Merry Christmas To Me – New Chandelier Earrings

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chandelier earrings, Christmas cheer, Christmas gift, Christmas present, Christmas tradition, craft, crafting, earrings, frugal, gift giving, handmade earrings, homemade earrings, jewelry, jewelry crafts, jewelry making, present, shabby chic, stock stuffers., Xmas gift, Xmas present

10 more days until Christmas, that means only 9 more shopping days! Admit it, most people spend money on themselves while the are holiday shopping, whether it’s an item on sale that you need or a promotional discounted second item you keep for yourself. If most of us cannot resist the temptation, it must be human nature for a little bit of immediate gratification to be wrapped up with our generosity. Making gifts for others is no exception, I still have to make something for myself now and then…

Earrings are my weakness; chunky chandeliers hanging from my ears. I have a plethora of earring findings and beads on hand at all times, but I had found the base for these on clearance a few months back. With all the layers of bulky sweaters and thick scarves it is a little hard to feel glamorous, but it’s time for my ears to sing. I used the same beads for the wine glass charms I made recently; the assortment of colors blended together, challenging me to incorporate colors not normally in my clothing palette. These earrings surprisingly coordinate with purples, browns, creams, grays, yellows, browns and pinks, since the beads shimmer and reflect different colors.

Chic Chandeliers

Since the bases were on clearance and the beads and other findings were left over from other projects, these cost me about $3 a pair, not too shabby for a chic new accessory.

 

Whether making these for yourself or someone else, these chandelier earrings make a great stocking stuffer… even if you don’t wait to wear them.

Did you purchase anything for yourself while holiday shopping? If so, what did you get and are you going to wait to use it?..

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Second Day of Christmas – Wine Glass Charms

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beverage, beverage charm, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas party, cocktail charm, cocktail hour, cocktail party, craft, drink charm, food, frugal, Frugality, gift, gift giving, gift ideas, handmade, handmade gift, Holiday, holiday menu, holiday season, holiday traditions, homemade, homemade gift, hostess gift, party, party favor, party favors, personalized gifts, second day of Christmas, stemware, thank you gifts, vino, wine, wine charm, wine glass

On the second day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

Simple and elegant as a gift or party favors. Make them match your holiday decor and give them to guests to keep as party favors. Customize them with a monogram and give them as a gift to the wine lover. Create a festive set and bring them to a party as your hostess gift. Kids can help  create this simple craft.

Wine Glass Charms

How To:
Select a charm and several beads, slide on hoop in desired pattern. Make sure each wine charm is unique to help guest easily recognize their glass. Place a bead of clear drying glue under the last bead to hold them on the hoop.

Approx. Cost of Project:
package of 10 hoops = $1, assorted beads = $2-4, 2 sets of charms = $5, you can make a set of 10 for under $10!

*If you’re hosting a holiday party, hand out wine charms at the beginning as a party favor. Set up a wine charm craft station; arrange little bowls of beads, charms and hoops, then your guest can each make their own wine charm.

Unfortunately all my stemware is in our storage unit, so I couldn’t model the charms in the picture. Remember to check out my blog tomorrow to see what gift idea I’ll be sharing.

2009’s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudgerecipe, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles,gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudgerecipe…

Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends!
 

 

First Day of Christmas – Glass Globe Ornaments

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12 Days of Christmas, children's craft, Christmas, Christmas Ornament, Christmas tradition, craft, figgy pudding, first day of Christmas, frugal, Frugality, gift, glass ornament, handmade, handmade ornament, homemade, homemade ornament, hostess gift, kid craft, Ornament, party favor, personalized gifts

On the first day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Glass Globe Ornaments…

This year for my twelve days of Christmas countdown, I’m sharing homemade gift ideas. Most are simple homemade gifts that the kids can even help assemble. I feel that homemade gifts are much more thoughtful, you can customize them to the recipient’s preferences.

Last year a student made this ornament for me, I thought it was a great idea for a kid to make for a Christmas present. I originally planned to make these with Pumpkin, but he was out hunting with Hubster when I made these. I had scanned the scrapbook paper isle at the craft store, looking over the papers that were printed on both sides. I chose colors that I thought were pretty but not the traditional green and red Christmas scheme, ironically the paper I chose was named Figgy Pudding. It was a sign that it was the perfect paper choice.

Glass Globe Ornament

How To:
Cut scrapbook paper into 1/4″ strips. Cut strips into varying lengths. Curl the strips and make sure some have the front side out and some have the back side out. Remove metal top from glass globe. Carefully slip the paper curls into the globe. Secure the metal top back on the globe. Cut a short piece of ribbon, loop through the metal top and knot the top.

Approx. Cost of Project: 6 Glass Ornament Balls = $5, 2 sheets of craft paper = $2, spool of ribbon  $1
At just over $1 per ornament, you decide whether to give one, or an entire set. Bring a set to a holiday party as a hostess gift. Hand out individual ornaments as a party favor at you holiday party.

Remember to check out my blog tomorrow to see what gift idea I’ll be sharing.

2009’s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas YoungWifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudgerecipe, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles, gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

B Green (Loft) Baby

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black dress, clothing, dress, frugal, Frugality, GAP, Preloved, thrift, thrifty

The other weekend, I was lucky enough to get a chance to stop by the coveted B Green Loft in Bloomsburg, PA. It’ll be their two-year anniversary this week on Earth Day. It was my first trip to the store when the owner wasn’t working, I actually saw a few new faces working that day. My pilgrimage wasn’t as big of a success this time, I only found two garments (but am completely in love with the one). I found a tan GAP cardigan, which was much-needed (still looking for the perfect chocolate-colored one). Belle even loves it! I tried on a few pairs of tan pants (I checked the tag, also GAP), which just weren’t the right fit.

Tan Cardi

Then I found a beautiful black dress with tiny white polka dots, flutter sleeves and a sash tie. It is super comfy and the empire waist is elastic. The tag said GAP (again, haha). I’ll wear either a black or white camisole under it for work, since it is a bit low-cut. Either way I LOVE the dress! I have the perfect black (polka dot) peep toe shoes to compliment it.  I am a dress girl, always have been. Can’t wait to strut my new (to me) dress.

Little Black Dress

I didn’t need a bag so I could donate my 10¢ token to BTE (as always)!

Green Sandwich Box

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food, food storage, frugal, Frugality, green, lunch, lunch storage, recycle, recycling, reduce, reducing, reuse, reusing

Hubster and I don’t pack sandwiches too often for lunch, I prefer to take leftovers from dinner. However, to eliminate our use of those plastic sandwich bags when we do (and to better protect our sandwiches), I made green sandwich boxes.

I removed the label from a 1 gallon plastic milk jug and washed throughly. With a few quick cuts, folds and an adhesive velcro dot, my sandwich box was complete.

Green Sandwich Box

Gifts from Belle

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dog biscuit, dog bones, dog gifts, dog treats, dogs, frugal, Frugality, gifts, healthy dog, healthy pet, homemade dog biscuits, homemade dog bone, homemade dog treats, pet gifts, pets, recipes

My border collie Belle, really wanted to make gifts for her cousin and friends. So when I saw a cute set of bone shaped cookie cutters (which I scored for free with my craft store rewards coupon), I knew she would be able to fulfill her generous wish. We looked on-line through several recipes and decided to create our own recipe based off of common ingredients and what we had on hand.

Dog Bone Cookie Cutters

Ingredients:
2 c. flour, 1 c. cornmeal, 1/2 c. wheat germ, 2 Tbs. beef bouillon, 1/2 tsp. yeast, 1 Tbs. crushed mint, 1 Tbs. parsley, 1 egg, 1 Tbs. vegetable oil, 1 cup hot water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix together hot water, bouillon and yeast, set aside. Mix together flour, cornmeal, wheat germ, mint and parsley. Stir in egg  and stock mixture to flour mixture. Allow dough to sit for 20 minutes. Roll dough out on a floured surface to about 1/4″ thick. Using cookie cutters, cut dough into bone shapes. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven, leave biscuits in the oven with the door cracked open.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

My beautiful border collie, stayed in the kitchen enjoying the excitement of making gifts for others.

*I’m going to bag the treats and create little gift tags (ie: To: Marley      Love, Belle) for Belle’s buddies.

*I used three different bone sizes and didn’t need to vary the baking time.

*Next time I plan to brush on egg wash before baking, this will give biscuits a polished look.

*This recipe created about 70 dog biscuits, for a fraction of the cost at the store and I know there are no filled and preservatives going into my dog.