Category: Christmas

Christmas, Craft Projects, Holiday

Quilted Ornaments

Jessica Smith

My grandma made us the prettiest quilted ornaments last year at Christmas. She is a quilter and makes the most beautiful things, and her ornament was no exception. I love it!

Quilted ornament

I was looking for Christmas craft ideas for a craft night with my girlfriends and I came across an excellent video detailing how to make these quilted ornaments. Now, when I share tutorials with you all (even if it something other people have tried) I always share my version. Often, I don’t read other tutorials, I just figure things out on my own because I’m terrible at following directions. But I had to follow the video step by step for this ornament, and for that reason I am not going to give a tutorial because none of it is my own. If you want to make one of these ornaments, please visit Pot Holders and Pantyhose for her awesome video tutorial.

Here are pictures of the steps!

If you need a really last-minute gift and happen to have the supplies on hand (scrap fabric, styrofoam ball, pins, ribbon), these ornaments make a gorgeous addition to any tree.

Quilted ornament teal

Merry Christmas Eve 🙂 Hope you all are enjoying your holiday so far.

Christmas, Craft Projects, DIY GIFT GUIDE, Gift Idea, Holiday, Wine Crafts

DIY GIFT GUIDE: Eucalyptus Christmas Tree

Jessica Smith

Eucalyptus Tree Gift Guide

Today I’m sharing a Christmas decoration that would make a great gift. This project was a pain in the butt, but SO worth it. So only make it for someone you really really like :p

Supplies:

  • 1 tree form
  • Eucalyptus (you can grab this from Michaels or any craft store that sells floral stuff)
  • Staples
  • Hot Glue
  • Corks
  • Tacks
  • Ribbon
  • Teal feathers

Steps:

  1. Rip the leaves off of your eucalyptus plant.
  2. Turn your tree base upside down and start to attach the eucalyptus. I did a mixture of staples stuck into the styrofoam, hot glue and some bent wire. Really anything I had at my workbench that would make the leaves stick. Go around and around and around and around until you reach the top.Eucalyptus Tree BaseEucalyptus Tree LeavesEucalyptus Tree Leaves2
  3. Once the leaves are covering the tree, glue corks to the bottom. I chose to place mine at the outer edge of the base of the tree so no white showed. You could place yours in the middle if you wanted it to be more like a real tree.
  4. Fill in any holes/white spots using teal feathers and small dabs of hot glue.
  5. Embellish with silver tacks to look like ornaments. You can use these to strategically pin down any loose leaves, too.
  6. Wrap your ribbon around the top of the tree and secure with glue.
  7. Stick your choice of topper into the top of the tree. I used a flower I had snagged on clearance a while ago. I stuck it into the top of the three using a nail.
  8. Admire your adorable-yet-not-too-Christmasy tree!Eucalyptus TreeEucalyptus Tree2
Christmas, Craft Projects, DIY GIFT GUIDE, Holiday, Wine Crafts

DIY GIFT GUIDE: Ribbon-Wrapped Cork Letters

Jessica Smith

Ribbon Wrapped Cork Letters

This summer I scored A TON of free wine corks for a winery in Hamburg, New York. Talk about a sweet score, huh? I saw all of the corks in a bucket and asked what they did with them. The woman working told me they threw them away! CRAZY! So I scooped up hundreds of corks to take home and am nowhere close to using them all.

When we were at the winery, my cousin asked me to make her daughter a wine cork letter for her room, so I did a variation of my wine cork “S” post.

Supplies:

  • Wine corks
  • Small wooden letter
  • Ribbon
  • Button
  • Tack
  • Hot glue

Steps:

  1. Space out the corks on the wooden letter.Cork E before
  2. Hot glue the corks straight to the wood.
  3. When the corks are all secure, place a glob of glue at the bottom of the letter to secure the ribbon.
  4. Place glue along the center of the corks, securing the ribbon as you go.
  5. When the ribbon is wrapped all the way around, fold the end under and secure with glue.
  6. Tie a bow out of the ribbon and pin it to the cork using a tack.
  7. Embellish bow with a button.

Cork E