Thrifty Thursday: Christmas Decor & More!

I know it's Friday! I meant to write this yesterday, but my trip into town lasted much longer than I had planned, so I ran out of time. It's been a while since I have done a "Thrifty Thursday" post, not for lack of things to share though! I just don't know how these ladies that blog daily have the time on top of everything else!

Anywho, I thought I would share a few tips for Christmas decor and my latest sewing project that will help with both our budget and our goal to be better stewards of this planet.

TAA DAAAA! Cloth "paper" towels! I've seen this idea before online, but the last time I saw it was a post that was linked up to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop. So Saturday I used the last of the paper towels, and thought that I hated to have to buy more. We're rather crunched for money this month and I'm cutting as many things from our budget as I can. So I looked at my dear hubby and said "What would you think of using cloth paper towels? I'm pretty sure I have all the material I need to make them." He thought for a moment and, to my surprise and joy, answered, "Sure. Can we keep a roll of regular paper towels for in case the cats get sick, though?" I agreed that that was a good idea, but they have to stay under the kitchen sink. And then I got busy hunting down some terry cloth I was pretty sure I had squirreled away.

Now, the terry cloth is not my choice of colors, but it was what I have, and I have YARDS of it! I decided to make some Christmas ones because I also have about 3 yards of that as well from years ago. I used the tutorial from My Healthy Green Family. I didn't do snaps, nor do I plan to. I just re purposed a small basket to hold them and set it right where the paper towel holder sat on the counter.

 If you are wiping up something that might stain and you want to keep them looking as nice as possible, rinse them in cool water immediately! Our first major spill was pizza sauce, and I figured that I'd have a stained one, but after wiping up the initial mess, I rinsed it out will cool water to finish cleaning up and there was hardly any discoloration. I was also surprised at the whole incident because it was Wheels that spilled the sauce and as he reached for a paper towel and realized it was a cloth one, I thought he'd sputter about it, but he just went with it without a complaint. I think it helps that they are on the same spot as the paper ones! Now I just need to make a wet bag for the dirties!

Here is another thrifty tip; tie your cupboards shut so your hubby and kiddos can't get to the food!!! Just kidding! This is a bow on the cabinet door that I made from some homespun fabric. This was a curtain that I had made years ago and haven't used in a long time, so I just cut a little notch and tore the hems off, then continued to tear strips off of. I've always wanted to do the bows on the cabinet doors, but have always been too cheap thrifty to buy the amount of ribbon I would need. Even if I hadn't re purposed this material and had bought it new, 1 yard would have cost less than a spool of ribbon and have been more than enough to do the job!

All of the cupboards along one wall. I think it looks so pretty and festive!

A bow in the middle of my DIY lighted garland in the living room. Our living room, dining room and kitchen are all open to one another, so using the same material through each "room" helps tie things together.



I used another strip of cloth around my canning jar caddy, which is also my utensil caddy. You can use what you have to add some festive flare to your home, too! The cream colored bowl is the usual bowl I use to hold our fresh fruit in, but I put it on top of the red cake stand to add some zip. And the egg basket is in it's usual place on the counter. I had the food processor on the counter, but decided to move it to clear some of the counter.

This isn't the best picture thanks to the glare, but this is a Christmas hymn/carol subway art. I've seen some on Pinterest, and there are some free printable ones, but I wanted to make my own. I used the Word Art in Microsoft Works on my laptop and added a bit of clip art as well. I printed it on some off white card stock. I made 2 subway art prints for our bedroom with the names of Jesus. They came out beautiful, if I may say so myself. And I made yet one more, in the living room.

The dinner menu board even got a Christmas makeover! This is just some computer paper I have. I was going to do a subway art print with all of the Christmas goodies we like and I make, but I didn't want to spend the time. And believe me, you can waste spend lots of time on this project. Of course, it wasn't until after I made the prints that I thought to look up free fonts in Pinterest. And I found many, but then I hit the mother load! Dafont.com has TONS of free fonts!! I even found fonts that look like the writing in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring series!! My geeky heart swelled with joy at the thought of making my own nerd subway art. (I totally admit to being a huge fan of the Tolkien books and movies. I even named one of our chickens Arwen and I dressed up as Frodo this past Halloween for the kids Book Character Parade at school. Never would have figured me for suck a wacko, huh?)

I hope this gives you some ideas!

Many Blessings,
Kelly

 

Christ Centered Crafts and Decorating for Christmas

This is our Advent wreath for this year. I know the candles aren't the traditional purple and pink, but I couldn't find them this year without running all over town and then spending a small fortune on a set. I have the colors in the table runner, so I'm not going to stress about having the "right" candles!

I added some twine to the gold ribbon, after removing the cardinals and red berries from last year. I like the juxtaposition between the earthy, humble twine and the shiny gold ribbon. It reminds me of the fact that my Lord and King humbled himself by becoming human and was born in a stable.

After scraping candle wax off the plate I use to set the wreath on, I decided to put some tin foil down to catch drips, and I thought it might help reflect some of the candle light.

I put down the Nativity table runner and put out our Christmas books. The kiddos are getting older, but I thought they might still want to look at them, and maybe they just might let me read one or two to them!

I wanted something Christmas-y for our living room art work. So using some scrap booking paper that I have had for a while, I put this together. I'm pretty pleased with it, even if my daughter thought it was a picture of a tipi at first glance!

A pocket chart about Advent. I realized that we have been celebrating Advent for a couple of years now, but I don't know as though I have really shared what it is all about with the kids. I purchased the pocket chart at the Dollar Tree. I just used scrap booking paper to make the candles and flames. the white strips came with the chart, so I just used those to write on. We'll attach the flames in correspondence to when we light the candles on out wreath. I'm going to add Scripture verses to go with each week's theme.

This morning after I finished baking and the kiddos had had a wonderful time playing together in the snow, they came in to hot cocoa and crafts!

This is a "Colors of Faith" Christmas tree. I've had the glittery foam trees for years, bought at Michael's when the value packs were 40% off. I purchased a package of  rhinestones at Jo Ann's to be used as "ornaments" on the trees. I just typed out what the colors represented. We used hot glue to attach the gems and a ribbon hanger.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to trace heart shapes onto red and white card stock. The kids used double stick tape to attach the hearts together and then added the candy cane sticker. I have to print out the "Legend of the Candy Cane" to go with these ornaments.

I admit to shamelessly copying this word for word from an ornament I saw in a catalog. It was a pre-made one, not one that you craft, so I used scrap booking paper to make this. The dark blue is actually a glittery paper, and the lighter blue is standard size card stock. I used Microsoft Word on my computer to type this up and used the clip art for the Baby Jesus picture. The star is a glittery foam sticker. I put 2 back to back over the twine hanger. Just a note, if you use the glittery card stock, you really need to use double stick tape to attach the other paper, a glue stick doesn't hold.

This year, after much inner debate, I finally decided to do a Jesse Tree again. Last year I printed out ornaments that we colored, and we used a poster tree. This year I used the same devotional so I knew what symbols to have and used Microsoft Word clip art for the ornaments. We'll hang them on a little evergreen tree that I have already. One of these days I would love to make some felt ornaments, but I just don't have the time (or energy!) for this year!

I hope that these gave you some ideas to use in your own homes, Friends! Have a lovely day.
Many Blessings,
Kelly

Home-Laid Nativity Set

Yes, you read it right. I am making a home-laid Nativity set from blown eggs!

What I have made so far. Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus and 2 of the wise men.
The stable is from The Dollar Tree. (I have no idea why they sell only
these little wooden stable, but no figurines!)

The happy couple, before delivery. (When I added this picture, the computer went
wacko, so the pic is a little wonky!)

Two of the 3 wise men.

This is not my original idea, I saw 2 blog posts over at Homestead Revival's Barn Hop #89 that showed egg Nativity scenes, and I just knew I had to make one for our family! Both the Chicken Chick and Fresh Eggs Daily posted how to make the Nativity set. Fresh Eggs Daily also shows some other Christmas crafts to make with eggs that are just lovely and I want to make, too!

I have wanted a Nativity set for a couple of years now, and either I couldn't find a set that I liked or it was out of our budget. I was originally going to make one out of the old fashioned clothespins, but I love the blown egg ones better. And I think I would have agonized more over the clothespin ones and it would have taken me much longer. And I wasn't sure how to make them stand up.

So, last night as our turkey soup was simmering away, I blew out the eggs and cleaned them. Then I cooked up scrambled eggs for the kitties, who normally will eat eggs, but of course didn't this time. Stinkers. Anyways, this morning I gathered up all the trimmings and fabrics I thought I would use and also found the little wooden discs that I glued the eggs to. It makes them nice an stable and will make it easier to add the "characters" to the scene. I'm going to put the manger on the shelf of our family faith wall, where Mary and Joseph will travel around the living room during Advent until Christmas Eve. Then I'll have one of the children put the manger in the stable, and Christmas morning we'll put Baby Jesus in the manger. I would like to do a devotional each night as a family as we move Mary and Joseph closer to their destination. I think it will make the Nativity more exciting for the kids, and make it more alive for them as well.

I'll be posting some more Christ centered Christmas crafts soon. I've been pretty busy getting things together to make crafts with the kids, so there is much to post. Hope you have a lovely day, Friends!

Many Blessings,
Kelly

Planning for Christmas and Advent

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, Friends. We had three lovely Thanksgivings, and now I am thankful it is Monday! All joking aside, we did have a wonderful holiday weekend filled with family and food. But I am truly thankful to get back into the swing of things today.

I usually do the weekly shopping on Mondays, but this week is a bit different. So I spent the time I am usually in town on other domestic pursuits. I ran the dishwasher and got a jump start on laundry day, which is tomorrow. Then I got out the sewing machine and made 2 lovely double sided table runners. See:

A beautiful Nativity print. I'm going to use it for a family altar, as soon
as I figure out where I want it!

St. Nicholas on the other side. The runner will be on this side for only a few
days before St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6.

Advent table runner. I knew I wanted a purple table runner for the dining room
table for Advent, since that is where we have our Advent wreath out. But do you think I
could find a purple Christmas print that did not have snowmen, etc. on it? Of course not!
But I found this lovely homespun fabric in purple, with bit of pink in it, and it has
pink and purple glittery threads running through it. It's absolutely perfect!

The flip side, for Valentine's Day, but I'm thinking I might flip it to this side on the 3rd week
of Advent, when we light the pink candle. We'll see!

I also started a notebook for Advent and Christmas ideas. I cut some pictures from a catalog of craft items because they gave me great ideas on somethings to make with the kids.

This way I don't have to keep the whole catalog, and I can write notes about any changes I'd make or materials I'd use. I plan on sketching some ideas for ornaments, too.

I have been working on my holiday planner, as well.

I had to add a new cover, and I'm working on the inside, too.When I have more done, I'll share.

Thanks to Joybilee Farm blog, I have gotten some new Kindle books on Advent and Christmas for FREE!! So far the ones that I have read have given me some ideas on how to celebrate and focus our family on the true reason for the season: Jesus. I'm still working on whether or not I want to try to do a Jesse Tree again this year, and looking to add other meaningful activities.

I'd love to hear from you and how you celebrate Advent and Christmas. You can leave a comment below, or "like" Homespun Inspirations on facebook.

Hope you have a lovely evening.

Many Blessings,
Kelly

Gettin' My Craft On!

Well, I've been meaning to write this post for a while, but in a way I'm glad it's taken me longer because I have more to show you! After 20 years of not having picked up a crochet hook, my Mom refreshed my memory, and I've been hooking my little heart out! To date I have made 4 scarves, 3 Kindle covers, a mug cozy, headband, cell phone cover, dish scrubby, 2 dish cloths, and more. Most of these are Christmas gifts. I am so excited to have relearned this!!

A scarf. This one isn't finished, I have details I want to add to it.

A Christmas set of table runner, dish cloth, dish scrubby and dish soap cozy.

A scarf-ette and headband. I have to add some buttons and make a set of hand warmers
to complete the ensemble.

A Kindle cover and mug cozy. Have to add the button to the mug cozy and I
am trying to think of what else to make to go with these. Any ideas?

Now, I'm not that prolific yet. I can really only do single crochet, sometimes I'll bust out a double if I feel adventurous for a row or 2, but I don't think I've done too bad so far. And I really am excited to be giving these to my loved ones. I usually sew gifts, but I don't have a space dedicated to sewing, so by the time I get every thing dragged out and situated, nearly half of my time is used up. I truly have to plan my sewing time. With crocheting, however, I can do it whenever, where ever. So I'm ahead on my Christmas gifts this year, and that is awesome!

I did some sewing back it late October, including this Thanksgiving table runner.
That's our one lonely pumpkin from our garden this year!

A Kindle cover for my Mom.

These are fleece hand warmer mitts that I made a friend for her birthday. I made little rice bags
that she can microwave and then place in the pockets of the mitts.

Some double sided little table runners for the end tables in our living room.

A double sided table runner for the coffee table.

Today I'm hoping to look through my craft items because I'd like to start making some ornaments with the kiddos to give as Christmas presents. I've got some cute ideas, and I'll share those soon. I'd really like to have a crafting night or 2 every week with them, but we'll see how it goes. Princess will be all for it, but I don't know about my boys!

That's all for now. I have house work and errands to get to. Have a wonderful day friends!
Many Blessings,
Kelly

Our Christmas in Pics

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front, but I was rather busy before Christmas. I worked at the school a couple of times and kept myself busy at the sewing machine making Christmas presents! Why is it that I always get my best ideas about a two to one and a half weeks before the holiday?

Anywhoooo, we had a lovely Christmas! Friday evening we went to our friends' home (a very sweet family and fellow keepers of chickens) for our church's annual caroling party. As always, it was wonderful to be with our church family. Christmas Eve we had my side of the family over for appetizers, a ham dinner and extremely yummy desserts. And of course we exchanged gifts! We ended to afternoon with a hilarious round of Shrek Mad-Libs.

The next morning I was surprised to be woken up at a respectable 6:15. Teddy Bear was the first up and asked Daddy if it was time to get his brother and sister. And so the wrapping paper went flying!

Teddy Bear with his "belly dumper" 18 wheelers. I asked the boys if they could only
get one present for Christmas, what would it be? This was TB's choice. It was a bonus that they were
Kenworth trucks!

Wheels' choice was a log truck. The one he really wanted was from a catalog,
but we didn't have the time to order it. We we able to find one at our
local Tractor Supply store. He was still very happy with it!

Princess wanted those  Xiu Xiu (spelling?) Pet sets. We weren't able to
 find any of the Pet sets, but we did find some of the Xiu Xiu Puppy sets
. (ON Clearance!!!!!!) She was still absolutely thrilled.

 

Daddy helping put together a Nerf gun for Wheels.

Our kitty Merlin sniffing for more of her Christmas cat nip.

Our three angels in front of the tree. (Teddy Bear was a little more
enthusiastic about the picture taking than his siblings.)

After breakfast we headed up to my DH parents' for more presents and dinner with them. again, we had a nice time. Then we headed home so the kiddos could play with their new toys and games. I layed down for a little while due to a back ache, and tried to fix a dinner of left overs; however, no one was hungry. We weren't able to go to the Christmas morning service at our church, so we lit our Advent wreath candles before singing a few Christmas hymns and saying a couple of prayers. The kiddos had a few more minutes to play before it was time to go to bed. And then we all went to bed.

So that was our Christmas. There was more laughing, talking, eating and even some crying than a blog post can convey, of course. But, that's our Christmas here on our hill.

Blessings,

Kelly

Homemade Christmas Gifts from the Sewing Machine

Re-usable shopping bags.

Barbie or small stuffed animal sleeping bags, pillows and area rugs.

I used a decorative stitch on the white pillows.

Happy Thursday. Friends! due to a busy schedule and health issues, I haven't been able to get to blog posts lately. But I have quite a bit to share, so I hope you can take a few minutes to sit with a cup of tea (or cocoa or coffee) and have a read!

I've been busy the last 2 days on the sewing machine making gifts. I have 6 reusable shopping bags made for some of the ladies in my life. These went together easily, and I still have more to make. I used gross grain ribbon for the handles to make these come together quicker.

I also made the adorable  "sleep over" set for my daughter. I can't wait for her to see them. They are wide enough that she can use the sleeping bags for either her small stuffed animals or her Barbie dolls. I even made a little bag for her to keep the set in. If I have enough time before Christmas, I'd like to make her some other accessories to go with this set.

Teddy Bear decorating himself, before the tree!

The garland is on the kids' tree.

Wheels adding another ornament.

Princess making some last minute adjustments.

This past Saturday we got the Christmas decorations out of their crawlspace. The kids put up their little tree in the boys' room and decorated it. I controlled myself and did not utter a single word as they wrapped the garland around and then placed the ornaments. This is their tree. (Have I ever mentioned my Martha Stewart tendencies? It extends to Christmas trees. So instead of scarring my children for life and traumatizing them so that they never even want to look at a Christmas tree, they have their tree and I have mine- o.k. technically the families, but I get to be fussy about it!) The kids and Daddy put the big tree up in the living room on Sunday after church, while I watched. I was not feeling well, and tree decorating is not my DH thing, so we didn't get lights or ornaments on it until Tuesday.

Monday evening my DH and his cousin, along with some help from Wheels, butchered a deer. Despite all of our efforts, (well, n=mostly my DH efforts!) we didn't get our own deer this year; however, DH co-worker's son got a small buck on the last day of muzzle loader season. As it was his second deer for the year, he gave us the WHOLE thing!!! I didn't keep track of how many bags went into the freezer, but we have quite a bit of venison in the freezer now. I bought a meat grinder, so I'm hoping to make some sausage soon.

That's all for now. I still have more to share, but it's time to go take some ibuprofen. Have a lovely evening!
Blessings,
Kelly

Our Jesse Tree

Our Jesse Tree, before the velcro dots were added.

Velcro dots and out first ornament.

Happy Saturday, Friends! I sincerely apologize about bagging on you all for my Wednesday post. (Because I know you were all just on pins and needles waiting for it, right?! ;0) ) Wheels was home for his 3rd day in a row, and I had had to make a 2 am run to the pharmacy for some Benedryl for him. I was a very sleepy Mama with a lot to do around the house because I had a Four Winds class Thursday and worked on Friday. Blogging just didn't fit into the picture, unfortunately!

Anywhoo, I was able to make our Jesse Tree. In previous posts I had mentioned that I wanted to start this tradition, but wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do about making one. Due to time and budget restraints, I went with a poster board Jesse Tree. (Boy, I sound like I work for the government, don't I!) I had the red and green poster board already, and I printed out the ornaments from the computer for free. I have plenty of different colored card stock to back the ornaments. The only thing I had to purchase was some Velcro dots. So for a grand total of $2.47 we have a Jesse Tree!

I folded the green poster board in half length wise, and using a ruler, calculator, pencil and eraser, I measured out an even Christmas tree. (Yes, my Ms. Martha Perfect tendencies were in high gear!!!) Then Wheels used a glue stick to glue it to the red p.b. I measured where the Command strip hooks were on our bedroom door and used a hole punch to make holes to hang it from. Before I punched the holes, I reinforced the area with some clear packing tape on the back so it wouldn't rip easily. Then I counted out 25 Velcro dots, one for each ornament, but it wasn't symmetrical, so I added a 26th dot. I'm going to scale down one of our family photos to use as an ornament for the day after Christmas, because once you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour, you are then a part of His Family Tree! I thought that this would be a meaningful lesson for them.

This is where I got our free printable ornaments from. I really like these because they are all the same size, are paper economical, and easy images for the kids to color. So far, Princess and I have been the only ones interested in coloring the ornaments. Then I cut them out and glue them to a piece of card stock that is slightly larger, so you can see the color, and cover it with clear contact paper. I trim off any excess and add a Velcro dot. The download for the ornaments comes with a chart with Scripture verses for each ornament, but I wanted a little more for our time with the Jesse Tree. My pastor's wife and very dear friend shared this link for a free eBook on how to celebrate Advent with a Jesse Tree. This ebook has devotional readings for 28 days, but we didn't start our Jesse Tree until December 1st, so I'll just skip the "extra" pages. The reason I liked this one was because, first of all, it is free! But secondly, and more importantly, It includes a Scripture reading, a prayer, and a song. I only printed out the pages of the devotional section of the eBook, and managed to print out 2 pages of the eBook onto one piece of paper, then I cut the sheets in half, so I have a compact little devotional.

Well, that's all for now! I hope you all have a lovely evening.
Blessings,
Kelly