homemade ginger

Updates

2013-05-21T14:14:00.001-05:00

We've been surviving 3 kids under 5 for the past 6 weeks but not without some rough patches. You may remember from this post some of the issues that Lula and Jane had as newborns. We thought maybe things would be easier with Pearl, but she decided to follow right along in her big sisters' footsteps.

In addition to losing too much weight in the hospital, being jaundice and a failure to get up to her birth weight for the first 5 weeks..(oh, and being tongue tied, so we had to have that clipped...). Pearl also was diagnosed with hip dysplasia just like Lula and Jane. 2 weeks ago, she was fitted with her lovely hip harness.

We were told after Lula was diagnosed, that it is genetic and all of our children will have a 25% chance of having it. I guess since 100% of them have it, we have beat the odds! Pearl was fitted with her harness at only 4 weeks old as opposed to 8 weeks like the other girls. We were happy about this because it means she will get to take it off sooner and hopefully she won't be as delayed in things like rolling over and sitting up like the other 2. You can read all about hip dysplasia and her pavlik harness here if you are clueless as to what I'm talking about. (I had never heard of it and still have yet to meet another child with it!)

Here is a fun picture of all 3 girls in their hip harnesses. Can you guess who is who?

It's funny how normal it is now...just a part of life. The Orthapedic Dr. (who we love and has seen all three girls), told me that if I have another baby she is just going to hand me a harness in the delivery room.

Pearl will most likely wear the harness for 3 months, just like her sisters. She also had a big growth spurt and finally is catching up on weight. OH, and she started sleeping through the night at FIVE WEEKS! She may revert back to waking up, but I'm praising the Lord for some restful nights. We are so thankful that all three girls have had amazing Dr's that have caught their hip dysplasia and it's an easy fix. Lula and Jane's hips are perfect now and they will never remember those 3 uncomfortable months from babyhood. In fact, sweet Lula has been asking if all the other babies are wearing their harnesses too. They just think it's normal.

I'm going to start posting some regular "photo dumps" now that I have Instagram. Here are some fun moments from the past few weeks:

Enjoy your day!

Introducing...

2013-04-22T11:28:00.002-05:00

I'm finally back with a very exciting update!

I'd like to introduce you all to the newest member of our little family...miss Pearl Violet. She was born on April 8th, weighing in at 7lbs 14oz.

This sweet girl has been keeping me busy the past 2 weeks, so sorry for my absence! Pearl was born 8 days late...here I am the day I had her at 8 days overdue and very ready!

I won't post a full birth story, sorry! I'm a little too private for that. But everything went great and she's just perfect. It was probably my favorite birth experience of my three girls. Very laid back and calm. She is HUGE compared to my other two...almost a full 2lbs heavier. She also has lots of dark brown hair which is totally different than what we were expecting! I wasn't sure if I was really holding my child when she came out, who knew I'd have a chunky brunette?

A lot of people are curious about her name. Pearl is actually a family name, it's my great great aunt. But, that's not necessarily why we chose it. We just thought it was a beautiful vintage name that went well with Lula and Jane's vintage names. Lula and Jane actually came up with Violet. As soon as I found out I was having a girl, Lula decided she should be named Violet and the girls called her "baby Violet" the rest of my pregnancy. We thought it was so sweet and such a pretty name that they chose, so we picked it for the middle name. I love that Pearl's sisters took part in naming her.

She is such a sweetie and I almost can't believe it's only been 2 weeks. It feels like she's been a part of our family forever.

She has the classic "wide eyed" look that my other 2 had.

It's going to be an adjustment going from 2 to 3 little girls, but we are up for the challenge!

I'm currently thinking about how to balance this blog with my 3 little ones, so far I haven't done the best job. But I love blogging and I'm not ready to give it up. Thanks for bearing with me as I've been more absent throughout my pregnancy and birth of little Pearl. I hope to be more consistent once we get into our new rhythm of life.

Oh, and I now have Instagram! Feel free to follow me here!

DIY Basket Light Fixture & Ginger Jamboree Link Party!

2013-03-12T10:19:00.000-05:00

Hello! It's hard to keep up with this blogging thing when I'm 9 months pregnant and have been enduring snowstorms, power outages and the busyness of life. But, I'm back with another nursery project that I did a few weeks ago...as well as the Ginger Jamboree Link party!

I was thinking of an inexpensive way to bring in a cute light for the nursery and spotted this little basket that I had been using to throw away sewing scraps...

I started thinking about what it might look like flipped upside down and spray painted yellow for a fun pendant light. So, I went for it. I grabbed a can of Krylon yellow spray paint

After a few coats, I flipped that baby upside down and figured it wouldn't be too difficult to cut a hole in the top for the light.

Easy! I had picked up a white pendant light kit at Lowes and just used that as a guide on how big to cut the hole.

After hooking everything up, we were in business!

I love how cheap this project was! The light kit was around $10, we already had the round ceiling thingy and basket, and the spray paint was about $4!

When the light is turned on, it creates a little pattern on the ceiling which I actually like.

Since it's only one bulb, I bought the highest wattage I could find and it's plenty of light.

I hope baby likes it!

And now for the link party!!

Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them.

1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage.

2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you!

3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well!

4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted.

Grab a button and link away!

DIY Stenciled Pillow Cover and a GIVEAWAY!!!

2013-03-03T14:11:00.000-06:00

And the winner is....commenter 9: Ajaire! (chosen via Random.org). I will contact you with more info. Thanks eveyone who entered!

You may remember this little window seat/storage bench that we got for our office update.

I am loving it, but wasn't a fan of the "blah" seat pillow cover that it came with. I decided to make a new one in a more cheery fabric. And believe it or not, I stenciled the fabric...and it's actually not just fabric, it's a piece of painters canvas!

Who would have guessed? I used the Casablanca stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils in the medium size. (Cutting Edge sent me this stencil to try out and I decided this would be a fun and easy project to share!)

I picked out a yellow at Lowes and just got a sample of it. That was all I needed to paint the entire painters canvas. I also bought some fabric medium to mix in with the paint.

I mixed about 1/3 medium with 2/3 paint and laid out the canvas on the floor. Then, taking a small foam roller, I just stenciled away.

It was so much easier than I expected as I haven't tried stencils before. The fabric medium helped the paint be a little thinner and not so stiff once it was dry.

Once the entire thing was stenciled and dry, I just used the pillow as a guide and made my own new pillow cover.

I think it turned out pretty cute and was super thrifty as well!

I have a ton of fabric leftover (I had a larger project in mind before deciding on the pillow) so, I can make another coordinating pillow for a chair or even a small curtain someday.

Now for the good part....

Cutting Edge is kind enough to give away $50 worth of stencils to one lucky reader!!! The winner can choose the stencil or stencils of your choice and there will no shipping charges.

There are tons of different ones to choose from...wall stencils, craft stencils...big or small...you name it! They also have some great how to tutorials to check out. I watched a few before I began my project.

Here's how to enter:

1. Leave a comment letting me know which CE stencil is your favorite. (I MUST Have a way of contacting you if you win, so either leave your email or make sure you are NOT an anonymous commenter.)

2. For an additional entry, "like" Cutting Edge Stencils on Facebook, and then leave me another comment telling me so.

3. For a third bonus entry, follow the Cutting Edge Stencil Blog and leave me a comment telling me so.

I will choose the winner on Wed, March 6th!

Giveaway Winner and Ginger Jamboree #11

2013-02-19T12:44:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! I chose a random entry via random.org and the winner is....commenter #4, Missy! I will contact you with details!

And now for the Ginger Jamboree #11...

Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them.

1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage.

2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you!

3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well!

4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted.

Grab a button and link away!

Bookshelf Makeover and a GIVEAWAY!!

2013-02-15T13:32:00.003-06:00

Hello Friends! I wanted to share a quick little mini-makeover that I did for the nursery. And at the end of the post, there is a great giveaway!

You may remember this little green shelf that was in Jane's room. I had bought it at antique store for $10 and spray painted it green.

It's such a cute little size. However, that center bar in the bottom portion made it a pain to get things in and out. I want to store books on it this time around. So, I took the bar off, painted it bright white and found some cheap chevron wrapping paper at target. Much like I did with the bookself dollhouse, I just cut the paper to size and mod podged it onto the back walls of the shelf. Here is the end result!

I think it turned out so fun and cheerful and a little more modern. I can't wait to put some little baby things on it and see how it looks in the room when everything comes together.

I just completed a very cheap light fixture project that I will share on Monday, so stay tuned for that!

And now for the giveaway! Laura from Heart of Gold Etsy shop sent me a beautiful emerald green headwarmer to try out and she is also giving one away to one of my lucky readers!

Before I show you my headwarmer, here are some other fun things from her shop:

Love this color block scarf

And how fun is the big bow on this headband?

She even has a few sweet baby things to choose from

I received this green cozy headwrap:

I so wish I could have taken pictures of myself wearing it, but my hubby wasn't available and my camera is super heavy!

You have the chance to win one for yourself in your choice of color! It's the Eponine Gathered Headwrap.

Simply just leave a comment below to be entered into the giveaway! I will choose a random winner on Monday. PLEASE make sure I have a way of contacting you and you may only enter once. Good luck!

DIY Mobile and Ginger Jamboree #10

2013-02-12T10:28:00.003-06:00

It's time to link up your projects again, but first I wanted to share what I've been working on. More nursery updates! I really wanted to make a little mobile and wasn't quite sure how to go about it. After I found some adorable bird ornaments, I kind of threw the rest of it together. So far, I'm pleased with how it has turned out.

I found these bird ornaments at Ten Thousand Villages marked down after Christmas. I also had an embroidery hoop and some yarn already on hand. I simply covered the hoop in the yarn...

I took off the original ornament hangers and sewed on some ribbon

I'm still not happy with how it hangs, I plan to do something different about the pink ribbon...but I couldn't wait to show it off so far!

Oh, I should mention that I tied and then hot glued the ribbon on. It's hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Aren't those birdies so sweet?

I hope baby girl loves laying in her crib and looking at it!

Ok, now it's YOUR turn!

Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them.
1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage.
2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you!
3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well!
4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted.

Grab a button and link away!

Nursery Update: Covered Roller Shades

2013-02-07T13:21:00.003-06:00

I knew I wanted to do something inexpensive and easy for the window treatments in the nursery. I had seen some tutorials for fabric covered roller blinds and was honestly a little skeptical that it would end up looking cheapy. But, We already had roller blinds up and had the fabric, so I decided to go for it. I was very pleased with the results and how easy they were!

You can catch a sneak peak of the wall color in the photo above! It's barely gray. We started out with this premier prints fabric that I bought off of fabric.com when it was on sale.

Next, I just marked with a pen where the fabric needed to go up to on the roller blind when it's fully extended. You want to extend it a few inches past where it would normally be.

After cutting the fabric to size and allowing a few inches extra all around, I laid down an old sheet and got out the spray adhesive. I went in small sections and followed the directions on the can. I just sprayed the fabric, waited about a minute and then adhere it to the shade, smoothing out any wrinkles, in about 1 foot sections until it was all done.

After it was covered, I flipped the whole thing over and turned the edges over to the other side. I used spray adhesive and a bit of hot glue. Then I was done! So easy and I think it turned out nice. I would definitely recommend home decor weight fabric.

The windows still looked bare, so I went ahead and made my super easy sheet curtains out of just plain white full size sheets. I already had one on hand and just had to buy another one for $5 at Walmart. (I needed 2 sheets since there are 2 windows to cover in the nursery). I found some tiny yellow ball fringe and thought it would look so sweet to add to the edges!

Eventually I will raise the curtain rod and make some tie backs (I just tied some scraps for now, just to visualize it) out of the pink fabric...but you get the idea!

Nursery Ideas

2013-01-31T18:36:00.000-06:00

I'm in full fledged nursery mode. As I've said before, we didn't find out what we were having with Lula or Jane, so when I was pregnant with Lula, we h ad just a basic gender neutral nursery. I kept everything the same for Jane. Here are some "before" pictures of the nursery when it was Jane's room just a couple of months ago:

I never loved the color. It's before I knew how to pick paint colors. I would go to the store and just pick one resulting in me not loving most rooms after I painted them. The color was always just a little "off"...

My mom and I made the orange and green bedding out of Alexander Henry and Amy Butler fabric. It's so cute, but I can't begin to explain how SICK of it I am. I went a little overboard on having everything matchy matchy...

That orange dot snuck in everywhere and I've been looking at it for 4 years. Super cute, but I can't wait to do something new and fresh!

And here's sweet tiny baby Jane in the rocker that I bought for $50 at an antique store. It now lives in the new office area and I love that it doesn't look like it once belonged in a nursery. Reid scored a nice glider at a thrift store for $20 that I will be making over and showing you soon for the new nursery!

Well, I couldn't resist the urge to actually have some pink things in the baby's room...and maybe repaint and do some new bedding and art while I'm at it. I have already made quite a few things that I will share later, but here is what I've been inspired by!

So, I'm loving bright white and fresh nurseries. Here are some images I've found on Pinterest and my process of narrowing down what I wanted.

I just started looking at all white nurseries. I loved the different tones of grays and whites and the elegant white on white name on the wall of this one.

But I'm always drawn towards some color. I don't think I could do a room without any of it! This was a great use of mostly white with just a few bright pops.

Another great use of bright whites...and I love the girly tissue pom poms on ceiling

I fell in love with the sweet bunting and white framed art on the slightly off white walls in this little girl's room.

I would LOVE to pull off a look like this with the giant chandelier over the crib. Pretty sure it won't happen, but I will still keep my eyes out for one at a thrift store or antique store. And the framed art is also a fun modern touch.

Probably my favorite nursery I found is this one from View Along the Way. It's the perfect combo (for me) of bright walls, but still lots of color. Love it!

So, now that you know where I'm going and where I've come from in the nursery process, I will share how I started making some actual choices. The first thing was to choose a wall color. At first I thought..."just paint the walls bright white". That is what the old paint picking Megan would have done. Now I know better. I really looked at all the images and realized, none of the walls were actually white. They were all super light gray, tan or cream. So, I decided to go with more of a gray tone. I brought home a ton of paint chips and taped them on the walls. I slowly took down the ones that I didn't like until I was left with 2. I bought a sample in each and painted squares of color all over the room...

Ash Mist by Olympic

And Angel Touch by Valspar

It's funny because on the computer screen, they don't look gray at all. But in the room, they read very light gray. The winner was Angel Touch by Valspar. It turned out to be the perfect super light color, but with just enough contrast that the white trim and crib pop a bit. I'm so glad I didn't just pick a color on a whim! And yes, I painted the room while 7.5 months pregnant all by myself...don't worry, we got low odor, no VOC paint that is perfectly safe. (I actually painted 2 rooms myself last week, once I start, I can't stop!)

Next, I bought some fabrics for curtains and a bedskirt. I spotted some sales on home decor weight fabric and snatched it up! I ended up with this sweet Ikat dot from Premier Prints. This will be the bed skirt. (I'm not making a bumper pad since you aren't supposed to use one anyways...and they are a pain to make.)

I also bought this fun gray print also from Premier Prints for the window treatments, which by the way, is so stupidly easy...I can't wait to share how I did it!

I'm also adding in some yellow as well. I will be back to show you how the room looks in it's new color as well as a tutorial on the easiest window treatment ever!

Office Updates

2013-01-30T10:03:00.001-06:00

I posted awhile back about how we were wanting to update our front living room area into a more substantial office/playroom. Here is the inspiration board I created:

I would say we are over halfway done with the room! We have all the major pieces done and now just need to add artwork, shelves and maybe a few other details.

Here is the room "before". It's actually a shot I took while we were in the middle of moving things out to paint, but you get the idea.

And here it is from the other side of the room while moving the furniture out:

And here is the room now!

I used the Waverly fabric that I posted in the inspiration photo to make long panel curtains. I moved the curtain rod up to make the window seem even bigger. We painted the walls a lighter neutral color, Benjamin Moore's Carrington Beige. I absolutely love the color, it's perfect.

We purchased the little storage bench from Target, on sale. I am going to recover the pillow top, maybe in something with orange in it to bring in another color besides blue and green.

We are also going to add some artwork and shelves on the walls, maybe something fun to hold the girls art supplies...

The other side of the room is where the orange wall and piano used to be. After moving out the piano and repainting, my husband made this big desk, inspired by this one.

I hope to find some thrift store lamps to add as well as some cute and practical storage for the top to hold bills, pens and that type of thing. We want to add floating shelves above it to display framed photos and some other things with bright pops of color.

Reid took pictures of the entire process and is going to post a tutorial on how we made the desk. It isn't perfect, but turned out great and we did it for as cheap as possible. I think the whole thing ended up being under $100!

Our next big part of the room is adding the floating shelves, I think that will really help it all come together.

Ginger Jamboree #9

2013-01-29T09:10:00.000-06:00

I got my linky tool figured out, so that means it's time to link up again for Ginger Jamboree #9!

Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them.
1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage.
2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you!
3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well!
4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted.

Grab a button and link away!

A Bookshelf Turned Dollhouse

2013-01-23T15:48:00.001-06:00

First of all, I want to apologize for not having the weekly Link Party on Tuesdays, Ginger Jamboree. I'm having issues with my InLinkz account and have to get all of that squared away before I can host another linky party. Hopefully that will be figure out before next week!

One of the gifts we gave our girls for Christmas was a dollhouse that we made out of a bookshelf! I had pinned some DIY dollhouse images on pinterest and decided that the easiest way to make one was just to fix up a small bookshelf. Luckily my parents had one just the right size that they weren't using. Here is what we started with...

And here is the finished dollhouse:

Pretty fun, huh? I love how simple it is, allowing the girls to use their imaginations to make each room whatever they want. The furniture is constantly being rearranged.

My dad took the bookshelf and added some vertical pieces of wood and a scrap piece of beadboard for the back. This is how he handed it over to us.

We then painted the entire thing white

I simply Mod Podged some scrapbook paper on the back for "wallpaper" and we found some scraps of carpet for a few of the rooms.

I found the adorable Melissa and Doug dollhouse family on Amazon.

And the furniture is yet another find from my parents. It's all 1960's dollhouse furniture that my mom bought a few years ago at an estate sale and never ended up using. I had to paint and "reupholster" some of it. We have extra piece of furniture that don't quite fit, but the girls can switch them out and always be changing the dollhouse.

I'm so glad they love it as much as I do! And it really was a pretty quick project to put together. I think the most challenging part was finding a shelf that was the right size. Most bookshelves would be way too big to make into a traditional dollhouse.

I spotted a tiny ceramic tea set at Hobby Lobby for under $5 that I may have to snag to add to the fun!

Pinned it...Made it {Bean Bag Chairs}

2013-01-10T15:55:00.000-06:00

I want to start a somewhat regular series about things I've pinned and actually followed through and made. I find some things I end up making really aren't as great as they seem when I pin them (usually recipes) and other things turn out fabulous. I thought it would be helpful to review the good and bad "pins" with you all! Today is installment #1!

I originally pinned this image and thought it would be so fun to make this little pouf for the girls.

After reading through the post, I realized the pattern is actually from Living With Punks and led me to a tutorial that I've already seen around.

So, I decided to tackle the project as a Christmas gift for my girls. After finding some adorable premier prints fabric on sale, I ordered it and made the project in one evening. I ended up cutting up an old beanbag chair and using it's contents for the inside to make an actual bean bag and not just a pouf filled with stuffing.

The project seriously was SO easy and they turned out so cute! The hardest part was not making a huge mess when filling it with the beanbag pellets. And the girls love them! They sit on them to read books in their room. Here they are on Christmas morning sitting on their bean bags!

If you are new to sewing, don't be intimidated by this project. It's super easy and I love that it only requires 1 yard of fabric. I used heavy decor weight fabric that was on sale for $7/yard, so that made this little project under $10 for one bean bag!

Ginger Jamboree!

2013-01-08T11:24:00.000-06:00

It's that time again! It's the Ginger Jamboree Link Party #8! I'm excited to see what projects you all have come up with over my blogging break.

Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them.
1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage.
2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you!
3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well!
4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted.

Grab a button and link away!

2012 Blogging Recap

2013-01-03T14:03:00.001-06:00

I'm back from a nice long blogging break to wish you all a Happy New Year!

This was going to be our card to send in the mail, but after Walmart messed up our prints twice and New Years is over, I guess it will just be a "virtual" card for family and all of you readers out there!

I thought it would be fun to review some of my favorite projects from 2012 and get ready for some fun and new things in 2013 on Homemade Ginger!

12 Favorite Posts from 2012

1. Chapstick Cozy Keychains

This quick project was one of my favorites from back in January. I may need to make another one to survive another winter!

2. Homemade Foaming Soap

We are still loving the homemade foaming soap. I've even upgraded to a nicer foaming soap container that I bought on Amazon. This soap lasts forever!

3. Cheery Door Hoop Tutorial

This little hoop I made back in March still hangs in our entry way. So bright and welcoming!

4. Thrifted Word Art

I still love this thrifted piece of art I made back in March. In fact, I want to do a different take on this project for the girls' room.

5. Omelet in a Bag

Thanks to Pinterest, my omelet in a bag post has received a huge response. It's a great recipe to try or revisit!

6. Entryway Window

We've upgraded our entryway window with pictures in each frame. It's been a cute place to hang coats and hats this winter!

7. DIY Silhouettes

These map silhouettes were so quick and fun. I love that they can easily be switched out as kids grow!

8. DIY Dishtowels

In September, I used fabric paint to make some dishtowels to coordinate with our new kitchen. It was such a inexpensive way to personalize some plain white towels!

9. Repurposed T-Shirt Trick or Treat Bag

In October, I repurposed some old white T-shirts into cute trick or treat bags for the girls.

10. Chevron Drawers

I spruced up some old drawers for the girls' room to store dress up clothes. I just used leftover supplies I had on hand and loved the results!

11. Anthropologie Inspired Giftwrap

The Anthropologie knock off gift wrap was a huge hit over Christmas. My girls had such a blast helping glue on the pom poms for each present.

12. Quick Easel Makeover

And finally, we are loving the little makeover I did on our art easel. I can't wait until the rest of our office/play room comes together to show you all!

I already have so many more ideas and projects that are already in the works for 2013. I hope everyone had a blessed 2012 and are looking forward to everything the new year has to offer!

Quick Easel Makeover

2012-12-20T10:43:00.000-06:00

Recently I decided to spruce up the girls' art easel. It was a bit of an eyesore...I wanted it to blend better with our decor while still serving it's purpose. Check out the before and after...

I wasn't down with the primary colors and marker lines everywhere, so I decided to do something about it

I cleaned up all the dirt and dust and then taped off the chalkboard and white board on the other side.

I gave it a few coats of white spray paint and then I took off the red cloth baskets that were hanging underneath and took them apart.

I used that as a pattern to make new baskets with some yellow and gray home decor fabric I had on hand.

And now we have a much more pleasant looking easel to put in the play area! I'm working to revamp the whole play nook/art space as well as our office. It's a shared space and really needs some TLC, so stay tuned!

Happy Thursday and stay warm if you got snow last night like we did!

Ginger Jamboree Link Party #7

2012-12-18T09:22:00.002-06:00

Can you believe there is only one week until Christmas? Are you feeling stressed yet? We try to keep things very simplified for Christmas, but I'm still starting to feel the pressure!

I have some great features from last weeks party. Take a look and then link up at the end of the post!

These white chocolate peppermint meringues look so light and heavenly! (From your homebasedmom)

I love this jewelry holder from MCH Photography. The fabric and colors are so cheerful!

Lewisville Love's beachy bathroom reveal is so fresh and bright!

My girls would love these melted snowman granola bars from adventures of d and v. So creative!

Now it's your turn!

If you were featured, grab a button!
Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them. 1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage. 2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you! 3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well! 4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted. Grab a button and link away!

DIY Metallic Ramekins & A Christmas Craft Link Up

2012-12-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

If you are looking for a personal, yet frugal gift idea...I have found one for ya! This is a great way to package baked goods for coworkers, friends and teachers.

All you will need is some small white ramekins and a metallic sharpie. I found these ramekins at Michaels for $1. This would also work with a white mug from the dollar store with some hot chocolate mix inside!

Get out your sharpie and just start drawing and doodling. I did some simple squares with the gold

And a herringbone-ish pattern with some dots with the silver. You could write a message or note right on the ramekin

The sharpie isn't super permanant...I think you could get it off with a little elbow grease. I actually like this because the person you give it to can wash it and re-use it however they want. But, you could use a paint pen if you wanted it to be more permanant.

Now, fill it up!

Add a little parchment paper and cookies or a mini loaf of bread.

Have you been up to anything crafty for Christmas? Feel free to link up below as a part of a little Christmas blog hop series with She Cooks She Crafts She Runs and House on the Way

Anthropologie Inspired Gift Wrap

2012-12-13T15:01:00.000-06:00

When I spotted a big roll of plain brown wrapping paper at the dollar store, I knew I had to snag it and come up with a super cheap and fun way to wrap presents for Christmas this year. Then, I saw this wrapping paper at Anthropologie. So cute, but really? $18 for one roll? I knew I could do better (and cheaper). So, I came up with...

Here is what you will need:

Plain brown or white gift wrap - $1 (I found mine at Dollar Tree)
Scissors
Craft Glue
Bakers Twine (I bought a pack of Martha Stewart bakers twine at Michaels with a 40% off coupon) - $2
Mini Pom Poms - $1
Tape
Washi Tape (optional)
Total: $4...(more if you use washi tape and don't have the glue already on hand)

Wrap your present in the plain paper and dot on glue. Get some little helpers to put on the pom poms...I love that my girls could be so involved in this project!

After it's dry, wrap some baker's twine around it. Yarn, ribbon or regular twine would also look great!

I'm going to add my wooden diy chalkboard tags to mine...

You can also use bigger poms for a fun look

Or some washi tape...

Just be creative and make each one different!

So, to recap: here is the Anthropologie gift wrap at $18 a pop

And here is the DIY version for $4!

Happy wrapping!

I linked up here:

Ginger Jamboree Link Party #6

2012-12-11T09:26:00.001-06:00

It's that time again! Time to link up your tutorials, recipes and other creative projects you've been working on. I was once again impressed by all the things submitted last week. Here are just a few of my favorites:

I absolutely loved this dollar bill wallet from Crafty Journal. You can fit a giftcard in it...what a cute and creative gift or stocking stuffer!

How adorable are these "root deer floats" from Jacolyn Murphy? Kids and adults would both go crazy over these...and it's a nice change from the typical hot chocolate at Christmas time.

I thought this sparkly Christmas tree craft looked so easy and a nice addition to a gallery wall for the holidays. From Create Bake Celebrate.

Destination Craft's zig zag quilt is so fun and festive. I love the fact that she only used a few fabrics to keep it simple.

Lollyquiltz turned one pair of old jeans into all of these adorable doll clothes. I love that little halter dress!

If you were featured, grab a button!
Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them. 1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage. 2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you! 3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well! 4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted. Grab a button and link away!
Link up your tutorials, recipes and projects here!

TUTORIAL: DIY Wooden Chalkboard Gift Tags

2012-12-06T14:08:00.003-06:00

I've seen some chalkboard gift tags around, but most of them are made of cardboard. I wanted to make a gift tag that would be durable and would almost be part of the gift since it can be used again and again. So, I came up with these cute little guys!

I went to the craft store expecting to find plain wooden gift tags with holes in them already. Not sure why I thought this would be an easy thing to find, but it doesn't exist (at least at Michaels, Joanns or Hobby Lobby). So, I found some plain rectangles for about 20 cents each.

Then, I drilled some small holes in the top of each one. The wood may splinter a bit, so don't do it too close to the top edge.

Next, I grabbed some chalkboard paint I already had on hand and a sponge brush. It took 2 coats on each side. The paint pretty fast, so it doesn't take too long. But, if you had chalkboard spray paint, it might go quicker!

Once everything is dry, you need to prime the chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over it and then wiping it off.

Now it's ready to go!

I used a plain old piece of chalk, but a chalk marker would probably work even better if you have one on hand.

I also am working on a fun gift wrap tutorial, here is a sneak preview!

If you have any advent calendar ideas, link them up over at She Cooks She Crafts She Runs blog hop series. I will be hosting a special Christmas Craft link party next week as a part of this series, so stay tuned for that!

Ginger Jamboree Link Party #5

2012-12-04T08:48:00.000-06:00

It's time for another Ginger Jamboree! I love looking at all the creative holiday decor and recipe ideas that you all have. Keep bringing them! Here are some of my favorites from last week's party:

I love these trees by Off Boulevard. They are so sweet and simple!

What a brilliant idea to make an interchangeable wreath! The flowers can come off and be switched out with something else. By the Sunshine Moms.

The cheater crib skirt by lil Mop Top is another brilliant idea! It's adjustable with velcro. Plus, the chevron is super cute.

I love this robot stenciled shirt by Monkey See Monkey Do. What a cute gift idea!

I'm a sucker for anything peppermint and chocolate, so when I spotted these peppermint chocolate rice cereal bars, my mouth was instantly watering! (By if I had a Million Hours.)

If you were featured, grab a button!

Here are the "rules" if you could so kindly abide by them. 1. Link up to your blog post, not your blog homepage. 2. Please visit a few other links and give them some comments and hopefully they will do the same for you! 3. Link back here in your blog post. It would be amazing if you could include the Ginger Jamboree button (code is below), but a text link works as well! 4. Only link up tutorials, DIY projects, recipes and those types of things. Other random blog posts that don't apply will be deleted. Grab a button and link away!

Simple Winter Mantle

2012-12-03T17:53:00.002-06:00

I went for a simple and natural look for the winter mantle this year. I mainly used things I already had on hand except for the wreath that I made for uber cheap!

The wreath was a $2 find at Target after Halloween. I spray painted it white, added some pinecones and found the white branch/snowflake thing at Joann's for about 50 cents.

The ribbon was some clearance ribbon I found at Michaels. There is plenty do use elsewhere for Christmas.

I spray painted pine cones silver and white. I also lightly spray painted the pine needles silver. It just lightened them up a bit and gave them a "frosted" look.

I put everything in vintage green and white vases that I already had on hand and threw some silver ornaments up there.

I used twine hot glue to make a pine cone garland to hang across the mantle.

I love how the garland turned out. It's so simple and natural.

And if you like the stockings, be sure to check out my tutorial on how I made those a few years ago! I need to add another one for next year.

Chevron Drawers

2012-11-29T13:29:00.000-06:00

I recently completed a quick little DIY project for Lula's room. Unfortunately, I can't find the before pictures of these drawers. I'm missing a memory card and can't find it anywhere! But, just picture old, chipped paint and basically ugly...

I repainted them all white and then taped off the middle section of each drawer and painted over it with some leftover yellow paint I had. I also spray painted the knobs with some leftover red spray paint.

Now I have a cute little spot to store Lula's dress up clothes all for free!

Has anyone else tried painting chevron? It wasn't too difficult, but I could see lots of math involved if you were wanting to do an entire wall!

Vintage Post: Winter Wreath

2012-11-28T12:08:00.000-06:00

Here's an oldie but a goodie....the winter wreath I made back in 2010. I'm in the process of making another one for this year, but just had to re-post this one because I still love how it turned out!

I recently came across this yarn wreath tutorial and had to try it! My fall wreath had been hanging on the door for a little too long. This was so cheap and simple to do and I love how it turned out!

I decided not to make it overly "Christmasy" so that I can have it out for most of the winter.

I had never made felt flowers like this before and I really love how they turned out. I plan to make more using this method and add them to other projects. I also picked up some of these white berries at Joann's for $1. I think they really add the finishing touch to the wreath.