Invitation Ornament

*Update: We have moved!  You can now find this page on our new blog Levicky Landing at http://www.levickylanding.com/2012/12/invitation-ornament.html

Happy Day After Christmas!  I hope everything went well and you enjoyed time with your family and friends!

Now that I have given out all of my Christmas presents, I can finally share what crafts I have done this season!

My fiance's sister got married in June so I found a pin on Pinterest from Christy Robbins for an adorable ornament from the wedding invitation!  I highly suggest checking out her blog post because it is wonderful.

Here is what my ornament ended up looking like and I love it!  This is actually the first time I have seen someone opent the ornament too and the two of them absolutely loved it which made it even more special!

I want to share some tips as well that I learned from actually making the ornament.

Before I begin I need to mention that I do not suggest doing this project until after the wedding or make a copy of the invitation so you can look back at it if you wanted to make it as gift for the wedding.  I cut up the invitation before the wedding and I felt so stupid asking my Future Mother In-Law the details over and over again.

When you cut the invitation, I suggest cutting it so that it is with the lines of the text.  you may have different size pieces but it will give the ornament character.  This particular invitation was a cream colored sheet of paper with the text on top of blue paper and they separated easily so I cut both sheets.

The next thing I suggest doing is splitting up the strips into what text is important and what is not.  You won't be able to fit every strip in the ornament so it can help you prioritize.  In addition to the text, I also included two of the blue strips of paper to give the ornament color.

Next, we want the strips to be in curls.  This was my favorite part of making the ornament because it was so easy!  All you need is a pen or pencil.  Wrap the strip around the pencil tight and take it off, simple as that!

Once you are finished, stuff the curls inside the ornament and you are all done!  This is one of my favorite ornaments and it is so sentimental and attractive.  I can't wait to make one for myself!

It is also a great idea for any other kind of invitations especially baby announcements!

Happy Crafting,

Alyssa

Popcorn Ornament

*Update: We have moved!  You can now find this page on our new blog Levicky Landing at http://www.levickylanding.com/2012/12/popcorn-ornament.html

Three more days until Christmas!!

I can't believe Christmas is coming so soon!  I have some great posts for you to look forward to after Christmas.  I can't revile the crafts now but as soon as gifts are open, I will post my holiday gifts!

My mother is a middle school science teacher so last night, she decided she wanted to do a science experiment.  So she pulled out a clear glass bulb and some popcorn kernels!  Here is what our final product looks like:

As a good scientist, we had several attempts.  I thought I would share our fun before releasing the proper way!

Attempt 1:   Put exactly 16 kernels in the ornament and put it in the microwave until they all popped.

This does not work because some of the kernels fall out since it is on its side and there isn't enough in there and the popcorn was burning

Attempt 2:  Put more kernels and use paper towel to hold the ornament up.  Do not try this because the paper towel catches on fire.

Now, the attempt that actually works!  

Put a handful of kernels in the ornament.  Don't worry about putting too many in there because we will get rid of them later.  

Add more kernels than shown

Place the ornament in a glass custard container in the microwave.

Microwave until either the ornament is full with popcorn or right before the popcorn is about to burn.  

Let the popcorn cool off before taking it out of the microwave.

Shake the ornament to get the remaining kernels out and put the top back on the ornament.

Enjoy your ornament and Merry Christmas!  I hope everyone has a great holiday with your family and/or friends!

Happy Crafting,

Alyssa

Angel Feather Ornament

*Update: We have moved!  You can now find this page on our new blog Levicky Landing at http://www.levickylanding.com/2012/12/angel-feather-ornament.html

Only 7 days left until Christmas!!

Every year, my mother and I make a gift to give to all of our family and friends.  Usually we get the idea the year before so that we can buy the supplies after Christmas on sale.  It is always a great way for us to spend time during the holiday season.

Last year my mom received an ornament with a feather inside and a poem attached as a gift.  She loved it so much that she decided she wanted to make it this year.  This ornament is a great idea if you need a last minute gift or to plan for next year!

A feather from an Angel is one we rarely see.

But this is quite different and as special as can be.

I am an Angel feather, sent from God above.

To serve as a reminder He watches and sends His love.

I’m from your Guardian Angel, which the Lord assigned to you.

She dropped it in her struggles as she watched over and protected you.

Each time you almost stumble, each time you almost fall,

Thank God and all His angels for answering your call.

For a single ornament, all you need is

• Clear Bulb
• Feather (the length of the feather doesn't matter)
• Paper to print on

To start, you need to print the poem from the caption of the picture that explains what the feather inside means.  I have made the document that we used available on my Google Doc page.  Cut up the individual tags and use a hole punch to put a hole in the corner.

Putting the ornament together is very simple, take the top of the bulb off and put the feather inside.  If you happen to have a longer feather, you can cut it into smaller pieces to use for other ornaments.  Untie the string that is attached to the ornament and slide the poem on before retying it.  Simple as that! 

Have fun creating this ornament, I know my mom and I did!  I am also always looking for new ornament ideas, have you made any favorites recently?  

Ornaments

*Update: We have moved!  You can now find this page on our new blog Levicky Landing at http://www.levickylanding.com/2012/12/ornaments.html

19 More Days Until Christmas!!

My old roommate is the RA on one of the floors in my building and she just had a Christmas themed floor event.  Since I am her friend, I crashed it.  We watched Home Alone on ABC Family, decorated cookies and decorated ornaments.  It was a lot of fun!

When I was little, every year my mom had me make ornaments for all of my family and extended family.  Each year I made a different ornament to hand out as my gift.  One year I decorated ornaments by putting paint inside.

While I was sitting at the floor event I thought a great post would be about fun and easy ways to paint ornaments.  These are great ideas for Christmas gifts for all of your family and friends or even just to make something for someone special.

These are the ornaments that I made last night!

For three bulbs, all I did was put paint inside them.  It is very simple and it looks great!  All you have to do is:

1. Take the top off of the bulb
2. Squirt some paint inside of the ornament.  This will use up a lot of paint but it is worth it in the end.  
3. Once there is paint inside (I like to do one color at a time), roll the paint around so that it covers all of the glass or plastic inside of the ornament.  Keep in mind that once the paint covers the inside of the ornament, it will tend to be that color and not change much so you don't necessarily want to dump all of one color in and coat the entire thing.  
4. Once you are happy with the way the ornament looks, let the inside dry.
5. Put the top of the ornament back on and you are all done!

Here are what mine ended up like:

Eric also showed up at the end and decided to make an ornament.  Even though he didn't show it, you could tell he enjoyed making an ornament because it was so simple.  He decided not to coat the entire bulb because he thought his looked like it had a blue tie but I don't see it.

The last ornament I made was because there were these very interesting ornaments:

I am not exactly sure what the inside is for but maybe you are suppose to take it out of the ornament.  Anyway no one was doing anything with the ornaments so I decided I needed to do something.  

Sadly, the first thing I thought of was that the inside white stuff was snowman poop!  So I painted the outside which is another great idea for ornaments!  If you decide to use an ornament without anything inside of it, you can always put mini marshmallows inside and that can be your snowman poop!

After a fun floor event, I have a couple of ornaments now to decorate my room even more!  What is your favorite ornament that you have made?

Dorm Door Present

*Update: We have moved!  You can now find this page on our new blog Levicky Landing at http://www.levickylanding.com/2012/12/dorm-door-present.html

This week our floor is having a floor decorating competition!  I didn't want to spend a lot of money since the prize is $25 to Chipotle and no one else has done anything. 

I decided to put wrapping paper on my door.  It is something I have never done but I thought of it as a Christmas present door.  I bought some wrapping paper and a bow for the door.

Wrapping the door is actually a lot more difficult than I thought especially since I have am not tall.  Therefore, I recommend having two people decorate the door and to find a door stop to prop your door open with a door stop before you begin.  My door is heavy so I had to decorate it closed.  Here are my steps:

1. I first held up the wrapping paper to see how long I needed it and left extra room for the top and bottom in case I accidentally measured wrong or cut the hole for the door knob in the right place.  
2. I cut a hole in the spot on the door where the door knob should be.
3. Slide the wrapping paper on over the door knob and hold it up.  Then roll a couple of pieces of tape up and the wrapping paper so that it doesn't fall down.
4. Trim the top and bottom of the wrapping paper so its a tiny bit longer than the door
5. Fold over and tap down any excess wrapping paper along the sides.
6. Add any other decoration to the door, I added a silver bow.

I also took advantage of having a dry erase board next to my door and decorated it.  I wrote "Merry Christmas" and drew a little Christmas tree.

Hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season!  Let me know what your favorite type of wrapping paper pattern is!

Festive Dorm Room

*Update: We have moved!  You can now find this page on our new blog Levicky Landing at http://www.levickylanding.com/2012/11/festive-dorm-room.html

Happy Holidays!! 

One of the best parts of living in a dorm room at school is that you can decorate and try new things different from your family and it is all on your own or with your roommate.

Usually for the holidays I put up a mini tree that I love and have had since I was probably in 5th grade.  You can tell its old because not only do I have mini Looney Tunes ornaments, but I also have Harry Potter ornaments from before the movies came out!  Surprisingly all of my Christmas tree decorations have lasted this long but I love them!

From Freshman Year

Last year, my mother found a Charlie Brown tree at Walgreens for $5 so she bought it for me and it is so cute and funny that I can't resist putting it up!

This year I have a new addition to my room that I am so excited to share because it is cute and was so easy!  I was looking on Pinterest and I found a wonderful window decoration for my room that originated from Saving Money Living Life.  I must say this was extremely fun and I only had the first picture to go off of because the link didn't work.  Here is what it is suppose to look like:

After a month of waiting I couldn't wait to go shopping so here is what I bought:

1. Red Christmas Bow (Medium Size)
2. 9" Garland
3. Fun Ornaments (I used approximately 30 and shatterproof in case I dropped them)
4. 4 Rolls of 3/8 thickness white ribbon
5. 1 Tension Rod

I started by taking my shower curtain tension rod and I made it approximately the size of the window and then I wrapped the garland around it.  Don't worry too much about covering up all the little white spots because you can fix them up later.  Put up the tension rod where you want it.

Start on one end and work your way across the windwo with the ornaments.  Tie the ribbon to the ornament tight and cut off the excess ribbon.  then hold up the roll of ribbon to the window and measure how long you want it to be before cutting the ribbon.  This helps because as you continue you will stagger them and you can see it before you hang the ornament.  Cut the ribbon and tie it to the tension rod.  I tried to not tie it over the garland but string it underneath it so I could readjust.  Again trim at the top by the garland.  Continue this across the window staggering the heights and go back and add more if you need to.

Fix the garland so that it covers the tension rod and tie your bow to the top.  You are all done!  I put my Charlie Brown tree on the window sill too so I worked around it but here is my final product:

I watched a Christmas movie and I got in the Christmas spirit while decorating!  It is so cheerful in a bland dorm room so it makes me smile every time I see it.

If you have a little girl or want a fun door decoration, this would be fun in the doorway instead of hanging beads as long as you get shatterproof ornaments.

Happy Holidays everyone and enjoy the season!  Please share what your favorite holiday decoration is!

The Start of Something New

Welcome to Live Laugh Love Imagine Forever!

I am currently a Senior in College getting ready to graduate, start a job as a Software Developer and marry the love of my life.  There are so many new things starting in my life and unfortunately some things are coming to an end.

Since I was little, I have crafted, especially with my mom.  Now that I am older, I am creating more and bigger projects.  I can't wait to share all of my experiences with you and hopefully you can learn some things too.  I will be getting my ideas from friends, family, and especially Pinterest.  Since I will be getting a new home soon, my crafts will range anywhere from gifts to in the home.

I also can't wait to share great books or other things that I have been doing.  I hope you are excited because I can't wait to get started!