Sunday, December 13, 2015

Soft Enough For A King (Christmas heirloom tradition)

For Christmas this year, we received the most darling package from a company called, 



It came in a box, beautifully packaged. When I opened it up, I saw the sweetest Baby Jesus, a manger (that did not need to be put together - bonus), a beautiful hard bound book, and sheets of service straw to be placed in the manger when acts of service are performed. My Jesus-loving four-year-old son was with me when I opened the package, and was instantly enamored with what he saw. 


He played with baby Jesus for nearly 2 hours, in a makeshift cardboard stable, and insisted on sleeping with him that night. 


We read the story right away (3 times in a row), and he soon informed me that this is his favorite book. We have read it every day since receiving the package last week. The thing I love about the story, as a mom, is that it is right on the level a young child can understand. We have tried to read a few other nativity stories in the past, and he was easily bored. 


The pictures are charming, and the story encourages children to, be the good, do good, and help others. I wouldn't be able to tell the story as well as the book, and you can read an overview of the story and see actual vibrant yummy pages from the book HERE.


I consider this box an heirloom Christmas decoration/activity. I am thankful to have welcomed this tradition into our Christmas library this year, and hope my children will feel the true spirit of Christmas as they look for reasons to serve each other, and prepare a manger, Soft Enough for a King, this holiday season.

If you would like to purchase your own set of, Soft Enough for a King, Please visit their website at www.softenough.com. They are offering 15% off this week! These would make fantastic gifts, especially for that person who has everything.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa



Christmas Village With Cricut Explore Air


I was so very excited last week to be able to tour the Cricut headquarters in Draper Utah. They generously provided me with a Cricut Explore Air of my very own, and more than enough supplies to get me started creating! Thank you Cricut!!!

This is a pic of me, and Melissa, she runs blogger and influencer partnerships at Cricut. She is amazing, and so fun. I am looking forward to building our friendship!


I have wanted a Cricut for years, and wish I would have gotten one sooner, because it is AMAZING, truly amazing! I am dying at all the things it can do. I woke up at 4am the day after I got my machine, unable sleep because my head was spinning, full of ideas of things to make and create!


One of the ideas I have had in my head for a while now, is for a centerpiece for my kitchen table. I wanted it pretty and interesting on both sides, (no front and back) and fun for kids, since that's who will see it the most. Cricut has this most adorable clipart type printable Christmas Village! This was even more cute than what I was envisioning before I started. Don't you just love when you are pleasantly surprised and find better options than you had imagined?


Did you know you can print Cricut images out on your printer, and then put them in your Cricut machine, and it will cut them out for you? I had no idea. It is truly remarkable! So, that's what I did with the images I found. The printing and cutting details are amazing! Look at those darling clothes!


Just a quick note: In this post, I will be using links to Cricut. If you choose to click on one of my links, and end up purchasing a Cricut, I will receive monetary compensation. I'd love the support! Thanks!


I used the awesome, Cricut Design Space Ap, for this darling little village. I used the cartridge called, Snow Angel. If you get a monthly or yearly subscription to Cricut, then access to this cartridge is free! The cartridge comes with loads of characters, animals and buildings. The art work is intricate and adorable.


As I mentioned before, all I did was pull the mages I wanted from the cartridge into my project, print them off on my home printer, and put the printed papers into my Cricut to cut them out. It really was that easy!


I created a front and back mirrored version of each image, so I could tape them together after I cut them out, and they would stand up. I then filled this tray my husband made for me with white dollar store sand and rocks. I put rocks between the feet of the characters, and bottoms of the houses to get them to stand.


I love using this tray as a centerpiece for my kitchen table. Part of the fun of making this village out of paper with patterns on both sides, is that it doesn't take up much room, so creating the scene on both sides is fast and easy.


I used these darling DIY Yarn Bottle Brush Trees. They were the perfect addition, adding texture and interest. I think I like the snow angel characters the best!


Good news is Cricut has FREE SHIPPING through the end of the year, using THIS coupon!

I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to get a Cricut of my own. Check it out. It might just change your creative life!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a Happy and Creative Day!
Risa


DIY Yarn Bottle Brush Trees

I have been seeing these daring yarn bottle brush trees all over Pinterest lately, and fell instantly in love with them. They add warmth and texture to any winter scape, and are perfect for holiday decorating!


You'll need:
Yarn, Scissors, Craft wire (I happened to have floral wire, and it worked just fine.) Wire cutting pliers, Cork, Small Nail.


I wrapped my yarn around my fingers until I felt like I had enough, then slipped it off my fingers. I cut up each side, and laid it in the middle (near the fold, which will be the top) of a long piece of wire that was folded in half. THIS is a great example of how to do it. I did it at night, in a room without proper lighting, so I did't get great pictures of the process. In the example, they used pliers to twist the wire. That was hard for me, so I ended up just twisting the wire with my hands, and it worked great! When you end up with the wire twisted as tightly as you can, it's time to give your tree a trim. You'll have a large pile of cutoff yarn.


After you have trimmed enough off, twist the remaining bottom wire to add sturdiness, and cut it off. Choose the cork you want to use for the base. You can also just cut the wire off at the bottom of the tree, and not use a base. It will stand up on its own. I wanted my trees a little taller, so I added a cork for a base. I used a nail to poke a hole in the cork, and then put the wire base in the hole. The wire I used was not strong enough to make its own hole.


You are finished, and have a darling little tree. I love that this project doesn't cost much, and that you can customize to any color you want, to match your color scheme.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risaa

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

SPOOKIEST SPOOK Halloween Game

This game is so much fun! You play it as a family, at night, in your house, in the dark! Everyone draws a card. They person who draws the card with the spookiest spook on it, is, "IT!" No one knows who's, "it." Everyone hides and the person who's, "it," then tries to find the other people who are playing. When they are found, the person who is, "it," says, "I am the spookiest spook!" then the found person screams as loud as they can, and helps the spookiest spook find the other players. 


Download the game cards and rules HERE.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Halloween Ghost Game


STEAL THE GHOST
This is a Halloween twist on a game we have played as a family for years! It is perfect for game nights. Its easy to make, and you might even be able to do it with things you already have on hand.


You get dollar store ping pong balls or eyeballs, cover them in muslin or white fabric, and tie with a string to make them look like a ghost. You also get a giant funnel from the dollar store. 


The finished game will look like this.


Your balls need to be able to fit in the funnel.


The person starting has the funnel in one hand and 2 dice in the other and starts rolling the dice. Every time they come up equaling 7 the person who rolled tries to trap the ghosts with the funnel. Any who get trapped have to give the trapper two of whatever you decide to use: pennies, beans, candy etc. I put little white beans in plastic cups. 40 per person. 

This game moves fast! You set a time for how long the person gets the turn. If a person pulls their ghost out and the dice don't equal 7, they give the person rolling the dice one bean. My kids loved this, and we had $5 up for grabs. In my family growing up, we would play this at Christmas sometimes, and tie foam curlers instead of making ghosts. Sometimes we drew  blood!


Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy and Creative aDay!

Risa


Halloween Matching Game

I found the sweetest Halloween clipart, and decided to create a darling and cute little matching game. The fun thing about the characters, is you find the match for the character you turn over, not find the same card. That way, you match up cute little Halloween couples!


Click HERE to download matching game.


For a fun twist on traditional matching game, print out these darling tombstone cupcake toppers, leaving space at the base. Fold the white base backwards, so the tombstones will stand up, and place the matching game cards face down in front of each grave marker. (You might need to put a candy pumpkin on the back of each, to help it stand up.


We call this game, "Ghost in the Graveyard." Whomever makes a match of the ghost cards gets a treat!

Clipart came from THIS Etsy shop.

Thanks for stopping by. 
Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Friday, October 9, 2015

Halloween Decor in my front room

I painted my front room. After 7 years, I decided to get rid of the dark blue. I really did love it, and was unsure even as I was paint over it that I was doing the right thing, but I am thrilled with the way the lighter color has made the space feel so much bigger, and so fresh!


This is how it used to look last October.



You can find more pics from last year, and a tutorial for the cool zombie art HERE.



I brought in some $3 Target pumpkins, and used the same glass skull (Homegoods) from last year. It  really simplified my coffee table decor.


Love my skeleton magnifying glass - TJ Maxx.


I hung the FABULOUS spooky family picture above my couch. You can find the rest of the photos HERE They are really fun! I am so glad we did it. This print is 30x40 inches, and cost under $25 to print and mount. I printed it at Staples for $8.91. They now do color engineer prints!!! Happy Dance!!! I then had it mounted at Bennion Crafts for $15. Amazing, right?!? I was so excited when I heard that Staples now does color engineer prints.


Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Adding Holiday Decor to your living Space (Halloween)


Every year, when Halloween rolls around, I feel both excitement and dread when it comes to decorating. I like being fun and festive. My kids love it!  On October 1, I get my bins out, and start to decorate. My house is transformed, and feels like a Halloween store. But, as the days tick by, it really starts to make me itch, because it doesn't feel like my house. I like it for about a week, and pretty soon, it's all I can do to force myself not to take it all down before Halloween even hits! I make myself wait until Halloween night. I move most of it to the front porch to make a festive scene, and put the rest of the decorations in bins between answering the door for trick-or-treaters. Is that terrible? I know I am not alone. This year, I decided I was going to make Halloween fit my decor, not make my decor fit Halloween.

Anyone that knows me, knows I like color. I don't like it, I love it! It instantly brightens any space. There are basically two colors I don't decorate with... Orange and Red. This tends to be a problem with the major holidays. I have no problem with other people decorating with orange and red, in fact, like it when I see it in other peoples houses, I just don't love it in my own (besides kids bedrooms). I did have it in my last house, and got my fill, and have been taking a break.

This year, we had some FUN Halloween pictures taken by our awesome photographer Randomly Candid. Please check her out! Her prices and very reasonable, photographs are so beautiful, and turn around is so quick!

You can see the photos HERE. I LOVE decorating with pictures of my family. Family photos are my favorite thing to display, as my kids are my greatest work of art. Cheesy much? Yes. True? Yes.


I blew up a couple of my favorites at Staples, in what's called, "Border Prints." They go up to 18x24, are printed, mounted on foam, and laminated, for one $10 each!!! The quality is awesome. It is usually same day turn around, and you get to take them home and hang them.  They are not listed online for some reason, and when I have done them in the past, I always email my order in, and tell them I want to do a border print. So, call your local Staples, and figure out how they want you to do it. You really can't beat the price and quality.

I feel like they are such a great addition to my Halloween decor. They say Halloween, without making you feel like you are in a Halloween store.


I swapped them out on my wall, for some family photo canvases that were already there, and the transition looks great! I also swapped out another big picture for the Wizard of Oz silhouette I painted a few years back. It feels a little spooky and festive, without screaming, Halloween!


I set out my three witches, and a couple jack-o-lanterns, and I feel like I can live with this through the end of the month.


This dip picture is my favorite. The color is so vibrant with the border prints, I just couldn't get a photo without glare, because of the lamination.


Easy peasy, and not itchy at all. Happy Fall!


Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Painted Pumpkin Man

I like to add a little whimsy to holiday decorating, and this painted pumpkin man is the perfect way to do it! And, the pumpkins cost a total of $4. You can't beat that!


I got the pumpkin for the head from the Dollar Store for $1, and the pumpkin for the base from the Target dollar section for $3. I painted the dollar store pumpkin with blue paint that I used for apiece of furniture I recently painted. It matched my house perfectly! I painted the face with Liquid Leaf. I love Liquid Leaf. It gives a beautiful sheen, and is so easy to work with. I also went over the gold on the Target pumpkin with the liquid leaf, because the gold that it came with was too green. I poked a hole in the bottom of the head with a pencil, and stuck the stem of the bottom pumpkin in the hole. It worked great because it's foam.


I also painted this pumpkin blue, and gave it a gold stripe with the liquid leaf. I painted the stem gold as well.


I painted this pretty Cinderella pumpkin from Target, pink. I love how it adds to the overall display!


Makes for a perfect table top pumpkin patch, that actually matches my house!


Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Anthropologie Globe Inspired Pumpkin

I have drooled over the anthropologie globes for a long time now, and wanted to give a pumpkin the same treatment!


It was easier than I expected it to be - really.


I started with a Target pumpkin, and wrote the words with a pencil. You can erase until you get it right. I then went over the words with this stuff. Liquid Leaf. It is AMAZING! It's bronzy gold finish is perfect for fall tones.


It's great because you can fill in areas where you need more.


You can outline the flowers first with a pencil. I did this the first time, and then found I didn't need to, and preferred just free handing them. I found inspiration for flower style and colors on pinterest. I just used paints I already had, and mixed some of my colors to get the right tones.


I had never painted flowers before in my life. Paint is pretty forgiving, and you can go over areas that are a mess after it dries.


I feel like this little piece is the crown jewel of the whole set up, and love how she turned out!

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa
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