friend and neighbor gifts

 Can you believe I am posting here?  And, I am posting while most others are taking a break from blogging.  I have been waiting forever to have a little time to post, sew, craft and it seems like after Christmas is my time. 

 I had jewelry orders up until Christmas Eve (although I promised to be finished the week before), so my time was not my own.  It's a blessing - the business.  I just miss the sewing and blogging and wood crafts, etc.

 So, here is a quick and easy gift to give to friends and neighbors.  I actually bought the soap last year at Target at the after Christmas sale and kept it up in my closet all year.  My husband thought I was a little crazy (he should be used to my ideas by now), but it was awesome to pull them out, add tags, and deliver all in the matter of a few hours. 

 I hope that next year I will be making something, but as for this year, this soap came to my rescue.  

new ornament

I always try to add a few new ornaments to our Christmas tree each year that capture a moment from that year. This is a soldered ornament I made from a photo of me, my siblings and my parents taken at my grandfather's funeral this past September. It was so nice to be with them all and I love this photo of us together. Now, I need to make one with a photo of my family from our Disney trip in October.

merry christmas everyone

neighbor gifts

I kept it simple this year and thought I would pass it along. This Christmas I gave out Ikea frothers (thank mom for shipping them!) with hot chocolate. On the tag it says, "We WHIP you a Merry Christmas! Love, the Underwoods." I love these little frothers. They make your hot chocolate and hot caramel milk (my favorite) feel fancy. Sweet and simple!

surrounded by elves

Just in time for Christmas...some new little elves. I have had the idea to make clothespin elves for my tree for quite awhile, but couldn't find the time. So, a few days before Christmas and they finally arrived. I took a few photos of them along the way, so that I could one day create a tutorial. That will have to be for next Christmas. I put thread through each of their hats and hung them on my tree today. Love that they could join us!

hand print snowman tile tutorial

I needed a craft idea for my son's first grade class party and saw these ornaments on the eighteen25 blog. I found out that we couldn't do ornaments for his class, so we thought maybe little tiles that they can take home and put easels.
Here is how we did it:
Supplies -
White, black and orange acrylic paint
1 foam paint brush
1 4"X4" tile (I found a box of these in our garage - it's a mess, but also has a few goodies)
toothpick1 - Generously paint the inside of hand with white paint just down to the knuckles.
2 - Pressed it hard on to the tile and let it dry for about 10-15 minutes.
3 - My seven year old used a toothpick to create the eyes, buttons, nose and brim of the hat with black and orange paint.
4 - He used a flat 1/4" wide brush in a upward sweeping motion to make the rest of the hat.

It's done! Now, let it dry and put it on an easel or attach a ribbon with glue and hang it on the tree!

noel

I bought the big gold letters spelling "NOEL" from Hobby Lobby last year for my mantel. I am not a fan of gold. I wanted to change them last year, but time got away from me. It is nice and warm today...perfect for spray painting gold things green, right?