Christmas Letter Tags

Created by: Rachelle Carroll

I saw this idea in a magazine. The idea is to do letters for the labels of your christmas presents. What I did was take some stencils and traced out the letters for each present. For the presents for two people I have examples above, in one I hooked one of the letters around the other. In the other example i add an "&" to it.

Add a little ribbon and it turned out fun.

Changing Table Baskets

Created By: Shantelle Ericson

I couldn't find baskets that were affordable, so I decided to make my own. I found these baskets in the laundry aisle at Walmart for $2-$4 depending on the size. The Michaels Arts and Crafts stores all have bins of ribbon up front for $1.00. I found plenty of pink and brown ribbon - each spool had 5 yards for $1.00!!! I used a 50% of coupon and bought a 10yard spool of the pink with brown polka dots for only $3! After deciding which colors I wanted where, I measured the ribbon by wrapping it around the basket, then added about 12-18 inches just to be safe. I attached a safety pin to the end of the ribbon and started weaving. It took longer than anticipated, but it was a fun project. There was some trial and error to get it to turn out right. I tied the polka dotted ribbon on the outside to form a bow, and the others were tied inside the basket. On the medium baskets the holes had the perfect amount, but on the larger basket I had to improvise, as shown in the picture.

Bow Organizer

Created By: Shantelle Ericson

With so many bows I needed a place to organize them but didn't have money to spend on something fancy. I first cut out the side of Brayden's basketball hoop box. I had some felt material that matches Brooklyn's bedding, so I cut it one inch bigger than the cardboard. I folded the fabric over the edge of the cardboard and hot glued it down. (My little hot glue gun has become my new best friend. I use it for everything!) Next I found some brown ribbon, pulled it tight, and hot glued the ends to the cardboard. We already had a nail on the wall, so it hangs by the hot glued material on the back. Then make your bows and clip them on!!!

Christmas Wreath

Created By: Rachelle Carroll

For this wreath I took an old fake pine wreath and left over tree decorations so they match. The best part is that I didn't attach anything permanently so I can redue it every year so it can always match my tree.

I started with the ribbon pushing it slightly into the wreath to keep it in place. Next I took the ornaments with hooks attached and pushed the hooks into the wreath and wrapped it to the back of the wreath.

I also took these little snow flakes I had and attached them by sticking a bit of the pine into the edge so it held in place.

Spooky Eyes Wreath

Created By: Rachelle Carroll

Here are the supplies you need: Glue Gun, Styrofoam Ring, Black Feathers, googly eyes, small styrofoam balls.



To start I glue gunned to styrofoam balls together so they are in twos. Then I glued the googly eyes on the balls so you have two eyeballs!! One thing that I did for this is instead of trying to put the glue on the googly eyes, instead I put it on the styrofoam and then putting the eyes on.



Next I started gluing on the feathers. I started with putting the feathers on every other direction and then went back and zigzagged the other direction. Next I took some feathers, cut them down and made a layer each direction in the middle to make the feathers more full.



For the last step, I took the eyeballs and glued them on to the feathers. I tried to do it in a random fashion so that there was no pattern. One thing I also did was some of the eyes I trimmed so they didn't poke out as much.

Halloween Mummy Pumpkin

Created By: Rachelle Carroll

My thinking for this project is that in Texas, carving pumpkins and setting them outside for decoration does not work. With the humidity, they mold really really fast. We learned that the hard way our first October here.

For this project you need a pumpkin, black construction paper, medical gauze, glow in the dark paint.



I decided to use a plastic pumpkin but a real one will do just fine. I started by cutting out two triangles for eyes. After I finished I think if I were to do it again I would also put a mouth on it.



Next I took the medical gauze and cut the gauze into one inch strip and started wrapping. To start I lifted the leaves and tucked it under, but you could also wrap it around itself because it sticks to itself quite well. I made sure to wrap in different directions, up sideways, angled.



After I was done wrapping I took glow in the dark paint and painted some of the lines on the pumpkin. Be careful to be light with the paint because I noticed that the more paint, the thinner it made the gauze so I had to put more gauze over it. Next I took a paint brush and painted the edges on the leaves.

Halloween Mummy

Created By: Rachelle Carroll

For this craft I did not go out and buy anything. I used stuff found around the house.

To start this project I started with a piece of wood randomly found in the garage. Nothing special. I took a drill and drilled to small holes where the sticks would go. I used chopsticks for the sturdiness. Ok. So after the holes were drilled I painted it orange and then black on the borders with some black on the top.



Next I inserted the chopsticks. I took batting that I had laying around (also can use cotton balls) and used tape to make a rough body head and feet. Next I took some white material I had and cut it into long strips.



The material to give it an old look, I took black paint and smudged the paint on my fingers and than on the material. Next I started wrapping one of the feet and then up the first leg. I cut the material at the base of the body and repeated on the second foot and up the second leg. You can cut the material off if you like but I just started wrapping. I made sure to wrap tight enough to created the body shape I wanted.



I wrapped all the way to the neck and then the head.


Next, for the arms I took craft wire (floral wire) and doubled wrapped it for sturdiness. To make the arms alittle bulkier I wrapped tape lightly down the arms so when I wrapped the material it would bulk up. I finished wrapping the arms and let the extra hang.

Lastly I took the back of a paint brush dipped in black paint and painted on the eyes.

Birthday/Anniversary Reminder Book

Created By: Shantelle Ericson

For each page of this book, each page layout was basically the same. Starting with the base, start with one solid 6X6 color. Get a textured or print for the month and cut it slightly smaller than the base. For each label (Month, Anniversaries, Birthday) they are three piece layered. The bottom layer matches the base color, middle letter is an accent and the top piece on white paper and colored lettering. The printed lettering boxes and names are all the same color for each page.

You may also note that each title has a ribbon underneath and they differ in color and design on each page.

each page also has its own accent. The final pages were slipped into 6X6 page protectors and bound with ribbon.

(Shantelle did note that this was a really long time consuming project, she made 12 books..... She said that if she had known that before hand, she would have only done birthdays "because who needs to know anniversaries!"

I think it is amazing!!!

Valentine's Day Door Hanging

Created by: Rachelle Carroll

For my valentines day door hanging, I started with a wooden board that already had the wire hanging on it. I bought this at Walmart.

For the background I took 2 sheets of 4x4 scrapbook paper and 2 sheets 2x4 of crete paper ( I bought the crete paper in a bag that had a lot of different colors in it). I took a water bottle and filled with water and sprayed each piece. I then scrunched the paper into a ball. I sprayed the paper just enough for it to be able to be crumpled and not rip. I carefully unwrapped the paper and laid it but don't smooth out the wrinkles. I set these aside to dry.

For the letters, I took regular styrofoam and using an exacto knife I carved out each letter. This sound difficult but it really wasn't that bad. You can also buy wooden letters and do the same thing. Ok so with each letter I took more of the crete paper and slightly wetted it and wrapped around each letter. Some of of the letters like "e" I had to use strips to cover the whole area. You can also paint them if you don't want to cover with paper. I set this aside to dry as well.

Back to the background, I took modge podge and covered the entire front surface of the board. I took the two pieces of crate paper and put them in position first. lightly place on board because you want them to retain their wave. Next I took the regular pieces and placed them. I let this dry. Next I modge podged the sides down and finally secured the back. Modge podge is great! Last step for the background is I painted modge podge on the whole front and sides to give it a glossy finish.

For the letters, I modge podged each letter and attached with some gorilla glue (gorilla glue is probably the strongest glue I've ever used but it expands as it drys and has a brownish yellowish color to it so I wouldn't suggest ever using it if it is going to be seen. If you used wooden letters you could use a hot glue gun but with the styrofoam I was afraid it would melt it.

Forth of July Door Sign

Created By: Rachelle Carroll

For my forth of July sign I got all my supplies from Walmart!! I started with a pre cut peice of wood found in the craft section. I started by tracing out the flag for the star section and the stripes. To get more consistent lines I used painter tape to create the lines. I painted the red and white lines first, that way if I went over the edge I could cover it with the darker color. After this was dry (i had to do two coats of each color, which is best to do if each layer is dry before the next layer)

Next I painted the blue star box and the entire edge blue. Also for the edge I took a tooth brush and spotted the sides with red and blue paint. If you've never done that before put a small amount of paint on the toothbrush and then run your thumb over the brissles and it will flick off the paint.

Next I took three wood stars (bought in a pack from Walmart) and painted each a base color. I then used the toothbrush again to fleck white paint on the blue and white star and red paint on the white star. To finish the star I drew a line by hand just in from the edge.

For the stars on the flag I used craft rhinestones. I used the cheap plastic ones that came in a pack of 25 for $2 max. I used a pencil first to mark each location and then I used nail glue (super glue) to attach using tweezers. I did the 13 star circle because 50 looked way to cluttered.

To attach the stars I screwed in three small eyelet screws. I used a thick craft wire to attach the stars. To get them to form the curves I first wrapped the wires around a chapstick and let them naturally separate. The wire holds really well and can easily be molded back in to place each year.

Sea Shell Chess Board

Created By: Rachelle Carroll

I started with a square piece of particle board and drew out the chess board leaving a half inch border. I used a dark brown sand and a light yellowish sand color that I got at hobby lobby. I first started with the dark color. Using a paint brush I painted modge podge on every other square where the dark sand was going to go. I poured sand over the entire board and used a book to firmly push the sand in to place. Next, I modge podged the open squares and used the light colored sand. I let the entire thing dry for 30 minutes and repeated. I Put three layers on.

The reason I used the modge podge was that it dried clear so there didn't seem to be any residue.

For the edge, I combined some dark and some light sand in a plastic bag and mixed it. I did two coats of this to cover the border and edges.

For the game pieces, i collect sea shells so I had a lot already but most craft stores sell them. I made sure each type of piece matched for the two sides. After I had all the pieces figured out, I took my hot glue gun and created bases for all the pieces (with the exception of the pawns, they laid flat). This was the only thing I could think of and it wasn't the easiest way especially for the bigger pieces, but it worked.

For the last step, I took each piece and dipped the tip in modge podge and then dipped in the sand to mark the dark side vs the light side.

I am still looking for little sea horses to be the knights so for right now we use coins when we play.