Ornament Wreath

 I first saw this wreath last year on my friend's blog. This year I noticed that they are ALL OVER the web! It was so pretty and looked basic so I added it to my mental "to do" list :) And since all of these ornaments were purchased in previous years, it didn't cost me a thing!

I used a wire hanger and snipped off the hook with wire cutters. Then I bent it into a circular shape and started string the ornaments onto the wire. I started with a pattern of gold, silver, red, but quickly abandoned that and just strung them however. After all, they rotate and move around on their own anyways. Just keep them tight and close together so that the wire is pretty much hidden. I had some that kept falling off from their tops so I hot glued the tops back on to those.

Depending on what your ornaments are made of, you might be able to hot glue some of them together to make them more sturdy if you notice that they are falling off. The red ornaments that I used were glittery and the hot glue wouldn't stick to them or the glass ones, but they did ok with the plastic silver ones.

Then I bent the wire at the top to close it off and added a ribbon for hanging.
I used this site as a reference.

  We always decorate for Christmas on black Friday, but since we'll be out of town until the second week in December, we pulled out the tree and the Christmas boxes out a week early, although I don't think I will officially hang this up until December.
 

Here's to a Christmas project this year for ME! :)

***I've had a couple of readers ask about my wreath hook. It is magnetic and I LOVE it. No holes in the door, no over-the-door wreath hangers. They can be purchased at most hardware stores for a couple of dollars.***

Lemon Mint Sugar Scrub

 Here is a project that a friend shared with me. She found the link here at Under the Table and Dreaming. What a fun and easy project. I made a bunch for gifts this year.

 

Now I need to make a jar for myself. It really does make your hands feel smooth. I get major winter hands,  so maybe this will help!

2 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. extra virgin olive oil

 few drops of essential oil (I used mostly lemon and a drop of mint)

Mix together and fill jars. I made a double batch and it filled 7 half pint jars.

Use on dry hands to avoid contamination.
 

I found the tags here. They were blank, so I used my paint program and added the names and labels.

(Lemon Mint pictured below with wooden craft spoons for applying.)

The jars are little canning jars. I love this style. They are more pricey than the regular half pint canning jars, but for little gifts like these it is worth it. That being said, it was still only $4 for 4 jars. I found them at Walmart, but grocery stores sell them as well.

Fun Thanksgiving Appetizer

Here is a fun appetizer that I made for Thanksgiving last year. It was a HIT!

I used felt to create a turkey head.  I used 2 pieces, sewed all the way around

with a small hole in the bottom, then slid a skewer in the bottom to attach the turkey to the ball. You could make a head out of cardstock as well and glue a toothpick or skewer in between the layers of cardstock).

 Then I added crackers and pretzels in it for the feathers and loaded up the platter with more crackers.

This makes a lot!

But since it is made from cream cheese, it will store for a while in the refrigerator.

Easy Cheese Ball

3 packages of cream cheese

1 package of dry ranch mix

3 1/2 c. shredded cheese, whatever you like

1/3 c. diced green onions

2 c. almonds (toasted)

Mash cream cheese in a bowl. Add next 3 ingredients. Form into a ball shape and roll in nuts. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (to allow ranch to distribute evenly...otherwise it'll be too salty).

Serve with crackers.

Make sure to let the cheese ball chill for the 8 hours, then add the crackers right before serving. Do not refrigerate the crackers and the assembled turkey for 8 hours. The crackers will get soft.

Acid Etched Jars

 I HATE how people rush into Christmas right after Halloween, but here I am posting about Christmas gifts! This year is a bit different for us. We are leaving the end of November and DRIVING out to Utah for my brother's wedding. We will be doing an early Christmas with my side of the family so all of my homemade gifts need to be finished by then! When we get home, I'll be preparing for Aaron's bday, and enjoying the fun crafts that Derrick and I do each year with the kids. So I thought I'd not only get a jump on my family homemade gifts, but also gifts for the kid's teachers so that I will be DONE sooner vs. later!

Here is the project that I just finished for the teachers and Dallin's bus driver. I am excited to share what I have been working on as homemade gifts for family, but will wait to post those until we get back in December so that I do not spoil the surprises for my family members who read my blog! But I am sooo excited with some of the things that Derrick and I came up with this year!

Acid Etched Jars

(jars purchased at Walmart for $2.97/each)

I remember making acid etched mirrors in high school and it was quite the labor intensive project. However, making acid etched projects with a cricut is so simple! The Young Women at our church recently did a Girl's Camp fundraiser and made acid etched plates to sell. They were a hit. My friend, Tanya, let me use a little bit of her acid etching to make a casserole dish for a wedding gift and these little jars. A little bit goes a long way. I hardly used anything and was able to make several fun gifts. Now I wish I had a bottle of my own so that I can make things for myself. Casserole dishes, jars....it's a bit addicting. I'll have to print out a 40% off coupon to Hobby Lobby and grab a bottle sometime.

 It is much cheaper to go to the Dollar Store or Walmart and buy shelf contact paper vs. buying a roll of white contact paper. It doesn't matter how it looks. You are just making your stencil from it. I used my cricut and cut out the letters and shapes, then placed them on my jars. Blade pressure was set to low. It can be a little tricky to make sure it goes on straight, but since the contact paper is reposition-able, you can do it over a few times until you get it right. Make sure there aren't any air bubbles and press it on tight. And make sure to leave a border of contact paper. You don't want your stencil to be too close to the edge of the paper. This allows enough room for you to apply your etching cream without it smearing or leaking over onto other areas of glass.

 Generously apply the acid etching cream to the glass with a small paint brush. Covering the opening of your contact stencil entirely. I made one before and just brushed it on like I would paint. It didn't come out very solid, but very streaky. So pile it on there so that you can't see any glass through  it AT ALL.

 Allow to sit for about 10 minutes (just follow the directions on your bottle) and then, using your brush, remove the excess cream and put it back into your bottle. You don't have to do this, but it sure makes the cream last longer. I was able to pretty much save all of it. Then run under water until rinsed completely. Take the contact paper off while running under the water and keep rinsing until you can't see or feel any of the grainy texture. Towel dry.

 These were hard to photograph, but turned out perfect.

For jars, you etch on the FRONT so it goes left to right. No alterations needed. But if you would like to etch a glass plate that will be used for food or the bottom of a casserole dish, you can make a reversed stencil that will go on the BACK of the glass. To do this on your Cricut, use the "flip" feature. Then key in your lettering in reverse. For example, our name would go as follows:

"FLIP" "NOSLEN" (for Nelson)

Then you would apply your stencil to the back of the dish. This way, your dish will always have a smooth perfect finish on the front for serving and baking food on.

 Now back to the jars...
I went to Target and picked up a bunch of 50% off chocolate bags. Kisses, PB Cups, and mini candy bars. They were in fall colors, but for $1 bag, I couldn't beat that. I put a small piece of black construction paper behind the etching so that it stood out and didn't blend in with the candy. It also looks like a little chalkboard! Perfect for a teacher's gift!

 This one is for my brother, who is getting married in December. I made this along with an etched casserole dish which I will post later in December when I finish everything for their wedding gift. It didn't photograph well, but it is a "K" with a fern/berry branch to the left. I love how it turned out!

If you don't have a Cricut or a Silhouette, you can still do this. When I made my mirror in high school, I adhered  the contact paper to my mirror, transferred my images onto the contact paper using carbon paper (or you could just free hand), then cut out the contact paper using an exacto knife, taking out the centers and leaving the stencil.

I hope these directions were clear enough. I don't create tutorials very often because I am lazy and I feel like I am not the authority on things like this, but I shared my project on a Coast Guard Wives forum (Coastie Chicks) and had some friends ask how I did this. So I posted it here.

Creating Inexpensive Fall Decor

 I have been enjoying all of the beautiful fall weather in Ohio.  It's fun to decorate with what nature has provided. Winter will come all too soon, so I am in no hurry to pull out the Christmas decor just yet.

 I went to the park behind our subdivision and got these berry branches (in vase). I have no idea what kind of tree they were from, but they were so pretty. Too bad these aren't still on the trees in the winter. They'd be pretty around Christmas time. I also strung leaves in our entry way a week ago. They have since lost their bright colors, but are still pretty.

While trying to change up the mantel, I came up with a couple of quick projects to help coordinate the colors. I had these plates from this post and added some vinyl lettering. I only have a few cricut cartridges, but the ones I have are versatile with lots of images for many seasons and projects. I used the "Jasmin" and "Stretch Your Imagination" cartridge to create the plates.

 I didn't have an 8x10 photo for the frame, so I used scrapbook paper to create a little matte for a 5x7 photo.

 More berries for the dining room and some of our pumpkins/squash.

 The gourds here were all grown in our garden. We had gourds growing all over the place and they are on the piano, mantel, and also in baskets in the front yard. The front table still looks a bit bare, but I think that I will leave it this way instead of adding things just to take up space.

I think it turned out nice, considering that I didn't spend any money. Well, I guess I did. I did buy the pumpkins a couple of weeks ago, and purchased everything else throughout the years, but you get the point :)