'Tis the Season

'Tis the season to be JOLLY!  I love Christmas time.  It is my favorite time of the year.  Decorating Christmas trees, celebrating the birth of Jesus, Christmas treats, buying presents I can't get enough.  It does have its down side though…Christmas pictures.  I have a very unique family.  I have two 15 year old boys that I am adopting.  I also have two girls (8 and 4) that I fostered for 14 months that I still consider family.  You can imagine the nightmare of trying to get everyone dressed, happy, and smiling at the same time!  When the 4 year old was smiling the boys weren't.  It took forever, but we eventually finished and they turned out great.  Oh and I forgot to mention, I didn't have anyone there to take the pictures so we were using the 10 second timer!

To make this I bought some chipboard letters and scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby.  Then, I bought the bell at the Dollar Tree for $1.  I traced the letters onto the paper and used Modge Podge to glue the paper to the letters.  Last, I hot glued the bell to the "O" and this is the outcome!  The inspiration for this came from http://brittanyestes.com/2013/12/15-diy-christmas-decorations.html.

This candle holder was so simple.  I added the festive candles and then put in some light Christmas bulbs and sparkling balls.

Here I took a strand of lights and just tied fabric in knots all down it.  This was inspired by http://www.topinspired.com/top-10-last-minute-diy-christmas-decorations/.  I tried using burlap but it kept coming apart so I just used fabric.

For this centerpiece, I found candles of all different sizes.  I put them in a bowl and arranged them randomly (the bigger the bowl the better).  Then, I just added bells, Christmas bulbs, sparkling balls, and rope garland.  This page inspired this centerpiece.

I got this vase at Dollar Tree for $1.  In case you can't tell I LOVE that place.  I added a candle and some sparkling balls.  Super cheap and easy.

The Finished Product

Reusing Wedding Items!

Like many of you, I have boxes of stuff from my wedding that I just can bare to part with.  I have been married now for 4 years and this box of stuff just sits in my garage.  I probably will never do anything with it, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.  I decided to find some way to put some of it to good use.

At my wedding I had these really cute kids' tables.  I would recommend that everyone have tables just for the kids because they stay occupied all night.  My husband made these little sandboxes that we put in the middle of the table.

It felt like a shame to just let these boxes go to waste so I created shadow boxes out of them and they turned out amazing!  First, I painted them.  Then, I hot glued some fabric in the background.  Last, I just decorated them they way that I wanted to.

On the adult table, I had vases with flowers and vases with candles in the center.

I used some of the flowers to make a wreath for my door.

Pinterest Projects!

How many of you LOVE Pinterest?  I know I sure do.  I have often got lost in the moment and spent hours going through pins…thinking to myself this activity will be awesome to do with my class, I have to do this project, this would be so cool to have, how can I make this?

I am a teacher so Pinterest makes my life so much easier.  I can find and share resources with just the touch of a button.  But, there is a downfall to Pinterest.

I don't know about you all, but I have like 5,000 projects on Pinterest that I would love to do!  Every time I see something that I love I pin it and it just sits there.  Occasionally, I go through my pins and think to myself, "Man I should do this project!"  But who has the time to sit and do projects all the time.

I must say that whenever I can find the time, I do try to do some of the projects!  Here are some of my projects that I have completed.

 Took a Ball jar and a soap dispenser pump and hot glued them together to make this awesome mason jar soap dispenser.

 I took an old window, some fabric, and different knobs that I bought at Hobby Lobby to make a necklace holder.

 I painted a canvas different shades of blue and blended them together.  Then, I added chipboard letters that I painted to make this painting.  There is another side that is yellow and it says "I mean pizza" which is the first words my husband said when he met my family in high school.  They had just asked him if he liked pizza!

 I took mason jars and screwed the lids into the bottom of my shelf.  I also used Modge Podge to glue the scrapbook paper on the edges of these shelves.

 I took plate holders and screwed them into the wall to make holders for my scrapbooks. This is great for decoration and easy access for people to view my scrapbooks.

 I used Modge Podge to glue scrapbook paper to the front of these containers to spice them up.

 I took a hand towel bar and some pails to make containers for the dry erase markers and chalk.

 I used a curtain rod to make a place to display my children's artwork.  I need to put cardstock behind the pages to make it more firm so that the pages stay flat.

 I took a glass pitcher and made a vase for my bamboo out of it.

 This is a new and fun way to display your pictures.  I used twine and clothespins to create this.

I took a wood wreath and the flowers to my wedding to make this for my door.  I took mailbox numbers, painted them, and then hot glued them to the wreath.

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