Glittered Chalkboard Ornament Tag Tutorial

I am in love with all things glittery and gold these days, seriously In. Love. So it seemed fitting to make these fun Glittered Chalkboard Ornaments (that also double as a fun gift tag!) for Jo-Ann's new #fabulouslyfestive campaign. 

I was asked, along with some other lovely bloggers, to create something fabulous and festive for the holidays and, well, this sums up those two words so perfectly in my eyes :-) 

These are so simple to make and have such a wow factor. Plus with the chalkboard component there are endless possibilities to what you can use them for...write a name, a Christmas phrase, or draw a design, you name it!

Glittered Chalkboard Ornament Tags

Unfinished wood ornaments (found at Joanns)

Chalkboard paint

Paintbrush

Mod Podge

Glitter

Twine

Yarn needle

I found these unfinished wood ornaments in the holiday aisle at Jo-Anns. These are great because they have a raised edge around the star which is perfect for glittering up!

You will need some chalkboard paint, mod podge, glitter of your choice and a paintbrush to do this project.

The first thing you want to do is paint the inside of the ornament with the chalkboard paint. You do not need to be perfect with the paint as the edges will be glittered so any messes you do make will get covered. Follow the directions on your bottle of paint, mine stated that it needed two coats and then it needed to cure for 24 hours.

Once 24 hours has passed, take a piece of chalk and rub it all over the chalkboard paint to prep it for writing.

Then, paint on a layer of mod podge on the raised edges of your ornaments (not the entire ornament!), heavily sprinkle your glitter over top and tap off, and let dry for about 20 minutes. Once dry, add another layer of mod podge over the glitter (again, on the raised edges not the entire ornament!) to seal it so it does not flake off.

And then grab your chalk or a chalk paint pen and decorate as you like!

Ahhh...glittery gold goodness!!! I 'm feeling good about that :-)

For more inspiration in your holiday crafting, visit the Joann's craft catalog here.

And be sure to use the coupon below to get a jump on your craft shopping too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

TUTORIAL: Paper Rosette Gift Name Tags

I was asked by Joann's to be a part of their Papercrafted Christmas campaign that they are co-hosting with Die Cuts With a View (DCWV).  Me and 11 other bloggers are sharing some fun ideas on how to craft with DCWV scrapbook paper and embellishments this month. How fun!

With Christmas literally weeks away, and the fact that I have gift wrapping on the brain, I thought I would use DCWV's scrapbook paper to make some vintage-inspired Paper Rosette Gift Name Tags. I am always in search of fun ways to label gifts and these make my heart sing, so pretty and so easy to make...perfect for the holidays and more!

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

Paper Rosette Gift Name Tags

DCWV Christmas & Winter Paper Stack

Scissors

DCWV Christmas & Winter Embellishments (optional)

3.5 inch paper doilies

Hot glue

For these rosettes I used the DCWV Christmas & Winter Paper Stack. I found this paper was the perfect weight to make a small sized rosette. You can find this paper stack and a whole lot more from DCWV at Joann's here.

To make the rosettes...
1. Cut a 12 x 12 inch piece of scrapbook paper down to 3 x 12 inches. Starting on the short end, fold the paper back and forth in 1/4 inch increments.
2. Continue to fold the paper like an accordion until the end of the paper.
3. Press the accordion of paper in half and hot glue the ends that meet together.
4. Fan out the rosette and hot glue the other two ends together as well.
Hot glue the rosette onto a paper doily.

The Christmas & Winter Paper Stack also comes with a few pages that include small colored flags and other fun paper tags. I cut the flags out and wrote names onto them.

I also used a scallop paper punch to embellish the name tags a bit more.

You could even embellish the name tags with the coordinating DCWV Christmas & Winter adhesive embellishments, the pack comes with a big variety of pretty choices!

When your Paper Rosette Gift Name Tags are done they should look like this...so cute, right!

Such a perfect addition to your holiday gift wrapping this season!

And here's a coupon from Joann's so you can save when you buy your supplies to make these or an other fabulous project you might have in mind for the holidays: Click Here for Coupon!

 XOXO,

*This post is brought to you by Joann's but all opinions and ideas are 100% my very own :-)

TUTORIAL: Toilet Paper Tube Advent Calendar

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CottonelleHoliday  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

Can you believe it is December already? That means only 4 weeks until Christmas!!! Well, 23 days to be exact, whoa momma!

With holiday parties and cookie exchanges coming up on the calendar, the last thing I want is to be stuck in my bathrooms always having to change the dang toilet paper! Hello, I have more important things to do like bake up some yummy goodies, set a festive table, and actually enjoy my holiday parties this year. Thank goodness for the Cottonelle Triple Roll pack I found at Target, triple the toilet paper on one roll means less trips to restock the bathroom for me!

And when you do finally get an empty roll, how about a fun holiday idea to make having to change that roll a little bit easier?

I saved our leftover toilet paper tubes and created a super fun Advent Calendar for my littles! It was so easy to do and the best part is that you already have the toilet paper rolls so that project material is free! This time of year you can even get scrapbook paper at most craft stores for 6 sheets for a dollar so this is one inexpensive project AND a whole month of fun for the kiddos!

Toilet Paper Tube Advent Calendar

25 toilet paper tubes

a variety of scrapbook paper

glue stick

scissors

twine

number stamps and ink or number stickers (1-25)

glue dots

white foam board

old picture frame

The first thing you need to do is cut your scrapbook paper to size, I cut mine 4.25 x 6.75 inches which gives you a bit of overlap for the edges when you wrap.

Then just glue the paper around each tube.

Once it is dry, mine seriously took like 30 seconds to dry, you just push the ends in slightly to form a pillow box...easy peasy!

But don't forget, before you close up you newly made pillow box you will want to add your advent calendar gift! This can be anything small like a toy, a piece of candy or gum, or even a piece of paper with an experience for the day like these here. For this advent calendar I decided to put little figurines inside that, in the end, would create a wintery Christmas scene.

This is what the finished product of this Advent calendar will look like!

Each day there will be a little something to set up...a sled, a wrapped package, maybe even a few letters :-)

A deer, or two, or three...or a snowman.

Even a teddy bear!

Once the tubes were filled and closed, I wrapped each in some twine and hung a little number stamped circular tag to each for each day in December leading up to Christmas.

I had an old frame I found this summer at a garage sale for $1 that fit a piece of white foam board perfectly and I just used glue dots to place the tubes onto the board.  They are pretty lightweight so it only took two glue dots per filled toilet paper tube to hang.

And there you have it! An easy, inexpensive, and really pretty Advent Calendar using toilet paper tubes!!! 

If you want to make this fun project or maybe you just need to stock up on some toilet paper for all your holiday parties, CLICK HERE for a "Buy Cottonelle Triple Roll 12 pack or larger and get a FREE box of Kleenex" coupon while supplies last and head over to Target to redeem this great deal! 

XOXO, 

TUTORIAL: Ruffled Mason Jar Cozies

I love mason jars. In our home we use them for everything :-) 

Need a vase? Grab a mason jar! 

Need a container for pens, pencils or crayons? Grab a mason jar!

Need a habitat for all the worms my kids dug up in the garden? Grab a mason jar!

You get my drift...we use them for everything.

But the thing we probably use them for the most is to drink out of, they sure do make the handiest glasses. You too? And they are even travel-worthy if you own a few cuppows too, such a cool invention.

Remember how I told you in my Mommy/Daughter Picnic post, found here, that I made my daughters some Ruffled Mason Jar Cozies for their drinks and that I would share the tutorial with you...well, I'm here to tell you that today is that day, woooot!

You are going to love making these, they are made with one layer of insul-fleece too so they will keep your hot drinks hot and your cold drinks cold. And they are a really nice quick project. You could definitely make a handful in an hours time. I'm thinking I will be making a few more for Teacher Appreciation Week...or maybe as part of the kids' teachers Christmas gifts? Decisions, decisions! 

Ruffled Mason Jar Cozies (directions will make one cozy)

two 3.5 x 12 inch piece of fabric for the cozy

4 x 22 inch of fabric for the ruffle

3.5 x 12 inch piece of pellon insul-fleece 

elastic hair tie

button

Gather your supplies. Cut your fabrics and insul-fleece to size.

First we'll make our ruffle. Fold the longer 4 x 22 inch piece of fabric in half the long way, with right sides facing. Sew the long raw edges together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance (picture at the right) so that you make a long tube. Using a safety pin, turn the tube right side out. Place the seam in the center of the tube and iron flat, this will be the backside of the ruffle.

Now to ruffle the tube. I like to ruffle by increasing my thread tension to 9 (the highest number my machine will go). Then I increase the stitch width and length to the highest numbers they will go. Start stitching down the center front (the side opposite the seam you just ironed) making sure to backstitch after the first stitch. This way my machine ruffles the fabric for me as I sew and there is no need for me to pull threads, etc. I love doing ruffles this way!

Once your longer piece is ruffled you are going to center it on top of the right side of one of the 3.5 x 12 inch pieces of fabric and pin it into place. Sew it on with any stitch you like (I prefer the look of a zig zag stitch) making sure to go down the center over top the stitch line you just made while ruffling it.

Now to put the cozy together. You will need to do this step in very careful layers so make sure you pay attention!

Your layers will go like so...insul-fleece at the bottom, then ruffled 3.5 x 12 inch piece of fabric right side up, then at one end you will place your hair elastic with just a bit sticking out over the edge, then you will place the other 3.5 x 12 inch piece of fabric right side down.  You've got yourself one heck of a cozy sandwich happening now, don'tcha.

Here's a look at the top of that sandwich...see that little bit of the hair elastic sticking out (and some of the ruffle too!) You want that bit sticking out as it will help you make sure your sewing machine catches that elastic when you are sewing this sandwich together.

Alright, so next you are going to sew all around the sandwich using a 1/4 inch seam allowance leaving the end opposite the hair elastic open.  So, if you are looking at the picture above, you will start sewing at the bottom right corner across to the bottom left corner, then up to the top left corner (backstitching a few times over the hair elastic, and then sewing across to the top right corner.  The complete right side will remain open for turning the cozy right side out.

Clip your corners, making sure not to clip the seams you just sewed up! Then turn your cozy right side out using the opening we did not sew together. You may need a chopstick to push out the corners.

Then topstitch all the way around the cozy starting by folding the open end edges inward to close up the opening we used for turning the cozy right side out. 

The last thing we need to do is place the cozy over a mason jar and pull the elastic to see where you will need to place the button. Place a pin in that spot so when you take the cozy off you will have the area marked. Hand sew your button in place and you are done!

So pretty!

And totally functional...the best kinda project!

PS. You can also add another button onto the cozy so that these will fit the narrower Starbucks-type coffee cups...I love a multi-functional piece, don't you!

Happy sewing my friends!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

 XOXO,