Christmas 2014 Handmade Gift - Secret Santa Blog Tour

I am so happy to be sharing with you a gift I made for the Secret Santa Blog Tour and it was for Shanna Gilbert of Restoration Redoux. My inspiration for her gift came from a Kirkland's ad that I recieved in the mail. I love their Christmas tree bunting they have displayed on their Christmas tree. Here is the flyer - 

I knew Shanna's main color is turquoise, so I changed the look around to fit her home decor. I also added a little vintage charm to her package as well. Before I show you her gift, I wanted to let you know that, I thought I took pictures of my project during the making of it. I was mistaken however. I was in the process of creating a tutorial on this same process, so the pictures you are going to see are not from Shanna's gift but the process is the same.  

All my painted letters are free hand. I printed off a word or individual letters that I want to paint on my fabric. I created the words in PicMonkey. I took my word and I laid my fabric on top. Make sure your fabric is light in color and lite weight as well. This will make the process easier. I do have other methods, where I will show you at a later time, on how to do this free hand method on dark fabrics. Anyhoo, as you can see in the picture, on the left, I can see the letters which allowed me to be able to paint each letter with ease. Using a narrow tip paint brush, I was able to follow and paint each letter. The picture on the right, you can see the finished result. 

Here is the Shanna's gift. 

I specifically chose Joy, Love and Peace. These words are related and also because Joy has 3 letters, Love has 4 and Peace has 5 and they would lay on the Christmas tree nicely. I am a bit A type. LOL 

I also created this lovely pin cushion using a silver plated vintage sugar bowl. I love how it turned out. There you have it, my handmade gift for Shanna. 

My secret Santa was Therese from Fresh Idea Studio. This was her beautiful handmade gift to me.

Isn't it so cool? I love it and its going to go great in my home. Thank you Therese!

Now, it's time for you to stop by and visit my friends on this Secret Santa Blog Tour and see their lovely handmade creations. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Pottery Barn Inspired Christmas Tree Pillow

I have another knock off today from the Pottery Barn Christmas pillow and the cost is $29.50 but my cost was only $1.00. I had all the supplies on hand and all I needed was green paint.

I started out making an envelope pillow just like the one I made here. Before I assemble the fabric pieces together, I went ahead and took an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of freezer paper, a black sharpie and made a christmas tree. Then I ironed it on my white fabric and now I am ready to paint.

Here is the finished product and I love how it turned out. What's great about painting, is the more you layer the better the painting looks. I just kept adding layers to this Christmas tree and I love how it turned out. 

Here are both of my Pottery Barn inspired pillows and I just love how they turned out and all I spent was $1 for both. My snowman pillow you can see here. Who wouldn't love that! I have received a lot of queations about how to make these pillows and I am actually going to be doing a how-to video class in a couple of weeks. I am so excited and I hope you will sign up to join me live for this tutorial. More information will be coming out soon so you can sign up.

 Happy you stopped by! Have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Pottery Barn Inspired Snowman Pillow - Knock Off Holiday Tour

#RockYourKnockOff Tour is a group of talented bloggers who are inspired by stores like Pottery Barn and/or Ballard Designs and show you how to create one of their products. At the end of my post you can visit these amazing blogger knockoff. 

My knock off today is from Pottery Barn Painted Snowman pillow and the cost is $39.50, my cost, free. I love snowman and since that is the theme for our Christmas it was only fitting that I make this pillow. I had all the supplies on hand; let's face if you are a crafter like me, you have endless supplies of products in your home to make tons of projects. The products I used were a pillow, paint, paint brushes, freezer paper, sharpie and iron. 

I drew on freezer paper with the shiny side up and created my snowman using sharpies. Once I was done I ironed the freezer paper design, shiny side down to the pillow case. Make sure to iron the design well. Once I was done with the iron, I peeled away the freezer paper and I was left with this outline. The outline was helpful and I was able to use paint and paint inside the lines. I really love how it turned out. 

PB pillow on the left and DIY180 pillow to the right. What do you think? Pretty close right? I loved how it turned out and the best part is it didn't cost me a thing. I love doing knockoffs and I have a few more I am going to be sharing with you. Thanks for stopping by and make sure to visit my friends from the tour.

Blogroll for the Rock Your Knockoff Tour:

Monday, November 10th
Dio Home Improvements
Snazzy Little Things
Postcards from the Ridge
ConfessionsofaSerialDo-it-Yourselfer
Restoration Redoux
Tuesday, November 11th
mommyiscoocoo
Artsy Chicks Rule
Our Southern Home
Curb Alert!
Sweet Pea
Wednesday, November 12th
Lilacs & Longhorns
What Meegan Makes
H2OBungalow
PinkWhen
Country Design Style
Cupcakes and Crinoline
Thursday, Novbember 13th
House on the Way
Friday, November 14th
H2OBungalow
diy180

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanksgiving Tablescape - Thanksgiving Traditions

I am so happy to being joining several talented bloggers today, in our Thanksgiving Traditions tour. At the end of my post, you will be able to click and visit my follow bloggers and see their Thanksgiving traditions.

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year, because I know I get to bake, eat turkey and spend time with my family. I remember as a little girl I would go to my aunt's home and my job would be to set the table. My aunt's table decor was always the same every year; crytals, greenary, gold accents and candles. This is why I love using these same items. I am grateful for those beautiful memories.

My favorite thing to do is create a table scape using what I have in my home. Let's face it, the food alone is expensive, why buy more decor when its already in your home! I am going to show you a simple but elegant table scape I created by using items from my home. I always start with the place settings and then I create the center piece. Thanksgiving reminds me of pumpkins, leaves and candles.

We will have 25 family members and this is one of the tables (this table is 55 inches) we will be using. I still love using white dishes, clear stemware and for the bling, a touch of gold. The burlap runner is a nice touch of neutral along with the greenary.  

Its a good thing to have traditions and I am grateful for my aunt for teaching me her traditions. Thanks so much for stopping by and I am wishing you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving. Now go see what the other ladies Thanksgiving traditions are.