Our Next Challenge ...

Our next challenge is themed just in time for the new year ... as we challenge ourselves to craft with GLITTER!

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Projects due here next Wednesday!
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And the Winner of the Christmas Decor Challenge is...

Sara!!

Sara is on quite a winning streak and she takes yet another one with her adorable Christmas pillows.  You can read all about them here.  You can read about Sarah's Beaded Ornament here.

Come back tomorrow to see what we'll be up to next.

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Christmas Decor Submissions - Voting Time!

Lots 'o Pillows, see more here.

Beaded Ornament, see more here.

And please VOTE on your favorite Christmas Decor craft!

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Lots 'o Christmas Pillows - Challenge Submission

The challenge here on the blog was offically Christmas Decor; however, my personal challenge was so do this without buying anything new! I'm pleased to report that with some patchwork to stretch the linen-blend fabric a looooong way, it worked!

I present lots ' Christmas pillows. :)

I wanted to paint on the linen fabric, so with the help of Microsoft Clip Art, freezer paper stenciling and the Martha Stewart Pearl & Metallic paints I was able to create exactly what I wanted.

Like I said in this post, you can make the Plaid / Martha Stewart paints work on fabric by adding Fabric Medium to the paint. It works!

I got a little carried away with my embellishing ... there are Jolee's heat fix crystals, some ribbon and of course some pom poms on these pillows!

All the pillows have an envelope back closure so I can easily swap them out.

My personal favorite is this one: the reindeers are just too much! It's so hard to see in the picture but each reindeer is sporting at least one clear crystal. The lead reindeer got a collar, the antlers are decorated on the 2nd, and the 3rd one has a little bling on his booty.

I was going to stop with those pillows, but just kept going! The smaller one with the Christmas trees on it, is just an regular old pillowcase - just smaller. That fun fringe on there was purchased at JoAnn's - it's the "chenille" fringe by Simplicity in the holiday section. Ok, I did buy that!

For the big "Joy" pillow, I used the negative pieces of my freezer paper stencil for the first Joy pillow (up top). All that cutting is exhausting, so I wanted to stretch my stencil as far as possible. Oh, and I'm giving most of these away anyway .... so I won't end up with two Joy pillows.

So there they are! I'm pretty excited about these pillows and hope the recipients are too ... now to figure out which ones to keep and which ones to gift :)

Oh, and please do vote on your favorite Christmas Decor Project!

I'm linking up here !

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Submission - Beaded Ornament

I went simple and sort of old school with my submission.  A beaded ornament made with some fun plastic beads I found at Hobby Lobby last year and a styrofoam ball.  It's an update version of the styrofoam ornaments we made as kids.

I also attempted one from buttons, but didn't quite get it finished.  Here's what I've got so far.

I'm not sure if I like it or not.  Your thoughts?

Okay, go vote, vote, vote!

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Next Challenge is ...

Pretty general, but very timely ...Christmas Decor!

Here's a lovely picture to get us in the mood ... I (Sara here) visited Disneyland for the 1st time last week and was in awe of the amazing Christmas displays. And, don't even get me started on the Christmas fireworks display - ridiculous and like no firework show I've ever seen!

Anyway ... our Decor projects will be posted here on Wednesday!
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And the Winner of the Mantel Challenge is...

Sara!!!

Pulling in her third win in a row, Sara takes it with her Blinging Rudolph Stocking.  You can read more about that project here.  You can read about Sarah's project, the Pink & Aqua Mantel, here.

Check back with us tomorrow to see what the next project will be!


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For the Mantel! Challenge Submissions are Here

Here they are! Our crafts for a Christmas Mantel ...

We have a Pink & Aqua Mantel up top ... see more pictures here!

vs.

Blinging Rudolph Stocking ... see more pictures here!

Check them out and let us know what your favorite craft is - don't forget to vote! :)

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The Mantel Challenge: Submission

So here it is, my holiday "mantel."  Actually, it's the top of my quilt rack because my fireplace looks like this:

There's just no room for more decoration, even at Christmas time!  Which is not to say there's no Christmas involved in my fireplace.  It has this Santa mug built in:

But, I digress.  We're here to talk about my challenge mantel.  I decided to decorate an entire mantel and I made one new craft to be included.  Let's start with the new craft:

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Blinging Rudolph Stocking ... a Challenge Submission

For the mantle ... I've always said I want to / should / would make my kids handmade stockings, and now I can say 1 down, 1 to go! This is a killing two birds with one stone kind of project as I'm entering this knit stocking over here in hopes of winning a super fancy serger! :) What a fun and easy contest ... spread the word!

So that's how I came up with a stocking for this challenge - fits the mantle criteria - check, need one in the house - check, can enter in a contest - check!

I have recently amassed an insane amount of knit fabrics (help! someone stop me!) so I didn't have to stop at all for this challenge. I just turned to the closet and looked for Christmas colors + pink! (I think I was inspired by all the yummy peppermint chocolate goody boxes @ Trader Joe's! I'm obsessed w/ the Joe Joe's and that beautiful red, white and pink striped box gets me every time!)

I enjoy applique work so it was a given that I'd use that technique to spruce up this stocking. I couldn't leave Rudolph with a plain old nose, so I spruced him up with 3 hot fix crystals :)

I know we are supposed to be crafting for the mantle, but my Christmas decor is not coming out until after Thanksgiving comes down, so for now, it has to 'hang' with some doll dresses I recently made!

  

Oh and here's a peek at another fun Christmas craft I made ... I saw something similar on Pinterest and couldn't help but re-create it. I used ruffles leftover from this skirt to make the Blinging Rudolph Stocking. I cannot wait to get a picture of a special little one in this skirt! It's pretty tiny in person!

Be sure to vote for your favorite Christmas Mantle Craft!

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Our Next Challenge ...

Decorate that Mantel! For this challenge, we must have something to spruce up the old Mantel for Christmas!

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Mantel projects are due on Wednesday ...
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And the Winner of the Thanksgiving Challenge is...

Sara!!!

Sara's adorable Giving Thanks banner walked away with the win, giving Sara here second win in a row.  You can read more about Sara's banner here.  You can check out Sarah's apron here.

What will we be up to next?  Come back tomorrow and find out!


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Thanksgiving Challenge - The Submissions

We're getting for our next major holiday with these projects!

Thanksgiving Apron; more picture and description here.

"Give Thanks" Banner;  more pictures, description and tutorial here.

Please vote for your favorite Thanksgiving project ... voting closes Tuesday @ midnight. :)

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Give Thanks Banner - A Tutorial & Challenge Submission

Give thanks...although I try to do it everyday, now is the season to deck the halls with it, right!

For this challenge, I was sort of all over the place with what to do. I settled on making a banner, bunting, garland thing (what is the official word?). But, I was again all over the place -- to use all felt, to make triangle shaped flags, to use woven or linen? Then, I found some leftover linen and decided to go for that organic look. It sort of fell into place then.

I found these felt leaves from last Thanksgiving (I bought them for my kids to play with and these were our leftovers - yay!). Also, I recently bought this Martha Stewart paint set on sale at Michael's; it's Pearl and Metallic and I've been dying to try it! Once I had all the "ingredients" in place (sidebar: it's so nice to have finally built up SUCH a craft supply that I practically never need to shop to create; it's all already here!) this came together nicely.

I put together a quick tutorial below with pictoral step by step.

Close up of the letters - these colors are truly amazing! The really are pearly or metallic :)

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Challenge Submission: Thanksgiving Apron

Thanksgiving?  Really?  Didn't we just celebrate the 4th of July?  I'm just not prepared for the winter holidays.  So when it came to this challenge, I drew one huge mental blank.  It doesn't seem very original, but I finally settled on making myself a new apron.

I was able to make this quickly.  I serged together 2.5 inch strips of gold, orange and brown fabrics.  I thought they looked Thanksgiving-y--sort of like turkey feathers.  I then cut out the arm holes, and hemmed the edges, except the top edge.  That one I decided to fold over so I could string the neck strap through instead of attaching it.  Last, but not least, I added the neck strap and the back ties.  Within an hour, I had a new apron.

I'm hosting the family Thanksgiving this year and I'll be wearing this apron, for sure.

Be sure to vote for your favorite Thanksgiving craft! 

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Next Challenge

Thanksgiving!

Projects due on the blog next Wednesday! Hope everyone had a fun Halloween ...

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Accessorize! The Submissions & Voting

It's that time again ... for Sara and Sarah to put forth the best craft for the challenge - accessorize!

We came up with:

Chiffon Flowers, for more pictures and to read more click here.

Shrinky Dink Jewelry, for more pictures and descriptions click here.

And then of course, vote for your favorite!

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