You have to check out these cuuuuute little kitty ornies! I just bought 5 of them from Naomi of naomisnotions on ebay! They are just the cutest little things. I have them tucked into my Christmas tree and garland right now, but they will be staying out year round for sure! Thank you Naomi!!!

Christmas Memories

I have so many memories from Christmas with my family.... some happy, some sad, some laugh out loud hilarious!
Searching the tree farm for the perfect tree... we would run around the fields putting our mittens as close to the top of our favorite tree as we could reach, then we would all go around searching for the mittens untill we agreed on the perfect tree. We lost alot of mittens that way.... but it made for some wonderful memories.
My dad and brother playing with the hedge clippers in the living room...... that never lead to good things lol!!
Decorating the tree with my Mom, and FINALLY being able to put my great grandmother's glass ornaments on the tree myself! My Mom never.... to this day.... threw away the ornaments my brother and i made. Now my boys get to help her put them on the tree.
There was ALWAYS an orange at the bottom of our stocking..... to balance out the candy and junk food we would be snacking on the rest of the day i guess.... and a new toothbrush.
Mom would set the table in the good china Christmas morning, with crystal wine goblets for our orange juice sunrise (orange juice with a splash of grenadine). We would have bacon and eggs... an orange of course... and what we always called plucky bread. The BEST stuff in the world!!! I thought i would share the recipe with you today. I'll be making it for my family this Christmas.

MONKEY BREAD (aka plucky bread)

3 packages of buttermilk biscuit tubes
1 cup sugar (divided)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Take 3 packages of buttermilk biscuit tubes (10 per roll) and cut each roll into 4 pieces. Drop roll pieces into 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Drop sugar-coated pieces into a well buttered Bundt pan (don't squish roll pieces when placing them in the Bundt pan).

Put 1/2 cup of the left-over sugar/cinnamon mix and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) into a small saucepan.

Bring this mixture just to a boil; remove from heat immediately. Carefully drizzle over the roll pieces.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Cool slightly in an upright position, then tip pan over onto a plate to remove monkey pull-apart bread.

New to the game

Well..... where do i begin on this new adventure???
My hope with this blog is to share a bit of myself, my business, friends, and fun things i find along the way. With Christmas right around the corner i'm always looking for new ways to save money, but give my friends and family wonderful memories.... and maybe a few nice gifts mixed in there too. Thankfully most of the women i know have asked for hand made gifts.... and ofcourse i have barely even started... UGH! I am probably the worst procrastinator ever.
Here's one thing i did a couple years ago to save money.... and they were a HUGE hit!!

Mason Jar Recipes..... great for people who love to cook but might not have the time to put things together. There are many sites based around this idea..... with some unique recipes. Just Google "Jar Recipes" and see what you can find.
Here's one recipe I found that looks delicious..... and would be very pretty and festive in the jar. I might just have to make these up for myself.... YUM!

Chocolate Cranberry Cookies Mix in a Jar recipe

Layer the following ingredients in order in a 1-quart wide mouth canning jar:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder (clean inside of jar with tissue after this layer)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed firmly
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups flour plus 1 teaspoon baking powder plus
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (mixed)

Remember to press firmly between each layer. Place lid and ring onto jar.

Attach the following recipe on a gift tag:

Chocolate Cranberry Cookies:

Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix until completely blended. Shape into balls and place 2 inches apart on sprayed baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 13-15 minutes.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.