Prancer Ornament tutorial

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Now that it's over, I'm officially letting myself start the Christmas season! So today is full of decorating and staying as far away as possible from the crowded stores!! I like to do my Black Friday shopping online. Although I did have to go to one store today for an accessory for my Christmas tree. And that was even too much for me!
So, now that I'm decorating for Christmas I can finally show you a small and easy project I've been working on for my tree! I decided to switch up my tree this year since I've had the same tree since I got married and I didn't really feel like it reflected mine or my family's style. It was a glittery tree with gold, maroon, cream and sage green. Beautiful, but we're more the traditional type. So this year I'm doing the traditional red, green and white and trying to do a more "homemade" and woodsy feel. If that makes any sense. :D
Meet Prancer:
And here's how I'm made him...
Materials needed:
felt
silhouette of a desired image (mine obviously being a deer)
a pen or marker for tracing
scissors
fabric stiffener (with a small sponge or brush)
small hole punch
hemp cord

So here's the image I used. I actually used a cheap deer ornament I found that I just traced, but I thought I'd put it on here incase anyone wanted to use it. Just print it off on cardstock and cut it out.Trace it onto your felt (I used a red marker so it would show up just enough to see it for cutting, but not enough for it to be noticable afterwards) and cut it out.Next, get your fabric stiffener and sponge and apply it on both sides of the deer (according to the bottle's directions). Let it dry completely and do it again. After it's dries the second time, check it's stiffness and decide whether or not to do a third coat. I did mine so it is still slightly bendable but still pretty stiff. After it's completely dry and stiff, punch a hole at the top.

String your hemp coard through and tie at the top.

Hang it on your tree!!

The thing I think I love most about these ornaments is that they're toddler friendly! They won't break, so I don't have to constantly tell the little man "Don't touch!" Although, I'll still probably try to enforce the "hands off" rule.

Spice jar labels

Well I strayed from my "set list" of projects, and started a new one. Ugh. I'm so weak...But in my defense, it was a pretty quick and easy one. But with all the pantry makeovers that have been going around like this one and this one, I really want to "spice-up" (funny, right?) my pantry and cupboards in my kitchen. I sadly don't have a walk in pantry in my kitchen, not even the closet sized ones in most kitchen. I have a VERY large pantry-cupboard (I'll show it soon) and a few regular sized cupboards. I actually chose to do this. I have a huge food-storage pantry in the basement so what's the point of crowding my kitchen? Plus running down to get items from the pantry is a great workout! So with the limited amount of space I gave myself in the kitchen gives me more of a reason to make my little nooks cute and functional, right?!...right?...just pretend you agree. So as my quick and easy project, I started with my spice jars.

I got the labels from good ol' Martha Stewart. You just download them (here), print them off on some full-sheet adhesive label paper (I could only find it at an office supply store), cut them out, and stick them on some jars. There are 4 sheets, 2 with round labels and 2 with rectangle labels, and there are even some blank labels that you can add any other spices that you use that got left out.

I bought these jars a while back from Ikea for a dollar a piece. The round ones fit perfectly on these. Then I used the rectangle labels for some spice jars I had washed and saved. Recycling! Perfect!I still have a few more jars to get and a few custom labels to make, and my spice cupboard will be slightly more organized, functional and cute!

Now, back to my list...

Still strong!!...sort of...

I still haven't caved into decorating, but Christmas temptation is still kicking my behind! I've started working on some projects for my tree and for other fun things, and I'll be sharing soon!

Tempted...

I am one of those people who strictly won't do anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving is over. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I just LOVE fall, the colors, wearing sweaters, the smells, the food, getting together with family and friends and expressing gratitude. It's always been my favorite. So I've always refused to do anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving gets it's own special time. But this year, THE BLOGGING WORLD IS BREAKING ME! There is so many Christmas ideas going around that I find myself actually itching for Thanksgiving to be over so I can put up Christmas decorations!! (sigh...) I think a lot of the reason why this is happening is that I now have a new house, and am excited at having new options for Christmas decorating. I'm thrilled that I actually have a fireplace with a mantel! So with the new house, I'm wanting to make all kinds of new Christmas decor. My tree is going to be COMPLETELY different from how I've done it in the past. And last night we went to my parents' house for dinner, and they brought in a huge container of pine cones as well as some white paint and glitter as a craft for the kids so they could put them on their tree, as well as some for us to each take home. They'll be perfect for my idea for my tree, so I got to take a bunch home. So now they're sitting here in a bag, begging to be used. "I will NOT decorate until after Thanksgiving, I will NOT decorate until after Thanksgiving..." is what I keep telling myself. We'll see if I crack.

Table/before and afters

I go ahead and apologize right now for the pictures. It's not the best lighting, but I did the best I could!
Here's the table before: and after:

I of coarse loved the detail on the legs and had to glaze to make them "pop"!

I realized I never did a before and after of the chairs, so here it is!

Before:

one of the afters:

I also painted a lamp I got at the same time as the orange ones. Before:

after:

I think I'm going to do something a little different for the shade. Recover it with fabric or something, or maybe get a bigger one. We'll see what I can find!

And there you have it!

Now I just need some more accessories and some art on those walls!!

Best Corn Bread EVER!

Nope, it's not an over statement. I got this recipe from my sister and literally everyone that has tried this corn bread recipe on both ends has said it was the best corn bread they have ever had, and I feel the same way. And I don't even typically like corn bread. It's usually too dry for me, but this recipe is super moist and sweet that you seriously don't even need to put butter and honey on it. I crave this bread like it's a delicious decadent dessert. Give it a try.

(image by me)

Sweet Corn Bread

1 1/4 cups corn meal

1 cup flour

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk (put 1 TBL lemon juice and enough regular milk to make 1 cup and let it sit for a few minutes, and you have the perfect homemade buttermilk)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix all moist ingredients in a seperate bowl. Mix together until just moistened. Pour into a greased 9" baking dish (I like mine in a 9" round cake pan). Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes. Serve warm. And try it before you add butter and honey so you can get the full effect of how delicious it really is! :D

BY THE WAY, my table will be revealed tomorrow!

Featured and a Giveaway!

Today my Fall Pom-pom Wreath is being featured on Crafts Unleashed!! They're also doing a giveaway for an awesome paper cutter. So go check it out and enter to win! I'm going to be entering too! :D

Fall "pom-pom" wreath...the Tutorial

Just in case anyone is interested, I put together a tutorial of the Fall Pom-pom Wreath!

Here's what you'll need:

yarn (2 colors or however many variations you want)

2 colors of felt (one for flower and one for centers of the flower)

3 colors of fleece (or however many variations you want)

needle and thread

scissors

scalloped or zig-zag edged scissors

hot glue gun and glue

a 10-12" straw wreath

First, let's make the pom-poms! These are the most time consuming part and you'll need lots:

Before you start, cut a piece of yarn about 6 inches long or more. Set aside.

Grab the end of your ball of yarn and hold the end in front of 2 fingers for a small pom-pom (3 fingers for medium, 4 for large) Keep your fingers slightly spread so that it doesn't end up too tight to slide yarn between your fingers when we're done (see below)

Start wrapping around your fingers.

Wrap about 50 times around or until you have a large amount.

Push the yarn roll to the edge of your fingers.

Slip your pre-cut (6 or more inch) scrap of yarn between your two fingers.

Pull the piece of yarn so it's all the way around the yarn roll.

Tie it off really tight into a double knot.

Cut all the loops of your yarn ball.

Trim the yarn ball until all the edges look even.

Make a bunch more until you have enough to cover most of the front and sides of your wreath.

Fleece Flowers:

Thread a needle with one end looped and set aside.

Cut your fleece in strips about 1 inch by 7 inches. Fold in half at one end and pinch to start the roll.

Start rolling the flower, folding the fleece in half as you go. (hopefully the picture is explaining it better then I am)

Flip the flower over (so the cut edges are facing down) Grab your threaded needle and push through all the layers of the fleece. Pull the needle through and loop it through the "looped end" of the thread.

Pull it tight until the edges are squeezed together. Tie it off.

Push the needle through the other side of the fleece through all the layers.

Pull tight and tie it off.

Trim off the thread. Flip back over to view your flower! Make a bunch more until you have your desired amount!

Felt Flowers:

To make the felt flowers, use my felt flower tutorial, but I did only 3 circles and obviously skipped the "clip" part. And here's what I did for the centers:
Cut a strip of the "center" felt about 4-5 inches long and about a 1/4 inch wide and use your scalloped/zig-zag scissors to scallop the edges.

Start at one end and roll it.

Glue it onto the center of your flower. Make 5 more of them.

Assemble your wreath focusing more on where to place the pom-poms and gluing the fleece flowers randomly in between.

Choose where to place your clusters of felt flowers and plan around them.

Keep gluing until it is nice and even and full.

Hang your wreath and admire!

Now go soak your fingers in ice water, because they're probably a bit sore from making all those pom-poms!!

I hope this tutorial made sense!! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have!