simply sublime

Last-Minute Ornament Ideas

With Christmas just a few days away, I wanted to share some last-minute DIY ornament projects.  They appear in this week's issue of Parade Magazine, and I had so much fun making them -- hope you will too!

These colorful stars are made from striped cocktail napkins!  You won't believe how easy they are to whip up -- and they're a really fun way to use up stray, colorfully patterned napkins.  You can find the step-by-step instructions on Parade's website.

And these swirly ornaments may just blow your mind! They are actually made from marbleized balloons -- and take only a few minutes to create!  I have to admit -- I was pretty excited with how they turned out!

Check out the how-to's for these colorful ornaments here -- and if you're looking for a good source for the balloons, I found mine at Party City.  They're called "TIe Dyed" balloons, and I got a whole bag of 72 12" balloons for $7.99.  Here's on online source in case you can't find them at your local party store.

Wishing you a very happy, warm, and BRIGHT holiday!

 

Knuckle Tattoo Gloves

(photo via Country Living/Lara Robby/Studio D)

 Looking for a personalized gift idea?  Check out these embroidered gloves I made for the December issue of Country Living.  They're a riff on knuckle tattoos -- and the good news is, if you get tired of one "tattoo", you can just switch to another saying!  For instructions on how to make these, head over to Country Living's website.  And if you decide to tackle a pair, here are a few inside tricks:

- Print out your sayings on a piece of plain paper first, in a font you like, such as "Print Dashed". Your letters should be about 5/8" high. Next, cut out each individual letter and transfer it to the gloves.  (You can do this by covering the back of each letter with chalk using chalk pencils. Place the letter, chalk side down where you want it to go, so that the letter falls just below the knuckle (first joint) and above the second joint on each finger.  Place a few tongue depressors or cardboard strips inside the gloves, one finger at a time.  Trace over the outline of the letter using a sharp pencil.  Remove paper to reveal the transferred chalk outline. Repeat for each letter.)

- Embroider each letter using the stem stitch, and 6 strands of floss.  Place the tongue depressors or cardboard strips inside each finger as you go, to act as a barrier, and help you from sewing the front and back finger fabric together.  Knot each letter on the inside and trim any extra thread.

- This is a really good stem stitch tutorial in case you need an embroidery refresher.  

Borrow the sayings above, or personalize the gloves is countless ways with your own eight letter expressions.   

 

Country Living's Live Holiday Pinterest Party!

I'm really excited to be a part of a very cool event tonight hosted by Pinterest and Country Living.  The magazine has asked several New York City-based craft bloggers including Brett Bara from Manhattan Craft Room, Natalie Soud from A Dose of Delightful , Laura Fenton from Little House in the City,  Michelle Edgemont, and me to join them for their first ever Holiday Pinspiration Party.

Country Living's Pinterest followers voted on which projects each blogger will make and this is the final list:

Pinata ornaments
Jingle-bell wreath
My potato wheel wrapping paper
Pom-pom gift bows
Infused vodka

Tonight (December 4th), Country Living will be live-pinning the party from 5-8 pm ET on their Pinterest board, showing you step-by-step how each of us make our crafts. Then, they'll post all the projects on CountryLiving.com.

Make sure to check out the how-to photos, or feel free to pin one of your own DIY holiday projects to the magazine's Pinterest board. To get more details, check out Country Living's website.

P.s. If you make one of these projects, be sure to let me know, or Pin it and tag Country Living!