FREE Printable - 2011 Calendar at SWITCHEROOm

Just in time for New Years! Elle over at SWITCHEROOm has a FREE printable 2011 calendar. It's super cute! All you have to do is download it & print it on some 8.5 X 11 paper. And how cute would these look in a frame!! :0)

To get the full calendar in high resolution, click on the button below:

[Jen]

And the giveaway winner is...

#1 - Hannah at Young and Crafty

Congratulations Hannah! Please email me your info to claim your prize! :0)

If you didn't win, you are more than welcome to hop on over to my Etsy shop. The Holiday Sale is still going on, and you can use the coupon HOLIDAY10 to get an extra 50% off!

[Jen]

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Just wanted to wish you all a safe and merry Christmas!

[Jen]

The First Noel

Since it's Christmas Eve, I figured it would be appropriate to post a "Noel" sign to help celebrate Jesus' birth. I was recently inspired by Jessica at Craftily Ever After to make this metallic-looking sign. Here's the gorgeous Noel sign she made for $20:

This one is sold at Pottery Barn at a much higher price:

And here is the one that I made for less than $10:

To make this, I bought these particle board letters at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each (total=$8).

Okay, now it was time to bust out the glue gun! First I hot glued all the letters together tilting the "O" for that extra flair.

But since the letters were so thin I hot glued some small wooden rods on the back to give it that extra stability. This way it won't bend & collapse.

Next I spray painted it with one coat of Valspar Premium Enamel Metal spray paint that I had leftover from a previous project.

And here is the finished product:

Not bad for less than $10, huh? And it was pretty simple to make and took very little time to put together, which is always a plus. :0)

I will be linking this up [here].

Merry Christmas Eve!

[Jen]

[Transformation Thursday: Windowsill Reading Nook]

A couple of months ago, my husband and I decided to turn an odd windowsill into a little reading nook. We are hoping that this will someday encourage our children to read books. But until then, it is just a comfy place to sit with some added storage as bonus. :0)

So here is what the windowsill looked like when we first bought our house:

Looked a little odd to me. The small wall next to the window was being completely under-utilized. I think the only thing I had were a couple of framed art (shocking, I know) on that wall. Plus, I needed a cushion for the bench, but it was a little deeper than a standard size bench cushion. Such a dilemma!

So we (a.k.a. my hubby) decided to build this built-in bookshelf:

It has potential! Now all I needed to do was paint it white, make a cushion, and decorate. Such fun!

And here is what it looks like today:

Ahh...much better! It's still a work-in-progress though. I am still trying to decide on what color/pattern fabric I should use to make curtains and coordinating pillow(s). But thankfully the major part is finished.

[I bought this black & white fabric at Walmart (it was on sale!) and covered some foam pads, that I cut out, stacked, and glued to some scrap wood we had. Then I stapled the fabric to the bottom of the wood to make it nice & taut.]

[A little Christmas pillow to add to the holiday decor. It says 'naughty' on the other side, but I was feeling in more of a "nice" mood.]

[I bought these baskets from Walmart for $10 each. They are fabric lined so that anything you put inside it won't get scratched. I also attached a little chalkboard name tag with some white satin ribbon. You can find out how to make the tags HERE.]

[Yes, even Snickers the dog has his very own basket!]

[Just some magazines that I enjoy reading from time to time. I also bought these magazine holders from Walmart for $5 each and used my handy dandy label maker for the labels. Better Homes & Gardens for inspiration & recipes, and Parents magazine for keeping this mommy sane!]

Here's another look at the transformation:

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be linking this project up here.

Happy Holidays! :0)

[Jen]

Wreaths Galore!

Lately I have been filling my house with wreaths. They are pretty much located in every room. I think they add a subtle Christmas festivity to our home. :0)

Last week I found some adorable little wreath ornaments at Hobby Lobby (I love that store!) only for $1. Instead of using them on our Christmas tree, I decided to use them as part of my holiday decor and placed them throughout the house. And since they were only $1, I stocked up!

[Basically, I just used some red satin ribbon that I bought at Walmart to hang the little wreaths.]

And here's where I placed them:

[Hung on doorknobs]

[Over a little mirror in my craft room]

[Over cabinet doors (that we rarely use) in the kitchen]

[In front of a mirror in the visitor bathroom]

[In front of our dual mirrors in the master bathroom]

I also have some "regular-size" wreaths in my home.

[Wreath on the front door. It has battery-operated lights on it, but they no longer work. :0( But my husband added the little gold ornaments. :0) He was so proud of his "craft work"!]

[Wreath that hangs above the mantel. We bought this for our first Christmas in our home, and I still love it. We got it at Garden Ridge, but it only had pine cones attached to it. So I embellished it with some red garland beads, baby's breath, and a bow that I made from some gold ribbon.]

[Wreath that hangs by some thick red ribbon in front of a window by my reading nook.]

Linking up to these fun parties!

 Stay tuned tomorrow for a post on the transformed & revamped window reading nook! :0)

[Jen]

[How-to Tuesday: Pom-Pom Wreath]

This craft is super easy to do. And you don't have to limit yourself to only making them around Christmastime. Depending on the colors you choose, they can be the perfect decor for any of the other holidays or even parties! Wanna know how to make one? It's easy as pie! :0)

Supplies:

• Tissue paper
• Ribbon
• Metal or wooden ring (I bought this 8" metal one from Hobby Lobby for $1.29)
• Sharp scissors
• Wire (I used twist ties)
• Ruler

[First up is making the pom-pom flowers. I followed this step-by-step tutorial from lillyella. {view HERE)} I made 8 pom-pom flowers for my 8" ring.]

[Next, attach the flowers to the ring by wrapping the excess wire (or twist tie) around the ring. You'll need to wrap it very tight to keep it from moving/sliding.]

[Once all the flowers are secure, loop the ribbon through the ring so that it can hang as shown. I wrapped my ribbon around a shelf on a bookcase to display the wreath in front of the bookshelf. And voila!]

[Here's another one I made on another adjacent bookshelf. Pay no attention to the dust on the shelf. Ha!]

I'll be linking this up to these parties. Come join me! :0)

[Jen]

Pin It

[GIVEAWAY: Win a Wintergreen Frame from my Etsy Shop!]

Yea! I have 150 followers!! I am very excited! So as a "thank-you" for following my little blog, I wanted to give away one of my frames from my Etsy shop. Just in time for the holidays!

[Wintergreen Frame]

 To Enter the Giveaway:

Follow this blog & leave a comment letting me know you follow. :0)

For extra entries:

Follow @framefanatic on twitter & leave a comment.

and/or

Like Frame Fanatic on facebook & leave a comment.

The deadline to enter is on Sunday, December 26, 2010 at Midnight PST!!!

One winner will be announced on Monday, December 27, 2010. Good luck! :0)

[Jen]

[Scrapperday: Sending Christmas Cards!!]

This year I decided to make ALL of our Christmas cards that we wanted to send out to our family & friends. I just love making cards! And I was really motivated to do this from following Kristina Werner's Holiday Card Series 2010. So some of the inspiration came from that or from just something that I created in my head. Lol! Anyways, here are just a few of the cards that I made. Enjoy!

Oh and you can also view some other Christmas cards I made earlier from a previous post.

[Click HERE to view the step-by-step tutorial]

[Click HERE to view the original post]

I will be linking up to these fun parties!

Thank you for stopping by!

Merry Christmas! :0)

[Jen]