Makin' It Cheap

Christmas To-Do List

My fabulous SIL - Jillian at Food, Folks & Fun hooked me up with one of these. She designed them & has the prints & instructions on her site FOR FREE. The frame was from Michaels. It was originally $40, but hitting up an after Christmas sale brought it down to about $12.

Holiday Centerpiece

Not sure where this one originated. It was posted on CBID Home Decor & Design, but I think it came from somewhere else.

Are cute as her pedestals are, they weren't cheap enough.

What I used was wooden napkin rings & wooden candlesticks. They are sold at Hobby Lobby in the wood craft dept. They each come in bags of 6. To get the 3 levels: Tall- I put 2 napkin rings below the candlestick, Middle- 1 napkin ring, Short- just the candlestick.

At the dollar store I bought a pack of 8 fancy plastic disposable plates. Using E6000 I glued the levels together & sprayed them white.

The squares I made with green foam floral squares. I used my miter saw to size them how I wanted, BUT I will go back & cut the candy one slightly smaller & remake it. This is for 2 reasons. I want the same amt of candy on each side, 3x3 & it would have meant gaps if I did 3x3 on this, but 4x4 was too much. Secondly, the size of the candies gave it a bulky look. It looks bigger than the other 2, so making it slightly smaller will be more visually appealing, I think.

The other 2 squares are rose pedals & red fuzzy yarn. Also from Hobby Lobby, but bring your coupon. They will each make about 6 sets, but much to pricy for just one.

Present Topiary

This idea came from That Village House. It is absolutely adorable!

I love the urn that she used, BUT I don't have an urn & I wasn't willing to spend $60+ so I decided to make a cheaper version.

This pedestal is from Hobby Lobby. It was $16.99 & I used a 40% off coupon. I just flipped it upside down & there is a hole through it. The paper is also from Hobby Lobby.

The boxes I made. I cut the 6 sides & put them together. Time-consuming, but easier than it sounds. I did 15in, 12in & 9 in.

No rebar in the garage, so I used a long thin piece of wood. With a utility knife I cut rectangles in the box where the wood would slide through. Figuring out the top 2 was tricky. The holes are just slightly off-center, not as exaggerated as I expected.

After I took this pict I filled the top box with plastic bags & it's angling much better now. On the very top box the rebar, (or stick) only go through one side, I found it tricky, getting it to lay right. Part of the problem could be that I ran out of ribbon to complete a bow on the middle box & I could have used that bow to prop the top box in the correct angle.

It hasn't tipped with this base. We don't have much weather, but on That Village House someone suggested to wrap the boxes in plastic table cloths. Maybe it would battle the elements better.

Thanks Tiffany for sharing this super cute project! Visit her site further instruction.

Framed Halloween Subway Art

Confession: My neighborhood is filled w/ construction. I was driving home late at night & saw some GORGEOUS molding sticking out of the dumpster. I slammed on the breaks & did a little shame-less dumpster diving. there were tons of long 2x4. And lot & lots of molding...score!

My sister in law made the subway art. She has it available for FREE at her website:

For the frame, I took my dumpster molding.
1) Measured it out.
2) Used my miter saw to cut 45 degree angles.
3) Used gorilla glue to hold it together. (I Don't love gorilla glue because is expands, but it is a strong hold & is what I had on hand)
4) Once dry I sanded down the Gorilla glue.
5) I caulked the places where the pieces of wood meet.
6) Sanded again once the caulk dried.
7) Painted the frame & let it dry.
8) And to keep a free project free, I backed the frame with cardboard.

Gauze Ghosts

These free standing Ghosts are made by:
1) Making a form to shape the ghost. Here is my free version:

A drinkable yogurt container, two straws & a foil ball to round the head.

2) Take a sheet or gauze, cheese cloth, or any other similar material. Cut approx 12x12inches.

3) Mix liquid glue & water togther with a paint brush.

4) Paint the gauze & get it soaked.

5) Lay the gauze over your form & place outside to dry.

6) Once dry (in AZ it took 1 hour) use a black pen to paint the eyes.

2 x 4 Pumpkins

My kids were thrilled to do this super simple craft.
A friend with a vinyl machine printed off some faces. If you don't have sticker/vinyl faces, try cutting out your own faces with black cardstock & use mod podge to adhere them.

I had cut up a few 2x4's to use for our fire pit. SO I had the kids go to the wood pile
1) They each picked out 2 pieces of wood
2) I sanded the wood.
3) Painted them orange & let them dry.
4) Distressed the edges w/ sand paper
5) Stuck the faces on.
6) Tied a ribbon where a stem would be.

How easy is that??

Making an Infant Stretch Headband

Take a new pair of tights. I use size 4-6x. Snip off one leg. OR for a cheaper version...You can use knee highs. At Walmart a pair is about $0.47 in the little plastic containers. Get the smallest size available

Make a loop overlapping the top & toe of the tights.

Take your needle & thread, stitching these two together.

I just use a back and forth motion. If my skills are lacking it's because my husband does all the hand sewing...buttons, etc.

Now go back the other direction with your stitches.

Cinch them together, tie it off & snip the thread.

Now clip off the toe.

It should look like a headband now. When I make these for myself I just stop here.

To Make the Loop:

Snip off some of the waist band from your 1 legged tights. (about 2 1/2 inches) Or if you are using a knee-high, clip off the elastic top of the knee-high you are using.

This is what it should look like.

Now unfold it. You'll notice up & down will not be very stretchy, but side to side will.

Glue the top edge. (low-temp glue gun!)

Fold top to the middle. Glue the bottom edge.

Fold it to the middle.

Before your glue dries strech this piece. Once dry...

Fold it over the top. Covering the place you've sewn.

Flip the headband inside out, so that you are glueing on the underneath (hidden) side of the headband.

Be carfeful to use a very tiny amount of glue when making this loop. You don't want anything hard against the babies head. Glue the 2 sides of that waist band together.