Christmas Tree Bag

This project? It was the death of me. I wanted a break from sewing, but hubby came up with an “easy” idea, so I thought I’d do it. By the end, I wanted to punch him in the face. By the time he got home I cooled off, so no violence occurred. But it was contemplated. So the idea started one way, but that’s not how it ended up. He had a different idea in mind, but I couldn’t do that with the supplies I had on hand, so I guess I can’t blame him. Anyway, it started like this:

Some cardboard and a 6’x9’ canvas drop cloth. With some marking of where the corners should be…

And a line drawn, perpendicular to the finished edge

And some pinning down said line

And then sewing down pinned line

I made a triangle at each corner. I flipped over to the outside, and sewed along the sewn edge again for stability

This made a box shaped. The end. Okay not really. Then I got some scrap fabric and a zipper I happened to have and sewed a top. Really this isn’t a tutorial. Just my piece of crap bag that I ended up hating. But kinda liking. I guess. Do you watch Friends? You remember when Phoebe gets married and changes her name to Princess Consuela Bananahammock? And her friends call her Valerie?

Do you remember what Mike changed his name too? First name. Crap. Last name. Bag. Crap Bag. That’s how I felt. Anyway, I threw on a zipper.

The zipper comes apart too.

Then, I decided I should make it easier to carry. So I got some webbing out of my stash (AKA 3 belts that didn’t have the hardware when I received them)

And sewed them on.

At this point, I’ve spent at least 3 extra hours then I thought I would on this Crap Bag. So I used duct tape on the inside. Cardboard for stability.

I should’ve put some cardboard at the end where the tree stand was. I didn’t, it ripped through the bag, and I really do have a Crap Bag.

Then you add the huge tree that you inherited this year. It’s gorgeous, but kind of a pain in the hind end to store.

Zip it up and admire your coffin you just sewed.

Sarcophagus?

Crap Bag.

Christmas Tour 2012

Okay since it’s Christmas Eve, I thought I’d show you my house. I make no guarantees I’ll be back this week, so Merry Christmas!

Coming in the garland hung front door:

There’s snowflakes window decals hung by some girls that can’t go much higher than 4 feet on a chair, so they don’t go too high. There’s garland hung over the front door curtain rod, just because.

Then, where our Halloween/Fall tree was hung, I have an awesome felt tree

It’s a weird angle cuz there were some heavy things in front that I didn’t feel like moving all the way….My mom made this for us and it was our advent calendar growing up. I let the girls redecorate it as much as they wanted to, and they left the real tree alone.

This is sitting on my kitchen table, to add a little Christmas cheer.

Then, by the fridge, there’s the advent calendar I made last year. It’s survived 2 moves so far!

Walking into the family room area….

On the window sill, there’s the book ornaments and tree I made last year. They needed a little TLC but they survived. Then, our TV armoire is festive:

You can’t tell, but there’s some felt mistletoe hung on the handle. That’s where the girls wanted to hang it, but it makes it awkward to kiss under Right to the side is the Christmas books the girls got to open every day. They loved that, so I think that helped them leave the presents alone!

Onto the main event:

The tree! It has our old stockings hung on the tree. The girls were playing that yesterday, and I think it’s cute. I love the tree reflected in the mirror behind it too. And do you see what’s hanging on the mirror?

Good ol’ Rudolph. It was a shape that Cricut let you cut free for a week. I wanted to throw the Cricut across the room in frustration because it couldn’t cut the CONSTRUCTION PAPER!! Don’t get me started on that. I want a Silhouette so bad!!! Maybe Santa will bring me one

Anyway, on to the house.

Yes, I even decorated the treadmill. It’s still useable!

There’s the mesh wreath I made. I just added a glittery poinsettia sprig and some green glitter wire ribbon.

Here’s my pretend mantel. I was going for red and gold. It was fun, but I never really finished it. On the right is a fun Christmas to-do list from my friend Natalie. (nope not the Nat I’m cousins with), and the nativity vinyl and Believe block are gifts from year’s past, and the cute Elf saying is from my friend Rhonda.

The red ruffle tree was something I made this year,

And so was the gold bead one. I was going to make a whole forest, but then decided to sew a bunch of crazy dresses instead.

We saw this lovely (expensive!) tree at Tai Pan just after Christmas and my oldest fell in love.

Finally, in the girl’s room, they have quite a few little decorations, but the one they were most excited about was the cupcake candy tree we put together.

It’s the tree I bought for Valentine’s fun this year. I have a candy garland my mom passed on to me, and we put a bunch of small ornaments on it, and then made several cupcakes and candies to put on.

This was is my favorite cupcake.

And we put ribbon on the outside to make it that much more fancy. I could’ve sworn I took some pictures when we were making the candy and the cupcake, but the cupcakes were out of felt, the candy was milk carton lids and the cardboard part of a tape tube painted and paper put over the holes, and then swirls from paper, wrapped up in cellophane.

Speaking of ribbon, this is how I displayed the cards we got this year. A ribbon pinned on the top and bottom of the (laundry closet) door, and then using 1-3/4” clothespins I finally found at Michaels. So Merry Christmas! Hope it’s great, and I’m excited to post some pictures of my little princesses in their new dresses!!

Holiday Manicure

Remember this fabulous manicure tutorial?  Easy, fun and pretty.  Well, here’s another spin on that French Tip Manicure:

I did everything the same as the French Tip Manicure tutorial, but I used red, sparkly nail polish.  For my ring fingers, I did the Santa hat first, and used the q-tips and nail polish remover to “erase” the polish and make the straight line for the sides of the hat.  Then I *carefully* painted the white part as straight as I could.  Don’t look too closely at it.  It’s kinda crooked.  Oh well.  It’s fun and festive, and it’s so much fun to decorate your nails for the Holidays, too!  :)

Before I go, I’ve got to share this Christmas silliness:

I sure hope The Hubsters can handle the suspense!!

101 Christmas Gift Ideas

Christmas gifts.  It seems like the list gets longer every year, doesn’t it?!  Well, here’s a list of 101 Christmas gift ideas I posted last year on December 14th.  These gift ideas are fabulous for co-workers, neighbors, teachers, etc…

101 Christmas Gift Ideas

I’ll first start off with a cup of Christmas Cheer.

Warms you right, up, doesn’t it?  Here’s how it’s made:

You’ll need some hot cocoa mix (totally awesome recipe found HERE), Christmas-y mugs, festive treat sacks, candy canes, curling ribbon, and whatever else you want to add.

Put the treat sack in the mug and turn it down.  Use a canning funnel and add your cocoa mix.

Like so.

Use a butter knife to pack the mix into the sack.

Use a twist-tie to close up the sack.  Put some candy canes into the mug.

Add a cute little tag.  On the back of the tag, put the mixing instructions.  I could have made these on the computer, but there’s just something about a handwritten note.  It makes it more personal.  It’s totally up to you, though.

Tie the tag on with some curling ribbon and you’re done!  Make one for everyone needing a cup of Christmas Cheer!

Are you ready for 101 Christmas gift ideas?  I didn’t count, but I’m pretty sure there’s more than 101! 

My wonderful Mother-In-Law has been supplying us with different ideas for years.  She’s so good at keeping track of them, and all of these ideas came from her.  They were photocopied, so rather than retype everything, I just scanned it in.  Some of it is pretty cheesy and old school.  Ye be warned!  :)  Click on any of the images to enlarge them.

Well, there are a few ideas.  Hopefully you’ll find one or two (or 101) fun gift ideas!