Frugal Holidays: Day 5 - Christmas Wine Bottle Labels

I had so much fun designing wine bottle labels for Halloween that I decided to try some Christmas wine labels. Wine happens to be a popular item at our family get-togethers, so these will come in handy for Christmas. I don't claim to be an expert at designing these printables, but using Picnik makes it SUPER easy! If you haven't tried Picnik yet, you really should!

Feel free to use these if you'd like!

I love this Christmas tree design!

This reminds me of a wine I saw long ago called "Chateau St. Nicholas" 

And my little tribute to Seinfeld!

I saw this quote on Pinterest...very appropriate!

Misteltoe Merlot - a holiday favorite!

And my favorite - reminds me of my "Rat Tail Reisling" from Halloween.  And a good reminder to all! :)

This post linked to:


Head to Head Showdown: I Can't Stop Crafting
Weekend Wrap-Up Party: Tater Tots & Jello
Feature You Friday: Next 2 Nothing Crafts
Friday Link Party: Creation Corner
Feature Yourself Friday: Fingerprints on the Fridge
Friday Favs Party: Nap Time Crafters
Winter Wonderland: I Gotta Create!
Newbie Party: Debbiedoos Blogging & Babbling
Make the Scene Monday: Alderberry Hill
Amaze Me Monday: Dittle Dattle
Made by You Monday: Skip to My Lou
Wow Me Wednesday: Polka Dots on Parade

Frugal Holidays: Day 3 - The Toast Grabber

I have wanted to do a post on this AWESOME little item for quite some time now. It's something we use literally EVERY DAY in our house, and its the simplest little thing. But first, a little history:

My brother (now 27 years old!) made the toast grabber for us as a wedding present. At one time, it had our names & wedding date on it in colorful Sharpie. (If you look closely you can almost see them in the picture!) But alas, those nice inscriptions wore off many years ago. I think he made it in Cub Scouts. (And I'm sure he credits his toast-grabber-making skills in helping him eventually earn the rank of Eagle Scout!) Anyway. We just happened to be getting married that year, so what else would an eleven year old give as a wedding gift?? 

This project would be a great craft for kids to make as a Christmas gift. I have often thought of having my kids making them (I can totally picture the blingy toast grabber that my daughter would make)...but just about everyone in our family has their own toast grabber. (My brother was busy that year! Although, I'm just realizing that I bet he didn't make one for himself...now that he's all grown up, he may just need one of his own! Hmmmm....)

The Toast Grabber In Action!

A closer look

Even though I cannot take credit for making this tool, I will attempt to explain how you can make your very own. Through careful examination, I have been able to determine that you will need the following supplies to make your own toast grabber:

Wooden clothespin

2 craft sticks (the wide ones, not the skinny popsicle sticks)

Glue

Glue the craft sticks onto the clothespin, and that's it! Instant finger protection for your morning meal!

Frugal Holidays: Day 2 - Floral Tree

Ever since I made my fall floral wreath, I've been wanting to do another similar project. The wreath took a LONG time to do, and I was hoping for something a little quicker. So I decided on a floral Christmas tree. It still took a while, but not quite as long as the wreath - mainly because the flowers are only 2 layers instead of 4. (I definitely learned a lesson there!)

Here is the lovely fabric I picked out for the Christmas tree....

(YES, I'm kidding about the "lovely" part!)

But really, this is the fabric I used - I loved the red color, but not the big yellow flowers. So...I cut around them! This piece was folded in half for this picture, so there was quite a bit of fabric. I found it at my favorite thrift store, where they sell fabric for 10 cents a pound - so this piece ended up being about 3 cents!

For the tree, I used a foam cone from Hobby Lobby (bought with the famous 40% off coupon!) The total cost of the project was under $5 - of course I had hot glue already on hand.

I painted the cone red just in case any showed through the flowers.

Then I went to town "melting" some flowers (for instructions on that, see my Fall Floral Wreath tutorial). The only thing I did differently was that instead of stitching the center of each flower together, I just hot glued them. Another time saver!

Finally, I added some glitter balls left over from my Wreath #1 to add a little bling.

Extreme close-up:

Now my only dilemma is where this little guy will stay for the rest of the Christmas season. Right now it's resting on top of our piano with my Snow Village houses, but I'm thinking I need to find another spot where it's not so hidden.

By the way, I love our piano for many reasons - it's an antique (although the guy who tunes it has asked more than once why we keep spending money on it!) and it's a really cool piece of furniture! It's also the perfect spot for my houses and for our family photos during the rest of the year.

This floral tree is another great Frugal Holiday decoration!

P.S. I noticed this morning that Google Friend Connect only shows 10 followers! :( But when I go into my dashboard, all 25 are there. Anyone else having this problem? I know that Eva at Delightful Creations had the same thing a while ago...so it must not be anything I'm doing wrong (I hope!) Any suggestions on how to fix it??

Linking up to the following parties:

Between U & Me: Crazy Cute Thursdays

Crafty Scrappy Happy Me

A Crafty Soiree: Katie's Nesting Spot

Blog Stalking Thursday: The Crafty Blog Stalker

Transformation Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage

December Before & After: Thrifty Decor Chick

Feature Yourself Friday: Fingerprints on the Fridge

Friday Favs: Naptime Crafters

Friday Flair: Whipperberry

Weekend Wrap Up Party: Tatertots and Jello

Head to Head Showdown: I Can't Stop Crafting

Weekend Craft Soiree: Homemaker in Heels

Winter Wonderland: I Gotta Create!

Friday Link Party: Creation Corner

Make the Scene Monday: Alderberry Hill

Amaze Me Monday: Dittle Dattle

Newbie Party: Debbiedoos Blogging and Babbling

Feature Yourself Friday: Next 2 Nothing Crafts

Wow Me Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade

Wow Me Wednesday: Gingersnap Crafts

Frugal Holidays: Day 1 - No Sew Scarf

So a while ago, my sister suggested that I do a Christmas version of my "16 Days of Creating". I wasn't really sure I had that many ideas for 16 days' worth of stuff. Then another idea popped into my head after wasting time doing some research on Pinterest. There are so many great ideas out there for unique, inexpensive gifts, Christmas decorations, etc. I have a few ideas of my own and thought I would share them! I'm not exactly sure how many days I will post, but I'm going to do my best to share some good ones!

My first project is this No-Sew Scarf that I made. If you live in a cold place like IOWA, you will definitely need one of these to be warm and stylish this winter! A group of women at my church got together to do this last week. I don't have pictures of the whole process, but it's so easy! And if you have a group of people to share the cost of the yarn, it can be super cheap, too! Here's how it's done:

First - pick your yarn. There are SOOO many neat choices out there! You will need approximately 10-12 strands of yarn. 

Next - lay out the yarn on a table (or one woman said she had used her bed - if you don't have a very long table). Cut each strand about 8 feet long.

Last step - start tying knots. Gather all the strands and tie several big knots. I draped the untied "scarf" around my neck and looked in a mirror to decide where to place the knots. Mine are spaced about every 10 inches throughout the scarf. I also made one by just braiding the yarn and really like the look of that one too.

Here are the finished products...pretty snazzy!!