Quick DIY ornaments

So this year I've decided to make new Christmas decorations.  We have officially commited to the "just us on Christmas morning" tradition and won't be traveling at all in the weeks around Christmas.  

(and just an FYI...this new tradition is AWESOME!  Don't get me wrong, I love my family.  I love my in-laws.  I just love the 5 of us more.  With it just us on Christmas we don't have any schedules, or plans, or other people to worry about.  Just us...just awesome!)

So, with us being home pretty much the entire month of December I realized that I hate my current Christmas decorations.  

Well, not all of them...but really all of them.

Am I a glittery girl?  NO!  

So why do so many of my 'filler' ornaments have glitter all over them?

Am I into gold?  NO!  

So why is my color scheme red and gold?

Am I crafty?  YES!  So why haven't I made new stuff yet?!?!

First up...ornaments! 

No need for some overly descriptive tutorial here... 

For the sewn ones I just used a canvas drop cloth and some goodwill sweaters.  

Cut the shape out of the sweater, stitch it to two thicknesses of canvas.  

Don't forget the twine hanger.  

And cut it out.  

Super easy and super fast!

For the wooden ornaments I found a bunch of these small wood cutouts at Michael's.

applied one coat of wood stain

painted chalkboard paint on one

glued a burlap wing on the bird

I also went back and bought some wood snowflake cutouts (not pictured), painted them red and white and hung those suckers up also.

Super fast, super cheap, and finally my style!!

Large Stencils - new option

So we all love the rustic wood signs out there, right?

And we all love to make them ourselves, right?

And we all have unlimited amounts of painters tape and shelf liner to stick on and cut out to make quick stencils?  Wait...what?

And we all have amazing artistic and lettering talents that we can free hand the designs onto the painters tape or shelf liner?  Um....

No

I do not want to use painters tape for these signs.  It seems like a waste.  Especially if you're buying the good stuff.

And even with cheap stuff like Dollar Store shelf liner there's the issue of getting the words onto the stencil.

So here's another option...full sheet packaging labels.  I have about a million of these left over from my Etsy selling days and thought I'd try them out.

Great idea!

First of all...they are meant to be printed on.  No more wax paper jamming up your printer.  (I still need to call the Epson helpline about that one!)  And no more trying to free hand some awesome new font!

Second of all...they are super cheap.  I  buy them from one of the many office supply store on eBay in packs of 200.  The ones I used are half sheet labels, two to a page.  

Third, they are sticky enough to keep the paint lines crisp...but not so sticky to mess up any paint or stain that's already on the wood.  

So you just make some huge letters in any word processing software

Stick it to your sign and cut out the letters

 Paint in the letters (use a stippling motion to make sure you don't push the paint under the stencil) and you're all done.  

And if you are using scrap fence posts (aged with vinegar and steel wool), left over paint, and labels you already owned...this is a free project!  Score!!

Mudroom Reveal

Oh, Yea!  The mudroom is done!  Life is good!  Mamma is happy!

(p.s. this room is only possible because I convinced my husband to move the washer and dryer upstairs to an unused closed in the unused guest room.  Unused closet you say?  Is there such a thing?!?!  Not really, but I hid all that junk somewhere else to convince him we could move the laundry upstairs!  Score!  Now I actually enjoy doing laundry and call that room the "laundry room".  The kids and I are in sync on the new name...hubs just rolls his eyes.)

Like most of you I have a tiny room between the garage and the rest of the house.  They call it a laundry room...but I can it a IHateEverythingAboutThisRoom room.  It has three doors, one linen closet, no windows, and more plumbing and electrical outlets than probably should be crammed into such a tiny space.  We had our washer and dryer there for the first 3 years we have lived here...and I have hated every stinking day of it!  

The door to the hallway is always open and takes up about 6" of precious space doing absolutely nothing!!!

The door to the garage is always being used and swings so close to the washer that the linen closet hidden behind it is practically unusable.  

The front loader washing machine and dryer are so much bigger than whatever sized machines this tiny room was build for 22 years ago that they have to sit right in the middle of the room so the doors don't hit them.  And they stick out past the edge of the doors so you have to swing your hips around them when walking by. 

There is plumbing for a utility sink...but there's no way that's happening with this washer and dryer!

Long story short...THIS ROOM SUCKED!

But...

Not anymore!

Now it's a planked wall and practical storage beauty!

Now it serves a purpose that helps our family EVERY DAY!

Now it houses our command center that might just get me on track with this whole "3 kids" thing!

Now it makes me smile!  And now sometimes I go in there to sit and enjoy the space instead of curse under my breath every time I walk by!

I'm still working out the storage bin situation...and got a way cuter laundry hamper...but you get the jist.  The room is glorious and worth every penny it took to move the laundry upstairs!!!