Glitter Ornaments and Frustrations

I'm very frustrated that I don't have much to share with you all tonight. I had taken pictures of lots of things-- my Christmas decorations; my mantel; the delicious, gorgeous pumpkin pie with cinnamon roll crust I made for my family Thanksgiving meal; and the glitter ornaments I was making tonight.

However, I somehow erased all but three pictures.

I thought this Silver Snow-Capped Christmas Ornament from BHG was beautiful, but I needed to make it a use-what-you-got kind of project. I had clear glass ornaments, white paint, and glitter. It's pretty obvious. Paint the ornament and sprinkle on the glitter while the paint is still wet.

And this would be pretty with just about any solid color ornament and glitter.

It's hard to tell just how shimmery these ornaments really are in photographs. Take my word for it-- they turned out beautifully.

I also made a star ornament out of a toilet paper tube and the same white paint and glitter. The original tutorial can be found here on Muffin Tin Mom. Check it out, since I can't show you how I made mine. I added an extra layer by cutting a second toilet paper roll a little smaller and gluing it inside.

As soon as I get my camera issues resolved, I have my Christmas decorations, a pine cone garland, and my mantel to show you, among other things. Josh says I even need to make another pumpkin pie with cinnamon roll crust-- for my blog's sake, of course.

Until then, happy Monday!

Countdown to Christmas

The Christmas decorating has officially started in the Hilger hacienda.

I've been so excited. It's always a little bit like Christmas day when Josh gets out the tubs from the storage shed. We typically buy a few holiday decorations right after Christmas when they are on sale and then put them away for the year. I usually only vaguely remember the new things I have hiding in the tubs.

It's typically quite a process to get everything out and decorated and this year is proving to be the same because we have a new 9' Christmas tree! We did not anticipate buying one that tall last year, but when we were shopping for one we fell in love.

The best place for the Christmas tree is where the TV usually is, so moving the whole media center was a project.

And now the lights won't work on the top tier on our new pre-lit Christmas tree. Josh is trying to figure it out as I type.

("So frustrating! Doesn't make any sense! Wish there was a hotline I could call and ask what the fudge is up with this thing!")

It's always something.

I like to do some sort of advent or Christmas countdown. Nothing too fancy. This year I'm attempting to not buy anything new, so I needed to create an advent with what I already have.

So this is what I came up with:

Each day in December I'm going to add an ornament to the branch. These pictures show what it will look like on Christmas. Please pay no attention to anything else in the pictures. Everything is still in progress.

I'll keep the awaiting ornaments in a glass nearby.

Weekend Links * 11.19.2011

• I love the rustic beauty of this pallet wood wall from Just A Girl. She tells you all about how she did it here.

• Martha Stewart has over 80 handmade Christmas gift ideas.

• I love magazines. I especially love free, genius, beautiful online magazines like Sweet Paul magazine. Here's his new Winter issue. You should be sure to check out his wreath feature.

• Here are 12 great, printable conversation starters from the Inspired Room-- perfect for preventing awkward dinner conversations or to learn more about family and friends.

Happy weekend!

Pinterest Has My Interest (3)

I thought I'd just share some random awesomeness from Pinterest.

1  Nail polish decorates bobby pins (genius)

2  Fabric pumpkins tutorial (no sewing machine needed!) from Hostess with the Mostess

3  Three ways to make a gift wrap station from Two Shades of Pink

4  Peanut butter truffles from BHG

5  Christmas trees made from paper plates from Ashley Kaitlin

6  Decorate your KitchenAid with vinyl decals from Heather Lynn

Weekend Links * 11.11.2011

• 7 Ways to Change It Up When There's No Cash in the Decorating Envelope from the Nester: Wonderful post for those of us that are feeling the financial pinch these days, yet still wanting to decorate our homes.

• 5 Easy-to-Create Christmas Decorations, Gifts, and Cards from HGTV blog: This includes one of the cutest advent calendars ever!

• Beauty In a Light Bulb from Family Chic: Sweet ideas for reusing burnt out light bulbs. She created some truly beautiful sculptures that would be awesome on a Christmas mantel.

• Design Trends of 2011 from Centsational Girl: I thought this post was fascinating. She interviewed six favorite bloggers on their opinions and thoughts about home decor in 2011-- from chevron to starburst mirrors.

It's Ok

This lovely blog over at A Complete Waste of Makeup every week hosts an "It's Ok" Thursday. After a day like today, I'm feeling inspired to join in . . .

. . . that I had pizza for breakfast.

. . . that I consumed close to 2 liters of caffeinated beverages today. (We had our big 5th grade musical this evening. I needed it to keep me going, going, going!)

. . . that my house still isn't clean.

. . . that my car still has empty cups in it from last week.

. . . that I still haven't completed the post on my Thankful Tree, even though I made it four days ago. It'll get finished tomorrow-- or not.

Thank you, my friends, for reading my little blog. I appreciate every one of you.

Until tomorrow! (maybe)

Thankful Tree

In honor of Thanksgiving, I made a "thankful tree" this week. I've seen many different variations of thankful trees -- just type in "thankful tree" into Pinterest and see what I mean. They are usually made from branches and paper leaves on which you write all the things you are thankful for.

I wanted to add my own flare to the project and a while ago I found printable music paper on Pinterest, so I made a few sheets to cut out my leaves. Then I simply glued them to the branches along with a few faux fall leaves I had around the house for a little pop of color.

Some people like to add one thing they are thankful for every day in November. I, however, added them all at once.

I placed the branches in a large vase with my fave cinnamon-scented pine cones and called it done!

I think it's a cute reminder to always give thanks, don't you think?

Linking up to Bungalow's Everything Thanksgiving Link Party

and

Frosted Hurricane with Twinkle Lights

This project is inspired by two different sources.

First, I loved this idea from Real Simple. They put white Christmas lights in bottomless hurricanes to make this pretty mantel:

Real Simple

 And second, I found this picture floating around Pinterest lately from 52 Projects:

52 Projects

I decided I wanted to combine these ideas to create my frosted star hurricane with twinkle lights. How's that for a project title? :)

I am quite pleased how the project turned out, however I found it extremely difficult to photograph. The pictures I took really don't do it justice. You'll just have to take my word for it.

You will need:

a bottomless hurricane (I picked mine up for $2 at the thrift store)

frosted glass spray paint

foil star stickers

a string of twinkle lights

1. Apply star stickers in any pattern you wish. I wasn't too concerned about making them perfectly spaced or oriented the same way.

2. Spray with frost spray paint. By the way, this paint is really easy to use. It dries in 10 minutes and can be removed later with acetone.

3. After the paint has dried, remove the stickers.

It really is pretty in person. I'm thinking I will put a row of these along the top of my piano this Christmas.

Linking up to:

Release Me Create's Fresh Friday Link Party
and Not Just a Housewife's Show Me What Ya Got Link Party.

Weekend Links * 11.5.2011

• 31 Ways to Wrap Your Crap at Older and Wisor: A series on how to beautifully and easily wrap gifts. This is tons of inspiration just in time for Christmas!

• The Digi Nails at The Hybrid Chick: How to transfer patterns on scrapbook paper to your nails using just rubbing alcohol.

The Hybird Chick

• 27 Beautiful Handmade Christmas Ornaments from BHG: This is a great collection of ornaments-- I especially love this silver one.

BHG

Happy weekend!

Font Fabulousness

I'm working on a project and I ran out of light. So until then, I thought I'd share my newest obession. Yes, it's a font.

You can find it here.

‘Tis (Almost) the Season

Not to seem sensational, but there are only 51 days until Christmas!

If you are like me and you like to get crafty, now is the time to start thinking about making a few Christmas presents. This year I plan to make at least half of my Christmas presents—mostly because I want to and partly because we financially need to.

So I’m on a hunt for inspiration.

Unfortunately, I can’t share most of the presents I’m going to make with you before Christmas, since many of the people receiving them sometimes read this blog. However, here are a few ideas to get you started thinking.

Monogrammed Mugs from Design Mom

These are similar to my monogrammed plate. This is truly an easy project. The porcelain pen wipes off cleanly if you need to start over, but sets permanently once baked in the oven.

 Mirrored Cake Stands from Tradewind Tiaras

I’ve seen other cake stands made from candle sticks and plates glued together, but this tutorial is genius. She uses mirrored tiles (easily found at the dollar store) and magnets to create a height-adjustable cake stand.

Paperclip Earrings from Evie S.

Paperclips, string, and earring hooks—cuteness. These would be great stocking stuffers for all your girlfriends. (You should also check out the confetti earrings on her blog too.)

 Foolproof Holiday Fudge from Martha Stewart

Food is always a good present—especially for men. Fudge is relatively simple to make, but always seems to be impressive to recipients. I like how “Martha” garnished hers with crushed peppermint. Chocolate and mint is a near perfect combination.

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