HO HO HOme Depot Party - Part II

If you've read Part I of the HO HO Home Depot party with all menu and all the decor details of this party, I am sure you anxious to see how the actual craft project was made! It was just too long to fit in one post, so here it is...

Party Activity:  If you are having a Home Depot party, you have to have a fun project for guests.  I wanted to pick something that would be easy to make in one evening and still allow us to have time to chat/have dinner. This project was perfect!  The employees at my local Home Depot were amazing at helping me get what I needed.  To make this project, you will need:

• Two pieces of 1'x4' wood
• 1 1/4" Screws
• Wood glue
• Paint - Jim, from Home Depot recommended Satin finish
• Paintbrushes
• Table saw/Drill

Step 1: Saw the wood.  You can make this project whatever size you want, but I gave each guest 2 pieces of wood with instructions to cut five 36" pieces, one 30" piece for the brim, and one *** piece for the bracing on the back.

Step 2:  Assemble the project with wood glue.  You could skip this step, but I think it helps hold the pieces in place before drilling.  If your wood has writing on it (which most will), have your guests make sure the writing is on the back side of the project so you don't have to worry about it showing. We glued the bracing piece to the bottom/back of the project as shown here.

Step 3:  Drill the bracing piece into the back making sure the screws don't go all the way through to the front of the project.  Drill the hat brim on as well.  I instructed guests to do both of these from the back so the screws wouldn't show on the front.

Step 4:  Paint your project!  Most of the girls did one thick coat of paint, but you could do a second if you have time in your party.  The guests painted the base, and then we had dinner while that dried.  Then we came out to paint the face.

If you have kids at your party, give them popsicle sticks and have them create the same project minus the sawing and drilling!  My oldest daughter loves to craft and always wants to be a part of my dinners somehow, so this was perfect.

The girls and I had a ton of fun making these, and I think they will be a fun holiday decoration for years to come!

Thank you again to the employees at Home Depot for helping to make this craft night possible!

HO HO HOme Depot Party - Part I

HO  HO  HO...it's Christmas time! I love the holiday season, and I can't seem to have enough holiday decor around my house, so for this month's dinner party, it was Christmas craft time!  That's right, we had fun with a HO HO HOme Depot themed monthly dinner!  Special thanks to the employees at the Anaheim Home Depot who were awesome in helping me figure out the best supplies to build our craft.

Invite:  I love the Home Depot gift card that has the Santa working at the tool bench, so I wanted to incorporate that into my design.  I made the invite on PhotoShop with this image at the top, and the basic party information below.  I sent it out to my girls electronically, but if the guests you are inviting live nearby, I think it would be cute to hand deliver the invite nailed to a small piece of wood.  Just added fun.

Entry Decor:  I made a wreath for my front door out of a 100-foot extension cord, and then tied a bow with yellow CAUTION tape.

I also set out an example of the craft project we were all going to make for the party.  I chose to paint a Santa, but the girls had the option of painting a Snowman, the Grinch, or a Santa.

Inside Decor:  I went with holiday colors for the decor with a little Home Depot orange thrown in here and there.  I set out tools from my garage mixed with various Christmas decorations, and that was it.

For the centerpiece, I set out my husband's red toolbox and some random tools.  I bought a Home Depot apron (only 99 cents), and the "H" and "O" letters (Michaels), to spell out the HO HO HOme Depot theme.

I also made these cute Christmas lights on a string using paint swatches from Home Depot.  I got two lights out of each swatch, added shiny silver cardstock to the top, and taped the light to a piece of ribbon.

For place cards, I used these super cute aprons that are Home Depot gift card holders!  I took out the gift card from the pocket on the front (because it hid part of the logo).  I cut the letters of each guest's name out of cardstock using my Cricut and glued them on the line.  You can write them on with Sharpie, but I wanted guests to be able to reuse the apron if they wanted to give a gift card to someone for Christmas.  One of my guest's ended up putting this on her Christmas tree as an ornament!  I love it!

I designed a couple of wine labels to match the holiday spirit -- "HO HO HO Pour the MERLOT" on the chest of Santa and "I'm Dreaming of a White WINE Christmas."

For wine charms, I got some screws and nuts from my husband's toolbox.  I dipped one side of each of them in paint and kept the other side metal.  I used holiday colors to match the theme, and then tied them onto the glass stem with white ribbon.

Menu:  At first I had a hard time deciding what to serve because I wasn't sure if we would actually have time to sit and eat or if we'd be working on our projects the entire time.  I started off with a Roasted Pepper Tomato Soup with a bread-stick that I served in a mug.  I served this in a mug not only because it is "wintery", but also so guests could drink this while they were working on the project and not have to worry about having a spoon.  Both the soup and the bread-sticks were straight from the box, I didn't make them from scratch.  They were delicious, and all I had to do was heat them up!

After assembling, drilling, and painting the base of the craft project, we came inside for dinner while the paint dried.  I served chicken kabobs that I added the head and base of a hammer to make them fit with the theme.  I just printed them on cardstock, cut them out, and taped them to the stick right before serving.

I served the rice in a paint tray from Home Depot.

For dessert, I served vanilla ice cream with showmen made out of Kit Kat bars.  Perfect because they totally match the wood craft project we were making as the Kit Kats look like pallets. I used candy melts as "glue" for these.  The black round candy I bought at a local cake shop, but the rest I just got at the grocery store.  The nose is a gumdrop that I cut.

Party Favor:  Even though guests were already leaving with the craft project as a party favor, I made this small one as well.  I cut pieces of wood and painted them red.  Then I used my Cricut to cut a vellum HO HO HO.  I added a ribbon and some mini ornaments (from the dollar store) with hot glue.

Can't wait to show you the woodworking craft project details.  Check out the HO HO Home Depot party - Part II post to see how we made these adorable holiday decorations!

DIY Christmas Decor Part II

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  Here is the follow up to Part I of my holiday mantle makeover. Sorry to post this a day AFTER Christmas, but the holidays are a busy time.  I love that these decorations are inexpensive and easy crafts that have made a HUGE difference in the look of my house.  They've even added to my holiday spirit in that I finally have some Christmas decorations that I love. Note: The photos don't do them justice as they are much more vibrant in person.

First is an idea I found on Pinterest and decided to copy.  I loved the idea of spelling Noel with a wreath and different sizes/fonts for the remaining letters.  To make this, I purchased the wreath at Michaels Craft Store and the letters at both Michaels and Joanns.  I bought red, green, and white spray paint with primer included from Lowes.  This the same spray paint I used to paint my stocking holders (see that post here) and all the other projects for my mantle, so I really got use out of the 3 bottles of spray paint.

The final project for my mantle was inspired by Liz at Naptime Decorator. I saved 3 wine bottles from our monthly dinners and spray painted them in the same paint used in the Noel project. 

When they were completely dry, I wrapped yarn tightly around the bottle.  I used only a dab of hot glue at the beginning and another at the end. Then more glue to adhere a snowflake/tree foam piece that I bought at Michaels.

This is my completed mantle with all my holiday projects.  There is a lot going on, but I absolutely love it especially since all the items match in color scheme.

Merry Christmas!

DIY Christmas Decor Part I

I  love Christmas and decorating the house, but I have never really liked the holiday decor that we own very much.  I decided to do a little makeover of it this year, so I looked through Pinterest and found some ideas I really liked as well as created some of my own....

Remember my post of the Autumn candles?  Well, here is the change I made to create a Christmas candle set. I put a shot glass in the bottom as a space-filler, and then added the red hots.  A little glitter green ribbon, some holly berries I already had, and white peppermint candles from the Dollar Tree.  That's it.  Super simple.

I originally made them for our mantle, but then decided to move them to our coffee table.  I arranged them in a circular pattern so that it is pretty on all sides AND it hides the ribbon knots in the back. 

My mom and I also made a smaller version of these with votives.  She gave them as favors at a church function.

The family initial inside a wreath was an idea I saw on Pinterest that I really liked.  I was planning to make a wreath, but then I saw this one at Target and loved it.  I looks like scarves or socks that are wrapped around Styrofoam balls and then glued to a Styrofoam wreath.  All I had to do after finding this wreath was spray paint the "C" in green glitter.  Easy-peezy.

This will conclude Part I of my Christmas decor post.  Stay tuned for Part II!!

DIY Christmas Stocking Holders

For those of you who don't follow my blog and/or know me, we have a new addition to our family.  Our daughter, Jenna, was born November 13th.  When December 1st rolled around, we took out our holiday decor, and I began shopping for a stocking and another stocking holder. I had a really hard time finding a stocking holder. I have always wanted them all to match and since we've bought each one individually at different times over the years, they definitely do not.  The only sets of 5 I found were simple silver ones that spelled out the five letters in "Peace."  Nothing against "peace" and all, but this is not what I wanted.  I decided to make them myself....

These were really simple to make, and I love the way they turned out.  The supplies I used were:

• One piece of 1x6x8 wood
• knobs (found at Lowes)
• Screws
• Green, Red, and White Spray paint (get the spray paint that includes primer)
• Blue Painter's Tape - for the stripes
• Plastic Wallet frames - I bought these at Michaels and just pulled off the magnet on the back
• Super glue

First, I cut the wood pieces.  The bottom piece I cut to be 5 x 2 3/4 inches.  The top piece is 5x5. I screwed the knob into the bottom piece and spray painted it with a few coats.  Then I spray painted the top piece white.  Once this dried, I taped off the stripes and spray painted the red. You could also use acrylic paint for this part.  The spray paint was faster, but it is harder to touch up. When I did the touch ups after pulling off the paint, I did use acrylic paint for the white.  I could not find the correct shade of red though.

Once both pieces were dry, I used 3 screws to drill into the bottom to attach the two pieces.  Lastly, I super glued the plastic frame to the front and placed a photo inside. I am happy with how they turned out, and this was a much cheaper route than purchasing 5 new stocking holders.

We are ready for Santa!!

Autumn Decor Idea

This post is a bit delayed in that the day I was going to post about this autumn decor idea, I went into labor with our third child!!  I gave birth to our beautiful daughter last Wednesday, and she has already added such joy and happiness to our family. I just love being a mom, and we have so much to be thankful for. 

Now onto this autumn decor idea...

I saw the idea for vases filled with popcorn kernels on Pinterest, but decided to add an extra something to it with the Cricut letters. I wanted to share this idea because it was so inexpensive and easy to do.  The entire thing cost me less than $12 and I finished the project in less than an hour! 

I bought the vases and candles at the Dollar Tree.  I placed a large shot glass in the bottom of the vases to lift the candle.  This also enabled me use less popcorn kernels to fill the bottom.  I tied fake fall leaves to the outside using twine.  Then finished each vase off with letters cut from my Cricut machine.  The photo does not do it justice.  It really pops (no pun intended) on my mantle.

I didn't glue anything, so that I can use these vases for future decor as well.  You may even see a future post with a Winter decor idea!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thankful Tree

Happy Thanksgiving!! I love this holiday, not just because of the delicious food which makes me feel like I need to be rolled out the door, but because it is a holiday season that presents us with a great opportunity to reflect on all we have to be thankful for.  My husband and I took our family out for a walk on the horse trails near our house at the beginning of the month and we came across this...

This thankful tree displays the numerous blessings that surround us.  There were tags dangling from the tree written by neighbors and others who passed by the tree.  On these tags, the writers noted something they were thankful for and then hung it on the tree like an ornament.

Attached to the trunk of tree was a plastic container with a lid and inside the container were blank tags and pens/markers for anyone who wished to add what they are thankful for to the tree.  I loved this idea, and I decided to make a small tree for our house.  The remainder of the walk, our family picked up long sticks to be used for our tree.

When we got home, I found a vase.  My daughter and I placed the sticks in our vase, and then set about making the tags. We used my Cricut machine and Stretch Your Imagination cartridge to make 3.5" tags on light tan cardstock.  We threaded twine through the top of the make the ornaments, and placed the vase as the centerpiece of our dinner table.

Next to the vase, we placed a dish with blank ornaments and a pen, much like the neighborhood tree.  Throughout the month of November, our family (and whoever visits that wishes to add a thankful tag) have been writing down things we are thankful for.  Every time I look at this tree, it reminds me of all I have to be thankful for and the many blessings we have in our lives.

As this month comes to a close, I plan to write 2012 on the back of each tag and keep them all together. Next year, it will be so neat to read them again.  It will also show the growth of our kids as their handwriting and what they are thankful for changes. My favorite tags so far this year have been one I wrote on behalf of our 17 month old son, "Chairs, books, toys...anything that I can step on to reach things I shouldn't" and one of our 3 year old daughter's "I'm thankful for Johnny-John."  This one will be neat as her nickname for her little brother changes over time.  Each year, I will hang some of the past years on the tree, and then I will make tags in a slightly different color for the current year.

We have so much to be thankful for, and this tree has been a wonderful daily reminder for my family of just how much we are blessed.  I highly recommend making a tree of your own.  Happy Thanksgiving!

DIY Wine Bottle Candles

I have received several emails asking how I cut the wine bottles for my Wild About Wine party, so I thought I would provide a quick tutorial.

The supplies you will need:

• Glass Cutting Tool (Lowes $4)
• Magazines/books
• Plenty of empty wine bottles
• tea kettle to boil water
• protective eye wear
• Dremel with grinding stone

Step One:  Make sure your wine bottles are empty, clean, and the cork/lid is removed.  Then place the bottle on a table and use books/magazines to elevate the glass cutter to the desired height. I cut all my bottles a quarter inch or so above the label.  I used books at the bottom of the stack and magazines at the top because the magazines are able to form around the glass cutter making it more adjustable.

Step Two:  My husband held the stack of magazines/cutter down firmly so the blade did not move.  Make sure you eye it to make sure it is level as well before you begin. Next, I pressed the bottle firmly into the blade so that it scored the bottle rotating it to get a continuous score around the entire bottle.  It took several tries for me to figure out how to do this, so start with practice bottles (not your cherished bottle from your wedding day!).

Step Three: Boil water in a tea kettle. I placed an old towel in the bottom of the sink to prevent the bottle from dropping into the hard sink and breaking, but this is not essential.  Hold the scored bottle over the towel and slowly pour the hot water from the kettle over the scored line, rotating the bottle as you pour.  Repeat this with cold water from the faucet. We found that a steady light stream of water is best.  The larger stream seemed to cause more breaks.  Continue alternating between the hot and cold water until the bottle naturally breaks and comes apart. Reminder: Make sure the lid/cork is off!!

If you are using the tops of the bottles as your candle holder, you can be done at this point.  You do not need to sand the edges because an uneven edge actually helps your candle flame stay lit. It allows air a pathway inside beyond just the top. However, if you are placing these directly on a table, I recommend lightly sanding them to avoid rough edges scratching your table. 

If you are making a candle holder with the bottom, continue with the fourth step...

Step Four:  Take a sander and carefully sand the top of the rim to give it a smooth edge.  Make sure you wear protective goggles for safety.  If you don't have a Dremel, you can use very fine sand paper it will just take much longer and is a difficult job.

After sanding the top to even the edges, rinse out the bottle and you're ready for your candle!  Optional:  You can polish the sanded edge which would look even better.  The only reason I didn't do this is because I did all these bottles hours before the party started and ran out of time!!

Hope your wine bottle candles turn out great!