Day 42: Stenciled Kitchen Towels DIY

handmade holiday christmas gift stenciled kitchen towel

Day 42: Stenciled Kitchen Towels

I love the holiday season for lots of reasons. One of them is that it gives me the chance to make all kinds of things: decorations, treats, and, of course, really awesome handmade gifts. Gifts that are easy to make and look really great are a bonus. I made these cute, graphic stenciled kitchen towels for an annual gift swap my friend throws every year. The party’s coming up next weekend, and I’m so excited to finally give these cute towels to some lucky friend! Want to make your own set? Here’s how…

Supplies:

  • clean, blank kitchen towels
  • freezer paper
  • scissors or an exacto knife (or a super cool, fancy paper-cutting machine)
  • an iron
  • matte black fabric paint
  • a sponge brush

handmade holiday christmas gift stenciled kitchen towel

Directions:

  1. There are a couple of ways to get your freezer paper stencil ready. I used my magical paper cutting machine to cut out a big “EAT” and a big knife, fork, and spoon on pieces of freezer paper. If you don’t have a paper cutting machine, you can print out a big “EAT” and a big knife, fork, and spoon on pieces of regular printer paper, trace them onto your freezer paper, and cut them out with scissors or an exacto knife. The thing you need to keep in mind is that you are making a stencil. The insides of the letters that you’re cutting out are going in the garbage. You want the outside of the letters, so cut carefully! (You can download the EAT print HERE, and the knife, fork, and spoon print HERE.)
  2. With the iron set to high and the steam shut off, iron the freezer paper stencil onto the kitchen towel with the shiny side of the paper face down. It’ll stick!
  3. Carefully fill in the letters with black paint. Don’t glop the paint on, but make sure you fill each letter in completely.
  4. Allow the paint to dry, then peel the freezer paper stencil off the towel and discard it.
  5. Allow the paint to dry for at least 24 hours, then cover the painted area with a clean cloth or pillow case, and iron it again. This will set the paint so that the towels can be washed and dried.

handmade christmas gift stenciled kitchen towels

If you’d like to see the other 50 DIY Days of Holiday Crafts, check out this link.

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– Melissa, Lulu The Baker

P.S. This is the 4th year for my 50 DIY Days. If you would like to check out the past projects, you can click on these links (sorry for any broken links, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the posts… always a work in progress): 2011 // 2012 // 2013!

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Categories: 50 DIY Days, diy, For The Kitchen


Day 41: 2014 Christmas Photo Time (come share your photo)

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

Day 41: 2014 Christmas Photo Time

Another year, another crazy Christmas photo. The fam and I love going all out and making our Christmas photo a bit crazy. This year we went with a Pacific Northwest theme. The animals of the forest (and Mr. Narwhal) have joined us for this photo and we may have grown some facial hair…

Each year I usually host a Christmas Photo contest for my readers, but this year we’re a bit more relaxed. No contest this year, you can just share your photo with me for fun! I would seriously love to see it. I created a section below for you to link your photo. It’s at the bottom of the post!

Photos from the past years:

2008

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

2009

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

2010

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

2011

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

2012

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

2013

The Paper Mama Christmas Card

Did you take a great Christmas photo? You’re welcome to share it in the Linky share below. If you’d like to see the other 50 DIY Days of Holiday Crafts, check out this link.

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– Chelsey

P.S. This is the 4th year for my 50 DIY Days. If you would like to check out the past projects, you can click on these links (sorry for any broken links, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the posts… always a work in progress): 2011 // 2012 // 2013!




Day 40: Silhouette Wreath DIY and Printable

Silhouette Wreath

Day 40: Silhouette Wreath DIY and Printable

I made this wreath for the HP Create blog last year, and I really wanted to share it again. It’s a favorite and is currently hanging on my front door, again.

Supplies needed to make this wreath: 

  • 16-inch diameter plywood circle (pick up at your local hardware store)
  • 2 eye screws
  • Heavy-duty picture hanging wire
  • Spray Adhesive
  • Drop Cloth
  • Clear Acrylic Sealer
  • The Silhouette Wreath printouts (check out the HP Create Post)
  • Black marker or paint pen

To check out the full tutorial, head on over to the original post. If you’d like to see the other 50 DIY Days of Holiday Crafts, check out this link.

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– Chelsey

P.S. I’m a paid contributor on the HP Create blog. All printables are for personal use only. This is the 4th year for my 50 DIY Days. If you would like to check out the past projects, you can click on these links (sorry for any broken links, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the posts… always a work in progress): 2011 // 2012 // 2013!

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Day 39: Mini Paper Flower Bouquet

Mini Paper Flower Bouquets

Day 39: Mini Paper Flower Bouquet

Well, this project will be put on my list of favorite projects I’ve made (for the HP Create blog). These little vellum paper flowers are extremely easy to make. There’s no pattern to worry about, you just freehand cut and go to town. I put the flowers on little pipe cleaners and made little bouquets. How cute would these be as place markers for your holiday dinner?

Mini Paper Flower Bouquets

Supplies you will need to make the paper flowers:

  • 5 x 11 inch vellum paper (you can purchase plain paper and print on it, or buy colorful vellum)
  • Thankful Gift Tag Printable (provided below)
  • Sparkly pipe cleaners
  • Hot glue and glue gun
  • Wire cutters
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Scissors
  • Optional: Colorful Prints (provided below)

Mini Paper Flower Bouquets

Head on over to the original blog post to get the full tutorial, and I even created some printable color prints for you to make colorful vellum flowers.

If you’d like to see the other 50 DIY Days of Holiday Crafts, check out this link.

50 Holiday Craft Days Banner

– Chelsey

P.S. I’m a paid contributor on the HP Create blog. All printables are for personal use only. This is the 4th year for my 50 DIY Days. If you would like to check out the past projects, you can click on these links (sorry for any broken links, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the posts… always a work in progress): 2011 // 2012 // 2013!

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Categories: 50 DIY Days, diy, For The Home, HP


Holiday Mantel Ideas!

Holiday Mantel Ideas

Did you see my Holiday Mantel Makeover post from earlier today? If not, you can find it right here (or the photo below). Last weekend I gathered a lovely collection of holiday mantel ideas to inspire your Christmas decorating this year (for the Better Homes and Gardens blog). These mantels are so beautiful and I really think you’ll love them.

Holiday Mantel Makeover #HolidayShelfie

To see the full list of mantel ideas, head on over to this post.

– Chelsey

P.S. I’m a paid contributor for the Better Homes and Gardens blog. The photos for the first image are from: BHGCherished BlissProper PinwheelCentsational Girl100 Layer Cake, and Positively Splendid.

Categories: BHG, favorite blogs


Day 38: Holiday Mantel Makeover!

Holiday Mantel Makeover #HolidayShelfie

Day 38: Holiday Shelfie Makeover!

I LOVE decorating for Christmas and look forward to it each November (I start to get excited thee day after Halloween)! This year Wayfair gave me a challenge to makeover my mantel and share it with you guys. Here’s the problem with decorating our mantel: we have a big ‘ol TV hanging on the wall right above it. How do I decorate the mantel without blocking the television? Well, my mini forest did the trick. I put the large bottle brush trees along the sides and the little baby trees just below the screen. I love how the whole set up turned out. It’s my little Oregon themed Christmas mantel (if you want to find the full list of items I used from Wayfair, you can find the links here).

Are you getting ready to decorate? Well, here are a few tips for your holiday decorating.

  • I made a little red yarn pom to turn this deer bust (his name is Ramsey) into Rudolph this holiday season! When Christmas is over, I’ll just remove the nose and he’s back to normal. Note: I tied the nose on with some clear fishing wire.

Holiday Mantel Makeover #HolidayShelfie

  • Use some pom poms and ribbon to decorate your bottle brush trees! I did not glue these decorations on, they just stick right to the brush on the trees.

Holiday Mantel Makeover #HolidayShelfie

  • I love LOVE silly plastic lights, but they never come on light-strings that are long enough to go around the entire Christmas tree. So, I just popped the plastic decorations (my deer) off the light-string they come on and put them on my Christmas tree lights.

Holiday Mantel Makeover #HolidayShelfie

  • Do you really want a nice faux Christmas tree, but the price scares you? Skip the 6 or 7 foot tree and go with a shorter version, like my little 5 1/2 foot tree. Place the tree on a wooden box (or maybe a couple of vintage suitcases) to add some height! My shorty tree is now the height of a 6 1/2 foot tree and cost a LOT less. Wrap a little bit of fabric around the base, and you’ve got a cute little tree set up! Note: my grandpa gave me this wood box, but you can also find them at thrift shops. 

Faux Christmas Tree on Wood Box

Ok: if you’re decorating your holiday shelfie right now, be sure to take a photo of it and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #HolidayShelfie for a chance to win $500 to spend at Wayfair. It’s that easy. They’ll be choosing one winner, so get to it!

To check out the full list of items I used from Wayfair, head on over to this post and you’ll find the links (plus 6 other Holiday Shelfie ideas from other bloggers). 

Holiday Mantel Makeover #HolidayShelfie

 Happy decorating! If you’d like to see the other 50 DIY Days of Holiday Crafts, check out this link.

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– Chelsey

P.S. I was not paid for this post, but I was provided with free product (from Wayfair) to make my Holiday Shelfie. I am not running the Wayfair Instagram contest (just wanted to tell you about it). This is the 4th year for my 50 DIY Days. If you would like to check out the past projects, you can click on these links (sorry for any broken links, it’s hard to keep up to date with all the posts… always a work in progress): 2011 // 2012 // 2013!