6 Ways to Re-Use Christmas Decorations in Valentine's Day Decor

If you're like me you want to decorate for Valentine's Day, but without spending a bunch of money on decor.   Even DIY holiday decorations can add up...so this year I challenged myself to decorate for the holiday of love by re-using my Christmas decorations.

Here are 6 easy ways you can upcycle from one red and white holiday to the next.

5 Silhouette Projects for Beginners

So I got a Silhouette Portrait - the little sister to the Silhouette Cameo - for Christmas.  (If you're not familiar -it's a paper cutting machine or a die cut machine use to make cards, stencils, labels and for scrapbook.) It's really not fair - my kids open up their new toys and immediately they start playing with them non-stop.  I guess when you're a mom it doesn't work that way.  Wah wah wah.  I'm dying to play with my new toy, but I'm squeezing it in during naps.  When does school start back up? I kid. I kid.

Re-use Yankee Candle Jars: How to Remove Wax from the Glass Holder

I don't know about you, but I have been burning through Yankee Candles this holiday season...pun intended.  The Yankee Candles come in such beautiful glass jars I really want to save them to upcycle after the candles were long gone...but before that I had to figure out how to remove the wax from the glass holder.

First, I peeled off the label.  Don't worry about any left over residue right now, you can use goo gone after you get the wax out to remove it. 

After the label was off, I burned the candle down as low as possible.  When most of the wax had melted to liquid I poured it into another container.  (Actually I consolidated it into another candle of a very similar scent).  You could also empty it into an empty soup can or another glass jar. 

After I poured out the liquid wax, I let the rest of the wax harden up in the original Yankee Candle jar.  Once it was solid, I used a paring knife to cut wedges - about 6 or 8 sections - into the hardened wax.

DIY Dollar Store Chalkboard Tray

For a recent dinner party I served a cheese tray. Instead of the usually guessing/sniffing/tasting game, I decided I would be nice to my guests and let them know what type of cheeses we had.  I made a chalkboard tray using a tray I bought at the dollar store and some chalkboard paint from the craft store.

The tutorial for this is stupid it's so easy...

Ok, so to make your DIY chalkboard cheese tray you need a platter (mine was plastic), chalkboard paint, and a foam brush.

Squeeze some of the paint right onto the tray (not too much because if it's too thick it won't dry very well) and use the foam brush to evenly spread it all over the tray.  I tried to brush all in the same direction. 

Pottery Barn Table Setting Knockoff from the Dollar Store

Isn't it lovely? I love Pottery Barn's table settings. They're often simple yet stunning and timeless. What I can't swallow is paying $12.50 for a charger.  Not a plate...a plate that holds a plate.  Note "a".  That means if you want to set the table for six you'd be spending $75 on plates you don't even eat off.   Let's not talk about if you're setting the table for 12 or more...

That, my friends, is why I love the dollar store.  Right before Christmas I went in looking for some gold chargers for my Christmas table.  I found them for one dollar a piece. Guess what...they even have the beaded edge, just like Pottery Barn's.   I picked up six...you know, for $6.

'Read More' after the jump to see my Pottery Barn knockoff table setting.... 

DIY Faux Chalkboard Menu Board

My husband and I recently hosted a small dinner party for about four other couples.   Since I wasn't doing much in the way of decorations - my house is already decked out for Christmas - I decided I would just do a few extra special party decorations.  I had been given a free trial upgrade by PicMonkey to use their Royale Package I decided to make a Faux Chalkboard Menu Board.  It came out awesome - despite my misspelling on Nutella (sorry 'bout that, 'Tella- I hope we can still be BFFs).   More on why I didn't fix it in a minute...but first how I made it using PicMonkey.

I started by "creating a design."  Since I was printing it at home and wanted it to be as large as possible, I selected the 8 x 10 canvas.   Using the chalkboard background in the 'School' theme, I was able to make the entire canvas a faux chalkboard.  Then I added an overlay at the top and made it transparent before adding my "Menu" text.

Then it was time to start adding my menu items.  I used all the different chalkboard-like fonts available on PicMonkey.  Some of them are part of the standard free package, and a few like Sketch Block and Stroke Dimension I could only gain access to because I had the free trial of PicMonkey's Royale (indicated by the little crown).  

Christmas Party Ideas {& Christmas Home Tour}

Alright alright, I'll do a Christmas home tour. You twisted my arm.  Not really...but I have been dragging my feet about putting a together a post wrapping up all my DIY Christmas decorations.  Since I hosted a little Christmas dinner party the other night, I thought combining the two would be a great way to take you on a little home tour - while also sharing some Christmas party ideas.

Let me start off by saying I love to decorate and plan parties and the Christmas season is my favorite, so you know I was totally in my element.  I'm sure I seem like a total over-the-top hostess, but I actually enjoy all the little details that go into make it something special and something to remember.  This year we kept it simple and small and only had three other couples (minus our combined 9.5 kids) for the dinner party.   Technically, I guess the.5 was there....

Salt Dough Recipes for Ornaments: Handprint Santa and Christmas Gift Tag Ideas

Sure, so Mother Nature gives us a 70 degree day smack dab in the middle of December - along the Mid-Atlantic- and makes it RAIN? What is up with that? That's like the worst tease ever.   Wah Wah Wah...and so we were stuck in side...again.  And guess what this mom had up her sleeve...another kids hand print project!  I have a whole board of handprint art ideas on Pinterest..and I have to say they are very popular!  The one we made today is different than anything we've made before because it's actually a 3D ornament, instead of just a paint hand print.

The are a few different salt dough recipes for ornaments floating around out there, but I did this one <<<.  To make one Santa handprint ornament and eight other small to medium size ornaments I went with 1 cup of flour and half a cup each of salt and water.

This is a toddler-friendly craft and since I had a pint size helper, he helped me mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.

Christmas Tree Handprint Art (Toddler-friendly)

 

Looking for a fun little project while your kids are off for Christmas?  You've come to the right spot!  Last week mine had two snow days coming off a weekend and by Monday 8 am we were all going majorly stir crazy.  So I broke out the finger paint and let them have at it...yup jammies and all!

Amazon Prime Review {and Stacking Savings with Ebates}

I don't do many reviews here on Two It Yourself, but I thought I would share one with you today as we quickly approach the holiday.  I don't know about you, but we've been enjoying the first days of holiday vacation at home playing with what will soon be the 'old' toys and watching some fun movies -- many of them thanks to our Amazon Prime subscription.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving my husband suggested we finally shell out the $79 and get Amazon Prime.  If you're not familiar with the Amazon.com program  you get 2 day free shipping on any item that's part of Prime.  It's certainly not everything on Amazon because many items are sold through a third party, but it is a lot.  What I didn't realize, but my husband was quick to point out, is the Prime membership also gets you unlimited access to a database full of nearly 15,000 tv shows and movies, as well.

Gift Ideas: 2IY's Unique Gift Giving Guide

Looking to buy a unique gift for someone on your shopping list or do you need a DIY gift idea that you can make yourself? Well, you've come to the right spot.  Two It Yourself's 2013 Unique Gift Giving Guide is full of both so let's just cut to the chase since Christmas is now just ONE week away.

Last Minute Gift Ideas for Her, Him (or whoever): Kids Funny Quote Book

I don't know about you, but if it wasn't for the funny stuff my kids say and do I'd pretty much pull my hair out six days of the week.  Somehow just one of their unintended, hilarious one-liners can turn a bad day good any day of the week.   I used to write them all down in a MS Word document...and then I had my second kid.  Yeah, I haven't even written the poor guy's birthday in his baby book yet.  He's 2.5...years not months.  But what I do, nearly daily, is share the funny stuff my kids say on Facebook.  Turns out FB is actually a perfect way to keep all the quotes in one place.

This year, I decided I would go back through my year's worth of Facebook status updates as a way to remember all the funny stuff my kids said and turn it into a little book.   It's the perfect last minute gift idea for daddy...or if you're a dad, mommy...or grammy or pops or whoever!  I can just see my husband now flipping through it while sitting at his office....those little nuggets of kid wisdom melting the frustrations and stress of work away.

DIY Monogrammed Wine Bottle Bag (Pottery Barn-Inspired)

I think I like wine accessories more than I actually like wine.  Take for example, Pottery Barn's textured linen wine bags = LOVE! I loved them so much I knocked them off....cause, you know, I love Pottery Barn...oh and they're no longer available so I basically had no choice, but to DIY. 
The PB version (on the right above) has a linen look so I used my go-to linen impersonator: drop cloth. 

{10 Minute} DIY Christmas Ornaments

Clearly I like to create and decorate, but I'm not a big DIY Christmas Ornament maker.  Today, however, that changed. I had about 10 spare minutes....I kid you not, that actually happened. Somehow between two kids, two snowdays, a minor medical procedure, the craziness of Christmas, and filling countless Etsy orders I actually had a few minutes to create. 

Anyway, when you have 10 free minutes, a scrap of burlap, and a small wood embroidery hoop, what do you do? You make your own ornament, of course.  At least that's what I did...and it was so easy which makes it that much more exciting.

First I designed the ornament in PicMonkey.   Don't be intimated by "design" because by that I mean I opened up the free photo editing software, I clicked "Design" and picked 4 x 6.  I took it up to 100% view picked a wreathery design I liked and added a V.  That part took me about 2 minutes. 

Video: Hometalk Hangout features 2IY's Tomato Planter Christmas Tree Demo

So...I did it.  I jumped in front of the camera as much as I'd rather be on the other side (I spent 5+ years behind it as a TV news producer before calling it quits to raise my kiddos) just so I could participate in a really cool opportunity with Hometalk.

The home and garden website invited me and three other bloggers - Shelly from Sow and Dippity, Jocie from The Better Half/One Project Closer, and Marie from Fort Ledbetter - to share and demonstrate our DIY mini Christmas trees.   Wow! What amazing talent these ladies have...I was just honored to be sitting amongst them...in my living room.

We each joined Miriam, our Hometalk host, for the live half hour chat and demo. I shared how to make my mini tomato planter Christmas tree which I made for about $2.  In case you missed the live stream - or if you just want to watch it again (mom!) - here's the full video.  I encourage you to watch the full hangout because all of the trees are totally awesome (and so different), but if you just wanna see my mug I start my demo at about 13 minutes in.

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DIY Cheap Photo Cards for Christmas

I don't know about you, but I have noticed that with every year that goes by we get fewer and fewer Christmas cards.  I'm sure part of it is friends figure you keep up with photos and happenings on Facebook and the other part of it is expense.  Between the cost of Christmas photo cards and the postage to mail them, it's not cheap to send out dozens and dozens of photo cards.

Every year my list seems to grow, but this year I'll be trying to keep it to under 75 cards.  For that many photo cards, it can easily cost over $50 and that's not even including postage. This year I decided I would make my own cheap photo cards.  With all the online editing programs out there, it's actually really easy to do.

{Easy Printed} Merry Christmas Burlap Banner

A friend of mine asked me to make her a burlap banner reading 'Merry Christmas' that she could hang on her mantle.   There are tons of variations on the Christmas bunting, but she wanted her pretty simple: just a red letter per flag with a Christmas tree separating the two words.

She also requested that all of the flags be in one straight line, not two tiered like many Merry Christmas banners are.  But as it turns out making the single row of flags required the rope to be 75 inches long - way too long for the mantle.  Obviously, we reverted to plan B and went with two banners.

I turned to my trusty Powerpoint to design the flags.  I always start with a simple triangle outline and copy and pasted it repeatedly, to ensure that all of my flags are the same size.   Then I just changed the letters and moved them around slightly to center them in the flags.  For this project I put two flags per slideshow.  They are still a good size - about 6" x 6.5".

I grabbed a Christmas tree icon from my favorite PicMonkey and used it to design a flag the same way I did with the letters.

DIY Log Tea Light Holder Center Piece

Finally, I can share my log tea light holder center piece for my Christmas dining room table with you.  The project is actually pretty straight forward and fast, but for some reason it took me months to figure out how and where I wanted to use it.  But now she's ready for her 2IY debut just in time for Christmas.

I had been wanting to make a log tea light holder ever since this huge branch fell off a tree in our backyard.  Instead of making it then, I made a set of tree branch candle sticks.  I was waiting for another branch to fall but unfortunately (or, I guess, fortunately) one never did.   So I did the next best thing...I raided the wood pile.

Easy Gingerbread House Idea for Toddlers and Kids

A few years back I had this great idea to buy a gingerbread house mold to make it 'easier' to make gingerbread houses with the kids each year.  It was after the holiday and the Wilton Gingerbread Mold Pan was on super clearance at the craft store.  I should have known there was a reason it was still available.  There's no way any person in their right mind - who wants to stay in their right mind - would attempt to make a gingerbread house from scratch alongside a toddler and a five year old.

My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I brought the kit home.  Not that that's too out of the ordinary, but this time I did think he had a point.  I promptly returned it - but with the mindset that my kids would not go through their childhood deprived of making Christmas-time gingerbread houses.

Then last year my aunt told me her little secret - use milk cartons (and Halloween candy) to make easy, kid-friendly, and inexpensive gingerbread houses.  How freaking genius is that?

My 2 year old and I set out to get all our supplies: 2 pint-size milk cartons, some kid-friendly candy (none of those tiny rock hard bead-like candies that come with the gingerbread kits), what remained of our Halloween candy stash, a container of pre-made icing, and a box of graham crackers. 

Exciting Announcement

I am thrilled to announce that Hometalk, the largest home and garden site on the web, has asked yours truly to 'hang out' in a live stream panel discussion and tutorial on DIY Christmas trees - and YOU'RE invited!   Woohoo!

During the live hangout on Hometalk's Goggle+, I will be demonstrating how to make my mini tomato planter potted Christmas tree.  It's currently adorning my front porch...along with tons of other (cheap) DIY Christmas projects. 

What most of you probably don't know is that long before my blogging days, I was a TV news producer.  There's a darn good reason why I wasn't in front of the camera and that is I hate seeing and hearing myself on camera, but because I love you all so much, and it's like a totally awesome way to get Two It Yourself's name out there, I'm getting in front of the camera.

I'll be live chatting from my living room, along with three other bloggers.  We'll all be part of a 45 minute live demonstration sharing our amazing mini Christmas Tree ideas.

The hangout starts at 2pm EST on Tuesday, December 10 and guess what...you're like soooo invited!  You do NOT have to be a Hometalk or Google+ member to watch live, but we would like to know who's planning to come so please RSVP.

This will not only give you a friendly reminder to tune in, it will also let me know how nervous I should be because if there are only like 5 people - including my mom and my hubby - I won't be too nervous, but if I know you're all watching I might be super excited and also totally sweatin' it.  But that's cool - just RSVP and come hang out next week! I promise, you won't be disappointed. 

If you just can't make it IE your boss isn't buying that head cold that you suddenly came down with - it's cool...the full demonstration will be up on YouTube following the hangout and of course I'll be sharing it like a mad woman on the blog, Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else I might stalk you.  I kid, I kid...but you won't miss it, don't worry!

So, what do you say? Will you come hang out with me, Hometalk, and a few other totally cool blogger friends?  Click here to RSVP now.

Thanks for stopping by 2IY! If you like what you see, we'd love for you to pin it!

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