5 Minute Wood Bead Garland

Good Thursday morning.  Less than one week until Christmas.  Ahhhhhh. Everyone panic.

Actually I've stopped wigging out.  The gifts are bought.  They are partially wrapped.  There are a few cookies baked.  My only concern is that I have at least 3 holiday movies that I need to get in.  I must get my priorities straight.

Today I'd like to share with you a holiday craft you can whip up in 5 minutes flat.  I had some questions on how to make the wood bead garland from my holiday mantel post.  It's actually stupid easy.  There are Ike pictures to make up for the fact that it is so easy.

Supplies:

• Wood beads (you can find them at most craft stores)
• Twine, yarn, something string like
• Optional:
  • Spray paint
  • 3M strips

Directions:

If painting beads, start there.

String wood beads onto twine.  I used a small piece of tape wrapped around the end to make the stringing easier.  (Similar to the wood bead necklace I made last year.)

Be under close supervision of your furry friend.  Make sure furry friend gets his wet dog nose all over the beads.  (See far right.)

Keep stringing until you have reached your desired amount of beads.  I think I used 55-65 for my strands.

Get an annoyed look from your dog when you tell him to find something else to do other than make wet nose marks all over the holiday decorations.

Get an angry look from your dog when you tell him to stop chewing on the beads.  They are not wooden balls for the dog to play with.  They are a choking hazard for crying out loud.  This is why we don't have children.

Edit:  This project may only take 3 minutes if you don't have "help" from a furry monster.

Hang the beads in your desired location.  I tied mine to the garland.  You could also use 3M hooks.

Easy garland done.  

Does your dog like to make holiday crafts?  What's your favorite quick craft this season?

Lighted Christmas Balls + Outdoor Lights 2013

Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky in the husband department.  I mean, most dudes don't willingly put up Christmas lights let alone enjoy putting up a display like this.

We hang lights instead of shoveling our driveway.  It snows light every other day so we've given up.

There might be some lights thrown in the bushes if I was in charge (which was my job this year).  You would never catch me up there in those peaks.  I definitely wouldn't spend the time outlining the sides of the house.

So instead of thanking Nate, I pull out a quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies.

Michelle: The little lights... they aren't twinkling.

Nate: I know, Michelle. Thanks for noticing.

We are slowly adding lighted Christmas balls to our little tree area.  We made these last year but I never blogged about them.

These balls are easy to make.  We hope to have a big ol' forest of hanging ball in the future.  We added a few more this year.

We were originally inspired by this pin which no longer leads to a valid site.  Awesome.  It did at one time and it taught us how to make these lovely lighted Christmas balls.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

• Chicken wire
  • We used the 2" kind.  About 2 feet for each ball.
• Wire cutters
• Mini Christmas lights (1 box per ball)
• 3 prong outdoor adapters
• Outdoor Extension cords

Form the cut ends into a cylinder.  Twist the cut ends together.

Close both ends of the cylinder.  Trial and error will get you to a point where the ends look more like a sphere than a square.

Keep fluffing and twisting until you end up with something that resembles a ball.  Wrap the lights around the ball.  (We stuck some inside to help keep in place during the windy/snowy month of December.

To hang, drape an extension cord over a tree branch.  Thread the power cord into the ball.  Loop it up and in and plug into the lights.  It's seriously a stupid easy outdoor light project!   

Do you have outdoor lights?  Are you one of those awesome houses that has the display set to music? 

Christmas Countdown Art {Dare to Deck the Halls}

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  Nate and I enjoyed a lovely snowy weekend in Chicago.  The city is pretty much magical covered in snow.  More on that later.

Today is the last link up for the Dare to DIY.  Goodbyes are always hard.  The theme this week is Dare to Deck the Halls and the party is over at NewlyWoodwards!  I've been working on quite a few DIY holiday projects (which I have already completed) but the one I wanted to share for Dare to DIY is a Christmas Countdown.  Which I finished last night.  I'm so on top of this blogging stuff.  

I've always wanted some sort of Christmas countdown art.  This is one of those projects that in my head was going to be quick and easy and turn out beautifully.  None of that happened but it's still cute in it's own quirky way.  (It also photographs horribly. Eh.)

I started with a blank piece of wood that I painted with chalk board paint (two coats).  I then designed the lettering/numbers in Photoshop.  I traced them onto the sign using tracing paper.  (I'm going all old school on you.)  I then used white Sharpie paint pens to poorly go over my tracing paper marks.  

You could just do this with chalk pens.  I wanted something that I could use year after year.  

This year I am just "priming" the circles as I fill them in.  Next year I will probably "x" them out.

Here is it hanging in our festive dining room.  And I still have like 10 days to enjoy it.   Go team Michelle.

Now it's party time.  Be sure to check out the fabulous projects by my partners in crime.

(Colorful pom pom wreath via Primitive and Proper, Joy to the World print via Maybe Matilda, Christmas countdown via Decor and the Dog, Plaid and Union Jack pillows via NewlyWoodwards)

Now it's time for you to head on over to NewlyWoodwards and link up your best deck the halls projects!  There are some great handmade items for one lucky person that links up!

Did you dare to deck the halls?