Day 40: Christmas Yarn Wreath

December 11, 2012 | Posted by

DAY 40 is brought to you by, the lovely Violet of Blythe Ponytail Parades: Hi! I’m Violet from Blythe Ponytail Parades and I’m here to share a fun Christmas wreath DIY!

So let me start by saying that this project IS a bit time consuming. I suggest having a movie marathon while you do it. It’s still fun though.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • – A blank wreath ( I used a styrofoam wreath)
  • – Yarn of any color(s)
  • – Christmas ornaments
  • – Scissors
  • – Hot glue (optional)

Ok, so I began by deciding on a striped pattern, so this required two yarn colors! I layered the yarn three times for each strip so as to make sure that NO styrofoam was shining through.

I left a bigger spot of white on mine to be the place for ornaments! When you wrap your wreath, you can do it in any way possible! Solid colors, stripes or maybe even more stripes.

I attached mine using silver threading and wrapping it around each piece, but you can also do this with hot glue!
And you’re done! Voila! Simple, cheap and elegant. I was pretty excited to hang this and it’s nice having something I can pull out every year. Let me know if you try it too!

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A very big THANK you to Violet for sharing this fantastic DIY. Please, be sure to give her blog home a visit.

To keep up with my 50 DIY Days, click here:

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Day 39: Paper Terrarium Revisited

December 10, 2012 | Posted by

Day 39: Today I wanted to revisit my Paper Deer Terrarium. I made this little cutie last January. I still have it on display and will occasionally add something new to the mix. Maybe a tiny pumpkin for Halloween, or a couple of mini candy canes for Christmas? Yes! Perfect.

I’m 90% sure I wouldn’t keep a live terrarium… alive. Heh. So, say hello to: the Paper Terrarium. It does not require anything alive… AND, the items needed are inexpensive. Yay!!!!

What you need:

  • A glass container. I found mine CHEAP at a thrift store.
  • Moss. I got mine at a craft store. The bag filled 2 terrariums.
  • Floral foam. Just a small amount will do.
  • Tooth picks.
  • Hot glue.
  • Scissors.
  • String.
  • A couple of tiny twigs.
  • My Doe A Deer freebie printout.

What to do:

  1. First place your foam in your glass container.
  2. Then you can start forming your moss around the foam. I made sure to cover any foam spot that may show through the glass.
  3. Next, cut out all the paper pieces you’d like for your terrarium. I’ve included a couple of different sizes of deer and mushrooms for you to choose from. After they’re cut out you can hot glue the tooth picks to the backs of the cutouts. Glue your banner triangles to the string. Tie that string to the twigs!
  4. Arrange your paper pieces exactly how you’d like! And, you’re done!
  5. I made 2 terrariums and the rough total cost of each one is about $5. Woo hoo!

Freebie printout (click on the image below, right-click, and save):

 I hope you guys enjoy!

 – Chelsey

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Day 37: Mini Donut Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar!

December 7, 2012 | Posted by

DAY 37 is brought to you by, the lovely Christina of the Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe blog. It’s time to start baking:

Mini Donut Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar

Makes about 2- 3 dozen

Recipe adapted from here

For the donut muffins:

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons buttermilk, room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature

For the cinnamon sugar coating:

  • 1 cup vanilla sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and very slightly cooled

To make the donut muffins:

1. Preheat your oven to 375*F. Grease and lightly flour two mini muffin tins. Get out a bowl and sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer (fitted with your paddle attachment), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (also called “creaming”). This will take about 5 minutes. Next, mix in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl after each addition. Mix until just combined.

3. With the mixer on low, mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by 1/3 of the milk mixture. Scrape down bowl. Continue to alternate until all of the remaining ingredients are incorporated, finishing with the dry ingredients. Be careful to not overmix. You don’t want dense donut muffins!

4. Fill your greased/floured muffin cups just to the rim with batter. Bake until lightly golden and firm to the touch, 15 to 20 minutes. 

5. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove the from the tins.

To coat the muffins with cinnamon sugar:

1. Combine the vanilla sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. 

2. Roll each muffin into the melted butter making sure to coat all sides. Then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.

Set out and eat eat eat! 

You’ll want to make a lot of these. Seriously. They’re amaz-z-z-z-z-zing.

– Christina, Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe

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A very big THANK you to Christina for sharing this fantastic DIY. Please, be sure to give her blog home a visit.

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Categories: 50 DIY Days, food, Sweets

Day 36: Happy Christmas Tree Skirt!

December 6, 2012 | Posted by

Day 36: Happy Christmas! Add a little handmade skirt to your Christmas tree. I’m absolutely in love with this skirt. It makes me happy to see it under my tree. I do think it’s a good project for beginner sewers (like myself).

Supplies: 

– 2 yards of felt (or 1 yard, I doubled up my felt to make it thicker, the skirt will be about 36 inches in diameter)

– Roughly 3 1/2 yards of pom pom ball fringe (this circumference is based on my lame math skills… plus adding a bit more)

– Fabric glue

– Sequin strand: Depending on what you’re spelling, about 3 – 4 yards

– A string and pencil

– Scissors

Directions:

– First, decide if you’d like the felt doubled up or not. I wanted my skirt to be thicker, so I laid one yard of fabric on top of another yard of fabric. Fold this into quarters.

– Tie the pencil to the end of your string. Hold the end of the string at the center of the folded corner, trace a line at the other end of the felt. This should create a curved line. Cut that out.

– Grab a bowl, you’ll use this to trace the center hole of your tree skirt. Trace on the folded corner of your felt (see picture below) and then cut it out.

– Grab a ruler, trace a straight line from the edge of the outside circle to the inside circle. Cut that out.

– Pin your pom pom fringe to the outside circle, the inside circle, and the straight line you cut.

– Hop on your sewing machine and sew that fringe! It’s a bit time consuming, and the fringe is hard to keep in place on the felt… but, other than that, it’s pretty simple.

– When your pom poms are sewn on, let’s write a sequined greeting on your tree skirt! I chose, “Happy Christmas”. I free handed this… but, you’re more than welcome to use a pencil and lightly write out your words. Use the fabric glue to glue down your words.

– Let this dry overnight, and you’re done!

The only thing I will do different next time, is NOT go with a cream color. While at the fabric store, I must have forgotten about the 2 cats I have. They LOVE laying on tree skirts. Sooo… yeah. Cream + dark haired cats = messy. Oh well. I still love it.

– Chelsey

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Day 35: Pinecone Gift Tags Printable

December 5, 2012 | Posted by

Day 35: Today I’m sharing more pinecones (I love pinecones). A pinecone gift tag. Much more exciting than store bought! Click on this link here (or the photo below) and right+click and save. Print your pinecones, cut them out, punch a hole in the top, and string them onto a Christmas gift. Have fun!

– Chelsey

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Categories: 50 DIY Days, diy, Holiday - Christmas

Day 33: Chocolate Covered Mini Oreos (with a $50 Pear Tree Greetings giveaway!)

December 3, 2012 | Posted by

Day 33: So… these are so good. Really good. I mean, Oreo’s are good just the way they are… but add some chocolate: OMG. It makes these mini Oreo’s addictive! Plus, since they’re bite-size, you don’t really know how many you’re eating until they’re all gone. Ha!

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Categories: 50 DIY Days

Day 32: Home Advent Calendar

December 1, 2012 | Posted by

Day 32: I know… it’s December 1st. BUT, just in case you haven’t set up your advent calendar yet… here’s a fun one for you! My little home advent.

Supplies:

– My home printouts (right click + save: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen)

– Paper lunch bags (or any large pieces of paper)

– Clothes pins

– Tinsel garland, ribbon, or twine

– Tape

– Adhesive

Directions:

– Print out all the home printables.

– Cut out the sides and base of each house (leaving the roof untrimmed).

– Size them up next to the lunch bags. If the bag is too big, fold it smaller than the house and tape. Tape the house down over the face of the bag. Trim the excess paper where the roof is. Repeat this for all the homes (check out the photos below for help). If you don’t have paper bags, you can always fold up a piece of paper and tape it up. You’re pretty much creating a little paper pocket (behind the houses) for your advent goodies.

– Hang the houses however you’d like! I chose to string up a tinsel garland, in the shape of a tree, and pin up the houses with gold-spray-painted clothes pins.

– Fill with your favorite goodies, and enjoy!

– Chelsey

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Categories: 50 DIY Days, diy, Holiday - Christmas