Painted Vases

My DIY post for frosted wine glasses seemed to be a favorite amongst Design Your Dwelling readers and followers!  Since that post was such a success I thought I would pass along some DIY painted vase ideas to decorate your home or even give as a gift.

I made these vases for my sister as a Christmas gift.  They were so fun and so easy to make.  Below I'll give you instructions for how to make each one of them from left to right.

All of the vases I used I found at Walmart, Target or Hobby Lobby.

Frosted Stripe Vase

Supplies: vase, painters tape, frosted spray paint

1. Tape your design using the painters tape

2. Tip the vase upside down and spray with frosted glass spray paint

3. Let the vase dry completely

Tall White Vase

This vase looks great with a lit candle in it! :)

Supplies: vase, Christmas ribbon, white spray paint, glue dots

1. Attach the ribbon to the vase with a glude dot where the ribbon starts and ends.

2. Wrap your Christmas ribbon around the vase - I used the ribbon that you can curl with a scissor

3. Double check to make sure your ribbon is tight against the glass

4. Spray a light coat of paint in quick bursts, let dry completely

5. Repeat until the vase is evenly painted.

6. Let it dry completely

7. Remove the ribbon

Monogram Jar

I filled this jar with candy for my brother-in-law. 

Supplies: Glass jar, letter stencils, spray adhesive, spray paint

1. Spray the backside of your stencil with the spray ahesive. 
(I used Elmer's spray adhesive that I found at Hobby Lobby)

2. Place the stencil on the jar and hold for a few seconds so the glue adheres

3. Spray the paint in quick bursts

4. Let the paint dry completely

5. Repeat until the letter is evenly painted

6. Remove the stencil.  If you need to touch up the letter, Q-tips and nail polish remover work great

"Love" Vase

Supplies: Vase, spray paint, puff paint or hot glue gun

1. Spray a light coat of paint on the vase so the puff paint has something to adhere to

2. Write your word on the vase and let dry completely

3. Spray the vase with paint in quick bursts

4. Let the paint dry completly

5. Repeat until the vase is evenly painted

A tip that I learned the hard way is to spray your paint in quick bursts and let is dry completely before spraying again and continuing this until the vase is evenly covered.  If you spray the paint continuously until the vase is evenly covered, the paint with run and not dry completely.   Then, after the paint dried on all of the vases, I sprayed each one with a clear sealant that you can find at any craft store.  This will help protect the vase and keep the paint from chipping.  Do not scrub these vases or put them in the dishwasher.

It is amazing what you can do with spray paint and minimal supplies.  I like how these vases turned out.  I'll probably make a few for myself too!

Feel free to send questions if you have any.

Enjoy!

Beth

Christmas Card Book

Christmas is officially cleaned up at our house.  I hope you don't think I'm a scrooge but I really like having my house back to normal.  I don't have a lot of decorations to pack away so that makes clean up pretty simple.  However, one thing I always struggle with is how to store the Christmas cards I get year after year so this year I made a Christmas card book.

This is a really simple idea that will keep your Christmas cards together and organized from year to year.  I think it's fun to see how everyone changes and how families continue to grow. 



On the right is a picture of my family from my sisters wedding! :)



Supplies

3 hole punch

Card stock

 Christmas paper (optional)

Christmas ribbon (optional)

Metal Rings (any office supply store)

Glue dots

All you need to do is use a three hole punch to punch holes in your Christmas cards and pictures.  Some Christmas cards are made of thick paper so you might want to have a single hole punch on hand for those.  Then if you want, create a cover to protect your picutres and write the year on the front.  It isn't necessary to create a cover but it adds a little bit of Christmas flare to the book.  Then put the metal rings through the holes you punched in your pictures. The last thing I did was use extra Christmas ribbon as a way to tie the book shut.  This project only took me about 5 minutes to do.

Good luck and enjoy...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Beth

Getting to Know Me - Christmas Style

I came across this really neat blog post over at Blessings Abound.  My friend, Mamie, is the author.  I really like her writing style and creativity and I really like this blog post.  So, here is your chance to get to know me - Christmas style! :)

1. Do you send Christmas Cards?  If so, how many will you send this year?  How do you display the Christmas cards you receive? Or don't you?
I don't send out Christmas cards (I'm kind of embarrassed about that.) I don't feel like I've had a big life event to share (wedding, child, etc...) and sending a Christmas card of just me I think is a little strange. (I've done it once.)  I also don't want to jinx the awesome relationship I have with my boyfriend by sending out a photo card together.  I could send regular Christmas cards, but I once had a friend tell me that those aren't the "cool cards" that are worth keeping.  I do display my Christmas cards in the a holiday box in our kitchen.  The picture below is my new display plan...

Click on my Pinterest link to see more cool ideas!

2. What is your favorite kind of Christmas cookie?

I love frosted and decorated sugar cookies.  I think that mostly because my dad loved decorating these with us when we were kids.  Those are memories I will NEVER forget. :)  Mom dreaded the work that went into baking them but dad and us three girls convinced her to do it every year.  I'll probably do the same with my kids someday.

3. What is one gift from your childhood that you vividly remember?

I actually have two gifts that I vividly remember.  An awesome Barbie house that my parents made for me and a cabbage patch doll that my mom made for me.  I played with these two things for countless hours!  My parents have/had the tradition of always making us something.  Oddly enough, those are the gifts I remember.  I am trying to carry on that tradition and make everyone in my family something. (Right now, it's kicking my butt. :) ha!)

4. Something you like to eat that might make someone else turn up their nose.

Black olives... maybe?!

5. Gloves or Mittens?

Mittens

6. What's the longest line you've ever been in? Was it worth it?

I waited in a virtual line for Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw tickets for a show at Target field in Minneapolis, MN.  I waited over an hour and didn't get tickets so definitely not worth it. At least I got to stay in my pajamas...

7. What is your favorite Christmas carol? 

Silent Night

8. If you could choose to be anywhere at Christmas where would it be?

At my Grandma's house.  She's 92 years old and has done an amazing job keeping a family tied together.  I love it there!

9. When did you stop believing in Santa Claus?

I haven't stopped believing in him yet.  When you stop believing, he stops coming...

10. Insert your own random thought here.

It's so close to Christmas that my attention span is becoming less and less.  Also, I LOVE giving gifts!

If you write a blog, feel free to re-post this to your blog with your answers and link your post back to mine and leave a comment below so I can check out your answers.  And don't forget to check out the Blessings Abound blog to see her post!

Enjoy...

Beth

{Gift DIY} Christmas Ornament

I love all of the ideas for what you can do with Christmas ornaments but this one might be my favorite!  I came across this neat idea for creating a wedding keepsake using an clear ornament on Pinterest and had to use it for Christmas this year.  Here's what you do.

Cut the wedding inviation into strips line by line so that the words and sentances are readable.

Then, wrap them around a pen so that they curl.  You may want to stretch out the curl a little bit so that they fill the ornament and are readable.

Finally, put the curled strips of paper into the glass ornament.  You can get a package of glass ornaments at Hobby Lobby pretty cheap since all of the Christmas decorations are 50% off.

Doesn't this look so pretty?

You can make these with baby announcements or write your own memories from the year on strips of paper.  I like how the ornament commemorates a big life event that happened over the year.  Christmas ornaments can tell such neat stories.

What ideas do you have for Christmas ornaments?

Have a great Tuesday...

Beth

Gift Wrapping

Happy  Monday to my awesome readers & followers!  I can't believe Christmas celebrations start this weekend.  Remember as a kid when it took FOREVER for Chritmas to get here??!!  Now that I'm "20-something" I wish it didn't come so fast!  However, I did get a lot done this weekend and wrapped most of the gifts we will be giving.

I think of gift-wrapping as an "art."  I'm always trying to come up with new ideas to wrap gifts and make them look beaufitul.  Sometimes I question my own judgement on this knowing that the paper will just be ripped off an thrown into a big black garbage bag...  Oh well - I still like doing it!

Here is what I cam up with this year!

I used brown postal package paper as wrapping paper (found in the office supply dept at Target) and then decorated it with some awesome holiday ribbon I found at Hobby  Lobby. 

I made my own gift tags for all of the packages too! 

 You can go to any office supply store to find the brown tags and metal rim tags.  Then just decorate with rubber stamps.  You can get a small barrell of mini Christmas stamps for $8.99.  (Make sure to use this Hobby Lobby coupon to get an additional 40% off)  You can use these tags for other holiday hosting ideas.  Take a look at this post about Thanksgiving Hosting Ideas that work for Christmas too!

One of the best things about using this brown shipping paper is that it is heavier and more durable then regular Christmas paper. This is nice because the presents that can easily get holes poked in them with regular paper will stay nicely packaged and still look beautiful after transporting them.

One more thing I have to share...  Isn't he SO cute!

"Someone" thought that he should let our outside dog in the house to hang out with me while I was working on Christmas gifts.  He was actually pretty well behaved (except wanting to play with my rubberband ball) and even let me tie a Christmas ribbon around his neck.

In case you are wondering... he left it on for a couple of hours!

Happy Wrapping!
Beth



Chevron Clutch Winner!

Congratulations to Sewingsanity - the winner of the chevron clutch giveaway that took place last week!Good idea to keep your fingers crossed because it worked! :)  She has a cute blog going so stop over and check it out: http://www.sewingsanity.blogspot.com/ I will send you an email to get your shipping address!

Welcome to the new Design Your Dwelling followers and THANK YOU for becoming follwers! Also, thanks to everyone who left comments, I LOVE reading them so keep commenting!

Beth

Easy Christmas Treat!

I've done a little bit of holiday baking and when I say a little bit, I mean a little bit. :)  There are only two of us so it's not like we need a lot and Adam isn't big on sweets.  (Unfortunately I am, I get that from my dad.  Thanks dad!)  One of the Chirstmas treats I made is very easy so I thought I would pass it along to my readers. 

This Christmas goodness doesn't have a name but it is white almond bark covered pufforn with red sprinkles....

Notice that I just listed all of the ingredients when I told you what it was. :)  But if you are a "list" person, here you go: 

Ingrediants:

1 bag of Puffcorn

1/2 package of white almond bark

Holiday sprinkles

Instructions:

Melt the almond bark in a microwave safe bowl. 

Once the almond bark is completely melted, add the bag of puffcorn.

Mix until the puffcorn is evenly coated with almond bark.

Add sprinkles.

 Let it cool on wax paper before storing it.

I found an extra glass container I had around to store it in.  It looks pretty sitting on the counter! :)

(Wow the lighting is bad, huh?!  One day we will have a new kitchen!)

The mix of sweet and salty in this Christmas treat is so good!  I am not a fan of puffcorn by itself but a little almond bark fixes anything!

Two weeks ago I got an Outlook calendar notice about a "3rd floor holiday snack day" that is taking place next Monday at my office.  I think I will make it easy on myself and make this sweet treat to share!

Enjoy friends...

Beth

P.S. If you can think of what to call this, you will get something "real nice!"

{Gift DIY} Clutch + Giveaway

I was definitely a "Suzie-homemaker" this weekend.  I spent all of Saturday sewing. (My mom would be proud at how far I have come with my sewing skills - I have moved past straight lines and can now sew around curves...)  Amongst other things, I made a few of these chevron clutches as Christmas gifts for some of the awesome ladies I have in my life!

I found this awesome tutorial from a blog I frequently visit called "See Kate Sew."  To get the tutorial for this clutch click HERE.  To find the fabric check out fabric.com.  Choose a heavier weight fabric like a home decor weight so that the clutch has some structure to it.  I chose a chevron print since that is the "in" style right now.

There are so many different things this clutch can be used for:

Purse

Make-up bag

Jewelry Travel case

Diaper/baby wipe holder

Gadget holder (ipod, Nintendo DS, cords)

Do you love it but don't want to make your own?! Good news - I am going to give away one of these clutches!  (Merry Christmas!)  Here are 4 ways you can enter to win:

1. Become a follower (+1 entry, leave a comment saying you are new follower)

2. "Like" Design Your Dwelling's Facebook page (+1 entry, leave a comment saying you "liked" the FB page)

3. Leave a comment with your idea for how you will use this clutch. (+1 entry)

4. Re-post this blog on your Facebook page (+1 entery, leave a comment to let me know you did)

There you go - you have up to 4 chances to win!  The winner will be announced on the Design Your Dwelling Facebook page next Monday, December 19!

Have a great Tuesday... Beth

{Gift DIY} Frosted Wine Glasses

Here is the second DIY gift idea - Frosted wine glasses.

This is such an easy DIY project.  All you need to do is put rubber bands around the wine glasses and spray with frosted glass spray paint.

Pair these glasses with a bottle of wine and your gift is complete!



The wine is from Santa Maria Winery, our local winery in Carroll.  If you ever travel through western Iowa, definetly make a stop!

Have a great Friday!
Beth

PS - If you like this DIY post about frosted wine glasses, click on the link to check out my DIY post for Painted Vases.

Our Christmas Tree

Over the weekend I was able to get our house decorated for Christmas and I wanted to share our Christmas tree with you.  Here it is!!


Christmas Tree - 2011

Some of you may have been expecting something "designer" or "glitzy" since I love to decorate and this is a "design blog" but our tree is actually pretty simple.  Regardless, I LOVE it! 

Our tree has so much meaning and many memories hung on it.  The ornaments were all Christmas gifts that Adam and I received from our families since we were babies.  From these ornaments you can tell what we were "into" while we were growing up and they brought back some fun memories.  For me, I went through a "cowgirl" spirt and Adam had a time when he was an NBA fan. 

I've always liked  have a tree with random and un-matching ornaments.  When my sisters and I were kids, my mom had a Christmas tree just for us to decorate with our ornaments.  I'm sure it looked just crazy after we were done decorating but it's something we looked forward to every year.  Someday I hope to have a tree just for my kids to decorate. 

There are so many neat ideas for beautiful Christmas trees but I think I will always have one tree that displays our memories.

Beth

{Gift DIY} Greeting cards + Giveaway!

Happy Monday to all of my readers!  I spent the weekend doing some Christmas preparation; decorating and working on my DIY gifts.  You will see a few DIY gift ideas over the next couple of days and some of the ideas will include give-aways! :)

I've been giving handmade greeting cards as a gift for a few years now. They have been a hit with my friends because it always seems that when you need a card, you don't have one.  Plus cards are super expensive.  ($3.59? Really?!)

Here are a couple of easy DIY gift ideas and a supply list for to make your project a little easier!

Stamped Greeting Cards

Suppliy List:

Assorted Rubber Stamps & Ink (Micheal's or Hobby Lobby)

Cards & Envelops (Target - card aisle)

Blank notecards (for the white background)

Rubber cement

Ribbon Greeting Cards

If you don't want to make an investment in rubber stamps or don't have the time it takes to do any rubber stamping, these ribbon cards are much easier!

Supply List:

Blank Cards (Hobby Lobby - stamping aisle)

Ribbon

Glue dots (Target, Hobby Lobby)

Just cut the ribbon to the length of the cards and attach the ribbon with glue dots and your done!

All you have left to do is package up these greeting cards by tying a pretty bow around them.  I usually add a nice pen to the gift.  This DIY gift is inexpensive but appreciated!  Good luck!

{Greeting Card Giveaway}

If you really don't want to take time to make these yourself I'll help you out!  I am giving away 2 sets of greeting cards!  Here's how you get entered in this giveaway:

1. Become a follower (+1 entry)

2. "Like" my Facebook page (+1 entry)

3 Leave a comment: who would you give your DIY greeting cards to? (+1 entry)

4. Link this post to your Facebook page (+1 entry)

* Leave a separate comment for each of these!

The giveaway will be open until Sunday December 11.  The winner will be announced on Monday December 12!

Have a great day!

Beth

Table Assignments

Check out this cute idea for table assignments! 

My friend, Sarah, got married this past weekend and used this idea to assign guests to tables! When the guests walked into the reception hall there was table filled with these jelly jars.  Based on their photo slide show, it appears that they made all of the Jalapeno Jelly themselves.  The idea doubled as a party favor for their guests too!

If you are hosting a big holiday party (or getting married) this is a neat, personalized idea!

Enjoy...
Beth

P.S. Make sure to read my blog next week for decorating and DIY gift-giving ideas!  There will also be some give-aways! :)