Frosty's Hat

"There must have been some magic
In that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around"


Well I'm not so sure about silk, but this old wicker find will do the trick for me. Which is great, since I found both pieces for 1.50 at a thrift store. Along with a can of spray paint (I already had), some fun ribbon choices, a dab of hot glue, and some pipe cleaner!



With the weather outside being so blistery cold..spray painting was a little more difficult than planned this time...this called for not one, not two, but 4 coats of paint. (Brrr!)



Not only did Frosty's Hat need a ribbon, but a little decoration couldn't hurt. Next, I used pipe cleaner to spell out his name. (As I use this to label all my wrapped packages under the tree)



This fun ribbon was wrapped around the hat as you would typically see the same type of patterned scarf on a snowman out in a yard. The fun prints will go nicely with my tree and decor in my home. You could choose any color choice and it would work nicely with the black hat.

I chose to keep small packages in my hat for now, but I also thought this would be a great place to store fruit on the kitchen table, or simply fill the hat with ornaments for a decorating party which I will do for one of the holiday parties I will host this evening.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out these great parties this week!

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Christmas Countdown Frame

My sister bought me these adorable vintage santa flashcards from a super fun Etsy shop called Pretty Little Studio. You won't believe all the adorable goodness that is in this shop! I was giddy over these cards and it didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to do with these little guys.

I took a frame from the toy shelf that was spray painted black and sanded on the edges and knew it would be just right for this project. I found some scrapbook paper that I love and cut it to a 4 x 6 size to fit the frame.

I used a label holder and two brads from my poor neglected scrapbook stash. I popped it in the middle at the bottom of the paper.

I then typed and printed off a little christmas label from the computer and stuck it in.

I found a mini clothespin and knew it would be just the right thing to hold the cards in the frame.

I got my craft glue out to attach the clothespin to the paper.

I enlisted some help to do the gluing.

And then attached it to the paper.

Now what to do with the rest of the cards while they are not in use?

I searched the house and came across this little white jewelry bag. It was just the right size to hold the cards. This is why I don't throw little containers or bags away. You just never know when they might come in handy.

I simply tied it onto the hanger on the back of the frame so it would be easy access each time we needed to switch cards but would not be visible from the front.

And now we have a fun and festive Christmas countdown that the kids will LOVE to change each morning.

And after Christmas, it can be stored away with the rest of the goods and pop a picture back in the frame. Such a quick and simple way to have a Christmas countdown.

I'll be joining these parties this week!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Tuesday!

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Twine Christmas Cone Trees

Last Christmas I was going crazy over those cool cone-shaped trees that they sell a variety of at Target, but couldn’t bring myself to spend $40 for one. So I decided not to, I'd just make them! I went a little Christmas Cone Crazy making a bunch of different varieties, as you'll soon come to see.

I started off with the materials shown below. I initially mixed glue with water and used this to harden the twine, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to keep the shape that I was looking for.

So I got some of this stuff to use instead, (I know, I know), and it works MUCH better.

I wrapped the cones in parchment paper and secured it with pins, and then wrapped the soaked twine around the cone in a crisscrossing pattern, wringing it out a little at a time as I went. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to make sure that your cone is structurally sound, you'll need to do lots of crisscrossing. This ensures that each piece of twine has another piece to help support it.

You'll also want to make sure that your bottom strands are straight all the way around the base, or your Christmas trees may end up with a little gangsta' lean going on.

Once I was finished with the twine, I put green raffia in the stiffener and wrapped it around the cones as well, just for a little color and a different texture.

Once all was dry (I usually left it overnight), I used a knife to separate the parchment paper from the cone, peeled the paper away from the twine and here is the end result!

The best part about making trees this way is that you can make several trees using only one foam cone as the mold. I wanted to try out a few different things, so this let me experiment on the trees without “using up” one of the foam cones, since they are kind of expensive. I have a plain pair, and this pair that has just a few tiny berries hot glued on in various spots.

Another set I spray painted white, sprayed with glitter, and then hot glued on these larger berries.

This one I actually used the little cone for (I had two, so I was willing to lose one of them). I spray painted the cone and the twine separately, hot glued the twine onto the cone, and capped it with (of course) little berries.

I even made one for some Valentines Day decor.

What do you think? Not to shabby, right? I love these. I made tons of them all December long and then gave almost all of them away as gifts. Which means I get to try out some new options this year. :)

If you love these but don't feel like the hassle, I also have short and tall versions available in my etsy shop here.

As always, I'll be linking to these lovely parties. Have a great week!!

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Ribbon Christmas Tree Decor

I start to get very excited this time of year, don't you? It's the time when I can start to think about how I am going to decorate for my favorite holiday this year. I get excited over the slightest bit of holiday cheer around here! Well, one night recently I got the urge to create something Christmas-y. Not having a specific idea, or having purchased any supplies recently, I gathered up everything I could find in my ribbon and fabric box, along with an old empty red frame and got to work.
First, I used the glass from the frame to cut out a piece of 5x7 cardstock as a backing for whatever I was about to do.
Then, I hot glued some of my favorite black gingham fabric to the card stock.
Next, I cut ribbon into little slices and folded them in half, securing the cut ends together with a dot of hot glue.
I glued folded ribbon pairs onto the gingham backing in the iconic Christmas tree branch shapes, until I had a full tree.
Then I simply added a little red bow as a tree topper and I was done!
I spent absolutely NO money, and have a happy little tree to adorn some lucky shelf in my house. This being my first little Christmas decoration this year gets me all excited to do more and more. A little Christmas tree may be making an appearance in my dining room this week, despite my husband's obvious chagrin. Oh, and wouldn't these look fabulous sewed onto a sweet bib or onesie for Christmas? How about a forest of ribbon trees on a big girl shirt? I might have to get my needle and thread out and pull something together for one of my daughters Christmas outfits, if you come up with something great, be sure to link it to our Flickr page, on the sidebar!

I'll be linking to these parties this week. Hope to see you and your inspiring holiday ideas there!

Happy Thursday,

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