Guest Project — Make Beautiful Beaded Napkin Rings!

Hello! My name is Jen and I blog about crafting, kids and my never ending renos over at
Let’s Make it Ours. 

I am super excited to be here today to show you how to make a pretty napkin ring, perfect for your holiday table!  

Supplies: 

Beading Wire – I used nylon covered stainless steel cable (7-strand)  purchased for $1 at the dollar store. 

Glass Beads – I used two sizes, the smaller being seed beads. I bought one package of each size for $2.99 each at Michaels and had more than enough to make 6 napkin rings. 

I started with approximately 45 inches of beading wire, folded it in half to double up and folded the end over a bit so the beads didn’t slip off. Next, I strung the larger beads on to the double wire, until it was approximately 13 inches long. At this point, I grabbed one of my rolled up napkins and wrapped the wire around it to make sure it was the correct length.  

I also made sure that the wire was even and not twisted at all on the backside.  

Next, I inserted the end of the doubled up wire in between the two strands of wire on each row and also the loop at the end. 

 I pulled it all tight, separating the two ends  and tied a couple knots to secure the center. 

Next I cut a piece of r, approximately 35″ inches long and leaving a 7 inch tail on one side, tied it in a double knot around the center. Then I began to string the larger beads onto the long end. Once I had 4-5 inches of beads, I threaded the wire through the center, pulling it tight and tied it together with one of the ends. 

I  strung the large beads onto the long piece and again, pushed through the center and tied off. I repeated this step with different sized beads until I had the number of loops  I wanted. I ended up with two loops made of larger beads and three with the seed beads. 

Finally, I cut the ends down to half an inch or so and tucked them into the center of a couple of bead strings. 

The possibilities are endless with the colors, number of loops and the shape of the beads you could use for this! Have fun dressing up your table this holiday season! 

Jen – those napkin rings are so elegant.

They would be beautiful for Christmas and for New Years Eve.

Jen is a mom of two who loves to craft and create in her spare time. Check out her beautiful tutorials: 

{Reverse Stencil Tutorial}

{Mod Podged File Cabinet}

{Thrift Store Lamp Makeover}

{Fireplace Before and After}

You will love Jen’s great ideas over at Let’s Make It Ours!

xoxo

PS — It’s Friday! The last Weekend Wrap Up before Christmas is coming up tonight. I hope you will come link up your great ideas. I would love to feature you! The party goes up tonight at 6 pm {MST}.

And, it’s the last day of The Holly Bloggy Christmas Party with a great linky party over at Tidy Mom!! Be sure to link up – there are more awesome giveaways too. Don’t miss it!

In case you missed it – here are the parties you can enter to be eligible to win prizes. I will be featuring my favorites from my Homemade Gift party this weekend!

Monday Dec. 13 Homemade Gifts hosted by ME!
Tuesday Dec. 14 Christmas Crafts hosted by Craft Envy
Wednesday Dec. 16 Christmas Decor hosted by The Shabby Chic Cottage
Thursday Dec. 16 Christmas Recipes hosted by Simply Sweet Home
Friday Dec. 17 Christmas Edition I’m Lovin’ It hosted by TidyMom

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Guest Project — make Glittered Burlap Paper Mache Letters!!

Hello to all the Tatertots and Jello readers!

I’m Allison from

The Soladay Family

I am so excited to share an easy project with you today!

Easy = doable in my book.

I am constantly decorating and redecorating our mantle…especially during the holidays.

You can see our Halloween mantle here.

I start by clearing everything off…minus the mirror…laying out my decorations and going for it.

I always have a general idea in mind of what I want the finished product to look like,

but it never looks exactly like my original vision.

If you are a follower of my blog, then you know I love to decorate with words,

so I decided to incorporate this love into our Christmas decor.

This is where this project came to life.

Here’s what you’ll need:

* Paper mache letters spelling your desired word…in my case NOEL.

* Enough burlap fabric to cover the front of your letters…in my case 1/2 a yard of red burlap was plenty.

* Black Sharpie

* Red glitter

* Red spray paint

* Sewing scissors…I found through trial and error, that they work better than regular scissors.

* Spray adhesive (not pictured)

* Clear top coat (also not pictured

1. The first step in this project is to trace the letters onto the burlap.

I found the best way to do this is to place the letters face down

so when you cut them out, you won’t see the sharpie like this:

2. The next step is to cut out all the letters:

3. Now spray all sides of the letters red:

4. Once the letters have completely dried, coat just the front

of the letters with a generous amount of spray adhesive, and adhere the burlap to the letters:

5. Next, spray the burlap with a generous amount of spray adhesive,

and coat it with the glitter.

Don’t be afraid to overdo it, friends.

You can never have too much glitter!

Once you are satisfied with your bling,

spray the front of the letters with a clear top coat,

available in the spray paint section, to keep the glitter in place.

On a side note, keep this clear coat stuff in your craft room 24/7.

I use it all the time.

For instance, I sprayed my monogrammed, polka dot painted pumpkins with it in early September,

and the paint lasted outdoors in the elements for over 2 months.

6. After the letters are dry, let the fun begin!

I decided to use mine on our mantle.

 They really sparkle!

And I love the way they look with everything else the mantle.

I can see these letters done in traditional burlap with

silver glitter in a natural holiday decor setting, used in a tablescape,

one large letter hung over the mantle

or on the front door from a ribbon or a strip of burlap,

the numbers “25” for the Christmas holiday,

the numbers “2011” for a New Year’s celebration.

The possibilities are endless and can extend way beyond the holidays!

Thank you so much for having me as a guest!

Happy holidays from The Soladay Family!

Thanks Allison!! 

That Sparkly NOEL is awesome! And your mantel is beautiful!! 

I think Allison is just amazing! Here are some of my favorite projects she has shared: 

{Magnetic Chalkboard Teacher Gifts}

{Thankful Tree}

{Mirror turned Chalkboard}

Such great ideas! Be sure to check out  The Soladay Family!!!

xoxo

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Guest Project — make Frozen Outdoor Ice Ornaments!!

Hi everyone! We’re so excited to be here at Tatertots and Jello!

Let us introduce ourselves.

We’re Emily and Jaime, two sister-in-laws with a passion for pretty things! 

We’ve recently started a blog called Everyday Art where we share our, uh… well our everday art! We love to cook great tasting and great looking food, make cute and useful crafts, and take beautiful photographs.

Come on over and add some everyday art to your life!

Today we’d like to share our Frozen Outdoor Ice Ornaments with you!

Why not bring a little holiday cheer and color to the trees in your yard? I love these frozen outdoor ornaments! The way the ice sparkles in the sunlight, and the bright colors of cranberries and citrus slices really add some pizazz to our yard. They were an extra fun project because we made them as a family.

To make some for your yard, first gather your supplies: you’ll need various containers to freeze the ornaments in (I just collected the cans from a week’s worth of cooking: cans from tomatoes, beans, even tuna fish), some yarn or string, scissors, various slices of citrus fruit, cranberries, evergreen sprigs, pine cones, sticks—whatever you have on hand. I even added some cilantro to some and liked the way it turned out. I think bay leaves would also look lovely.

Then start filling your containers! This is a perfect project for kids—they can place everything in the containers haphazardly and the ornaments still turn out beautifully. Once the containers are full of the items you’ve prepared, then fill them with water.

For this ornament, I wanted to make it hollow so I placed a can full of rocks inside a larger can, then all around the edges I placed red sticks I clipped from a bush I have out front.

When your ornaments are ready to be frozen, place loops of yarn or string in them so that there will be a loop to hang them on the trees with. Place them on a tray and then either carry them outdoors if it is freezing or clear out a large area in your freezer. I left mine outdoors overnight and they froze solid.

Then in the morning, un-mold the ornaments (using some warm water if necessary) and voila! Beauty. I love the way the cranberries look with the orange and lime slices.

My kids and I then decorated the large pine tree we have out front.

 

Look how beautiful the ice looks in these!

 This ornament was my favorite—I thought we’d probably put too much stuff in it, but I was wrong! I love all the color.

This hollow one turned out lovely as well. I placed it on my front step with a candle inside. Wouldn’t it look festive to have a row of these leading up your walkway, candles flickering inside?

Happy ice-ornament making everyone!

You may also like some of our other favorite posts.

This recipe for Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash is delicious.

These crochetted flowers make THE CUTEST hair clips for little girls. My daughters and I love them.

We love finding beauty in ordinary things. Not that there is anything ordinary about these beautiful leaves. 🙂

 

Thanks Jaime!!

Those Ice Ornaments are beyond cool! I want to make some for my home.

How festive would those look for the Holidays?!!

Thanks so much for sharing your awesome idea with us!!

Be sure to put Everyday Art on your list of must-read blogs!

xoxo

Also — check out the third day of the

over at The Shabby Chic Cottage!!!

With more giveaways and a Holiday decor linky!!!

PS – We had such a fun time this morning at Pier1!! Shelley, Char, Becca and I will be at Pier1 again tonight, handing out another  $1,000 in gift cards. We hope you can stop by!!!   

Bring your friends — we’d love to meet you!! 

Free reusable gift bags and coupons too!!

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