MOM Craft!

I got my craftiness (and cuteness) from my Mommy! She made this wine cork wreath the other day as a gift. It's pretty easy, and a good use for all of our corks!

Cost: Around $5 if you already have the corks!

Difficulty: Medium, only because it involves a drill

You'll Need:

Corks (about 22 for a full wreath, this one has about 12)

A drill with a tiny drill bit

Floral Wire

Small jingle bells (ours were a little bit too big)

Scissors or wire cutters

Ribbon to hang it at the end!

Step 1:

Drill a hole on each side of your corks. 2 on top, and 2 on bottom that MATCH UP with each other. Do all of them before you start to make the wreath.



(Oooh she used the fancy corks!)

 Step 2:
Start stringing the corks onto the floral wire at the TOP.

Put a jingle bell in between each cork as you go.

**Then string the bottoms together with another piece of wire. This will create your circle!**

Tie the wires together at the end to finish of the circle. Then, add a pretty ribbon so you can hang it up!

If my mom can do it, you can do it!! Good job, mommy!

Glitter Wine Bottles

These are a couple wine bottles I attacked with glitter to add to my magical Christmas decor. 


what you'll need: a couple wine bottles, some glitter, glue, and a sponge brush.
cost: not counting the wine-these are relatively cheap/free if you've done basically any of the other crafts on this blog... we really like glitter...
difficulty level: easy

All you have to do (after you've cleaned off the bottles and removed the labels) is brush some glue from the bottom of the bottle and up towards the middle.

Roll in glitter.

Let it dry a little and brush off the excess glitter.

repeat!

I put long taper candles in the wine bottles first, but I don't know how I feel about them. 

So, I also tried it out as a vase with some of the extra berry things I have from my tree.

I'd really to get some more of these for next year and maybe even use glitter that matches the color of the bottles... we shall see ;)

More Last-Minute, Handmade Gift Ideas

Today... things in jars! This is super easy, and good for neighbors, co-workers,teachers... anyone, really!

The "Gunny Sack" blog has some great ideas, plus printable labels for each jar. Check it out here: http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/10/everything-in-jar-handmade-gifts.html

You can get many of these things at the Dollar Store, and in the sample section at Target! I've seen Mason jars for really cheap at WalMart (just be careful with all the crazy shoppers!)

Get creative and customize these for each person's needs and tastes.

Also, Ryan Gosling has some more words of encouragement as you complete your handmade holiday gifts:

Word.

OMG Christmas is coming!

Umm.... Holy cow. Christmas is 12 days away. Since we will never have enough time to demo all the cool crafts you could make in the next 12 days, I'm sending you a few amazing links to some kick-ass hand made gifts. You're welcome, my fellow procrastinators!

 

First Up, 101 Simple Handmade Gifts from the blog "Everything Etsy"

 

101 Handmade gifts LINK



Don't forget to label your gifts! 

Here's the pdf link from Sass and Peril for some adorabe, FREE printable gift tags.

Gift Tag PDF

Just print, cut out, hole punch, and tie on. Or do it the lazy way and just cut out and tape ;)

For more ideas and updates, follow us on Twitter: @girlvscraft

And on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kayleighmarie/

Happy Christmas

Kayleigh and I love Harry Potter. It's no secret. I also let you know last week that my Christmas theme for this year is "Harry Potter", so today I have a craft that I'm using to decorate my tree. 

"Happy Christmas" Scrolls

what you'll need: a brown paper bag or two, pen, scissors, and possibly matches or a lighter

cost: free! get the bag from the grocery store next time you go 

difficulty level: this is a great craft for kids if you skip the fire part. I will not be responsible if they burn your house down, fair warning.  

first cut strips of paper about 1 1/2" x 6".

then write "Happy Christmas" or another special holiday message in your best writing... or you can just say Hagrid wrote it :).  This is where you can burn the edges to make it look beat up, or you can tear them if you'd like the look better.

Next roll the edges of one side up, and the other side down.

AND NOW get to decorating! I love Christmas so much!!! Harry Potter Christmas just makes me happy in my heart.

Yes, by the way, I am aware that I am a grown woman who has no children to use as an excuse for all this.... but my apartment will be a magic winter wonderland just like Hogwarts.

Christmas Card Hanger

Getting lots of Christmas cards already like I am?? Seriously, how are these people so fast?! Anyway, here is an easy, free way to display them in your home as decorations.

Cost: FREE

Difficulty level: EASY

You need:

Yarn, string, or thin rope

Push pins

*Hang the string or rope between two walls using the push pins as anchors. >> OR hang it across the mantle, or drape on one wall...really you can put it anywhere.

*Add your cards!

If you get lots of photos and post cards, hang them using a clothes pin. Of course, I glittered mine first ;)

You can always add more rope if you run out of room! Didn't I say it was easy?! You're welcome.

No-Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love decorating so much that I think I actually scared my husband yesterday with my enthusiasm.... Anyway, this year's Christmas theme at my place is Harry Potter-so think the Weasley's house meets Hogwarts at Christmas. I've seen this tree skirt around the blogs lately and I had to make it!


what you'll need: Fabric for skirt base and ruffles. (this takes a little math and will be different depending on the size of your tree.) My skirt base is 17" long so I used about a yard of muslin fabric for that, plus about 2 1/2 yards of muslin for the ruffles. You will also need fabric glue, scissors, and a measuring tape. 
*fabric note: this would also work well with felt!


cost: less than $10


difficulty level: easy


First, I took my 2 1/2 yards of unbleached muslin and ripped it into strips that are 5-6" wide and 2 1/2 yards long. I like the unfinished edges, but if you really want to get crazy you can finish your ruffle edges with ribbon or a roll hem, but do it before you attach them to the skirt base.


Next, I made a circle skirt for my base. Measure the from the tree trunk out passed the branches or as long as you want your skirt to go. Remember there will be a 5" ruffle added to the base. Mine skirt was 17".


Your fabric should already be folded in half when you buy it (Hot dog style) so then you need to fold it in half one more time (hamburger style). 

From the top corner-where all edges are folded- use your measuring tape to mark a quarter circle 1" from the corner. Then another quarter circle 17" (or desired length of skirt) from the corner. Cut along both curves and you will get this:

Then cut a slit like the picture below-this will be the back of the skirt.

Now for the fun part!

I laid down a piece of cardboard first because the fabric glue gets messy.

Line up one ruffle with the slit of the skirt base about 1/2" from the outside edge and start gluing. 

Pleat and glue the fabric around the whole outside edge. If you run out of one ruffle before you reach the end, just overlap another ruffle and continue.

Move a few inches up and glue the next row.

Continue until you reach the center-closest to the trunk. By now, your pleats will need to be small an closer together than the outside row.

Let it dry for a few hours and then wrap your new tree skirt around the tree and admire your handy work! 

P.S. I wanted to do something no-sew for people who don't have machines, but sewing would probably have been faster and longer lasting than the glue.

World's Easiest Christmas Ornament

Seriously... this took me 1 minute to make. It will take me longer to post this than it did to finish the ornament.

All you do is open up the $1 plastic ornament from Michael's, stick a feather inside, and close it up!

BAM! Simple, pretty, EASY ornament.

You could fill these with anything, really. I'm thinking about filling a few with pom poms, maybe some yarn or thread, or just tons of glitter. Get creative!

Book Page Ornaments!

I started making these simple little ornaments for my Etsy shop, and people seem to love them! They make great gifts for people who love books. But really, you could use any type of paper. Go crazy!

Cost: Less than $3 (if you already have Mod Podge!)
Difficulty level: Easy, but messy

You Need:
Plastic, clear ornaments ($1 each at Michael's right now)
Book pages or other paper
Mod Podge & applicator
Scissors
Glitter is optional, but always encouraged ;)

Prep: cut up a few pages into thin strips so they are ready to go.
Step One: apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the ornament. Then lay on 1 or 2 strips of paper.

Step Two:
Apply another thin layer of Mod Podge on top of the strips.

>>>>Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you've covered the whole ornament<<<<

Step Three:
Let the ornaments dry completely. If you want, you can spray them down with spray glitter. Just go outside first!

You'll probably also want to add a hanger, I just used some random black ribbon.

I made mine out of a recycled Harry Potter book. If you like that idea, but don't want to cut up your books, you can buy one from me here: Kayleigh's Etsy Shop
*Mention the blog at checkout, and I'll refund your shipping price!

Zipper Bracelet Fun!

I found this way cool Zipper Bracelet Tutorial by Cut Out + Keep.

Zipper Bracelet Tutorial

I followed it, with just a few changes. The result.. SUPER cheap, fast, and easy. Have fun with it!

*I used a red, 7 inch jean zipper from JoAnn's. Only $2!!
*I couldn't find the cool lobster claw clip that had a base on it, so I just sewed mine to the end of the zipper. That only cost $1!
*I cut out the step of putting glue on the back. It doesn't hurt my wrist at all, so I didn't need it.

I LOVE how it turned out! It literally took me 5 minutes. And Iwill be making a few as Christmas gifts this year. Shh.. don't tell Katie ;)