DIY crafts - 804 Sycamore

December 22, 2021

Tasty and Easy Christmas Cookies

Every year, my family looks forward to homemade Christmas cookies! It’s a tradition that I bake our favorites, and then place them in tins for our close friends and family. My gang gets whatever is left or I’ll make one more batch. Another tradition is making our previous neighbor’s amazing rocky road fudge (family-secret recipe). I actually look forward to this tradition because of how excited and happy my family gets. These tasty and easy Christmas cookies are our favorites, nothing too tricky, and each so delicious. Here is our favorite tasty and easy Christmas cookie line-up:

Frosted Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Raspberry Linzer Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Molasses Cookies

Over the years, I’ve learned a few things about making our favorite tasty and easy Christmas cookies. When our cookie list is made in a certain order, it helps to streamline the processes and I get all the cookies baked in one day, and then I frost the sugar cookies the next day. I make our cookies in the order they’re listed above and just rinse my tools with hot water in between use. Once the sugar cutouts are done, they can dry out a bit before I frost them the next day. I also like saving stronger flavored cookies until the end just to make sure nothing accidentally sneaks into the sugar or Linzer cookie dough.

Frosted Sugar Cookie Cutouts (Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Year 2000, page 200)
Royal Icing
Raspberry Linzer Cookies (I used the recipe that came with the cookie cutter, but I’ve linked to the one I’m going to use next year which is close, but the cookies don’t look as puffy as mine did. And I forgot to dust mine with powdered sugar.)
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Molasses Cookies (My husband, Jeremy, handwrote this recipe many years ago and he can’t recall where he got it or if he combined two recipes.)

Molasses Cookie Recipe

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg

Cream these wet ingredients together.

In a separate bowl, gather the dry ingredients.

2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour

Wisk dry ingredients, and then add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until mixed into a dough. If too sticky, chill dough in the fridge for one hour. After chilled, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, place balls on a cookie sheet two inches apart. Dip the flat bottom of a drinking glass into sugar and press down each dough ball until about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Makes about 4-5 dozen. Store in an airtight container or bag.

Tasty and Easy Christmas Cookies

I have made these types of cookies every year for many years now, but this year I decided to change up the peanut butter blossoms and make a shortbread cookie with the Hershey Kiss instead. Well, they didn’t turn out and it was a waste of time and ingredients, but now I know to just stick with the sure thing. Plus, Jeremy and Sawyer love the peanut butter blossoms so they were very happy about my failed attempt. However, as a kid I remember these store-bought cookies called Keebler Sweet Spots and my family loved them – there was no sharing and if you dropped one on the ground you probably ate it anyway. They were so good. I haven’t given up on the idea of a light and sweet shortbread cookie with a chocolate kiss in the middle, but I’ll save the experimentation for after Christmas.

Tasty and Easy Christmas Cookies – Tips:

Like I said before, there’s nothing fancy about our favorite tasty and easy Christmas cookies, but they really are great recipes that never fail. I like baking other types of cookies and treats year-round, but for Christmas, we look forward to our favorites. Here are a few tips for these cookies:

Use long metal skewers to roll out a thin and even layer of sugar cookie and Linzer cookie dough.
Allow sugar cutouts to sit out over night to dry out a little before adding moisture-trapping frosting which can soften the cookies.
Use raspberry preserves for Linzer cookies because the flavor is stronger than strawberry and will pop in contrast with the sweet cookie.
To get started with flattening the molasses cookie balls, press the glass bottom onto the dough in the bowl and then dip into sugar to guarantee the sugar sticks for the first one.
Once the peanut butter blossoms come out of the oven, have the Hershey Kiss chocolates lined up and ready to be pressed into each hot cookie. The hot cookie will melt the chocolate and help it to stick. We unwrap kisses, and then put them in the freezer until it’s time.
Cover the bowl of royal icing to prevent it from drying out.
Pipe an outline of royal frosting first, let dry, and then fill in the center with more icing. If icing is too thin, slowly add more powdered sugar. If too thick, slowly add warm water by the tablespoon until it’s the right consistency.
Line cookie tins with parchment paper.
Print my free vintage gift tags to attach to your cookie tins.

I like this royal icing recipe because it uses meringue powder instead of egg whites.

Besides eating these tasty and easy Christmas cookies, I love sharing them with others. I wish I had more stamina to frost all the sugar cookies, but this year I pooped out. It wasn’t too much of a hardship because I love the flavor of these plain sugar cookies. If someone else could do all the baking then I could really enjoy frosting them, but until one of my daughters gets the baking itch, it’s just me. My girls did make the cookie deliveries this year and had so much fun sharing our sweet treats. Sometimes I will add in peanut butter balls and caramels, but I ran out of time. I hope you have time to enjoy some of your holiday traditions and time spent with family and friends. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Affordable and Easy Christmas Gift Wrapping – Free printable tags

For the gift tag, I love it when they coordinate with the wrapping paper’s style and look a little more special than something store-bought. Don’t get me wrong, many stores carry lovely tags, and I’m not shaming store-bought tags~ But if you have a printer and some cardstock, you can customize and hand-pick your tags. I love TheGraphicsFairy.com, it’s my go-to resource for so many things (including wall art), and while the style is vintage, there are also tons of free images out there and free tags on Pinterest. As you know, I love vintage, so I pulled together some of my favorite Christmas images from The Graphics Fairy and put them together for you to print too. And if you’re crazy like me, you can even upload these images into Canva.com and add your own text. This year I used a number for each of my girls so that they wouldn’t know which gifts were theirs. I thought I was being sneaky, but they didn’t even care. Although, I suspect if I had printed their names on the tags there would be a lot more messing with the gifts under the tree.

For many years now, we’ve stuck to the four-gift rule. Each child gets: something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. I first heard about this idea from one of my favorite bloggers and have done it ever since. My kids have never complained or asked why they’re getting only four gifts. I love the concept for so many reasons, but mainly because it keeps the focus off of gifts a little bit and helps us to remember what the gifts represent and the reason for the season, Jesus Christ’s birth. I love thoughtful gifts, and when I’m only limited to getting four for a child, it causes me to put more thought and effort into my selections. I also give little advent gifts, but they’re nothing too special and our family enjoys the countdown and the anticipation in the waiting.

Click on this image to open the PDF and then print.

The best part about saving money on my dollar store kraft brown paper, is that I got to splurge on some ribbon and embellishments. I already had some of the ribbon, but I found some great deals on Amazon and the ribbon will work for things all year long. I have shared some of the items I could still find online in case you see something you like, but you can also just observe the wrapping technique and if you like it, copy it and use whatever you have on hand. I hope you’re feeling encouraged to wrap up those thoughtful gifts, and to save a little money while doing it too.

Affordable and Easy Christmas Gift Wrapping – Shop this post

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission from each purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for using my links!

Thank you so much for checking out my post! I’d love to know if you coordinate your wrapping paper with your tree or Christmas decor, do you get whatever you think is cute, or do you have a different way of choosing your wrapping paper? I love the simple brown paper we have this year and I like the understated way it looks under the tree. Well, that’s a wrap, Merry Christmas!

5 Fun DIY Christmas Ornaments – Mini snow globe

Well, it’s not exactly a globe, but you get the idea. This one is my favorite. I love miniature things, my doll house growing up was my prized possession and not just because my uncle built it for me, but because I loved making mini things for it and saving my lawn-mowing money to buy furniture for it from Oregon Craft and Floral (the only craft store in my home town when I was young, later on came the others and then OCF was out). I found the globe from the Dollar Tree and grabbed the last four. The good news is that they sell them online, but in bulk. Just get your glue gun and you’re ready to create! Here’s a list of the supplies used:

Snow globe
milk cap
Faux snow
2 tiny bottle brush trees
tiny deer (or any tiny character)
ribbon trim (optional)

@804_sycamore
#dollarstorediy #dollarstorecrafts #dollartreediy #diyornament #christmasornament #dollarstoreornaments #ornament #minisnowglobe
♬ original sound – Amy

5 Fun DIY Christmas Ornaments – Sequin ball

Out of all five DIY Christmas ornaments, this one is the most time consuming and monotonous, but it’s a great ornament to make while chatting because it takes zero concentration. When I was a kid, my mom made a ton of these one year. I helped her and at first it was fun, and then after a while my fingers hurt. Well, the difference now is that I’m using a dense foam ball which makes it super easy to push the pins into, and the pins are much shorter. My mom also used Elmer’s glue to help everything stick, but the dense foam does a better job of keeping everything in. If I were to make one of these again, I would add the step of applying a layer of glue stick to a small section first. Once you cover that glue stick section with sequins, then you can glue stick another section, etc. I only had one pin fall out without the glue, but I think it would be better long-term to use a glue stick on this one. I also didn’t fully cover every bit of foam with the sequins. I didn’t mind some white showing throw, but it’s all about preference. I also used a small foam ball, but there are many sizes and a few shapes you could consider for this DIY ornament. Here’s a list of supplies and the short video on this one so that you can see the process I used to tackle this monotonous ornament – it went by very quickly this way.

sequins
seed beads
pins
foam ball
eye hook
glue stick
velvet bow (optional)

@804_sycamore
#diyornaments #diyornament #christmascraft #sequins #christmasornament #diychristmasdecor #diychristmas
♬ A Holly Jolly Christmas – Instrumental – Molly Tapia

5 Fun DIY Christmas Ornaments – Clothespin people

I’m not artistic, can’t draw, paint, or sculpt, so I was most nervous about this DIY ornament. It was so cute though, so I had to try and I’m so glad I did because it was fun and turned out cute. Well, my teenager thought it was cute, but my seven-year-old said it was kinda creepy. Never ask a critique~ Anyway, I would like to make one for each member of our family, I think it would be fun to see them each year. My husband shaves his head, so his would be the easiest to paint, and all the girls can have top-buns (I’m not going for too realistic). Anyway, the short video shows you the order that I put this one together. The paint dries pretty quickly too. The sky is the limit on how creative you want to get on this one. The video doesn’t show it, but I just used a glue gun to add the little wooden bead for the hair bun, and then an eye hook was twisted into that bead hole (with dry glue gun glue) to hang it. The skirt is some vintage trim I’ve had forever, but you could use fabric, crepe paper, or lace (or paint on some pants/shorts!). Here’s the list of supplies and a short video:

@804_sycamore
Personalized clothespin people ornaments! #personalizedornaments #diyornament #clothespincraft #christmascraft #diycraft #handpainted #xmasornament
♬ Winter Wonderland – Michael Bublé

5 Fun DIY Christmas Ornaments – Vintage tart tin

I just love how this looks like it’s been the family for years, and it comes together quickly! With all the tea parties I’ve been hosting you would have thought I’d have done tarts by now, but not yet. However, tart tins are cheap and can be used for more than just baking. I love the shiny metal and fluted edge; it just screams Christmas. So, I drilled a hole to add the hook later and once again gathered my supplies and glue gun. I could do a whole tree of just these, in different sizes and designs inside the tin – it could be adorable. Anyway, here’s a list of the supplies and a short video to see it put together:

tart tins
hole punch (optional)
Christmas paper
Christmas sticker or adornment (Hobby Lobby)
glitter glue (optional)
bead trim
lace
ribbon for top bow (optional)

@804_sycamore
#diyornament #diyornaments #diyornamentsbyme #vintageinspired #vintagecraft #vintagecrafting #christmasornament #christmasornaments2021
♬ Christmas Bells – StudioKolomna

5 Fun DIY Christmas Ornaments – Gold leaf ball

Out of all 5 fun DIY Christmas ornaments, this one may look like the most difficult one, but I assure you – it’s not. This one is so cool because the ball is plastic, the paint was $.99 and the gold leaf was so fun and easier than you’d think. You could use glass balls for this one, but the plastic look like glass and they can’t break upon falling. I also spray painted the metal top gold to match the gold leaf, but it’s not necessary to do so. And while you can use any color of acrylic craft paint, you may want to consider what will look best with the gold leaf (like maybe not yellow paint). Otherwise, go for any color of your choosing, even yellow if that’s your thing, and while this one is drying, you can start on one of the other 5 fun DIY Christmas ornaments! Here’s the supply list and a short video to get you started:

plastic balls (cheapest at Hobby Lobby)
gold leaf paper
paint brush
Modge Podge (glossy to match the bulb)
string or ribbon to hang (optional)

@804_sycamore
#christmas #christmasornament #christmasornaments #diyornaments #goldleaftutorial #goldleafornament #plasticornament #dollartreediy #easycraft
♬ Mean Girls – Jingle Bell Rock – Geek Music

5 Fun DIY Christmas Ornaments

Well, that’s a wrap and I hope you’re inspired. These 5 fun DIY Christmas ornaments are fun to make with kids, friends, family, or just while you’re watching Christmas movies. With so much to do this holiday season, I sincerely hope you have time to do some of the things you enjoy most, and if crafting is one of them, I hope these DIY ornaments got your creative juices flowing. Be sure to pin any of the images for later and if you haven’t signed up already, please subscribe for my weekly email with decorating, design, and DIY inspiration! Happy Holidays!

Tea Love Gift Basket Idea – DIY project

This DIY project isn’t difficult, but it does take a minute to get the hang of. I would recommend trying it out on a scrap piece of fabric first. I printed out two 4-letter words on Stick and Stitch Stabilizer and then cut them out for the knit gloves I embroidered. I love the contradiction of knuckle tattoos saying something dainty, or something silly. My biggest tip for this DIY is to use a sharp needle to easily pierce the stabilizing fabric. I made a video to help show how I made these gloves, but I gotta admit that the second pair turned out better than the first. And the stabilizer paper washes off more easily under really warm water – be patient though, it will all wash off, gently squeeze out excess water, and then just lay the gloves out flat to dry.

@804_sycamore
#handembroidery #embroiderytutorial #personalizedgloves #embroideredclothing #knuckletattoos #christmas #christmasgift #christmasgiftideas #giftidea
♬ SILENT NIGHT – Jamie Lynn Noon

Tea Love Gift Basket Idea – Support small business

This tea love gift basket idea could include many various items from small businesses, consider a handmade mug, handmade tea, handmade gloves, etc. This tea love gift basket idea has homegrown honey from a small Etsy shop. They have all kinds of flavored honey sticks and honey gifts. For my gift basket, I selected the mint honey sticks and I’m sure they’ll be amazing with the Earl Grey tea they come with. The great thing about shopping small is that they do such a great job shipping out their items quickly. My honey sticks arrived so fast and were packaged safely too. I highly recommend this shop. Etsy is full of amazing shops and artists – there are so many amazing gifts to be found.

Another fun idea to include in your tea love gift basket idea is to support an author! I was gifted the book Southern Teatime Pleasures: Simple Ideas and Recipes, by Alda Ellis and it is amazing. This beautiful book gives theme ideas for your next tea as well as amazing southern influenced recipes. It would be such a treat to add to your tea love gift basket~

@804_sycamore
#tealove #tealover #teagifts #giftbasketideas #savoyteaco #diygift #christmasgift #christmasgiftideas #honeysticks
♬ The First Noel – Christmas

Tea Love Gift Basket Idea

After completing the DIY embroidered gloves and receiving the honey sticks, I completed the tea love gift basket idea with a few more fun finds. I found this Opal House pom pom throw blanket, the slipper socks, and decorative basket all from Target. The ceramic tea cup with a lid was an Amazon find – there are so many patterns and styles to choose from though. I also love vintage items so this little creamer is just a fun touch to complete the tea love gift basket idea.

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Book Love Gift Basket Idea – Shop small business

For many years I followed Emily’s blog called, Jones Design Company. I loved the way she decorated, she had adorable DIY crafts, and free printable artwork. However, over time, God revealed some things to Emily and she decided to pursue writing and illustrating (two of her natural gifts). I was so disappointed that the blog would be discontinued, but very happy and excited for her and this new direction for her career. I continued to follow her on social media and knew I had to have her first book. This book is encouraging, relatable, and spiritual. Her watercolor illustrations are so charming, and just add to the journey she takes you on in this book. Her book, Freely and Lightly, is a gem and (Christmas 2021 spoiler alert) it will be given to several of the special ladies in my life. I love supporting small businesses and it’s easy because this book is just so good.

Book Love Gift Basket Idea – DIY gift

The DIY handmade project for the book love gift basket idea is a bookmark! The ribbon bookmark is vintage inspired, but you could definitely put a more modern and contemporary spin on this design by using silver crimp ends and new charms. The sky is the limit on how you can design this bookmark, and it will be so special for the person receiving it because you’ve put thought into the design specifically for them. I used double-sided velvet ribbon, but any ribbon can be used. To see just how easy this DIY is, check out my short video below.

@804_sycamore
DIY ribbon book mark #diygift #bookmark #diygiftideas #diybookmark #handmadegifts #easydiys #booklove #vintagebookmark
♬ One Call Away (Instrumental Version) – Soft Background Music

Book Love Gift Basket Idea – Shop the DIY

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission from each purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for using my links!

Book Love Gift Basket Idea

To complete the book love gift basket idea, I considered what I love about settling in to read a good book. It doesn’t take much, but if I’m committed to getting in some good reading, a lumbar pillow is a must. The Target Dollar Spot had this MERRY pillow for only $5, but there are some others for $10 that are super cute too. I also notice that my feet get cold, so some fuzzy slipper socks keep my toes just right. And finally, if aroma therapy is your jam or you love the soft glow of candlelight like me, Target’s Dollar Spot often has small candle tins. If you want to keep with the book love theme, check out my friend’ Shatrine’s small business, Candle Lit, where she creates wonderful literary themed candles and perfumes. These burn forever and the scents are so good.

I hope this book love gift basket idea inspired your gift giving this year. I love gift baskets with thoughtful and handmade items. Gift baskets are great if you know someone really well you can easily fill it with things they love, or they’re also great if you know some general things about someone and can use that as a theme to get related items for the basket. Baskets are also a great way to present a gift, you can reuse baskets you have, get them on clearance, or get one that you know will be decorative and functional. You’ve probably seen my home, I like baskets and containers, and it’s possible that I may think everyone else does too~

Thanks so much for checking out this post. Let me know in the comments below if you know someone who loves to read and would appreciate a book love gift basket this holiday season.

Amazing personalized cutting board gift basket idea – mom’s recipe

Katrina, owner and designer of PNW Farmhouse Design Co., offers amazing and unique products from her online shop. I met Katrina at a blogging conference this summer and she is so funny and nice. I loved finding out that she is from the pacific northwest and I thoroughly enjoyed a fun dinner with her and a few other amazing bloggers that welcomed me into their group. When I discovered her small shop I couldn’t wait to share it with you!

When I visited her online shop, I fell in love with the personalized cutting boards and knew which recipe I wanted to have engraved onto a cutting board. However, it doesn’t have to be a recipe, it could be a letter, a blessing, wedding vows, a poem, anything that’s personal to you. My mom’s broccoli casserole recipe has been in the family for years, passed down from her grandma and modified over the years. Everyone loves this casserole and asks her for the recipe, often. To have the recipe engraved onto the board, I just scanned in the handwritten recipe and uploaded the file during the checkout process. It’s so easy to place your order, you can select the style of cutting board, and then upload the file – that’s it!

There’s something special about my handwritten recipe – it’s in Sawyer’s handwriting. Sawyer is my mom’s first grandchild and they have a special bond. It would have been awesome to scan in my great grandma’s recipe card, but it was too edited for this purpose due to changes and tweaks over the years. I know my mom will love this personalized and meaningful gift. She can display the cutting board in her kitchen and be reminded of so many cherished holiday dinners where she shared her famous recipe with others, and then she can also use the backside of the cutting board for functional purposes. With a little mineral oil occasionally rubbed onto the wood, this cutting board won’t dry out and get cracks – it will be a keepsake for years to come.

Personalized cutting boards aren’t the only awesome product in Katrina’s shop, there are several other personalized items as well as unique designs for the home. When you support Katrina’s small business, to get 20% off your total purchase, be sure to use coupon code: sycamore20

Amazing personalized cutting board gift basket idea – DIY item

The next part of this amazing personalized cutting board gift basket idea is the fun and easy DIY. All you need is a small mason jar and a few ingredients to make stove top potpourri. You can find several recipes as well as a free printable for your stove top potpourri at DeliaCreates.com. The printable is adorable and has the easy instructions for how to make the potpourri. This is the recipe that I used:

cutie orange (just the peel will be used for the potpourri)
2 sprigs of rosemary (fresh pine sprigs can also be used)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp of whole cloves
1 tbsp of nutmeg (a whole nutmeg can also be used)
1/3 cup of fresh cranberries
1-2 stars of anise

I love this DIY gift idea for kids to put together. It would make a great teacher gift, neighbor gift, or to help fill a gift basket for the homebody in your life. Like I mentioned, I thought about gift baskets that I would like, and this DIY potpourri is so fun.

@804_sycamore
Christmas DIY Potpourri. #christmasdiy #christmasgift #handmadegiftideas #stovetoppotpourri #easydiys #holidaysmells #holidaydiys
♬ All I Want for Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey

Amazing personalized cutting board gift basket idea – homebody theme

Finally, to pull together this amazing personalized cutting board gift basket idea, I found this soft fleece blanket from the Dollar Spot at Target. The functional and decorative basket is also an affordable find to hold all the goodies. I added a box of Cheez-its crackers for fun, made a mini loaf of dessert bread, and then put together a fun gift tag. I enjoy going out, but I’m definitely a homebody. The items in this gift basket remind me of all the good things associated with staying home; childhood memories, homemade food, good smells, and a cozy blanky.

Thanks so much for checking out this post. I hope it stirred up some gift giving ideas for you. When you shop at the PNW Farmhouse Decorating Co, be sure to use my coupon code to save 20%: sycamore20

Emma Garden Tea Party – Design

The invitation is the first glimpse into the party that your attendees get, so I like to make it special in hopes that they will anticipate having a wonderful time. I like to design my own invitations using Canva.com. The software is free and has so many templates and built-in options to use. I usually begin my invitation design around the size of envelope or enclosure that I’m using. You can create any size of document in Canva and go from there. If you don’t like to create or use their elements to do a custom design, they also offer hundreds of templates to help you too. Once I’m done, I just download it as a printable PDF with print lines for easy cutting. I usually print on cardstock and that’s it. The special part about these invitations was definitely the envelope. I added an envelope liner using pages from Emma, and then embellished it further with some gold-edge ruffled crepe paper and a wax seal. It never fails to surprise me just how much joy I get from creating invitations. I know my guests will enjoy receiving them and that’s what motivates me the most.

For the party room, I wanted to create an indoor garden party vibe so I grabbed a hanging branch from our dying tree (before it was cut down) and fashioned it to hang right over our table. My rectangular table felt a bit large and I don’t have a round table, so I brought in the small square patio table and set my plywood man in the moon on top to create a temporary round table! It was a little small, but it worked out. I added a few more branches behind the library cabinet and used it to set up our brunch, dessert, and tea. I wanted to keep the backdrop simple, but coordinated with the garden party feel so I used some branches and dried flowers to create an open frame as the focal point. I also attached some vintage book pages to the wall to add interest and highlight the literary inspiration behind the tea party. I used a few props to continue the garden party feel and used a picnic basket to hold all the DIY craft supplies. The floral centerpiece was created from the cheapest mixed floral bouquet I could find at Sam’s Club. I used wood slices as my chargers and created book place settings using an old book without the cover and a printed floral image on top. I used a dropper to draw a line of water along the border or my floral image and then carefully tore the image out to get an old-looking ripped edge. A few simple touches can create wonderful memories for you and your guests.

Emma Garden Tea Party – Food

Designing the party room is my favorite part about hosting a tea party, but I also enjoy coming up with a menu that I can accomplish with my mediocre skills and that will work as a full tea. We shared brunch for this tea which gave us a bit more time together to chat and work on our craft, and it allowed for some fun dishes to choose from as well. There’s something about tea time that calls for mini foods, not always, but it seems to be more fun when it does. For my brunch menu, I made mini quiches by Dinner at the Zoo, fruit cups by Grits and Pinecones, stuffed mushrooms by The Menu Maid, and mini pumpkin Bundt cakes by Paula Deen. And for this end-of-summer tea party, I served Minty Melon tea by Savoy Tea Co. and it was delicious and light. I made the stuffed mushrooms the night before and just added the breadcrumbs right before baking. I set up the mini quiches the night before also, and just added the egg mixture right before baking. All of the food could be prepped ahead of time and then easily assembled and baked right before serving.

Emma Garden Tea Party – DIY craft

For my party designs, I don’t aim for everything to match, but I do like things to be coordinated and intentional. This party plan started with the DIY craft I wanted to do, and then the rest of the details fell into place. The DIY craft we made was a hand-embroidered necklace pendant. I already had a ton of embroidery floss and needles, but I did buy a few more colors of floss because one can never have too many color choices. Embroidery hoops are very inexpensive and you can use any fabric that isn’t too thin or too thick. Here are the necklace pendant kits I found on Etsy. The one thing I forgot to have available were wooden clothes pins to hold the embroidered design inside the bezel setting to dry. We used a makeshift hold, but Dollar Store clothes pins would have been easiest. I found the most adorable floral pendant patterns, for free, by Jessica at Cutesy Crafts. Just subscribe to her blog and you will get a ton of free patterns – and no spam from her. Jessica also has a shop with wonderful supplies and kits to choose from as well.

After deciding that I loved Jessica’s mini floral patterns the best, I researched and gathered instructions on how to create each type of stitch that was needed to complete her patterns. And once you learn how to do these stitches, you’ll never forget – they are easy and fun. There are many tutorials and videos out there to learn from! I printed out Jessica’s patterns and the gathered stitch instructions and my DIY supplies were ready for my guests. This DIY craft could easily be done outside or anywhere. It doesn’t require a lot of space and it doesn’t make a mess. Here’s a list of supplies that you’ll need.

A pattern or you can sketch something freehand
A pencil
Scissors
Fabric
Embroidery needle
Embroidery floss
Small embroidery hoop
Bezel necklace setting
E6000 glue
Clothespin

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission from each purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for using my links!

Trace the pattern onto the fabric
Place the embroidery hoop onto the fabric with the pattern in the middle
Select a color of floss and follow the pattern’s instructions for how many threads to gather for a particular stitch
Use the prescribed stitch to fill in the traced part of the pattern
Once the whole pattern is stitched, remove the hoop, cut the design out leaving about 1/2″ border around the bezel setting
Line up the design over the bezel setting and carefully wrap the fabric border behind
Add E6000 glue to the bezel and carefully set the wrapped design inside
Use a clothes pin or two to hold it together ( or place under a stack of books)
Once completely dry, add pendant to chain

Emma Garden Tea Party

This DIY craft and tea time spent with friends is definitely a 2021 highlight for me. I love designing events, but I usually feel awkward hosting them. However, when the party is planned out, tailored to things I love, and easy to implement; I couldn’t enjoy myself more. If you enjoyed this post and want to see my future Jane Austen inspired tea parties, be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss out. Thank you so much for checking out this post. I’d love to know what you think about the party design, how you would have interpreted Emma, or if you have any questions I can help with.

You may also enjoy:

How to Create a Jane Austen Tea and DIY Party

September 22, 2021

How to DIY a Vintage Man in the Moon

There’s something so special about vintage signs, even replicas because let’s face it, a lot of vintage stuff is amazing, but expensive. I’m always on the look out for vintage signage that speaks to me and is in my budget, but when it comes to seasonal decor and I want something now – there’s no better time to replicate wall art, if you can. I’ve been admiring the classy vintage man in the moon art for a few years. He’s so cute and fun, and I like that it’s whimsical, vintage, and not too spooky. I’m so excited to show you how to DIY a vintage man in the moon sign for your own fall and Halloween decor.

The best part of this is that it can be almost any size you want. I had a large piece of old bead board that I removed from our drop zone when I redesigned it. Instead of cutting it up and trashing it, I repurposed it into a piece of seasonal decor that I’d been wanting and knew I could make for much cheaper than buying one. My man in the moon is big you guys, I have a large wall and high ceilings so I wanted to make a statement with this guy. He is 36″ across and about 1/4″ thick. So it doesn’t weigh a lot and once cut, it was easy to move around. Without further ado, here are the steps on how to DIY a vintage man in the moon, and you can check out my video!

Find the center of your piece of plywood.
Using a tack and piece of string, cut the string to fit from the center to almost the edge of the plywood.
Using a pen at one end of the string and securing the tack at the center, draw a circle on the plywood.
Use a jigsaw to cut along your pen line, be sure to use clamps to secure the wood, and wear safety gear as well.
After your circle is cut, sand the edges and top surface so that it’s ready for primer.
Clean the moon, prep a painting area and add one coat of primer.
After the primer is dry, you can paint the moon any color you want. I used a glow in the dark acrylic paint, but I don’t think it glows very well.
Once your paint is dry, you can set up your laptop and projector to project this image, center it on the wood circle, and trace the outlines of the image.
I used a sharpie paint marker to first trace the pencil outlines, and once dry I filled in each image.
Add hanging hardware to the back and enjoy~

@804_sycamore
DIY Vintage Man in the Moon. #falldiydecor #falldiy #halloween #maninthemoon #vintagediy #vintagedecor #autumndecoridea
♬ original sound – Amy

It’s so easy, and turned out better than I imagined. This moon is a fun fall time decoration that easily converts to Halloween decor as well. If you want to make sure it’s durable during storage and to last through the years or even outdoor use, just add a layer of polyurethane to seal it. I don’t know if the polyurethane would smear the Sharpie paint marker, so be careful or just use the spray version of polyurethane to avoid any wiping of the surface. If you love this family-friendly autumn decor, let me know in the comments below. And tag me @804_sycamore if you make one too! P.S. This vintage man in the moon will also be placed on top of my outdoor square table to create a larger table surface for my Emma Garden Party coming up next week. Be sure to subscribe so you can see a fun and beautiful Jane Austen inspired DIY party design.

How to Create a Jane Austen Tea and DIY Party – Book Safe DIY

After enjoying our lunch and the excitement of our regency outfits and the ambiance of the party, we got started on our craft project! There is something so fun about crafting with others and seeing how each person gets creative and makes their own design. The best thing about the book safe DIY is that most people haven’t created one before and they make such a great keepsake and decor accessory around your home. I found some Jane Austen digital images on Etsy that we used to decorate the covers of our book safes as well as other ephemera and craft items. One of my favorite items was my wax seal kit! I used it on the invitations, the name cards, and my book safe. You can find the one I used on here on Amazon.

How to Create a Jane Austen Tea and DIY Party

This post only shares a fraction of the photos from the beautiful tea party, but you can enjoy more inspiration, a party plan, DIY decorations, recipes, a DIY craft, and party printables all found in the ebook. I already have two more tea party plans in the making and I can’t wait to share those also. Have you ever been to a tea party or would like to host one? Costumes aren’t necessary, but they sure are fun! Thanks for reading this post and be sure to subscribe for more DIY, design, and decorating.

How to Create a Jane Austen Tea and DIY Party – Shop this post:

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August is probably too early to bust out the fall touches around the house, but it’s never too early to plan! This fall, I’m relying heavily on rust, blush, and beige colors. Fall colors are my favorite, and it’s difficult to not use all of them, but when it comes to my home – I tend to enjoy a focused approach and this way feels more cozy at the end of the day for me. You already know that using throw blankets, pillows, candles, and decor can add fall vibes to your home, but I want to share some fun DIY ideas to add a personal fall touch to the walls in at least one space in your home. These beautiful DIY fall decorating ideas are affordable, doable, and stunning!

Beautiful DIY Fall Decorating Ideas – For the walls

Let’s talk about garland! Garland is an awesome accessory to dress up your mantel, console, banister, or even your walls. My favorite thing about this beautiful DIY fall decorating idea is that it costs about $3 to make and it’s so pretty you guys! I stumbled upon this DIY by Lauren Conrad and I’m so glad I did. You can recycle your brown paper grocery bags or you can buy a roll of kraft paper from the Dollar Store like I did. Can’t beat free or $1~ And then I picked up beige pipe cleaners from Hobby Lobby. Just grab a pair of scissors and a glue gun and you’re ready to create. I’m not going to replay Lauren’s steps, you can visit her site to see the instructions, but I will say that it helps to keep your glue gun on low heat and to not over-think the process, just go for it. Younger kids can help too, they can crumple up the leaves (which gives them texture and shape) and wrap the pipe cleaners around a pen to create the coils. I created this six foot fall garland in under an hour. My garland has 13 leaves varying in size and seven coils. You will love how natural the garland shapes up and hangs on your wall, over your mantel, or down your table to create a unique tablescape!

The two pillows on the right are new from Target. The hydrangeas in the wall tins are from my yard and dried in place.

This vintage gold frame will be getting a vintage fall print – love Sam’s Club for affordable prints!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission from each purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for using my links!

Beautiful DIY Fall Decorating Ideas – For the walls

Do you love seasonal wall art? I love some of it, and I enjoy just a few pieces sprinkled around, and I don’t want to spend a lot of money on them either. The thing I love about this beautiful DIY fall decorating idea is that you can upcycle an old canvas or picture, and you can enjoy some of your blooms inside the house. Dena of Fletcher Creek Cottage created the most simple and lovely fall wall art I’ve seen. She uses fall leaves and wheat stems to create a symmetrical beauty to adorn her wall. I love how it’s simple, but adds just the perfect fall touch. You can find the full tutorial here. And here’s a photo of her masterpiece to entice you over to her site to see just how easy it is to make yourself!

This one is so easy for the Cricut folks out there! I think I need a Cricut… Anyway, this wall hanging could also be a no-sew project if you don’t have a sewing machine – just use a glue gun! I found this beautiful DIY fall decorating idea on Better Homes and Gardens! I’m not sure who to credit the idea to, but it’s so fun and can be totally customized! The instructions say to use iron-on letters, but I’m sure a Cricut could do an awesome job with custom fonts and size. I’m going to make one for my office so be sure to follow me on Instagram to see what fabric and saying I come up with. I’m going to sew a top and bottom casing to put dowels in, but I think you could just as easily glue the fabric around the dowels too.

And finally, perhaps the easiest and most whimsical DIY fall idea for your walls is attaching faux fall leaves in a breezy pattern across the wall. Sarah of Grace in My Space uses faux leaves to add fall vibes to her beautiful entryway. I love the way they flow in from the door, through the mirror and up. It’s such a fun touch and I love that you can install this design anywhere you want a touch of fall and whimsy. I have already found my bunch of blush and beige fall leaves from WalMart – just waiting until September to put them up. I like to slowly transition into fall, little touches here and there, just a room at a time. You can find my version of a fall wall leaf display on Instagram next month! For inspo now, check out Sarah’s beautiful entryway and how she used different colors and shapes of faux leaves!

Well, that’s my little round-up of easy and festive fall decorating ideas for your walls. I have also ordered some free prints of fall vintage landscapes to place in a few frames around the house. You can see those on Instagram next month too! If you’re curious now, you can see them below, from Allison of Designed Simple. I hope you enjoyed these beautiful DIY fall decorating ideas for the walls – they definitely inspired me! Thank you for checking out this post and don’t forget to pin any of the pictures for future inspiration~

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