Pondered Primed Perfected: Christmas decorating

Showing posts with label Christmas decorating. Show all posts

7/12/13

A Little Christmas Cheer in July

How I made a simple DIY Christmas Cheer Canvas in July!

I am not going to lie...Christmas is usually the last thing on my mind this time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all of it's joy and cheerfulness. I love the spirit of giving and the get-togethers with family and friends. All the treats people share aren't bad either. Most of all I love the meaning behind Christmas.

But I also love Summertime and this time of year my thoughts are more likely on hanging at the pool on a sunny day, or having a picnic at the beach, or getting into a water fight with the family. So when Claire from A Little Claireification asked if I wanted to be a part of a 'Christmas in July' series my first reaction was to tell her NO WAY. I've got summertime going on full swing! Why would I want to stop doing all of that fun summer stuff to work on something Christmas related?

Well, here's the reason why....

When Summer ends then it's time for the back-to-school rush...and then it's Halloween...and Thanksgiving. Before I can even blink it's THE CHRISTMAS SEASON and I'm counting down the days I have left to finish my shopping. Yikes! The weekends quickly fill up with parties and there are houses and trees to decorate and out of town visits to make and...well...you get the picture, right? Christmas sneaks up on me and takes me by surprise every. single. year. How does that happen? (Tell me I'm not the only one this happens to?) And there will be that inevitable moment when I'm looking at somebody else's beautiful handmade Christmas decor and thinking to myself...why didn't I take the time to make some Christmas decor for our home when I had the time???

Well, not this year!

STEPS:

1. Discount canvas (12"x12")

2. Die-Cut Letters (mine came from a big stack I bought at Joann's)

3. Glue Letters to canvas

4. Create the word "Cheer" (or whatever Christmas themed word you prefer)

5. Paint canvas edges with silver or gold craft paint

6. Cover entire surface with acrylic glazing liquid

7. Hang a glitter coated star "ornament" from a string and hot glue over the edge of the canvas

And now I think I'll help myself to a little "Christmas Cheer" since I'm hanging at the mini bar already!

THANKS Claire! At least I will have one handmade Christmas decoration that I did in time for Christmas! ;)

And now for the best part! Here's your chance to win $100 gift card that could be used for getting a head start on Christmas this year! Good Luck and Merry Christmas...I mean Happy Christmas in July ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Make sure you don't miss any of the other Christmas in July posts by these ladies who really seem to know how to celebrate Christmas:

Claire @ A Little Clairification
Cindy @ Little Miss Celebration
Jamie @ C.R.A.F.T.
Sharon @ Mrs Hines Class
Karon @ Dogs Don't Eat Pizza
Kristi @ I Should Be Mopping the Floor

12/24/12

Our Holiday Prep with Hometalk (and a Pesto Pasta Recipe)

I love Christmas time. It's such a special time of year.

I love getting our home all dressed up for the holidays and spending time with good friends and family. Making special treats to share. The spirit of giving.

I made Cake Pops for the first time this year. They turned out wonderful. I was excited to show them off and share them. It's so gratifying to try a new recipe and sharing your successful results with others.

Some of the cake pops are being displayed in this gorgeous new Sadie Cake Plate and Cloche, from Wayfair. Displaying them inside the cloche like this makes them the focal point of the room...and they look amazingly delicious.

Click on photo above for more about the cake pops I made

I'm looking forward to decorating this cloche with something new for each holiday or season. I've always wanted a beautiful cloche like this. It has so many possibilities.

With Christmastime comes so much to do and prepare for. It's nice to do some low-key entertaining and enjoy ourselves.

Don't be so busy you forget to enjoy the warmth of the season with friends and family.

This year we have set our home up with several entertaining stations:

A gourmet coffee station for the adults.

A hot cocoa station for the kiddos, complete with marshmallows and candy canes. I'll keep this one out for the rest of winter. It's such a hit in our house. Call me a coffee-aholic, but that makes my boy a cocoa-aholic for sure! :)

Of course the adults can have hot cocoa too if they want.

Or even water ;)

I like to put a pretty pitcher with ice water out so people can help themselves whenever they feel thirsty.

And a mini bar with wine and cocktails. Please help yourself.

Just a few finishing details will bring the whole event together once you have stations set up and ready.

Layer the holiday decorations with the treats until it feels complete...

Cake Pops

Roasted Almonds

Pops of red

Have a batch of hot cocoa steaming in the pot before the guests arrive.

That way they can get right down to the fun stuff.

I like having a fun activity ready for the little kids to do when they get here. Makes them feel special.

I prepare a delicious pesto pasta salad ahead of time. It is so easy to make and is always a huge hit whenever I make it. It tastes delicious cold or hot, and you can turn it into a main course just by adding grilled chicken breast to the pasta.

Click HERE for recipe

And another thing I like to do to keep things simple and stress-free when entertaining is to have a fresh fruit bowl and a veggie tray.

It's not about the time you spend preparing...it's about the time you spend enjoying the ones you love!

Now all we need are the guests to arrive. :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

If you haven’t been to Hometalk, it’s a wonderful website celebrating projects and rooms from homeowners all over the country. Members can share their home projects and get ideas, inspiration, and professional advice on anything home related.

My party tips are being shared at Hometalk as well.

Hometalk and Wayfair partnered with some bloggers to celebrate the season with these beautiful cloches, like you see here in my post. Thanks to Wayfair for providing this beautiful cloche. I wasn’t compensated to write this post about my party.

12/20/12

Christmas Card Wall Art by Silo Hill Farm

Today I have a special treat for all of my visitors! Danni is sharing an awesome Christmas project with all of us! Do you know Danni already? If you don't, you're going to love her!

Meet Danni:

Season's greetings to all of you Pondered Primed Perfected readers! I'm Danni from Silo Hill Farm and it is my privilege to be posting for my very good friend Sherry here today!

I'm delighted to share this cute, easy and inexpensive framed vintage photo project with you.

The whole project came in at less than $2.00! Gotta love that, right?
Here's how I did it. The supplies are.........

Hinged double photo frame (Dollar Tree...guess how much? Yep $1!) Photo mat (Dollar Tree....4/$1.00....that makes it 25 cents!) Black and white photo from a Christmas card (free). You can find a lot of very cool vintage Christmas photos for free at The Graphics Fairy though.
You can ignore the little package of gems, because in the end, I felt like I didn't need to use them.
Let me give you a close up of that Christmas card print because it's absolutely adorable, which is why I saved it for several years!

Seriously, do you not want to just hug that little girl??!!!

I put the oval mat over the photo and slipped it into the large half of the frame.

I wanted to put some cute saying or something in the small frame. I made this on PicMonkey. (I love PicMonkey!)

It just seemed appropriate for the picture. I printed it out, trimmed it to fit and put it in the small side of the frame. It was at this point I decided not to add the little gems. It somehow took away from the vintage feel of it.

It may be my favorite Christmas project this year. Easy and inexpensive, yet simple and precious. Come to think of it....that's just how I like my Christmas to be! I hope yours is the way you want it to be as well!