Pinteresting Project: Valentine’s Day Votive Holders!

People close to me know that I am a big fan of Pinterest – I am there daily getting and sharing inspiration (PINspiration hehe). Here’s a little project I did the other day, inspired by this pin, on Pinterest.

The original crafter created a more permanent covering for her Valentine’s Day votive holders, but I simply wrapped tissue paper around the outside of one mason jar (topped with a pink polka dot scrap of fabric), and stuffed some inside the other jar. You might be thinking this would be a bit problematic as a votive holder, and you’d be right :). My secret? Battery operated tea-lights, a mom’s best friend! I popped three in each mason jar. The tiny jar had a real tea light inside, but I keep it away from all the tissue paper when lit. The decoration on the outside of that one is actually a cupcake wrapper :)!

A Christmas Dress for Julia

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Isaiah 11:1

My mom stopped by today with this beautiful Christmas dress she bought for Julia! Isn’t it lovely? I can’t wait to try it on her. And take pictures of course! I already picked out a coordinating outfit for Gabe to wear in their Christmas pictures… they’re going to be so CUTE!

I have been making tons of crafts today – something about December puts me in the mood to create! I’ll be sharing lots of Christmas crafting ideas and free printables over at Scrapbook Ideas this month, so don’t forget to stop by!

Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving :)! We had such a lovely weekend – there is much to be thankful for. Here are some fun Thanksgiving crafts we tried this year, plus a few from last year too :)!

Printable Thanksgiving Paper Craft Toys

Aren’t these guys SO CUTE??? If I had realized they would take me two hours to make I might have skipped them, but once I got going I was hooked! And Gabe loved playing with them too, so it was all worth it :). Here’s a link to the site where you can download these and other free printable paper crafts (look across the top of the page): Thanksgiving Paper Craft. TIP: I used glue dots instead of liquid glue!

Vintage Thanksgiving Postcard Banner

This was a super cute and fun idea I have seen on lots of crafty blogs – a banner of vintage images. You can find plenty of these images by doing a Google search for vintage post cards (for practically any occasion too)! Just make sure it is OK with the site owner before you print them out and use them :). I just backed mine with scrapbook paper and tied them together with string (ribbon would look pretty too if you have some on hand).

Pumpkin Turkey!

Gabe made this one in Mrs. Claudia’s class :). She used a fork to poke holes in the top and sides for the kids to stick feathers into. Then they just needed to add a felt waddle and googly eyes of course!

Happy Thanksgiving Banner

This is the banner Gabe and I made for Thanksgiving last year. It was a great way for me to make use of some left-over scrapbook supplies while creating a sweet reminder of my little boy – small hands make the most adorable turkeys :).

Fall Wreath with Nuts and Bittersweet Branches

Here’s the wreath we put together last year when we got together with my sister and niece for a craft day :)!

Weekend Photos

Fourth of July Weekend 2010

We had a lovely Independence Day weekend filled with patriotism, friends, family and FOOD of course! On Saturday we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with my family and our friends, the Wellers. The kids enjoyed lots of water play and it was a nice time for the adults to relax and enjoy being together.

On Sunday we went to church in the morning, then we headed off to another cookout – this time at the Eckleys’. They really know how to throw a great party! Lots of fun was had by all :).

Today we just enjoyed some time together as a family. We went shopping for more rose bushes for the yard and spent some time outside in the afternoon. We had such great weather all weekend!

I feel SO VERY blessed to live in this wonderful country and to enjoy the things I often take for granted. I know that freedom is never free and I just want to say a big THANK YOU to those who fight to keep us living this blessed life!

This was only a tiny sampling of our photos from the weekend! I hope I will have a chance to share some of the fun crafts, learning projects and recipes from the weekend too!