Pine Cone Snowflake Wreath

As we wind down after Christmas (I literally just took down my tree last weekend!!) I've been looking for ways to transition into Winter around our house (basically be lazy and not put everything away!).  Before the holidays began I made this Pine Cone Snowflake wreath that I had seen all over pinterest.  I've been dragging around a bag of pine cones from our first house we lived in 10 years ago and was super excited to finally use them!  It was pretty tedious to make, but I love how it turned out and made it the focal point of our front room above the piano.


I found the instructions on how to make it here.  The only thing I'd add to their instructions is to use shims to reinforce the arms of the snowflake.  They get really heavy with all of the pine cones and I didn't have access to industrial strength cardboard!  I also didn't worry about printing a huge template to trace - dC and I free-handed the snowflake pattern.  It doesn't have to be perfect, the pine cones covered up the imperfections - and each snowflake is different in it's own way right?  

Here's what the back looks like - not very pretty, but that's why it's the back!  dC added a heavy duty wall hanger to the shim I deemed the "top" to make it easier to, well, hang!

I'm linking to:  Craftberry Bush and Lines Across

It's Sew Sunday--Sweater Mittens

For Christmas dC got me a new sewing machine!  I have been in a sewing slump since my old machine was acting up - having a new one meant that I could get back to having some fabric fun.

I'm not proclaiming to be good at it, I just like to follow patterns, sew straight lines and fix things!  I've made all of the curtains in our house (straight lines) but now that I have this fancy new machine, I'm going to dive into some different types of projects and maybe some not so straight lines!

Today I am making Sweater Mittens.  They are sooo fast to make.  I had an old wool sweater in my closet that I no longer wore due to a hole.  I had grandiose ideas of felting it and making it into a pillow, but as Fender and I were walking home from school, I felt his little hands as we crossed the street and they were freezing!  He had lost one of his mittens and it was time for a new pair! 

If you'd like to make them too, here's what you'll need:

An old sweater (Thrifting for this would be fun!)

pencil

scissors

freezer paper (my new best friend)

iron

sewing machine

matching thread

the hands you'd like to mitt

Begin by laying out a piece of freezer paper and trace the hand in a mitten pattern onto it.  Leave a good 1/2 inch seam allowance around it and make sure to leave an inch allowance at the wrist.  Aren't Fender's little fingers cute?

Cut out the pattern and place on the sweater.  I used the bottom edge of the sweater since it had a naturally knitted pattern I thought would be cute for the wrist of the mitten.  Using a dry setting, iron the freezer paper pattern shiny side down onto the sweater.  The plastic on the shiny side creates a temporary bond to most fabric.  Fender added a little decoration to his pattern!

Cut out the pattern through both layers of the sweater.  Remove the freezer paper re-iron onto another area of the sweater and cut out the second mitten.  Cutting through both layers saves a lot of time, since you'll need 4 patterns for 2 mittens.

Putting right sides together pin the mittens with pin heads facing out for easy removal while sewing.

Then starting at the bottom edge sew a straight stitch around the perimeter of the mitten.  Slow down around the thumb and raise and lower the presser foot turning the mitten each time to create a smooth, round corner.  Be sure to lock your stitches at the edges when you begin and end.

I went around the mitten twice just to ensure the sweater stitches were locked and wouldn't fray.  Cut any extra seam allowance off to remove the bulk.  Repeat for the second mitten!

PS~I would normally use matching thread, but I used contrasting so you can see the stitches (curvy and imperfect for sure!)

Turn right side out and press the seams to finish the mittens!  They are as warm as the sweater you made them from!

I'm linking up to Funday Monday!  Check it out on the link above!

Happy Sewing!



Preserving Jellied Cranberry Sauce

I've converted dC into a cranberry sauce eater.  He hasn't been a fan, but this Christmas I decided to branch out and make my own jellied sauce from scratch.  Since cranberry season ends in December, I hit my local grocery store and bought some in order to preserve this deliciousness of the season.  And since dC got me 3 new types of  Weck Canning Jars for Christmas I could not resist trying my hand at canning the sauce!

You can find the recipe for the Jellied Cranberry Sauce here.

I love while the cranberries are cooking they begin to burst. At times it sounds like popcorn popping!

Using the Weck jars is a bit more complicated than the typical Ball jars since their lids are glass they are not self sealing. The end result is so pretty that I'd use these forever!  There is a great tutorial over at this blog how to use the jars. 

There are only two things I would add specifically to preserving cranberry sauce.  First it would be to strain the sauce into another container before ladling them into your jars.  This will help in consistency of flavor and is a lot less messy. 

 

The second would be to skim the pink foam off the top of the jelly before pouring in to the jars.  It just keeps the jelly clear and a beautiful deep red color!

I hope you take some time this season to preserve some of your favorite flavors!  Happy Canning!

Fortune Cookie Countdown

This year we are going to celebrate the countdown to Christmas with fun activities and events that we can do together as a family.  Fender and I put together a list of all of the things "Christmasy" we could do and I've added in a few bigger surprises for our family days off together. 

After I printed out the list (with specific numbers so that we weren't out late on a school night) I cut each of the activities into strips.  Then I whipped up a batch of fortune cookies and used these as the surprise inside.  I used this recipe here.

I left the number hanging out so that it would be easy for the kids to grab the correct one.  There are a few nights in there that I am very excited for (like ice skating and a movie at the drive in!) and can't wait to see their faces when they open them up!

 

 

A Splash of Love

We've been rocking the "Winter White" color all over the house since Christmas.  I felt it was time to add a splash of Valentine's Day love up in here!  And since our tree in the front of our house is covered in pussy willows, I decided to bring in some branches and create a tree of love!

I propped them inside a vase and then filled the inside of an old suitcase with lights, red books and my favorite find a quirky mason jar I found for 20 cents!  It's circular at the top and then graduates down to a smaller oval at the bottom and has a rusty heart twined around the mouth. 

Then Fender and I did a scavenger hunt for anything red to fit the occasion.  We found a felted bird that I had made years ago with little red feather wings...

A paper heart that Fender and I made last Valentine's day out of paper towels, food coloring and glue...

A coat hanger heart covered in yarn, glittered pears and other remnants of Valentine's past...

I think it turned out pretty cute and might become a tradition to "decorate the tree" each year!

Recycling your Christmas Tree

Every year when we recycle our Christmas tree I always wish there was something more I could do than just toss it to the curb!  So this year, with the help of my hubby dC, we cut it up and put most of it to a new use!

First thing we did was strip the top branches of the tree off to see what it looked like.  Well, I instantly thought bird feeder since there are so many small branches that could be used as perches!  So I made some bird seed paste out of Crisco, peanut butter, corn meal, and bird seed. 






 I tied some twine around the top of the branch after it was all trimmed and cleaned up and Fender helped me slap the paste on every little perch.

Then we hung it from our shed!

Not before Fender tried a little...

Now we'll have a little piece of the Holidays around all year!

Feathery Friend

I've coveted Martha's feather tree since I saw it in her holiday issue in 2008.  Every time I walk by the feather aisle in the craft store, I think of it.  This Christmas I got a gift card to Michael's from my secret Santa and I couldn't resist.  It's most fun to get weird frivolous things (like 10 pounds of clay and feathers) than glue sticks and glitter when you are spending a gift!

Mine turned out a bit more soft and less uniform than hers (I'm sure her feathers cost more than $2.50 a bag too!)  But I love how it turned out and my favorite part is the improvised tip that I made.  If you venture into making a feather tree here's a quick little top that is super simple and costs pennies to make!

Take a super small Styrofoam ball (mine come in a mixed set of balls at the dollar store) and pierce it with a toothpick.  Cover the entire ball with glue...

...then sprinkle it with glitter...

...and stick the pick into the center of the top of your cone (I saved money here by making one out of card stock).

Then add your feather tree to wherever you need a little more snow in your life!

Rice Tree

Yesterday we had our first snow.  Only a few inches but we get really excited around here when it snows because it tends not to stick around (pun intended!)  So to celebrate the color white (my fave!), winter, and the fact that my Christmas decorations are finally safely put away, I created a snowy white Rice Tree tree for my mantel.  If you'd like to make one too, here's what you'll need to do:

What you'll need:

Styrofoam tree

Styrofoam circle

cheap rice (I used Minute Rice)

twig

hot glue gun

white glue

glitter

dried moss

small pinecones

1.  Begin by covering your surface and prepare yourself for rice being EVERYWHERE!

2.  Cover the Styrofoam tree in white glue and then sprinkle rice all over (it sticks best if you do it in thirds and let it completely dry in between)  You could use hot glue, but with white glue Fender could help me!



3.  Once the entire tree is dried, add a second layer of rice over the entire thing.  This just makes it look more bumpy and natural like a snow covered tree.

Here's our finished tree (hard to see white on white) and my little peeker.

4.  Then venture outside for a straight twig that you'd like to use for a trunk and pierce the twig into the base of the tree and into the base of the Styrofoam.

5.  Because the tree is so top heavy, you'll need to hot glue the twig in place with a BIG glob.  It hardens like plastic and makes the tree sturdy against the base.

 6.  Then cover the tree in white glue again and sprinkle with glitter.  You could use any color at this point. 

7.  Once everything is dried and in place, cover the Styrofoam base with dried moss.  Add small pinecones to the moss if you'd like! 

Place it on your mantel or anywhere that needs a little winterizing!





Winter Bird Feeder

I remember doing this project with my mom as a kid, so I thought it would be fun to make some with my kids this Winter! 

We took peanut butter and spread it all over some pine cones that I bought at the dollar store (it's hard to find great pine cones around here!).  Then we sprinkled them with birdseed, tied them up with twine and hung them on our front porch.  None of us has had the patience to sit and witness any birds feeding off of them, but they were still fun to make!