Creating Christmas day 5-Welcome to Jaime from Wayward Girls Crafts!

Today I am so proud to introduce to you, not only a fantastic blogger, crafter, and scrapbook extraordinaire, but also my FANTASTIC friend Jaime from Wayward Girls' Crafts! This girl and I go way back to the college days and we know stuff about each other that could make you blush so maybe we should just leave the introductions at that-for my sake anyway! :) Welcome Jaime, to day 5 of our Creating Christmas event!

Hi Love Sweet Love and The Girl Creative readers! Thank you for having me here. I'm Jaime or Just Jaime from Wayward Girls' Crafts. I love repurposing, scrapbooking, home solutions, and crafting frugally. I’m so happy to be guest posting on Angela’s blog. We have been real life friends since our husbands were in school and we lived in the same complex. With our other friend, Maranda, we formed “JAM,” “JAM” took a dance class together, watched a whole season of American Idol and had tons of late night chats. We all moved away and I miss it. Ok so anyways, I should get to my craft and stop reminiscing!

I wanted to make a fun ornament with these seed beads I've had for ever! It was so easy, I think it'd be a great project for kids too.

Start with a flat ornament; kinda hard to tell this is a round, flat ornament. I got mine from Hobby Lobby for 50% off.



Pour some seed beads into the container the ornaments came in. This makes the perfect container!



Paint the ornament with Mod Podge.



Put the ornament in the container. The good thing about the container is that it’s a perfect circle! Carefully take it out and allow it to dry. Add a bow and you’re set!



It kind of looks like a sugar cookie with sprinkles to me. What do you think?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think it's GORGEOUS-definitely too pretty to eat! :) My kids would have SO much fun doing this, I can't wait to try it for our next craft day!!! I know I swore I wouldn't make anymore crafts hunny, but...it's for the kids and how can you say no to the kids?!

Thank you Jaime for spending the day with me here today, if we can't be together crafting in person I guess this will have to suffice! Make sure to stop by Wayward Girls' Crafts where Jaime crafts with her 3 beautiful sisters and momma (whose equally as beautiful!!!)! And thank YOU for stopping by today too and sharing one of my bestest friends with me! I'll be back tomorrow sharing one of my very own Christmas projects with you, see ya then!

*Don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple necklace giveaway going on now!**

Creating Christmas day 4-Welcome to Courtney from Between U and Me

How is your week going?!?! Are you finding lots of Christmas inspiration around blogland?!?! My house is so full of Christmas cheer I think we might all burst at the seams and then I see just ooooone more project I just have to do! ha ha...I just have to keep telling myself there's always next year and that's why I have Pintrest-to keep track of all my lovely ideas!

Well today I have ANOTHER fun blogger to dazzle you with inspiration for day 4 of our Creating Christmas week!

I am happy to introduce you to (if you don't already love and ADORE her) miss Courtney of Between U & ME, take it away girlfriend...


Hi Love Sweet Love readers! I am Courtney, the girl behind Between U & Me! I am a big fan of Angela's and I enjoy coming to hang out at Love Sweet Love to see all the awesomeness she has in store for us! I am constantly inspired by her and I am truly honored to be here today!

Over at Between U & Me, I really try and focus on cost conscious ways to make my house in to a home and really great DIY/craft projects that are easy to do and kid-friendly. Here is an example of the kind of stuff you can see over here at my blog home: Between U & Me

Today, I'm going to do a super easy tutorial on how to make a very awesome centerpiece for your table. Actually, it could really go anywhere,... it's just so purdy. Okay let's get started:

What you'll need:

3 Boxes Candy Canes

1 Glass cylindrical vase

Alotta hot glue

Flowers to put in your vase

Red ribbon

1 Spearmint


1. Wipe off your glass vase. (If yours is anything like mine was, it has dust all over it.)

2. Unwrap your candy canes and carefully position the first one on the vase and determine how tall you would like it. I cut about a 1/4 inch off the bottom of most of mine. Make sure you put each candy can up to the glass before you glue it down, to see if it needs to be trimmed. Candy canes are not identical, like I thought they were. Some are shorter than others.

3. Continue to go around the vase, gluing as you go.

4. Wrap a pretty piece of ribbon around the vase and place a spearmint in the very front.

5. To finish it off, place a pretty bouquet of flowers in it and enjoy what you've just created!

I hope you're having a great day!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isn't that just gorgeous?!?! Courtney's blog is FULL of beautiful, original projects that are so inspiring! You must stop by and see what she's got going on over there-including a weekly Crazy Cute linky party on Thursdays! Thanks for helping me out today Courtney!

And, as always, thank YOU so much for stopping by today I'm so glad you're here!! See you back here tomorrow for day FIVE of Creating Christmas where the fun will continue with some craftiness from the Wayward Girls!

**Don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple necklace giveaway going on now!**

Shabby Apple Giveaway here at Love Sweet Love!!!!

We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Shabby Apple Necklace!

That's right my lovely Sweet Love friends, all your Christmas dreams are about to come true in the form of a GORGEOUS antique brass, vintage, reproduction skeleton key from Shabby Apple.

{win this Key to Wonderland necklace}

Are you swooning yet? Consider me swooned. And then some. I am LOVING the look of vintage keys right now, and when the kind ladies at Shabby Apple asked me if I'd like to give away a piece of their oh-so coveted jewelry collection, I banged my knee because I jumped out of my chair so fast and then I didn't know what to do so I kissed my computer (which was a first for me)-as a thank you. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the Key to Wonderland and I knew she was the one that had to come back to Love Sweet Love with me as a Christmas gift to you from Shabby Apple and I!

While I was perusing around this beautiful online boutique I came across a few other things -Ya know, since I've been so good this year-that I wouldn't mind ending up with under my Christmas tree(Mr. Sweet Love start reading now)....

I am obsessed with rings, and this little Spring Ring needs to find its way onto my finger pronto.


And how perfect would this Dark Secrets Of Wonderland bracelet be with the Key to Wonderland necklace in this giveaway?


And EVERY girl needs a little black dress-how gorgeous is this black Beverly Hills number?!


But if you prefer white they've got ya covered! (although I'm not sure I would recommend wearing a white dress out in the country amidst horses...or around children)

{Freshwater Pearl }

And for all you Mama Apples out there, they've got your back too, with some hot, little, flirty pieces you just might need for your holiday party!

{Finding out}

Sooooo, one of YOU lovely girls (or guys-do we see some husbands/boyfriends out there shoppin' for your woman?! Make them enter too!) will win the Key to Wonderland necklace!

Here's how to make those Christmas dreams come true...

REQUIRED ENTRY:
-'Like' Shabby Apple on Facebook (which will let you know about special promotions and discounts!!) and come back here and leave a comment telling me you did so

Additional entries (make sure to leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry):

• 'Like' Love Sweet Love on Facebook (I just joined FB a week ago-how's that for outta the loop! ha ha!)

• Share this giveaway with your either your facebook friends, blog friends or twitter friends
  

• Tell me what's #1 on your Christmas list this year!

• It's not a requirement to follow me for this giveaway, but if you'd like to-or already are- I'll give ya an extra entry :)
  

Did I mention that I. am. SOOOOO Jealous?! Cause I am! This beauty rings in at a retail value of $52 and can be yours for $0.00 if the number is right (you know like...if random.org draws YOUR number). This giveaway will be open until Monday Dec. 12 at midnight. A winner will be chosen and announced on Tues. Dec. 13th...will it be you?

Can't wait till Dec. 13th?? OR maybe you find that perfect vintage jewelry piece for that perfect person, use the code "sweetlove10off" to get 10% off your purchase! This code will expire in 30 days.

Please note...
-This giveaway is open to US residents only
-There will be no exchanges for the winning piece of jewelry

Creating Christmas Day 3-Welcome to Felicia from All Things Fee

Hello my friends!!! We're back today with MORE Christmas fun for day 3 of Creating Christmas!

I was SO happy when Felicia offered to help me out this week since I've been a blog follower, party go-er (she has a weekly linky party every Monday!!), and crafty lover of her blog All Things Fee since I started blogging! You will LOVE her project today, so I better let her get started!! Take it away girl...


Hello Love Sweet Love Friends!

I'm Felicia and I create, cook and play over at All Things Fee!

Thanks Angela for letting me stop by today, and share what I have been Creating for Christmas so far this year!

Normally, I am finishing creating, and wrapping my presents at the last moment. But not this year!

I have to say I have presents done, wrapped and ready, AND made my boys hats and sweaters as photo options for our Christmas card. Which I also have done, and will share the hats here today!

Here's how I got it all done, hopefully it will help you too!

It all started months ago, when I saw this adorable elf hat for babies. Knowing I would have a little man ( he will be four months on Christmas day!) I knew I had to have one, or two ( for big brother)!

Following the pattern exactly for Wyatt's hat,

and then working off of it for Carter's (he'll be three in February!).

In no time I had two adorable hats!

Switching up the colors to traditional red and green, it became the perfect Christmas elf hat!

Once I finished, I got to work attempting to photograph my boys.

Man was it hard with two this year!

And I doubt it will get any easier for a couple years!

After some bribery and treats and tantrums I think we found a winner!

Now, to create the card!

This was the easiest part, since I was able to get a freebie from My Memories Facebook page a couple weeks back! Just had to insert my photo of choice and send off to get printed. Perfect!

If you need an easy program to create cards or scrapbook pages in, check out My Memories! It's super simple to work with, and like I said if you like them on Facebook they give out Freebies all the time!

(ordering My Memories? use promo code: STMMMS97848 for $10 off the program, and $10 off in the shop!)

( Please do not use photos of my boys without permission! )

Hope this gives you some ideas to get your Christmas cards started, and finished!

Thanks again Angela for having me come visit!

I've got more Christmas Creations up my sleeve, so I hope some new friends will stop by either on Facebook, or my blog! I love seeing fresh new faces!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How adorable are those hats?!?! And her sweet little babies...oh yum! Preciousness!! Go visit her blog and give her some love because....EEEK she's so talented! Thank you for helping me out this week Felicia, I've loved having you here!

Don't forget to check the host of this events blog, The Girl Creative, for more GREAT Christmas ideas that she's daring to create instead of pin, as well as the 14 other co-hosts!!

I hope you're busy CREATING something yourself to link up to our party this weekend because you CAN do it, and you don't have to be "crafty" to create something beautiful!! Can't wait to see whatchya got! See ya back here tomorrow for another FANTASTIC guest post that will give you some great inspiration for a festive centerpiece! ;)

Creating Christmas day 2- Welcome to Isa from The M(agic) Chart!!

I'm so happy to introduce you to my new friend Isa, all the way from the Island of Malta, who blogs at The M(agic) Chart!! She's here to continue on with our week of Creating Christmas to show us a great felt project (and you all know how I love my felt!!) for day 2!


Take it away Miss Isa!!!


Hi everybody:)

I am Isa from The M(agic) Chart.

Today I am here to show you how you can do these great felt boxes you can use in so many different ways!

So, the first thing you need is to download the template I created to make things easier for you. Just click here and download the file.

Did you print it already? Good!

Now go get yourself your hard felt sheets, your glue gun and scissors and some clothes pins.

Cut the felt as shown in the template (circular shape with 6 cuts from the periphery until half the way to the middle of the circle):

If you want your box to look more like a cupcake you can do 8 cuts, as long as the space between the cuts is always the same, like I did here:

Once your cuts are all done, pour some hot glue along one side of the cut...

Get the other side and glue it. To make sure it stays safe, get a clothes pin to make that job:

Continue doing the same with the other cuts and in the end you'll have this:

Allow the glue to dry and... Voilá!

Pretty simple, right? You can use this box in many different ways and not only for Christmas, of course! I did some to keep my daughter's hair clips as you can check here.

Or you can use them to decorate your house for Christmas (I added a bit of glitter on the borders and inside to hide the glue):

Or you can even put a special little gift inside them!

This is my gift to you! I hope you enjoy it and I wish you all the best Christmas ever!

Thank you so much Angela for having me here to share my little project!

Kiss,

Isa
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wouldn't these be perfect to take little neighbor treats in, or to send your kid to school with treats for their friends or teachers?! You could embellish with buttons and bows to dress them up, or keep them simple as is and either way they rock! Thanks for helping us create Isa! Make sure to pop by and give this girly some love (especially since her birthday was yesterday!!) from Love Sweet Love!

And Thank YOU for popping in for a looksy today, see you back here tomorrow with an ADORABLE clothing item idea you can whip up for your littles (or yourself!!) this Christmas, have a Sweetly Lovely Monday!!

Creating Christmas {Don't Just Pin, CREATE!}

WAHOOOOO it's finally here, our week of Creating Christmas!!! For the next 7 days you will find some FANTASTIC Christmas projects and ideas here at Love Sweet Love and I'm so excited to show you the projects my guest posters have been working on! But the fun's not all here, as I'm co-hosting this event with The Girl Creative and 14 other bloggers who you can follow along with this week as well!!!

The idea behind this whole week is to not just pin things, but to START creating them!! I love that motivation and couldn't wait to be apart of this event! Sooooo hopefully this week you will find inspiration here, and at the homes of all the other bloggers, as we took the dare to create something, and YOU will get out there and create something yourself! Make sure to blog about your creations so you can link them up to our HUGE Christmas linky party at the end of the week! I can't wait to see what you come up with too!!!!!!

To kick things off this week I wanted to share the Advent Calendar and 24 Christmas Activities I made and posted over at Midwestern Sewing Girl last week for those of you who didn't get a chance to swing by then....

I Love LOVE Love everything about Christmas! The decorations, the lights, the music, the colors, the smells, giving gifts, mistletoe :), and the pure JOY and excitement that those 24 days leading up to it entail! I created a fun way to help your sweet families kick off your Christmas season and squeeze every ounce of tradition, laughter, service and creativity out of the month of December...a Christmas Advent with 24 Christmas activities.


I first got this idea, of using a muffin tin, from my sweet neighbor (who's not a blogger :) ). I've been wanting to make an advent for the last TWO Christmas's but couldn't find the *perfect* one for us, so when I saw this style I knew it would fit our family perfectly! I got on pinterest (BAD idea) to see if I could find an example of how to make one-thinking just because I hadn't seen it before it would be a rare, if not original, idea. HA! (Is there anything now that hasn't been done in some way before?!?!) Sooooo, there are LOTS of muffin tin advent ideas on pinterest if you care to look, but I was surprised to find that a lot of them are just for sale, or no tutorials are offered along with the picture.

SO just in case you ARE interested in the 'how-to', I have written up a tutorial with some pictures to walk you through it. This would be the perfect sort of advent to make if you're looking to do something quick, cheap, easy and FuN!
Supplies:

You'll start with:
-A mini 24 cupcake muffin tin (about $5 at Walmart)
-A few sheets of scrapbook paper and coordinating cardstock
-embellishments (stickers, buttons, ribbon, etc)
-Magnet roll
-glue dots

If you have a device that cuts paper (cricut, silhouette, punches,etc) this will be LOADS easier for you :). I started by cutting out 24 small circles (using my cricut) to place into the bottom of each muffin tin.


I used mini glue dots to adhere them to the pan.
**TIP**since mine is a non-stick tin just one glue dot doesn't hold it in place so you'll need to use about 3 per circle.


I wasn't sure if I was going to hang mine up or just string some ribbon through it for a little added embellishment, but either way I needed 2 small holes at the top of the pan, so the hubby drilled them right out for me! :) (you can buy pans with holes already in them, but they're about double the price)


Next I cut 12 scalloped and 12 regular circles out of 4 different types of holiday paper big enough to cover the hole. (my paper is from Hobby Lobby) I also cut 24 smaller circles out of cardstock to place one on top of each of the bigger circles so the numbers would stand out better.


Then I decided to vintagey them up a smidge so I used some brown ink and a paper towel to distress up the sides of all the paper circles. (I did not use the circle below as it turned out to be a total flop-ha! It took me a couple tries to figure out what I was doing!)


To get the look below, I found that I needed to press the paper towel into the ink and then, while the paper circle was lying flat on another paper towel, lightly swoosh the ink, quickly, back and forth around the outer perimeter of the circle. (I'm sure you all already know this but just in case there are some newbie ink distresser's out there... :) )


I think the added step gives it JUST the touch it needs to add some character to the project!


And then the BEST part about this project...embellishing!!! This is where this project becomes ALL your own!! Your style, your talent, your ideas shine through right now and it doesn't matter how many of these you find online, yours will be unique and special to you!


Detail is everything to me! I love a little bling here, a little saying there, a little glitter pretty much everywhere! So for mine, I made sure to include little tags on the presents that say 'from santa' (they were stickers I didn't actually MAKE all the tags-ha ha even I'm not that crazy), glittery numbers (stickers) for the countdown, tree toppers, tags (cut from my cricut) with some of our favorite Christmas songs hand written on them, your imagination is the limit!!


Once each circle is decorated the way you want it and they're all numbered you're ready to add some magnet to the back. I used a magnet roll I already had and just cut pieces off of it and that white part peels off and it sticks right to your paper! So easy!


Behind each day is a *Kiss* and an activity to do for that day (24 activities at the end of this post). The Christmas season is always busy so I didn't want this to become something that stressed us out and made us feel obligated to add ONE more thing to our day, so most of these activities are things we would already be doing, it just make it more fun to pull it out of a tin and get a treat! :)


And that's all!


You could whip this up in 1 or 2 days EASY and your kids will LOOOOVE it, I promise!




My kids have been DYING to start doing this right away since we put it up this weekend! They love opening the little magnet "doors" and seeing their treat in there waiting for them!




I opted to set mine on an easel to display and just tie a simple bow on the top because I think there's enough going on on the advent itself and a fancy bow on top would just be distracting. Buuuut if you did simpler embellishments, a big poofy, sparkly bow would be perfect! :)

24 Christmas Activities:

1. Put the star on the top of the Christmas tree
2. First gift of Christmas
   *Our first gift of Christmas is a gift we set aside for our Savior. We each write down what we would like to *give* Jesus this year (talk kinder to our siblings, do one act of service everyday, etc.) and we put all the papers in a gift box and put it under the tree. A great reminder of 'the reason for the season'!
3. Write letters to Santa
4. Watch the First Presidency devotional
   
5. Decorate Gingerbread Houses
6. Make a Christmas craft
7. Serve a neighbor
8. Snow day (sledding, build snowman, etc)
9. Leave love notes for daddy around the house
10. Christmas craft
11. Drive around to see Christmas lights in the neighborhood
12. Pick out and donate toys to an organization
13. Start our '12 days of Christmas' project for a needy family
    
14. Go see the newest Christmas/kids movie at the theater
15. Baking Day
16. Go out to dinner and anonymously pay for another family's meal
17. Deliver Christmas treats/goodies to friends and neighbor's
    
18. Invite a new family or widow over for dinner
19. Christmas craft
20. Go see Santa
21. Christmas movie with popcorn night at home
22. Go to Salt Lake City to see the lights on Temple Square
23. Read Christmas stories by the tree with Hot Chocolate and cookies
24. Open one present!

25. Merry Christmas! (our family pic last year :) )


Thank you SO much for stopping in today, I just love having you here sharing all this Christmas spirit with me!! Tomorrow we have a GREAT versatile idea from a guest poster that you won't want to miss! See ya then! ;)

Linking up to these great parties as well as: