All posts tagged: Christmas

gingerbread house.

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Many years ago I decided I wanted to make a gingerbread house from scratch, and it was way too much work. So now I’m now a huge fan of kits; there are so many variations! I’m kind of obsessed with the kits I’ve found at Michaels and Joann – a Godiva village*, a Super Mario gingerbread castle*, and more traditional gingerbread homes. I was bit ambitious in buying four kits; we had five family members on build duty and we only had mental and creative capacity to get through almost two kits in one sitting. Here’s the Godiva village kit, which I suppose you can count as five kits in one! The structures were mini (so cute!), but IMO just the right size for social crafting. For this kit, we had to snap apart the walls/roof cookies before assembly. I have embraced that these decorate-your-own cookie kits never turn out like the picture on the box, which makes the process much more enjoyable. How’d we do? 🙂 Here’s the semi-complete Super Mario kit. It seems …

lego x target

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#tbt To last winter when Target launched their Lego collab and I took a long work lunch to preview the goodies at Jack London Square in Oakland. There was music, shopping, and a Spot, the Target dog (who’s actual name is Jack), meet and greet. They even had Target themed dog house Lego kits for all the kids (big kids included!), like the one here, but mini. I enjoyed the colorful textiles, … …the Lego builds, … …and giant Lego bricks! I wouldn’t say I’m complete AFOL, but I appreciate a good theme. Lego fans out there, what was your favorite piece in the collection? Mine have to be the color-blocked throw blankets! The color combos inspire me to create. Any fun and colorful pop up events happening in your area? Share below!

ceramics with bebe.

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I took Bebe ceramics painting at Brushstrokes in Berkeley. For his first piece, since he was quick with the paintbrush, we did a collab and I tried to paint the rest of the piece with his initial paint splatter as my inspiration. We left the studio with a season pass and the intent to bring Bebe regularly to get some more painting time. He ended up painting an additional four pieces – one for each grandparent (for Christmas gifts!) He painted a pair of mugs for one set of grandparents and a pair of bowls for the other. This time, Bebe painted the full pieces. We even got his handprint on a few of them. On our visits, he also enjoyed looking at all the ceramic pieces, climbing up and down the studio steps, and exploring the studio environs. I would say he is a minimalist painter with a hint of Pollock. Brushstrokes is a full service ceramics painting studio (they also have art classes and rental space) and I’ve been coming here for years. …

oh hi 2021.

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Remember when I took a stamped calendar workshop in Seattle? I loved the idea and wanted to share the experience with my family. We had originally planned for this to be our activity for Christmas Craft Camp 2020, but guess who stored away their craft kits through the winter and start of spring? Yuh, all of us. So for Mother’s Day we brought out our crafts for another virtual Mom’s Day activity – a bit late for a calendar craft, but still just as fun. For my calendar, I used gouache! I not-so-secretly want to be a surface designer so I decided to practice with pattern play. I tried to vary shapes and colors throughout the calendar, but I clearly had some favorite patterns – splotches and stripes for the win! My very favorite design out of the twelve months is March. It might stay March all year. 🙂 I can envision this as a fabric print! I have a long way to go before I can be a legit surface designer, but this was …

reindeer.

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Real talk – Santa scares me, but the reindeer are cool. Here’s a reindeer piñata idea for your Christmas celebrations. How cute would it be to create one for each of Santa’s reindeer? You will need: Cardboard Crepe streamers in reindeer colors (brown, creme, black, white) Paper in browns, black, and white Glue stick Scissors Pencil Paper scissors Masking tape or similar I used my burro template and reindeer-ified it with antlers and spots. Cut out two reindeer shapes plus strips of cardboard 2 inches in width for the perimeter. Make sure you can bend the cardboard into curvy shapes (corrugation should run across the 2 inch width). Decide where you want to place the piñata opening and start wrapping one of the shapes with the cardboard strips above the flap. Use tape to attach strips to shapes. Continue to work around the piñata until you reach the flap opening. Attach the second shape to the opposite side. Since we’re not popping this piñata open, I used packing tape to make it extra secure. Add …

lavender.

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Here’s a cute, easy, and smelly in a good way DIY for the holiYAYs: lavender sachets with a Christmas twist. For this craft you will need: Lavender buds – I ordered lavender from San Francisco Herb Co (a local favorite!). Upon opening the bag I felt instant relaxation vibes. Cotton sachets – Find them at your local craft store. Spoon or funnel Letter stamps – I used Mine Stamp to label my sachets. This is a great labeler for all fabric items. There is room to include up to three lines of text and also a built-in ink pad! Alternatively, you can use individual letter stamps. Fabric ink Stamp a bunch of sachets, fill with lavender, and tie. To make it festive for Christmas I labeled sachets with “You’re Nice / Not Coal.” Don’t they look like little gift sacks? I originally wanted to create lavender sachets as a natural silverfish repellent (gross!), but then I found more uses for them! In general, they smell nice so having a sachet handy for smelly occasions (like …

we have a runner.

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This Christmas is going to be Hubby and my first Christmas in our home. Usually, we travel to visit family this time of year, but since we’re all still practicing social distancing and with a tiny babe on our hands we thought it would be best to celebrate at home. It makes for some excitement though because that means we can actually put up a tree to enjoy and start some new family traditions. One thing I really wanted to add to my Christmas decor this year was a macramĂ© table runner to keep our dining room festive throughout the season. I picked a project from the Modern MacramĂ© book. Side note: I’m really good at purchasing craft books because they are so beautiful and then forgetting about them, ultimately never using them. Whoops. Good thing I remembered there was a table runner project in this book! I purchased this dreamy 4mm cotton string in army green for the project. This project is no joke; it requires a time commitment but I was excited to …

macrame tree.

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I did it! I made a macrame tree. I was inspired by the macrame landscape piece I recently created. I planned a pattern based on the landscape project. I had a rough idea of how I would create the tree gradient, but I totally winged it because I wasn’t sure how much cord to use for each column. I eventually figured out that each square knot would need about 7-8″ of cord (when using 4mm cord). Even if you run out though, you can use multiple pieces of the same color cord to complete the column. Materials: 1 12″ dowel 18 strands of 22″ natural cord (for the base) 9 strands of natural cord in varying lengths for the “background” (see below recipe for lengths) 9 strands of green cord in varying lengths for the tree (see below recipe for lengths) 3 strands of 24” brown/copper cord for tree trunk 1 strand 18″ natural cord (for the hanging string) Yellow felt (for star) Sewing needles Sewing thread Battery operated string of lights (optional) Fabric scissors …

family crafts.

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This year for Christmas Craft Camp, we decorated tiny trees and painted watercolor wreaths! Mini Tree Decorating. I recycled an activity from last year because I hadn’t yet shared it with my fam: mini brush bottle tree decorating! It’s the most adorable-ist. For this craft you will need: mini brush bottle trees beads beading wire or cord (I find wire works best) sewing needles felt or fabric (for a tree skirt) additional (optional) embellishments: sequins, bells, confetti The full “how I did it” on my previous mini tree post. Watercolor Wreaths. And since I’ve been wanting to practice my watercolor more : watercolor wreaths! For this project your will need: watercolors watercolor paper water brushes pencil paper cutter (optional) picture frame (optional) circle template – can use a bowl or cup (optional) If framing, cut watercolor paper down to appropriate size for your frame. Draw a circle in pencil. For this step you can trace a circular bowl or cup. Begin painting leaves using light shades. Work your way around the wreath with one type …

winter wreath.

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Happy first day of winter! To celebrate, I’m sharing a winter wreath I created in Haia Sophia’s most recent wreath workshop at Rare Bird. Haia reviewed materials and basic wreath construction. We used 12-inch metal hoops, 24 gauge floral wire, and an assortment of foliage – some fresh and some dried. It was a pokey class so we wore gardening gloves. It was so fun working with all the materials – acacia, fir, straw flowers, pinecones, …; it smelled so fresh in the classroom. Haia helped me create my dream giant wreath! It might be a little too big for my front door, but I love it! Thank you to our winter wreath guide Haia of Canopy Floral – check out her amazing work! Do you adorn your home with winter wreaths? Share your favorite door decor below!