DIY 3 Votive 4x4 Wooden Candle Holder

Hello,  happy Tuesday after a Monday holiday!  I always love a short work week!  I had a fantastic long weekend.  I got some fun Valentine's projects started and also played with some mixed media for Art to the 5th's "Documented Life Project 2015".  It's a mixed media journaling project. Last year, I joined but silently (and probably creepily!) watched rather than participated.  This year I decided to jump in and participate, which has really put me out of my artistic comfort zone and pushed me to try and learn lots of new techniques.  I'm LOVING it!  I plan on sharing some of my journal pages later. Anywho, yesterday Hubs and I went on a road trip to the beautiful Park City Utah and had a wonderful day.  I love weekends where I get to be creative, make cute things and get some quality family time in!

Today I am sharing the votive holder that Hubs and I made for family for Christmas gifts.  It was super easy and I just adore how it turned out:

We used 4x4's, sized and drilled the holes for the votive's then sanded, painted, and stained the wood.  Added the cute twine wrap, candles and burlap flower.  That's it!  So stinking easy!

It looks darling on my table as a center piece.  I get happy every time I look at it!

Joy Block Christmas Gift & Decoration

Each year Hubs and I put a lot of thought into what to make for our friend and coworker gifts for Christmas.  We love, love, love making things and try really hard to come up with a product that is well done and that everyone will love as much as we do.

Last year we made these Joy blocks:

We used 2x6 blocks, Mod Podged scrapbook paper on, then added the 3x3 thin wood squares for the center.  We purchased the cute vinyl "Joy" pattern from the Silhouette website.  To finish them off, we couldn't find any pre-made toppers that we loved, so we just made our own using burlap, berries, pine cones, tree garland and leaves:

They were a hit, everyone seemed to really like them!  Mine looks darling in my hutch:

This is my Christmas Hutch for 2014:

I just adore this time of year!!!

DIY Planter Boxes

I was so excited about our Mother's Day gifts this year!  I ask hubs to cut wood for and assemble four wooden planter boxes.  As always he did a fabulous job!  Once they were all assembled, we painted, sanded, and antiqued them and then added drawer handles.  For a final touch, we cut each person's last name out in vinyl on the Silhouette and put them on the front of each box.  Finally, we put flowers in and filled them with Spanish moss.  I love, love, love the way they turned out!

Everyone seemed to love them!

Linked to:
whatever-goes-wednesday
wow-me-wednesday
flusters-creativemuster
under-100-link-party
Put A Bird On It
made-by-you-monday
spring-crafts-Monday Funday
masterpiece-monday
craftastic-monday

Scrabble Tile I Love You Frame

My latest Valentines Day Craft:

I just used a $1 heart frame that I got at Michael's, painted the outside edge and inside of the heart then, covered it with scrapbook paper.  I used glitter paper on the inside heart, glued the scrabble tiles and embellishments on, inked and sanded around all of the edges and ta-da!  Done :)

Easy Sneezy! And, it looks super cute with all of my other Valentine decor :)

Linking to:
craft-o-maniac
made-by-you-monday
gmtg-link-party
nifty-thrifty-tuesday
time-sparkle-link-party
too-cute-tuesday
take-look-tuesday
wow-me-wednesday
whatever-goes-wednesday
flusters-creative-muster

More Easy Friend or Neighbor Gifts...

I'm always stressed about what to do for neighbors and my kiddo's friends for gifts.  Here are a few recent and relatively easy & inexpensive) DIY gifts that I made:


Noel Block:

Decorated Wood Letters that are also picture holders (perfect for girls!):

Another example:

Twine Wrapped Star hanger, made from gluing paint sticks into a star shape (this can also be done on a much smaller scale to make ornaments by using Popsicle sticks):

Ice Cream Basket:

And finally, for your dog loving friends/neighbors:

Linked to:
mad-skills-party
give-goods-link-party
coastalcharm./christmas-home-tour-party
time-sparkle-link-party
too-cute-tuesday
take-look-tuesday
flusters-creative-muster
wow-me-wednesday

Christmas Countdown

I love, love, love, Christmas decorations!  I was so excited for Christmas this year that I made this Christmas countdown back in October:

It was super easy!  I used a board that I already had and painted the edges white. Then, I Mod Podged the chevron paper to the back of the board, cut my vinyl from my Silhouette Cameo, painted a square piece of wood with chalkboard paint and then added all of the embellishments.  I also antiqued around the edge of the board.

The chalkboard makes it easy to change the days without having to find the right numbers:

The cute little Santa is just a 3D sticker and the Believe is actually a Christmas ornament:

I liked it so much that I even made one for my sister!

Linking to:
craft-o-maniac-monday
made-by-you-monday-
mad-skills-party
give-goods-link-party
nifty-thrifty-tuesday
time-sparkle
too-cute-tuesday
show-ya-got
take-look-tuesday
flusters-creative-muster
whatever-goes-wednesday
dandelion-wishes-wednesday
wow-me-wednesday

Easy Father's Day Gift From Kids...

I haven't done very much crafting lately (insert sad face here...)  I've been super busy with life, the kiddo's finishing up school for the year, my niece's wedding and showers, we took a fantastic trip to California and have just been busy enjoying the beautiful mountains here in Utah.  I am really going through some major craft withdrawls so, I need to get my fix!!!

Anywho, Hubs got his Father's Day gift early, he got spoiled rotten with lots of accessories for his new baby, (a 4wheeler).  Since he has already opened those gifts, the kids and I decided we wanted to have something to give to him on the actual day, so we put this together (he doesn't read this blog very often, so I'm hoping he doesn't see this early!):

The base is 4 boxes of Sugar Babies hot glued to a floral foam cube, then I glued tissue paper to the top and added lots of curling ribbon.  I taped the candy bars to plastic drink mixer sticks and stuck them into the foam.  That's it!  Super easy and would be a great gift for pretty much any occasion!

Frame with Sister Quote....

My cute friend wanted to us a specific quote for her sister's birthday, so she asked me to come up with a cute way to turn it into a gift for her.  Here is what I came up with:

Simple, yet perfect!

Linking to:
craft-o-maniac-monday
& creative-bloggers-party-hop
& all-my-bloggy-friends
& show-me-what-ya-got
& take-look-tuesday
& whatever-goes-wednesday
& wednesdays-adorned-from-above-blog-hop
& show-off-your-stuff-party
& creative-inspirations-linky-party
& under-100-linky-party

Wedding Tile With Vinyl...

A couple of wedding tiles that Hubs & I recently made with the Silhouette:

These make excellent wedding or anniversary gifts and can be done on tiles, plates, frames, wood... The possibilities are endless :)

Valentine Candy Bouquet...

We love, love, love chocolate covered cinnamon bears! A dear friend's sister passed away this week and she has been on my mind a lot. There isn't much one can do or say that would make the pain go away, but this friend and I share our love for those tasty treats so instead of sending flowers, I decided to make her a candy bouquet. This would also make a wonderful Valentines gift:

I wrapped it in cellophane and tied ribbon around it to finish it off:

Chocolate can make anyone's day better right?!

2x4 Santa Claus...

                                                                My 2x4 Santa Claus:

I think he turned out darling!!!

                                                                 His hat has a pom pom around the bottom of it.

                                                         His belt has a cute gold buckle and the base says Ho Ho Ho...

                                                                    His beard, mustache and hat band are textured...

2x4 crafts are my favorite, I just love to look at a 2x4 and find a way to turn it into a cute crafty!!!

Linking up to:
whatever-goes-wednesday
& wow-me-wednesday
& creative-inspirations-linky-party
& beyondthepicketfence
& freedom-fridays
& rustic-restorations-weekend-linky
& dianarambles/pin-me-13
& a-crafty-soiree

Vintage Ho Ho Ho Blocks....

Hubs and I made these cute vintage Ho Ho Ho blocks for some of our friends for Christmas this year:

We used two different shades of red and therefore, two different ribbons for the bows on top. This is #2:

They totally take me back to the old style Christmas look from my childhood :)

Pleated Book Page Ornaments. Great Neighbor Gift.

This years neighbor gifts.  I made book page ornaments:

                                                                                  Some have stockings on them.

Some have little santa hats.

I made a whole bunch of them and will be attaching them to bags filled with homemade chocolates. I think it's the perfect neighbor gift!

Linking to:
rustic-restorations-weekend-linky-party
& link-up-with-me-liz-marie
& creative-inspirations-linky-party
& dianarambles

Easy Friend/ Neighbor Gift....

My December plate of the month is a perfect gift to give adult friends, neighbors and co-workers:

It's super easy to make. Wrap it in some cellophane (make sure to include an easel for it) tie the cellophane with a cute ribbon and add a cute gift tag and you're done!

Linking to:
dianarambles-pin-me
& somedaycrafts-christmas
& craft-o-maniac-monday
& creative-bloggers-party-hop
& its-craft-christmas-link-party
& m-m-m-134
& take-look-tuesday
& will-see-it-wednesday
& wow-me-wednesday
& under-100-linky-party

Wedding Gift Sign...

The first of my 19 year old daughter's best friends from school got married this past month (YIKES!), so I made her this gift to give her:

                                                                    Obviously their last name and wedding date...

I hope they loved it and wish Mr. & Mrs. Shields a lifetime of love, health and happiness!

Linking to:
craftomaniac-monday
& m-m-m-129
& creative-bloggers-party-hop

Forever, For Always, No Matter What Plaque...

I made this for a dear friends birthday:

Of course, I used my Silhouette...I hope she loves it!

Linking to:
take-look-tuesday
& tipjunkie
& mad-skills-link-party
& creative-bloggers-party-hop-
& craft-o-maniac-monday
& m-m-m-117
& lil-luna
& create-and-share
& (House of Hepworths)
& show-off-your-stuff