Weeping Cherries

faith, family, food and frugality

Homespun Holiday January 12, 2012

What a wonderful, blessed Christmas we had!  Here are some of the highlights:

I scored this beautiful tree on black friday- next best thing to a real one, most people couldn’t tell it was fake!

The REAL garland to give the home a piney smell.  Also scored on black friday!

Ara and James loved the tree this year.  The ornaments were never in the same place and we had quite a few bite the dust, unfortunately.

Our first fire in the fireplace 🙂

Ara and I strung cranberries to make garland and then juiced the rest.

This year we did quite a bit of holiday baking!

Peppermint Bark chilling in the fridge

Baking Maple Granola for gifts…

Along with 6 dozen cookies: 3 dozen chocolate chip and 3 dozen toffee crunch

Packaged and ready to go and one left for Paul and I to munch on…

We took the kids to see the Christmas train display

Made gifts for our family…

…started to knit the kids stockings… and then decided to let that go this year, maybe next.

What a sweet Christmas it was!  Quiet, no places to rush off to, celebrating with family and friends the birth of our Lord.

So grateful for the blessing of God’s Son sent to earth and the blessings He continues to send everyday.

I hope you and your family had a very blessed Christmas as well!

 

A Very Merry Mason Jar Monday December 15, 2008

Filed under: Mason Jar Monday — Jen @ 7:29 pm
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Mason Jar Lid Ornaments

jar-lid

So, what are we to do with the lids to the mason jars we make into candle holders?
Turn them into ornaments!

Pick whatever image you want to make an ornament of.  Take the inside lid and trace it over the image to cut the perfect size.  Hot glue the image onto the lid and then hot glue that inside the ring and tie a ribbon or some other prettiness around the outside ring.

Here are some examples I found in a google search:

jar-lid-ornaments2

jar-lid-ornaments

ornaments

And some without the outer ring:

ornament_round

ornaments3

 

A Very Mery Mason Jar Monday December 8, 2008

Filed under: Mason Jar Monday,Seasons — Jen @ 5:34 pm
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mason-jar-christmas-candle

Winter Wonderland

Country Living Magazine has a great resource for homemade Christmas decor here.  This was one idea that I came across that reminds me of the song, “Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland”.  Here are the directions:

“Create a cobweb candle holder with wire, beads, and a glass jar — a Mason or yogurt jar will work well. Start at the top, and make a wire loop around the jar lip. Thread beads on this loop; twist ends to secure. Fasten another wire to this loop, and begin to crisscross the jar surface with wire. To create a cobweb effect, alternate plain wire with wire threaded with beads. Loop wire once at each juncture, to hold web in place. Insert small candle.”

 

A Very Merry Mason Jar Monday! November 17, 2008

Filed under: Mason Jar Monday,Seasons — Jen @ 1:00 am
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mason_jar_snowmen_w609

Mason Jar Snowmen

Aren’t they cute?

As I was scanning google images for holiday craft ideas, I ran along this one and thought it would be perfect for this week’s Mason Jar Monday. You could display them or fill them with treats as a Christmas gift.  Whatever the use, these little men are sure to melt even the coldest heart :).

Directions from HG TV:

Materials:

large glass or plastic jar, such as a Mason jar or clean mayonnaise jar
1 cup lukewarm water
medium bowl
craft glue, such as Elmer’s School Glue or Eileen’s Tacky Glue
5 large sheets white tissue paper
scissors
6″ plastic foam ball
knife to cut foam ball
white craft paint
hot glue gun
empty toilet paper roll
sheet of thin cardboard (an old gift box or card stock will do)
blue craft paint
paint brush
silver glitter
small beaded eyes
orange Tic Tacs
small plastic gems or small buttons
2″ wired ribbon
small red bow
1 red pipe cleaner

Steps:

1. Clean jar thoroughly and allow to dry. Paint lid with white craft paint, let dry completely.

2. Cut tissue paper into two-inch wide by five-inch long strips.

3. Mix together water and glue to make decoupage mixture. Use approx 1/3-cup of glue, enough to make mixture tacky but not too thin.

4. Gently dip tissue strips in decoupage mixture. Carefully slide each strip through index and middle finger to remove excess mixture. Beginning at the bottom, apply strips to jar, overlapping each course, until the jar is fully covered. Smooth out strips as you apply them to eliminate air bubbles. Let jar dry thoroughly overnight.

5. To create the snowman’s hat, slice toilet paper roll into 2-1/2 inch sections. Using toilet paper roll as a template, trace onto cardboard to create a same size circle for the top of a hat and a larger circle for hat’s bottom. Glue on both circles and allow to dry.

6. Paint the hat blue. Once hat has dried apply thin coat of glue and sprinkle glitter onto hat.

7. To create the snowman’s face, cut away a section of the plastic foam ball, creating a flat bottom so it will sit flush against the jar lid. Attach plastic foam ball to jar lid with hot glue.

8. Attach hat to Snowman’s head with hot glue, if necessary cut away a section of the plastic foam ball so hat will fit securely.

9. Cut one-inch piece of red pipe cleaner and hot glue on to create snowman’s smile.

10. Using hot glue, attach snowman’s eyes and orange Tic Tac nose to snowman’s head and glue three buttons or sequins to front of jar.

11. Tie ribbon around the neck of the jar, shape wired ribbon to create fullness. Add small red bow to the center of each ribbon.

12. Fill the jar with holiday treats.

If you make them- take a picture and email it to me at weepingcherries@live.com.  I will post the completed craft pictures on the following mason jar monday post.  Happy Crafting!