Hats for every occasion

I've been trying to prepare some sort of craft or activity to go along with the books and movies Ellie has been watching lately. Do you remember the rapunzel wig we made? She still enjoys wearing her "rapunzel hair" when she watches Tangled.

After reading One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by Barbara Hennessy and learning about the Wampanoag Native Americans, we made this hat to wear on Thanksgiving.

A few weeks ago after watching Rudolph, I whipped up a reindeer hat for Ellie. I forgot to take a picture of it but it was similar to this one I pinned on Pinterest.

Source: google.nl via Kristen on Pinterest

Then last week we watched Aladdin. When we got to the part where Genie turns Abu (the monkey) into an elephant, Ellie looked at me and said "Mommy, make me an elephant hat please!" Before I had a chance to respond, she went to find my craft supplies. After looking around she pensively put a finger to her mouth and said "Hmm...let's see...." This was a proud mommy moment for me.
Two reasons:
1. Ellie didn't ask me to buy  her an elephant hat but, rather, make one.
2. She is learning that if we can imagine it, we can make it. It makes my heart happy how confident she is that I can make whatever she dreams up.

So...here is the elephant hat. I was a little unsure how to go about this craft. I actually checked Pinterest but I couldn't find any elephant hat crafts. It is nothing fancy and I threw this together in less than 5 minutes. I used a gray foam paper sheet that I happened to have in my craft box. First I cut two strips and stapled them together to fit the width of her head. Then I drew a trunk and two ears, cut them out and stapled them to the hat. I can't draw. Like at all. But I have a daughter that believes in me and she loved her hat so that is all that matters :)

As I write this, Ellie asked me to make her some feather wings. Hmmm...

Christmas Card Keepsake

Don't you love getting Christmas cards in the mail? What do you do with your cards after the holidays? I sometimes re-use the cards for gift tags or projects for next year's Christmas. Up until last year, I was just throwing all the pictures in a photo box - one with all my pictures from pre-digital camera times. Remember when we developed film and had hard copies of all the pictures we took (like it or not!).

Thankfully, a dear friend of mine shared her Christmas card book with me. Each year she adds the photo Christmas cards to her book categorized by family. She has been keeping her book for many, many years and it was very neat to look back through the years of each family.

For my keepsake, I just put page protectors in a three ring binder. I put one family in each sleeve and just add to it each year. On the outside pocket, I slipped in this free printable from Tattered and Inked. Now it is cute enough to set out on the coffee table or slide under the tree.


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Whipperberry Friday Flair

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

I'm joining the Christmas Tree Linky Party over at Five Days...5 Ways. So....here are a couple of my trees and some other odds and ends.

I'll start with one of my favorites. My feather tree. I made the tree and collected the Old World ornaments when I was child.

Do you have a pickle ornament on your tree?

My big tree is turquoise and gold. I'm thinking next year I'll do turquoise and white with bird and burlap ornaments. 

Not a tree, I know, but I had to share my paper village I'm working on. I've got the barn, a house and the general store finished. There are probably ten more but we'll save those for next year.

I also have this Merry Christmas banner that came with the paper village. You know I only paid $4 for all of it?

Ribbon tied in a bow + berry sprig = Christmas wreath!

We have a family tree and the girls have a pink tree but I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of them. I look forward to seeing everyone else's trees linked up!

Glittery Santa

I'm loving all of Martha Stewart's Christmas craftiness. Aren't these little santas so cute?

Source: marthastewart.com via Kristen on Pinterest

I made two of these (you can find the free printable here) and I think they go great with my felt Christmas tree. Whatcha think?

I will say it was a little difficult to get the Santa face to lay flat on the rounded surface. They aren't perfect but not very many things I make are. I haven't decided what to put in my santa's hands. A Christmas list? A present? Do YOU have any ideas? I'd love to hear from all you lovely readers. If you have a blog, be sure to leave your address so we can stop by :)



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Holiday Tablescape {Amateur edition}

I have seen some lovely tablescapes around the blogsphere lately so I thought I would contribute a few snapshots. And yes, this is DEFINITELY the amateur edition both in the tablescape and the mad photo skills displayed below. Unfortunately, the stomach bug stole a lot of my holiday planning time so this festive brunch was thrown together on a last minute whim. We invited a sweet family over for brunch after church. This meant all the decorating and prep work was done the night beforehand. It also means I was a bit preoccupied to take pictures of the actual spread. Ah well.

To decorate the table I just used what I had on hand. I love my snowglobes mixed in with my snowflake votive holders. I also included these miniature chalkboards I ordered from Bluhm's Gardens.

I used my ornament place card holders as labels for our belgian waffle toppings bar....of which I didn't get a picture because...well... hot waffles with butter, whipped cream, powdered sugar, walnuts, raspberries, chocolate chips and syrup had to get in my mouth. No time for pictures. I will say I am loving my furniture from Ikea. The dining table and the gateleg table in the pictures are both from there and get used a lot. I'm also still loving my Ektorp sofa (you can read my review here).

I'm linking up with Aimee over at It's Overflowing for the Christmas-Scapes Linky Party!

Shabby Ornaments

Next year I would love to have a shabby Christmas tree decorated in white, burlap and some natural elements. I'll also include these ornaments I have been working on. It is really an upcycle project since all I did was paper mache some ornament rejects - you know the cheap ones that go in the back of the tree or at the bottom at toddler level.

Like most of my recent inspirations, I got this one from Pinterest:

Source: fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest

Aren't they lovely? I know the shabby "homemade" look isn't for everyone but I love it :)

These are pretty simple. Tear up strips of newspaper, paint the ornament with glue and adhere them. Be sure to take the lid (?) cap (?) topper (?) off the ornament first. Once it dries, add another thin layer of glue and sprinkle clear crystal glitter all over the ornaments. Let dry again. Replace the top of the ornament. Print "noel" on the card stock color of your choice in your preferred font (you can download the font I used here for free). Cut to size and use a straight pin to poke a hole in the tag. Loop it into the metal ornament hanger. Take a black marker and  run it across the four edges of the noel tag just to give it a distressed look. I tied mine on a strand of bakers twine just to up the shabbiness.

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Christmas Card Wreath

If you spend any time on Pinterest, then you have probably seen Martha Stewart's Christmas card wreath using an embroidery hoop and miniature clothespins. I even saw it showcased on the Today show last week! I had to make one and I'm considering leaving it up all year. For now, I hung the ribbon on my antique match box mounted on the kitchen wall.

I do love all the Christmas cards coming in the mail. How are you displaying your Christmas cards this year? Since I can't send cards out to all you lovely readers, here is the picture we are sending to our loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

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O Christmas Tree!

This little felt tree was a cinch to make. I found my inspiration here where you can also read the step-by-step instructions. I used a baby food jar lid to trace my circles and once they were all cut out, it only took a few minutes to pin the tree together.