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12.23.2014

Tutorial Tuesday!

DIY Angel Wings (not in English but plenty of photos):


10 Festive Christmas Cookie Recipes:



Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

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Hope Studios

12.21.2014

Soul Sister's Annual Ornament Exchange!


We all got together once again for our annual Soul Sister's Ornament Exchange!  The rules are simple, you must sip drinks, eat good food, laugh, pose for pictures, and exchange handmade ornaments that cost you $10 or less to make.

Here are the winners this year:


I made this felt Christmas Tree.  I layered the sections together and used embroidery thread to outline it in chunky stitches.  I hot glued the same shapes onto the back to hide the back of the stitches and sandwiched the twig for the bottom and the hanging string at the top.  I stitched a tiny star charm to the top and sprinkled the whole thing with some super fine clear glitter.



The Treat Girl knitted these teeny tiny mittens!  They are like 2 inches tall!  She used this pattern.


Marzipan went old school with traditional cinnamon ornaments she baked in the oven using this recipe.   The aroma is heavenly!


 Marjorie was inspired by some plastic sheeting she was given by her brother.  This plastic and felt hand stitched holly was so cute!


Finally, Megan started out attempting to make a salt shaker snow globe ornament like this one but the ridged glass wasn't clear enough, so she compromised by coming up with a Salt Shaker Snowman!  We all said it reminded us of Mr Salt from Blues Clues!

Merry Christmas from the Soul Sisters!  Here is to a 2015 full of crafting and laughing!

Selfie  S.S. style!

12.19.2014

Disguising Gifts of Cash


Maybe I'm a pooper, but I hate to give teens an envelope of cash for holidays.  I know it makes them happy, but I love the look of disappointment when they see a box to open when they asked for money. This year, I disguised cash in a couple different ways.

Above, I made a tube from card stock and placed it into a jar with cash inside. Then, I filled up the jar around the tube with candy and screwed on the lid.  Heh, heh, the poor kid thought he was getting a jar of candy for his 16th birthday! Hilarious.

For his second gift, I removed candy from a box of chocolates and filled the spaces with folded up cash and candy coins:


Happy gifting!

12.17.2014

The Last 8 Days of Elf Ideas!



My kids are older (12, 13, and 16) but the youngest still gets a kick out of searching for The Elf every morning.  His humor is a little more sophisticated than a small child so I can get a little more imaginative. 

3+ years into this, sometimes I feel like I've done it all with that darn Elf!  I know there is a whole movement to stop The Elf because it's a pain and causes parents stress, blah, blah, blah...

Um, we're parents, stress is where we live, people! If I can do something that takes me 5 minutes per day to make my kids smile I'm going to keep on doing it.  Their happiness is my crack.  Not even a bit sorry about that one.

In the home stretch before Christmas, I needed a bit of inspiration and found it at my local craft store.  I bought a few things that will carry The Elf through the rest of the month.  So here you go for the final 8 days:

1.   In the cake decorating section, they have little sugar cake embellishments that look a lot like cookies. I picked some that resembled gingerbread men.  I cut out a tiny apron from felt (no sewing!) and will set The Elf up with a tiny cookie sheet (cardboard covered with foil) near the oven.

2.  I found a tiny 16"  burlap tree and tiny ornaments he will decorate over night.

3.   At my local Dollar Tree I found little ceramic houses that The Elf will set up as a little Christmas town one night while we're all asleep.

4.  There are tiny ball ornaments with kids' names at Michael's Craft store and tiny gift boxes in their dollar section that will appear under the tiny tree one night.

5.  Also in the Michael's dollar section, there are teeny tiny ceramic mugs.  I got a snowman one that I will fill with hot chocolate and set him up near the tea pot.  I added 3 snowman mugs for the boys with hot chocolate mix in them.

6.  I have a nutcracker display waaay up on a shelf so I lined The Elf with the nutcracker soldiers and will sit back and laugh at how long it takes him to find it!

7.  I trapped The Elf under a drinking glass with a sign reading "HELP!"

8.  I found a tiny fireplace and glued tiny stockings to it with my boys' names on them.

Need more ideas?  Check it out from past years:

Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Elf on the Shelf Linky Party

Good Luck and have fun with it!  You are creating memories and there are only a few days left - go out strong!

12.16.2014

Tutorial Tuesday!

Jute Ornaments:



Grinch Party:


Indoor Snowball Fight:


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Hope Studios

12.11.2014

A Perfectly Lighted Christmas Tree

It's time to get the tree!  Enjoy this repeat post from 2011 explaining how to get the perfect lighting effect on your Christmas Tree!




Over the years I have developed the perfect system for achieving my Christmas tree goal - I want it colorful and bright with LOTS of lights!

Here is my system:

Begin by covering the tree in small, clear twinkle lights. I have used My Modified Martha method of pushing the lights into the center of the tree, moving up and down rather than around and around like this:


Next, I use the same method for small, colored twinkle lights. (I think a tree with only colored lights is too dark).

Next, I cover the tree in old fashioned, large clear bulbs like these (I don't go in and out with these lights):



Finally, old fashioned, large opaque colored bulbs like these:



Tada!



Do you have trouble getting a good, glowing picture of your Christmas tree?

1. Turn off your flash
2. Set your camera on a solid surface
3. Set the timer to take the picture

12.09.2014

Tutorial Tuesday!

Birch Bark Ornaments:


Thumbprint Christmas Cards:


Most Clicked: 

 20+ DIY Gift Ideas



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12.05.2014

A 16 Year Old!


Yep, I have a 16 year old!  He passed his permit test and hasn't stopped begging to drive ever since:


Driving is a big responsibility and a big expense, so it wasn't a big present year.  We still wanted to make a big deal out of his birthday without all the gifts.  Birthday Balloon Ambush was born:


Using a cheap plastic tablecloth from the dollar store, we taped a pocket over his closed door and filled up the space with balloons.  When he opened the door the balloons all fell in and he had to fight his way out (blurry action shot):






We also made his favorite "cake" which is really a candy tower:



Hot glue and a ribbon, with a toilet paper roll lollipop holder in the center...it's a good thing...

12.02.2014

Tutorial Tuesday!

Acorn Advent Calendar:


Nutella Hot Chocolate:



Suspended Shelf for Garage Storage:


Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog address) using the subject of your tutorial to generate  interest.

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How to Avoid Stress At Work