Category Archives: DIY

December 5, 2012 · 6:09 am

HOLIDAY CANDLE DISPLAY

Christmas Candle Collage

Last month I did a post about the Fall candle display I created for my kitchen’s center island.  This past week I spent the evening changing it up to reflect the holidays which are now in full swing.

With a few simple changes and a glue gun at my disposal, this project quickly came together.  I picked-up some candles at IKEA,  a 40 pound bag of salt (intended for a water softener) at Home Depot, and 2 containers of cinnamon sticks from Costco (I already had the ribbon in my gift-wrapping stash).

I also filled 4 mason jars with salt, glued a halo of ribbon around each jar, and topped each with a red tea lights before placing them on my windowsill.

I am having so much fun decorating and getting into the holiday spirit.

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November 8, 2012 · 2:00 pm

TREE OF GRATITUDE

My family will be spending Thanksgiving at home this year and I want it to be very special.  It is important for all of us to remember what this day is truly about (not the food…though it is always amazing), and with a little help from Pinterest, we are on our way.

The blog Bargain Bound inspired our family’s Tree of Gratitude this year.  Admittedly I am clearly not a professional tree-maker (the leaves will cover the evidence of that up more and more each day), but with the help of my local scrap booking store,  I did NOT have to become an expert at cutting out leaves.  Within 30 minutes I had over 120 perfect leaves thanks to their collection of maple leaf die cuts.  Somehow I had never ventured into the store before and I know I will be spending a lot of time there now for future holiday projects, etc.  Talk about a MAJOR time saver!

The kids and I have been filling-out one leaf per day and it is heart-warming to see how they are getting more and more into the exercise each day.

I can’t wait to watch the tree’s branches become full of my family’s gratitude.

Do you have any special Thanksgiving traditions?

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October 22, 2012 · 1:30 pm

FALL CANDLE DISPLAY

Pinterest continues to inspire me to be more creative around the house.  I decided to update the large candle display on my kitchen island for Fall and wanted something that would work for both Halloween and Thanksgiving (BEFORE is the picture on the left, AFTER is to the right).

Originally I was going to use candy corn (better to decorate with than to EAT), but ultimately decided that corn would be the better and more natural choice.

I am happy with my inexpensive display and appreciate that fact that once Christmas rolls around, I can remove the corn, pop it, and make popcorn garland for the tree.

Since taking the picture above I put some Fall fabric under the pumpkins and it looks great.  I am considering adding some of the gorgeous leaves from outside as well.

 

What have you done to decorate for Fall?

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September 13, 2012 · 1:30 pm

TEACHER GIFTS – Summer Fun

Clearly it has taken me a while to write this post…

The school year is long gone (and another has begun), however I wanted to share with you the Teacher’s  Gifts that we handed out to my children’s wonderful teachers at the end of this past school year.

These gifts were inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest which led me to THIS blog post.  I had a lot of fun putting these bags together.  The funny part came when I e-mailed both teachers to find out their shoe size (They must have thought I was crazy!).

I wished I thought to take a picture of the contents while not in the bag, but I didn’t.  Here is a list of the contents (as I remember them):

  • Snacks – Baked green bean crunchies, freeze-dried grapes, light kettle corn, nuts, some chocolate covered goodies
  • Re-usable drink container along with chocolate coconut milk
  • Magazines
  • Beach towel
  • Flip-flops
  • Sunglasses
  • Sunscreen
  • Aloe
  • Cooler Bag

I placed all of the goodies into a cooler bag which can also be used at the beach, pool, park, etc.

I did all of the shopping at Trader Joes, Big Lots, and Kohls (with a 30% off coupon), so I was able to keep the costs down and still give a nice gift.

Maybe a version of this could be made as a beginning of the school year gift…some sort of “Survive the School Year” bag.

What sorts of gifts did you give to your children’s teachers this year?

To follow my boards on Pinterest, click HERE.

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September 10, 2012 · 5:19 am

VEGAN GIFT BASKET

My friend, Andy (check out her clothing website HERE), is on the Board of the charity Hope for SMA.  They held a sold-out fundraising dinner in May at Franciscan Gardens where they also held a silent auction.

I was able to put together a Vegan Gift Basket to donate to the auction and was bowled-over by the generosity of the companies I contacted to donate.  The response was overwhelming and humbling…I feel honored to work with so many wonderful vegan friendly companies!

Here is what was donated to the basket:

  • 10 Teatulia Organic Tea Canisters ($10.99 each) – $109.90
  • 6 MEALS to Veggie Grill – OVER $60.00
  • Musewear Flip Flops & Voucher for ANOTHER free pair!!! – $60.00
  • So Delicious coupons, 2 FREE Vouchers, & 3 singles – $30.00
  • Plant Fusion Vegan Protein Powder Canister & 3 Singles – $28.00
  • $25.00 Voucher to VeganCuts (online discount vegan product retailer) – $25.00
  • Nava Atlas’s VEGAN HOLIDAY KITCHEN cookbook – $24.95
  • SIGNED COPY Garlic Onion Beet Spinach Mango Carrot Grapefruit Juice (Vegan Children’s Book) – $20.00
  • Healthy Made Delicious DVD – $24.97
  • Chef AJ’s UNPROCESSED – $19.95
  • The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition by Julieanna Hever – $19. 95
  • EnviroKidz Koala Crisp & Panda Puffs (donated by me) – $11.98
  • 2 Theo Chocolate Bars (donated by me) – $8.00
  • The China Project (donated by me) – $8.00
  • The Shopping List Bag (donated by me) – $5.00

TOTAL – $450.70

When you go to the store, please consider supporting these wonderful companies…

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