The Violet Hours

1 Day 'til Christmas: Glossy Christmas Tree Trunk Stands

 

One of the best parts about living in New York City during the holiday season are the sidewalk Christmas tree vendors. Every few blocks, you walk through a tunnel of yummy pine air, over a temporary, trampled carpet of green needles. And you see people walking home with a tree slung over their shoulder, just ripe for the decorating. 

To give the tree it's best chance at a lasting through the month, the vendors will slice off the bottom of the trunk (kind of like cutting your roses before putting them in water). So the sidewalks are often littered with small tree stumps that are just tossed out with the trash. Tree trash is a crafter's treasure.

To make these lovely, glossy candle stands, I primed then spray painted pieces of tree trunk with bright spray paint, and then topped it off with a gloss varnish. (Here are the colors I used: Ketchup and Frozen Strawberry by Montana Gold, and Prussian Blue by Liquitex) Use these as place cards, food markers, candle stands, dessert stands...you name it!

Well, dear readers, this craft marks the last in my 10 day series of projects leading up to Christmas. I hope you were able to keep yourselves (and your kids) busy with creative pursuits over the last ten days. And if not, I hope you will pin them for next year!

Have a very merry and bright Christmas!

xx

4 Days 'til Christmas: Cork Coaster Ornaments

I bought these cork coasters from Muji the other day, and I felt immediately inspired! Ornaments, gift tags, pictures frames...but, with Christmas crafts being my main focus here, I stuck with the ornament theme. The options are literally endless, but I wanted to use the cork as the material calls for...to be poked.

So first I did this really easy one with colored brads from Oriental Trading. (I'm obsessed with colored brads, but I rarely actually use them to fasten two things together.) So simple!

And the stitched snowflake one took a bit more time, but I printed out a line drawing of a snowflake and chose points to stitch. I then marked up the coaster with a pen where I would insert the needle and went to town. More detail to come (including a pattern)...I promise!

5 Days 'til Christmas: Dipped Bead Garland

Mention the word garland and I'm all ears. Bunting has the same effect. I even have a whole pin board dedicated to my love of the swag. Honestly, I think I could start a blog solely on the topic of DIY garlands. Hmmm...there's an idea in there somewhere.

Anyway, back to Christmas crafts. I really wanted to make some dipped wooden beads (I got these from Oriental Trading...just $6.25 for 24 beads!) and so I decided to combine them with my garland obsession.

First I started by dipping them horizontally, and then thought it would be fun to turn the bead and dip them the other way. Below are photos of how I dried them. The green grass thingy is a bottle rack by Boon from when my kids were babes, and then I needed more space so I grabbed this foam pumpkin and used it as a pin cushion. I used watered down acrylic paint, and they dried pretty quickly. (I'd say let them sit for 2 hours to be safe.

I doubled threaded them onto silver string...I think i want to try a more vibrant cord, but mixed with a tree of bright ornaments, it will look pretty rad. Or framing a mirror. Or wrapping around the walls of a kid's room. Endless possibilities!

I love these beads so much. I love them just sitting on a plate on my mantle. Maybe there's a necklace in my future.

8 Days 'til Christmas: 3 Crafty Feather Ornaments

 


Maybe this trend is so 2012 (don't say 2011, please) but I can't get past my love of feathers. I love them in decor, I love them in kids' craft, and, really...who can resist a boa? There's no reason in the world that feathers and Christmas can't hang out together. Which is why I crafted these 3 different DIY feather ornaments. Here's how you make 'em...

          


SUPER-EASY PAINTED FEATHER ORNAMENT

What you'll need:

• White feathers
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Glitter glue

Make it:

1. Paint stripes, dots, or zig-zags on your feather in various colors of craft paint. Let dry.
2. Embellish design with glitter glue.
3. Tie string to the feather's needle and hang from the tree.

EASY PASTA FEATHERS

What you'll need:

• Colored paper
• Linguini
• Craft paint
• Paintbrush
• Glue
• Scissors
• String

Make it:

1. Cut a leaf shape, about 6" by 2" (at the widest point). 
2. Paint 7 to 10 pieces of linguini to match your paper. Let them dry.
3. Glue one long piece down the center to make the spine.
4. Glue short pieces from the spine outward, breaking them at the ends. 
5. Leave some spaces between noodles to cut out little slits or sections.
6. Tie string to the spine and hang from your tree!

WASHI TAPE FEATHER ORNAMENT

What you'll need:

• Pencil and paper
• 3-5 rolls of washi tape; various patterns of the same color
• Cutting mat
• X-acto knife
• Clear transparency
• Scissors
• String

Make it:

1. Draw a 6" line on paper and lay transparency on top of it. You might want to tape it down to keep it in place.
2. Adhere 3" pieces of washi tape to cutting mat and with a straight edge, slide the tape with X-acto knife into very thin strips, about 1/16" to 1/8" thick.
3. Begin laying tape from center line outward, tearing the middle pieces to about 1" long. (You can lay a photo of a feather underneath the transparency as a guide.)
4. Work up and down the spine of the feather until it's full. 
5. When finished with step 4, adhere a 1/8" by 6" strip of colored tape on top of the drawn line to create the spine. 
6. Cut out the feather shape from the transparency and tape a string to the center spine end to hang. 

10 Days 'til Christmas: Paper Tree Ornament

Don't get me wrong, I love a good time-consuming craft undertaking every once in while, but sometimes it's fun to whip up a quickie with nearly immediate satisfaction. Like this Paper-Strip Christmas Tree Ornament, for example. You can make this with kids as young as 3 years old (my toddler son Oliver made one that looks more like one of these fake-tree-cell-phone towers), and you likely already have the supplies around the house! Here's how you do it...

What you'll need:

• Tongue depressor
• Green craft paper
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Glitter paper
• Enamel dot stickers (Doodlebug Designs: Sprinkles)
• String

Make It:

1. Cut green paper into thin strips, about 1/4" wide to 1/2" wide.
2. Use the glue stick to cover about two thirds of the stick in strips of green paper, overlapping as much as you'd like. Trim the edges to form a tree shape.
3. Cut a small slit into the ends of each strip (optional).
4. Adhere enamel dot stickers as ornaments.
5. Cut 4 1" strips of glitter paper (you can use yellow paper or glitter your own if you don't have this) and glue them together as an asterisk. Adhere a dot in the middle then glue to the top of your tree.
6. Cut a 3" piece of string and glue it to the back of your tree ornament.

Come back for the next 9 days for more fun craft ideas to make these days before Christmas fly by!

String-Art Halloween Wreath

I have been known to love a wreath in my day, and more than ever, I feel that Halloween is a very wreath-worthy holiday. Now that my kids are of the Halloween-appreciation age, I'm so into making Halloween crafts (Full disclosure: I used to not be the biggest fan of crafting for this day!).

Like many other pinners on Pinterest, I am obsessed with string art! And I must say, it is so beyond fun to do. It looks hard and tedious but I swear to you it's not! Scroll down to read how to make this wreath and the super cute and friendly pom-pom spider!

What you'll need:

• 14-inch round foam wreath
• Spray paint
• Small black nails
• 3 colors of yarn (including black)
• Scissors
• 4 black pipe cleaners
• 1/2-inch white pom-poms
• Tiny black pom-poms
• Tacky glue

Make it:

1. Spray paint wreath and let it dry.
2. Insert 31 nails, evenly spaced, around the circle about 1 every inch.
3. Take the darkest yarn and tie it to nail number 1 (abitrarily chosen). Now loop the yarn around nail number 24 then to nail number 2 then to nail 25 until you have made it all the way around.
4. Take your next color and tie it onto nail 1 and loop it around nail 25, then 2, then 26, then 3, again until you have made it all the way around.
5. Tie your 3rd color to nail 1 and loop it around nail number 26, and so on. You notice that each level of yarn has created a narrower band around your wreath. Tie each yarn off on nail 1, knot, and trim.
6. To make the spider, wrap thick black yarn around your hand about 50 times and cut it from the skein.
7. Cut an 8-inch piece of yarn, slip the bundle off of your hand, and tie the yarn around the bundle securely.
8. Take all four pipe cleaners and slip them under the center tie and pull until they are even on each side.
9. Snip through all of the yarn loops, then trim the pom-pom until he is nice and round.
10. Glue small black pom-poms to white ones, and glue them in place as eyes. Glue spider to the wreath to cover nail number 1 where you tied off your 3 yarns.

 

5-Minute Pumpkin Crafts

I know, I know...it's been an eternity. I keep promising to blog regularly, but I keep getting distracted by other craft projects, magazine stories, and blogs! Speaking of blogs, I've started blogging on Parents.com at a blog called Everyday Fun. Check it out! It's very, well, FUN!

Now, back to the good stuff...Halloween! I love pumpkins and I've done my fare share of complicated carvings and etchings. But with 2 toddlers and too much work, I have no time or patience for a big production. So here are 3 super-fun, 5-minute pumpkin decorating ideas!

1. I'm obsessed with these neon spikes that I found at M&J Trimming. Just glue them on with E6000 for a strong bond. Punk-kins? Yep, I think that's their official name.

2. My son and I were at the farmer's market last weekend and he picked out this pumpkin that he wanted to bring home. It sat naked on the kitchen table for a few days and I realized it needed some flair. So I looked around the room and spotted a Mr. Potato Head body part...there it is. Oliver and I picked out the features to make this guy! I thought it was a genius idea of mine until I discovered that the Mr. Potato Head people already thought of it. But for a quickie decorating job, just use what you have (and change his features daily)!

3. Spray paint a pumpkin and glue on some faux antlers! I bought these at Jamali Gardens, but I'm sure you can find them at your local Michaels.

Literally, none of these guys took more than 5 minutes (except the spray paint took about 20 to dry). And they all feel unique and playful!

 

Time for Confetti

{via I Spy with my Salad Eyes}

If you don't love confetti, you don't have a soul. Ok, maybe it's a mess to clean up, but even the cheesiest of metallic confetti has a glittery, sparkly, ephemeral impact. Check out these surprising ways to use it....

Put a packet of confetti in your wedding invitation. I'm beyond in love with this one that I found on Pinterest!

 

How awesome are these tube confetti throwers from Oh Happy Day? Love love love...

 

I still love the confetti gift wrap that I blogged about two years ago!

 

Love the look but hate the mess? Try a stamped table runner (you can use a pencil eraser, a wine cork, or a sliced carrot) that gives the illusions of confetti like this one from Love Luxe.

Time to Decorate with Fruit

Yes, you heard me. And yes, you are reading The Violet Hours blog. I know, decorating with fruit may sound super grandma to you, but after you look at this post, your mind will be forever changed!

Oh Happy Day always gets it right, and this fruit balloon garland proves it. I'm obsessed!

I specifically sought out a pineapple wallpaper because I won't deny that I love it. And how perfectly crafty is this color-by-numbers one by Jenny Wilkinson found on Design*Sponge?

Call me crazy (Michael-husband, I hear you the loudest), but I could really get behind a glass fruit chandelier in my life one day. Found via Pinterest.

What is it with pears that make us love them so? I love all three of these lovely dolled up plastic pear crafts. Sources: Glitter pears, We Heart It; Chalk pears, The Empty Nest; Jute Pears, I Should Really Be Sleeping.

Oeuf never ceases to fail when it comes to their garlands. I'm in love with this crocheted cherry one.

If this pomegranate iPhone wallpaper were real wallpaper, it would be in my bathroom.

 

Almost as good as Willy Wonka's lick-able wallpaper, these bananas from Flavor Paper are scratch-n-sniff. For real.

Are you inspired now? But just pick one. You don't want your home looking like a giant fruit salad.

Time for Instagram Love

I am so not alone in my love for Instagram. It has definitely pulled ahead as my favorite form of social media. At this point in my life, I have time to look at pictures and not much else!

Some of my Instagram pics are among my favorite I've ever taken (like this one of my daugther Sommer at her first music class), and I'm desperate to free them from my digital devices and let them live in my world so I can actually touch them. Here are some great ways to do that...

LMNOP blogged about Origrami, a service that prints postcard-quality prints of your Instagram photos. And then packages them in that amazing box. I'm doing this. Even if I have to pay shipping from Australia.

 

I love the way A Beach Cottage arranged Instagram photos of a beach vaca on a wall in the shape of a heart. Because face it, who doesn't love the beach? And Instagram. So if you are a shutter-happy photographer on one subject, this project will visually link the imagery and colors nicely.

 

Seriously, this is a dream of mine: a huge frame with hundreds of Instagram photos. If only I had the wall for it. Found via Because I'm Addicted.

 

Young House Love framed their Instagram photos in jewel cases. Always a fabulous, photograph vehicle. (PS...I'm so proud to share a book publisher with them! How on Earth did that happen?)