A Week in The Life

Have you visited the Teresa Collins Design Team Blog lately? All the girls have put together  layouts, tags or mini albums dedicated to a week in their life this December. It's been a blast!

  I LOVED the idea of  "A Week in the Life"....but... I had never put together a mini album before. I'm a terrible scrapbooker, something in my brain just does not compute arranging photos on paper and writing about them. So I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, then I decided there was no wrong or right way and to just go with the flow. It's more about the memories than how cute it turns out, right?

For the cover, I used a sheet of Blue Damask from the Now and Then Collection. The rest of the papers and embellishments are from the Christmas Cottage Collection. I tied seam binding, bakers twine and a little jingle bells to the rings of the binder.

I chose the week of  November 30th  through December 6th  because I knew we were going to have a fun and busy week ahead and wanted to be sure to document it. We started a few new traditions this year now that our almost 2 year old is starting to understand the concept of Christmas. It's so much fun to see this magical season through the eyes of a child. 

~Day 1~

~Decorating the Tree~

Thursday night we put up the Christmas tree and had such a fun time decorating it. Our little Averi loved putting on (and taking off) the decorations. We sipped hot chocolate, listened to the Gene Autry Holiday station on Pandora (seriously, the cutest station ever) and relaxed by the fireplace. 

~Day 2~

~Photos with Santa~

Averi met Jolly Old St. Nicholas and had her photos taken with him.

 Ok, honestly that's really my husband dressed up as Santa. How genius is that idea? The studio has a parent dress up as Santa so the child isn't traumatized and you can get some great photos without having to wait in a huge line at the mall. I absolutely loved how they turned out and I know we'll cherish these pictures forever. 

~Day 3~

~Festival of Trees~

 I love this event because not only do we get to see over 700 beautifully decorated trees, enjoy fun entertainment and marvel at deliciously decorated gingerbread houses, every single penny this festival raises goes straight to children in need at the Primary Children's Medical Center. 

~Day 4~

~North Pole Breakfast~

Santa sent his scout elf  "Paprika" to our house early Saturday morning. She made us yummy cinnamon rolls and brought us reindeer food straight from the North Pole! She gave Averi  a special gift  of warm socks (because it's COLD at the North Pole!) and holiday books to read all through the month of December. We explained to Averi that Paprika was going to stay with us until Christmas Eve so she could report to Santa all the good things Miss Averi does every day. Averi then took the elf and put her in the garbage. "All gone. No more." she stated.

We spent the rest of Sunday being lazy and just hanging out in Averi's teepee, reading books and napping. 

~Day 5~

~Family Christmas Party~

I love seeing family that we don't get to see too often. We all gather together for a delicious dinner and visit with one another. Then in comes Santa, jingle bells and all with a sack of gifts over his shoulder for all the kids. Averi refused to sit on his lap, although she did give him a kiss on the nose after he handed her a candy cane.  It's tradition for Santa to bring pajamas, which I LOVE because it feels like Christmas morning with a HUGE family. Once the gifts are distributed and every child has had a chance to sit on Santa's lap, the presents are ripped open and the jammies are put on. It's adorable to see all the kids in their new Christmas PJs.

~Day 6~

~Hanging out on Main Street~

One of the great things about living in Park City is its historic main street. It's an adorable street lined with shops, restaurants and galleries. We love riding the trolley up and down main, then stopping at our favorite cozy little bookstore to visit the resident cats. As always, we go next door for a scoop of ice cream.  

~Day 7~

~Temple Square~

We spent the evening in downtown Salt Lake City for some window shopping and dinner. Then on to Temple Square, which during the Christmas season, turns into a wonderland of festive lights and nativity scenes.  Listening to local musicians perform is one of the highlights of visiting Temple Square and watching Averi dance and twirl to the music made it all the more magical.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into a "Week in the Life" of the McAffee clan!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Supplies used:

Papers and embellishments from-

 Christmas Cottage Collection

Now and Then

craft supplies- seam binding, felt, thread

Are You a Winner?

                                             


    The winner for the $25 gift certificate drawing is #17- Rashell A!  Rashell, email me at gingersnaps1943@gmail.com with your mailing address. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that left a comment! Have a great day!

Christmas Gift Topiaries and a Giveaway!

Hello!

 I'm so excited to be guest blogging for the The Wood Connection today!  I am a lover of all things vintage and shabby chic so I thought I'd share with you a couple vintage inspired gift topiaries I created for the holiday season.  

Supplies used-

Two large wooden blocks

Two medium wooden blocks

Two small wooden blocks

Two candle stick holders

Acrylic paint in ivory and tan

Pattern paper- Carta Bella Winter Fun collection and Echo Park Dots and Stripes collection

Ribbon 

All these supplies can be found at The Wood Connection

Let's get started!

Paint each of your wooden blocks with ivory acrylic paint and let dry.

Paint your candlesticks as well and let dry. I chose to paint mine in tan and white.

Measure and cut ten large squares of paper to fit the large blocks, ten for the medium and ten for the small. Ink around the edges of each piece of paper for a distressed look.

Adhere each piece of paper to their respective blocks and let dry. Trim and sand down any excess paper on the blocks.

Stack the blocks and glue them together using wood glue; let dry.

Tie ribbon around the bottom of the large block and wrap around the top and tie in a bow. 

Now it's time to decorate! I used a few silver sprigs from the craft store and glued them around a couple of the blocks. I also attached a small bottle brush tree on top of the block.

I found a package of mini plastic deer at the craft store, I simply sprayed one with spray adhesive and sprinkled glitter on it. What a festive deer he is!

I finished up by adding a few more sprigs around the blocks, attaching a resin snowflake and adhering the stack of blocks to the candlestick. Tie ribbon around the candlestick and you're done!

Pretty simple, eh? The most time consuming part is waiting for the paint and glue to dry and if you're like me (an impatient crafter) that is the hardest part!

The second topiary follows the same directions as the first. The only difference is I attached a  banner across the front of  the topiary. I used the font Porcelain and printed out the words "Joyeux Noel". I then cut the paper out banner style, traced the edges with glue and sprinkled the banner with glitter and attached it to the topiary.

I hope you've enjoyed this Christmas Topiary tutorial. Thanks so much to The Wood Connection for the opportunity to guest post!  

Now for the giveaway!!

The Wood Connection has given me a $25 gift certificate to their store to give to one lucky winner!

Just leave a comment and you'll be entered into the drawing. 

The drawing will end Thursday, Dec 20th, so be sure to enter today!

 (This drawing is for those who live in Utah or are planning to visit soon, because it is a brick and mortar store. They have no online ordering yet.) 

Christmas Tussie Mussie

Hello and happy Monday to you!

 Today I'd like to show you a holiday project I've been working on.

A tussie mussie can be fun alternative to a Christmas stocking or they can be a beautiful decoration to hang in your home for the holidays.  They're also fairly simply to make, so let's get started!

Directions-

1.Take the top two corners of your 12x12 sheet of paper and bring the points together.  This will automatically form your cone for the tussie mussie. 

2. Run your Xyron Mega Runner  or glue down the seam of the cone, carefully overlap and press together. If you're using glue, you could use a paper clip or clothes pin to hold it together until it dries.

3. You're going to have a leftover 'tail', you'll just need to trim off that excess paper. 

4. Wrap tissue garland around the top edge of the cone.

5. Using adhesive, attach a border strip on top of the tissue garland.

6. Punch holes on both sides of the cone, thread tinsel through to make the handle and tie knots to keep the tinsel in place.

The cone is now finished!

To make the rosette, you'll cut a strip of paper about 2" inches tall and 8" long. 

 Accordion fold the strip of paper like a fan, bend one section in, the other one out, all the way down the length of the paper.

Glue the ends together by tucking the last section under the first.

Gather the rosette together and press down with a finger in the middle.

Turn the rosette over and place glue on the back center of the rosette, place a small circle of paper over the glue and hold down until it is dry.

Glue the rosette to the front of the tussie mussie and let dry.

Now for the fun part....embellishments!

I attached a rhinestone medallion on top of the rosette and tucked a bit of tinsel and a banner piece from the Christmas Cottage Accessory Sheet behind the medallion. I also adhered a chipboard piece and sticker to the front of the rosette.

Now you'll simply fill your cone with whatever you wish! I rolled a leftover scrap of music paper from the Christmas Cottage collection and tied it with ribbon and bakers twine.

I also tucked in a vintage photo of a cute little girl all bundled up for winter, a couple bottle brush trees and a silver Christmas sprig that I had on hand.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a creative day!

~ All supplies used are from the Christmas Cottage Collection ~

 1 sheet of 12x12 Red Damask pattern paper

Border Strips

Rhinestone Medallion

Strip of Music paper

Chipboard Elements

Accessory Sheet

Trim 

A Happy Hello to You

With the gift giving season well on its way, I wanted to share a fun little gift topper with you. Using a few Melissa Frances embellishments, I quickly put together this sweet little bird nest complete with frosty mini trees. I simply placed all my embellishments into the nest and attached a banner sticker across the trees using Zip Dry. It only took a few minutes and it would look darling on top of a sweet gift for a friend.

Supplies used-

Mini nest

Glass bird

Bottle brush trees

Attic Treasures Sticker Banner

all from Melissa Frances

Super Cute Card Kit!

 If  you're looking for a holiday crafting project, Melissa Frances  has an awesome card kit with instructions for sale at Melissa's etsy store. With 10 adorable cards, designed by card maker extraordinaire  Melissa Phillips, this is a great way to get those holiday cards made so that they're ready to give away!

Vintage Inspired Christmas Banner

I know, I know. It's not even December yet and Thanksgiving is just two days away! But I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get Christmas projects finished before the holiday is upon us. I LOVE to decorate for the holidays and the tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. It took everything I had not to put it up a couple weeks ago when we had a huge snowstorm. It was such a beautiful winter wonderland that it only felt right to set up the tree. Instead I just blared the Nutcracker Suite and drove my husband insane. 

I wanted to create a vintage inspired banner to hang across our mantle. Of course the Christmas Cottage Collection was the perfect fit.

Let's get started!

Trace the wood onto pattern paper, cut out and apply a thin coat of glue (I use Zip Dry)

onto the wood and adhere to the paper.

Ink the around the edges of the flags and string the banner through the holes using ribbon.

Adhere strips of tissue garland to the tops of the pennants. 

Cut out the letters to spell "Joy", spray two of the letters with spray adhesive and shake glitter onto them. Remove excess glitter and adhere one letter to each pennant.

Embellish the banner with different elements from the Christmas Cottage collection any way you please!

Tie strips of tinsel into knots around the ribbon that's holding the pennants together. 

And that's it! You've just made a lovely vintage inspired Christmas banner. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies used-

pattern paper- snowflakes, tiny flowers (back), red damask

border strips

rhinestone medallion

chipboard

decorative brads

faceted rhinestones 

all from the Christmas Cottage Collection by Teresa Collins

tissue garland

tinsel

wooden pennant flags from The Wood Connection

Thankful

Thanksgiving is less than a week away so I thought I'd share with you a couple "Thankful" projects. 

The first is a mini house which uses a darling ornament house from Melissa Frances and beautiful pattern paper from Teresa Collins. I think the colors are perfect for any Thanksgiving decor.

This showcases two of the greatest things I am thankful for. 

Home and family.

Supplies used-

ornament house

tinsel

glass glitter

pleated satin ribbon all from Melissa Frances

pattern paper, chipboard, medallion and button from The Vintage Finds Collection- Teresa Collins

Thanksgiving Gift Basket

This little basket took minutes to make and it would make an adorable host/hostess gift for Thanksgiving. Just fill it up with the lucky recipients favorite treats!

Supplies used- 

Cameo and stickers- Melissa Frances

mini picnic basket- Michaels

fabric scraps

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Giveaway on the Melissa Frances Blog!

To celebrate Melissa's new show, Timeless Creations with Melissa Frances on My Craft Channel, Melissa is  pleased to offer a giveaway!  Head over to the Melissa Frances Blog to find out how you can win your choice of a gorgeous new purse or a fun paper crafts packet! Giveaway is open until 12:00 PM EST on Wednesday, Nov.14 so hurry on over!

Black Friday Has Come Early!

 

If paper crafting is your thing, and you love vintage and retro, Melissa Frances is about to make your holiday wishes come true! For a limited time, you can snag one of her Black Friday Crafting Kits for only $39.95 (retail value, over $96) on Melissa's etsy shop.

There is a whole lot of crafting fun awaiting you in this 210 piece kit. You will enjoy some of her recent "Countdown to Christmas" collection, along with her gorgeous trims, awesome buttons, and calendar mini album. Just check out the numerous kit contents:

24 papers (6 designs x 4 sheets of each) • 1 Christmas Chipboard Sheet (21 Pieces) • 1 Christmas Die Cut Sheet (15 Die Cuts) • 1 Pack of Christmas Tags (8 tags total) • 1 Character Die Cut Sheet (40 Die Cuts) • 1 6x6 Christmas Pad (30 sheets) • 1 Pack of Chipboard Ornaments (6 Pieces) • 1 Calendar Album (26 Pieces total) • 1 Yard of White Organza Ribbon • 1 Yard of Cream Silk Ribbon • 1 Yard of White Silk Ribbon • 1 Pack of Spring Sprung Flowers (10 pieces) • 1 Pack of White Blossom Flowers (10 pieces) • 1 Pack of 8 Glass Reproduction Buttons • 1 Pack of 4 Reproduction Buttons • 1 Pack of Green Vellum Envelopes (4 envelopes) • 1 Melissa Shopping Tote measuring 20” long x 6.5” wide x 17” high

Regular Retail Price: $96.48
Black Friday Sale Price: $39.95

Kits will begin shipping on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

Promotion ends on Nov. 23 12PM EST or until supplies last.

Please visit the link provided to order the kit or to read directions for placing an international order.  

Mini Gift Pillows

If you have ever prepared Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings ,  you know how exhausting and labor-intensive the day can be.  If you're lucky enough to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving feast made by someone else, why not thank your hosts with something special and handmade!

These mini "Thankful" pillows are a sweet token of appreciation and gratitude for all of your host's hard work.  

I  used some beautiful elements  from the Now and Then collection to show that scrapbook embellishments aren't just for paper! 

These were super quick and easy to make, so let's get started! 

Use a heart template to trace onto the muslin and cut out muslin heart pieces.   Sew along the edges of the heart and leave a small opening on the side so you can put the fiberfill inside.     Turn pillows right side out so seams are inside, stuff the fiberfill inside the pillow and sew seam up.

Next, cut a heart out of felt and do a running stitch around the edges of the felt. I kind of cheated by just gluing the felt heart with fabric glue on top of the pillow instead of sewing it on. 

I finished the pillows off by embellishing them with buttons, stickers, and decorative brads from the Now and Then collection. I also used ribbon and bakers twine from the Vintage Finds collection.

 Another fun idea is to make these into lavender sachets by adding a ribbon on top and filling them with lavender for hanging in a closet.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great week!

Supplies used-

Decorative Brads

Stickers

Buttons

Medallion

Bakers Twine 

Ribbon 

Border Strips

all from- Teresa Collins Designs

Muslin

Felt