They’d look like this! Get it? Frosty? Ho ho… oh.

Since 2002 I try to hold an annual Christmas Craft night each year (see some past crafts here and here) where I invite a bunch of my favourite ladies over to drink wine, eat nibblies, gab and make a Christmas craft. It is a really fun night which always kickstarts the Christmas season in a festive way. I strive to hold it at the end of November or the beginning of December each year so that my friends can enjoy their crafts all December long. 

To prepare for the night, I plan out the craft, do a trial (to make sure my random idea can actually be executed), and then purchase the supplies for each crafter so that when they show up, their little bundle of craft supplies is waiting! I always try to keep the cost economical – striving to come in at $25 or less for the craft.

This year (as you may have guessed) we are making the frosted vases above.

Here are the supplies used should you want to make your own!

• straight sided vases
• spray glass frosting (I got mine at Michaels)
• white glue (I really like Aleene’s brand for crafts)
• Christmas shape template (download the one I created here)
• removable label stock
• scissors
• exacto blade and cutting mat (handy for the more finicky spots such as the space between the snowman’s body and his stick arm)
• scotch tape
• large tea light candles
• note: I did not use the glitter pictured above (things change y’all when you are flying by the seat of your elf pants). 
• In lieu of glitter I ended up using some “fuzzy ball” fringe trim (pictured below). I got it at a fabric store.

To start, using a laser printer, print the template with the snowman, reindeer and Christmas tree onto your removable label stock. It is important to use a removable stock versus a permanent one so that you can easily peel it from the glass vase when done.

Once that is complete, cut out each shape and adhere them to your vases. 

Thirdly, tape a strip of scotch tape around the top rim of each vase. It does not need to be one long piece, it is actually easier to do with this part with smaller, more manageable pieces.

From here, take your vases to a well-ventilated place (such as the garage) to apply the ‘frosting’. Place them upside down on a piece of cardboard or an old newspaper. Spray one light coat, wait for 20 minutes and then spray a second light coat.

Once dry, remove the shapes and taped rim and your vases will look like this.

Place a small bead of glue along the line where the frosting meets the clear area where the tape was. Adhere your fringe trim.

Add a tealight candle to each and you are done. Enjoy!

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Obsessed with Christmas too? Check out all my festive posts here.

This year we are seeing double!

The trees (yes plural) are up and this year we have the family version…

And the little three-and-a-half-year-old variety…

I don’t mean that the tree is three and a half but rather the tree picker is. No offense tree – your age is hard to tell.

Like last year we headed out to a local tree farm to do the ‘u cut’ experience. And again – like last year – we fell in love with one of the ones they had already cut so choose that as our big family tree!

No Belle (our dog) this year as she was actually at the vet getting some stitches for a cut she got while playing with some other dogs – ouch!

However, UNlike last year, Chace got HIS own tree.

While Daddy tied the big-un to the roof of our car, Mommy and Chace went out searching.

Chace found one and picked it out all by himself.

Then got grumpy when I tried to take a picture of him with it.

I eventually got Pouty to smile though.

After Pouty had turned into Cheesy, Daddy came back and they began the task of cutting down Chace’s little tree.

It wasn’t long before Daddy was informed by his foreman that he needed a hand with that task.

All done!

Daddy needed some help trimming off the bottom branches (sidenote – I think he could have probably handled it himself but don’t tell Chace).

And then came the obligatory pose with mommy who has annoying camera fetish picture.

Mommy thanks you for humouring her (insert eye roll #they’llthankmelater).

Once we took them home and decorated them we were left with these beauts!

And yes, Chace decorated his own tree which meant we were graced with awesome toddler ornament spacing like this…

And this…

That squirrel is pretty brave to be sticking his nose all up in Abominables’ bidness like that.

As charming as that all was, mommy used her restraint and gave her ornaments a bit more breathing room on the big tree.

I mean come on, how could I not? That thing is so freakin’ huge we had to borrow the neighbour and lop off the top just to get it inside (#thanksDonnely).

This is the part where I’m glad Chef Kev does not have access to writing my posts as he’d add all kinds of comments here about me ‘hiding’ his ornaments at the back of the tree because they don’t match my ornaments…

Your honour, I cannot confirm nor deny.

They’re on there. You just have to look a little harder. Perhaps.

Get up to any fun adventures while getting your tree this year? Do you have a theme or is it “come one, come all”? Anyone bought a toddler version for the first time? Could be the start of a little tradition 🙂 I must admit, It’s my fave of the two…

Christmas crazy? Me too! See all my Christmas posts here.

Making of the Mantel: 2012 Edition.

The mission – should I choose to accept it – (um, yes please) was to make my mantel merry and bright.

Merry – check.

Bright – check.

Mission accomplished.

Like my Christmas mantel last year, I started with a large piece of feature art and built out from there to support it. See how I turned a tea towel into my big piece of art here.

Pulling back from there, here is what I did on the right hand side.

First I draped a few garlands (snowflakes and shiny beads) loosely across the front. Then I put out my little silver ‘twig’ reindeer.

Beside Twiggy, I placed a ridiculously large mercury glass artichoke and beside that I placed Sparkle (who I blogged about fixing last year).

Past Sparkle I have a few votive holders as well as a fun mirrored snowflake.

Here is what the left side looks like. You’ll see Chace’s stocking…

As well as one of my favourite ornaments beside another sparkly reindeer and shiny dove.

Watching over Chace’s stocking is this acrylic penguin…

Behind him you will see a pillar candle holder (sans candle because I just like the shape as is) and some more tea light holders…

And there we have it!

Although not technically part of mantel, I can’t help but give a shout out to the polar bear in the foreground aptly named Plumpy (by me).

I mean dude couldn’t even bother to sit up straight for the picture. Lazy bear.

And in the corner are my white log vases which I used recently for my Autumn mantel here.

So, like the presents under my tree, that’s a wrap! All ready for Santa’s arrival!

Christmas crazy? Me too! See all my Christmas posts here.

Okay, so this post does not involve any dishes. BUT it does involve tea towels. And one specific pretty one at that!

While browsing in Homesense a few weeks ago, my eyes found this 3-pack of tea towels for $6.99. I instantly fell in love with the grey one featuring the ornaments.

There is no way THAT tea towel deserves to see the inside of a sippy cup – especially boasting that sparkly silver pinstripe and glittery white ornament.

As I sat petting the tea towel in the store (#don’tjudgeme) I thought, “this is so beautiful it should be framed. It would look awesome on my black mantel for Christmas”.

I think you can see where this is going.

Ya I did! I framed a tea towel. Are you ready for this jelly?

Last year was the first year that I got to dress my ‘newly’ painted black mantel for Christmas. With the black being so graphic and bold it was fun to dress it up with a large scale print and glittery decorations – see last year’s mantel here. When I saw this tea towel I knew it could look stunning as this year’s feature. And where else can you find a “print” for $2.33 ($2.60 with tax if we’re being technical).

Here is a better shot of all the shimmer and glitter that this little tea towel holds.

That’s one fabulous tea towel. It’s so fabulous I bet Cee Lo Green would turn it into an outfit for the Voice – either that or make it his new pet.

It’s quite large (awesome) so to frame it I used a silver 20.5″ x 28.5″ Ribba frame from Ikea.

Okay, answer me this? Why do frame mats never come in white? They are always an ugly off-white. Argh. I have spray painted one in the past – and this one I painted too. Such a pet peeve. Consider this my official plea to frame mat makers everywhere – WHITE. Thank you.

I didn’t have any white spray paint so I just used what I had on hand – leftover from  here. FYI – the spray paint worked better but this did the trick (if in a pinch).

With that done, I left it to dry and went to iron my tea towel. Once I had all the creases out I laid it flat on the table and placed my (now dry) mat over it to arrange the composition I liked. I preferred the ornaments to be off centre just for some visual interest.

Because it is hard to line something like this up from the back, and impossible to flip over while keeping it all in place, I came up with a little system where I  lifted two of the corners and inserted a little roll of masking tape to ‘tack’ the mat in place.

Then I could easily flip it over and tape it on the back.

Then all that was left to do was pop it into the frame and admire it!

Here is shot of it resting against our coffee table (complete with Harold the Helicopter toy, blankie and tent for your enjoyment) so that you can see how large in size it is.

I’m really looking forward to doing my Christmas mantel now! Currently my fall mantel décor is still up so I can’t show you how this looks up there yet – but soon!

Look at that pretty sparkle and fabric texture!

I know that framing fabric is not a new concept but what I love about this tea towel is that it has the extra little pizzaz that rolls of fabric may not – and it’s not a repeating pattern as is so common with large loom rolls.

How about you? Ever framed a tea towel? Anything else out of the ordinary? Found yourself petting unlikely items in the middle of a store? Please tell me I’m not the only one…

Christmas crazy? Me too! See all my Christmas posts here.

Linking to:
Craftberry Bush
Serenity Now
Lil Mrs. Tori
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Those who know me know I’m a little (if “little” means “a whole freakin lot”) obsessed with Christmas. I love it. Every year I do a Christmas Craft Night for my friends (see one here) which is basically me having a bunch of my best ladies over and instructing us all as we do a fun Christmas craft. I always try to hold it at the beginning of December so that my friends can have their craft up all month, and this year is no exception!

Now before I open the doors to my loving swarm of wine drinking craft elves I first need to come up with a craft and of course test it.

So that is what I did last week.

Yes! This year we are making etched glass snowflake wine glasses! Each of ma’ ladies will leave with a lovely set of four. I’ve tested two (to do some troubleshooting) and am happy with knowing we can pull them off in an evening of crafting (and still have time to fill those glasses up with some wine).

And the best part about using etching cream rather than a frosted ‘paint’ is that the etching cream is permanent – meaning you can put these babies in the dishwasher with no concern about washing off all your hard work. And of course enjoy these glasses for years to come!

They were quite simple to make and the result is so polished looking. If you’re interested in trying it yourself, here is what you’ll need:

wine glasses – I chose these ones from Ikea

source