christmas

Alphabet Letter DIY

This giant alphabet letter project was inspired by our trip to the Louisiana Museum near Copenhagen. They had a playroom for kids where there were a ton of these giant letter pillows. My kids played with them forever spelling words and jumping on them. I love that they are so iconic and I thought they would be so great in a kids playroom. So we set out to figure out how to recreate them. This project is a lot of work but the end result is so great. I would put this project in the category of furniture making rather than crafting with the time and expense involved. You definitely need some sewing skills. I am planning on adding to the alphabet for birthdays and Christmas until we have the complete alphabet. (Click through for photos and full instructions.)

Click through for photos and full instructions

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Christmas 2011

The time between Christmas and New Years is my favorite time of the year. I love setting goals and making lists and plans, it feels so good! We had a small little Christmas with just the four of us. Paul set up his animal installation with their old toys to help make a big impression for Christmas morning (I explain this little tradition right here.) Another thing we’ve done the last few years is mark each present with a giant letter ‘M’ or ‘R’ so the kids can find their presents. I uncharacteristically planned ahead and purchased the pajamas last year from Crewcuts in a post-Christmas sale and saved them. We decorated the tree with these lights and they saved our tree by making our sad looking decorations look festive. Even though our family is small and kids are little it has been fun to start our own traditions. (ps: See pictures from last Christmas here.) Do you have any fun family traditions that you’ve started yourself?

Holiday Photobooth Props + Free Printable

I had several requests for a set of holiday photobooth props. So I asked Lauren Stiebler whipped up this cute set. All you need to do is print them, glue them to foam core, cut them out with an exacto knife, and add a stick! It’s really easy! To download just right click on the download button below or download them right here. You can find all my photobooth props right here and full instructions on how to make them on this post.

Thanks to Lauren Stiebler for the illustrations, Vivian Lee for assisting, and Meg + Caroline + Anne + Lindsey for letting me take their picture!

Felt Ornament

The ornaments were simple to make and the perfect way to spend an afternoon with a mug of warm cider.

Materials you will need:  ivory felt, coloured felt, circle templates (I used the 2 parts of a jar lid), sewing needle and thread, embroidery thread, hole punch, scissors, and a disappearing ink pen.

Step 6:  Stack the layers together – ivory circle, coloured circle, hanging loop, and ornament front – and sew closed with the embroidery thread.

I plan to embroider initials or the year on the backs, and give them away as parting gifts.  Maybe it will even start a new tradition, with a different ornament commemorating each year.

DIY Mini Present Garland

by Hank + Hunt

Happy Holidays! Here is a little retro garland for your holiday fete. I’m head over heels for anything vintage at Christmas, and recently swooned over some very kitchy, very vintage, mini present garlands on Etsy,  in not so awesome metallic wrap.  Then, I saw some dangling from fishing line, swathed in very not-my-kind-of-Christmas-y fabric at a local shop.  Our holiday decor at home is more candy shop than tannenbaum, and I really wanted something with brighter colors.  I’ve been looking for more ways to use crepe paper ever since Jordan opened my eyes to the availability of entire sheets of the lovely stuff and decided to use it to wrap the mini boxes for the garland.  I did manage to wrangle up some of that silver thread that the vintage ones seemed to be wrapped with.

You will need: crepe paper folds, cereal box or raisin boxes (empty), scissors, Glue Dots, embroidery thread or thin metallic ribbon (here’s a Seattle based source), and scissors. Optional: scoring board, paper cutter.

Step 1: Cut down each side of the empty cereal box. Cut into strips about 1 – 1.5″ wide. This is most easily done with a paper cutter.

Step 2: Cut each strip into one 4″ length and one 5.5″ length. Either folding carefully, or using a scoring board to help, fold each strip as follows:  for the 4″ strip: fold at 1″, 1.5″, 2.5″, & 3″/for the 5 ” strip: fold at 1.5″, 2″, 3 .5″, & 4″ Fold the strip so the printed side is on the inside of the mock box. Once you have folded the strips, attach a glue dot to the top side (cardboard side) of one end and over lap the panels, forming a box. Alternatively, you could just use small empty match or raisin boxes.

Step 3. Take your crepe paper, still folded from the package, and using your box as a guide, cut a strip wider than the box. Next, use a Glue Dot to adhere the crepe paper strip to the box and wrap around a few times, until the color is solid.  If you are using a printed box, like the raisin box, it will take a few more wraps to cover the print.   Wrap your box like a present, using Glue Dots to secure each end. It doesn’t have to be perfect, think kitchy.

Lay out your packages as you would like to hang them. Cut a strip of thread or ribbon the length of garland you will need. I cut a five foot length for my 14 packages, since it was for my mini tree.  Tie a hoop on one end and thread the long end through the back of the package, under the string it is wrapped with. Tie a knot.  Continue down the line, working with the long end of the garland string, tying knots as you go and spacing them about 3-4 inches apart. You could also just attach an ornament hook to the back and hang willy-nilly for an even simpler treat.  I might have to makea bunch for a wreath!

We are having our first real Christmas party this weekend and I have two mini trees that I will be using on my buffet that were in need of some love. These little packages all tied up with string, might be one of my favorite things. Perfect for my mini trees.