See you in 2011



4 Days Left

Are you ready?  I wanted to share FIVE of my favorite handmade Christmas Gifts I made this year.  Some of these gifts are ideas from other blogs, others are my own ideas!  Lets get started. 

This is my #1 and a gift to myself, coasters were such a big thing this year!  How could you give these away.  I can't wait to make some for all year round.  I found clear glass candle holders from the Dollar Tree and mod podged scrapbook paper on the back side.  The swirls are cut outs from my moms cricut, they turned out perfect! 

#2 These burner covers are such a great gift.  You can put them on your stove or connect them with ribbon and hang them on the wall!  Brassy Apple has so many great ideas!  Her Magnetic Snowman is so cute!  The burners are from Dollar Tree and the rest is from Walmart for super cheap.

 

#3 Framed word collage:  My biggest obsession of the year, I had so much fun creating it.  Check out my tutorial. 

 

#4 This personalized Magnetic Board is so cute for anyone.  My husband is not a big fan of loads of pictures on the fridge so I decided to make this board to occupy both of our needs!  The second one with the T is one my friend made for her sister-in-law, didn't it turn out so cute!  Also, I took this idea and used it to make my Christmas Countdown this year.  

#5 Last but not least is the last project I will work on this year.  This is my mom's Christmas gift.  I am so excited to finally show her.  I know she will peek, so surprise mom, I hope you love it.  I bought the plate from Walmart for a few bucks, the fabric, easel, and the letter at Joann's.   

• I found some cute fabric and mod podged it on the back of the plate. 
• Then add another layer of mod podge over the fabric.
• Paint your wooden letter.  
• The result is a beautiful Monogrammed Plate!

Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

P.S. Sorry for the condition my pictures are in.  I am not sure what is wrong with my camera (or maybe it is the photographer)!

Another Great Gift to Give!

I had to share this great gift idea!  There are so many great ones out there, but this one is just perfect!  Who doesn't love Hot Chocolate?  Peppermint Hot Chocolate!  How great is that?  Hope you enjoy this perfect gift idea.  Check out the directions @ Its the Little Things that make a House a Home! 

Pecan Buttercrunch and a Fun Packaging Idea

My Kitchen Cafe is always filled with amazing recipes and ideas!  She is such an inspiration!  Here is a great neighborhood gift idea and the packaging which is a bonus. Go to My Kitchen Cafe to see all details and instructions!

Don"t these look delicious!

Coming up next Tuesday: Just in time for Christmas!

Craft Spotlight

I am so excited to spotlight an amazing woman today, my Mom!  Anytime she finds a new hobby she somehow finds a way to make it her own, and these Rag Bag Totes are no different.  They can be used for anything.  She made my boss some for her granddaughters and they are now using them to carry their favorite toys! 

A little from my mom (Cheri) about these adorable Rag Bag Totes!

"I am thrilled to be "spotlighted" on Just For You!  I love all of Carli's fun ideas and I would like to share a new passion of mine with you today.  I haven't sewn in years and, in fact, I had to borrow a sewing machine to do this project.  I have put on my Christmas gift list a new sewing machine because I love this simple, easy project.  The project I am talking about is Rag Bag Totes.  I made them for my granddaughters for their Halloween trick-or-treat bags.  I enjoyed it so much that instead of giving them a stocking full of goodies for Christmas, I have made them each one of these bags to fill with treats and stocking stuffers.  The pictures below are the bags I will be giving them.  Here is a free tutorial on how to make the bags.  I hope you all enjoy your holidays and hope that you can all find time to make something special for your loved ones that comes from your hands and your heart!"

"Notice that I used that cute, big rick rack for the handles and it turned out darling!"

"I didn't use Christmas material on purpose, so they could use them all year round!"

Told you they are adorable!  I can't wait to see my nieces faces when they see them!



Book of the Month

I was so excited to tell you about this book, I have been in the mystery/thriller mood!  I started reading this while I have been sick and it has been such a great book!  I know you'll love it!  Rachel Ann Nunes always introduces such great story lines in all of her books.  Check out her others @ranunes.com.  Enjoy!

My Obsession

I told you on Monday that I would post a picture of a fun way to display your CHRISTMAS word collage.  So here it is!  You will need some paint, a frame, and your word collage.  Joann's having such a great sale on their frames, 60% off how great is that!

• Cut your collage to fit the frame.

• Paint your frame

So simple to make!  Display your word collage for the holiday!

The cute frame above was a project my mom found at Craftily Ever After.  We made them at my families Annual Girls Day, and for girls night on Monday (I have not decided what to put in this frame though).  You can buy the small frame at Joann's for $2.  Paint the edges, and mod podge some cute wrapping paper on.  Once dry sand the edges and add another layer of mod podge.  Pretty cute huh? 

Personalized Christmas Countdown

I was hoping to post this closer to noon, but with the flu it took me a lot longer.  I was just to excited that I had to still do it!  Its the first of the month so I wanted you to be able to get the things you needed for this project and make your own! 

What you will need:

• Plywood: you can get some from Home Depot.  They always have a mark down section on their wood, and they will cut it to the size you want (mine was about 17 inches by 12 inches).  But you can make yours as large as you want.
• A wooden letter (the first letter of your last name).
• Find some fun Christmas fabric.  They are on sell for 50% off or more all over the place!
• Metal sheet: also at Home Depot, it was about $10 when I bought mine and I still have so much left over. 
• Glue gun, Mod Podge, and E-6000.
• Finally my favorite part, make your countdown at picnik.com.

Cut your fabric to cover the plywood, make sure you have at least 2 inches to fold over onto the back.

Paint your wooden letter.  I painted it red first then decided to paint the top green, and keep the sides red.  It turned out pretty cute!

I used a hot glue gun to secure the folded edges to the back.  You can use whatever you feel will work best!  I would have used a staple gun, but I didn't have one available.  Do you like my paint job on the back!

Go to picnik.com.  Upload a picture and edit the exposure so that it is just white.  Now that you have a blank slate pick a font and add your numbers 1-25.  It took just a few minutes, save to your computer and print it onto card stock paper.  I chose white but you can pick any color you want!

Once you have your countdown printed, cut out your metal sheet to fit to the countdown.  My husband has some hardcore scissors in his tool kit, but you might know of a better way to cut yours!  Now use E-6000 or a hot glue gun and glue your countdown to the metal sheet.  Then put a light layer of mod podge over the countdown.

All that is left to do is glue the countdown and the wooden letter onto the fabric with your hot glue gun.  Whaa La now you have a personalized Christmas Countdown! 

Have fun with this Christmas project.  Email me a picture of your personalized countdown!  I can't wait to see what all of you come up with!