Friday, January 16, 2009

A sampling of the gifts I made for christmas...

This year I took it upon myself to hand make every single christmas gift for my family and friends. It was quite an undertaking especially since I started in November making them. It was right down to the wire but I got them done. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of everything I made. But I wanted to share a few that I did photograph.

These are the alphabet blocks I made for my nephew


I actually cut the blocks down from 2x2 poplar with a miter box saw, all 12 of them. I sanded and painted them, then I decoupaged various scraps of scrapbook papers I had on hand to them. I then embellished them with rub-ons and stickers. Then after I distressed them a bit, a few coats of satin finish Mod Podge were applied. I got the project idea from marthastewart.com.
They were a compete labor of love but cost me about 4.00 to make a complete set. the have all 26 letters and the numbers 1-10 as well. My sister-in-law loved them!

Another project I remembered to photograph was the marble coasters I made for my dad and my mother-in-law. It was such a simple projest. A box of tumbled marble tiles runs about $4-$5, I got mine at Lowes. There are 9 tiles in a box, enough for 2 sets (plus an extra tile in case you mess one up...).
After rinsing each tile to remove the dust and letting them dry for a few hours, I simply rubber stamped images on the tiles with Stazon ink. Then I baked them in the oven at 400 degrees for 5 minutes rendering the image perminant.

I chose a large wood grain stamp for the set I made for my dad.

I chose a few different stamps and created a different layout for each coaster in my mother-in-laws set.

I finished off each set with self-stick felt circles, to protect the table top.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

My daughter's "starter home"


So yesterday i made my little one this cute little doll house. It is a "CD holder"that is shaped like a house which I purchased at a big box craft store. This little treasure was about $5.00 and in the unfinished wood section. I painted it out and decorated with scrapbook paper and sweet little embellishments I had on hand. I finished it off with a couple coats of satin finish Mod Podge.


Here's a shot of my daughter playing with her new starter home...


It was such an easy little project and you could decorate it in so many ways. I am thinking of making a few more and creating a little village for her. I am thinking a school house, a fire house, a grocery store, and maybe a couple more houses for her little neighborhood!

These would be great partnered with a hand painted play mat or these awesome play tables like these I found on marthastewart.com
You can paint the layout for your little village with roads, yards, ponds, driveways, parking lots... whatever your imagination can come up with!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

My first posting

Hello all! Welcome to my very first blog post. I am Carrie Hall (at home). Right now I am watching Yo Gabba Gabba! with my daughter... she is rocking out to the shins. She cracks me up!
Anyway my plan today is to sew... I have presents to finish for my friends daughter's birthday, a stack of bibs and baby blankets to finish for Lily & LOU, and if I have time... finish up the little dollhouse I am decorating for my little one. Hopefully I will get some picks posted when I am done! I better get this show on the road...
Read my about me and check out my etsy shop to see a bit more!