DIY Beautiful star

Here is a water color star that you do yourself. The website, Jasco, has templates and instructions. I've always thought these paper stars were gorgeous. I don't think I'll make one this year however, because I have one more large craft project and my cody foster houses arrived today. My apartment isn't big enough for all the Christmas decorations I have. I'm a knick Knack collector I was not prepared for all the fun stuff I've gotten this year. Well, the stars would be beautiful any time of the year and would make a great handmade gift. Just wanted to let you know where to find them.

Kits

Cute huh? I found this on Holly Doodle design website/blog. I think her site is especially cool because she isn't selling this item but rather the kit for you to put together yourself. I haven't seen a kit like this anywhere else (but I haven't looked). I only came across this in my incessant search for things Cody Foster. But check out her site for other lovelies.

Trees

Here's my tree with some tinsel and then my three retro tree that I have above the fridge keeping themselves cold. I went crazy on Christmas this year. I have one more craft and a few more finds to show you later. I just needed a break from life and need to find some life in crafts. I also have this desire for the warmth of Christmas: Family and Christmas spirit. Life gets lonely.

CrackerJax

I got these two lovelies at a local CrackerJax store in Dekalb. When I moved to the corn fields to get me an education I was impressed to find these charming stores in the middle of it all. CrackerJax and Moxie are really great stores. ( The retro trees I have are from Moxie and I also ordered a Madonna that I saw at Moxie during their Winter Open house.) I have another house that matches the Church. I thought they looked like the Cody Foster houses so I got a few. I have some Cody Foster winter wonderlands ordered but they probably wont be in this week. Maybe the UPS man will bring me lots of Christmas cheer this week. Ill keep you updated. Anyone know a good deal on Mica Flakes and German tinsel?

Nativity HOMEGOOD FIND!!

One of my other Homegood finds. Did I say I loved Homegoods? The set is actually is a Dept 56. It had some lame greenery and some silly basket. So I took those off put on some angel hair I got from Walmart (looks something like hay) and then I added the star that I got at Target. Looks a lot better! I had been looking for a nativity set and couldn't be happier with this one.

Winter Village 2

Here is my villages set up and snow for the villagers. I also made the bottle brush tree, well decorated it anyways. I plan to do a number of other trees. I fell in love with the Cody Foster"s trees and Bethany Lowe's trees but there weren't in my budget. I bought the trees for 9.99 at Meijer's for 21 trees. Same ones they have at Micheal's. I got the garland at Target with the larger ornaments. I also have some pipe cleaners for the other trees and some mini ornaments from Micheal's. I think they turned out cute for about $1.00 a tree.

My Santa's : HOMEGOOD FIND!!!

Here are my two Bethany Lowe Santa Clauses. I got them at Homegood (My favorite store). They really were the inspiration for the vintage Christmas theme this year.

My Tree!

Here is a few pictures of my Christmas tree. I bought these decorations a year ago when I bought the tree on a whim. I wasn't going to buy a tree because I'm not here for Christmas but I decided to and I forgot this year how cute the little tree was :) (Pardon if I sound Conceited !) The ornaments are from Target as is the garland and the peacock. The other stuff is from Micheal's.

Thanksgiving Turkey Weekend

I'll have pictures of the paint bucket that I soaked my 18 pound turkey in later but I thought I would show a few pictures of the Thanksgiving weekend. I went to Chicago on Saturday and did the museum of science and industry and then the walnut room and then Santaland diaries (HILARIOUS BTW, my only compliant was that it was too short).

Yoda: Yes, I went to the star wars exhibit. My boyfriend is a fan. He ran down the battery on my camera taking tons of pictures that I didnt get a picture of the martha stewart tree in the Walnut room. But if you go there you'll see the Martha Stewart village before 400X larger around the tree!!

Ballerina: This is part of the animated window display at Macy's. The theme is the Nutcracker. I believe there are about 7 of these windows. They were lovely, But the windows will be covered in finger prints and snot by the end of the christmas season.

I also saw the large tree at the German Christmas market but it was closed before I got down there. They have these lovey horses and carriage $40 for a 20 minute ride (OH MY !) Some day.

Tips on the Walnut room: SERVICE was the worst I have ever had. The guys who delivered the food didn't know where the tables were. Our food sat next to our table for 5 minute while the guy looked for us. We saw our waiter 2 once to take our order and once when he brought our check. Not the experience I heard it once was. The wait wasn't that long and I sat right under the tree though!

CoDy FoStEr & Co.

I'm not sure how I came across this guy tonight but... WOW. I don't really have a style. But it seems I've put a lot of my vintage loves on this page so far. Anywho, I found cody foster & co. and originally fell in love with his paper mache vintage villages (a little piece above) and then I found these birds. HELLO, all my Christmas crafts! I was planning on adding some silver tinsel on my tree and Ill show the finished Holiday look later. Hopefully, sometime I will be able to get one of his pieces. Right now they are a bit too expensive for my pocketbook. LOVE!

Ahhh....

So I was looking for people who have been inspired by Martha's glitter bird centerpiece. I cam across someone and was reading her blog and saw a link about pneumosparklyosis.
Needless to say, not realizing the link was from the Onion I was freaking out because I have been glittering like mad this past week. It's in my carpet, on my face, on my clothes, my boyfriend, my centerpiece...... Guess I can appreciate a fellow crafter with a sense of humor.

Feather Tree

So here is my first Christmas craft. A feather tree with glitter birds. The glitter bird idea came from Marthastewart.com but she had the birds on a branch covered in German tinsel. The branch didn't make sense for me so I decided to do a feather tree. The glitter are a Martha Stewart Christmas set from Micheal's. You should buy them this way as they end up being cheaper. They are expensive but no one has the colors she does. They well last you a long time. The birds are also from Micheal's and are in the floral section. The best ones in my opinion are the ones with legs but thats personal preference. The feather tree I made with some directions off the internet. These tall feather trees are expensive! You can supposedly take water and a toothbrush to shape the feathers but I think the tree is really cute. The pictures do not so it justice. The directions call for down feathers? but I couldn't find them and bought a feather boa from Micheal's (Surprise. Surprise). All the material came from Micheal's and Ben Franklin. If you want directions I can direct you to the directions I used. And answer some questions. This was fairly expensive craft and takes a LONG LONG Time roughly (10 hours). I think it is something to be proud of though. Charming little Christmas decorations.

Holiday Crafts

Here are a few pictures of the Martha Stewart Christmas Village I did last night. The Kit is actually from Micheal's. I need to buy some snow for my villagers.. The kit is actually pastel but I was inspired by the earlier Martha mail-order village, so I added construction paper over several of the buildings. This was not too hard but much more time consuming. But the kits really take all the fun and challenge from crafts so it was worth it. One word of advice: The construction paper may wrinkle when you add the glue for the glitter. I was able to fix it but it was something of an Oh crap effect! I also think you'd need different glitter to make the poka- dot effects.

Notable site/artist/Creative

So I came across this site by accident...and my life will never be the same ;)... Her blog is called My cozy little whimsy nook .... And what nook wouldn't be more whimsy with that little bunny. She has art work, buttons, dolls and other yummies on her etsy site. It is LOVE ;)

Funny little clip

Gocco/ Screen printing

So the gocco/ screen printing is I believe one of the most awesome wedding DIY tools. For those unfamiliar with these little wonders of handheld creativity try here and here. Just check out the ubber talented heatherjeany's wedding invitation for sale on etsy.com. Obviously shes a professional at this and so quality may vary. But I totally believe you can get some high quality invitations that would add great personal touch, high quality feel, and something exciting. For those that believe that the machines are expensive, while have you checked out how much wedding invitations cost? DIY projects are not just about keeping prices low but I am sure you could save some money here. Also, consider how much paper goods could be made with these things: 1) engagement party invitations, 2) wedding shower invitations, 3) RSVP cards, 4) wedding directions, 5) welcome cards 6) escort cards 7) program covers, 8) add detail to envelops 9) thank you cards 10) if you have the fabric one: t-shirts, napkins, ribbon.... 11) Your life didn't stop after the wedding: christmas cards, children's birthday, baby shower. Yes I just justified this little purchase :)...
Check out this video if you're interested in being awed by the gocco. The background music is pretty nice too :).... Things that I have learned about these: the smaller machines take 2 bulbs and the larger machines take 4 bulbs. After you make a screen you have to throw away and replace the bulbs. I think the ink on the screen will last for 100 prints. The screens I believe last for 1000 prints (or they may last forever, Im not sure about maintenance). Also your original must be a Xero copy. What do you think? Any advice for others?

Martha: Cornhusk votives

I think these cornhusk votives are a cute idea for table decoration at a fall wedding (I might show a preference for the fall decorations!). The materials she has needed are :
Cutting mat
Ruler
Utility knife
Dried cornhusks
Double-sided tape
Votive holders
Ribbon
Scissors
Check out the HOW-To link above. I wouldn't imagine that that this would be a hugely expensive option. Try Hobby Lobby for inexpensive votives or Micheals. (TIP: I've seen 25% off total purchase @ Micheals in various wedding magazines. I'm sure everyone knows about the 40-50% coupons in the Sunday newspaper. Use these on big ticket items and the total purchase on the smaller items.)...So, What do you think? What season are you getting married in? Any reason why you picked that season?

flower pomander

I came across this gorgeous idea for flower decorated paper lanterns while reading the FAB! blog something old, Something new (I admit I'm in blog name envy over that one). The link goes to her basic How-To. The flower patterns I believe came from paper-source.com, but you might also want to check out crepe paper flowers at marthastewart.com. I have not personally tried to make either kind of flower but outcome pictures look great! Maybe someone knows of a cheap paper lantern online seller? I would imagine these would be a great reception detail or an outdoor wedding shower. She uses hot glue. Anyone know how to keep themselves from finger burns? I would imagine something like a plastic thimble but I haven't tried it yet.