Last minute Christmas gifts - handmade ornaments

If you are one of *THOSE* people, you know, the ones who have had all of their holiday shopping and gift-giving needs taken care of since July, well, then, you may just want to skip right over THIS post.  ;)

BUT, if you are anything like ME, and you are still frantically trying to finish up final handmade gifts and trying to make sure you haven't forgotten anyone on your list,...well, then, I have some really beautiful and quick last-minute ideas to share with you!

For all of these ornaments, I used vintage sheet music - which I absolute LOVE using on projects.  I think it just adds such a wonderful charm and loveliness to any project!!  

For the ornament pictured above (the inspiration for which I got here), of which I made 3 variations, I started by cutting a background from red foil cardstock using the largest of my Classic Scalloped Circles Large Nestabilities die-cutting set.  I then used my hot glue gun to attach ribbons and pieces of Christmas picks.  I used the Tim Holtz Sizzix Rosette die to cut the rosette from the sheet music, and assembled it per the instructions; then attached it with hot glue as well.  Finally, I took grunge board letters spelling "JOY," inked them with Fired Brick distress ink, and applied Fired Brick distress stickles to them.  Once dry, I glued them onto the rosette, and my ornament was complete.  (Note: you can use a heat gun to dry the ink and the distress stickles, but do NOT use a heat gun on regular stickles.)  

I think even my husband was impressed - since I saw him grab one off my craft table this morning on his way to the office to drop off Christmas gifts to the supervisors he manages!!  (That, and he wants to get some return on the "investment" he has made into my crafting supplies!!)

The second ornament also has a rosette made of vintage Christmas music - but it is much larger, and was made using the Martha Stewart Scoring Board.  The ornament has about a 6" diameter, and I had to glue two strips of music together to make it.  Once I made the rosette, I inked the edges and ridges with Fired Brick distress ink.  I then applied a line of glue around the edges and sprinkled silver glitter over it.

For the center, I again used my Classic Scalloped Circles Large Nestabilities to die cut two pieces from a pad of K&Co Christmas paper.  I inked them using distress inks and glued them to the rosette using hot glue.  Finally, I added a dimensional K&Co sticker to the center.  I punched a small hole in the top of the ornament and tied a piece of silver cord through it for hanging.  

 

I hope this gives you some ideas for quick but beautiful last-minute gifts.  What are your go-to crafts for last-minute gifts?

12 Tags of Christmas - Day 9!! (yes - out of order)

I had the grandest of plans to keep up with Tim's 12 tags...well, actually, I didn't...I knew better.  That's why I was surprised when I got the first 2 done!!  LOL!  Not only is it hard to find adequate time, but I'm working with a limited "Tim" stash, which thus requires an extra amount of ingenuity - which is also time consuming.  Not that I don't enjoy the challenge - really, I do - it totally stretches me creatively - but between trying to finish up the semester of homeschooling, taking care of a newborn, getting ready for Christmas, and participating on two design teams for the first time ever this month...my extra creative time has been very limited.

Anyway, all that said, I decided to quit thinking I needed to "catch up," and just pick up where I felt like it.  Tim is actually finishing up tonight with his 12th and final tag.  I was able to find the time to do tag #9 a couple nights ago, and am really happy with how it came out, so I wanted to share it with you.  I do still hope to get the rest of them done in the next couple weeks...so we'll see!!

You can see Tim's tag #9 here, if you'd like to compare mine to his.  

I can't wait to see what he comes up with for the 12th and final tag for this year's series.  What a treat it's been to watch his mastermind creativity at work!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Paper Trail Blog Hop

Welcome, hoppers, to the 2010 Paper Trails "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" blog hop!!  I am SO excited to be the December Guest Design Team member for The (Paper) Trailmakers Challenge Blog!! 

The blog hop will run from Dec. 1 - Dec. 4, and on Dec. 5, each blog owner will pick a winner for a small giveaway or RAK from those who've left comments!!  Here are the blog hop participants, in case you've started in the middle, so you can make sure to catch all of  us:

1. Trail Makers blog

2. Savanna

3. Sandi

4. Jen - you're here!

5. Krystle

6.. Karen

Without further ado...here is my first project for the month, using the December Paper Trails kit:

First off, let me just say - I am *LOVING* the December Paper Trails kit!!!!  The papers, the embellishments - they are all STUNNING!  And SO versatile - I am finding that they allow me to create something more on the elegant side, like this piece of home decor, or something more on the whimsical side - which you'll see with the first Trailmakers Challenge.  ;)  (Interested??) 

For this project, I used all of the papers in the December kit, with the exception of the solid red cardstock.  I started with a plain-jane burdundy-red wooden 8x10 photo frame.  I sanded it a bit, using my Tim Holtz sanding block, and then painted it black using a black Adirondack paint dabber.  Once it was dry, I sanded it again, giving it a slightly worn look and allowing some of the underlying red to show through.  

Then I cut a sheet of the black cardstock from the kit, to fit inside the frame.  I then used a 1 3/8" square paper punch to punch out lots of squares from the patterned papers, as well as a few from the white cardstock.  I went around the edges of the squares with a white Adirondack paint dabber, to help the squares stand out against the black background, and once dry, I adhered the squares to the black cardstock using adhesive.  I then put the piece in the frame and closed it up.  

I adore Thickers, so I was thrilled to get some in this kit, and I thought they would look great on TOP of the glass in this project - and I was right - I love the effect!!  I placed the letters for "JOY" over three of the plain white squares, and then placed one of the gorgeous chipboard buttons over the fourth white square - again, on top of the glass.  

I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (one of my absolute NECESSITY scrapbooking and crafting tools!) to make pleats in the red and black ribbon from the kit - a gorgeous piece of ribbon, I might add!  I then used my hot glue gun to attach the ribbon, Prima vine, and Prima poinsettia (all from the kit - seriously, this kit is LOADED!) to the frame.  Finally, I added the "Merry Christmas" cardstock sticker, over the ribbon, and my project was complete.  (And I have TONS of kit product left over, I have to add!)

I supposed you would like to see a picture of everything that's actually included in this kit, right?  Well, here you go:

I promise you that there is no way you could buy this kit at retail for what the kit is selling for!

Whether you need to make cards, scrapbooking layouts, home decor projects, gifts, or whatever else your imagination can create - you cannot go wrong with the December Paper Trails kit!!  Hurry - go get yours right now!!  But don't forget to leave a comment first, for your chance to win a little something!

And keep an eye 0ut - I will have a couple more projects later in the month using the same kit!!

The next stop on your hop is Krystle's blog!  Happy hopping!

Vintage music yumminess!

A couple weeks ago, I asked my mom if she had any vintage sheet music or hymnals that I could use for crafting, and she said she was pretty sure that both she and my grandma had some that they could pass on to me.  A few days ago, I received a nice sized box of total vintage yumminess...in fact, some of the contents are SO wonderfully vintage, I almost feel bad actually USING them for anything!!  This first hymnal, in particular, was one of those items...when I touched it, I felt like I was touching a piece of history, something handed down through the generations of my family, and I'm still undecided if I'm going to be able to tear the pages out or cut them up to use in my crafting.  When you see some of the pictures, you'll understand why, I think!

I'll apologize in advance...I'm not going to type much more...but this will be a VERY pic-heavy post...because I just couldn't stop snapping photos of all the wonderful music my mom sent me!  Some of the Christmas carols had such lovely vintage covers/pictures, and some of the other music had such wonderful song titles, great copyright dates, and/or such nicely yellowed pages!  Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

 

I love this one in particular, because we still sing this hymn - and did you notice the copyright date on this hymnal???  It amazes me that my great-grandparents sang this song too!  I will never sing this song again without thinking about the words differently!

35 cents?!

 

This is actually a Christmas postcard...and a Christmas carol book.

 

So there you have it...pretty cool, huh?  Can't wait to make some fun rosettes and other fun flowers with the music!!  Should be fun to make some cool Christmas ornaments and other things using the Christmas music!