Christmas 2013 Inspired Ideas!

It's here! It's finally here!

Enjoy!

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craft fair

I'm getting ready for the craft fair at Alfredo's school this weekend. At the urging of some friends, I signed up for table . My father made rosaries to sell...and I asked sweet Kristen Robinson to make necklaces like the beautiful one she made me. I'm always, always getting compliments on it and people always want to know where I got it. I knew it would be a good thing to offer. She made 10 beautiful necklaces for me to sell. 

So inspired by these two very religious items to sell, I decided to run with it and offer other items with a religious theme.

I set up a table in my family room so I could plan out the displays. Want to see?
 

  

I used kraft wrapping paper with gold stars stamped on it (Dollar Store!) to skirt the table. I'll just use packing tape to tape it along the table top's edge. I had these table runners from my shop years ago. I just cut them in half and hung them along the table front, again using packing tape to secure. I topped the table with some kraft paper printed with scrolls. The nice thing about it is that everything is really sturdy. Sometimes using a cloth, especially a thick one, can make things wobbly.

 

I put my father's rosaries in this flat drawer cabinet. I sorted them by color to make them easy to find. Can you believe these are only $15? And he gives all the money, not just the profit, to his church. Isn't he a sweetie? He's going to be there with me on Saturday, with all of his supplies to make rosaries on the spot.

And how about that sign?

When I saw these chalkboard sandwich signs at Michael's, I knew they'd make great signs! I used white Saral transfer paper to transfer a printout of the sign to the chalkboard. Then I used a white chalk pencil to fill it in. Didn't it turn out great? And it was quick...I did all of these signs in less than an hour!

 

For the necklace display, I spray painted an old dress mirror frame antique gold. I added a flat board to the bottom for stability. I covered some foam core with osnaburg fabric using spray mount and I just used pins to hold the necklaces.

I put the extra necklaces on a velvet lined tray above. As the necklaces sell, I can consolidate the display to go in the mirror frame.

 

Aren't these necklaces breathtaking? Kristen did such a lovely job...I don't know which is my favorite!

These prayer journals were a fun project. I used those cheap plastic photo albums ($1 from Walmart and the dollar store) and filled them with prayers and scripture readings that I machine-stitched to scrapbook paper cut to 4" x 6".

I have a few more things to make but I think I'm ready! We're going to pick up my parents this afternoon (my sister is meeting us halfway with them).

If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by St. Timothy Catholic School in Chantilly, Virginia on Saturday. I'll see you there!

bizzeee bizzeee!

I'm working on the Christmas issue! It's a good one! Hoping to publish on Monday, just in time for some good ol' Thanksgiving afternoon crafting!

I'm hoping today to give you a sneak peek at another fun thing I'm busy working on...the craft fair at Alfredo's school. This weekend! See, I told you I was busy!

Alfredo's house

Alfredo joined me in my freshly cleaned craft room today and made this:

Can you believe how adorable that house is (and that boy!)?

I was playing around with Brenda Walton's new Country Cottage die from Sizzix and Alfredo wanted to make one too. He did great...even lining up the scallop roof! He picked glittery paper for the house and shiny silver metallic paper for the roof. Great choices, right? It looks so adorable.

Best of all, the whole house is hinged so we can tuck in a little battery powered tea light. He wanted to put a little ornament of a teddy bear on a rocking horse in there too. So cute!

 I think this might be our Christmas craft gift from Alfredo this year! He loved making it and can even almost operate the Big Shot on his own!

Doodlecast

Alfredo and I just discovered Sago Mini's Doodlecast App. It's so much fun. It records you drawing and telling a story as you draw. Alfredo made this funny little movie this morning. I thought all of you Alfredo fans out there would enjoy hearing his sweet voice. And the best part is when he cracks himself up in the middle. Oh that giggle!

Enjoy!



He has a bit of a cold and he was rustling covers for parts of it so audio is not super great.

All Saints Day

Alfredo dressed as St. Francis of Assisi today for the All Saints Parade at school. I made his robe out of a bath sheet size towel and a hand towel for the hood. We didn't have any rope so I braided some thinner cord together to make his belt.

I bought a bald cap for him but he didn't want to use it...so I just tried to brush his hair forward.

Sorry for the dark pictures...it's a dark morning here! Especially at 7:00!

Happy All Saints Day!