Treats for Neighbors - A Holiday Tradition

 For the last few years, the kids and I have been making plates of treats for our neighbors to hand out during the holidays. Some years this would be much more involved, including multiple types of cookies and homemade candies. This year I decided to make it a lot easier on myself and stick to just chocolate chip cookies. Generally we hand out treats later in December, but I thought it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone and drop off Christmas cards for everyone as we make our deliveries.  It seems silly to put cards in the mail for our neighbors anyway!

I have been ordering Christmas cards through Tiny Prints for the last few years. They offered a blog partnership this year and I was of course all in. I would have purchased my cards from them anyway. There is an amazing selection of beautiful card options and it is so easy to customize them for your family. The hardest part is deciding which template to go with because they are all so pretty. It always takes me forever.

Today Pearl and Axel decided they wanted to make the first batch of cookies for our neighbors all by themselves. I did end up cracking the eggs and they let baby Flo dump in the chocolate chips. We had to sweep up some chocolate from the floor, but Flora was delighted to help. Tomorrow we will make our deliveries!

-Kira

DIY Holiday Fireplace Mantel Decor

 Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I have shamefully already put up Christmas decorations.  I wanted to update our decor because I am a bit tired of looking at the same items year after year.  We are on a budget though and Christmas decor just does not fall into the "need" category.  I put our fireplace mantel together completely with items and supplies we already had.  I feel great about how it turned out and I'm enjoying the newness without having spent any money.

Here are a few things I quickly put together that you can do too:

1. I printed off some Christmas related lyrics on pretty paper.  I used a frame and mat from artwork that we usually have in our guest room so I didn't have to purchase anything.  Holiday decorations are temporary so it's totally fine to borrow things from other parts of the house.

2. I updated an old wreath DIY that was once wrapped in yarn. I used more rustic looking scrap fabric that I had left over and a glue gun.  The fabric I used is all from the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store.

3. I framed one of our Christmas cards from Tiny Prints to display.

4. I painted an old vase, a shot glass, and an empty spice container with leftover gold paint. I used them to hold greenery trimmed from a tree in my yard.

5. I made a string art reindeer using supplies I had in my craftroom.  If you are not sure how to do string art, there are tons of tutorials all over the internet.  Just google "string art."  I repurposed a cheap craft box that I bought years ago as my background.  The wood was thin and soft enough that I was able to use push pins instead of nails which made the project a whole lot easier.

6. I made a simple advent calendar banner with craft paper, tape, and baker's twine.  All things I already had on hand.  I'm probably most excited about this project because it will be the first time I have done an advent calendar with my kids.

Are you working on any DIY projects for the holidays?

-Kira

DIY Christmas Card Wall Display

Every year I end up doing a few DIY Christmas related projects.  I can't help myself.  This year, I wanted to come up with at least one project the kids could actually help with.  I attended the DIY Fair put on by Imago Dei Community here in Portland to help with ideas.  This wasn't one of the projects, but someone had made snowflakes in a few configurations with craft sticks as decor for the event.  That got my wheels turning and I went out to purchase my supplies.

I don't know about you, but I struggle with how to display all of the Christmas cards we receive from family and friends throughout the Holiday season.  In past years, I have tacked a string to the wall and punched holes in the cards to create a banner with them.  I thought if I made a snowflake large enough, I could use it to display all of our cards.  Plus, it's basically just craft sticks and glue so if one filled up, it wouldn't cost anything extra to make another.

Supplies: 

I sat down with Pearl and Axel to glue the sticks together and make our snowflake.  The kids were over the project after about five minutes, but they loved playing with the craft sticks.  I ended up just letting them play while I finished the snowflake on my own.

I decided to paint the snowflake gold to match our Christmas cards from Tiny Prints.  I love how this liquid gold gilding looks on finished projects.  It's hard to tell from the photos, but it has a very pretty metallic look.  I applied it to the snowflake with a sponge brush in a well ventilated area because that stuff is strong.  Make sure you do the same.

After I put the snowflake on the wall, I started tucking my cards into the corners.  They stayed pretty well, but I decided to use paper clips to secure them as I know I will soon have many more cards to fit.

This was a super easy and cheap project, but it looks great in our living room and is a much more personal way of displaying cards than a banner on the wall.

-Kira