Monday, November 24, 2008
cat Christmas ornament
There are a few approaches you can take to a cat Christmas ornament. There are holiday decorations designed to delight feline lovers and there are decorations to delight the cats as well. Following are some great ideas for cats and cat-lovers who would appreciate a unique cat Christmas ornament this year.
I found a great hand-painted cat Christmas ornament. The cat’s face is painted right on the glass bulb. Two soft ears are glued on to the top of the bulb. This adorable item comes in many different styles and each kitty has a cute expression. None are identical so this cat Christmas ornament is truly one of a kind.
I figured that I could make this project on my own so I bought some glass paint and some felt for the ears. After collecting the bulbs I went right to work on my first cat Christmas ornament. I have to admit that the process seems easier than it is. Painting on glass is difficult to begin with. Painting on rounded glass objects is a real challenge.
My first project wound up as fodder for something else entirely. I just haven’t figured out what exactly that something else is besides decorating the inside of my garbage can. I wasn’t about to give up on the cat Christmas ornament, though. My second attempt would turn out better.
Better does not always mean good. “Better” can sometimes mean really creepy looking. My kitty looked a little more like a Halloween production than anything associated with Christmas. At least I knew what I was going to do with the second cat Christmas ornament.
The third and final attempt made me realize that some things should be left to the professionals. The third cat Christmas ornament looked more like a reindeer than a feline. Don’t ask how. It just did. I guess that I can still use this one; maybe as an accent piece to the first ornament that is going to decorate the trash can.
Reason had led me to the simple decision that there would be no fourth attempt, at least not this year anyway. I decided to just purchase the cat Christmas ornament that originally caught my eye. This adorable addition to my tree is my pride and joy. After all, I had already told everyone about my project. I really don’t need to mention where my cat Christmas ornaments are.
Posted by Odini at 8:19 PM 0 comments
Bucilla Christmas stocking
Sometimes the best gift you can give to your child is one that you create by hand. You can create a beautiful Bucilla Christmas stocking that is sure to be a wonderful keepsake for your child. This hand crafted holiday decoration can be made from any number of patterns and designs offered by the Bucilla Company.
The Bucilla Christmas stocking is not your grandmother’s craft project. This item comes in an array of styles and many of these designs are really modern. The patterns seem to merge traditional holiday themes with a peppering of modern amenities that are sure to please children as well as adults.
I find the patterns to be wonderful to work with. I love arts and crafts but I do shy away from any kind of project that requires sewing. During the holiday season I always try to find a project that I can complete by hand. The Bucilla Christmas stocking is the perfect craft for me. The sewing is simple and the project is a great way for me to find my way around stitches.
I decided to order a felt appliqué kit from the company this year and I am thrilled with the product. The Bucilla Christmas stocking comes with instructions that are so easy to follow that I think that any novice sewer would be comfortable working with the craft. The step-by-step process is more than easy to complete and I almost didn’t want the project to end so quickly.
Inside the Bucilla Christmas felt appliqué kit you will find everything you need to complete your holiday craft. The felts are pre-stamped with adorable designs and you have plenty of embellishments like sequins and beads. The Bucilla Christmas stocking even comes with beautiful gold plated needles to make the sewing a little more elegant.
What I love about the kit aside from the adorable patterns and ease of use is the modern amenities that go with the Bucilla Christmas stocking felt appliqué kit. You can choose a pattern with a holiday tree that really lights up. There are a number of stockings that play music, too.
Many of the patterns are really old-fashioned. The Woodland Santa Bucilla Christmas stocking seems as if it were created over a century ago. The design is magnificently aged but the item is brand new. This is my favorite design of them all.
The great thing about this particular piece is that it is musical as well as attractive. It is a prime example of how the Bucilla Christmas stocking merges the old with the new.
Posted by Odini at 8:18 PM 1 comments
beaded Christmas ornament
The fall is the season that I see very little of my husband. He is an avid hunter. He archery hunts for white tail deer. The archery season opens in mid September. He hunts for ducks and geese, that season opens the end of September. He hunts pheasant that season opens the middle of October and he hunts deer with a rifle in November. Most of the weekend days during this time are filled with hunting trips. Most of the time he is home in the evenings, but a few of his trips are overnights. When he is gone on overnight trips I usually get together with the wives of whom ever he is hunting with. When he is rifle hunting in November I get together with my sister-in-law. Each year we spend this weekend making some sort of Christmas craft item.
The last two years we have made a beaded Christmas ornament. We learned the beading techniques in a community education class. The beaded Christmas ornament is fun to make and they look very nice on the Christmas tree. The church my husband and I belong to has a bake and craft sale each year in December. I thought this year I would donate a beaded Christmas ornament as my craft item and decorated sugar cookies as my baked item. This year my husband and his brother were going to take a few extra days hunting, so my sister-in-law and I decided that we would lengthen our weekend together also. She came to my house after work on Friday. We set up our beads and started, making the ornaments. We have done them often enough that we each completed a beaded Christmas ornament that night. We had the supplies for more so we agreed that we would compete more the next day and would donate them to the church sale.
We spent Saturday morning shopping and then had lunch together and shopped some more. Our other sister-in-law called us and we met for happy hour late in the afternoon. After a few drinks we went home and started to make the beaded Christmas ornament for the church sale. We were laughing and having fun as we beaded. We also had a few more drinks.
We laughed when we looked at the ornaments the next morning. The beads were not straight and the Styrofoam form underneath was showing. We had to spend over an hour trying to repair the ornaments so we could donate them. We both agreed that we should not drink and try to bead ornaments at the same time. We will try less complicated crafts when we are having a few drinks.
Posted by Odini at 8:17 PM 0 comments
Saturday, November 22, 2008
battery powered Christmas lights
The cost of supplying energy to our homes is quite high. It can be overwhelming during the holiday season too. Electricity is in great demand during this time of season and those of us who heat our homes with this power source find that the energy bill can be staggering during the holidays. Battery powered Christmas lights can help ease the burden on your energy bill this year.
There are many benefits of using battery powered Christmas lights. The first that comes to mind is that it is energy saving. Many of us like having a lot of lights glowing during this time of year. If you use battery powered Christmas lights you use less power from your home’s energy source.
Money-saving benefits are not the only reasons to use this kind of decorative lighting. There are other benefits to using battery powered Christmas lights as well. These benefits include having no worries about wires. I always trip over the many electric cords lying around the house during this time of year.
Battery powered Christmas lights require no cords and you don’t have to worry about tripping. You also don’t have to worry about camouflaging the cords either. This can be a real challenge especially if you have hardwood floors. No cords mean no problem with disguising wires.
You also don’t have to worry about overloading your circuits by pulling too much energy from one socket. This is a big problem in older homes. I live in an old house and I find myself blowing circuits during the holiday season. This year I am definitely investing in battery powered Christmas lights to keep myself worry free.
I also worry about possible fires when too many wires are being used. Battery powered Christmas lights give me peace of mind. I never used to leave the lights on overnight but this year I can let the lights glow without worrying about sparking a winter blaze. I also won’t worry about my electric bill.
Those who like to adorn their homes with glowing lighting during the holiday season may want to consider battery powered Christmas lights. They come in really handy when you want to light an object that is too far from an outlet.
We have a beautiful evergreen in the back yard. I can finally light it with the battery powered Christmas lights that I am buying this year. I’ve wanted to do that for years.
Posted by Odini at 6:52 PM 0 comments
Friday, November 21, 2008
balsam Christmas wreath
There is no holiday decoration more traditional and elegant than a balsam Christmas wreath. This classic of holiday décor is available through retailers who will deliver this icon of the Christmas season right to your home. The balsam Christmas wreath makes a wonderful present as well.
Almost anyone who has a birthday at the end of November or beginning of December would love to receive a balsam Christmas wreath as a gift. My sister’s birthday is on December 2nd and I send her one every year. The holiday tradition is well-received and she looks forward to the present every year.
The beauty of the balsam Christmas wreath is in the pine needles. The luscious balsam fir tree is full and fragrant. I just couldn’t imagine the holidays without this traditional decoration for our home. We place it proudly on our front door every year.
This may seem tedious but it really is not. I make sure to send a different style to my sister every year and I like to make my own decoration for my individual balsam Christmas wreath. The decorating options are endless and you can come up with unique ideas for the welcoming icon of the holiday season if you put your mind to it.
When I order my sister’s pre-decorated balsam Christmas wreath I make sure to purchase a plain one for myself. I go to the nearest crafts store for great holiday decorating ideas and put together a theme for the wreath. The theme is different every year. Here are some ideas that I have used in the past.
The “let it snow” theme uses blue and silver tones. I use a lot of sparkle and glitter on this design for the balsam Christmas wreath. There are large snowflake ornaments on the arrangement and I place a little artificial snow on some of the lush fir branches. This is one of my favorite designs.
The Santa Clause design is centered on the well-known character. I use different images related to Santa like a corncob pipe, cookies and milk and a Santa Claus ornament as well. The kids adore this arrangement.
My very favorite is the sleigh bell theme. I love to ring in the holiday season with lots of golden bells and red ribbons. I think that I favor this balsam Christmas wreath because it appeals to the senses. The sound of the sleigh bells and the red, green and gold colors are strongly tied to the season. The scent of the balsam Christmas wreath is a memory booster as well.
No matter what you decide to do with your project, you can be sure that it will be well received if you choose the right foundation. Nothing welcomes the holiday season like a balsam Christmas wreath.
Posted by Odini at 6:15 PM 0 comments
baby's first Christmas stocking
When you are on the hunt for your baby's first Christmas stocking you will probably find a ton of options. Choosing a baby stocking that is a real keepsake is a little more challenging. In order to make sure that you invest in the right item for your baby’s first Christmas stocking try a little browsing before buying.
The excitement of having a new baby is overwhelming and we may feel a compulsion to purchase the intitial baby’s first Chrsitmas stocking that passes our vision. However, you do want to keep this for your child in future years. Putting some consideration into such a keepsake is always a good idea.
Many new mothers like to put a lot of time and effort into creating a keepsake for their child’s collection. Most of these moms will crochet a blue or pink baby’s first Christmas stocking for the special commemorative holiday. The colors do not have to be pastel, either. You can choose different shades that reflect the holiday season as well.
I would love to be one of those moms but I have trouble tying my shoes let alone crocheting a baby’s first Christmas stocking. Some of us may have the good intentions but we are really doing everyone a big favor if we buy the finished product outright.
I found lovely baby’s first Christmas stockings online. Music is very important in my home and I was thrilled to find musical Christmas stockings that can be used as keepsakes for the special holiday. There were three of these options available. The trouble was choosing just one.
One of the items featured a snowman and played the song “Frosty the Snowman” and another featured a reindeer and played “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. The third featured Santa and played “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
I loved each one of these but I thought about it for awhile and figured that I wasn’t really that crazy about the song choices or the images. They just didn’t appeal to my sensibilities when it comes to my baby’s first Christmas stocking.
I found that getting a personalized item was the right choice for me. The baby’s first Christmas stocking is timeless because I chose a traditional red and white-fur stocking for the project. The personalized stocking is perfect because it is my baby’s first Christmas stocking. His name is an important part of the keepsake.
Posted by Odini at 6:14 PM 0 comments
Baby's first Christmas ornament
No matter what time of the year your baby is born, the first Christmas with them is such a joy. They may not be old enough to understand anything about the holiday, but holding them in your arms on Christmas morning is the best present you'll ever receive. This very feeling is the reason behind the companies who created and continue to make a Baby's First Christmas ornament. Almost any place that you will find assorted decorations will sell a Baby's First Christmas ornament. They have pink ones for girls, blue for boys, animals, religious - anything you could want. My daughter was six months old when she celebrated her first Christmas with our family and I cannot tell you how many people got us a Baby's First Christmas ornament as a keepsake. Each one that I received was different and I loved them all. My absolute favorite one was a little star that allowed for you to put a tiny photo inside of it. The year was on it and her name had been engraved. Tears came to my eyes when I saw that particular Baby's First Christmas ornament sitting in a gift bag.
Having a special Baby's First Christmas ornament is something that you will most likely want to either always keep or pass it down to your child someday. All of the ornaments that I received for my daughter five years ago still are hung on our tree each and every year. She loves to pick out where she wants them to be hung and if she can reach, hangs them up by herself. Looking at a Baby's First Christmas ornament and remembering those tiny, chubby hands that she had for her first holiday season brings tears to my eyes. When I watch her helping to decorate the tree, I get such a feeling of pride and happiness. Her eyes light up at the mere mention of Christmas and she still waits in line anxiously waiting to tell Santa what she desperately wants for Christmas. The holidays have a sense of magic to them now that I'm a parent.
I went to a baby shower once that had Baby's First Christmas as the theme. The mom-to-be's due date was on Christmas day, so she had quite a few people get her a Baby's First Christmas ornament. No matter what time of the year a baby shower is held, a Baby's First Christmas ornament is always a great idea. It is something that is full of meaning and will always bring back happy memories.
Posted by Odini at 6:13 PM 0 comments