DIY: Christmas Bows

At work the other day I participated in a gift swap.  I had a hard time getting a gift for it because I couldn't decide whether to go girly, boyish, or neutral.  Finally, while out shopping with my mom, I decided to just go with a scarf and mittens.  Lame, I know, but my brain was stuck when it came to creative ideas.

When I got home and went to package it up, I realized I didn't have any tissue paper to put in the bag I had.  I rummaged through my things and found a box I could use.  I wrapped it with my cute Christmas paper from Ikea then realized I didn't have any bows let to put on the box.

I wanted some sort of decoration on the package, so I googled 'making paper bows' and found such an awesome youtube video and viola!  In five minutes I had a Christmas bow.

**Unfortunately, a mishap with my camera made me lose all of my pictures of the process of making the bows!!  Luckily, the video below has plenty of pictures!***

What you'll need:

• Scrapbooking or colorful thick paper
• Double sided tape
• Glue (I used tape for everything but the video calls for glue), A stapler can be used too but might smash your bow.

Follow this link to get to the tutorial on how to make your bow.  There are also plenty of other videos if you don't like this one.

Definitely a great and easy way to make bows for gifts, especially when you don't have any or don't have any that match your wrapping paper.

DIY: Christmas Decorations

             I apologize for the lack of posts this week; the Holiday’s quick approach has me running around getting last minute things together.  I hope all of you are having a less chaotic week!

            This past weekend was pretty relaxing around here.  J’s parents sent us some of his Christmas ornaments to decorate our tree with since we only had 5 ornaments on our tree.  We listened to holiday music and decorated. 

From J's aunt, reminds me that our trip is not far away!

From my aunt, it says "Our First Home"

Some of my favorites are the ornaments that J's grandmother made

Also, since J’s table is ready for us to use we got some new placements, a poinsettia and used some other Christmas goodies that J’s parents sent.

            MyChristmas yarn wreath is up on our door.  I had to tie it to our doorknocker since there is no hook or nail to use.

            Our last holiday decoration is a DIY project I finished a couple weeks ago.

What you’ll need:

I've filled in this frame previously with pictures from magazine as you can see here.

•  Old or new Christmas cards, just the front part. (I try to use cards our families send us.  I write who it is from and the year on the back.  I like that it becomes a decoration that is personal to us).
• Picture frame, preferably one that has a matte already cut for multiple pictures or you can DIY by purchasing matte board and cutting out sections with an exacto knife.
•  Scissors
•  Tape

Making this is pretty simple.  Take the backing of the frame off.  Play around with the combinations of cards in the openings.  When you’ve decided which cards you want where, you may feel you need to cut down some of the cards or cut a card into two pieces in order to use it in two different slots.  Tape all the cards back in place, place the backing on and the project is complete!  Hang wherever you feel needs some holiday décor.  I put one in our bathroom to brighten our awful white walls and one in our Living Room area.  

What I love about these is that they aren't permanent, you can change them up every year and you can change it for all seasons/holidays.  It also allows you to showcase what your family has sent you over the years.

Hope you’re enjoying decorating for this holiday season!