Glass Angel Snow Globe & 24 DIY Ornaments

12 days of Christmas, that would be today...how can you just go with 12 things? I couldn't, so take a peak at 25 creative, inexpensive and enjoyable crafts and creations for this holiday season. Make it for you own tree or someone else's tree. Either way, you will be making unique holiday creations that can be treasured forever. 

What a fantastic gift idea! It is never too early to start planning gifts. Handmade gifts are the best in my opinion. Not only are they more cost efficient, but they are made with heart. We made one with gold and white glitter, baby blue and silver glitter and red with gold glitter...for a few staff members at my daughters school 2 years ago. 

• $1 glass angel ornament 
• $1 gold wired ribbon
• Fine glitter
• Epoxy 
• Cleaned out dip jar- ours was a spinach dip jar

I have seen lots of snow globe jar how to's using baby oil and I tell you, that just was not the case for us. It was messy and it caused the glitter to stick to the lid and it just was unpleasant. We skipped the baby oil. I glued the angel to the inside of the lid (make sure you angel fits before you glue it) and let is dry and set completely before doing anything else. Glitter is so messy, but we love it and it just is the most awesome decor accessory you can add to any holiday creations....so I didn't measure. I poured some and then sprinkled some more until it was the look I wanted it to be. We used Epoxy to secure the lid after we got our desired glitter fall look. 

*The epoxy gave us a few more minutes to secure and make sure there were no leaks.

*The hot glue dries too fast and just didn't work well with the lid nor did the super glue...dried too fast. 

Sometimes it takes a few times of making sure the lid was on all the way. It was a process of elimination with the leaking jars to finally settle with epoxy. We glued one strip of gold wired ribbon around the lid and make our bow and attached it right to the front. 

Here are a few other handmade gifts and holiday creations you may love: 

Pottery Barn Faux Mercury Bell inspired Bells

We made these as our teacher and principal gifts last year.

Monogrammed Glitter PB ornament

Repurposed Book Ornament

20 DIY Ornaments 

Wedding Photo with Song Lyrics Ornament

Here is the story of how we celebrate 12 days of Christmas in our home and a few of the things we do. Get the story. (For some reason the link button is not wanting to work with the photos like normal)

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Cups

Oh yeah, you read that right! Dana from This Silly Girl's Life is always coming up with the most wonderful creations. I give her credit for this wonderful inspiration. She linked some Milky Way Stuffed Cookie Cups to our latest Inspiration in Progress  party (there is still time to link up) and I just knew I wanted to make some kind of stuffed cookie. 

I have to admit I was strapped for time on the day I went in search of the peppermint Hershey kisses, so I swung by the nearest shopping center. The first store I went into and came out empty handed....the second store I found one of those little plastic candy canes filled with them for $2.50 and ehhhh I had some tightness in my chest on that one. That is my "Don't pay that much for that" feeling. I obey that feeling, unless I have no choice- which I try not to let happen very often. Often times local grocery stores are way too pricey for items you can get at a fraction of a cost at other places. Light bulb! What is on the baking isle? That is where I ran across the most perfect little morsels of goodness. Andes white chocolate peppermint baking chips. This was a perfect substitute for the peppermint Hershey kisses and in my opinion they taste better. 

How brilliant is smashing ooey gooey holiday goodness between two cookies? I often get stuck in a cupcake rut and believe you me, I probably make way too many cupcakes. A few positives: they are easier than baking a cake, less clean pan clean up and they are already in portion size. Although it does make it way to easy to indulge in too many cupcakes. 

This was a pretty easy cookie cake recipe for me. I decided to use the fabulous sugar cookie mix recipe we used for our Finger Painted Turkey Handprint Cookies. Since we only made a few cookies...I took the rest and popped it in the freezer. So this was the easiest cookie I have ever made because the dough was already made. I am loving these new little recipe cards and it makes saving so easy. There are no apps for this on Blogger that I have found, so I made my own. 

*Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or a cold soda. For some reason those are 2 things that just add to the flavor of anything sweet. 

What is your favorite flavor to indulge in for the holidays?

Budget and Craft Friendly Pool Noodle Wreaths

You can say that I am no wreath maker. I can say I am no wreath maker. However, I am always up to try out something new or different. I had so many pool noodles left over from the Summer time fun last year and literally had no place to put them. I really wanted a wreath, but I did not want to buy one. Thrifty, repurposed, craftastic and creative all marked off with this project. So far I have made three wreaths with pool noodles. It really is exciting to create new things. I figured why not go this route...the material is foam and foam works well to create things. 

So let me tell you about the pool noodle wreaths I have made. {In the order they were made}

Halloween Pool Noodle

I made this one last year. I ran into the issue of the hot glue melting the foam...duh...I know. I went with clear duct tape to attach the sides. You can use the hot glue still, however you need to put tape down first so it does not make the foam melt.

Materials:

Pool Noodle

Black glittered black wired ribbon (2)

Orange spider wired ribbon (1)

Black, purple and orange ribbon

Plastic Halloween floral arrangement with spiders

With a majority of the materials coming from the Dollar Tree this wreath was pretty cheap. This pool noodle was red and I spray painted it white. Wrap the black and then loop the orange over it. The black floral arrangement can be split apart so you can get your spider off. Pretty easy and all you have to do is look at the wreath to figure out how to assemble it.

Spring/Summer Wreath

Materials:

Yellow pool noodle

Frog hanger

Light blue bath poof- new

Dark blue bath poof- new

Green tulle

Handmade butterflies and dragonflies

Again, this was another thrifty wreath. Pool noodle taped at the ends to secure wrapped in the bath poofs. It was really neat to come across the little string that actually holds the poof together. All you do is cut it and the whole thing comes unraveled. I would be lying if I said I actually measured stuff, but I don't. I just kind of wrap and see how much I need and then I cut it. Normally, I do not make the same thing more than once and if I do repeat a project, it is always different. 

The dragonflies and butterflies are made with stocking, paint and floral wire. My mom handcrafts and paints each and everyone of them. They are all different. She actually customizes them and sells them to a local floral shop for the bouquets. The wire gives them the floating in air look. Love them! 

Autumn Wreath

Materials:

Yellow pool noodle- the spring one {spray painted gold}

Plum tulle

Light orange tulle

Faux Autumn leaves....some Mod Podged

Burlap 

Burgundy ribbon

Straight pins

This ones is my favorite so far and I am loving that I am getting a tad better in the wreath making department. The leaves I got on discount at .50 a bag last year for our Fall Crawl Centerpiece project. Autumn is my favorite time of year. Those burlap flowers were the first I have made and I was pleased they came out resembling a flower. I promise when I get a little better at making them I will share it with you. Each of the leaves I attached with straight pins.

With each of my wreaths, I often make sure all of the items are removable for future use. I like to make over everything over and over again. If I want the materials for something else then I can do that. 

Do you make your own wreaths? How do they come out?

Hamburger Meat Tips and Tricks

Who loves cheeseburgers? Tacos? Spaghetti? Yes, we do too. I include hamburger meat in our weekly meals regularly. Not every meal, but some. I wanted to share with you a few things I have learned over my time cooking with hamburger meat. I go for 80/20 most of the time. We rarely buy 70/30~ too many fillers and grease for us. 

o If you add a bit of water to your hamburger meat, the fat will separate from the meat and when you scoop the meat up, the grease stays in the pan. You can also run your hamburger meat under hot water to remove the rest of the grease.

o Flatten and poke a small hole through the center of the burger to help keep the juices in when you are making a burger. It also insures that your burger is cooked in the center.

o If you flatten your meat in the baggie, it will defrost in a cinch when you are ready to prepare your meal. Oh, and it avoids the flip, scrape some cooked meat off and flip again while still being frozen in the middle. Not fun and such a time waster.

This is the answer.

o Prep your meat before you put it in the freezer. If you are wanting a portioned meal, flatten it and seal your ziploc; take a wooden spatula or plastic/meta to divide your meat into sections.

o You can skip your seasoning step on the meal of by seasoning beforehand and pop it in the freezer for whenever you are ready.

Cook your hamburger meat for the week and separate it into different baggies or containers. You can split the portion between the freezer  for later and the fridge for the ones you plan on making sooner. Then all you have to do is heat it up and you are good to go with putting your quick meal together.

Do you have any other tips for hamburger meat you have found to be helpful?