Teacher's Gift with the Silhouette

Just a quick post today to share with you a simple teacher's gift that I made up for my daughter to give to her 4th grade teacher.  Her teacher's last name is Hopple and even before she got married, she collected frogs, so it's kind of funny that she collects frogs AND her last name is Hopple.

It's a large bottle of Hand Sanitizer that just so happens to have an image of an Aloe Vera plant on the backside, which doesn't show up here very well. I traced & layered this cute little frog from a clip art image I Googled, then added her name to middle in a fun little font, that sort of has the appearance of hopping (just agree with me on this - ok?). It's called An Unfortunate Event and was free, probably at Dafont.com, but not sure on that. I tied a sheer matching green ribbon at the top and called it good.

We're also giving her an Attic Treasures stuffed frog that looks more like a vintage style than kiddie-like....

...and this little wooden spool ornament I made. (yeah, I have a TON of lights on my tree)

That's all for today. Keeping it short & sweet since I have some more projects to finish and the one is not going well at all. I'm on my 5th try to make it work. It's supposed to be a Christmas present that a customer is purchasing. Needless to say, I am NOT happy that the easiest part is now my biggest headache! That hard parts are all done & turned out beautifully.

Have a WONDERFUL Christmas (in case I don't get back on here before THE big day!)

2013 Christmas Mantel

I don't think I had shared any photos of my Christmas mantel last year. Maybe that's because it wasn't much to speak of, or I just didn't have the motivation to write a post about it. Yea. That's probably more like it.

This year's mantel really isn't much to speak of either, but that's the look I was going for...something simple that will carry through the winter, as I'm just now getting around to decorating for the holidays. I just put up our tree on the 15th of December and THAT has NEVER been that late in getting put up. I swear, it gets later & later every year. 

Since we repainted our living room this summer in a two-tone beige color scheme from the basic (dirty) white, I wanted something that went with the room & yet was still noticeable on the darker stone wall & mantel tones.

You can see a little bit of the paint scheme to the left in the photo - just pay no attention to that horrible popcorn ceiling. We have every intention of removing that some day, but it's a huge room that will take forever and a day just to get scraped off.

This is a sign I made for myself after I made one last year that sold immediately in my first craft show. I'm just now getting around to finishing mine up. I made it from a cabinet door that I painted & distressed, some dollar store picture frames that I painted white, scrapbook paper & my Silhouette Cameo. It's hard to tell in this shot, but I've also embossed the background paper in the frames with a Tim Holtz vintage postmark embossing folder & inked them in Tea stain with Tim Holtz stamp ink.

It's probably not a wise choice to do my mantel in such light colors because it's almost pointless to dust up there as long as we're using the fireplace insert. I can dust & there's literally dust there again in just a matter of seconds. Even though this insert is a newer one, it blows out a ton more dust than the identical one we have in another room that is 15 years old & this one doesn't blow out the heat anything like the old one does either. It's better than not having one though, I guess.

So I'll enjoy this photo of it while it's less dusty.

 
I'm linking to these parties:

Funky Junk White party

A Dicken's Christmas Lamp Post

"'Tis the Season" as they say this time of year! Around here though, 'tis the season of crafting & craziness! I barely have the first decoration up yet in the house ... thank goodness we have a wee bit of a dusting of snow outside to give you a little bit of that Christmas feeling at MY house. 

I finally finished my last craft show of the year and it has been a whirlwind year for me. I was up until 1:00 a.m. the night before trying to finish some last minute projects & still didn't get a few others done that was on the list, but only because I couldn't find some of the materials needed to complete them. They've gotten "misplaced" in all the madness. I'm trying to locate them & clean up now, so I'm hoping they appear so I can finish them up & save them to have a head start for next year's holiday craft show madness. Sometimes it's all about shortcuts, even if I have to store them for 11 months. It will be a nice surprise when I discover them next year!

I already shared with you the pretty Christmas suitcase I made, which there were 3 made & sold. 

Then there was the little bitty Elf Christmas tree in a wooden boot. If you missed it, you need to check it out.

Today, I'm showing off my Dicken's style Christmas Lamp Post.

It sort of reminded me of a lamp post you might see in a Dicken's Christmas Carol. It was originally a honey brown wood tone when I got it, but I thought it would be more striking in black. I think it really makes the red & white candy stripes really pop!

 

I made the little sign myself & I am so happy that I was able to make that candy stripe bow...I'm not good at making bows to begin with, but this ribbon was super stiff. I had a hard time twisting it so that the white backside wouldn't show, yet not look like a wadded up mess, but I got it & I actually like it! Even my 21 year old son was impressed & he could care less about how my crafts look. 

I just added some home grown grapevines, some skimpy tufts of wired greenery & the ever popular pip berries in red & white, which completes the final touches to the post portion.

I hope some of you are able to create some holiday crafts either to sell or just to add your own personal charm to your own home. Which ever it is, just enjoy the creative process.

  
I'm linking to these parties:

Remodelaholic