Mason Jar Globe

I love mason jar projects but I do love mason jar globes. I have been wanting to make this project for quite some time but some how never found the time for it. So when Micheal's had their Pinterest Saturday last month I took my girls and made them.

To make one you need is  a mason jar, a couple of trees or figurine or snow depending on what you want to put in there. Place the objects in the jar and you are done! An easy and perfect project for a five year old.

Glitter Wood Tree

As I had mentioned yesterday in this post we are slowly adding the Christmas touches to the house. Since there is only two weeks until Christmas and I have been busy with trying to finish orders I am not sure if we would be able to decorate for Christmas. That is not stopping us to create a small holiday vignette.

Yesterday I showed you about our countdown to Christmas, today I wanted to share the simple glitter wood tree that I made for our vignette.

I had seen those trees last year and thought that they were really cute but somehow time slipped by me and never got the chance to make one. This year I made a few for my boutique show and after finding out how easy was to make them I decided to make one for myself.

What I love about the trees is the different ways that you can paint them. I chose to put silver glitter on mine. I wish the photo would show you how pretty the glitter is against the wood.

I am guessing by now you are wondering from what and how the tree is made. Right? Well, it all depends on the size of your tree you can chose plywood, common board, cedar, etc. Cut to the size of your choice, paint with the color of your choice  or paint and add glitter, seal and you are done.

Days Until Christmas Countdown

So Christmas is less than two weeks away...How did that happen? Even though I love Christmas a lot, as in it's my favorite holiday, I am yet to fully decorate the house. So until I can (or even if I do) I have set up a little vignette to get us in the mood.

My kids are really into the holidays, but you can tell that Christmas might be their favorite holiday. One of the things that we started with was a countdown to Christmas. My kids love knowing how far away the holiday is. This was an easy project that was done over a a weekend because of drying of drying time.

This project is made out of piece of pine common board that I stained. Then I stenciled the "Days until Christmas" and glued a piece of smaller chalkboard wood to the big board. As a said very easy project.

Elf on the Shelf Tradition

We started the Elf on the Shelf tradition in 2010 when my daughter was only 1 years old. If you are not familiar with elf on the shelf please read here. In short the concept is that elf comes every year sometime after Thanksgiving and is there to watch the kid(s) during the day and fly off to the North Pole at night to report to Santa. Every morning the kids find Elf in a different spot. The rule is, the kids cannot touch the elf.

 

Anyways for the past two years my daughter was not very into it. She would ask about elf but not really understand the concept. The first year his name was Buddy, last year he had a name change and became Chippy. This year is so different. She loves that little elf and looks for him every morning. So far has been pretty easy with coming up with ideas but then again if you were to search the internet you will find tons of great ideas.

 

I am having a lot of fun with setting Chippy up around the house, even almost got caught once. One thing I need to remember is to use my DSLR to take better photos to document the adventures of Chippy. I would love to make a small 5x5 book in the end of each year that we do that.

 

Day 1

Using balloons to fly in. Chippy is using purple balloons. My daughter’s favorite color

 

            

Day 2

Chippy decided that he should have his own Christmas tree, so he decorated one

 

Day 3

Working on a hidden puzzle that’s inside my daughter’s magazine

 

Day 4

Playing the piano

 

Day 5

Drinking hot chocolate

 

Day 6

Looking in

 

Day 7

Left my daughter a note with all the ingredients for making chocolate chip pumpkin cookies

 

Day 8

Painting

 

Day 9

Hiding in the baby doll house

 

Day 10

Riding on a sleigh

 

Day 11

Hiding in the rain boots

 

These are all photos from Instagram. You can follow me on there if you would like to see daily updates.

Do you have a little elf on the shelf?

Lanterns

I love decorating with lanterns. They can be used all year round: spring, summer, fall and winter. You can find lanterns practically in any home decor store: Pottery Barn, Home Goods, Target, IKEA, West Elm, to name a few. Lanterns can be used as center pieces or hang from the ceiling. They can be used as one or grouped together for different atmospheres. They do not have to be the same shapes and sizes when grouped together, even better if they are not. It gives them the space a character. 

 

In the summer the lanterns can be filled with a sand, shells, along with the candle.

 

                                 Source: pinterestlov.tumblr.com via tamekia on Pinterest

 

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In the fall the lanterns can be filled with cranberries, pumpkins, fall leaves,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

candy for Halloween 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                             Source: potterybarn.com via Ashley on Pinterest

 

                                                  Source: potterybarn.com via Laura on Pinterest

 

                                                     Source: potterybarn.com via Larissa on Pinterest

 

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In the winter the lanterns can be filled with pine cones, evergreen branches, Christmas ornaments

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                                                            Source: savearecipe.blogspot.ca via Hazel on Pinterest

 

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Decorating for spring or an event

 

                                                            Source: elizabethannedesigns.com via MarieskaPiecska on Pinterest

 

 

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                           Source: elizabethannedesigns.com via Kassi on Pinterest

 

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Of course they can be used for regular light fixtures over your dining room table

 

                           Source: google.com via Katy on Pinterest

 

                                                                Source: bellemaison23.com via Dawn on Pinterest

 

 

I own a handful of lanterns that I decorate for the holidays. Are you a fan of lanterns?

Holiday Table Settings

I am guessing by now you have all of the presents bought and wrapped, you have your home decorated for Christmas and now you are concentrating on setting up the table for you and your guests. Well, let me help you.

 

We are having family over for Christmas Eve and we are still trying to figure out how to decorate the table. Since we have lots of dishes that are “Italian family style” (no we are not Italians) on the table we are trying to figure out a way to incorporate the food dishes.

 

I am one of those people who thinks that less in more. I love simple table settings. These are perfect for what I have in mind for ours. If I do not forget I will take a photo for you.

 

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I am linking this to Chic on Shoestring Decorating