our holiday

I finally downloaded all of the photos from our holiday travels and thought I'd share some of my favorites. Since having Ella, we've been able to make the trip to see both of our families to celebrate Christmas and the new year every year.  We usually plan to spend Christmas proper with one of our families (usually the one we didn't see for Thanksgiving), and then travel to see the other either before or after Christmas.  At least that was thinking behind it all.  In actuality, because of schedules and timing, we have spent Christmas proper the past two years with my husband's family, so I was over the moon this year to be able to spend the holiday with my family in Atlanta.  My sister (the other Fort) has lived in Atlanta since 2004 and we've yet to spend a holiday in her city.  It was nice to let her play host, take us to great restaurants, coffee shops, and let's not forget, Revolution donuts.  At least, I won't forget . . .

make: star of david ornaments

We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas in our house.  And as Ella gets older, my commitment to making both special for her and meaningful for all of us becomes greater.  Hanukkah begins this year on the evening of November 27th.  Luckily we will be traveling to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and will be able to celebrate the first few nights with them.  But when we return to our home, I'll have the menorah ready and these simple star of David ornaments hanging from our holiday branches.

I used wood craft sticks, craft paint, and small black rubber hair bands to make these simple ornaments. Here's how I did it:

1_ Begin by painting your craft sticks, if desired, and let dry.  I chose to paint some and leave others natural.

2_ After your sticks have dried, begin by laying the ends of two sticks over one another.  Pick up and wrap a rubber band around the sticks' ends several times until tight.  Add one additional stick to the unconnected ends of one of the first two sticks and, again, wrap a rubber band around the two sticks' ends several times until tight.  You will now have an open triangle.

3_ Before closing the triangle with another rubber band, feed three rubber bands onto one of the sticks. These are important to place onto the triangle before closing it as these will hold the second overlapping triangle onto the first.

4_ Close the triangle by wrapping a rubber band around the ends of the two sticks left unattached.  You will then have one triangle completed.

5_ Repeat step 2 for the next triangle.  You do not need to feed any additional rubber bands onto this second triangle so go ahead and skip to step 4.

6_ Place your two triangles on top of one another, in opposing directions, and working one point at a time, wrap one of the rubber bands from one side of the first triangle up, and around a point of the second until tight.  The two triangles will still be shifting on top of one another until all points of the second triangle are secured to a side of the first triangle.  Once all points have been secured, the star should be quite sturdy.

And if Hanukkah isn't a part of your holiday celebration, than you can make a simple star!

Happy (holiday) making!

make: holiday (tp roll) garland

Ever since the dusting of snow we had a few weeks ago, the holiday spirit has been slowly creeping its way into my life.  The fact that holiday wreaths appeared at the mall before Halloween had even arrived had me a little peeved.  But my Scrooge moment is gone and I'm starting to get excited for travel, family visits, and what will be our first official Christmas donning Santa hats for our little girl (at least the first Christmas where she'll notice and get it).

With a renovation in full swing at our house, not scheduled to be completed until the beginning of December, a tree is probably not in the cards for us this holiday.  But I've see a few images with simple arrangements of branches in large vases that I think will suit our space (or lack thereof) perfectly this year.  And to decorate it . . . lots of not to heavy, homemade ornaments are in the works.  And the garland is done!

Ella's loose parts bin had been overflowing with toilet paper rolls and I had been searching for a way to use the excess (I've been pinning a lot of great ideas).  But I ended up using them for this!  I used about eight tp rolls, craft paint, pinking shears, a needle and cotton string to assemble this garland.  It was so easy.  Here's how I did it:

1_ Flatten your toilet paper rolls, using a bone folder to ensure that the creases are smooth.  A rigid ruler would also work.  

2_ Paint your rolls with craft paint.  I used three colors and each roll took at least two coats of paint for a nice finish.

3_ Once dry, use a ruler to mark your tp rolls every 1" with a pencil.  Then use your pinking shears to trim the edges and cut the tp rolls on each mark, giving you about 1" wide rings.

4_ Using a crafting needle, string the tp rolls onto a generous length of cotton thread by piercing the centers of each crease on the rings.

5_ Tie off the ends leaving a loop for hanging and enjoy!

I don't, unfortunately, have a place to hang this just yet but I'll be sure to post pics as soon as I've figured out where it will hang.

Happy (holiday) making!

make: wood bead garland

i'm in love with all of the colorful felt ball garlands available this holiday season (if you haven't seen them, you must have gotten stuck under a rock).  here are some of my favorites: 

1_Crate&Barrel Felt Ball Garland

2_Horchow Arcadia Home "Artisan" Felt Ball Garland

3_Land of Nod Goody Gumball Garland (Hanukkah)

4_FeltFoxes Felt Ball Garland Rainbow Party

while they are generally affordable, i'm most definitely on felt overload. after making the scalloped felt trees and completing a ruffly felt wreath care of designsponge, i decided i wanted something a bit heavier and, with so many colorful ornaments on the tree already, with a largely neutral color palette.

i scoured the web for the best selection of round wood beads and found Woodworks, Ltd.. i ordered a bulk bag of 1" diameter natural wood beads, painted about half of them in either metallic gold or raspberry red paint, and strung them onto a cream 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon. i'm so excited with the result and think they look great on the tree. and perhaps the best part, especially for a change-craver like me - i can unstring and re-paint the beads different colors in a few years when i want something new!

happy making!

make: hanukkah tree

i was raised catholic but my husband was raised jewish, and while his family always had a christmas tree growing up, i still wanted to come up with our own traditions to merge our religious rituals for the holiday season.  modernica has come up with a fabulous superstar holiday tree made of birch plywood panels featuring connected cutouts of stars of david.

unfortunately, we have neither the space or the $229 to spare, so i decided to craft a two-dimensional tree with this beauty in mind.  one thing we do not have a shortage of in our house is glass area - the number of windows in this house is actually a little ridiculous.  i chose a pair in the dining room for the installation and got to work.  i first printed an outline of a star of david from the internet (thank you google image search) and traced it onto a thick piece of chip board to create a sturdy template.  i then headed to my basement to try and locate the remainder of a large roll of white shelf contact paper left over from when we moved in.  the rest of the project was a simple trace and cut endeavor until i had enough stars to form a tree, complete with a star topper.  the contact paper will peel nicely off the window after the holiday season has ended and i have made my husband one happy guy!

in the making: starry garland

my sister pinned an image of a rustic, white paper star garland several months ago that i thought would be a perfect decoration for the holiday season.  so how perfect it was that, when she came to visit after thanksgiving, we spent an evening cutting out stars and chatting into the wee hours of the morning in order to make one (or two - who knew we could actually produce that many stars in just a few hours)!

i spent the next day stringing them onto pieces of twine, knotting it both above and below each paper star to keep it in place along its length.  the results now adorn our entryway into the dining room and my poor husband hits his head on them every time he walks into the room.

in the making: scalloped felt holiday trees

about a month ago i spotted these fabulously neutral holiday trees at one of my favorite stores, land of nod.



i immediately knew i wanted these on my mantel for the holiday and thought it would be easy to make them myself. and to give me the extra push i needed to get them done before Christmas, i chose to host a craft night with some great friends and provide all the materials to make them. i stuck with a neutral color story, choosing oatmeal and ivory for my two trees.

here are all the instructions to make a pair for yourself.

supply list:
felt, 2-3 9x12 sheets for each tree
styrofoam cones, 9" and 6"
felt glue
fabric shears
x-acto knife
permanent or fabric marker
chip board or other sturdy paper material (for template)
pins and/or rubber bands



to make:
1_begin by creating a template for yourself for the scallops. i simply drew a 2" diameter circle with a compass onto a small piece of chipboard and then two lines running tangent to the circle to create a raindrop shape, then cut it out with an x-acto knife.
2_trace the bottom of the styrofoam cones onto the felt with a marker in a corresponding color, cut out with the fabric shears and adhere to the bottom of the cones with felt glue. let dry.
3_trace your scallop template onto the felt with the same marker, carefully cut out with fabric shears. note: make sure to leave yourself about a 5" square portion of felt to make the tree topper.
4_when you have a good stack of scallops ready, you can begin gluing them to the styrofoam cones. start at the bottom of the cone and place the first scallop cut-out, making sure to overlap the bottom edge just enough to hide the styrofoam, about 1/4". continue gluing the scallops in place, overlapping them as you go.
5_work your way up the cone, gluing scallops row by row, overlapping as needed. use the rubber bands or pins to hold them in place while they dry. much of the placement of the scallops is up to you and your individual tastes. if you feel more comfortable, the scallops can be pinned in place prior to gluing to allow you to visualize the final product more easily. this is especially helpful if you will be using multiple colors of fabric on one tree.
6_to finish off the tree, trace three scallops onto your remaining 5"x5" piece of felt. the scallops should be touching each other along their straight edges, creating an open clover shape. cut this out as ONE piece. roll the piece into a cone shape and pin to hold. apply glue to the inside and place atop your tree.
7_place on mantel (or other location of your choice) and enjoy!