A Semi-homemade Christmas
I made a few Christmas presents for my family this year. Every holiday season I seem to have more ideas than time. Usually, I try to do it all and fail miserably. This year, I acknowledged that the craft-induced stress wasn't worth it and set a few of my projects aside. (One of the set aside ones was a Christmas quilt for us to snuggle under. I did buy all the fabric though, so this one will hopefully be ready for next Christmas).
Here are the projects I was able to complete for family:
Family Home Evening boards for my sisters Nicole and April.
Supplies: Vinyl lettering (thanks to my friend Nicole!), a board (fyi - so much cheaper to by from a hardware store than a craft store), paint, hooks, name tags (I used wooden stars for boys and hearts for girls), and ribbon.
Overcoming Discouragement: I originally wanted to make the name tags magnetic, but my local stores didn't sell metal strips long enough for the boards. It sounds lame, but this one little thing held me up for a long time. I might even have let it stop me if my friend Nicole hadn't already printed the lettering for me. I find it discouraging when I can't do things exactly how I see them in my mind. But somehow, things always seem to work out because now I like the boards I made better than my original inspiration.
What I learned: These are so fun to make! I could do most of the steps with help from my 4-yr-old or while watching a favorite show. It was easy and really turned out looking like I put a lot more effort into it than I did. (Although, Nicole did a lot of the work just printing my letters).
Snowmobile Canvas for my dad
Supplies: Cheap-o canvas from craft store, a 8x10 print, decoupage, scrapbook letter stickers and paper
My dad loves to snowmobile with his family. This summer, I took a photo of my brother sitting with my sons on a snowmobile parked in the garage. It is a rare picture - all the boys are smiling! I knew I wanted to do something with it, but wasn't sure what. I decided to try my hand with decoupage, something I haven't really done before.
What I learned: Don't skip that step where they tell you to put a thin layer of decoupage under the paper before you do it on top, otherwise the edges will curl. And don't buy glossy glue next time.
Family Birthday chart for my mom
Supplies: a canvas, paint, scrapbook paper, scrapbook sticker letters
I wanted to make my mom a cute way to track all of her growing family's birthdays. This is another project that changed a lot from my initial plan, but ended up even better (phew!). I hope she likes it! I kind of want to make one for myself, too. Each month has a little sheet that pulls out like a good, old fashioned card catalog.
Historic Savannah Maps for me!
I did NOT make this, but my awesome friend Kirsten did. She drew them and Scott bought them from her Etsy shop. I love them! Scott is still working on a mat for one of them, then they will hang in our room.
Here are the projects I was able to complete for family:
Family Home Evening boards for my sisters Nicole and April.
Supplies: Vinyl lettering (thanks to my friend Nicole!), a board (fyi - so much cheaper to by from a hardware store than a craft store), paint, hooks, name tags (I used wooden stars for boys and hearts for girls), and ribbon.
Overcoming Discouragement: I originally wanted to make the name tags magnetic, but my local stores didn't sell metal strips long enough for the boards. It sounds lame, but this one little thing held me up for a long time. I might even have let it stop me if my friend Nicole hadn't already printed the lettering for me. I find it discouraging when I can't do things exactly how I see them in my mind. But somehow, things always seem to work out because now I like the boards I made better than my original inspiration.
What I learned: These are so fun to make! I could do most of the steps with help from my 4-yr-old or while watching a favorite show. It was easy and really turned out looking like I put a lot more effort into it than I did. (Although, Nicole did a lot of the work just printing my letters).
Snowmobile Canvas for my dad
Supplies: Cheap-o canvas from craft store, a 8x10 print, decoupage, scrapbook letter stickers and paper
My dad loves to snowmobile with his family. This summer, I took a photo of my brother sitting with my sons on a snowmobile parked in the garage. It is a rare picture - all the boys are smiling! I knew I wanted to do something with it, but wasn't sure what. I decided to try my hand with decoupage, something I haven't really done before.
What I learned: Don't skip that step where they tell you to put a thin layer of decoupage under the paper before you do it on top, otherwise the edges will curl. And don't buy glossy glue next time.
Family Birthday chart for my mom
Supplies: a canvas, paint, scrapbook paper, scrapbook sticker letters
I wanted to make my mom a cute way to track all of her growing family's birthdays. This is another project that changed a lot from my initial plan, but ended up even better (phew!). I hope she likes it! I kind of want to make one for myself, too. Each month has a little sheet that pulls out like a good, old fashioned card catalog.
Historic Savannah Maps for me!
I did NOT make this, but my awesome friend Kirsten did. She drew them and Scott bought them from her Etsy shop. I love them! Scott is still working on a mat for one of them, then they will hang in our room.
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