We're all in this together....

I found some High School Musical Paper! I thought these would be perfect for kids' birthday parties--I was thrilled with my discovery! I will admit...I think these movies are great---I even went and saw the 3rd one in the movie theater. :) I'm so excited to list these in my Etsy Shop. I also found some Star Wars paper that is going to be WAY rad! Both are coming soon...so keep your eye out!

Wreath Making 101

My husband is from Oregon, so every year since we've been married we make Christmas wreaths with cedar and fir boughs from the trees on his parents' property. It's so much fun, and we really enjoy doing it. We usually make 3 or 4 wreaths and deck our whole place out with them. :) This year, however, we weren't able to go to Oregon during Thanksgiving, but I found a way to make them anyway! I was able to purchase a big ol' box of spruce boughs from the local nursery--they just cut them off of their trees for me. I'm sure any nursery would do that--just ask! I used some of our old ornaments for decorations, and I bought a few sparkly Christmas picks for a few dollars at the craft store. I also got my wreath ring and floral wire there. I made the bow with some ribbon I found in a box, but you can buy one just like it at the dollar store or Walmart. So total, I spent maybe...$15. If you've got a lot of bushy trees in your yard, you could even cut some boughs off those and do it for almost free!

If you'd like to try making a wreath of your own...you're in luck! I typed up some instructions for Enrichment Night--so here they are! If you have any questions, please email me or leave me a comment. I'd be more than happy to help you!

Materials:
Fir, cedar, spruce boughs (whatever is available—I like to do a mix of a couple types for variety)
Nippers
Gloves
Floral wire (I used 22 gauge)
Wreath ring
Ribbon for bow
Ornaments, floral picks, anything for decorating your wreath

Directions:
1. Wear gloves while working with the boughs.
2. Cut your boughs into about 12 inch lengths.
3. Anchor your wire to the wreath ring by twisting it around one bar a couple times, then wrap it around all the bars 4 or 5 times. Don’t cut the wire. I leave it attached to the spool the entire time. The spool serves as a great gripping device so you can pull the wire really tight.
4. Gather together 3-4 boughs at a time and arrange them in a bunch in your hand. Hold the boughs in your left hand with the full branches pointing left toward your elbow, and the ends of the stems pointing to the right. There should be about 3-4 inches of stem sticking out from your hand. This is where you’ll wrap the wire around the boughs to anchor them to the wreath ring.
5. Now you need to grab the wreath ring and add it to the boughs that are in your hand. You will still be holding the boughs with your left hand—just grab the wreath ring, too. Hold really tight. 6. Using your right hand, take the spool of wire and wrap it around the 3-4 inches of stem that is sticking out from your left hand. Wrap around them 5-6 times, pulling tight each time and holding the wire down with your left index finger so it doesn’t loosen. Don’t cut the wire. You will just pull it over tightly when you are ready for the next set of boughs.
7. Once you’ve wrapped it around 5-6 times, you can let go, set it down, and gather your next bundle of boughs.
You will be rotating the wreath ring counterclockwise during this process.
8. Repeat steps 4-7. Overlap the boughs so that the full branches cover the stems and wire of the previous bundle of boughs. Be sure to overlap them enough so that the wreath looks full.
Once you’ve worked your way completely around the wreath ring, you will need to end your wire. Just wrap the wire around itself in the back. (The floral wire will be vertical, so just wrap it around itself several times.)
9. You can also create a loop for hanging if you’d like by wrapping the wire around itself, then making a loop, then wrapping it around itself again to secure the loop. Be sure wrap it enough times so it doesn’t come loose. I usually don’t use a loop—I just hang the wreath by the wreath ring.
10. Cut the wire.
11. Now hold your wreath up and check for holes. If you see spots that need to be filled in, just anchor the wire in the spot that needs more, gather an adequate amount of boughs, work them in where they’re needed, then wrap your wire around the stems tightly as in steps 4-6. You will need to skip to step 10 to end the wire.
12. Once your wreath is full, you can trim it around the edges and in the center—any branches that are too long or stick out can be cut off to make it look neat.
13. Now you can decorate it. Use any ornaments, floral picks, or bows you’d like. To attach ornaments, I just get a long piece of floral wire, put the ornament in the center, twist it to secure it to the wire, then I place it where I want it and pull the wires around tightly and twist them together in the back.

Hang your wreath and enjoy!

A Handmade Christmas...

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas will be here before we know it! I was out hunting for a Christmas present for my little guy early this morning (my hubby stayed home with him so I could do the shoppin') and I thought...'I wonder what kind of handmade kids toys there are out there?' So I got onto Etsy and starting looking for kids gifts for ANY age. I found so many great ideas--and here are a few...

Oliver the Owl..kids love something soft to cuddle! Aren't those big eyes and fuzzy scarf adorable? What's great about this item is you can pick your color--I found him at NotSoSmallThings... Organic Skittle Bowling! How fun is this? And it's great because they'll help your child develop their motor skills...I found this fun game at littlesaplingtoys...

I remember being a kid and loving to bop a balloon around the living room...and it was always sad when it popped. :-( But this clever fabric balloon cover takes care of that problem! Makes balloons safer and funner to play with. I found this at SDKdesigns...All kids love coloring...sometimes on walls...but hopefully mostly on paper! I absolutely LOVE these Lego Minifigure Crayons--found at 123polkadotty...wouldn't these be cute as a stocking stuffer?

Wooden Toys make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...I fell in love with this wooden train, found at asummerafternoon. What a beautiful toy!There are so many beautiful handmade toys for children on Etsy, and so many talented people that make them! If you've got a handmade toy you'd like to share, please leave me a comment with your link--I'd love to see it!

Coupon Codes!

Hey Everyone! I'm so excited--Etsy has introduced COUPON CODES! That means I don't have to manually refund discounts through PayPal after the purchase has been made. It does it right there for you at checkout!

I am going to try it out---so I wanted to give all of my wonderful followers the first chance at a deal. :)

At checkout, use the code SPECIAL10, and you'll get 10% off your items. The discount doesn't apply to shipping, just the items you buy.

I hope it works! Thanks everyone--Have a happy weekend! :)

EARLY BLACK FRIDAY SALE TODAY!

Hello everyone! I am announcing that I am having my Early Black Friday Sale TODAY! I will be spending most of Thanksgiving week with my family, but I still wanted to give you all an opportunity to get some great deals! The sale is Buy One Get One FREE! Please visit my Etsy home page and view my Shop Announcements for details and rules on the sale. Thanks!

My Latest Cupcake Wrappers...

For all the shoe lovers out there.....STILETTO cupcake wrappers! And I used the shoe cutouts as stiletto confetti! These would be so cute for a girls' night out party, don't ya think? :)

Green Cupcake Wrappers with Love Story Overlay

I had a customer purchase these for her wedding! The green wrapper underneath the ivory gives it such an AWESOME new look! I think I'll start selling these in a bunch of different colors---and as always, I can do custom orders, so if you are looking for specific colors for your wedding, I'm happy to put it all together! Just email me or contact me through my Etsy Shop!

Florist for a day :)

I find myself getting so excited about Christmas that I don't do much for Thanksgiving! I just remembered that I have a super cute turkey that I made and painted somewhere in a box...I should go find it and set him out! I had a reader ask about using fruit in Thanksgiving decor, and I mentioned using cranberries as a filler in a vase--so I went out and did it!

I went to the floral shop in town and picked up some flowers with fall colors, then I headed over to the dollar store and got this nifty little vase. I love how it's short and squat! I also bought some fresh cranberries (they were only $1.99!) and I filled the vase with them--and water, too! Gotta give the flowers something to drink. :) I heard somewhere that you can use a crushed aspirin as flower food...but I didn't have any aspirin, so, let's hope the water will do the trick!

When you cut the stems, do it at an angle, and either cut them in water or put them in water right away so the stems don't suck up air. I'm no florist, so I just arranged them in the vase until they looked good. The cranberries were kind of convenient because they held the flowers in place!

I'm so happy with how my little Thanksgiving arrangement turned out! I think I'll do this every year!

Christmas Goodies...Inspired by the color purple

After I made my purple snowflake cupcake wrappers, I've been noticing purple in Christmas items a lot more! I think it's such a pretty color! I was able to find some gorgeous handmade items on Etsy that incorporated purple, and I'd like to share them with you!

These little Santa Booties are ADORABLE! I found these at GeorginaKay. There are some really great ideas on how to use these in the listing--my favorite is to hang them on your tree and put a little surprise in them!

These ornaments are SO fun! I love the modern, abstract patterns used. They are made out of polymer clay. I found these beauties at AngelaDesign.

And I LOVE owls! This stocking would be perfect for me. I found this one at yespleasestudio.

And I can't forget Holiday Greeting Cards! I'm lucky because my husband writes the Christmas letter every year. :) I just have to buy the cards to stick them in! I found these at SocialSalutations.

And what about tags for all those Christmas packages? These are oh-so-festive and sparkly and I absolutely love them! I love the inked edges and the purple floral paper used for the bird. These pretties can be found at bijouxpaperie.

Now a little off the topic of Christmas....I cut some Baby Shower Cupcake Wrappers today..check them out!

Baby Blue Birdie and Stars

Baby Girl Birdie and Hearts

Thanks for looking!

First Snow!

It snowed today! And boy, did it SNOW! It didn't stop all day. I had to do some errands, and my little boy did NOT like what he saw when we went outside. Sure, he enjoyed looking at the snowflakes falling when he was in the car...he also liked looking at all the trees covered in snow...but as soon as one of those white fluffy things hit his nose...he started to scream! I felt so bad for the little guy. We hurried real fast so we could get home and be all snuggly warm. :)

All the snow made me feel Christmas-y, so I bought a Christmas tablecloth while we were out! And I also made some more cupcake wrappers with snowflakes on them! I just love these ones:

I think purple is such a unique color for holiday items--it's out of the ordinary and really stands out amongst the crowd! They've also got a really neat tea-dyed look to them--I love the vintage/old style on EVERYTHING..so I was so excited when I found this paper. And aren't the polka dots adorable? Gives them just the right touch. :)

I've also been thinking a lot about decorating--I think this year I just might take all of my year round decor and box it up...and replace it all with everything Christmas! Sounds like quite a challenge, but I think I'm up for it!

Beautiful Thanksgiving Decor in Blogland

I've been looking around on all those amazing blogs out there, and I've found some really great Thanksgiving decor items!

I've chosen 2 to feature--grab my feature button if they're yours!


<a href="http://www.homeandholidaykeepsakes.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/homeandholiday/featurebutton2.jpg" alt="homeholidaykeepsakesblogbutton" width="150" height="150" /></a>

These pillows blow my mind! And they aren't even pillows! They are placemats from WALMART! They come from Home is where my story begins.

So easy and SO beautiful--you just open up the seam a little and stuff 'em. Then sew them back up! I'm going straight to Walmart tomorrow to find these babies! Thanks so much, Becca, for showing us this FABULOUS idea!

This mantel decor comes from At Second Street, and I just LOVE it! Thanksgiving is a holiday for us to be grateful, and I just adore the banner that announces it. And the wooden blocks have a soft spot in my heart--I can't get enough of them. :) Follow the link above to see her other great Thanksgiving decor ideas!

Thanks you two for making my day with such beautiful handmade items!

I Love Fridays!

Hello Everyone! If you're visiting from Friday Follow Parties and you follow me, leave me a comment with a link to your blog and I'll come visit you! :)

I'm so excited for the weekend--we've got lots of plans...a few craft fairs, a holiday open house, a movie....it's going to be busy! I've featured a couple items here from Etsy...

I love this super cute Toddler Tie Tee from SuperTot...I actually just bought this same fabric a few weeks ago and I'm going to be making my husband a tie out of it too! He's a teacher and his kids just love all the fun holiday ties I make him. I'll post pictures when it's done. :)

And these blocks are from lisabees...such a perfect combination for Thanksgiving--don't you just love the turkey?!

And take a look at these Pinecone Turkey Placecard Companions from NaturallyNatalie...I would love to have these at my table!

If you've been featured and have a blog or site, you can grab my feature button!



<a href="http://www.homeandholidaykeepsakes.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/homeandholiday/featurebutton2.jpg" alt="homeholidaykeepsakesblogbutton" width="150" height="150" /></a>

Happy Friday Everyone!

On the Painted Rabbit...

My Snowflake Cupcake Toppers were featured in a Treasury and now that Treasury is featured on The Painted Rabbit! The theme is I can't Wait For Winter Shopping. There are some very talented people on Etsy---so many beautiful items! Hope you'll go take a look!

Front Page Feature on My Handmade Registry

I woke up this morning to find that my Believe Holly Berry Cupcake Wrappers are featured on the front page of My Handmade Registry!

They'll be on there for a couple days, so you can go check it out at the link above. Awesome!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit...

At our local craft store, they have a "Moonlight Madness Sale" just before Halloween...there's a lot of good deals and sales prices that you can only get if you go between 5 and 10 at night. It also happened to be on the same night as the Zombie Walk on Main street and the college was having their annual Halloween Concert which is always a huge hit.

So needless to say, it was quite the adventure trying to get to Porter's. Main Street was blocked off and there was a traffic jam on the other road because of people trying to find a parking spot on campus. And I only had 25 minutes total because my hubby, who was at home with baby, had a meeting a half hour away he had to be at for his church calling. Wow. The craziness of it all reminded me of how busy it can be during the holidays! I better start my Christmas shopping now! (Speaking of which, there is a link at the bottom of my sidebar for a couple of giveaways on other blogs, including a $25 gift Amazon gift card...check back for more...I'll keep adding them as I find them!)

But even though it was a bit hectic, I was able to find some SUPER awesome holiday papers for my cupcake wrappers! I'll be cutting those out soon....but for now, here are a few that I just did last week! I've only listed the Snowman ones so far, but I will be listing the other two today or tomorrow!

Snowman Party Christmas Cupcake Wrappers

Here are some cute Christmas ideas I found in blogland...if you're featured, please grab the button below to post on your blog or site, and share with your friends!

<a href="http://www.homeandholidaykeepsakes.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy282/homeandholiday/featurebutton2.jpg" alt="homeholidaykeepsakesblogbutton" width="150" height="150" /></a>

Elves Plaque

Christmas Clipboard