Christmas Project #4 : Word Cards
I picked up these cards from Paper Source awhile back when I began collecting things to use for holiday decorating. You could easily make these at home (they are 2 inches x 4 inches) and add them to a tree or wreath. I put small silver eyelets in each one with my crop-a-dile and hung them with small green ornament hooks.
Simon was all over these last night asking, "what's this word?" He took them all down and then put them all back up a couple of times. The one he knows by sight and heart already: joy.
And yes, I put up one of the trees already. It's crazy, I know, but it sure is fun.
My plan is to have one fake tree in each of the following spaces: our bedroom, Simon's bedroom, and the dining room (that's where this one is). I am slowly but surely putting things out, trekking back and forth to the garage, rediscovering stuff in my bins, thinking + planning.
Simon and I have also been checking out local Goodwill's seeing what cool holiday stuff we can find: ornaments, fake trees, pictures of santas + holiday scenes that I am framing and putting up around the house. I found this old chalkboard there the other day and am thinking of different ways it can be used - right now it is on the porch next to the container of rosehips.
Creating Keepsakes has a new special issue out called 101 Hip, Handmade Gifts by Nicole LaRue. Tons of cool ideas inside. She also had some really great tags featured in the December issue - I am looking to make something along these lines for our gifts (love the simplicity of type + the idea to use elastic rather than ribbon):
And finally, a simple word of thanks today as we celebrate Veteran's Day here in America. Thank you to those who serve, who have served, and to the families who support those who serve.
Thank you for the appreciation you expressed for our military on this Veteran's Day. As the mother of a soldier, a sailor and a Marine, this is much appreciated.
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Ali--your holiday spirit is infectious! Each time I check in to see what you've created, I get a little more excited for the holidays myself! I have always been a person who wished the Christmas season could last longer--I LOVE (!) the way you're stretching it out by having it come just a bit early!!
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Just wanted to thank you for giving so much to us on your blog, it is so inspiring both in life and in craft. Please know how grateful and inspired I am .. its never too early to be excited by the holiday season!
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My daughter's middle name is Joy...love that word too! J-O-and Y are always the letters I look for in piles of alphabet fun!
At Goodwill, look for the misc. bags of "junk" in the Christmas area. Last week I got tons of vintage ornaments in a bag and they "tossed in" about 5 Hermafix refills! GO FIGURE!!! In their orginal boxes. Original Hermafix before EK came along and screwed it up!!!!!! LOL....
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Merry Christmas, Ali! the simplicity of your Christmas decorations never ceased to amaze me. Thanks for sharing!
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Ali! Seriously, would you stop!? You are putting a girl to shame!
:)
Beautiful stuff, gorgeous ideas..
as always!
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The words are just right. What font and size did you use on the 2x4 cards?
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what a fun, novel idea! thanks for the inspiration, Ali!
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as much as you inspire me, and as much as I love all the holiday cheer you are spreading, I refuse to start decorating yet! :)
Love the rosehips and wreaths. They are yummy.
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Let me tell you...I was NOT at all in the holiday mood. But looking at your posts the last few days has changed that! I have all kinds of ideas and can't wait to get out my Christmas stuff!! I may even turn on some Christmas music this evening!
I read your blog just about every day and you never cease to inspire me! Thanks!!!
Julie
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I am jealous of your basket of rose hips! I just saw a pic of a wreath of just grapvines and rose hips and it looked so lovely and festive!!
As the mom of a Marine who just recently informed me he is now a Veteran of a Foreign War..(try that one on when your son is only 22!!) thank you for remembering all of us! Even though it may our boys (or girls) who serve, a mom's heart follows them all the way to war and back.
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Love your "new" chalkboard! My mom has one that hangs in the little hall between the living room and office, with a bucket of chalk nearby for drawing. Before Halloween, we all took turns drawing little bits and pieces (bat, pumpkin, etc.)...a long-term, family-style art project, if you will, with no official end or plan. Now that Halloween is passed, those drawings were erased, and we've started drawing Thanksgiving and Christmas bits. It's a fun way to be creative as a joint effort. =)
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i have my tree up too Ali and it is fun i love xmas so the longer i get to appreciate my tree the better. love the idea of the word cards
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I have a tree up too... so don't feel too bad!
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Hi Ali,
Love the word cards and the Advent calendar. I was in Pottery Barn last week and in their office section they had a box of clothespins that read "to do", "file", etc. so I came home and lifted the idea for Christmas. I used stamps and rub-ons to do Christmas words. I did most of them vertically, but Pottery Barn's were horizontal. They look really cute, took just minutes and could be used as card hangers, ornaments or put with some twine and used to hang up kids Christmas art work. Also fun for our kids on the spectrum to work on fine motor. Thanks for all of the inspiration!
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I love that you are so ready for Christmas! I am enjoying all of your fun ideas! The words are such a beautiful idea! Thanks for the tips!!
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Isn't Goodwill cool to browse through?
I love your simplistic style, Ali. It reminds me of one of my favorite designers on Etsy...Elle. If you haven't seen her stuff you're missing out!
http://www.elles.etsy.com
And it's totally not too early for Christmas trees!
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Its snowing outside as I am writing this message and we already have some of our decorations up. Wish you could all be here to see the wonder of the snow on the trees:-))
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Hi Ali! I'm loving all of your Christmas projects. Thanks so much for sharing. I found a fun project to do...and my kids loved it too. I posted about it on my blog. Check it out, these ornaments were easy and quick and I used ribbon from my stash.
http://grooveisintheheart-beth.blogspot.com/2007/11/christmas-spirit.html
Have a great day!
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Those trees are so very cute! And I love the simplicity of just buttons and pins. The advent calendar will also be on my to do list for the holidays. Thanks for the ideas and great photos.
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Oh my gosh, you are going all out, girl!
We're doing the opposite, since we are traveling this year for Xmas and T-day.
Just think how NEW all the decorations will seem next year!
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Thank you.
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Love the christmas trees in project # 5! Just a thought for your chalkboard - My mom picked up a chalk board at Value Village (a type of thrift store here in Canada) and it has a snowman attached with a blank and the worlds days until Christmas where my niece can fill it in to count the days (or sleeps in her case) until Christmas, it hangs in our kitchen and she loves it!
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