Christmas Feather Wreaths

This week at Red Writing's is all about wreaths and door decor. So I am going with my feather wreaths. This little red feather wreath lives on my mantel most of the year. And at Christmas I add this great stem to it to dress it up. I start with a little feather wreath. . .

Add one great stem. This one has a little greenery and a velvet and glitter chocolate poinsettia.

I also use one long silver glittery fern leaf.

I just curve the stem and glittery leaf and let them hang in front of the little red feather wreath. Here she is all dressed up for Christmas . . .I absolutely love feather wreaths. But they are really expensive! When I was doing my fall mantel I wanted a chocolate feather wreath, but didn't want to spend $40-$50 for one. So I made one with a feather boa. It really turned out great.

I used one of these wire wreath forms and a chocolate feather boa from Hobby Lobby.

I just cut lengths of wire and wired the feather boa to the wreath frame - put a wire about every 2" to 3" so that it stays in a nice full circle shape.

I wired all the way around the outside wire of the wreath frame, then wired all the way around the inside-middle of the wreath frame.

One feather boa was the perfect length to go around twice on the 12" wreath frame from Hobby Lobby. The frame was $1.99. The feather boa was $6.99 (I think) - and you can use a 40% off coupon on the feathers.

This only took me about 30 minutes and about $6. And it looks really good. I'm going to make a black one next.

For more great Christmas wreaths and door decor, click below to go to Red Writing's.

Shannon

Kids Christmas Craft - Clay Pot Snowman

This week of 12 Weeks of Christmas is another Christmas craft. My girls made this snowman out of clay pots when they were preschoolers. Now they are 19 and 21! And I still love putting this snowman out at Christmas!
First glue two clay pots together, one upside down on top of the other. Probably any type of glue that is permanent. Cover both pots with a "texture" paint - you can find "snow" paint or some other texture paint in the paint aisle of your craft store. After that dries, paint the whole thing white with craft paint.

For the hat, paint a smaller clay pot with the same texture paint. Then paint over that with black craft paint. For the bill of the hat I cut a circle out of poster board (use a plate as a circle pattern - you just need it to be a size that seems to fit with the sizes of clay pots you are using). Paint the poster board circle with the texture paint, then paint over that with black craft paint (both sides of the poster board circle need to be painted).

At this point you can paint holly leaves or some other decoration on the hat with craft paint.

Now glue the poster circle to the top of his head, then glue the small pot upside down onto the poster circle. (I think I used hot glue so that we didn't have to wait a long time for glue to dry.)

Because I was making this with preschool age kids, I painted circle outlines for his eyes, mouth and buttons. Then the girls filled in the circles with paint.

To make his nose, I twisted white copy paper into a cone shape and glued it together. Then the girls painted it orange. I stuffed it with tissue paper (and glued this into the inside of the cone) - this gave me a "flat" surface that I could apply glue to and then stick to his face.

Then we tied a Christmas ribbon around his neck to cover up where the two big pots meet. We glued this ribbon to him in a few places so that it would not slide off.

You could use any sizes of clay pots you want to - he could be tiny, or as big as you want him to be. For his body we used pots that are 4 1/2" tall, and for the hat we used a smaller pot that is 2 3/4" tall. So ours is about a foot tall.

He is very cute in person!

For more Christmas crafts, click below to go to Red Writing's!

Thanks for stopping by!

I am doing a little series on Holiday Tables right now, so go to my main page to find those posts.

Shannon

12 Weeks of Christmas - Shopping!

There are a lot of "little traditions" that I have about Christmas shopping - one of which is always going to certain stores. One of my favorite stores to go to is called Seasonal Decorating. It is located in an old fire station. It is always decked out for whatever season we are in. But at Christmas, it is especially wonderful. Every fall when my mom and sister are here, we make certain to go to this store. Often we end up buying Christmas presents for each other here! This year was no exception. We found some wonderful things.

This tree was done in browns, coppers and silver with nature-inspired ornaments. And he used a gorgeous feather boa for a garland! I loved this tree!

Everywhere you look in this store there is something beautiful and unique to look at.

How cute are these snowmen plates?

This is the outside of his store. And trust me, when you go through the door, you enter a Christmas-wonderland.

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the decorations. I love to walk through stores like this and get inspiring ideas. We move every few years because my husband is in the military, and everywhere we go I love to find these little retail gems that are full of beauty and inspiration! And when I find a wonderful store like this, I make it one of my regular stops every year.

To see more Christmas shopping traditions and tips, go to Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by.

Come back by in a couple of days for more in my Holiday Tables series!

Shannon

Handmade Gifts for 12 Weeks of Christmas

This week at Red Writing's is all about hand-crafted gifts for Christmas. And it's time to get busy - only 50 Days till Christmas!
This pink and green arrangement is one I put together in a vintage sugar bowl. I am about to list this arrangement on my website, so if you are interested in it, let me know.

The next arrangement is done in copper and silver - two of my favorite colors. I have this in my sitting room right now. Either of these little arrangements could be used on a dinner table, buffet, coffee table, built-ins, etc. This copper and silver arrangement is done in a silver-plate tea caddy. Anything silver catches my eye! If you haven't ever tried making your own arrangements, you should give it a try! It's very fun to do.

To see more hand-crafted Christmas, go to Red Writing's - there are some great ideas there!
I will be starting a series on Holiday Tables tomorrow. Please check back in a few times each week - I have some beautiful tables to show you - you will get some wonderful ideas!

Shannon

All About the Food - 12 Weeks of Christmas

Week 4 of Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas is All About the Food.

For Thanksgiving and Christmas Day we have the same menu every year. It's my favorite meal!

Turkey, Dressing, Gravy and Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Cranberry Freeze Salad
Chocolate Pie
Pumpkin Pie
all the traditional southern holiday foods

But sometimes I like to make a "holiday-ish" meal that we can eat any day, but that won't take two days to cook!

This recipe is for Yum-Yum Chicken. It is layered chicken, a layer of sauce and dressing on top. It is reaaally good.

Layer the chicken, then the sauce. . .

then the stove top dressing on top . . .

and bake. It is saucy and yummy! And it's a little bit of Thanksgiving that you can make any day of the week.

Yum-Yum Chicken

6-8 pcs of chicken, boiled and cut up

2 cans cream of chicken soup

16 oz. sour cream

2 boxes dry stove top stuffing mix

2 cups chicken broth

1 stick butter, melted

onion and celery, chopped and sauteed

Boil and cut up chicken. Spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Mix 2 cans cream of chicken soup and 16 oz sour cream. Spread this on top of chicken. Pour 2 boxes of dry stove top stuffing over the sauce. Spread sauteed onion and celery over stuffing. Mix 2 cups chicken broth and 1 stick melted butter, and pour over the top of the stuffing.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve with cranberry sauce.

So easy and so good.

To see more holiday food ideas, go to Red Writing's.

Shannon

Christmas Accent Craft - 12 Weeks of Christmas

Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas - Week 3 is a Christmas Accent Craft. I posted about this last Christmas, but it is so easy, and turns out so pretty, that I thought I would share it with you again. I am really late joining in this week - but I hope this is something you will enjoy.

If you love vintage Christmas balls and you love silver, this project is for you!

I have bought a few boxes of old glass Christmas ornaments at Goodwill and un-painted them to get this look. It's soooo easy! Hopefully in these first two pictures you can tell that some of them have an old, faded silver look. Those are the Shiny Brite or other really old ornaments. The shinier silver balls are "newer" old ornaments that the color does come off of, but the silver inside is a more solid bright silver look. I do not un-paint the balls that start out silver or gold, because a mixture of those two colors is what I am going for. I love the old, faded look. And mixing it with the shinier silver gives more dimension. So - I will buy any of the old balls - but definitely the Shiny Brites.

Just hold a ball UPSIDE DOWN under hot running water. You do not want the water to go inside the ball, because if it is one of the older balls, the hot water will wash all the silver out of the inside. After just a few seconds under the hot water, you will be able to rub off the colored paint. It usually just rubs off with your finger. Every now and then you may have to scratch at it with your fingernails. But it is really soooo quick and easy!

To see more great Christmas accent crafts, go to Red Writing's!

Shannon

Christmas Memories and Traditions

Here we are in Week Two of Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas - Christmas Memories and Traditions!

I think one of my favorite traditions, with lots of memories, is our tree decorating party. All of my growing up years, my parents and my sister and I would go out one night to several Christmas tree lots to find our tree. Then a day or two later we had our tree-decorating party. We always had some food and Christmas music to go along with the evening. My dad always put the lights on the tree first, then we would all decorate it together. My mom always made this night feel like such a big deal for all of us.

So when my husband and I got married, I carried on this tradition.

Every year my husband and I and all three kids go shopping for our main tree together. (This is for our main, real tree - I do put up other trees around the house.) And the night we decorate it, we have an assortment of party foods. This is not hard - I buy things from Sams or Costco like those little frozen quiches, taquitos, deli spiral roll-ups, etc. I try to get 3-5 different non-sweet finger foods. And I get 1-2 sweet items that are ready to go. I do make a batch of fudge. Because fudge is required for your tree-decorating party! I put all these finger foods out on the coffee table on pretty Christmas platters. And we have Christmas music playing.

My hubby puts the lights on the tree. I put the beads or garland, with one of my daughters helping. Then hubby and I watch the kids put on all the decorations. Then we all just sit and eat and look at the pretty tree and talk. It's just always a perfect night.

Every year since they were born we have let the kids pick out at least one new ornament to buy. They range from Disney characters, to sports-themed, to traditional, to really pretty blown-glass. It's fun to see all of their interests over the years displayed in their choices. We have marked all of their ornaments with their initials and the year they purchased them. When they move out, they can take all their ornaments with them for their trees.

It is really fun to watch them sorting through all the ornaments so that each child ends up with a pile of their own ornaments to hang on the tree. They have sooo much fun looking for all of their ornaments from over the years - I highly recommend this tradition! Your kids will love it!

Ok, thinking about that night really puts me in the Christmas mood! I'm ready to start decorating! Aren't you?

Shannon

For more Christmas Memories and Traditions, go to Red Writing's -

Dear Santa, Here's My Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa,


Hope your year has been a great one! I have been counting down till Christmas since December 26th of last year. So I am reallllly excited that we are finally getting close. You know, I think my dream job would be to work for you! Creating new things every year for all the people who love Christmas as much as we do! If you ever have an opening in your "Dream It, Create It" department, please let me know!

Well, here is my wish list for this year. I don't want all of this (well, I do, but...). I am just giving you quite a few options to choose from, so you can surprise me!

• some silver trappings for my house (duh!) - I love old sugar & creamer sets, salt & pepper shakers, tea pots, butter dishes, serving pieces, elaborate candelabras, etc.
• vintage, sparkly, rhinestone jewelry
• vintage pearl jewelry
• heads to add to my collection of ladies and gentlemen
• a beautiful, old chandelier dripping in crystals for my dining room
• and I always love to get new Christmas decorations!
• a new cell phone - WITH internet access - I want one with a full keyboard, and probably a touch screen - you see, I want to be able to post to my blog and twitter and facebook from my phone AND be able to read all the blogs I follow from my phone - I really need the internet access!
• and while you are at the Verizon store, could you get me a Verizon wireless card for my laptop so I can get internet access on my laptop from ANYWHERE
• a vintage dress form with the wire cage at the bottom so Francesca has a friend

I can't wait till I can start actually decorating for Christmas! It must be wonderful to live at the North Pole and be able to keep your Christmas decorations up all year round! And have a fire always going in the fireplace. Hot chocolate or Starbucks Peppermint Mocha every night. Christmas cookies every day. Oh, really Santa, if you need some help, please call me!

Red Writing had a great idea to help us keep in touch with you better - you should get Mrs. Claus to set you up a Facebook page!

I can't wait till you stop by! I will leave some milk and fudge out for you!

Much love,

Shannon

For more Christmas lists, be sure to follow Red Writing's 12 Weeks of Christmas!