DIY Holiday Bottles

I'm a member of CafeMom: an online community where moms can share mutual interests, advice, personal stories, etc.  Of course, the "Craft Cafe" is one of the communities I belong to on there, and I spotted these lovely holiday bottles posted by Roxane.  I thought they were so pretty and Roxane was kind enough to let me share them.  They would make such a pretty centerpiece as they are, or with some poinsettias or white flowers in them.  She used Krylon glitter blast paint to make them.
Thanks Roxane for sharing!

Party Wear: Jeweled Bobbies

Looking to add a little sparkle to your outfit for the holidays?  These cute Anthropologie-inspired bobby pins might do the trick.  I think they're also a cute DIY gift for any little girl or woman.  Made with jeweled earrings, find the full tutorial at petit elefant.

Today's Takeaway: Ombre Balloon Backdrop

The ombre trend still seems to be going strong.  (Ombre is when you use graduated shades of a color.)  Ombre backgrounds are easy to do with streamers, but I think this balloon backdrop is so fun.  I'm thinking it would be perfect for an upcoming New Year's Eve party???  I imagine it must be done with helium balloons using different string lengths anchored down with balloon weights.  See the full pink ombre themed baby shower here.

My Super Easy Advent Calendar

Last year we made a cute Advent Calendar using whimsical holiday socks and the year before we made this tree cone one inspired by Eighteen25.  I do like to change it up every year, so I don't like to spend a lot just to put an Advent Calendar together.  So, when I was shopping around in Walmart and saw these Dixie cups, along with these glitter chenille stems, I knew what I was going to do for this year's calendar.

This couldn't be any easier because the cups are already in a fun pattern.  To make the cups look more like buckets, I cut the top strip of stripes off.  (Use a scissor instead of an exacto knife to get a straighter edge.)  Then, I cut the glitter sticks in half and used glue dots to adhere them onto the inside of the cups.  Since they're styrofoam cups, you don't want to use a hot glue gun.  So, they look like this:

They would make cute treat pails just the way they are too!  Since I don't have the best handwriting, and I didn't want to cover the polka dots, I didn't include numbers.  So, using a ribbon and some holiday clothes pins I already had, I hung them across the mantle.  I think they look so fun!  The girls will love counting down the "12 Days of Christmas!"

If you need more ideas, check out my Pinterest board dedicated to Advent Calendars here.

Airline Birthday Party

This little boy, who turned one, is sure to take flight in life!  His DIY mom thought of every detail to put her son in the pilot's seat and make guests feel like they were aboard a wonderful trip for the day!  A "flight status chart" gave guests their agendas; they could take fun photos in a painted jet seat photo prop; and they were encouraged to fill up on "jet fuel" along with other creative goodies.

Submitted and photographed by Orange Blossom Photography in California–fasten your seatbelts for all the amazing details!

 

Guest Blogging for Design Dazzle's Christmas Wonderful

I hope you each had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving!  And I hope that you know how grateful I am that you check in with Home Confetti to share my love for cute crafts and home entertaining!

I am sort of taking the day off today--but not completely--because I am guest blogging over at Design Dazzle.  I was so excited when they asked me to be a part of their Christmas Wonderful this year! 100 fabulous ideas for the holidays!  So jump on over to Design Dazzle and see how you can create this little snowman guy for your winter celebrations!

Cranberry Salad

I have to admit, when I'm hosting Thanksgiving, the cranberry sauce is the last thing I worry about. I usually just buy the canned cranberry sauce, slice it up and throw it on a pretty plate.  But this year I want to give the cranberry sauce some extra attention.  So, I'm going to try this salad recipe from the winthrop chronicles.  And because it uses raspberry jello, I am hoping the kids will like it, too.  An easy recipe to add to your menu, too.  You can find the full recipe here.

Magic Santa Key + Free Poem Printable

If you don't have a fireplace in your home, have your little ones been concerned with how Santa will get in your house to deliver their gifts??  I had a girlfriend tell me this just the other day, and I thought it was the cutest thing.  So, it was a great coincidence that I came across this super cute idea from Artsy Fartsy Mama, that offers a magical solution: Leave a magic key and poem for Santa so he can get into the house. She even provides a sweet poem for you.

So, tell your kids not to worry.  Leave those milk and cookies out–because you'll make sure Santa will find his way in all right! Find the full post with printable here.

Easy DIY Holiday Magnets

On Facebook last week I shared this cute holiday magnet idea from Vixen Made, using wooden shapes.  I thought they were so cute I set out to look for the wooden shapes, but couldn't find them.  BUT I did stumble upon these mini ornaments and gift card box at the Dollar Tree--that saved the day!

How great! The ornaments were mini and pre-decorated! All I needed to do was cut off the wire loop (there to hang the ornament) and hot glue a magnet to the backs.

And I have myself a cute gift! To package them, I took out the insert from the gift card box and put in some tissue paper.

They're perfect for teachers and neighbors.  Thank you Vixen Made for the inspiration!

Sharing with

Ladybird Ln Weekend Show Off Party

Look What I Made Linky Party

Sugar and Spice #140

Show Off Your Stuff Party #156
Bloom Link Party
Frugalicious Friday
The Cure for the Common Monday

More DIY Ornaments

Ornaments are such a popular gift--and it means so much when they're handmade.  I had a teacher tell me she loves getting ornaments from her students because she is reminded of those students each year as she looks at her tree.  You can see the DIY ornament I've given out in the past here, as well as some other DIY ornaments here.

But this year, here are a few that I am loving!  Link sources are listed below.  Happy crafting!

Snowman Ornament from Crafts Unleashed
Rolled Paper Ornament from Positively Splendid
Bell Jar Ornament from My So Called Crafty Life
Jeweled Ornament at Mod Podge Rocks

DIY Felt Peppermint Garland

Here is another fabulous holiday DIY project from My So Called Crafty Life.  Use it to adorn your mantle, on chairs or around your tree.  So cute and inspiring!  I wonder if there is a way of even wrapping the "peppermint swirls" with cellophane to really make it look like candy??!
Find the full tutorial here.

Thanksgiving "Glitter House"

I've seen these little DIY glitter houses made for Christmas, but this is the first time I've seen it done for Thanksgiving–and I love it!  What a great little centerpiece or addition for a Fall mantel.  See how polka dot chair put it all together right here.

Neverland Birthday Party

Little Hayden celebrated her 5th birthday in Neverland! Decorated with pirates, soft greens and a dash of pixie dust, her birthday party was pure magic!  Guests enjoyed a pirate bounce house, face painting, and a story time from Tinkerbell herself!  Submitted by Orange Blossom Photography in California, who also captured all the party details.  My favorite are the felt cupcake toppers in the shape of hooks, stars and Peter Pan hats.  Adorable!  Please see below for other participating vendors.

 

Participating Vendors:

Event Planner: Elle and Em Party Design
Event Designer: Lindsay Lauren Event Planning and Consulting
Cake Designer: Kirstie's Cake Creations
Linens and Coverings: A Grande Affair Party Rents
Etsy Designer: Tu Tu Sweet Creations

No Bake Acorn Treats

It's always so busy over the holidays and finding a dessert that's cute and easy to make is a bonus!  You may have seen other variations of this acorn treat, but I like the combination of donut holes and Nutella (!) topped with the cute leaf sprinkles that Made From Pinterest used.  Perfect for a Thanksgiving kids table or addition to any Fall entertaining.  Find the full tutorial here.

Darling Christmas Countdown Blocks with Free Printables

Darling is the only way to describe these Christmas Countdown Blocks from My So Called Crafty Life.  They're sweet enough to put in a child's room, too.  Best of all, she provides the free printables so you can easily make your own.  Find the full tutorial and printables here.

Cotton Candy Cosmo

Have you seen this tempting cotton candy concoction on Pinterest??!  I have to try this fun drink with some lady friends soon. And it would be really fun for guests to make their own.  Maybe try a winter blue or white cotton candy for the upcoming holiday season?  Have fun with it! Get the full recipe here.

DIY Christmas Trees

I don't mean to be skipping over Thanksgiving right to Christmas, but after yesterday's post on how to make December easier, I thought it would be wise to share a few DIY Christmas ideas you can do in advance, and tabletop trees are one of my favorite projects!  They make cute neighbor gifts; you can put one anywhere in the house and they also make a good project if you are a hosting a "Holi-DIY" party with some friends.  So here are a couple of new ones that have already popped up this year, plus a couple of older ones that offer something a little different.  (All sources are linked after the photos.)

Gold trees from Positively Splendid.
Felt trees from The Crafted Sparrow.
Wood Christmas Tree from The Crafty Sisters.
Waterless Tree Globe from Sweet Something Designs.

And you can find more tree projects in previous posts here and here.
Happy crafting!

This Week's Tip-off: December Time Savers

I'm sure you've seen all the holiday decorations out in the stores by now.  Isn't it crazy??  I have to admit, it gets my heart racing because I do love Christmas, but at the same time it makes me feel incredibly anxious (and not in a good way), like I need to start prepping NOW.

While I was, in fact, jotting down "tree lighting" and "visit Santa" dates in my calendar over the weekend, I came across this great post from Cleverly Inspired, where she offered her list of what to do THIS month to make the crazy month of December a bit less stressful.  I think it's a pretty good list.  For me, Thanksgiving weekend is when I try to make my neighbor gifts and get our advent calendar together.  The only other thing I would recommend is to sign up for holiday deals.  Whether it's by "Liking" your favorite retailer on Facebook or signing up with their rewards club via email. A lot of them are already offering great holiday deals.  Toys R' Us for instance, is already having daily deals.  And I just saved 30% off my entire purchase at The Children's Place this past weekend with an email coupon.

So, take the time to review the list here and try to enjoy the holidays this year.  Don't go crazy at the last minute!

The Girls' Halloween Costumes

Hope you each had a fun and safe Halloween!  Our day was pretty busy yesterday--getting through the usual Halloween festivities: school costume parade followed by the class parties, visiting local businesses handing out candy and then the big finale of trick or treating in our neighborhood.

It's funny, Renee and Siena are twins, and people always ask me if their personalities are similar.  They really couldn't be more different--as eveidenced by their costumes!  Siena was a "scary" vampire, while Renee opted to be her favorite cutesy Lalaloopsy doll!

I will be back to posting normally, if not tomorrow, definitely Monday!  (Although I still post fun finds on FB)  Just trying to enjoy these fun family moments!  Ciao for now! :)