Christmas in July-Vintage Style Wall Hanging

Anyone care to guess why I was painting a cereal box at 10:00 at night? 

Honestly, when I saw that the gals at Knick of Time,  Bliss Ranch
and My Salvaged Treasures were hosting a "Christmas in July" party I thought, "That's nice. Have fun with that!" : ) 
I wasn't ready to think much about Christmas, and I determined that I'd have fun looking at the party, but I wasn't going to participate. 
So what happened?? 

 I don't know! The party went up tonight, I started poking around and I thought, "Hey, it might be kind of fun to make something Christmas-y...". Which quickly turning into, "I MUST make something Christmas-y! Right now." Sure, I could have shared a project from last year, but...

Here's what I did: 

  
Back in January I showed you how I made these recycled paper wreaths starting with a cardboard forms cut from cereal boxes. 


Tonight, I decided to put another little project together using a recycled cereal box. 

Did you know you can turn cereal boxes inside out? Are you a little worried about me because I know you can turn cereal boxes inside out? Haha
Carefully open the bottom flaps. You want to try not to wrinkle the cardboard if you can help it. Open the side of the box where it's glued by running your finger along the inside of the seam.

 Fold it all back together inside out, sealing it with hot glue. Why not just paint the box on the outside? Well, it's glossy and colorful, making it harder to cover over with paint. Also, I just love the possibilities of the plain brown box.

 I can think of alot of different ways to put this together, including leaving the plain brown box. But I decided I wanted to create more of a contrast, and a weathered looking surface to this little project, so I painted front and sides of the box with regular black craft paint.

 I forgot to take a "during sanding" photo, but you can see the result. Did you know you can sand painted cardboard? 
I lightly sanded over the whole surface and then sanded most of the paint away around the corners and edges of the box. 

 I went to my paper stash and grabbed a Christmas song page from an old hymnal and a cute vintage looking image of a girl with a bird. I tied some white string around it, hinting at the look of a Christmas package. I added a tiny glittered pine sprig, and a rustic metal star.

I really dislike taking indoor photos at night! But what are you gonna do when you have a sudden desire to go to a Christmas party?

 I punched a small hole in the back of the box and hung it on a nail inside a weathered white frame.

Why did I suddenly feel compelled to create a Christmas craft from a cereal box at 10:00 at night in the middle of July?

Sometimes blogging makes you do weird things.

Come check out the Christmas party!




See you soon, friends!

Jeanette


Sharing this week over at: 

The Scoop at The Farmhouse Porch 
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm 
Christmas in July 
  

Salvaged Wood Crosses

A couple of months ago my daughter was moving, and asked if I wanted an old chair that had been out on her deck. I'm pretty sure it was already falling apart when it came into her possession. It had been outside for quite some time, and it was wobbly, chippy and weather beaten. Did I want it? Well, yeah! : )

This is the real deal. I've done nothing to the finish at all.

It really wasn't worth the work it would take to save it as a chair 
(I wish I had taken a photo) so I decided to just take it apart and see what inspiration came to me. It was pretty easy, it mostly fell apart.

  

Last week I saw some of Linda's awesome handmade crosses over at Coastal Charm, and the wheels started turning...

I decided to try my hand at making some crosses too, using the chair parts.

Kind of funky and rustic, which I love.
 

The holes on the back of the larger ones, where the pieces once joined together, make a perfect built-in hanger. I'll add a hanger to the smaller one, but it looks good just sitting on a shelf, etc. 
Wait...do you think the more rustic side with the holes should be the front of the crosses? Hmm...
 

The cross is a very important symbol of my family's faith. For us it represents the astounding love that God pours out to each of us. 
 

 "God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" 
2 Corinthians 5:21

All that needed to be accomplished for us to have an eternal relationship with our loving creator, Jesus accomplished by willingly dying a brutal death on the cross. It's not always an easy thing to wrap our minds around, is it? That's a crazy kind of love.

 If I can tweak these a bit to make sure they're really sturdy, I might make them available at The Penny and the Pearl tomorrow. We'll see...

"..Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

John 19:30

What's going on in my dining room?? I'll try to show you soon, ok?  :o)

It's not feeling too "Springy" here in Colorado today! Very chilly with snow showers off and on all day.

I've only managed to start one container of wheat grass, but it's doing really well. It looks pretty cheerful on a gloomy day!
 

 

 See ya soon!

Jeanette

Sharing over at:

Creative Bloggers Party at Homemaker on a Dime 
Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 
The Scoop (formerly Cowgirl Up) 
Budget Decorating at Creative Cain Cabin 
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Front Porch 
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Blissful Whites Wednesday at Timewashed
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable
Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours
Be Inspired at Common Ground
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors

Spring! Egg Carton Mini Baskets

Here in Colorado real Spring is quite a ways off. I'm not really one to leap ahead to the next season very quickly, but I admit that the pretty Spring colors I'm seeing on Pinterest and some blogs have got me dreaming! 

I know it's barely mid-February, but I'm going to share a Spring craft with you. Super easy, super cute and as colorful as you'd like to make them!

Let me say I did not come up with the basic idea of these egg carton Spring baskets myself. A few years ago-long before I ever imagined blogging-I saw this idea online. I don't remember what website it was, but I saved the concept in my "idea file" and have made them for the past few years. 

Here's what you will need:

  

Standard paper egg carton

Craft paint (any kind of paint will do, actually) in pretty Spring colors. I don't have any pink, so I'll mix some red and white.

                                                                                     

Colored paper clips OR pipe cleaners OR twist ties. I used paper clips, but you can use anything that can be shaped into a handle.






 

If you are using paper clips, it helps to have needle nose, or regular pliers to bend the ends with.

 Some little bits of ribbon, paper or fabric flowers, buttons-really any little thing you'd like to embellish your baskets with. To make a little hole for the handles you can use a small hole punch, but I've found a nail or a tack works just as well. You'll also need a pair of scissors, and glue. I used a hot glue gun for mine.

 Lastly, something to fill your little baskets. Shredded paper, Easter grass, Spanish moss-whatever you like. I used some brown shredded paper for mine. 



Here's what you do:

Begin by cutting the sections of the egg carton apart.  
 

  
Next, use your scissors to trim each section into something of a flower shape. No need to be too literal, unless you just can't help yourself : )

Once you have a shape you like, you can bend each "petal" back slightly, being careful not to tear the paper.

Now for the fun part-decorating!

  


If you're as lucky as me, you can grab yourself a cute little helper!

 I found a few aqua ones from last year! I think that color is my favorite.

Once all your little baskets are painted and dried, it's time to make the holes for the handle.

If you accidentally make a hole too close to the edge, like I did here, don't worry. It won't show when you're all done.

Shape your paper clip into an arch, bend the two ends inward and  tuck them into the holes. Use a bit of hot glue to hold them in place on the inside if necessary.



 Handles done! Easy, right?

To make the little "Spring!" flag for the handle, I simply printed the word in a font I liked and cut them into a flag shape. If you have nice handwriting (I don't!) you could certainly write them by hand.

Make a little fold in the paper, wrap around the handle and glue the paper together holding the flag in place. Don't forget you can change the word to whatever suits your occasion. You might want yours to say Happy Easter!

 

I forgot to photograph adding the little embellishments, but I think you get the idea. Choose a little ribbon or flower, etc and glue it to the handle or the side of the basket.

 Add your basket filler, and that's it! 

 

I wanted to show you how cute they are with Spring colored 

M & M's, or Robin's Egg candies, but I couldn't find any this early!

They would be darling for Spring party favors or placecard holders at your Easter table. 

Happy Spring dreaming, my friends!


Jeanette 


Sharing over at:
Be Inspired at Common Ground

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Party Junk Easter Projects at Funky Junk Interiors