Christmas Monogram Wreath

Another Pinterest-inspired project!  This was SO time consuming and labour intensive.  I've easily put 12-15 hours into this wreath, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  This will be for our front door next christmas.  It seems counterintuitive to make an xmas project in January, but at least I was able to buy a lot of the supplies for 75-90% off!

There are WAY too many things here to list all of the supplies individually, but I'll break down some of the parts of it:

Wreath frame:  Clearance at the grocery store.  $0.84!  It had a felt bird on it, which I took off, took apart, and used for scraps.  

Monogram L:  Michael's.  MDF painted with Martha Stewart glitter paint in Antique Silver.

Ribbon:  There's SO much ribbon on this, I don't even know where to begin!  Ribbons predominantly from Michael's basic collection, Walmart basic collection, American Crafts, and Stampin' Up with some miscellaneous in the mix as well. 

Balls:  Foam glitter balls from Michael's; ornament balls (red and silver) from the grocery store.
Sprigs:  Green branch and red sequin sprigs from Michael's.  Red/green star wire garland from Walmart.
Felt:  Leftover scraps from my Grinch quilt (see a few posts back.)
Other: Jingle bells from Walmart; buttons from Fancy Pants, Basic Grey, and American Crafts; star picks by Maya Road; miniature cookie cutters from craft supply; hologram stars from Walmart; snowflakes from Stampin' Up; vinyl brads from Hobby Lobby.

Yarn and Felt Wreath

This isn't a paper craft, but let's call it like it is - a lot of the time, crafters are crafters!

This is inspired by another idea I found on Pinterest.  I wanted a wintery colour scheme and I love how this turned out!

Wreath form:  $6.99
Yarn:  $3.49
Felt (four sheets @ $0.49 each): $1.96
Other supplies:  Hot glue

This was dead easy and really quick to make!  My son has been napping for two hours, and in that time, I've put dinner in the Crock Pot, made this wreath start to finish, photographed it, and done this blog post.  So, obviously, it doesn't take very long!  I see more of these in my future!

Card Binder

Another great idea I saw on Pinterest that I thought I'd put into use, since I've got a huge stash of cards sitting in boxes.  I'll do this with our wedding cards, too, but I started with the cards James received when he was born.  Each card was hole-punched in the corner with my Crop-A-Dial and I created a cover (front and back, but the back is just plain cardstock) and bound them together with a binder ring.  Super easy, really cheap (the only thing purchased was the binder ring - I got a 10-pack for $1 at the dollar store!) and a great, usable way to save keepsake cards.

Supplies:

Cardstock by Stampin' Up (Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake)

Patterned Paper by October Afternoon (Campfire collection)

Diecut tag from Sizzix

Diecut leaves from Cuttlebug

Leather letters from American Crafts (Thickers)

Wood veneer sheets from Creative Imaginations

Green letter stickers from October Afternoon
Button from Stampin' Up
Bakers Twine from The Twinery
Ribbon from American Crafts
Tools used:  Crop-A-Dial, Cuttlebug.
Other:  Binder ring (dollar store.)

James' newborn layout

I'm really thrilled with how this page turned out; it's simple, clean, boyish, and beautiful!

Supplies as follows:
Cardstock from Bazzil and Recollections
Patterned Paper from American Crafts ("The Goods" collection)
Diecut letters ("James") cut with Slice by Making Memories, Bon Appetit card
Buttons from Stampin' Up
Font (on stats) "Antipasto" from dafont.com

Organized Chaos... my ribbon storage

Ribbon might be one of the most difficult things to store for any crafter.  I have SO MUCH RIBBON it's bordering on hoarding, and I've never kept it on the spools because it's just too bulky.  Up until this past week, my ribbon has been in Ziploc bags, sorted by colour families; it was a disaster.  I couldn't see what was in there since they were so jammed full, and all of the strands were tangled and impossible to get out.  Often times I couldn't find an end, so I'd just cut a piece out of the middle.  What a mess.

I saw this idea using clothespins on Pinterest and thought it might just work for me.  Santa took the hint and put 100 wooden clothespins in my christmas stocking this year; sadly enough, that STILL wasn't enough so I had to make an extra trip to the dollar store to finish up.

Here's what my ribbon storage looks like now:

The first drawer is SUPREME organization, especially for me... I'm not known for being an organized person.  The left column is mostly-full spools of Stampin' Up (at 10 yards per spool, they're too big to unwind!) and twine (hemp and linen thread from Stampin' Up and lots and lots of baker's twine from My Mind's Eye, The Twinery, and Martha Stewart.)  The two middle columns are unopened (oh, the shame!  I just bought MORE!) spools from American Crafts; regular grosgrain and polkadot grosgrain.)  The right column is mostly striped grosgrain from Stampin' Up and a few assorted wide ribbons at the back.  The cardboard tags are punched from a Sizzix die from scrap cardboard in our recycling bin.  Reusing at it's finest!  

The second drawer shows the clothespin method.  It's still a bit of a mess, admittedly; I'm at peace with that.  Each piece of ribbon is visible, though, and nothing gets tangled up.  Hopefully this will allow me to use things more effectively! 

(Click here to join me on Pinterest!)