25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 22

Last Minute Napkin Ring Idea

So, you probably aren't done have all your shopping done and all your gifts are on your dining room table unwrapped beautifully wrapped under your tree.  You are getting ready to have your pain in the butt relatives lovely family over for a nice meal and time together.  You wish you had taken the time weeks ago to put together a few custom napkin rings for your Holiday table.  Well, I have a  Last Minute Idea on how to throw together something quick, but pretty!! Here's how...

Take Dollar Store plastic shower curtain rings and use ribbons, fabric, raffia and such to wrap the ring, similar to the way I showed you in my very first post in this series Mini-Wreaths. 

Here's what I threw together. 

Wrap the ring with your ribbon or raffia, overlapping
as you proceed.

I wasn't always precise with my wrap up top. Here, I made
it a little bulkier in order to give the bow more stability.

If your ribbon is thin, you can wrap the ring like a candy cane.

Maybe even use a feather boa!

What ever you got laying around or have enough of to wrap the amount of rings you need.  Just make it quick! Time is wasting and Christmas is only a few days away.  I am happy with a few that I put together for you.  One or two, I am not a huge fan of.  But I wanted to show you in case something about it inspired you to do something on your own.  Here are the results...

This leaf really glistens. Photo doesn't pic that up.

With the leaf, I took an image of two others that I made
with snowflakes from the Dollar Store.

So, can you guess which ones I don't like and which ones I like?!!  Do you know my fav? 

The next couple of days I will be bringing you some other last minute ideas, like gift tags and gift bags.  This post was my least favorite of the series.  It was also the last project of the series that I struggled through actually made.  I think it is okay to admit...I am so done. Stick a fork in me.  Make sure you check out the next few...they are better. Promise.  Even my sis, who stopped in my studio today said that she loved them.  She got taste too, that sister of mine.  (She's not one of those pain in the butt relatives by the way.)  I'll keep her around.

So on that note...

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my
Day 23
of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End-

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 21

Special Moments Photo Pillow

First off.....

**Happy Hanukkah**

to my friends who celebrate!

Hope your celebrations are wonderful!

By now we are all in the final stages of getting ready for the holiday weekend.  I wanted to share a project that I completed last week.  If you have been following my blog during this series, you might remember my Day 3 blog post Christmas Memories Photo Pennant Banner.   For those who missed it and don't want to click back at this point, it was a pennant banner made with images of awesome times in the past.  (image on the right)

While I was sorting through old photographs, I came upon this next photo.

It stopped me dead in my tracks.  I sat and gazed at this captured moment and with years between the time the image was taken and now, I got all choked up.  You see, that little boy is 17 now and that little girl is 14.  Certainly I have images of them sitting around in frames from this time, but this image captured something.  It captured the essence of my son.  You see, I know that at the time this photo was taken, he already knew the truth about Santa and yet, after already posing for pics and getting their treats, he returned to give Santa a hug.  

I knew that I had to do something special with this photograph.  Something more than just framing it.  It needed it's own special place.  I decided to make a nice Christmas pillow. 

I bought a nice heavy decorative plain white fabric and transferred the image using the transfer paper method. 


I then got together all the supplies I would need to make a little Christmas Pillow.




I put together the pillow in a very standard way and used velvet red Christmas ribbon folded into a trim to finish off the sides.

This little staging area is the back of an
old mantel that I plan to restore next year.

At 17, he talks a big game; all tough.  Sometimes I wonder how he got so jaded.  Seeing this image reminded me that deep inside, he is still that little boy who wants to believe in the miracles. Wants to dream big dreams and have them come true.  Life as a teenager has been hard on him and the protective walls have come up, like what happens to so many dreamers.   I understand that.  We all have to do what it takes to get us through it all.  I only hope, that after high school, he will embrace that dreamer inside and remember...he can believe in miracles.

Keep your eye and hearts open this holiday season for the little miracles.  Sometimes it is as simple as taking the time to sort through old photographs and finding a gift all it's own wrapped in timeless paper.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my

Day 22 of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End-

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 20

Festive Little Luminaries

I picked up these Parmesan cheese shaker containers at The Dollar Tree.  I wanted to make a few luminaries and  I thought that the lid with it's holes seemed perfect, since they would allow oxygen to the burning candle. 

Supply List

Glass Shaker Containers

18 Gauge Wire (3 feet per luminary)

Candle that fits into container

Assorted Fresh Christmas Greens

Jingle Bells (about 1 inch in size)

Thin Satin Red Ribbon

Scissors, Wire Snips

I first made the hanger out of the 18 gauge wire.  The wire really needs to be securely wrapped around the jar.  Here is how I did mine.

This is the handle.  Figure how tall you want
yours, making sure you leave enough length to
be able to twist back up.

After making the handle, attach it to the jar making sure to hold it into place while you wrap the wire around the jar.  If you look at the image below, you will see how I first made a 'hook' in one end of the wire to be wrapped, so that I will have something for the wire as it comes back around the jar to link into.  Make sure you pull this the tightest possible as you go.

Add caption

Tie off this ends by working them inside each other.  Don't
worry about it looking a little ugly.  You will be covering this
up later with your accents.

After the wrap is complete, you can
then twist the ends of the handles
back up around itself.

Here is what it looks like at
this point.

Now you want to take your candle and pop it right into the jar, screwing the top back on over it.  Here are the candles I used from The Dollar Tree.

Important tip!!  Make sure your candles fit into the jars before you buy them, take them home and find yourself in the middle of this project with candles that don't fit!  You will find yourself, like me, having to do this....

Yep...that was me! Using a knife to shave the darn candles small enough to fit in the jars!!!  Duh!  Don't try this stunt at home! (wink)

After finally popping my candles into the jars, I bent out one of the ends of the wire where they met in the middle and worked in some fresh greens, a rusty jingle bell and topped it off with a bow made from thin red satin ribbon.

Look closely.  This image was
taken after I had placed the green,
jingle bells and the tie off for the bow.
You can see the little wire that
I bent out to hold them in place.

Here are the final results...

**When you burn your candles, depending on the height of the candle, they could really heat up that metal lid!  Keep away from children and watch touching them yourself!

Sweet, simple (well, if you buy the right size candle) and festive!  Best part?!  After the holidays, I can take the accents off and put something else.  It's the project that lasts far beyond the glow of the holidays!  

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my
Day 21
of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End-
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