The Posts of Christmas Past

I've only had this blog for one Christmas but I made a lot of decorations last year! I was unemployed and had a lot of time on my hands so did handmade gifts for everyone. Here are some things I did the for Christmas/winter season!

My most popular post, the Christmas bauble wreath.

Peace on Earth Wreath. This is still one of my favorites.

Snowflake Wreath

Another snowflake wreath.

Gold Leaf Wreath

Gold Berry Wreath

Green Christmas Wreath

Silver Leaf Wreath

Sparkling Dove Wreath

Poinsettia Wreath

A tutorial for a Christmas stocking.

I also did a series on spicing up your old Christmas decorations. Here are parts one, two, three, and four.

 I'm not sure I have the same amount of inspiration this year - I sure did a lot last Christmas!

Peace on Earth Wreath

This next wreath is my new favorite! It's very different from your typical Christmas wreath. Technically though it can be a winter wreath. I started off with this Styrofoam wreath because it was all there was at Michaels when I went shopping. These tiny, thin wreaths are more expensive than straw wreaths even though they're practically a quarter of the size but luckily I had a 50% off coupon for one item so it cost me about $2.50. I was disappointed that I had to get it at first but I actually like the shape of it. I think it takes less yarn to wrap.

I started off by wrapping it in my favorite yarn (white with the silver thread running through it).

Here it is completely covered. I didn't worry about covering it 100% because I planned on going over it with another color.

I took this amazing black/gray/silver yarn I had lying around from a couple years ago when I made some scarves for Christmas in it and started off by making little Xs all the way around it. That looked too uniform (and a little like spiderwebs so maybe this idea could double for a Halloween wreath?) so I just went around and around until I liked the way it looked. I didn't cover all the white but I made the pretty yarn prominent enough. Note: this yarn is quite wooly so it catches and snags easier than most. It took me a couple hours to do it because the hole was small but I just sat watching TV while I worked. It also left my fingers cramping terribly but it was worth it.

I then took these wooden snowflakes that I picked up from Michaels for $.29 each. Great deal, huh? I got three. I probably should have stocked up on more!

Having learned from the last time I did this, I painted them white first. Then I covered them with snow-tex. I then sprinkled them with some silver glitter, which I appear to have forgotten to take a picture of.

I also bought these glitter letters from Michaels. The glitter was coming off a bit so I coated them in mod-podge to seal. I went with PEACE but you can go for anything! They were $.99 each.

Positioned on the wreath...

I added my snowflakes and some crystal twigs I'd bought back in November because they were so gorgeous but I didn't know where to use them. I'm glad I saved them! They look just like icicles!

I'm so happy because I had a vision for this wreath and it came out exactly the way I wanted it to! FINALLY! I really hope the person it's for likes it because if not, she can give it back to me! I think I'll have to make one for myself :) I seriously love this mildly unconventional Christmas/winter wreath!!

I'm linking this up to Lolly Jane Boutique. Check out this post to see where else I'm linking up.

Poinsettia Wreath

Here is another wreath I made just last week. It wasn't within my original plan but I ended up giving one of the ones I'd already presented away as a Christmas gift so I needed to make another one for that wreath's original planned receiver. I started off by wrapping it in some dark green yarn I'd found in my closet. Apparently I wanted to make a scarf out of it but completely forgot I'd bought it! It was such a nice color and perfect for Christmas!

I took some extra leaves from past projects and made them into a little flower - almost like a poinsettia. First I glued on the white and ended up not having enough left over so I very sneakily had to pull some off of this one that no one would notice. I only took two, I swear! Sorry other wreath! After my theft, I glued the gold leaves on top.

Then I added a little jingle bell in the center.

I finished by wrapping an old gold bead chain we had lying around. It didn't match the one we put on our Christmas tree so I put it to good use! Lastly, I added a sheer red ribbon for hanging to match the bell. Easy-peasy!

Stay tuned for two more wreath tutorials this week!

This is where I'm linking up this week...
Just Something I Whipped Up
Craftastic Monday

Red and White Christmas Wreath

As you may have noticed, I love all things sparkly. This next wreath I made has just enough spark for someone who isn't as obsessed with sparkles as I am but likes a little jazziness.

I started off with a straw wreath that I wrapped in white yarn. And of course that white yarn has a little glitter in it too!

I then took some white sparkling leaves I'd bought and positioned them all around the wreath and attached them with a hot glue gun. Even though the leaves covered most of the wreath, I wrapped it in white yarn so I wouldn't have to worry about straw showing through on the sides.

Here is the wreath completely covered in leaves! Sparkly!

I then added some red 'berries'. I'm not sure what else to call them.

Then I nestled a little birdie in the wreath - we'll call it, for the sake of Christmas, our turtledove. He, of course, sparkles too! I also added some little silver and red poinsettia pins I'd found and hung it with a red ribbon.

Here is a close up!

Stay tuned all this week for even more DIY wreath tutorials! I've got a couple left and I want to post them before Christmas!

See this post for where I'm sharing my wreath this weekend!

Silver Leaf Christmas Wreath

Today's wreath was pretty simple. It started off by taking a straw wreath and gluing anything silver on it. I used all my leftovers from the other wreaths I had as well as some silver things I had bought because they were pretty but hadn't used yet.

Then I look white glitter leaves (pictured above in the lower left corner) and glued them on the inside and outside of the wreath to cover the straw that was showing through. That's it!

Here's a close-up.

Simple as that.

10 days until Christmas!! Have you finished your shopping yet? I just got all mine done this week!

Ribbon Christmas Wreath

As I mentioned at the beginning of November, I've been participating in a little thing called NaNoWriMo. That's National Novel Writing Month and you have to write 50,000 words in a month. The goal is to write a novel but you don't have to finish it - just make that 50,000 words. Well, today is the last day of November and I'm almost there! Let me tell you, it's been ridiculously difficult. I was falling really far behind - like over 13,000 words behind - because of laziness Thanksgiving but I've been writingwritingwriting this last week and have caught up! Right now I'm at 48,000 words and I've still got 10 hours and 45 minutes left til the end. My crafting has been put on hold as a result but here's a Christmas wreath I made last month!

I started off by wrapping a straw wreath in this shiny green ribbon. I glued the ribbon on the back as I went with the hot glue gun so it wouldn't shift. You could also use some type of (floral) pin but I didn't have any.

Here is the wreath completely covered. It sure was bright!

I decided to add a little embellishment in the form of more ribbon. I made one bow in sheer red and one smaller bow in a light sheer gold ribbon and placed them on top of each other. Then I added a few strands of these tiny red berries and added more ribbon on the bottom for some dangling.

The green by itself was just too much on its own so I wrapped it in the sheer red ribbon and added a little red bell in the center of the bows.

Then, to tie it all together I put the gold ribbon on top of the red. It's kind of got that striped candy cane thing going on! Here it is hanging on the banister because I was too lazy to put it on the wall.

Here's a close up of the embellishment.

Since it's November 30th, that means it's almost December! I still haven't started finished my Christmas decorating. It's just all over the place right now (literally scattered in the living room half in boxes, half on tables) but as soon as I finish my 50,000 words, I'll get on it!