Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree......

I hope that everyone had a

Happy Thanksgiving and could enjoy

it with family & friends.

We celebrated our Thanksgiving last Sunday.

I had to work Thanksgiving Eve so I knew I wouldn't

be up to making Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving, plus our Son & DIL

were traveling to Iowa for Thanksgiving.

 

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us I can officially post Christmas projects.

I know, I know, I  posted a Christmas project last week but I just couldn't help myself!

 

Now I'm really going to shock you!

 

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated!

 

We actually put it up last Saturday.
It's a family tradition for us to have the Christmas tree up for Thanksgiving.
We started doing this years ago because we would travel to Pennsylvania
and celebrate Thanksmas (Thanksgiving & Christmas) and I didn't want
to mess with the tree when we got home from vacation.  Plus we love
having the Christmas tree up early.

Did you happen to notice my tree skirt?

Our tree is 7 1/2 feet tall and very wide.  It was hard to find a tree skirt

that would fit under it without looking too small.  So what do you do when

you can't find one you like?  Well, if you're like me you make your own!  This tree skirt is 60".

And you know what? 

I absolutely LOVE it! 

How silly of me to think that I could buy one that I liked!

 

Here's a closer look.

It's made with flannel and wool.

 

I hand stitched the sleighs and flowers.  After I got it all put together I sent it out to have it quilted.

 

 

For several years now I have been creating a handmade Christmas
ornament for our tree.  Eventually I will have enough to decorate one Christmas
tree with all the handmade ornaments.

Here are just a few from years past that help fill our tree.

 

This one I made in 3 different colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is what I came up with for this year's ornament.

 

 

I took a single elegant snowflake design and made it 3 dimensional.

It has LOTS of sparkle!

It is beautifully elegant just like a snowflake.

 

 

Here it is on the tree.

 

 

That's it for this week.

Make sure you check back in next week because you won't want to miss

my next project I just completed.

I took something plain and turned it into something SPECTACULAR!

Hubby says it has the "WOW" factor.

 

Anxiously awaiting the next BIG reveal,

Veronica

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Holy Night!

Oh Holy Night!

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!

 

Christmas is coming up fast!

I have been wanting to make this next project for some time now,

but I just couldn't find what I was looking for to make it.



So I sent out an SOS to my co-workers to help me locate what

I was looking for.  I wouldn't tell them what I was making with it though.

Just that it was a Christmas project.

 

One finally came through for me!

 

This is what I was looking for.

An old used hymnal book.

 

 

One with old aged pages, but not so old that the pages were brittle.

This one is just perfect!

 

 

I made sure that I let everyone know that I was going to tear the book apart!

I hear you GASPING, but I promise you it will be BEAUTIFUL again!

 

Do you see the beautiful yellowed aging on the edges of the pages...

 

 

and the gold around the outer edges of the pages?

 

 

I was so EXCITED when I got to work and this old

hymnal book was on my desk with a note.

I actually screamed and had people running to see what was

going on!  I of course called my co-worker right away and THANKED

him profusely, and asked him if he was o.k. with me

tearing his hymnal apart.  He said  "ABSOLUTELY

because I know you will make something beautiful

out of it!"  I couldn't THANK him enough!

 

We all know that Christmas is about the birth of Christ.

I knew that I wanted my project to be made with musical notes,

but I couldn't find any old music books that had a lot of pages.

 

And then I had another light bulb moment!  Since this is a Christmas

project why not use an old hymnal?  They have lots of musical pages!

What better way to honor the birth of Christ than with

songs of worship?

 

(By the way, this is easier said than done.  Old hymnals are HARD to find!)

 

Well, the moment has finally arrived.   The project is finished!

 

I took this to work to show off and you wouldn't believe

the requests that I got for people wanting one!
Their first response was, "WOW is that ever a neat idea!"

I just knew that I was going to LOVE it.

I sure wasn't expecting to get that kind of response from everyone else!

 

Here it is!

 

My Hymnal Book Wreath!

 

 

What do you think?

The pictures just don't do this wreath JUSTICE!

Let me just say people will NOTICE this wreath!

It is a simply STUNNING wreath.  It measures 2 feet wide!

 

Here is a close-up.
I love the look that the musical pages give this wreath.

 

 

And a side view.

 

 

I was able to get 4 wreaths with 1 hymnal book!

I used EVERY page of this book.

 

Here are pictures of  the other 2 that I have finished.

(Still working on the 4th one)

Each wreath has a different ornament in the center.

 

 

 

These wreaths can be made with any old, or new, book and decorated in so many

ways to use year round.

Each wreath costs me less than $3.00 to make!

 

*keep them indoors though*

 

I gave this wreath to my co-worker who donated his hymnal

to show my GRATITUDE!

He was so surprised!

He said, "Oh WOW, I never expected this.  I just knew it would be beautiful!"

 At first he didn't want to take it because he thought it was the only one I had.

When I told him I made 4, and this one was for him, you wouldn't

believe how fast he snatched it up!.

He couldn't wait to get home to show his wife.

 

 

His wife loved it also.  He said that they hung it on their wall already!

They weren't going to wait until it got closer to Christmas.  They wanted to enjoy it now!

 

This wreath was so hard for me to give away because it is so pretty.

You really have to see these in person to see how simply beautiful they are.

You just can't tell by looking at the pictures.

I even turned my flash off of my camera to try and capture the simplistic beauty.

Even Hubby commented on how something so simple could look so pretty.

It always tickles me when guys notice and make positive comments.

 

I hope you enjoyed my little Christmas project.

So go find some old, or new, books to tear apart

 and make some simply beautiful wreaths!

 

Until next time,

Veronica

 

 

 

 

While I was sleeping

I love to make my own wreaths.

I have made many of wreaths over the years.

It's nice that I have a nice big craft table to be able

to spread out all of my supplies and have

them within arms reach.

 

One thing that I don't like is that I have to lay the

wreath flat on the table to decorate it.

It would be nice to have the wreath vertical so

that I could step back and see what it would look like

when it is hanging on a door or wall.  That way I would

be able to have a better view as to where I needed

to place the ribbons and decorations.

 

So that got me thinking about

some type of a stand to use to

hang my wreath on.

 

 

What about a painters easel?

 

source

 

I checked out a few but they were either too small, or too tall.

 

So I mentioned it to Hubby that I would like to have

an easel for my wreaths but I just can't find what I am

looking for.

He looked at me kind of funny and said "A what?"

 

So I showed him a picture and told him what I wanted,

and how big I wanted it, and why I needed one.

 

Then I asked him very sweetly if he could pretty please make me one.

 

So last Saturday off to Home Depot we went.

 

We came home with all the supplies we needed

so Hubby could make my very own wreath easel.

 

I hadn't had any sleep Saturday morning so I was ready for

bed when we got home.  I told Hubby that I needed to lay down

for awhile.  He told me to sleep as long as I needed to because he was

 just going to watch some football anyways.

 

Well, when I got up Hubby had this for me.

 

My very own wreath easel!

 

It stands 3 feet tall.  It's the perfect size to place on a table.

 

 

Here is a side view.

 

 

And I can even fold it up and store it when I'm not using it.

 

 

Here it is with my fall wreath hanging on it.

 

 

It's just perfect!

I LOVE my new wreath easel!

Hubby did a fantastic job!

He said it only took him 2 hours to make.

 

That's it for this week.

Make sure you check back in next week.

I can't wait to show you what I have been working on!

 

Stay warm,

Veronica

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hey Pumkin!

Just a quick little post today.

I have SO MANY projects lined up that I want to do.

You should see our dining and family rooms!

My crafting has taken over the house!

Is there any way we can squeeze more hours into our days?

If someone out there knows how to do this could you PLEASE let me know?

My "Projects to Make" list is getting longer but my

days are getting shorter!

 

 

Have you seen my Thanksgiving wreath yet?

 

With Thanksgiving being right around the corner,

I knew that I wanted to make one more pillow that would

coordinate with our other Fall pillows

 and carry over into the Thanksgiving Holiday.

 

I thought I would check out eBay and see if I could find

any pretty fall placemats that I could use for pillows.

 

I saw that these were just added.

You wouldn't believe how fast I hit that BUY button!

I snatched these up so quickly I don't even think I had time to blink!

 

 

They are made from a heavy tapestry material and have a rust color material on the backside.

It's hard to see but they have a very thin gold thread throughout.

 

 

 

 

 

I just knew that they would be a perfect match for my fall pillow covers!

 

 

 

I like these because something about them that just speaks Thanksgiving to me.

Or maybe it's the fact that I just love pumpkins so much!

Out of all my pillows, I have to say that these are my favorite.

Next year I will be turning these into a pillow cover to save on storage space.

I just wanted to quickly make a pillow out of these to display for Thanksgiving.

 

So another completed project checked off my "Projects to Make" list!

 

I'm off to work on another project!

See you next week.

Veronica

 

 

 



Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is just right around the corner.

Can you believe that it's November already!

My Gosh, where did this year go?

 

Have you seen any of the Deco Mesh wreaths for sale?

No!

How can you not?

They're EVERYWHERE.

If you don't know what they look like here is a picture of one.

 

source

 

I never had a wreath for Thanksgiving on our front door.

I have a Fall one that would take us right into Thanksgiving, but

I've seen these wreaths around for sometime now and knew

that I wanted to make one for our front door for Thanksgiving.

The nice thing about deco mesh is that it comes in so many different colors.

I can see endless possibilities for wreaths with this stuff!

You can make one for every occasion!

 

So I bought all the supplies to make one!

These wreaths are super simple to make.

Mine took me about 1 hour to put together.

 

Here are the quick step by step instructions.

 

Step 1:  Gather all of your supplies and have them ready to go.

 

*The deco mesh comes on a roll.  I started my wreath on a different wreath form and didn't
like the looks of it so I changed forms.  That's why my mesh is in a piled mess.

Step 2:  Grab your mesh and secure the end onto the wreath form as shown.

 

Step 3:   Measure about 12-14 inches and pinch the mesh together.  Secure the pinched end to the next twist tie on the wreath form.  Continue measuring and securing the mesh all the way around the outside perimeter of the wreath form and secure to the first twist tie.  DO NOT CUT YOUR MESH!

 

Step 4: Measure your mesh again and secure it to the closest twist tie on the inside ring.

 

 

This gives you an idea as to how it should look.

This is my wreath using the other wreath form.  I actually added a ribbon to the mesh.  It is now ready to dress up!

 

 

I added 4 more different ribbons, some berry sprays, a few faux pumpkins and finished it off with a sign.

 

Here is my finished Thanksgiving wreath.

 

 

I wish you could see this in person.  It is SO PRETTY!

 

I made this wreath at 3:00a.m. and took the picture at 4:00a.m.

I'll try to get a picture in the daylight sometime and post it.

I'm a night worker so I try to stay on the same schedule on my off days.  It's just easier for me.

Boy do I get things done around here while Hubby is sleeping!

Don't get me wrong, Hubby and I still spend time together everyday.  We just sleep at different times right now.  Things will be changing soon where we will be on the same schedule again.

But until then I will continue to take full advantage of my time to myself.

I hope you like my wreath and can make one for yourself.

I must get back to my crafting! I'm already working on a few Christmas and Winter projects!

Make sure you check back in and see all my creativeness!

 

Being Thankful,

Veronica