I'm Excited!! (again)

I have been finding all sorts of new decorations for my house... some are even useful!! I recently stumbled upon a 25% off your entire purchase coupon for Michael's.  When I got there, to my wonderful surprise, their Christmas decor was on 40% off!! I got 65% off my newest Christmas decorations!!!

The top one I bought in pieces... I had to assemble them.  Aaaand, the sleigh I got at Target in the dollar spot for $2.50 one day.  Overall, I think the sleigh and the decor to go inside it cost me about $4.50.  

Then my Santa countdown was a steal!! It was listed at $14.99 and I paid just over $5 for him!!  Just goes to show that finding good deals pays off!! Jarrod will attest to the these days :)

Now, speaking of saving money... I got a delightful free gift yesterday!  We recently moved into a new warehouse at work, and when we got there this gem was left behind by the previous owners!

I knew I wanted it, so when Keith (my boss) decided he was going to throw it out, I snatched it up!  Now, I had no clue what I wanted to do with it, all I knew was that I couldn't pass up bringing it home.  Now accepting ideas, by the way!   Ah, the small things :)

Holiday Wreath :)

So, I have made my first Christmas season wreath!  It is quite simple actually, but holds lots of meaning for me!

The lighting is a little dark :(  But i promise it looks adorable!!  The reason it seems so simple to you, yet so sentimental to me is the source of the materials!  The pine cones were collected when we went to Red River, NM.  Jarrod and I found them across the stream from the cabin we were staying in :)  I know, I know.. gag, right? LOL!  For a wreath that looks so simple, it actually took me a while to make.

Step 1:  I painted the edges of my pine cones red and green to give them more of a holiday feel.

(yes I use postal service boxes as my work space for now, don't judge)

Step 2:

Once you get them painted to your satisfaction, which is much harder than you would anticipate, you are ready to start with your hanger.  I used burlap and hot glue (go figure).

I folded the edges over to keep them from fraying because burlap is difficult to work with if you use rough edges!  Then I wrapped it around the wreath and hot glued the seam together.  I centered it a little to the back so you wouldn't be able to see it while it was hanging.  

Step 3:

You are ready to start gluing your pine cones on.  Since I only used 3 colors (I left some pine cones natural) I had to be careful when placing them so there wasn't a cluster of green or red together.  

**Remember, here you can alter your pine cones... there were quite a few that I cut the bottoms off of so they would not stick out too far!

 You can see the green one sticking out in the picture (above). I cut this one shorter before I hung it

the same with the red on at 5:00 here

Just keep gluing and working them into each other and eventually you will get there!  It seems to take forever, and if you sit in the floor like I did, you will DEFINITELY have a back ache :(

Once I got all my pine cones onto my wreath, I decided it was too plain and painted a decorative "B" for Brainard on my burlap hanger.  Get creative here folks!  It really is more fun!

Once everything looks the way you want, you are ready to hang your masterpiece and start preparing for the holiday season!

(I am not quite ready to put up the Christmas tree like some folks, but a little cheer this early never hurt anyone) ;)

Happy Crafting,

Shaunda

 *Side note:  While creating this post I have realized my phone takes much better photos up close!* Mental note!

Ahhh, Holiday Season :)

I am so glad holiday season is here!  Since I lost all of my holiday decorations I am getting to start from scratch.  To some, that may sound daunting, but to me that sounds like opportunity!  With the idea of buying a new house that is much bigger than the one we are in now, I have developed so many ideas.  Holding myself back is proving extremely difficult!  I just keep crafting!! Plus, it doesn't help when you make OUTRAGEOUS finds at the local Home Depot.  I scored a basket full of what they called "trash".  When they trim the wood for other customers, they throw the scraps away! HOW DARE THEY!! Don't they know I can use them?! Well, they learned... I bought the entire cart of wood for $4... that is right $4!

 Have I mentioned that I will have an actual craft ROOM in the new house? :)  Can you tell I'm excited? Ha... understatement!  I will no longer have to work around dogs and kids and Jarrod!  Nor will I have to vacuum up all my craft dust every night!! Woo Hoo!

Anywho, here is what I worked on last night until midnight!

It turned out much different than I had originally planned, but I like it!  It was so simple, and I got everything for 50% off at my favorite local store :)  Hobby Lobby!  I took a thin wooden letter and decoupaged it with torn pages from a book. (yes I actually destroyed a book, ahhh!)  I made a little bow with burlap, a flower out of a book page, and then glued the leather rope around the edges...  Really was simple!  Jarrod even helped with the hot glue gun!  

Do not fret my fellow crafters, I am working on lots of fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving projects right now, I just have yet to finish them!  As you can see, I get distracted :)  I will have them up in plenty of time for you to copy them if you would like! 

Happy Crafting!