Monday 24 November 2014

It's coming, whether you're ready or not!

By it's I mean the holidays. They're fast approaching and I don't need my calendar to tell me this. The cold and snowy weather, the twinkling lights on houses and in store windows, the festive music on the radio, the packed malls, and the trees for sale outside the supermarket all scream IT'S COMING.

However, this year I vowed to be more prepared. My best friend Pinterest and I have been preparing for months. She's given me so many fantastic ideas for creative DIY decorations and gifts, as well as material gift ideas for those hard-to-buy-for individuals in my life (you know who you are). But today, I thought I would share with you an adorable DIY decoration/gift idea that I used last year.

I assume this post will be most popular with young lovebirds, however, wouldn't it be cute for all of you well-seasoned lovebirds to have a little throwback to your first christmas in your first home or apartment?? You're welcome in advance for the brownie points.



For me, this craft required a trip to Michaels (always) but I'm sure you could find all of the necessary items at places like Walmart, or maybe even a dollar store. I purchased a brick of grey clay (the non-oven bake kind because I find it easier to work with, but either will work), white paint, and some ribbon. I used a paint brush and a black fine print sharpie that I had at home. 

While Maeghan was at work, I cleaned off our countertop (to make sure there wasn't anything that would stick to the clay), and started to shape my clay ornament. I chose to make mine into a heart; however, I saw others had made circles, diamonds, and squares. Once I had the closest thing I could get to a perfectly shaped heart, I used a pen to poke a hole at the top of my ornament so I could string the ribbon through later. Finally, I took my apartment key off my keychain and pressed it into the clay so that it was about halfway through (the clay was coming all the way through the hole in the key). With a butter knife and some very steady hands, I lifted the key out and used my fingers to touch up the edges of my key imprint since the sides caved in a bit while removing the key. 

After letting my ornament dry for a few days (in a drawer so Maeghan wouldn't find it), it was ready to be painted! I chose white, no idea why, but feel free to get creative with your colours, just keep in mind you'll be writing on it after. Once the paint was dry I used my sharpie to write out "Our First Apartment" and then the address of our first place (we don't live there anymore, potential burglars!). Lastly, I cut off a piece of ribbon long enough to make a loop to go around a tree branch, and fed it through the hole I had punctured at the top of my ornament.

I gave my creation to Maeghan as part of her Christmas gift last year, and once it was opened it became the cutest ornament on our tree! Our tree for Christmas 2014 goes up in a couple weeks, and I'm sure this will be the first decoration on it.

Hope your holiday preparations are going well, friends!

No comments:

Post a Comment