Merry Christmas

Wrapping Presents!

It's almost Christmas! Are all of your gifts wrapped and under the tree? No!?

Thats OK cause I've rounded up a bunch of tutorials, videos, and ideas on how to make your gift just as special on the outside as it is on the inside. 

First Up is the paper....

You don't need to use traditional wrapping paper if you don't want to. Here are a few ways to get creative!

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I also found a video series with step by step instructions on gift wrapping with newspaper. Go ahead and click on the tapes to watch.

Now...What about the bows? Or maybe you just wanna go with a creative topper for your gift... 

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I also found a few videos on how to make a bow to top off your gift. Check them out!

How to make a curly bow

How to make a twisty-tie pom-pom gift topper

How to make a traditional bow

How to make a missyellowshoes bow 

(this is mine!)

Don't forget that you don't neeeeed to tie up your gift with ribbon! You can also use yarn, twine, thread, or whatever else you feel like!

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One year, I wrapped all my gifts like this...

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I once collected stamps (not that what I have is ever going to be worth anything) so I wrapped all my gifts in brown paper. Then I made up fake addresses with the recipients name on it. After gluing on the old stamps I used a pen and markers to make the stamps and symbols that the post office makes when you mail a letter or package. I also wrapped some of the boxes with twine and yarn. 

Needless to say...they looked awesome!

Hopefully this post has inspired and helped you out a little bit. If you need a little more I made another video about the gifts that I've wrapped so far. You can see that here. (and if you really need help on the basics of gift wrapping check out this video here) 

I'll leave you with this cute picture I found while browsing the internet for gift wrapping ideas....

(Mike this is for you)

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All I want for Christmas Is...

More Time

A mountain of yarn

A carriage pulled by a llama

(can you say awesome?)

More Sleep

Mad crocheting skills

21st Birthday Pics

I had a lovely 21st birthday last week! 

This is the birthday cake that I made for Jenni and I. It took me about an hour and a half to mix all the colors and bake the whole thing. I made it look super boring on the outside so that she would have no idea what was waiting for her once she cut out a piece! 

And THIS Ladies and Gentlemen, is the birthday present that Mike has been secretly working on for 2 months! He sewed me a pouch for all my crochet hooks and bought me a set of bamboo hooks too! Not only that...but he's painting each one for me so they'll all a little special in their own way. I was ecstatic when he handed this to me. He's never made me anything before and this is about the sweetest thing he's ever done for me. 

I love you Mike!

Here are the Birthday Girls!

(she turned 20 and I turned 21)

We're one year and a day apart.

This is a cute little chick plushie that Mike also got for me. 

We named him Freddy, and I crocheted him a little scarf because it's cold outside.

We also had a Christmas concert on Friday that Mike and I went to...here are a couple of pictures of that.

I hope your weekend was a good one. I've got 4 days of finals ahead of me (just took the first one this morning) and it's officially 12 days before Christmas!

Bye Bye!

Christmas Decorations- Part 13?

Pretty sure this is my 13th post in the series, then again I could have lost count...
(check out my November posts for more Christmas decorations tutorials)

"The decorating of various structures and trees has been recorded in Europe from the 17th century on, but the first written account of a "Christmas tree" did not appear until 1605. According to John Matthew's The Winter Solstice, an anonymous German citizen that year recorded trees being decorated with "roses cut out of many colored paper, apples, wafers, gold-foil, [and] sweets". What about chaser lights and oodles of wrapped gifts? It was more than 100 years later when Professor Karl Gottfried Kissling of the University of Wittenburg wrote of people adding candles for decorations and placing children's wrapped branches around the bottom of the small indoor trees.

Of course, the early trees were decorated differently than today's evergreens. Early ornaments were usually hand-crafted or edible. Nuts, candies, fruits, and pieces of colored paper were the most common. The average modern tree is decorated with a combination of store-bought ornaments and family memorabilia with several strings of lights strewn over the branches instead of candles, but no matter how the tree is decorated it still symbolizes a timeless Christmas tradition of families gathered together exchanging presents and love."

Since I've already done a post on Christmas tree ornaments (here), let's get inspired for the Christmas tree topper! 

I'm not feeling well today (mono) so I can't spend too much time out of bed; this is why I'm just posting pictures to inspire you and not taking the time to get all the links and tutorials down.  Sorry guys!

 

 

I must say that this yellow crocheted star is my favorite of all these toppers (I do really like the clock and owl done too). But this one takes the cake!

Hope you found something that you liked!

(and if you don't have your Christmas tree up by now then shame on you!)

Christmas Decorations- Part 11

                                                        

"Many people have given religious meaning to the shape and form of the candy cane. It is said that its shape is like the letter “J” in Jesus’ name. It is also in the shape of the shepherds’ crook, symbolic of how Jesus, like the “Good Shepherd” watches over his children like little lambs. It is a hard candy, solid like a “rock”, the foundation of the Church. The flavor of peppermint is similar to another member of the mint family, hyssop. In the Old Testament hyssop was used for purification and sacrifice, and this is said to symbolize the purity of Jesus and the sacrifice he made.

Some say the white of the candy cane represents the purity of Jesus and his virgin birth. The bold red stripe represents God’s love. The three fine stripes are said by some to represent the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Others say they represent the blood spilled at the beating Jesus received at the hands of the Roman soldiers.

When the practice of using Christmas trees to celebrate Christmas became popular in Europe the people there began making decorations for their trees. Many of the decorations were food items including cookies and candy. The predecesor of our modern candy cane appeared at about this time in the seventeenth century. These were straight, white sticks of sugar candy."

From the Kitchen...

Peppermint buttercream is sandwiched between homemade chocolate cookies...MMMmmmm! Can you say yum?

Click here for the directions.

Or what about this candy cane bark? 

I don't know about you, but this thing wouldn't last a day in my house. Find out how to make it here.

Please excuse me as I wipe up the drool...instructions here!

And last but not least...

When I first saw this picture, not gonna lie, my whole world just kinda stopped as I stared in awe. Pretty sure my lungs stopped breathing and I blew a few brain cells.

I just can't stop oooooing and awwwwing over this candy cane biscotti. 

Mom, if you're reading this...THIS is what I want for Christmas!

Learn how to make these heavenly treats here! (hint hint Mom)

Click on the image for instructions.

I really hope you are enjoying these Christmas themed craft posts as much as I am. It's so much find to search the internet high and wide looking for the most unique ideas.

I would do more of my own tutorial, but being at school and dealing with the mono takes up all my time. Sometimes, as you know, I hardly have time to make these posts. I do spend about an hour or more on each one.

Anyway, as always, my school books are calling me away. 

Have a great night readers!