Wedding Gift anyone?

We are pretty much out of the wedding season in our life, for the most part.  But occasionally we get an invite.  If you know me well, you know weddings are my FAV! I love everything about them, the planning, shopping for the dress...especially the dress, the details, the production, the character of each one, pretty much the... everything.

Anyway...we just recently got invited to a wedding shower and here is what I copied from pinterest as part of their gift.

This is my version and steps on how to make it...

Start with a package of the clear glass ornaments.  It's a great time to get them NOW..because trust me, you won't be able to find them after Christmas...I tried.  I got the medium size ornaments but I really think the smaller size would have worked fine too.

Note:  I got these at Hobby Lobby. They actually weren't on sale when I got them, but if you have an iphone, you can pull up the 40% off coupon on their website, flash it at them at the register and they will give you the discount.

Next cut the wedding invitation into strips.  I didn't measure or anything, I just tried my hardest to keep a steady hand and cut the strips to where the important words stayed mostly intact (i.e. wedding date, their names, location...).

Then wrap the strips around a pen.  I was skeptical about this step, but it worked like a charm.

Stick the pieces into the ornament, 

put the top back on, 

tie some cute ribbon as the hanger, AND...

Final gift all put together...

This project seriously took me all of 20 minutes, maybe a little less and the longest part was curling the strips and sticking down in the ornament.  

Next time..I might would try getting some more paper or tinsel a similar shade to the wedding invitation and fill the ornament a little more.  I was still pleased with the final result.  I just think since I used the medium ornaments, there was a little more extra space than needed.

Overall it's a great way to put a personal touch on a wedding gift and something that couple will treasure forever.

Do It Yourself - Pottery Painting

My friend Amy (pictured below) has a tradition she started when her little boy, Brayden (also below) was a baby. She started going to this fun place...Do It Yourself Crafts, in Homewood, AL. Its a place that has tons of different plates, bowls, cannisters, ornaments...you name it, they've got it. You pick out whatever you want to paint on and the rest goes as follows:

Once you have picked the item(s) you want to paint, then you have to decide on your design. There are books with examples of past projects or there are finished pieces of pottery sitting out that can help inspire your creative side. Amy and I opted for doing Christmas plates and a few other items for me that will remain disclosed until a later date...Christmas presents for family members...who read this blog :)

I will say...at first I wasn't a fan of doing a Christmas plate. I went in thinking I wanted to do something not so specific to a holiday...but the lady who works there swayed me otherwise. She said she does a Christmas plate with her little boy every year and she loves getting them out to serve things on at the holidays. So anyway...here is how our day went.

There wasn't anybody else there so we pretty much got one-on-one attention. Here is Brayden getting his little foot painted.



Brayden using his fingers to do the Christmas lights around the edge of his plate...couldn't get a smile b/c he was concentrating :)


Brayden's finished product...


And now it's Briggs turn. First she painted his foot...(and I just gotta say...look at those rolls on that fat little leg...MMM...LOVE IT!)


And we just smooshed (is that a word?) it on the plate...it was a joint effort to get it exactly in the right spot without him wiggling too much...


Here he is working on something with his hands...I promise to show the finished product later..like after Christmas...b/c it is TOO CUTE! :)

I will say...Brayden is two and Briggs is 5 1/2 months....so it was interesting to see how we got to the end product. They had different techniques for the different ages, and the ladies working there were very helpful.



Here is Briggs final product. We opted for a reindeer with just his feet since he is so little...

Overall...it was a really fun experience and hopefully a place we can continue to go and make keepsakes and memories for years to come. Thanks for inviting us Amy and Brayden!

Decorations

We had a little party at the Poland's last week and I wanted to share some of the inexpensive decorations I used...

Once upon a time...I found his wooden candle holder. I decided it might be cuter holding silverware...which is what we used it for.

I thought some "mood lighting" might be fun...so I just used canning jars that I already had (I had both small and large sizes), I tied some rope around the top of the jar (that I already had) and dropped a candle in there. Viola..you have yourself a cute little candle holder.


And here is the finished project on the table...wanted yall to see it put together. I actually had enough of the candles to sit out in random places around my house...but this is what the table ended up looking like.

Tip: Just in case you're wondering how to get the candle out of the jar once it's melted...just put the jar in the freezer for a little while and the candle will pop right out.