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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

To Shop or To Craft. THAT is the Question.

It's possible that I have had so much fun crafting and decorating this year, that I may or may not have remembered to actually do Christmas SHOPPING.  But I'm not panicked or anything... because yesterday, I went out to buy a pair of dress pants for me, and I came home with no less than four Christmas presents.  Oh, and no dress pants for me, by the way.  So, I figure, I'll catch up with the Christmas shopping eventually.  It might even be BEFORE Christmas.  WooHoo!  Wouldn't that be nice?

Well, in the meanwhile... I thought I'd show you another little goody I came up with.

I have an old embroidery hoop of my grandma's.  It used to be in active service when I did counted cross-stitch. But, not so much since my kids have been out of diapers.  Yep.  That's a long time.  I saw it sitting on a shelf the other day, and wondered what I could do with it.


Immediately, I thought of my old hymnal, and wondered if I could combine the two old items -- but the hymnal pages were a little too small to fit in the hoop.  Plus, they would've ripped so easily.  THIS ORNAMENT actually ended up being my inspiration.  I might make these Christmas tree ornaments some day, but for now, I cut trees out (using a cookie cutter) for another purpose.


I stretched red wrapping paper over my hoop, and tightened the top hoop up.  I tucked the edges behind the hoop, so they don't show at all.  <I thought I might cut the raw edge with decorative scissors, but I like the edge hidden.  It gives a more finished look.>


I cut some trees cut out of hymnal pages, outlined them with Elmer's glue, and sprinkled on some Buffalo snow flakes.  I glued two trees to my framed wrapping paper, tied a little red and white twine bow on, and taa-daa.  Easy-peasy.  Oh, I know it's nothing fancy, or difficult.  But, guess what?  It didn't cost me a cent.  And... it looks pretty hanging above my stove.


I couldn't resist stringing up some extra Christmas tree cut-outs with more baker's twine, sprinkling on a few Buffalo snow flakes, and hanging them at the patio door.  Simple.

There's no real snow at our house yet -- and that's okay with me.  I can wait... I wouldn't want anything to slow down my shopping schedule!!!  *wink*


Linking with Mockingbird Hill Cottage, and with:

10 comments:

  1. Hello Sally,
    Well, my friend, you've created another lovely something out of an heirloom. What a precious way to use your grandmother's embroidery hoop! I love it! And I like your hymnal trees glittered up too. Those hymnals are getting a lot of mileage; fabulous!
    Thanks so much for sharing another fantabulous creation at my HOME and enjoy the rest of your week.

    Christmas blessings,
    Sandi

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  2. That truly is the question! And tomorrow....I'm shopping! I love the little trees hanging from the baker's twine!

    Have a blessed and wonderful day!
    karianne

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  3. I like what you did with your embroidery hoop a lot. Do you remember when they had (probably still do) very small hoops for crafting. I think this idea would look sweet as ornaments on a tree as well.

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  4. Wow! I love the way your incorporated music in your embroidery hoop. Great projects. I'm popping over from Claudia's Favorite Things Saturday. I can certainly understand getting so wrapped with with craft projects that time just gets away from us so quickly.

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    1. Sandy -- I was much more into crafting this year than shopping, I must say. The time did get away from me, and I did have to do a little scrambling at the end. But, I'm all done now. It's all good. Have a Merry Christmas -- and thanks for stopping by!

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  5. I love what you've done, so charming!

    Merry Christmas!

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  6. This is lovely! What a neat idea. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Sally.

    Thanks for joining in this week and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

    xo
    Claudia

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  7. What a lovely idea. Also the tree ornaments themselves are nice. Merry Christmas. Regula

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  8. Hoping you and yours have a wonderful day together to celebrate the meaning of Christmas ~ faith, family and friends.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I read each and every one, and truly enjoy "conversations" with you! ~Sally