DIY Citrus Ornaments

Each year Silas and I have made a little handmade ornament or decoration together for Christmas.  We have done salt dough ornaments, cinnamon ornaments, paper garlands last year and this year we tried our hand in dried citrus ornaments.  Silas had a blast helping with these and this is a super simple craft to do together with your kids!

This was such a fun craft that Justin joined in on the festivities and I kicked back and snapped some photos, listened to a little christmas music and drank some coffee with a little lot of peppermint mocha creamer (I'm pretty sure I'm now addicted to that stuff).

We started by slicing our oranges (and some limes) for our ornaments.  Silas was in charge of arranging them on our baking sheets.  I didn't use any sort of paper baking liner - we just put them straight on the pans.

Next, Silas added some cloves to some of our ornaments for a little festive touch and for an awesome Christmasy aroma.

It really is best to try and make your slices all about the same width...some of ours were a little off but it worked out fine.  

After the citrus slices were all ready we baked them on the lowest setting in our oven for about an hour, then flipped them over and baked them another hour.  You may need to bake them shorter or longer depending on your oven temp and slice width.

After they were all dried out Silas used some modge-podge and painted one side let them dry and painted the other.  This helped to seal them and make them a little more durable.

After they are dry you have some great dried citrus slices for all sorts of decorating.  We used our as ornaments on our tree.  They are so pretty with the lights shining through.

You could find all sorts of ways to use dried fruit for decorating, they would be pretty in a simple jar gathered together or strung together for a little garland.  I love the added touch of homemade to a home at Christmas!

You can also check out my diy chalkboard ornaments and yarn wrapped ornaments for more ideas!

Easy DIY Ornament Garland

I love making little handmade decorations for Christmas.  These little ornament garlands are super simple and probably could be made with items you already own.  So many sweet little possibilities. 

This year I decided to not go with the traditional red and green, I was just feeling something different.   Most of the colors I used this year were ones that I already use in our house anyway so everything felt like it belonged.  I already had some little christmas ornaments I wanted to use for this and I ended up picking up a few more at Target (you are welcome Mike) for just a few several bucks - nothing fancy.

In addition to little ornaments I also used some scrap fabric and twine - that's it! For the fabric (like usual) I used anything like old tablecloths, kitchen towels, leftover fabric, t-shirts...whatever I have.

Start with measuring your twine and make a knot at the point where you want your garland to start.  Next, I added an ornament and then tied little pieces of fabric in simple knots along the twine and repeated that process until I liked it.

You could also do a longer strip of fabric and tie it differently, just go with it.

I love the finished garland, so pretty and sweet.

I made several different ones to use for decorating all over the house.  They don't take long - I finished one in under 30 minutes so its not very time consuming.

I made these stars last year, they were super simple! Here is the link to make your own diy rustic stars!  And yesterday, I shared about our non-traditional advent candles and our simple chalkboard advent calendar.

That's it for today, hope you are enjoying decorating for Christmas!

Easy Christmas Decorating (with Kids)

It's December!  Time to decorate.  There are so many awesome bloggers out there who have had their homes beautifully decorated for a month now, giving amazing tips and tricks along the way.  I love those bloggers but I'm not one of them.  I also love Christmas decorating, but nothing comes out until the day after Thanksgiving for us.  So, now I can go crazy, and if you have seen the outside of our house - Justin already has too (think Griswold).

This year we have a 4 year old, and boy is he pumped about Christmas.  So I decided to take advantage of that excitement and plan some easy and fun Christmas activities for us to do together.  We are starting off with a classic, the Christmas Tree paper chain garland.

We gathered our supplies, just the basics and nothing fancy.  Don't worry, I used the scissors.  I used a combo of christmas craft papers and some neutral papers I had.

This was a team effort, Silas tore the perforated piece off of the papers (probably his favorite part of the whole thing) and picked out which ones he wanted as we went.  He also helped with the stapler, emphasis on helped.

In about an hour we had a sweet couple of paper chains, ready for our tree.

I love the handmade addition to our tree this year.  For me, the more handmade things on the tree, the better.  

Sometimes just a simple, classic Christmas project is just what the season orders.  The sweet time with your kid is the best part.  I have some more little projects coming later this week!  Happy Christmas decorating!! 

Easy DIY Rustic Stars

Am I one of those people who has been listening to Christmas music for weeks now, has already scoped out Santa in the mall and has been using my Christmas mug like its the best thing ever?  Yes! I can't help it, I love the season of Christmas.  For so many reasons.  It's just such a sweet and joyful time of year.  The focus is always on the Joy that Jesus brings us and I can't help but love that.  I can listen to Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God 10,000 times in a row.  What a special time, so why not extend it for as long as you can?  I know there are some Thanksgiving lovers out there, and don't get me wrong I love a good Thanksgiving too.  I just love this whole season.  So with all that being shared, lets make a little Christmas project.  Its simple and easy and barely cost anything! 

When it comes to Christmas decor I love everything - but I do lean towards certain things more and rustic and homemade decor is just my favorite.  These stars meet both those criteria.

Supplies needed:

1. Wood Shims

2. Liquid Nails (and caulk gun)

3. Trash bags for a work surface or anything to protect your table

This is really the simplest project in the world.  The hardest part for me was finding the wood shims.  They seem to migrate around the hardware store so I always have to ask where they are.  Usually they are on some random end cap.

I always have a sweet helper with these projects,  I ended up making 3 stars, he was good for one and then had to go race cars. Priorities.

So really all you need to do is use your liquid nails to attach the wood shims together into a star shape.  I did lay out my shape first so I would have a good idea of where I was going and then went from there.  You will need to glue the ends and also the cross points.  Liquid nails is really forgiving to use if you have never used it before.  You have a good 10 minutes before it really starts drying so you can move and adjust as you need to.  Let them dry overnight and you're done! 

These stars really can go anywhere, outdoors, indoors, tree toppers, hanging, I could go on.  Also you could paint them, stain them, decorate them.  In the end I think I'm leaving mine just the way they are, I just love the kind of rustic feel it has. 

I can't wait to get working on more little Christmas projects...and maybe even some last minute Thanksgiving ones too.   Thanks for stopping by today!

An Easy DIY Reindeer Silhouette

Am I the only one who wishes the rain was snow?....thought so.  But the rain is a beautiful reminder of God's grace, it falls on the righteous and unrighteous and no one really deserves it, but God provides even so.  Its always something we usually take for granted and complain about when it ruins our plans but what a simple yet complex way for God to continuously reveal Himself through his creation.  And since its raining, its a great time to write a blog post, think about God and make reindeer silhouettes.  It all goes together somehow in my head, so let's make a reindeer...

I had so much fun making this little guy.  I don't know if I haven't really sat down and made something from scratch in a while or what but it was enjoyable.  I made this in under an hour and with things I already had.  That's always my favorite kind of craft anyway.  Using items on hand forces you to think a little bit more creatively.  Here are the supplies I used:

- an embroidery hoop (you can find these in any craft store and they are inexpensive)
- felt
-paper
-fabric (I used an old sheet)
-pencil, sharpie and scissors
- hot glue

To start off this project you need a reindeer template.  I decided to just free hand draw a simple silhouette to use.  But, if the thought of free hand drawing freaks you out then calm down, take a deep breath, I have some great news - you can find many places online that offer free printables you can use like here or here!  Bloggers are awesome like that.  Thank you awesome bloggers!  After you have your deer template ready you just need to trace it on your felt, I used a sharpie because it was just easier that way and then finally cut it out.  Simple!

Now its time to get the embroidery hoop ready for your awesomely easy ready to go reindeer.

You don't have to sew things to have available fabric to use for this.  I couldn't find anything I liked in my stash so I opted to use an old sheet I really didn't use anymore.  I've used sheets, tablecloths, shower curtains, t shirts...you get the point.  Fabric is everywhere in your house and if its not being used on a regular basis then its fair game for me to cut up.  So, I cut out a piece the right size, pulled it tight around the hoop frame and trimmed off some of the excess.  Then just for a nice clean and neat finish, add a little hot glue to the hoop backside and fold over the fabric ends to finish the back.

Now all that is left is hot glueing your sweet little deer right onto your fabric hoop.  Done.

You can make this!  I know it!

And then you can admire your reindeer from near or from afar.

I used one of those removable hanging strips to secure him to the wall since I'm feeling he is more of a festive Christmas deer that will be up only during this the holidays...although I'm kind of growing an attachment to him so I'm either going to have to make a new replacement or just keep him.  We shall see.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day...whether its rain, snow, ice or shine!

The Posts of Christmas Past

Hands down, this is my favorite time of year.  I love the time with family and friends, listening to christmas music, decorating, christmas lights, christmas crafts, all of the special events and I love focusing on the Joy in the most beautiful story in the whole world - God reconciling himself to man, by an infant born in glory.  This year Silas is into everything and can really understand what is going on and is so excited - which in turn makes me excited.  We are getting our tree up and welcoming in the Christmas season this week along with everyone else so if you are looking for some Christmas crafts to do this year, here are just some of the past ones I have done.   

     1. Chalkboard Ornaments
     2. Christmas Mantel
     3. Reindeer Silhouettes
     4. Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments
     5. DIY Gift Tags
     6. Ribbon and Burlap Banner
     7. Advent Calendar
     8. Salt Dough Ornaments
     9. Yarn Wrapped Ornaments

I love making wreaths, especially for the seasons.  They really are way easier than most people my think and you can use all sorts of items to make them.  These are a few of my favorites - a square boxwood wreath, a yarn embroidery hoop wreath and a yarn wrapped felt flower wreath... and also a felt flower tutorial.

Enjoy your christmas crafting!  I know I have several crafts on my list to do this year so hopefully I will share soon!  Have a great week!

Yarn Wrapped Ornaments

This is one of those projects that I loved - It cost nothing for me to make and it was simple and fairly quick.  You can use these for ornaments, gift wrapping, table decor and I think the list could go on.  I think it would be fun to make shapes like hearts or monograms as well.  So let's get to it, here's how I made my Yarn Wrapped Ornaments.

I simply used two items to make these - craft wire (mine was 22 gauge because that's what I had) and yarn.

First I cut a piece of wire (I didn't measure anything, I just guessed) and then bent the wire to form the word I wanted it to say.  Since I used 22 gauge wire it was easily molded with just my hands.  If you use a thicker gauge you may need some round nose pliers.  Your wire doesn't have to be perfect and you can mold and shape it some more once its covered in yarn.

Then after I had my words I just wrapped and wrapped them with yarn until it was fully covered.  I did use a pinch of glue on the ends to keep them in place and from fraying and tied a little baker's twine for hanging.

Then you can hang your pretties on your tree.  I love our tree this year its full of homemade things, as well as all of the ornaments we love to pull out each year- I'll share soon!

There was something really calming about this project to me.  I think that's why I enjoy crafting so much, it allows my brain to rest.  Is anyone else like that or is it just me?

Thanks for stopping by today!

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