J Crew Necklace

It is so hard to sleep with Christmas so near! I haven't had a chance to do anything! Monday was my birthday, and my finals! Lets just say I am happy that am done with school for now. So with Christmas drawing near I have been thinking about what I could use in my stash. and Last year my brother gave me these beautiful beads. Now I have never really made jewelry so I was excited at the chance to learn. Since this was a gift to me I thought that this would be perfect to make myself a necklace to wear for my birthday. I found this tutorial for a cute a J Crew necklace over at Samster Mommy. I just had to make it! Wouldn't you it is so cute. I love it, my daughter loves it....don't tell her but I am making a mini one for her for Christmas!





How is your Christmas list coming? I have a ton o things to work on....who knows if I will get done!





Love


Tiff

A couple of easy kid gifts!

Here are some fun ideas you can give the kids on your list !
My niece is a little princess and loves Snow White, so I made her a Snow White bag filled with coloring stuff. The Snow white is appliqued on with permanent applique so I did not have to sew it! The contents of the bag were princess crayons in a crayon roll that I made from my stash, a coloring book from the dollar store, a drawing pad also from the dollar store, and candy jewelry.

Here is the crayon roll, with an A appliqued on the front.





Skip to my Lou has an awesome tutorial for crayon rolls!

Then for the little man in your life (Which I have three nephews) these little applique shirts are super adorable!

Which Christmas gifts are your go to easy gifts to make?

love,

Tiff

I am linking this to:

Reindeer Feed Buckets tutorial and a Freebie!

So all my homework is turned in to school and now all that I have left is finals I have time to make my blog something great! In honor of Christmas I would love to show all of my past and present all time favorite Christmas Gifts! This first one is from my old blog but I give it every year so I thought that I would share with you as well! I have also updated my gift tag and in honor of my return would love to offer it to you! Just leave me your email address in the comments and I will send it your way!

Now it is your turn to make them! Here is what you need:

First you are going to need a bucket or you can use a cute little gift box. I got my bucket at Target when their Halloween stuff went for 75% off that is why it is orange. Then you are going to need Holiday paper of your choosing Mod Podge which comes in different finishes I chose to use the matte-mat finish

Then you need a sponge brush

Scissors

And Ribbon to embellish with

The first step is to deiced on the right size of paper. There is an easy trick that I do to achieve perfect sizing. To do this is I put one edge of the paper at the top and make a crease in the paper by bending it at the bottom and then I have a perfect piece of paper to cut.

Cut 2 pieces to size Glue the bucket with your mod podge and sponge brush; then glue the back of the paper and put it on

Before you place on your next sheet of paper place it on there to see where you are going to need your thin strips to hide the orange
Cut a strip to cover the open spot and decoupage the strip on the bucket.

Decoupage all the remaining pieces on

Once you are finished you need to seal it with the mod podge so paint the out side with glue Once it is dry you are ready to embellish, I like to embellish the handles with ribbon, and then the bucket with ribbon on this bucket I tied ribbon on the handle.

When the bucket is done you are ready to fill the inside with feed. To do this fill an Ziploc baggie with Oats and edible glitter or Christmas sprinkles. To make the top less ziplocey(A new word I just invented) before sealing twist and take a clear rubber band and seal it off cut off the Ziploc part tie a ribbon around it an you have a cute bag filled with reindeer feed to give to friends and family!!!

Don't forget to add a cute tag with the reindeer feed poem that you can find at craftbits, and you are done! Also if you would like this tag leave me a comment with your name and email and I will send one your way!
~Love~
Tiff

Tiff

I am linking this to:

Flash Back Tuesday: Is it time to start thinking about Christmas? ...Yes!

This is a post from my old blog the Crafty Homemaker. It is about this time every year that my attention turns to Christmas, this is one of the ways I organize my Christmas every year. Enjoy a good flash back! {I have included updates in red}

Ok I know what you are thinking its not even October yet, but there is a reason to my madness. I really like the idea of a homemade Christmas, and although it almost always equals sleepless nights, there is a since of pride that your creativity, produced joy. This is not just for creating gifts, but also organizing so that you (or I ) don’t get overwhelmed, this is really a big key to a joyous Christmas.

So yesterday I showed a picture of a notebook when I make this notebook my family knows it time to think about what we need to do for Christmas. On the side there are four tabs labeled; Black Friday, Family, Friends, Other. {On the inside cover there is a single piece of tape making it a memo pad that I can write on with dry erase maker or washable markers for fast little notes}



The Black Friday tab is for as you guest it all the non home-made things, and supplies you will need for the homemade things. I usually price match at Wal-Mart so I leave a section for things I can get there, but more on that another time.



The family and friends tabs are so you can keep track of ideas of things that would be perfect for that family member or friend. {This year I got fancy and put it on my computer, in my note book this year is just list that way if it gets in the wrong hands they will not know what they are getting}
The other tab is for anything you would like, I keep list of maybe ideas of things I would like to make, movies we do not own but would like to, things that I see that I would want ( my family asks for lists), Christmas card list ect… {This is also where I make my Christmas Party plans}

You can also add as many tabs as you would like, ( for example Christmas Parties, to do list, calendar ect…)
I am always trying to make Christmas less stress full so I would love to hear your tips, and crafts and so on.