12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts...Days 11-12

Day 11...happy, scrappy signs.  Since my Cricut took a nosedive on me, I had to go to my local scrapbook store to cut the letters.  I just bought some wood, had it cut to size, painted it, and Mod Podged on the letters.  I drilled a hole to put the wire thru to make the signs hangable{which is apparently NOT a word-ha!}, and tied a bunch of ribbon on.

Day 12...I bought candles from Wal-Mart, which smell AMAZING, took the labels off and glued burlap and/or ribbon around them.  Simple and cute!

This one is for Jackson's teacher.  She has a more rustic/natural Christmas theme, so I thought the burlap and yarn would be great.

For the rest of the teachers, I used a fun polka dot ribbon.

The packaging.  My camera seriously hates me.  I think a kid got a hold of it or something, because I cannot get a focused picture for anything!  Anyway...I printed off tags that said, 

"May your days be Merry and Bright!  

Happy 12 Day of Christmas!

Love, 

Lilly{or Jackson or Fisher}"

That, my friends, completes the 12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts!  This was a lot of fun, but a LOT of work!

Come back soon and I'll show you our home all decked out with Christmas Cheer and share some other good news!

12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts...Day 10

Day 10...Wooden Nativities.  I found the tutorial, or basic instructions, here.  I glued my people together, as I didn't want them to wiggle or come apart.  I also sanded my wood, but the original maker did not.  Other than those few little differences, I mostly followed her instructions.  I love the simplicity of these!

This is how I packaged them up.  I printed the passage of  Luke 2: 8-14 and stapled it on.

⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts...Day 9

Day 9 brought the teachers pumpkin bread.  I got the packaging from Michael's...a Martha Stewart Christmas clearance!

12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts...Day 8

Day 8 brought felt snowflake ornaments from Target, along with Hershey's Kisses and peppermints.

I put them in a quart size Ziploc bag and stapled a doily to the top.  A stamped tag finishes it off!

12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts...Days 5-7

Hey there!  I hope y'all had a great weekend!  We did!  We had two cookie exchanges, so it was a super busy, fun time!  

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas was snow globes!  I'm sure you've all seen these around Pinterest and other blogs.  I love them!  They are super simple and inexpensive to make.  I saved my jelly and spaghetti jars, so it brought the cost down even more!  I just took the labels off, washed the jars really good, and spray painted the lids.  Then, I took trees from Wal-Mart and glued them to the lids, added in a little snow, screwed the lids back on, and voila, a cute gift!

I loved this packaging!  I took small tags that I aged in coffee and cinnamon, stamped a 5 on, then tied them to the bag along with a snowflake ornament, and grey ribbon.

A little closeup...the snowflakes came from The Dollar Tree in a pack of six.

Day 6 was yummy, homemade cookies!  You can tell I went all out on the packaging!  Haha!

These cookies are seriously yummy! You can find the recipe here.

Day 7...I decoupaged ornaments with book pages and glitter.  I then printed out the Noel on the computer and strung it all on twine.  My inspiration came from Pinterest.

I just nestled these in some kraft paper shreds in a cellophane bag tied with twine.  Simple and beautiful!

12 Day of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts...Day 4

Day 4...I made tags that the teachers can either tie on a package or decorate with.  My personal favorite is the snowman.  I just found a vintage snowman postcard, saved, and printed it to size.  Then, I just used a glue stick to adhere it to my tags, which I soaked in a bath of coffee and cinnamon to age, then used good ole Elmer's to make a bead around the edge and sprinkled glitter.  LOVE how it turned out!

I wrote a little poem, then stapled it to a fun cellophane bag.  Ready to give!

12 Days of Christmas*Teachers' Gifts, 1-3

I got this hair-brained idea to do a 12 Days of Christmas gift giving extravaganza for the kids' teachers this year.  You know, cause I'm not busy enough!  Aren't we all, though?

So...Day 1 was homemade hot chocolate mix, that I just put in mason jars and added cute lids.  The little bags hold marshmallows and Bob's peppermint sticks.

Day 1 all packaged and ready for gifting!

Day 2...Decoupaged initial ornaments...

A closeup of one...

Day 2 packaged up!

Day 3...Christmas Popcorn!

I have lots more ideas up my sleeves so y'all come back!

Pillows, Pillows, Pillows...

I had this wild hair last night to make some pillows. I've had the chenille and the cutter quilt for quite some time and I always snatch up vintage sheets whenever I see them, too.

I dyed the chenille with teal dye. It was previously white. I love how it looks with the red and white polka dots!! The rectangular pillow in the middle is going to my bestie, Jenny, all the way across the US.

Here is a close-up of her. The pink chenille is original and I've had it for a while. We used some of it for Lilly's crib skirt and a lampshade. That was over 6 years ago. Wow, how time flies!! I still have a bit of it left so I decided to pair it with the blue chenille and quilt. I found the vintage red pompoms at a yard sale for only 10 cents for a big bag of it!! I love the way this one turned out!!

Here is the back view...

Here is another pillow I made. I used a scrap of a quilt top for it.

The back side got vintage sheets. Simple envelope style pillow covers are so easy and a fun way to add more texture and color!!

One last pillow...I made this one from burlap and osnaburg for my friend, Amy's birthday. She also collects blue jars and bottles, so I grabbed this one when I saw it at an antique shop.

Don't you just love how pillows can transform a space?? Should I put them in my pityfully empty Etsy shoppe???

Cute gift idea...

Don't you just love getting inspiration from blogs?!?! I know I do!! If you've never been to Ashley Ann's blog, you are missing out. She has gorgeous photography, a cute home, super cute kids, and great craft ideas. One of the ideas that I love of her's is tweaking or embellishing plain candles.
I made this one for Jackson's teacher for Thanksgiving, but with Christmas fast approaching, I thought it would be perfect for a last minute gift.


What I used...a candle from Wal-Mart{this one is mulled cider-smells AMAZING-and is only about $3}, scrapbook paper, paper doily, mod podge, vintage seam binding, and twine...
I measured the flat part of my candle jar and cut my scrapbook paper to size. I then painted a little mod podge to the jar, just a light coat. Then I cut the doily in half and mod podged it on. Let it dry, then cut your seam binding and twine, tie around and voila, a cute, crafty, and inexpensive gift!!

Love from Lilly...an idea

I know most of y'all know about my little Lillybug and how she came to be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Go here to get caught up. It's fine, I'll be here waiting. ;)


Okay, you back with me?? Shortly thereafter, Jenny made this doll for Lilly, complete with shot spots. You can see her in more detail here. Love her!! Jenny is such a good friend and so thoughtful!!





Anyway, the other day I had an idea-a God-given idea-to make a bunch of dolls and take them to the hospital where Lilly stayed. I want every child that comes thru there to have their own little doll. I will make them like the one above{I made this one for a friend's child-saw similar ones on Little Bit Funky and Black Apple, but I drew my own pattern}, in different skin tones and hair colors. Boys even!! I do want to put red hearts in the shot areas like Jenny did with the one she made. My plan is to get a bunch of my friends together at my home to sew and stuff these girls and boys up. Put them in a large cellophane bag and tied up with a tag.
I would like the tag to say Love from Lilly and a Bible verse-the first one that sprang to mind is Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future." There was another verse, but at the moment I cannot think of it...Feel free to share any that y'all may like.
Its a scary and unknown thing. I remember well the day, one of the last days that we were in the hospital and Lilly looked at me and said, "I'll be glad when we can leave the hospital and I don't have to get anymore shots." Broke my heart, y'all...I mean, all she knows is one day she felt poopy and the next, she's in a strange place hooked up to all kinds of machines, etc. Anyway, I just want to ease the transition for the families. This is just a small way I feel I can help, you know??
My goal is for this to happen before her one year anniversary, which is in February, if not sooner.

Things I am going to be looking for{this is in no way a hint, by the way, just a list for myself, so I don't forget}:
Needle-less syringes
Cream colored fabric
Brown fabric
Red felt hearts
Fun fabric
Stuffing
Some of these things, like the cream and brown fabric, I will use sheets for-more economical. If any of you know where I might find the syringes and hearts, do share. I was planning to look on etsy for the hearts. Jenny cut out the hearts on Lilly's doll, but I am planning on making a lot and honestly, the idea of cutting out hundreds of hearts isn't appealing.

There it is...Love from Lilly

Hope y'all have a great day!!

Stuff I've made...

I got an itchin' Sunday to make a doll for a friend's little girl's birthday. I think she turned out cute!!

I participated in Monica's Noel swap and this is what I gave to my partner. We are supposed to fit it all in a shoebox. I made a circle garland that I posted about here. I also made rag balls, shutter ornies, gift tags, and put mini pinecones from my sister-in-law's cabin in a mason jar.

I also participated in Emilie's Thanksgiving mini swap. I sent Lori a cloche, fabric pumpkin, scrabble letters spelling Thankful, and a tag.

What have y'all been crafting lately??

Make it special...

Our neighbors invited us over for dinner last Friday and I was so excited!! Not only are they sweet, but they are Christians, too!! I have always wanted to live in a neighborly neighborhood{other than in an old farmhouse on land :)} and am so glad to be making friends.
I wanted to take something as a hostess gift. I decided to take a plant-I love houseplants!! All those fancy pots are not in my budget so I decided to gussy up a plain terra cotta pot. First, I painted the pot, then I mod podged strips of papers torn out of an old book. I just coated the pot then layered the papers, let it dry and added several more layers of mod podge. After the mod podge was dry, I stenciled their initial, and used rub-ons from Wal-Mart on either side of the B. I used a little Alene's tacky glue to adhere the twine around the top of the pot. This covered the ugly edge at the top as well as adding to the cute factor. I planted a small house plant, watered it, and added spanish moss. Voila!! A cute, personalized gift!! Total cost: under $5. I had most of the items on hand so that helped.
My neighbor liked it and we had a great time!!

Lavender Vanilla Sugar Scrub

Lavender Vanilla Sugar Scrub
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup baby oil{I use equate Aloe Vera & Vitamin E Baby Oil}
10 or so drops of Lavender Essential Oil
Couple teaspoons vanilla extract
Mix all together in a bowl and store in an airtight container. Use a small amount and rub over your body for super soft and silky skin.

This makes a great gift. I gave it to my Mom and Mother in law for Christmas one year and they loved it. In fact, my Mother in law has been requesting it ever since. I gave this jar to her this morning along with some Ghiradelli dark chocolate{she loves dark chocolate} for her birthday. She will also be getting a framed photo of the kiddies, but that will be after Easter, when they are all dressed up and we aren't getting flooded. ;)

You can use any kind of container. I usually pick up the jars in the photo from Goodwill, but I haved also seen similar ones at Hobby Lobby and World Market. Truly, I don't measure the oil and vanilla, but just wanted to give y'all an idea of how much to use. I just shake it in until I like the scent. Y'all will have to let me know if you try it.

A Gift for Jack

We have a birthday party to attend tonight for one of my friend's little boy, Jack. He is three today. I generally do not buy toys for kids gifts-they have so many already. His birthday theme is firetrucks so I got him a little golden book about fire engines. We also got a drawing pad and crayons. Unfortunately, Lilly thought the crayons were for us so she ripped the back of the box trying to open them. Back to Wal-Mart we go to get more!! I made the shirt and bag. Just ironed fabric to wonder-under then onto the shirt and bag, stitched around the letters and voila, a fun, personalized gift!!

All ready to go!! I have to say I feel a little "green" using a tote for a gift bag and it was less expensive than a cute gift bag would have been.

Hope y'all have a wonderful Tuesday night!!

A Sweet Gift

I got the neatest surprise gift yesterday. I was checking the mail and this was in my box. Love it and my friend even had Fisher's name embroidered on it. Oh, its a wipe case covered with fabric and trim. If you love it and gotta have one too, you can go here.
Thank you, Katy!!