A New Mantle This Christmas

For each of the past 3 years that we've lived in this

house I've done about the same Christmas decor.
This year I've been inspired to try something
different. I thought I'd start with my mantle.




The glitter trees idea came from Eighteen25.
Same goes for the framed print (FREE download).
For some reason, the red in my print came out
more brown at Sam's Club so I just went with it.

The ice crystally branches were 50% off at the
always wonderful Hobby Lobby. The beautiful
candlesticks were 75% off I think, this summer, too!

The other decor I've had for years.

The photo filter I applied does add to the warm, cozy
feeling -- but I am really pleased with how the mantle
turned out this year. Now my favorite thing is sitting
in front of the fireplace with no other lights on except
the twinkly, winter-wonderland lights on the mantle!

More peeks at my Christmas decorating coming.
In the meantime. I'm looking to share favorite holiday
recipes with you all. So, if you've got one, please click
the "Write Me" button to the left and send to me!

Thanks. Have a great week.
Hope your Thanksgiving was blessed.

Simple Halloween Garland

After writing the post earlier about fall, I just had to

get going on something crafty for my favorite season.

I was kind of hitting a big fat crafting wall, so after a

while I finally came up with this fun and simple little

Halloween Garland made from ribbon and paper.

*I think I was trying too hard - the simplest crafts

are oftentimes the funnest to create!

I REALLY love how this turned out.

I didn't take photos of the process because it's

just THAT simple. But here are a few steps if it helps:

1. Measure a 5ft. piece of ribbon.
2. Cut our circles of Halloween color papers.
3. Embellish (i.e. googlie eyes, zig zag scissors, or these).
4. Punch top of each circle with ribbon punch.
5. Thread onto ribbon at 6" intervals, leaving 6-8" on each end.
6. Fold each end of ribbon over and hot glue to make a loop to hang.
7. Hang for some spooky Halloween fun!

Like I said earlier, I'd LOVE to see your fall decorations,

craft ideas, favorite recipes, etc. to share. Just email me.

More tomorrow!

Linking here, here and here.

Oh - and here and here.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY: Craftaholics Anonymous Christmas Wreath

Wow, this week sure has been fun - don't you think?

A warm welcome to all of you new readers!

One of my favorite parts of preparing for Christmas

(and other holidays, too) is decorating!

I love the transformation that takes place by

sprinkling your creative juices all over the house.

Today, Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous is here to

show us how to make her fabulous Burlap Wreath.

Perfect for Christmas or any time of the year.

Be sure to visit her and leave some comment love.

Be sure and stop back by later today for our next

Christmas in July giveaway! It's a GOOD ONE!!!

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Hi there! I'm Linda, the addict behind the blog, Craftaholics Anonymous. I'm excited to be here today to show you how to make a Burlap Wreath with No-Sew Fabric Flowers. This wreath is stunning and a little different from your average Christmas wreath. Plus it's easy and cheap to make. {both great things!}

The white burlap contrasts so nicely with my red front door. Looks fabulous! You could make it using forest green or red burlap for a completely different look.

I added these cute fabric flowers. I think they are just so cute. Ok, so I'm a sucker for any fabric flower! BUT these are so dang easy to make and no sewing is required. {yay!}

These are the easiest fabric flowers I have made... hands down. All you need is:

• scissors
• fabric (can be scraps)
• hot glue gun
• buttons, jewels, or beads
• 
  

First, cut a circle out of fabric. Mine is roughly 5" in diameter. I used a roll of scrapbook adhesive and cut around it for my circle. No need to make it a "perfect" circle.

Fold in both sides to find the middle of the circle.

Keep your finger on one side and hold it down.

This will be part of your first pleat.

(sorry for the fuzzy pic)

Take the next little bit of fabric and fold it over to create a pleat. Be sure to keep your finger in place to hold the pleats down.

This is give you an idea how to make the pleats in case you were lost.

Keep going around the circle and making pleats.

Adjust the pleats so that you like the shape of the flower. It will most likely be a little lopsided. But that's part of the "cute factor", so don't stress about making it completely perfect.

Put a couple dots of hot glue under the pleats to hold them in place.

Then put a circle of glue in the center of the flower and attach a button, bead, or jewel (or whatev bling you choose).

There you go! Easy, huh. These would be cute for headbands, clips, handbags, pins, etc.

Now a quickie on how I made the wreath:

• I used a 14" round hard foam ring
• Paint the foam ring white (or the color of your burlap) so that the green foam ring doesn't show through. I used craft paint.
• Before you cut your burlap, lightly spray it with a water bottle. This helps with the mess. a little. :)
• I cut about 1 1/2 yards of burlap into 1"x16" strips.
• I very highly recommend using a rotary cutter to cut your burlap. You can use scissors and a yardstick, but I'll just warn you, your wrist will hate you after!
• I wrapped the burlap strips around the foam ring and then tied a double knot. I overlapped the strips and bunched them up as I went.
• If you try to undo a burlap strip after you've tied it, the burlap will shred! :)
• When I was done with the wreath, I just hot glued the flowers onto the burlap.

For more great tutorials and tips, check out my blog, Craftaholics Anonymous .

Merry Christmas in July!!

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I've added another Christmas In July button

to the sidebar. This one is from Larissa over at

Just Another Day in Paradise. Go pay her a visit!

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Christmas In July Week Giveaways

Monday: Christmas Goodies GOOD DAY Giveaway

Tuesday: Mini Crafting Kit from Blessed Little Nest

Wednesday: "Blessed" Necklace from Farmgirl Paints

And don't forget my shop special: FREE SHIPPING

on all orders placed through Sunday, July 25!

Click here to start shopping.

BURLAP WEEK: Burlap Wreaths (and winner and more!)

Before we wrap up BURLAP WEEK, I gotta ask.

How do you like the new look around here?
Honestly, I want to know what you think!

I guess spring fever got the better of me...

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And, if you're wondering about the

Facebook Launch Giveaway winner,

you gotta read through this post first!

(No scrolling down past my amazing post...haha.)

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So, for me, the whole burlap craze started

when I started seeing amazing wreaths like these:

(From Tatertots & Jello)

(From Craftaholics Anonymous)

So, I finally tried my hand at one...
and decided to mix the two above by adding
some burlap flowers like in the first photo to
a wreath done threaded like the second photo.

Here's what I got:

I was very happy with how this turned out.
I gave it as a birthday present to my best friend
recently. My cool twist? The flowers are attached
with safety pins so she can detach them and add
other embellishments throughout the year...
AND that makes the flowers WEARABLE
as pins, nice touch to a purse, etc.!

Well, that wraps up our week-long salute to burlap.
I hope you've enjoyed the ideas and projects.

Be sure to visit next week as Monday kicks off a
whole month devoted to organization tips & tricks
(see - told you Spring Fever has hit).

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What's that? Winner? Oh, yeah...
I guess you'd like to know who the lucky winner
of some Good Day calling cards is.

Thanks to Random.org, our winner is:

Southern Belle's Charm said...

I posted on my facebook about your giveaway and asked all my friends to join in!

FEBRUARY 25, 2010 4:54 PM

Email me to claim your calling cards!

BURLAP WEEK: Burlap & Fabric Flower Art

We continue our BURLAP WEEK here at

It's A Good Day with another fun and e.a.s.y

craft using burlap and fabric.

We started the week with these No-Sew Burlap Curtains:

Our second burlap craft is that fun little art piece

hung in between the curtains.

Here's what you need to make your very own:

• Burlap scraps
• Coordinating fabric scraps
• Coordinating scrapbook paper
• Ribbon for stem
• Coordinating Button
• Art canvas or other blank surface to mount on
• Hot glue, thread, needle

This isn't even worthy of being called a "tutorial" - it's that easy.

• I used different size plates to trace and cut out varying sized circles in the burlap and fabric scraps
• Layer the fabric circles on top of each other, largest to smallest
• Sew together with a button
• I added a few stitches at the back of the burlap to "pucker" it a bit to add interest
• Hot glue down your ribbon for the stem
• Cut out some leafs from your scrapbook paper and glue to the stem
• Glue down your flower
• I also glued down the edges of some of the other flower layers so they would not flap/fold down when you stand up the canvas
• DONE and done!

Sorry for weird lighting above!

I can imagine a lot of variations and embellishments to

this project. If you take a stab at it, please share photos

of your creations with me!

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I'm linked up over at:

BURLAP WEEK: No-Sew Burlap Curtains

Looking for the Facebook Launch Giveaway?

Click here. Thank you.

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Today, the creative juices -- they were a'flowin!

Thanks to the burlap craze that's been hitting the

blog waves I recently bought a few yards when I saw

some on sale at Hobby Lobby for $2.99/yard.

Here's the first of our BURLAP WEEK fun!

I can't tell you how stinkin' excited I am with how

these turned out. For all of you who don't sew,

like me, YOU CAN MAKE THESE!

Here are some super simple steps.

1. Measure your window for needed width/length. I used the ones previously hanging on this window, then added a few inches since I planned to have the top edge higher than the rod.

2. Cut your burlap to proper size. Exact straight lines aren't too important (you'll find out why in next step).

3. To create the frayed edging, and to straighten the edges, simply pull one thread at a time down each edge.

4. Trim the frayed edges so the uneven edges are all straightened up. Once trimmed, my frayed edges were about a half inch long.

5. I then layed each curtain out and used a pen to mark 1.5" lines at even intervals. These mark the slits where you will thread the curtain onto the rod. In the photo below, the marks are hard to see, so I noted them with arrows.

6. Using a craft knife or razor blade *carefully* cut through your marks, creating slits for the curtain rod. The edges may fray when you cut. I just trimmed those where needed.

7. When I first attempted threading the curtains on the rod, the burlap didn't lay very nicely. I think because it's so stiff, it didn't have a very nice shape...not at all taylored to the window. After some Winnie-the-Pooh "think...think...thinking" I decided to try fan-folding the curtains in between each slit/hold and iron the edges down to make a crease. WORKED LIKE A CHARM, giving me this result:

Would probably look better on a more decorative rod.

Some more detailed photos of the finished curtains, once hung:

So, there you have it.

And not a single needle or thread was used

or harmed in the making of this craft!

(hee hee)

I'm sharing this idea today at:

Christmas Decor: Wine Glass Candlesticks!

Two wine glasses +

Coordinating Ribbon +

Festive Ornaments +

Two Candles +

Five Minutes =

THESE fun use-what-you-have Christmas candlesticks:

Chances are, you can find what you need in your home right now and make these!

It's nice to be back after a week long blogging hiatus.

Lots to share in the week to come.

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Fall Mantle Piece

Looking for the Lu Bird Baby Giveaway?

Click HERE and enter to win!

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Yesterday I gave a run down of my crazy to-do list that needs to be accomplished by the end of tomorrow.  I've made good headway.  Ran most of my errands today, put out fall decorations and packed a little bit.

I usually go all out for fall, decorating every nook and cranny.  But since I have a 12 month old who is into all my nooks and crannies these days, I decided to cut back a bit.  But one place out of reach of her little curious hands is the mantle.  This year I tried something new.  What do you think?

This year in lieu of candles I topped each candlestick with a mini pumpkin.  I rarely light the candles on the mantle anyways - seem to always forget about those.  I like the way this turned out.  The lighting in the photo is weird, but you get the idea.   I need a new camera.  Hint hint to the hubs!  *hee hee*

I'd love to see your fall mantles.  Email me a photo by clicking on the "Write Me" button to the left and I'll post later in the week!  Can't wait to see them.