Happy Together

A DIY craft blog

My 2020 Handmade Christmas

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Last year has come and gone and as slow as it felt at times, I’m still surprised it’s over. Christmas flew by for me and I was looking back at all the handmade things I created for gifts/decor and wanted to compile them all in one place. I have lots to share and hopefully it can give you some inspiration for next year. It’s never too early to start creating when you plan to give handmade. I always find myself making things last minute even when I started far in advance. Above is a sweet little lovie I sewed up for my niece. It had been a while since I made something like this and I enjoyed spending the time to make her.

I started off with a really simple shape and then had my daughters help me decide on the finishing details. We ended up giving her a pink nose, naming her Ruby the Pink Nose Reindeer. I experimented with using this sheet of glitter I had found at Hobby Lobby forever ago (near the felt) for the antlers. It’s stiff and holds up pretty well, but I ended up gluing a pipe cleaner behind it and then a piece of felt over that so it was covered. I’m thinking this will be a cute pattern to share next Christmas so y’all can sew one up if you want to as well.

The next few handmade Christmas pics are of these ornaments I made. I found the acrylic ornaments at Michaels and went to town. I played around with this process a bit and still want to try a few other things next year. Little touches like gold around the edges takes them to another level and finishes them off nicely.

The horse ornaments were actually unicorns. I did some research and found that I could use a dremel rotary tool (like these) and cut the horn off. It worked really well and then I lightly sanded where I had cut it off to make sure it was smooth. My oldest loves horses so I wanted to make her one and then made some for her to hand out to others she knows at the barn where she takes lessons.

These little guys were a handmade gift I crocheted. They are so cute and small! They fit in your hand. I started by using this bubble seal amigurumi crochet pattern from i crochet things. Then I used this amigurumi whale crochet pattern from Yarnhild. I used the basic shape from that pattern to form the jellyfish and the octopus bodies so they would be the same size roughly. I was able to look at other crocheted creatures and determine how to add the little extra “ruffles” on the octopus and used the tentacle pattern from this crochet jellyfish pattern (also from Yarnhild) to get the right sizing I wanted for my jellyfish.

This handmade gift is great because I think it is fun to gift “life” when it’s winter. I grabbed these tall vases and the rocks from the dollar store and the paperwhite bulbs I found at a local nursery and Home Depot. You simply place the rocks in the bottom and add a bulb on top. Then fill with water so only the roots are wet. The tall vase helps support the plant as it gets pretty tall and it has an elegant look to it. It adds some greenery to a time of year when there isn’t as much.

I snuck in a project for the kids welcome center at our church last month as well. I made these floating shelves and decorated them with party supplies I had that had a Christmas party vibe to them.

I tried to make one more ornament to gift, but only got around to making one of them. I used an old deck board to cut out a Christmas star shape. Honestly, it just took too long to do with my jigsaw so I kind of put it away for another year. I think I might need to add a band saw to my tools for projects like this.

One of the biggest diy undertakings was making 40 foam snowflakes. I learned a lot from this! It took over my garage for a while, but they looked so pretty when they were up. I used my projector to trace snowflake silhouettes as big as I could (I would do half of the shape on one sheet and half on another so I could tape them together). Then I used a utility knife for all the straight edges and an exacto knife for the curved spots.

To add glitter, I sprayed a spray adhesives and then dumped glitter on it. It was a mess, but it was the best way I could think of. I tried a glitter spray, but it just wasn’t glittery enough. Also, to make this job easier for myself, I only used three different snowflake patterns. Once I had made one from each, I used it as a pattern to trace the rest.

The last item is a gift for a friend that loves Christmas. She had commented on the ones I had made before so I knew I needed to make her one too. I can’t wait to get it to her. Well, that’s everything for my 2020 handmade Christmas. I’m already scheming for what I might do for next year lol. Anyone else with me? Happy new year to you all! May it be full of creativity and love.

Rainbow Earrings Tutorial

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Rainbows are so beautiful and I have been loving all the different rainbow trends that have been popular lately. In fact, it inspired me to create these textured earrings a few months ago and I’m happy to share how I made them now. Read on to learn how to make your own with this rainbow earrings tutorial.

To make your own pair you will need:

  • Embroidery Thread
  • Yarn, Fabric, etc. for wrapping
  • Earwires (Earring Findings)
  • 26 gauge wire
  • Scissors
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Ruler
  • Jewelry Pliers

You will want to start by cutting the embroidery thread and wire piece a bit longer than you plan on it being so it can be trimmed at the end. Cut one wire piece and six lengths of embroidery thread (you can just cut six individual pieces, but I looped it) at 7.5″ long.

Cut wire and thread for two more the same way. I played around with the length when figuring out how to make these and while you can shorten each layer some at this point (as you can see I did in my photos), you might as well do them the same since the wrapping will be where the final length is really decided. Keep it easy as possible I say hahaha.

Twist the wire around the embroidery thread like in the above picture. This allows for it to stay together without adding extra glue which would add to the chunkiness of the finished product.

Now you can prepare for the wrapping. You can use yarn, fabric, maybe even try ribbons or leather? I like how you can use different materials to add different textures. I stuck with yarn and fabric, but that doesn’t mean you have to.

You will want to begin gluing with at least one inch of wire and thread left unwrapped on one end. Then as you wrap, add dabs of hot glue to keep it in place. Try not to make the glue dabs really thick so it doesn’t squish out or make a big bump. Each layer will need to be wrapped a little shorter than the previous one. The longest one will be the top layer and the shortest will be the inside layer. You can see in the pictures below the wrapping lengths I chose.

For the big rainbows: Top layer is wrapped about 3.25″, the middle is wrapped about 3″, and the bottom layer is wrapped about 2.75″.

For the shorter rainbows: Top layer is wrapped about 2.5″, middle layer is wrapped about 2.25″, and bottom is wrapped about 2″.

Next you will glue the layers together. I start with the bottom (shortest) and middle layers first. Bend the bottom layer into a rainbow shape and bend the middle layer over it to make sure they will match up nicely. Match the wrapped ends on one side and begin gluing together while shaping the middle layer to the bottom one. You will have some flexibility with the shaping even after they are glued, you just want to make sure that the wrapped ends meet on each side when curved.

Glue on the top layer the same way.

Cut off the extra length of wires as close as you can to the wrapped area.

Then trim the embroidery thread ends to your liking. Mine are all around a .5″ length.

Use jewelry pliers to open up the loop on the earrings.

Hook the earring into the top middle of each rainbow and then use pliers to close up the loop a bit. They stay on very well and I felt no need for any glue at this point.

Another option would be to use a jump ring and turn this into a necklace if you want. It’s a very versatile pile you can have lots of fun being creative with. I hope you enjoyed this rainbow earring tutorial and find it useful Please share your creations on social media and tag it with #happytogetherbyjess or send me a pic. I love seeing what y’all make!

A Balloon Bouquet in a Jar

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Any time I find a way to use party decorations it makes me happy! Last night I received an email stating there would be a birthday celebration for my daughter’s teacher today. My daughter made a cute little card but she asked me to make something special for her as well. I had limited time and this balloon bouquet in a jar idea came to me. I had all the supplies already and we went for it.

I blew up the balloons, which were various sizes that I have gotten from Party City, and miss E taped them onto paper straws for me. We made a few and then I began to place them all together and when I felt like they fit in a good way, I would tape the paper straws together. This made for a good base and then I could stick anything else, whether it be more balloons or other decorations, into the base. (I also taped that paper wheel on a paper straw as well.)

The small honeycomb balls and the paper star (I just created the star in Word and printed it out) were hot glued/taped to bamboo skewers because they needed something thinner than a straw. Those I stuck in at the end.

Tip: The honeycomb balls came off of a garland that I had bought on clearance at a local grocery store after Valentines Day last year. Other parts were also just party decor I randomly pick up when I see it on sale. So if you have the space and can get things when you randomly come upon it you will always be ready to create one of these.

The jar was a mason jar that I had from a previous party. I had spray painted the bottom and it matched the balloons nicely. To fill up space so you couldn’t see the straw/skewer bottoms, I used paper tissue tassels from a garland in the jar. I kind of just played around with placement until I liked it. Then to fill in some space among the balloons I used a piece of the gold tissue paper garland. Another tip is to use sticker glue dots to keep balloons close. It sticks them together and holds really well. Then they don’t move around and it makes it more secure.

Here you can see miss E holding it for a size comparison. She also wanted me to make sure I shared a picture of her holding it hahaha. She’s so sweet. And she was excited to take this to her teacher today. How fun right? It’s like a little mini party for a table or desk and would be nice for someone allergic to flowers. I definitely see more balloon bouquet in a jar projects in our future.

A DIY Art Ledge For Our Living Room

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Have you ever had a big empty wall and wanted to fill it but didn’t want to hang a lot on it? I had this dilemma when we first moved in. There was one wall in particular that really felt empty, this one behind the sofa. I really wanted to use things I already had to decorate it, but I was not feeling a gallery wall look. Partly because I had a large row of family pictures on one wall already (again, I already had them and wanted to use them) and partly because I wanted to easily change things out. I was inspired mostly by this diy art ledge by Chris Loves Julia, but I have always loved this concept since seeing how Pottery Barn would style picture frames many years ago. Now that I have grown in my diy skills, I was able to make a much more affordable ledge that worked for my home and budget.

When it came to my diy art ledge, I was in a hurry to make it before we were hosting a Christmas family get together. Setting goals can really help me get things done. I went in my garage and found three pieces of wood I already had that would work. They were two pieces of 1″ x 3″ x 8′ and one piece of 1″ x 2″ x 8′ and all were the inexpensive furring strips that can be found at Home Depot or Lowes.

I wasn’t worried about having a super squared cleaned up look so I just let the wood be. I used the two 2.5″ wide pieces for the back and the bottom part. I connected them using wood screws coming from back side of the back piece into the back side of the bottom piece. Then I used wood glue and my nail gun to secure the front piece in place. After it was all put together I stained it with Minwax Dark Walnut.

To secure it on the wall, I decided where I wanted it and found any studs that it would go over. I made sure to screw into the studs and then any other spot I felt needed to hold it in place. I have had this mixture of sentimental and fun art up for a while and haven’t had an itch to change it up yet. I love when I work over time to wait for things I truly love and then can just be happy with them for a long time. That has been something I have strived for with home decor the past few years.

We also haven’t had a problem with hitting our head on it, being that it’s behind the sofa. I did have to use command strips just recently on the big painting because it wasn’t sitting right and I didn’t want it to fall off. (Those strips are a great way to help secure pieces on a ledge like this!) The only time I have lightly hit the ledge with my head was when I really threw myself into a sitting position making my head go back further then normal hahaha. But honestly, it’s position isn’t a problem and I’m loving having it here.

DIY Built-Ins are Complete!

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It’s getting really close to Christmas and there were two big home projects I really wanted done before then: built-ins in our front room and a finished guest bathroom. Thankfully I was able to get both done before that and I am proud to share the diy built-ins I made. I was a little intimidated to try this at first and really took my time during the whole process to make sure things were going to turn out great. Having this fantastic tutorial from Young House Love was a tremendous help as well. As with any project, every need is different, every house is different, so there were a few things I had to do differently, but overall I did the same things and I couldn’t have done it without their knowledge.

(Wall sconces are here from Home Depot)

When we moved into our home this room was just a plain yellowish room. It had nothing. No ceiling light, built in’s, etc. It’s a 70’s ranch so I guess it would have been a formal living room during it’s beginnings. We didn’t want to get into the business of tearing down walls so we decided to make this our library/music room/guest room. We have a lot of books and plan to get a piano in here soon to accompany other instruments we already have. This is also where we will keep this sofa which has a pull out bed. Since the sofa was staying, I played around with where it fit best and this wall was best suited for it. Once I determined that I knew I wanted built-ins around it.

(Two vintage prints from England we found at an estate sale in Louisiana)
(This is inspired by how Nesting with Grace added lights to a large vase)

I still want to work on my bookshelf styling, but I used only what we had for now and am happy with it. I’m sure one day the mood will strike and I will be inspired to make it a bit more stylish 🙂 The room feels so much more complete now! Now our list for this room is down to: 1. Get a piano 2. Add sliding doors for privacy when guests are here 3. Get ceiling lights installed.

Here is a picture from when I first started working in here. I had already painted the walls (which helped a lot) and here I was making sure the sofa would fit between the two bookshelves. I only had a small space on each side so I had to use upper cabinets for the bottom. Since they are shallow, I did bump them out like Young House Love did. I also added a base to make them higher. It is two layers of 2″x4″ ‘s.

I popped off the baseboards and the crown molding to try to reuse, but only was able to reuse the crown molding. For the trim on the sides, I used my oscillating tool to just cut through right where the bookshelf sides needed to fit.

For the top of the bookshelves I continued to build it the same as in the Young House Love tutorial.

The difference came for the in-between shelving. My thought process was how to make it as secure as possible which means screwing into wall studs as often as possible. I created a “box” with a wood centered divider piece first. Then I used ladders to help hold it up in place and I screwed in 1″x4″ boards (into studs) underneath the top to hold it into place (you can see they are the white primed pieces of wood). From there I could screw the sides into the sides of the tall bookshelves. After that I also added wood pieces to the inside bottom and screwed those into wall studs. Then I could screw from underneath the shelf into those. Needless to say, this thing is rock solid. It was really difficult to do by myself (can we say big and heavy???), so I would recommend a helper for this part hahaha. But where there is a will there is a way!

Once all of that was done I was able to trim it all out, caulk, and paint it. For me, it ended up not being as difficult as I thought it would. I learned a lot and feel really confident to take on this type of project again. The biggest thing for me was making sure it was super secure and I did that and more.

It feels classy in here now and the diy built-ins feel like they were always meant to be there.