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DIY Tissue Paper Decorations

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Two days ago, I posted pictures of the tissue paper decorations that my sister-in-law Lena made for her 13th birthday party. This morning, she sent me the tutorials that she used. Let me know how they work out for you!

DIY Tassel Garland
Picture tutorial from Inspired By Charm (click here)

DIY Party Poms/Tissue Paper Flower Balls
Picture tutorial from The Tabouli Bowl (click here)

DIY Hanging Garland

Supplies:
Tissue paper (in various colors)
Scissors
Glue gun
String or yarn
Tape
2-inch circle for tracing (such as the bottom of an aluminum can or vase)
Instructions:

-Trace
circles on the tissue paper using your tracing guide. (Lena made approximately 180 circles.)
-Cut out the circles using scissors. Paper punches won’t work well, as they are not sharp enough to cleanly cut tissue paper.
-Glue a thin line through the center of each circle, and attach the circles to the string or yarn, making sure to space them out evenly.
-After the glue dries, cut the string to desired lengths, and
tape anywhere you would like.

Photos property of NashvilleWife.com

Organizing with Mason Jars

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Since getting married, my appreciation for Mason jars has grown. Not only are they decorative, but they are incredibly functional, as well.Above my stove, I have three quart-sized Mason jars, in which I store white flour, popcorn kernels, and brown rice. I would like to add more jars to my collection, but I’m not sure what to put in them. Any ideas?

On the counter next to the stove sits a two-quart Mason jar filled with brown sugar and two larger jars filled with all-natural cane sugar and a mix of white and wheat flour. I confess that the larger jars aren’t genuine Ball Mason jars. You’re going to laugh, but they’re actually old pickle containers from the early ’90s, compliments of my mother (shh, don’t tell anyone).

Do you use mason jars to organize your kitchen?

Video Tutorial: Organizing Your Spice Cabinet

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Are you fed-up with your disorganized spice cabinet?  Constantly having to pull a out two dozen containers just so you can find the two that your recipe requires can be quite tiresome.

Over the weekend, I decided that something HAD to be done about my awful mess of a spice cabinet. (I really wish I had taken a “before” picture.)

We had a big cardboard box in our recycling bin, so I came up with the idea of making risers. If you like the look of the finished product (picture above), check out my tutorial video:

Valentine’s Day Decorations

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When it comes to decorating, my sister-in-law has a knack for making things cute (and for turning Pinterest ideas into reality). Her style is “classy but elegant,” and she does a wonderful job at creating decor that isn’t too simple or too flashy.What do you think of her Valentine’s Day decorations? They’re all made from items she had on hand. (She also has a talent for turning everyday things into festive accent pieces.)

How to Sew a Christmas Stocking

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This year, my husband’s birthday fell during the week of Thanksgiving, so we were able to celebrate with family and friends

After a delicious breakfast of donuts and fruit, he and his father and two brothers played basketball at the local rec center. Later that afternoon, the two of us, along with four of his siblings, spent an hour shooting recurve bows at an indoor archery range.

That evening, Mr. Handsome, expecting a simple dinner with his parents and siblings, was shocked when three close friends from his college days and their wives walked through the front door and yelled “Surprise!”

My husband was speechless! He had mentioned a few months before that he missed spending time with these guys and would love to see them again, which gave my mother-in-law and me the idea for the surprise party. The three boys, who also happen to be brothers, come from a family of eight kids.

In addition to planning the reunion, I gave Mr. Handsome two gifts. The first was a set of CDs, which I purchased inexpensively on Amazon, for him to listen to in the car. Four of the CDs are a mix of Southern gospel and bluegrass music, and the other features songs from ThePianoGuys, a band that creates melodic, classical versions of popular hymns and other songs.

The second gift was a Christmas stocking (shown above), which I spent several hours sewing. For those who are interested, here is the tutorial I used:

Tree Stump Ornament

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Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I’m super creative. Last night was one of those times

I made this ornament out of a piece of stump from our Christmas tree. We would have loved to cut down our own tree, but my husband has a busy work schedule this month, so we went to Lowe’s. We chose a five-foot tree that was on sale for $20.

The employee who helped us find our tree was a sweet young man, probably in his late teenage years. He trimmed a few branches off the bottom and asked if I wanted to keep them, telling me they would look great as indoor decorations. I regretfully declined, knowing we would have no place to display them in our tiny, newlywed rental home.

He also asked if I wanted to keep the 1/2-inch thick slice of wood that he cut off the bottom of the stump. “Lots of people turn theirs into ornaments to commemorate their first Christmas as a married couple or their child’s first Christmas,” he explained.

“What a great idea!” I thought. So you’ll never guess what I did. I took the piece of stump home and turned it into an ornament.

The credit for this keepsake that we will cherish for years to come goes to the young man at Lowe’s. All I did was sand the edges (using a brick on the side of our house), drill a hole for the ribbon (using a screwdriver), and write “Our 1st Christmas Tree 2015” on both sides of the ornament (using red and green Sharpies). And I drew a Christmas tree.

I think the moral of the story is that the young man at Lowe’s is way more creative than I am.

Family Craft Day

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Every Thanksgiving, my husband’s grandmother, whom we call Gram, comes up with a craft for the grandchildren to make and give away as Christmas gifts. This year, we sewed scarves.

We initially had a crew of six seamstresses (Gram, my mother-in-law, three of Mr. Handsome’s sisters, and myself).

At the last minute, my sweet husband and his brother-in-law (the husband of his oldest sister, Anne) decided to join in on the fun. They were such troopers, and we couldn’t have done it without their help.

I must say that Mr. Handsome surprised me with his incredible sewing skills, and he kept us laughing with his one-liners.

“Things seem to be going pretty seamlessly.”
“Some of these needles are so dull, they’re pointless to use.”
“I’m a little nervous using this sewing machine; I feel like I’m on pins and needles.”

In five hours, we knocked out 30 infinity scarves, made of a variety of knit and cotton fabrics. (The YouTube tutorial we used is embedded below.)

My 12-year-old sister-in-law, Lena, offered to model one of the scarves.

 

‘Hooked On You’ Picture Frame

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Coming up with ideas for meaningful gifts can be difficult. In preparation for Christmas this year, I have a running list that I add to whenever I think of something that a certain family member would like.As a combined Christmas and birthday present last year, I bought Mr. Handsome a new iPhone. We were not engaged yet and lived three hours apart, so I suppose you could say I had ulterior motives for giving him that gift. His old phone was on its last legs and would disconnect without notice, which put a damper on our nightly chats. (Thankfully, he qualified for a two-year upgrade, so it ended up being less than $100.)

In addition to the phone, I wanted to give him something from the heart, so I purchased a wooden picture frame from Walmart and decorated it like so:

The first letter of each word is made of fishing hooks that were extremely difficult to bend. This is the perfect gift for fishing fanatics, although if you glue a few shells on, it can become a beach-themed frame.

Displaying our Wedding Vows

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Soon after our March 2015 engagement, we decided to write our own marriage vows. (Click here to read them.) We wrote a rough draft together, and then we each took that draft and made the vows our own.While decorating our rental house after the wedding, I wanted to display our vows in a place where we would see them every day. What better place than above our bed? (I considered hanging them in the living room, but that seemed too public.)

Instead of paying a pretty penny for professional framing, I purchased two pieces of blue cardstock paper at Jo-Ann for $0.20, printed our vows in a fancy cursive font, and placed them in 8×10 picture frames from the Bed Bath and Beyond clearance rack. What do you think of my arrangement?

50-Cent Kitchen Decorations

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During my college years–which I spent living in a house with three dozen other Christian girls–I decorated my dorm room walls with paper flowers from the Michael’s clearance rack. Each flower cost only 50 cents. After graduation, I packed the flowers into a box and forgot about them.

While moving into our rental home after our wedding, I was surprised to find my 50-cent wall decorations. How exciting! Using sticky tack, I carefully placed the flowers throughout our kitchen, which instantly made the room seem brighter and more cheerful.

For those who are wondering, I have not been able to find these flowers for sale online. Perhaps check the clearance rack at your local Michaels. 🙂