Seed Bead and Pin Ornaments

My parents have some of these beauties on their tree that I believe were made by my great grandma. She used the satin covered balls and didn’t have to worry about covering the entire ornament since the satin looks nice, but I only had styrofoam balls handy, so I had to make do. I painted my first ornament before getting started in case any of the styrofoam showed through, but quickly realized that wouldn’t be a problem so I didn’t bother painting any of the others.

I used this tutorial from Thrifty Fun to get started.These are pretty time consuming, but they go great with a glass of red wine and some Desperate Housewives on the DVR. Plus, they look AMAZING on the tree. 

Birch Bark Luminary

I’ve had this fun craft from Project Pretty bookmarked for over a year now. I struggled for quite some time with where to get the birch bark. I had my eye on the neighbor’s birch tree, but she vented to me about the kids ripping the bark off her tree, so I figured that probably wasn’t the best idea.

This past spring, we went Morel mushroom hunting up in Lewiston. We were about a week too late to do any good hunting, but I did snag up some birch bark while traipsing through the woods.

I used a leftover vase from a friend’s rehearsal dinner this summer. I ended up having to use some Mod Podge to get the bark to stick, as the spray adhesive just wasn’t strong enough in spots.

The soft glow of this luminary is perfect for the holiday season!

Love-ly Christmas Countdown

I wanted to do something special for Mr. Tote for Christmas this year. When I saw this Spouse Christmas Countdown on Dating Divas, I knew it would be perfect! What I didn’t anticipate is how long it would take me to actually construct a countdown telling him all of the things I loved about him. Coming up with the reasons was the easy part. Assembly was a different story.I texted him to say I was working on something special and for him to call me half an hour before he was due home from work. When he called, I was right in the middle of making it!So I told him to find something to do for an hour and then to call me. An hour later he called… the kitchen table was littered with scraps of paper, the Cricut machine, glue and scissors. “Give me 45 more minutes,” I said. He called again, 45 minutes later.Blast! Still not done. So I told him to come home but to wait in the garage. So he bought some eggnog and spiced rum and sat in the car in the garage for a good half an hour before I was finally ready to reveal my surprise.I love the way this turned out and I think he does, too. Each day, he gets to turn over the appropriate number and find a special note from me, describing one of countless reasons I love him.I love the Christmas season! This is going to be so much fun!

*edit: The font I used was Pea Krystyne from kevinandamanda.com*

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