Holiday Hiatus

I'm going to take a short blog vacation to enjoy the rest of the holiday season (and I have some Christmas shopping/making to catch up on!!!!).

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.  Enjoy time with family and friends.  If you don't happen to be around family or friends, find a way to make your Christmas memorable.  Maybe that means giving to someone less fortunate.  Most importantly let's not forget to be thankful that Jesus came to Earth out of love for us.

When I'm back (sometime next week), I'll share some gifts I made for Christmas.  I can't share them yet because it will give it away to the receivers!

Merry CHRISTmas!

Click here to see/hear a stripped down version of the song

Easy to Make Shrug

Following this tutorial, I was able to make a shrug-- just in time for the cold weather!  The tutorial is for a kaftan, but mine turned out a little differently.

(yes, i'm taking pictures of myself again with the phone!)

I used matching fabric for the facing.  It was what was leftover from cutting out the neck.  Since my fabric is see-though, I didn't want a contrasting fabric at the neckline.  I also made my neckline larger

Something else I did different was turning the fabric so the selvedge was the bottom (instead of at the sides), making the wrap longer.

With the changes I made, I kinda feel like a hippy in it, but in a good way!

Go check out Sew Convert's tutorial!

Thrift Store Refashion- Jacket Out Of A Shirt

This refashion was inspired by this post.  While I don't think my fabric is as fab as the sequin jacket, I wanted to give the project a try.

I bought my shirt for $1 at the humane society thrift store.
Here's the front:

And the back:

I snipped off the button and cut down the back seam.  The back became the front.

It definitely was a little baggy, so I added some elastic to the inside back (formerly the front)

If you've never sewn with elastic before, I recommend reading some tips online.  It's easy to work with if you know a few tricks.  That'll be a post for another time ;).

Added ribbons to each side of the newly hemmed front (formerly back) and tied it in a bow.

FINISHED PRODUCT...

Yes, I took these pictures with my phone AND took pictures of myself.  That's what you do when your real camera is on the fritz and your hubby isn't around.

With the elastic there is now a semi-waistline.

This project cost me $1.  I already had the ribbon on hand.  Yay!

Sweater to Cardigan (again!)

Doing what I did here, I turned a $1 sweater from the humane society thrift shop into a cardigan!

Before:

It was in good shape, but it definitely had seen it's better day, and it was ill-fitting.

After:

I might add some snazzy trim or buttons.  I made the rosette last week, and it's just pinned on.

Much better I think!  And it just cost me $1 and took less than an hour of my time (would have taken just a smidgen of time if I didn't take breaks to watch TV and cook dinner!).

I have a few more refashions coming up!  Let me know if you're working on any!

Christmas Gifts for You

Stationery (with an 'e' because stationary with an 'a' means 'not moving'...thank you English teachers) freebies:
Gnoma Notes
Christmas Cards
Holiday Message Printables
UPDATE: One More Printable!

Tree tutorial (this is on my list to do for next year):
Magazine Christmas Trees

A song for you:

Giveaway Winners Announced & Gift for Everyone!

Congratulations to each of you who won a giveaway!  I used random.org to generate the winners.

I'm so thankful for each of you who visited and participated this week.  Now I'm going to come check out each of your blogs to see your interests!

If you won a giveaway, please send your address to marlashep@aol.com, so I can get your presents sent to you in time for Christmas!  Please do so by Friday, or I'll choose another commenter to pass the goodies along to.

The winners are:


Foul Accessories Giveaway- Day 1

Scrappy Bits Giveaway- Day 2

Christmas Goods & Fabric Clothespins & Magnets Giveaway- Day 3

Bag & Scarf Giveaway- Day 4

Assortment & Scarf Giveaway- Day 5

Now send me those emails, winners!

For those of you who didn't win one of the giveaways, I couldn't leave you hanging.  So here's a free gift for EVERYONE!

click the photo to enlarge, and then right click to save

I took this picture of a sunflower in Armenia.  It goes to all of you, my blog friends!

Last Day to Enter GIVEAWAYS!!!

Today is the last day to enter the five giveaways. Visit each giveaway post and leave a comment to enter. Winners will be announced tomorrow!

GIVEAWAY DAY 5

Today is Day 5 of Giveaway Week!  It is the FINAL giveaway.  You can enter all five giveaways until Sunday, December 12.  The winners for each giveaway will be announced Monday, December 13.


Today's Giveaways:
Today there are several items!

Chinese coin necklace (I really got this when I was in China!)

New Year's Resolution list

Black charm

Craft pack (includes piece of canvas and various art materials)

Social media pins (for bulletin boards or sewing)

AND

This cyprus scarf that I just finished!

One person will it all!

To enter:

Follow my blog, and leave a comment on this post.

Bonus entires:

Facebook, Tweet, or Blog about this giveaway, and come back and leave a separate comment for each.

Winner will be announced Monday, December 13.  

Entries excepted through Sunday, December 12

Don't forget to enter

Day 1 Giveaway

Day 2 Giveaway

Day 3 Giveaway

Day 4 Giveaway

My Christmas Tree(s) & Mantle

Later today I'll announce the final giveaway of the week.  I'm having to wrap up a few things before the reveal.  Until then, go enter the other giveaways and take a peek into my home :).

Day 1 Giveaway

Day 2 Giveaway

Day 3 Giveaway

Day 4 Giveaway

Welcome to Christmas at my house!

I have a new Christmas doormat now that's much cleaner and cuter than that old one.  I got it at Hancock Fabrics.  Mesh ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.  Set of trees (left) from Walmart.  Snowman from Big Lots.  Lighted porch tree from Ace Hardware.  Reindeer wreath hanger from Big Lots.  Lighted garland from Walmart.  Wreath from Target (last year).

Wreath from Michael's.  Ribbon from Walmart.  Hanging on 3M strips.

Mr. Snowman from Hobby Lobby.  I have a Christmas flag with our last initial on it on the other side of the steps (it wasn't up yet when I took these pictures!).

There's all kinds of stuff going on here from all kinds of places from several years!

This is the ornament Colin used to propose to me two years ago!

Easy Christmas decorating: put balls in glass containers you use year round.  As I was writing this blog, I saw these all over the Today Show set!  The elf candlestick holder is from CB2.

Our college alum colors are purple and gray.  So, we had to get this tree!  Everything on it is purple and white.  And there are some football ornaments mixed in.  The big purple light bulb is from Target, and the glittery stuff coming out the top of the tree is from Walmart.  I used a college blanket for a tree skirt.  We even strung purple and silver lights on it.

This is our new 9 ft tree!  It's actually passed down from Colin's uncle, but it looks brand new, and we love it!  We have 12 ft ceilings, so we needed a tall tree, but I needed it to be slim.  Ignore that ladder in the corner...we needed it to get to the top of the tree!  This tree has ornaments we have collected since we got engaged (3 Christmases together!) and fun ones we've picked up along the way.

This was my first tree as an "adult".  I had it in my first house as a single gal.  I didn't have a lot of room for a tree, so I got this one, and it sat up on a piano bench.  Now it's our snowman tree.  It has adorable "kiddy" ornaments on it.

My mom gave me her gingerbread house village when I had my first house.

You have to drink egg nog when you're decorating!  I found this Holiday Nog which is actually 2% milk flavored like egg nog.  So it's a little less guilty, but I promise you can't taste the difference!  The problem is it doesn't stay on the shelves.  I got this at Target, and it was the last one.  It's that good!

Have you posted pictures of your Christmas decor?  Leave a comment to the link so I can see!

GIVEAWAY DAY 4

Today is Day 3 of Giveaway Week!  Through Friday, I will have one giveaway a day.  You can enter each giveaway until Sunday, December 12.  The winners for each giveaway will be announced Monday, December 13.


Today's Giveaways:
Today also has two different items...cha-ching!

First up is a handmade drink bag.  You can show up to Christmas parties in style!

AND

A black fleece scarf with a pocket!  I even made the button that keeps the pocket closed!

One person will win the drink bag and the scarf!

To enter:

Follow my blog, and leave a comment on this post.

Bonus entires:

Facebook, Tweet, or Blog about this giveaway, and come back and leave a separate comment for each.

Winner will be announced Monday, December 13.  Entries excepted through Sunday, December 12.

Don't forget to also enter

Day 1 Giveaway

Day 2 Giveaway

Day 3 Giveaway

Tomorrow is the last giveaway, so see ya then!

Giveaway From Another Blogger

While I'm having some pretty fab (if I may say so myself) giveaways this week, they can't quite compare to Today's Mama Giveaway.  It's pretty insane.  Go check it out.  And then come back this afternoon to enter my Day 4 Giveaway!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to:http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? To be together and happy!

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition? Since this is only my second Christmas as a married gal and be have to incorporate both families, the traditions that I grew up with and he grew up with aren't quite the same as they used to be :(.  But one day when we have our own family, that will start again!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Ooohhh just one wish?  I'd probably ask for our house to be paid off.  But I don't know if Santa writes checks.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? Snuggle up and watch Christmas movies

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? Since we had to travel to see grandparents and extended family, my brother and I played a lot of card games in the car.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? See #2

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip? I would vote for the beach, but my husband would vote for someone snowy and cold.

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? Wii, Wii Fit, Just Dance 2 (embarrassing, I know!)

DIY & GIVEAWAY DAY 3- Christmas Goods & Fabric Clothespins & Magnets

Today is Day 3 of Giveaway Week!  Through Friday, I will have one giveaway a day.  You can enter each giveaway until Sunday, December 12.  The winners for each giveaway will be announced Monday, December 13.


Today's Giveaways:
Earlier I was hinting to what today's giveaway would be.  This is a two part giveaway.  The first part is related to Christmas (that was the hint)!

A big red bow, two purple snowflakes, white ceramic cross ornament, silver ball (which I'll personalize with the winning name!)

*Tomorrow I'll show how I used each of these same elements in my house!

AND

Fabric clothespins and magnets

*You will will receive 4 clothespins and 2 magnets (the ones pictured will be part of the pack...and the glue isn't dry in that picture!).

One person will win the Christmas pieces and clothespins and magnets!  Check below for a tutorial on the clothespins and magnets.

To enter:

Follow my blog, and leave a comment on this post.

Bonus entires:

Facebook, Tweet, or Blog about this giveaway, and come back and leave a separate comment for each.

Winner will be announced Monday, December 13.  Entries excepted through Sunday, December 12.

Don't forget to also enter

Day 1 Giveaway

Day 2 Giveaway

Want to make your own fabric clothespins and magnets?  It's easy!

You'll need scrap fabric, Mod Podge (I used matte), scissors, clothespins, magnets.

Put Mod Podge on the clothespin, and lay the fabric on top.  I cut the fabric to be a little larger than the clothespin.  That makes it easier to work with and glue down.  Do the same to the other side of the clothespin.

Lay the magnet on the fabric to measure amount needed.  I also cut the fabric a little larger than the magnet.

Put Mod Podge on the magnet, and lay the fabric on top.  Then put Mod Podge on top of the fabric.  Do the same to the top of the fabric on the clothespins.  This stiffens the fabric and secures it will stay on.

Trim away the excess fabric.

There ya go!  Now you have super cute magnets that you'd be proud to put on your fridge!  And those clothespins could be great for all kinds of things!  You could even go a step farther and add a magnet to the back of the clothespins!

Let me know if you try it!

Come back tomorrow for Day 4 of giveaways!

DIY Mini Stockings- Christmas at the Workplace

Day 1 Giveaway

Day 2 Giveaway

I'll have the Day 3 Giveaway posted this evening.  I have to get pics of it to announce what it will be!  So come back tonight to enter.  Here's a hint...

Another lady and I were tasked with decorating our office for Christmas.  As a little treat for everyone, we made personalized stockings.

To make the them, we bought packs of the mini stockings (all Christmas items are 50% off at Hobby Lobby) and cardstock stickers.

 The stickers surprisingly stayed on well.

Everyone got a lump of coal (chocolate) in their stocking (bought at Big Lots but are also available at Walgreen's).

The work tree we had was falling apart last year, so we went and bought a 3 ft tree and loaded it down with ornaments.  Everyone is referring to the tree topper as fireworks.

We had centerpieces that were dated, falling apart, and didn't match our new building.

I took out the gold ribbon and gold sprigs and replaced them with silver ribbon and red and silver ornaments and a silver candle (sorry, no 'before' picture).

Have dated decorations?  Instead of throwing them out, just update them!

We also had to work some magic on the outside of the building.

The mesh ribbon can be a headache to work with!

 But it does put me in the Christmas spirit!

 Don't be afraid to work with it.  Make it big and make it do what you want!

And our work party is today at lunch, so I had to dress for the occasion!

Snoopy Shirt: WalMart (last week)

Green Cardigan: Target (two weeks ago)

Sweater Boots: Old Navy (last year)

Jeans: Eddie Bauer (last month)

And look at my USB desk tree!

Come back later tonight for the daily giveaway and to see how I decorated my house for Christmas!