Christmas Cards oh how I love thee!

Christmas Cards! I just love Christmas cards? Who doesn't love them? I love getting them and I love sending them. This year I decided to hand craft all my cards. I had the time and thought it would be fun. I used washi tape, stickers, natural colors, teal, and silver. Overall I'm pleased with how they turned out.

I bought the majority of the supplies from Hobby Lobby at for 50% or 40% off. The washi tape came from cute tape. Some probably think I work for that washi tape company seeing how many times I've mentioned them on my blog. I don't though but I probably would love it if I did.

I always like to include a Bible verse in my card. I asked Dave for one and I added one as well.

Isaiah 9:2a – The people that walkead in darkness have seen a great light.

Matthew 1:21b -And thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sin. 

A picture of Dave and I was a must so I used pic monkey (it's free!) to edit a picture from our wedding. After I edited the photo I uploaded it to Instagram and printed it to Walgreens all right from my phone. Can I also just say that the Walgreen's photo service in Woodward was down for several days. When my pictures finally got printed they made a mistake and only charged me for 20 of them instead of 40. I told them but they still only charged me for 20. Holla! Nothing like a 1+1 (that's the Korean way of saying buy one get one free).

                                

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Today I got home from traveling and there were a bunch of Christmas cards in the mail that Dave and I got over the weekend. I checked the mail again tonight and there were several more. Ah! It was great. Some people had their year in review and updates about their life. It was fun to see and read. 

Also, a couple of weeks ago I read a blog article by Katie about things to do with your Christmas cards. One of the things she suggested was to keep the cards in a basket and pull one or two out at dinner and pray for the people who sent you that card. If you sent Dave and I a Christmas card please know you will be prayed over during our dinner times in 2014. 

To everyone who sent Dave and I card - THANK YOU! Also - if you are my friend and normally get a Christmas card from me but don't have one yet - you will. And yes! You know what they will look like now =-) Merry Early Christmas...?

What about you? Do you love Christmas cards? Do you make your own? Do you collect them all? 

Washi Wrapped Christmas Gifts + A DIY Ornament

I know you have heard me sing washi tape praises before and here I go again! La La La! I wrapped the majority of my Christmas gifts in brown paper with washi tape this year. I know! It's gonna get shredded to pieces as people open their gifts but that's ok. It's fun to receive a gift that someone took time to wrap and make look pretty for you. Plus, it's fun to wrap gifts.  

If you are wanting to know where to get washi tape you can purchase some on-line at Cute Tape.  You can also purchase some pretty tapes locally at Hobby Lobby, Target and Walmart. The brown paper with white polka dots came from Target for a whole whopping amount of $1! Which is good, right? Because we all know when you go to Target you spend way more than anticipated and this stuff is only $1! 

Next I have a quick and easy DIY ornament for you. My husband saw this on the tree and nicely told me "It's not one of my favorites". =) I didn't tell him it was going on my blog the next day. But hey, our tree is made up of 'home made ornaments' so why not add to it? 

This would be a good craft for kids or if you live over seas where you don't have access to Christmas decor. I also think it would be pretty to have a 'vintage' tree with lots of these star ornaments, cloth flowers with some burlap in there too. Someday =)

Supplies - hot glue gun (or regular Elmer's glue if you are doing this project with kids, 1 toilet paper roll, ribbon, small beads / snowflake / piece of felt (something small to place in the middle of your ornament). 

Step 1- Flatten the toilet paper roll and cut into approximately 1/8" strips. I say approximately because the exact measurement isn't crucial. You should end up with 10-12 strips. 

Step 2- Place glue about half way up one strip and attach another strip. Continue this process until all of your strips are glued. 

Step 3 - Glue the snowflake to the middle of the ornament, attach a ribbon and hang on your tree. 

Super simple and fun, right? Would you make this ornament or do you have the same reaction as my husband? Either way, I hope you craft something fun this holiday season. 

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on-line stores

blogtember day 7 - share some of your favorite on-line stores.

Well, living in the middle of no where Oklahoma, I must say Amazon has become my new best friend when it comes to purchasing lots of items. However, I'm sure everyone already knows about amazon so I'll share some other fun sites I use.

Have you ever heard of Emergen-C? They are little packets filled with tons of vitamins. You add it to a glass of water and drink away. Blueberry-Acai is my favorite flavor. They are perfect for fall and winter when all those nasty germs float around. Dave is sick now and I feel it coming my way too so today I ordered a box of my favorite Emergen-C. It is immune+. You can log onto their website here for a free sample.

Cute Tape - I already mentioned this store in a previous blog pospt but they have some great products that are affordable. It's a great on-line store to order washi tape, party favors, stationary, stamps as well as other various great gifts. You can check them out here

Remember my amazing chemex coffee maker??? Those make amazing gifts too plus their website is just fun to read. Check out Chemex here

Where is your favorite on-line store? Do you shop on-line very much? Anybody know of an on-line store where I can order some cute floral leggings??

Washi Tape

Washi tape - have you ever heard of it? Let me tell you a bit about it. It comes from Japan and is made of rice. It's great for DIY projects because you can tear it, reposition it, write on it, etc. It's very easy to work with and you can do all kinds of things with it. 

Korea also sells some washi tape. (If you are one of my friends in Korea reading this ... go to Daiso and stock up on it before you move home). Sometime this summer, I started thinking again about washi tape and how I want to make Christmas cards with it. I began my hunt for an on-line store and I stumbled across cute tape. The store has many varieties and options. Thanks to my granny, as a birthday gift, I got to pick out 11 washi tapes. =) !!! You can also buy a different form of washi tape at craft stores (Hobby Lobby, Michaels and even Walmart) but if it isn't from Japan and made from rice it won't be as versatile for crafts. 

Here are some of the ways I have used washi tape 

labels / organization in the kitchen

I made this canvas by cutting paper toilet rolls, spray painting them gray and hot gluing them onto this canvas. 

I then added washi tape as a border. 

I have made many cards with washi tape but here are my Christmas cards.

It's a fun craft product. Have you ever used it?