Willow Tree Nativity Stars Knock Off

I collect nativity sets.  With so many on a shelf I sometimes need a little something to place behind a specific nativity set to help it to stand out.  I love the Willow Tree Nativity Stars. They cost about $20.  I knew I could make several sets of stars, just how I wanted them, for much less.

 

Here is how to make your own version (you can easily use more or less stars):

 

Go to Hobby Lobby buy an unfinished wooden plaque for the base, a package of unfinished wood stars, 3 thin dowels, Rustoleum Hammered Metallic Paint-brown, and glue.

 

Cut your dowels to the varying heights that you'd like.  Glue the dowel to the back of the star using a strong glue like E6000.  Let dry overnight.

 



Decide on where you'd like your stars to stand on the plaque, make little marks to help you remember (see the pencil marks on the stand in the photo above).  Drill holes into your wood- using a drill bit the same circumference as your dowel (or twist your hubby's arm and let him do it).

 

Slide the star "sticks" into the holes on your plaque- add a bit of glue for durability.

 

Spray paint with Rustoleum Hammered Metallic Paint- Brown. It's just the right mix- a hint of shimmer and "rustic".  Let dry and then display!

 

 

I haven't unpacked my nativity sets yet, but I had this little manger that I found at a yard sale last week already out- so, you can kind of see what I was shooting for- pretty sweet :)

Activity Day: Sibling Christmas Party

Activity Day is a church activity for girls ages 8-11. We try to teach them a skill, reinforce keeping God's commandments, provide an opportunity to serve and help them to have fun.  This month's big event was a Christmas party.

To give the girls a chance to serve the girls hosted a Christmas party for their siblings.  Admittedly, I should have had them help more with the planning and given out more assignments.  The girls mostly just helped at the party.

So, what is a sibling party?  We only have a few girls in our group and most of them have siblings around the same age.  We invited all of them to the house for a Christmas party.  Making it "easy" we had "fancy" food- hot dogs, fruit salad, chips and cherry juice mixed with sprite. Then we played some games like pin-the-nose on Rudolph's face and Christmas Bingo.

For crafts we made popsicle stick ornaments (see the snowman photo at the top of the post), folded fancy paper airplanes and test flew them (a huge hit) and decorated cupcakes (always a favorite). While the girls helped host the event and run the activities (with my dear hubby) I pulled out family groups and took a few photos to be used in future craft projects.  Crazy fun!

Hobby Lobby Wrapping Paper= Love

Just thought I'd mention how much I LOVE the wrapping paper at Hobby Lobby.  It is thick, beautiful, and comes in HUGE quantities (seriously, I only purchased two rolls of wrapping paper this year and unless we give each child an elephant we'll have TONS of extra paper).

They print up coordinating sets of cute paper.  So, you don't even have to think.  You just pick out your favorite and one or two of its partners.  They also offer matching tags, ribbons and bows.  They put it on sale half off almost every week in the month before Christmas- it is the best priced paper I've seen- much better than dollar tree because you get SO MUCH paper.

But my very favorite part- there are faint cutting lines on the back of the paper so that your scissors have a path to follow :o)

Dreamy.

Homemade Bread and Milk Chocolate Fudge

But not together.  I spent yesterday making milk chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge.  Then I spent some time wrapping it up for gift giving.  I used small tins from Target and some gift boxes that I had on hand.

Here are the packaging directions that I followed:

• Wrap the fudge in saran wrap- to keep it clean and fresh
• Wrap the fudge in the saran into parchment paper to make it pretty
• Tie that bundle up with cute baker's twine- instead of buying the baker's twine in the candy section go to the crochet yarn and thread section- our craft store carries crochet thread that is identical to the baker's twine but TONS cheaper!
• Make little decorative doodads out of polymer clay and tiny stamps to jazz them up a bit ahead of time and then tie these on-  here is a tutorial that is similar to what I did- I just used stamps instead of nature-
• Add a tiny jingle bell- if you so desire

My husband spent the evening making his delicious bread.  He makes me 100% whole wheat no sugar (just honey) bread- for my healthy eating kick. Then he makes some that is half white flour and half wheat with some sugar in it for himself. Yep, I'm spoiled!  Both kinds of bread are super yummy and with the cold weather we've been having I've been making and enjoying lots and lots of toast.

December Activity Day

For Activity Day (girl's church group ages 8-11) we made these cute snowman treats that I learned about on pinterest (picture from pinterest).  The girls struggled  some because a few of the heads fell apart when they tried to push in the nose- but they had a blast and they turned out pretty cute!

We also made these adorable little baby Jesus ornaments.  I couldn't find any small wreaths at our craft store so I substituted little birds nests that I found in the floral section of Hobby Lobby.  The store was also out of wooden stars so I substituted "metal" star buttons.  Sweet!

Mini Frames for Home Decor and Ornaments

I took some time to play with these adorable picture frames yesterday.

 They are so cute and can be used as ornaments or just around the house.... fun!

I especially liked the idea of putting pictures of the Savior on the formal tree in the front room.  I found the  pictures in an old 8 inch calendar by Simon Dewey purchased on clearance from Deseret Book.

 My daughter said that in Arizona at the temple visitor's center there is a tree covered with pictures of temples- that would be beautiful as well.  Dear daughter suggested making all of your frames a rustic antiqued cream and using sepia tinted photographs.....

Can't decide what to make for dinner- try Holiday Chicken Salad- yummy- even better with an added bit of mustard.  This is one of my favorite meals to take to families with a new baby or other need.  I just send over a package of croissants from the bakery and a disposable food container filled with the chicken salad and a head of lettuce.  Nothing fancy but it tastes good!  They can grab the meal out of the fridge anytime they want to eat- no prep- and they can throw away the containers when they are done- so, no dishes!

Make a Christmas Count Down

I purchased some ghastly gold picture frames at a yard sale and jazzed them up with some shiny red spray paint.  I printed this free printable and placed it behind the glass. 

The kids get to scribble out each day with a sharpie marker while they count down to Christmas.  At the end of the season the glass can be cleaned with glass cleaner and they can use it again next year.

The True Meaning of Christmas

I'm afraid that I've been focusing too much on the razzle dazzle of Christmas this past week.  I want to slow down and remember that this season is to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I just found this link to a site that is brim full of ideas,  music, and short videos all focusing on the true meaning of Christmas- there are even coloring pages for kids- I love it!!!

Sassy Christmas Treat Toppers

Do you know anyone having a Christmas-to-much-to-do meltdown?  Well, maybe you could put one of these labels on a bag of chocolate, add a small package of Tylenol and deliver the gift with a giggle- hopefully that will bring a smile.

  

To use, save the file and resize to the measurements you need.  Then just print and cut apart, may mount on cute scrapbook paper, fold in half, place over the top of your goodie bag and staple in place- enjoy!

Pom Pom and Bead Garland

My children each get a tree in their rooms that they can decorate and re-decorate to their heart's desire.  I wanted to make this little garland for the tree in my daughter's room last year- I purchased all the supplies but didn't quite get it done.  It is a super simple garland and it came together quickly!

I purchased some pom poms, wood beads & foam beads at Dollar Tree.  This is how I assembled it:

Just take some textured yarn and tie a knot near the end.  Slide on your bead combination and then tie another knot holding them in place. 

Next take a pom pom and open it, pushing the fibers away until you can see the center, put a small drop of hot glue and place the the pom pom on the yarn.  Pull the fibers back in place around the yarn-  move on down your yarn string and tie another knot.

 Push the beads you want into place and knot again.... add pom pom, etc.  I think the garland adds a touch of whimsical fun to her pink and green tree.

Best Creative Christmas Crafts

Sorry I've been such a slacker with the posts lately.  It seems like all of my energy got up and went- without me- I'm just getting the basics done and hoping to get back on track before the holidays come and go while I'm still napping :o)

I did search blog land for some fun ideas to use with my activity day girls- (about 10 girls ages 8-11 that come over twice a month for an activity).  Today we made advent calendars that included small tasks to remind the girls about the true meaning of Christmas. 

I thought I'd share a few of the good ideas I stumbled across in my search for inspiration:

Advent Calendars at Skip to my Lou
More adorable and some easy advent calendars at Crafty Crow
Cutest Felt Owl Ornaments at Juicy Bits  My mom, daughter and I did make some felt ornaments one night... look, even my owl looks tired!

Sarah Jane's literary countdown to Christmas
I think it would be fun to make a version of the pom pom garland over at elsie marley's blog

Hope your holiday season is off to a glorious start!

Free Christmas Cross Stitch Pattern- Cardinal and Blue Jay

When I was a child a sweet next door neighbor "adopted" me as her granddaughter.  We had some fine visits.  She loved animals and critters. She set up a bird feeder to attract birds- especially cardinals.  Around Christmas I could sometimes catch a glimpse of their bright red feathers.  Often at the holidays I think of her and these beautiful birds.

I decided to celebrate that memory and came up with a simple little cross stitch pattern to share with you!  Consider it your very first Christmas present of the year!  I couldn't leave out the fascinating blue jay so there is a pattern for him too- These would make fine ornaments, Christmas cards, or tiny holiday displays.

A link to the patterns is found in the freebie section on the right or here.  Below is the Christmas card version.

 Enjoy!!!

Beaded Craft Project Gone Wrong

I checked out a book from the library on seed beading because I wanted to try making a wintry brooch.  I found and adapted a simple cross stitch snowflake pattern. Yep, those are my reading glasses- don't need 'em for reading yet, but I sure do for fine craft work!  

In case you are a novice to seed beading you should know that it requires an investment of time and patience.  It took me forever just to thread the teeny, tiny needle!  Well, after working through two BBC Jane Austin movies (and one Deanna Durbin chick flick) the pin is done.

.... unfortunately the end product isn't quite what I'd planned.  First: it's too large. Second: the blue snowflake gets lost in the silver background.  Third:  I messed up and stitched the beads on the wrong way in one corner....live and learn.  It does sparkle beautifully!  Maybe I can use it as a lumpy coaster...

Free Amazing Online Christmas Craft Magazine

Amy has created a free beautiful online magazine FULL of craft ideas for every style and taste- go check it out!  Just click on the link above and then on the magazine picture and then flip through the pages- place your mouse on the right of your screen- near the middle- an arrow will magically appear to take you through the entire magazine.  Have FUN!!!

Crochet Snowflakes

I had great ambitions to make a blizzard of snowflakes for my tree this year... reality hits... reality stinks (sometimes) .... I finished ONE. Yep, JUST ONE! Oh well, I do highly recommend this free pattern (from Bev's Country Cottage)- I think it is really pretty. Oh, and please notice the cute little house ornament in the background that my five year old painted for our tree. I love crafting with my kiddos!

Don't Like Oreo Truffles

Am I the only one in the world who doesn't like Oreo truffles? I had heard such rave reviews that I made a batch of Oreo truffles and a batch of Nutter Butter truffles. I crushed, mixed, dipped, and tossed- yep, I tossed them cookies (now truffles) right into the trash- And I was so looking forward to all of that chocolate yumminess (sigh).

In other news. The little kiddies created these this week (hurrah for kits)!


And today's craft is another candle. This one made from a CB2 glass candle holder (that looks exactly like a giant ornament when turned around to the back). Click on the above store link and scroll down, click on "room view" for the upcoming chandelier idea.

I also used a dollar tree candle. Wouldn't it be cute to fill these with tiny ornaments, or peppermints. You could make your own candle chandelier that would look something like this.

Just attach cup hooks to a board and hang the board on the ceiling. Then run a small/fine chain (from Lowe's) or strong string through the loop on top of the candle holder and attach to the cup hooks. If you use the little battery flicker lights you could rotate filling the orbs with seasonal goodies- jelly beans, corn candy, Valentine conversational hearts- (wow, sound like sugar is on the brain.... I was REALLY looking forward to those truffles) because you could fill the candle holder with little pinecones, tiny crafted eggs, or mini pumpkin ornaments (all sugar free). Of course, the light fixture looks really cool in an industrial/minimalist kind of way AS IS!

While you are at CB2 you might want to check out these sweet dove ornaments and felt trees.

More Dollar Tree Candles

Two more versions of the Dollar tree candles. These are obviously for Christmas. One vase is filled with jingle bells and the other with hard candy. I found the hard candy and large jingle bells at Dollar Tree too.