DIY Aluminum Foil Star

When I was putting together the Christmas mantel in our dining room I wanted to have a star for the nativity scene.  The nativity came with stars…BUT I used them in the living room for that mantel.  

And lets be real…since the majority of the dining room space is devoted to the kids playroom and I was planning to put up their star craft from church I figured a quick DIY star would be just the ticket.

This star is super quick and easily made with stuff you already have on hand.

What you need:

Cardboard box

Aluminum foil

Scissors

Clear tape

Pen

What you do:

Draw the size star you would like on one piece of cardboard.  

Cut out the star.  

Pull out a sheet of aluminum foil.  I just eyeballed the size I thought would work.  My star is about a foot high and the aluminum foil was probably a foot and a half and I had a little left over.  

Cut the aluminum foil into 1-2 inch strips.  

Wrap each strip around the different sections of the star so the star is completely covered.  Secure ends with clear tape.

Holiday Printables Just for You

Some holiday printables to do as you wish brought to you by an afternoon of doodling in PicMonkey.

Just click to download.

Merry Christmas!

Blog Design, That Song in My Head & Giveaway Stuff

A new blog design has been rolling around in my head for about a month now and I finally buckled down and did it this weekend.  What I love about my old design was that it had meaning!  It was all about my kids.  Heck they were all over it!  That lent itself to memories; which is one of the reasons this blog was born.  With my new design I wanted to keep those memories but simplify the design.  I wanted to stick with the “party” theme since my blog name states just that.  And with those ideas in hand the firework idea came.  I took quite a few pictures of the fireworks while we were down in Florida this summer and I thought if I could figure out how to edit them enough to make them into the calming color scheme I was desiring, I would be happy.  A little time and experimentation in Photoscape & PicMonkey and here we are.

I LOVE how my blog design still has a special meaning for me but that simplistic look I love.

Switching gears now…Have you guys seen this video?  My girl Brooke shared it on Facebook and I think it’s AWESOME!  So funny!! 

Now, you will be singing “Call Me Maybe” all day too.  You are welcome.

Oh, and don’t forget to enter the current GIVEAWAY going on now!

Button Christmas Tree Craft with Sara

Hello, Houtz House Party readers! My name is Sara and I blog over at Miss V's Busy Bees.

I typically blog about education (I'm a teacher!) and DIY arts and crafts. Kelly so graciously allowed me the opportunity to guest blog today, so I decided that I'd do a craft for y'all. This was SUPER easy, even though it looks kind of silly. No two that you create will EVER look the same. Check it out below!

Button Christmas Tree

Supplies needed (everything I used was from Hobby Lobby):

8x10 canvas

Two packages of Christmas themed buttons

Christmas tree cutout

Glue sticks & glue gun

Sharpie

Step 1: Lay out your Christmas tree cutout on the canvas. Begin placing buttons over top of the cutout.

Step 2: Once you've got all your buttons placed, you can do one of two things. ONE: Leave the cutout behind the buttons and glue the buttons to the cutout or TWO: Remove the cutout very carefully to glue the buttons directly to the canvas. I chose the second option (I liked the way it looks better!).

Step 3: Begin gluing your buttons down with your hot glue gun. Repeat this until all buttons are glued down the way you would like for them to be.

Step 4: Take your sharpie and write whatever message you would like at the bottom of the canvas! I wrote Merry Christmas 2012 because Christmas is coming up and I plan on hanging this in our new apartment!

Anddd that's it! Simple, right? Like I said above, no two pieces will look the same. You can see from picture to picture that my tree doesn't even look the same. It kind of doesn't really even look like a tree at the end, but I think that's what makes it special!

This is a great activity to complete with your children or your students (if you're a teacher) because it's relatively simple and I think it's really cute!

I actually made another one like this with buttons, but for a friend with her last initial (D) with Halloween themed buttons! I really really liked the way it turned out so that's why I chose a Christmas themed one.

Next up is to make this guy - I love the texture and the colors. It's beautiful!

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The possibilities with button art are ENDLESS. Make something today! 

Kelly, thank you for featuring me on your blog today! You are the best :)

I'd love to have y'all come visit me - I promise I'm nice!

Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+

Have a great week!

The Fall Leaves Monogram

Hi Party People! I'm Lindsay! 

I blog over at Little Mudpies. It's a mishmash of my daily adventures of being a wife to an amazing man and Momma of two little boys and a sweet little girl puppy, named Oatmeal. 

You'll find recipes for yummy treats like Caramel Apple Rice Krispie Treats and Chocolate Eclair Cake. DIY tutorials for Halloween Garland with Lights and my most popular Heatless Curls. 

You'll even get a glimpse inside our world, with my Momma Tales. 

Today, I am taking over Kellys little blog while she gets settled in her new house. 

I'm going to share a tutorial for one of my new favorite things  

The Fall Leaves Monogram. 

{Kelly you need one of these for your new house!!}

This is super easy. All you need is a paper mache letter of your choice. 

Paint and a paint brush (optional)

Fake fall leaves

Glue gun & glue

Paint your letter if you wish. Let Dry. 

Take your leaves and glue them onto your letter until it's completely covered. 

I used some ribbon hot glued to the back to hang it from my door. 

You should hang it or display it on a shelf or mantel. 

Thats it. Super easy and perfect for fall. 

Connect with me on Facebook & Twitter! 

Thanks so much for having me Kelly and congrats again on your new home! 

Why Didn’t I Think Of That?!?!

So I’m hanging with the kiddos watching Sesame Street.  Ya know a usual morning in our house…

and what comes on but a little girl showing a fish how to wrap a present with…

wait for it…

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ALUMINUM FOIL!!!!!!!

How many times have I went to wrap a birthday present and I’ve only had baby shower wrap or Christmas wrap or only a scrap of birthday wrap????  How many times have you? 

This is GENIUS I say GENIUS!  

And if you already thought of this tidbit of wrapping goodness well then you are way more inventive than I am!  

And yeah...when I googled it...OF COURSE someone already HAD! 

Thank goodness for people like this!!!  Makes me SEEM a whole lot cooler when I show up with a fun present wrapped up in aluminum foil!

My Obsession w/ Junk Gypsies & a little Raffle Announcement!

Junk Gypsies.  Have you seen the show?  I’m OBSESSED.  Not a little bit, not mildly, but TOTALLY 100% OBSESSED!!!

Junk Gypsy Company  is a family run business based in Round Top, Texas.  They styled Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton’s wedding…

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…and now have a TV show chronicling their many projects and “re-dos”.  Do you think making a lamp out of a piece of “junk” sounds intriguing? 

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How about a desk for your boys out of an old pickup truck bed?  
(I PROMISE it’s AWESOME!  I just can’t find a photo of it online….BOOO!....)  

Yeah, me too!  THIS is the show for YOU!

My all-time FAVORITE thing I’ve seen on the show is the JuNK-O-RAMA Prom!!  What a FUN party the Junk girls put on EVERY year.  Check out the photos from their Pinterest page!  

I am DYING here!  

Guess what these my little girl’s 1^st Birthday will be?  That’s right kids…JuNK-O-RAMA Prom!!!  

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I SOOOOOOOOO can’t wait!!!

PS: Here's a little WINNER info:

Hey Everyone!! Today is the day! 

We have selected the winners of the Sayonara Summer Raffles! 

Before we announce them, though, we'd like to take a moment to thank

each and every one of you that gave to these wonderful causes. Our

families are blessed by your generosity and kindness. We are so, so

thankful for your support and prayers throughout all of this. It means

more to us than you know. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.  

And now...The Winners are....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Ladies!!!

You will be contacted very soon! 

Love, Brooke & Kelly

A pretty tutorial & a SMELLY giveaway!

Hello Houtz House Party friends!  Im so so excited to be here today!  I love Kelly.. like stalk her blog love her!  She truly is the sweetest person.  My name is Kelley.. same name mine just has an extra 'e'.  I blog over at the Grant life where I share recipes, crafts, a weekly link party and lots of stories about my babies, Ryley and Avery.  

Today Im going to share a simple tutorial on how to jazz up a wooden hanger from the dollar bin.  Its not a super exciting tutorial but if you stick around there might but a little something fun at the end.  [wink wink]

I bought this wooden hanger from the dollar section at Michaels.  [Side note.. I cant resist the dollar bins!  They get me every time!]  I wasnt sure what I was going to do with it but I knew I'd figure it out later.  Then I scored this decorative tape from Joanns [on sale!] and knew the two were meant to be together.  

I started to wrap the tape around the hanger but it wasnt sticking like I thought it would.  I busted out my glue gun and added a few drops here and there to make it stay.  Easy peasy.    

I cut pieces to fit the sides and wrapped it around the back.  I was worried that pattern would look weird since it overlapped in spots but it turned out great!  

I bet your thinking - 'Thats great but what do you use a decorative hanger for anyways?'  I use mine to take pictures of the totes in my shop.. but they can be used for anything really.  

Super simple and cheap.  And cute.  Cant forget cute. 

Are ya still with me?  Awesome!  Cause Im giving away $25 dollars worth of Bath and Body Works goodies!  One lucky winner [US only..] will win a grab bag from one of my favorite stores.  Good luck and thank you Kelly for having me here today!  

How stinkin' GENEROUS is KELLEY??????????  I just LOVE this girl seriously.  We have the same sorta weird sense of humor.  LOVE IT!

Good Luck ALL!  May the Rafflecopter fairies grant you A WIN!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway