Tag Archives: pinterest christmas

Dec31

A Pinterest Christmas – santa hat brownies & christmas cards

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Kendra G.

This is the final installment of A Pinterest Christmas, where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends
across the country are making fun, Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes!

The first (p)inspiration this week is Santa hat brownies!

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We needed to take a yummy treat to our annual Christmas Eve open house,
so we scoured Pinterest for fun ideas. Greg was excited about these brownies, so we headed out to get our supplies.

We opted for the easiest ingredients possible.
Strawberries, brownie mix, and easy frost(ing).

I was in charge of washing & cutting the strawberries, while Greg baked the brownies.

We used a 9×9 pan, which turned out to be a great little round bite for the brownies.
With no round cookies cutters available, we had to get creative.
We ended up using a toothpick holder to make the round bites.

The Easy Frost was just as advertised… super easy.
We frosted the brownie and put the strawberry on top, then topped off the top of the Santa hat.

They turned out very well, but here are a few tips:
Allow the brownies to cool FULLY. We got a little anxious, so the icing melted a little bit.
We ended up sticking them in the fridge to help harden up the icing.

Once you wash & cut the strawberries, put them on a paper towel to dry them.
Along with not allowing the brownies to cool, the damp strawberries were sliding all over the place.

Having a cookie cutter would be much easier than using a toothpick holder,
but I think we get an “A” for effort, right?

I think they were a hit at the party. If nothing else, they were sure cute!

***

The next two (p)inspirations are related to the many
Christmas cards we received from our amazing friends.

Cabinet Christmas card display:

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I opted to use painter’s tape on the other side of my cabinet to affix the ribbon,
because I do not think anyone will be looking at the inside of my cabinets;
and I will still be able to save the ribbon for next year.

I found this ribbon at Target early this season.
I originally used it for a bow at the top of our Christmas tree,
but I was happy to be able to reuse it!
I also looked for it the next time I was at Target, so I could stock up,
because, everyone knows how much I love chevron. But… no luck, they were out.

Maggi also created another version of this (p)inspiration on her pantry door!

***

The second Christmas card (p)inspiration comes from one of my favorite bloggers, Ashley Ann.
I had every intention of doing this last year, but somehow in the midst of having a 2 month old,
it slipped my mind and by the time I remembered, I had tossed all of our Christmas cards. Drats.

I knew I would not forget this year, especially once I saw it floating around Pinterest.

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Um, hello! Genius!
Create your contact photos from their holiday cards!
Need I say more?

***

I hope you enjoyed A Pinterest Christmas series this season.
Next year, we have already vowed to get a head start on our projects!
If you missed any projects this year, here is a rundown of what you may have missed:

DIY Pom Pom Wreaths
DIY Ornaments
DIY Yarn Trees
mistle toes

Don’t forget to check out the other ladies’ posts who participated in A Pinterest Christmas this season.

Amanda @ Without a Doubt
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo
Michelle @ this grey house
Misha @ emerald city diaries
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney
Abbi @ The Peña Family

Dec25

A Pinterest Christmas: mistle toes

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Kendra G.

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Merry Christmas!
It’s week four of A Pinterest Christmas, where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country
are making fun, Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes!

I really enjoy making homemade gifts and I wish I would do it more.
Time is always an issue and homemade gifts are not always conducive for packing in a suitcase
to travel here or there for the holidays.
Last year, I put together a sundae kit for our neighbors and their kids.

With that being said, here is this week’s (p)inspiration:

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As soon as I saw this, I knew it would be perfect for the ladies in my office.
Of course, I waited until the last minute to put them together,
and I was worried they would be time consuming, but much to my surprise, they were not!

I didn’t have the supplies I needed on hand, but I had no issue buying them
because I know I will use them for future projects.
I purchased rubber alphabet stamps, a red ink pad, card stock, and ribbon
from JoAnn’s for around $15 after coupons.
Surprisingly, the ribbon was the most expensive! Thank goodness for a 50% off coupon.
The nail polish was obviously a tad more pricey, but I still chose to get Essie because it’s my favorite.
I cleaned out Target’s selection of red and got two shades: she’s pampered and fishnet stockings.

I cut one sheet of card stock into four squares and hole punched two holes at the top.
I used wire ribbon, so it was easy to form and look pretty.
Stamp the phrase onto the card stock and put it with the nail polish.
It’s that easy, but also adorable and my coworkers loved it.

Did you make any homemade gifts this year?
I’m going to make it a goal to do a couple more next year.
What do you think?

***

Don’t forget to check out the other lovely ladies’ posts this week in A Pinterest Christmas:

Amanda @ Without a Doubt – Christmas Cards & Wrapping
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo –
Michelle @ this grey house – Sock Vase
Misha @ emerald city diaries – magazine bows & chalkboard art
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney – Yarn Trees

Dec18

A Pinterest Christmas: DIY Yarn Trees

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Kendra G.

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Welcome back to week three of A Pinterest Christmas!
If you’re new here, myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country are making fun,
Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes.

Here is the (p)inspiration:

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The supplies:
Styrofoam cones
Yarn
Pom poms (in various sizes)
Scissors
Pins
Hot glue gun & glue

Start the yarn at the bottom of your tree and have your pins handy.
Once you start wrapping around the bottom, pin the yarn every 2-3 inches to keep it in place.
I do not have a picture of this… fail.
After you’ve wrapped a few times, you can put the pins to the side,
because the yarn should stay in place.
Wrap the yarn around, and around, and around.

Keep wrapping.

You can choose to do these trees really any way you’d like.
Michelle went for a more whimsical look, while I did a more sleek look.
My way was a wee bit more time consuming.

The top of the tree is a bit tricky, and this is where the pins come in handy again.
Wrap the yarn in a circular motion around the top and pin as needed.
Use just enough yarn to cover the top of your tree.
Cut your yarn and pin down the tail end.

In the original tutorial, she continued to wrap her tree all the way down again,
but we decided to stop at the top and move on to the tree decor.

We used the hot glue gun to attach our little poms to the trees.

I really love Michelle’s red & white tree and I have a feeling I may be making more of these.
They are super easy and really fun to do.
Even though it took us two separate days to complete them, I promise, they can be quick.

Have you made any yarn trees? What did you do differently?

***

If you’ve missed the last two weeks, check out my wreath and ornaments.
Don’t forget about the other Christmas projects from these awesome ladies:

Amanda @ Without a Doubt – Christmas Tree Forest
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo – A Stocking for Mogo
Michelle @ this grey house – Yarn Trees
Misha @ emerald city diaries – paper tree forest
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney – odds & ends
Abbi @ The Peña Family – Yummy Treats

Dec11

A Pinterest Christmas: DIY Ornaments

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kendra G.

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Welcome to week two of A Pinterest Christmas blog series happening this December,
where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country will be making fun,
Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes.

We put up our tree just two days after moving into the new house over Thanksgiving.
It was high on my priority list, because, who doesn’t love decorating for the holidays?
Once it was up, I realized that you can now see almost the entire way around the tree,
unlike in years past when we put in a corner of the room and just had to decorate the front.
With that being said, we needed more ornaments!

(P)Inspiration – Scrabble Ornament

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Knowing I didn’t want to take Scrabble letters from my game,
Michelle and I searched for replacement letters, only to find,
it is more economical to purchase Super Scrabble and get 200 letters!
This worked out well since there are only two “K” letters in the entire game,
and both of our girls have “K” names.

Michelle’s hubby cut the the Scrabble trays to fit each name and
we hot glued the letters on to the tray and added ribbon.

We also tried to create other fun, Christmas themed phrases and words.
They looked adorable at first, but I soon found myself re-gluing the tiles together,
and then, again.
So, I’m not sure how long these will last on the tree.

(P)Inspiration – House Key Ornament

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This ornament could not be more perfect!
I got the Baby’s First Christmas kit from TJ Maxx and was able to get 4 ornaments out of it!

Since we have not closed on our old house, I still had my house key!
I was able to do an ornament for our first home and for our new home,
it worked out perfect.

We ended up having more putty to work with, so we got creative.

His + hers wedding rings with our anniversary date.
I really love it!

(P)Inspriation – Keepsake Ornament

Misha made this for Kenley’s first Christmas last year,
so I made it a point to save the birth announcements we’ve received over the past year.

for miss lindsay

and miss kyler

I also made one for Ben for his 1st birthday in November,
even though it wasn’t his first Christmas, but failed to take a picture of it;
and I am planning on making one out of our wedding invitation.

Have you made any fun ornaments lately?

***

Don’t forget to check out the other fun posts for the week:

Amanda @ Without a Doubt – DIY Ornaments & Alternative Christmas Tree
Sally @ Chacha and Mogo – Ornaments & Junk
Michelle @ this grey house – Ornaments & Scrabble
Misha @ emerald city diaries – Clay Ornament & Pom Pom Santa
Maggi @ Greg, Maggi & Rodney – Ruffle Tree Skirt

Dec4

A Pinterest Christmas: DIY Pom Pom Wreath

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Kendra G.

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This is the first post in A Pinterest Christmas blog series happening this December,
where myself and several other friends and friends-of-friends across the country will be making fun,
Pinterest inspired (Pinspired) holiday decorations, treats, and keepsakes.

DIY pom wreath (p)inspired from the little things: cute, crafty, and candy coloured

This is what we like to call the lazy girl pom pom tutorial. All you need is yarn and scissors!

Sally and I started this project a couple weekends ago when we should have been packing up our house.
Instead, I unpacked my craft supplies and we had ourselves a crafternoon.
Kenley and Margot joined, but they were not much help.

To make your pom pom, start your yarn with some slack and get ready to wrap around two fingers…
or three or four, if you want your pom to be bigger.

Wrap, wrap, wrap the yarn.

Continue to wrap until you have a good chunk. If you think you should do more, do it.
You can never have too much, but you can have too little.

Slide the yarn off your fingers gently creating some slack on the other end.

Wrap the slack from the end around the center and pull very tight.

It should be wrapped tight enough that it should look like a bow.

Once it is wrapped tight, tie a knot in the middle with your two ends of slack.

You should still have some slack after you have tied the knot. This will come in handy later.

Cut open the yarn on each side of the tie.

You should have no loops after you’ve made all the cuts.

Gently roll the pom between your hands to give it some fluff.

Getting closer.

Trim the ends of the pom all the way around so they are all the same length, giving the pom a rounded look.
The “haircut” is really what makes the pom look great.