Mini Easel Card Gift Box

Hello!

Oh dear, oh dear... it's the last day in November already!!! Sorry, but it'll probably be nothing but Christmasy things for me from now on until Christmas...and probably beyond that...LOL.

I’ve made this Christmas mini easel card (tutorial here) for a blogging friend. I also wanted to send her some little things to go with the card, so I’ve made a little gift box/drawer to put them in. Then I combined the two--glued the card on top of the box.

I used the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four for my easel card this time.

I had initially created one of those 4-drawer boxes to go with this card. That box is 6 inches square. But when I centered the mini easel card on top of the box, the card looks sooo… miniscule in comparison. The card and the box were out of proportion—just didn’t look right. So I had to downsize the box. I played around with my Nesties and found that the largest size from the the Labels Eight die cuts would look just right for the base. Then I just made the box/drawer to fit.



This is my entry to the following challenges:

Paper Sundaes Challenge #46 - Adorn those corners.
Creative Inspirations Challenge #48 - Christmas Gift.
Charisma Cardz Challenge 47 - One for the Girls.
Stamping for the Weekend Challenge 51 - Winter.
Crafty Catz Challenge 60 - Christmas.
Die Cut Dreams Christmas Club Challenge 45 - Use a Diecut.


All the images here are from Magnolia. I chose this oldie but cutie Tilda with Wreath (from the Winter & Christmas Supplements 2007). I’ve had her for long time, but you know I actually can’t remember if I’ve ever coloured her before now. I’m ashamed to admit that I have several stamps that are like that—agh!!! I need more time to play with them all…LOL.

And in the background is my charlie brown christmas tree...hee hee...it's actual Fir in Snow from the So Jolly & Under the Mistletoe Collection 2009. You can purchase Magnolia images from Diana's online store Magnolia-licious. If the item you want isn't in stock, you can ask Diana to order it in for you.

I've added glitter to Tilda's wings, gloves and all the white trimmings of her hat and coat. Also used some white glue to add some snow to the tree branches and then sprinkled glitter on them too.

So, this is going out to a friend who I hope will be surprised to receive it. Not surprise of the card/gift box itself—'cause she’ll probably see this on my blog...LOL—but surprise that she’ll be the one getting it.

December tomorrow! Lots more to make and do!

Thanks for dropping by. I really appreciate your visit. And thanks ever so much to you who left me comments. I do so love reading them—they give me a boost whenever I'm feeling down. Enjoy your day!

Stamps: Magnolia Tilda with Wreath and Fir in Snow (available from Magnolia-licious on-line store). The sentiment is computer generated.

DP's: from SEI Wintersong Paper Pad.

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four and Eight, Big Shot Machine, Cuttlebug Dies Vintage, Marvy Uchida Scallopped Oval Punch, Colluzle Oval Template.

Misc.: Recollections brad, wooden button/plug, Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter, Tim Holtz distress ink pad vintage photo .

Our Christmas Cards~

I am so excited about this year's Christmas cards! You see, the Hubby and I had a vision of what we wanted. (If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you might recall that John is a photographer.) And he is finally doing well enough after his car accident that we could do a little photo shoot with the kiddos.

We wanted a picture of the kids asleep. Yep, you heard right...asleep. Okay, so that wasn't going to happen naturally. And a little bribery may have been involved. But, oh. my. goodness . did we end up with a beautiful picture. I think it's absolutely perfect. Good little actors, those kiddos.

A picture this sweet needed to be made into a FABULOUS Christmas card. And I wasn't going to trust that to just anyone.

So I turned to Cardstore.com. Cardstore.com has an amazing selection of holiday cards to choose from. We're talking oodles and oodles of options here, people. And they don't have to just be photo cards...although those are definitely my favorite! They have a great selection of non-photo Christmas cards as well, not to mention gift tags - with or without photos, invitations, etc. etc. etc.

A couple of the super-fantastic options from Cardstore.com


It took me a while to sift through all of the possibilities but I finally found the perfect card for our perfect photo. And I tell you, Cardstore.com was so fast, the cards shipped out the very next day! I couldn't believe it! And I was so happy with them once they arrived. The colors are beautiful and the cards are made of heavy, pretty cardstock. None of that flimsy photo paper. I just love them! Look at them all nestled in their shipping box. Aren't they pretty?

And the good people at Cardstore.com have offered the readers of The Shabby Nest a 20% discount on your first Cardstore.com purchase! All you have to do is enter the code CSHOLIDAY20 at checkout! That's it!!

Legal stuff: Cardstore.com offered me free merchandise in exchange for my review of their site, but all of my opinions are 100% mine.

Oh and one more thing...I just wanted to thank you all my FABULOUS readers!!! Over the weekend, this little ol' blog reached 2,000,000 pageviews!!! 2 Million!!! and 1000 likes on Facebook! You guys are THE BEST!!! I just love you all to pieces!

Have a great day~

Santa hat craft

Hey there! Have you checked out the Holiday Home Mantel Party at Layla’s yet? Some serious inspiration going on!! (You can see ours here.) Even if you don’t have a mantel, you’ll be sure to find some great ideas for your holiday decorating. :)

Late in the season last year I did a Christmas craft that I absolutely LOVE – I wanted to show it to you again in case you wanted to try it out yourself.

I had seen some Santa hats at Stein Mart one day, and just thought they were adorable!:

Killing me. So fun! But I knew I could recreate them myself for less cash, so that I did.

Now I think mine are actually cuter, if I do say so myself:

And making them was way cheaper than buying them – score!!

Since I made them so close to Christmas last year, I just threw them in a tray I had laying around. But this week I found the most adorable tray at Hob Lob and it is just perfect for my cutie hats:

It was only $5 on sale! SCORE again. :)

I filled in around them with some extra Dollar Tree ornaments:

Well hello there!:

HA!

My Santa hats are one of my very favorite Christmas decorations. Partly because I made them myself. Partly because they are stinkin’ cauute!:

I’ve heard that some of you have made them with your kids, students and with friends – I LOVE that!! Makes me so happy. :)

For all of the details of how I made these (they were SO simple), check out last year’s post here. If you’ve made them, I’d love to see pictures!

So are you done decorating? It takes me a few days…or maybe a week. :) But I’m trying to take my time and enjoy it, especially since the Bub loves Christmas decor as much as me this year. I have a partner in crime and I love it!

 

P.S. I can’t believe how much our family room has changed since the pictures in that Santa hat post last year – all because of a $100 Craigslist dresser. ;) Love.

 

Thank you to my sponsor!:

Small Shadow Box using Heartfelt Creations new Frame

This is another card created using the new Heartfelt Creations Window Scene Collection.  I love working with the new Window Die. To start with, I created a small window (shadow) box to fit the image (3x3 inches). To create dimension, the image was stamped twice on white card stock. The mailbox was cut out, with scissors, from one of them. Copic markers were used to color, and glitter added for snow. The cut out mailbox was attached with dimensional tape. The Fancy Window was cut out and attached over the small shadow box with adhesive. A piece of Anna Griffin “Calisto Christmas” design paper was used in the background. A lacy ribbon was attached down the middle using ScorTape. The greeting was stamped and cut around the image with scissors. I laid it down on a VersaMark pad to add ink then embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.  Can you see the greeting below the shadow box -- it is kind of hard to see in the photo. 

Heartfelt Creations Products used:  HCPC 3357 Snowy Window Scene PreCut Set; HCD 708 Fancy Window/Frame Die; HCPC 3344 Single Snowflakes PreCut set

Second JustRite Guest Designer Post

This easel box is my second project created for my guest designer post for JustRite using some of the new JustRite cling stamps. There are lots of new cling sets, but as you know, I love snowmen so I can't resist working with these little guys.   You can see this project and the directions on the JustRite blog.  I made two of these boxes and Sharon has included both of them on the JustRite blog.  They are slightly different.  The first one posted on their blog did not photograph well.  Have you checked out all the beautiful projects in the JustRite Gallery.  You will find lots of inspiration for using your JustRite stamps, so be sure and check out the JustRite Gallery when you visit the JustRite blog.

Thanks for stopping by.  My husband and I braved the weather and went into Spokane yesterday to get some shopping done at Costco, and other stores, because we have a big winter storm warning for later today.  We already have over a foot of snow on the ground.   I am working on getting my house back in order from decorating, then I hope to get to stamp this afternoon and will post another project.   Also, Joan and I will be working on finishing touches for posting the BIG challenge coming up Thursday.  Hope you have your Heartfelt Creations stamps so you can enter this exciting challenge.  You aren't going to want to miss out on a chance to win one of the four big prizes.  

Making A Basic Duvet Cover...Cutting Is The Hardest Part!

Making a duvet is really not that hard. The most difficult part is simply getting the fabric cut correctly and handling the large amount of fabric while sewing!

Begin by determining the required finished dimensions for the duvet. Here it needed to measure 98 inches wide by 88 inches long, so four equal lengths of fabric were cut, each measuring 93 1/2 inches long by 52 inches wide.


Afterwards two of these lengths were cut in half, length wise, creating four pieces measuring 93 1/2 inches long by 26 inches wide.


Next, one 26 inch wide length was placed on each side of the 52 inch wide length, right sides together, and stitched in place using a one inch seam allowance. Note: The same or a contrasting fabric can be used for the underneath layer of the duvet.



Before sewing the two panels together, a finished edge was created along the bottom edge of each panel by turning up the fabric 1/2 inch and stitching in place.



The two panels were then pinned and sewn, right sides together. The top and side seams were sewn with one inch seam allowances and the bottom edge with a four inch seam allowance, leaving an approximately three foot opening at the center bottom edge.


Ribbon lengths were pinned and sewn into place at each corner, creating ties to secure the comforter in place.


It is no picnic handling this vast amount of fabric while sewing...but luckily there isn't much sewing required!


After stitching the two panels together, the seams were pressed open and the fabric turned right side out. To create a closure at the bottom opening, four buttonholes were sewn on one side of the four inch seam allowance and buttons sewn on the opposite seam allowance. Finally the comforter was inserted and secured in place by slipping the ribbon through the loops found on the comforter corners.



The duvet turned out great, but once it was placed on the bed it looked a bit plain! I had opted for a simple duvet design as the fabric on the headboard wall provides all the pattern the room really needs, and I didn't want the bedding to compete with it. Still, the duvet needed something.


To remedy the situation I added a strip of ivory trim along the top edge, on the underside of the duvet. Placing it on this side allows the trim to show when the top duvet edge is turned back. Ideally I would have figured this design solution out prior to getting so far along in the project! While it was a complete pain, backtracking to add the trim was definitely worth the effort.


Next, I'll show how the throw layered over the duvet at the foot of the bed was made. Here's a tiny sneak peek of the blanket in the photo above...I just love the sparkle and bit of texture it adds to the mix of bedding!

My Christmas Mantel~

Today I wanted to share with you my Christmas Mantel. It has always been a tradition in my house to decorate for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. And so, rather than braving the crowds on Black Friday morning...my little family and I braved the cold to go pick out a Christmas tree. (Which I'll share later.) Then it was back home to spend the remainder of the day hard at work getting our house ready for the holidays.

I mentioned in an earlier post that this year I had a neutral palette in mind. Mostly silver and white with touches of black...and green of course...and everything turned out just the way I envisioned it.

So without further ado, I present this year's Christmas mantel.



Circumstances being what they are this year, I was working with an exceptionally small budget for Christmas decorating. So my goal was to use things I already had. And when I absolutely had to supplement, I either created what I needed myself, (look for upcoming tutorials on my DIYs) or I found it at the dollar store. Now, I know I talk a lot about frugal decorating on this little old blog. And I practice what I preach. But the trick is, my dear readers, not to have the space look frugal. Sure, use things from the dollar store....but NEVER let it look like you used things from the dollar store. Caviar decorating on a tuna fish budget...

Here's how I accomplished this look...

The garland is one that I have had for a few years. It is just a simple craft store faux garland that I beefed up by doubling it. Then I added in a spring green berry garland and lights. I made it even more festive by attaching a few dollar store snowflakes and some pretty white and silver ribbon from Michael's Craft. (The ribbon is actually holding the garland up...because the mantle is rough stone, I couldn't come up with another way to attach the garland...so I nailed the ribbon to the wall just above the mantel and then tied the garland with the ribbon...an easy-peasy solution!)

Then for the glitz factor, the ornament wreath. I made this darlin' out of dollar store ornaments. Really, I did. And I'll share a tutorial on just how I did it later.

Next, the fabulous faux mercury glass candle holders. Another little DIY (again, tutorial to come).

I also re-used my sweet chenille Christmas trees, just popped them on top of some brushed nickle candle holders that I pulled out of my decor storage. (I highly recommend keeping a decor staging storage area if you don't already have one. It really helps when you want to switch things around.)

The topiaries are on the mantel year round...but I made them a little more festive by adding sweet little bird ornaments.

And finally, the pretty stockings that I made a couple of years. The boys' stockings are made out of tan linen that I repurposed from an old jumper and the girls' stockings are made from a repurposed baby quilt. I just love their understated elegance.

Oh, and the basket on the hearth holds my collection of Children's Christmas books. I simply adore them, and the kids and I have a great time reading them every day of the Christmas season! It's one of our favorite traditions.

I just love it at night with the lights twinkling....magical!

So there you have it! My 2010 Christmas Mantle! I'm linking to the Mantel party at The Lettered Cottage! Hop over and check out all the festive fun!

Have a great day~