Nature-Inspired Christmas

I love to change up my Christmas decorations every year, and usually make most of them myself. This year I've had a lot of fun playing around with my sewing machine, and I made some paper circle garland that I sewed together in greens, whites and painted some paper in metallics. I draped them on my mantel and piano for bright pops of color. I took a walk in a local park to collect the large sticks to make the star that I put above my mantel. I simply wired each connecting point together and I was done. The pine cone door decorations were a Pinspiration. They were incredibly easy to make too. I just used ribbon with drop of hot glue on the end to tie on the pine cones. The green one was made by cutting strips of burlap, gluing and tying in the same way.

Seems like we always get the itch to paint something this time of year, so this year it was the bay window wall. We painted it a dramatic charcoal called "Evening Hush" by Behr. I love how dramatic it looks, especially with light curtains and wall art. I drew the "Mistletoe" sign with chalk on my framed chalkboard on the same wall. This year we cut down a huge tree as tall as our 8 1/2 foot ceilings and placed it in a galvanized tub like last year. Merry Christmas!

Land of Nod Knock Off Winter Wondergraph Garland

I love making garlands! I pretty much have them up all year according to the seasons. This week, I made some soft and colorful fall leaves garland and it was a fun surprise to see one of my favorite projects from last holiday season getting featured on Copycat Crafts this week! I love this site and their amazing knock-off ideas!  I'm sure it's not too early to post a Christmas-ey project, especially since some people are having snowflakes falling this week! This garland is a knock-off from the Land of Nod, made by stenciling wax paper circles. Here's the featured link: Winter Wondergraph Garland
 And here's my tutorial "recycled" from last season, but still just as pretty!

Today, on Black Friday, I didn't join all the crazies in lines at the stores and road rage on the road.  Instead, after a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving with my family, I decided to get to work on some DIY Christmas decorations like these beauties.

I love browsing through catalogs for ideas I can make the cheaper copycat way. I got inspired to make this lacey garland after seeing Land of Nod's Winter Wondergraph Garland below:

 I was convinced I could make a thrifty version of this garland with materials I already had stashed at home. Land of Nod's description says they were made with "coated paper" so I decided to try using wax paper, using a technique I learned when I made my Faux Capiz Shell Chandelier.

Here's what you'll need to make this garland: 

wax paper

parchment paper

iron

circle cutter or scissors and circle to trace

white acrylic craft paint

string or thread

needle

round patterned adhesive stencil (I used Martha Stewart's craft line)

paint pouncer or craft paint brush

First,  iron three squares of wax paper together sandwiched in between two pieces of parchment paper. 

After paper is cool, use circle cutter to make circles a few inches wide ( or trace and cut out circles) I cut out twenty for my garland. 

Then, press your circle stencils to the center of paper circles and paint with pouncer or brush. 

I used two different sizes to create a lacey snowflake pattern. 

Finally, push thread in and out of top of each circle using a sewing needle until each circle is connected for your finished garland. 

You can hang your finished garland in a Christmas tree, across a wall or in a window like I did. I love the delicate look of these in my kitchen window and plan on keeping them up all winter long!

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!

p.s. If you loved this idea, please check out the rest of my holiday tutorials here!

Linking up with these parties.

Fall Leaves Garland

I am finally getting around to posting my fall decorations-and this year I actually have a sewing machine to piece together this colorful garland. I love garlands of all types all through the year.  It was so easy to trace leaves from my backyard and cut them out of the felt. I chose four different types of leaves and four bright colors.

I simply stitched a straight line through each leaf and before I got to the end I overlapped the edges  just enough to attach it to the next one. I attached ribbon to each end by sewing the ribbon through the backside of the end leaf. I added a few embellishments on some of the leaves using the decorative stitch setting in zig zag shapes. It took only one afternoon to make this pretty fall garland!

Sharing at some of these link parties!

Family Update: Finally Forever!

This year has been full of excitement for our family and it seems like forever since I've posted on the blog, but for a very good reason. On March 28th, we finalized our much-awaited adoption of our third child- the 13 month old baby boy we've had with us since birth! It was a happy, happy day for our family, baby "L" is so sweet and brings a lot of joy to our lives. 

I am thankful that his little life was rescued and humbled that we get the privilege of raising him. This makes us officially a house full of three wild boys, never a dull moment for sure, but we are blessed.(If you're just tuning in, you can read all about how our adventure of this unexpected gift started here).

 So, we've done a lot of celebrating around here, last weekend was busy with open houses and family parties, including his first birthday party. Of course, I was busy making some homemade decorations for the events. This garland was made by folding half circles of paper and taking a glue stick to seal them together and attached them to a line of string. 

This was our happy adoption day! Here I am with the handsome men in my life. It meant a lot to us to be surrounded by friends and family there to support us.

Here is the adorable birthday boy! I made him this hat (of course) from a repurposing a cereal box covered in felt, pom poms and craft foam. He enjoyed the game of ripping it off of his head every time I tried to keep it on him. 

It's been a fun season of celebrating and welcoming in our baby! I am amazed at the story God wrote and how he built our family-each adoption has been an amazing journey-a labor of the heart. I am still winding down from all the hard work it takes to throw a great party, but I can't wait to show you our nursery I worked on a few weeks before we adopted.

I was able to turn a bland room into something so inviting and fresh, complete with homemade artwork and painted floors, walls and doors. Here is a little sneak peek into the room: I think baby boy loves his room as much as I do, he squealed every time we took someone in for a room tour.

Stay tuned for my entire nursery reveal! I can't wait to show it to you....and thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!

Kristina

I link up at these parties. 

DIY Winter Snowflake Garland

Today, on Black Friday, I didn't join all the crazies in lines at the stores and road rage on the road.  Instead, after a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving with my family, I decided to get to work on some DIY Christmas decorations like these beauties. 

I love browsing through catalogs for ideas I can make the cheaper copycat way. I got inspired to make this lacey garland after seeing Land of Nod's Winter Wondergraph Garland below:

 I was convinced I could make a thrifty version of this garland with materials I already had stashed at home. Land of Nod's description says they were made with "coated paper" so I decided to try using wax paper, using a technique I learned when I made my Faux Capiz Shell Chandelier.

Here's what you'll need to make this garland: 

• wax paper
• parchment paper
• iron
• circle cutter or scissors and circle to trace
• white acrylic craft paint
• string or thread
• needle
• round patterned adhesive stencil (I used Martha Stewart's craft line)
• paint pouncer or craft paint brush

First,  iron three squares of wax paper together sandwiched in between two pieces of parchment paper. 

After paper is cool, use circle cutter to make circles a few inches wide ( or trace and cut out circles) I cut out twenty for my garland. 

Then, press your circle stencils to the center of paper circles and paint with pouncer or brush. 

I used two different sizes to create a lacey snowflake pattern. 

Finally, push thread in and out of top of each circle using a sewing needle until each circle is connected for your finished garland. 

You can hang your finished garland in a Christmas tree, across a wall or in a window like I did. I love the delicate look of these in my kitchen window and plan on keeping them up all winter long! 

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple! 

p.s. If you loved this idea, please check out the rest of my holiday tutorials here!

Linking up with these parties. 

Simple Thanksgiving Felt Garland

So, the holiday season is here again. You might have noticed, I haven't been posting as much as when I started this blog a year ago. I have been on a crafting/project marathon this past year-so many projects completed, so many new ideas and techniques I got to try! It's been a lot of fun sharing my ideas and "meeting" all of you! I have been overwhelmed with your nice comments and thrilled with being featured on bigger sites.

But I have decided to take it slow for the next few months. Anyone who blogs knows how time consuming it and even competitive it can be, especially during this season. But I just want to enjoy time with my family and friends. Yes, I do have a few Christmas ideas up my sleeve and I hope you get a chance to check out last year's ideas. I hope you will still stay with me. In the spirit of recycling I am reposting this Thanksgiving idea from last year: Simple Thanksgiving Felt Garland.

I love Thanksgiving--it is such a simple season of gratitude--I think it's important to remember the ways we are blessed. I always think it's a shame that this holiday often gets overlooked by the rushed Christmas season ahead.

This year, I decided to celebrate a little early and decorate with a simple reminder to "be thankful". I have been loving all the machine sewn together felt garland I've seen around different blogs and on Pinterest.

Since I don't have a sewing machine yet,  I decided to put an old-fashioned spin on designing my own by hand stitching the garland.  I was excited to find some recycled felt made from Eco-Fi-made from 100% post-consumer plastic bottles by the brand Creatology. Plastic bottles never felt so soft...

Here's what you'll need to make this project: 

Yarn needle

Felt in various colors

Fabric scissors

Yarn-I used two types of textures, but used the smooth kind for the lettering

Glue gun or tacky glue

Small circular containers in different sizes to trace-try a spice jar or medicine cup.

Pen or pencil 

First, I traced my circles around the containers-I alternated between two different sizes.

Then, I cut out each circle until I had enough to spell out my words. I used 11 circles.

Next, I threaded my yarn needle with the wavy yarn and stitched loosely through the center of the first circle.

I repeated the process, leaving about an inch between circles, until I ended up with a long chain of circles, like this:

To make the words, "be thankful" I cut small pieces of straight orange yarn and just looped and connected the pieces to form each letter. I then glued each letter to the center of the circle.

(keep in mind that I formed the letters first before trying to glue them!)





Are you ready to see the finished garland?  Here it is!

a shot from below, the garland is held in place by the gourds:

I love my colorful reminder to "be thankful"...

If you liked this idea, I hope you get inspired by checking out the rest of my holiday tutorials! And be blessed this season...

Thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple!

Linking up with these parties: