Christmas 2012: DIY Christmas Ornaments

The other day, I came across my travel keychain collection in one of my drawers while I was reorganizing the bedroom.  It made me a little sad to think of them tucked away somewhere not on display until I figured, why not just turn them into ornaments?  So I pulled out my bag of extra ornament hooks and went to town!

Please forgive my poor broken Pisa keychain...the leaning tower used to be there, but it fell off and is forever lost.  I'm still hanging onto the rest of it though, as you can see!

Deployment Projects

So I may have become a little...ambitious lately, particularly in regards to a certain project I've decided to tackle.  You see, when Mr. L deploys, I tend to take on tasks that will keep me occupied from the time he's gone until when he comes back.  And what did I somehow end up picking for this trip?

Well, I found this fabric:

Premier Prints Acres Twill Harmony/Green fabric via Fabric.com

And I fell in love with it, so I declared that I would somehow make it turn into a king size blanket for our bed.

Did I mention I have very, very little sewing experience?  I've pretty much only made baby blankets and, very recently, my Schnauzer's Christmas stocking.  And, naturally, I've also decided to throw in matching pillows, a headboard, a bedskirt, and possibly drapes, but I'll probably save those for trips in the future.  It should all be a fun experience, though!

I also possibly have a mild case of ADD, because I can't ever do just one project (even if it's a big undertaking like the blanket).  So I'm also doing a mixture of organization, cleaning, and decorating projects that I hope all turn out very nicely.  I guess we'll have to wait and see on that end, though!

How do you deal with deployments?  Do you sew, and if so, do you have any tips?!  I sure could use some!

DIY Photo Coasters

For this past Christmas, I wanted to do a little something for my and Mr. L's families that not only was crafted by hand but also showcased a little of Hawaii.  While I was mulling over ideas in my head, I remembered something I'd seen on Pinterest that I thought was really neat:  DIY Photo Coasters.

I used a combination of tutorials, the above linked one being one of them, and set to my task of making homemade photo coasters.

First I assembled my supplies: 

• Mod Podge and a sponge brush (I didn't want to go out and buy another bottle of MP, so instead of using glossy, which I should have, I just stuck with the matte) 

• 8 white ceramic tiles (19 cents each at Home Depot, woo!)

• Assorted pictures of my choosing (these were all shots I'd taken around Oahu so far)

• As well as acrylic sealer, which I didn't snap a picture of (sorry!)

Then I began my project by liberally applying Mod Podge to the back of the pictures...

And then affixing them to the front glossy sides of the tiles.

Then I again liberally applied Mod Podge, this time over the entire picture.  

I repeated each coat probably four to five times (while allowing to thoroughly dry over the course of about 36 hours), just to make sure the pictures were not going anywhere.  Afterwards, Mr. L got out the acrylic spray and took these bad boys out onto the back porch, where he gave them a good three to four coats, again, to be on the safe side.

I think they turned out pretty beautifully, and our family members really seemed to like them, especially after they realized the pictures were all ones I'd taken!

Did you do any DIY presents for the holidays?  If so, tell me about them below!

DIY: Yarn Pom Pom Wreath

In order to make our new house more of a home, I wanted to inject a little Christmas spirit into the atmosphere.  While browsing Pinterest for decoration ideas, I came across this lovely wreath made out of yarn balls:

Source: twojunkchix.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

I loved the rustic, silvery colors; it reminded me so much of snow and winter, something we don't exactly have in this part of the world =)  So I decided to attempt to make my own!

Newlywed Map

To commemorate our one year anniversary, also known as the paper anniversary, Mr. L and I decided to do a project I'd seen a few times, mainly here, here, and here.  It's called a Newlywed Map, and the basic premise is that you glue a map onto foam core board and use map tacks to indicate where you've traveled in the world.