Star of Bethlehem Wreath

Did you catch yesterday's project? As I mentioned, I didn't end up using the button star as an ornament. Rather, it found a home on something that would get a little more exposure. That brings us to the twelfth project of The 25 Projects of Christmas - a Star of Bethlehem Wreath. 

Not only does it remind you of what Christmas is really about without being too overt, but it also brings just the right rustic touch to our front door. This wreath is easy on the eyes, easy on the wallet, and very easy to make as well.

Vintage Button Ornament Tutorial

Today is the 11th day of The 25 Projects of Christmas: a Vintage Button Ornament. Earlier this week I used a few of my grandma's vintage buttons to make a garland for the tree and today I'll be using a few more. No need to use vintage buttons if you don't have jars of them sitting around though; brand new buttons will work just fine haha. 

I like it. I like it a lot actually. Read on for instructions on how to make it for yourself!

The Homemade Holiday Giveaway Winner!

A sincere thank you to everyone who participated in our very first giveaway here at Spool and Spoon! I'm sure you've all been on pins and needles awaiting the news of who our winner is. If I could, I'd have awarded everyone a prize just to express my gratitude. Nevertheless, the big day has arrived -- all entries have been verified and a winner has been chosen! 

::drum roll please::

Entry number 84 - Christine R. 

Congratulations, Christine!! Look for an email announcing the good news! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crocheted Button Garland

The tenth of The 25 Projects of Christmas is the perfect combo of two of my favorite crafty things -- vintage buttons & crochet! Hooray for a super easy and incredibly unique crocheted button garland. 

This garland adds not only interest but also a ton of sentiment to our tree. All of the buttons used were from my Nanny's vintage button collection. She's also the one who taught me how to crochet so it's a double reminder of how much I love her and wish she (and my Pop-pop) could be with us for the holidays.  Read on for the full tutorial!

Insta Replay Monday #10

It's Monday, how about some Instagram recaps? I love holiday weeks because it's all but a guarantee that there will be tons of high points for our household and there were. (Insert silly grinning Jess here) In addition to a delicious Thanksgiving meal prepared by my mother in law, we decked the halls and our Christmas tree, found some insane Black Friday deals at the craft stores, then enjoyed another Thanksgiving dinner with very close friends and their family, and finally this girl gets to wear matching shoes again! Woot woot! 

You saw mine, now let me see yours! (Eww, that sounded gross.) Follow along @Spool_and_Spoon on Instagram so I can follow you!

By the way, have you entered the Homemade Holiday giveaway? It ends soon and I don't want you to miss it. Any one of you can win and I can't wait to make it happen! 

Spool and Sisal Tree Ornament Tutorial

Does anyone feel like Christmas is right around the corner? I guess I better press fast forward on the rest of The 25 Projects of Christmas. Seeing as decorating the Christmas Tree is probably one of my most favorite aspects of the season, I wanted to share another ornament tutorial - the Spool and Sisal Tree.

These ornaments are easily finished in about 10 minutes flat so read on to learn how to take your ordinary bottle brush trees from ho-hum to ho-ho. 

The Homemade Holiday Giveaway

So how much turkey did you eat? I haven't felt this stuffed since, well, this time last year haha. Yesterday wasn't all about the food though. It was spent cherishing the things we have and the people we share them with. And then Black Friday comes along and ruins all of those feelings of gratefulness. How do we go from being super thankful to incredibly greedy in 24 hours? To ease the chaos and make everything a bit more special, consider making it a Homemade Holiday with my very first giveaway. 

One very lucky winner will win:

one $20 gift card to Michaels

one set of Martha Stewart treat bags & one set of treat boxes

one set of Martha Stewart glitters

one set of handmade Christmas cards

one lot of crafting embellishments

Entering is easy as pie. You've got quite a few ways to do it in the Rafflecopter widget below. (If you're reading this in your inbox or through an RSS reader and can't see the app, click here to be taken directly to Spool and Spoon.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor! Tee hee, Hunger Games dork right here...

Snow Globe Shadow Box Tutorial

So far, this is definitely my favorite tutorial of The 25 Projects of Christmas. Maybe it's not just a coincidence that these Snow Globe Shadow Boxes happen to be my lucky number eight! It's vintage-y, pretty, wintery, and cute. Really, there is nothing you won't love about these. 

If you're around these parts often, you probably realized that I prefer very traditional and rustic decor at Christmastime and these are not that at all. Still, I adore them. The boxes turned out so whimsical and retro due in major part to the color scheme. I was inspired by the layout of Cocalores and I must say, Anja knows what she's doing with the blue and pink combo because it worked like a charm.  Read on for the full tutorial!

Coquito - Egg Nog's Caribbean Cousin

The seventh installment of The 25 Projects of Christmas is all about my favorite holiday beverage. I’ve been waiting patiently to share this recipe. I mentioned yesterday that we had our first taste of Coquito for the year over the weekend. You may have read that and said, what the heck is coquito (pronounced koh-KEY-toe)? Maybe you were even motivated to do a quick Google search.  What you'll find out is that it's a Caribbean specialty for the holidays. If you like egg nog, and even if you don't, you'll LOVE this. I'm putting my personal guarantee on that!

Insta Replay Monday #9

Monday means it's Insta Replay again! 

Does it make me childish that I'm kinda super stoked that it's a holiday week? Only 4 work days instead of 5! I'm incredibly envious of anyone who has a shorter week so please don't share if you're expected to report only 2-3 days... my heart just won't be able to bear it haha. I fret but this past week must not have been too bad because I don't remember a single negative thing. (Isn't it crazy how each day can feel like a battle and then when it's all over, it's just that... over.) 

There were a lot of wonderful moments this week though. We went to our Friendsgiving dinner with some of our closest friends. I had the first taste of pumpkin pie for the year and it was amazing. I went to a Stampin Up crafting party. I watched the Sister Wives marathon (guilty pleasure!). We had egg nog AND coquito! We found Quinn a cute sweatshirt... and a Christmas collar & antlers (yes, we're those people)! Aubrey and Quinn are finally starting to "interact." I managed to take a ton of Instagram photos this week so take a look:

Thanks for following along -- if you want to see these pictures firsthand, find me on Instagram @Spool_and_spoon because I want to follow you too!

Reindeer Name Printable

Time sure does fly... we're already at the sixth installment of The 25 Projects of Christmas! Today's project is the second printable of the series. If you didn't realize it already, I love me some printables. This Reindeer Name Art is modern, fun, and playful. I'm sure you know Dasher, and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. How about Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen? Well, do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? With this pretty printable sign, you and your little ones will never forget!

Full of Thanks

Tomorrow evening, the Mr. and I will be with our very best of friends celebrating our good fortunes at our 4th Annual Friendsgiving. It's one of those special days where we get to be surrounded by some of our favorite people -- making memories in one house, cooking in one kitchen, eating at one table and laughing more than one person can handle. We'll drink great wine, play some games, and share what we're thankful to have. 

Maybe I'm a little early, but I thought it was time to express myself. 

I just want you to know that one of the things I'm most grateful for is YOU. Yes, I'm thankful for each and every one of you. On Wednesday I hit a HUGE milestone -- 100,000 views. Wowzers. I can barely believe it... I haven't even been blogging for a year!

Spool and Spoon has become one of the things I'm most passionate about and it's only because of your encouragement, compliments, and interest that I've enjoyed it so much thus far. This blog brings so much happiness to me and I hope I'm able to reciprocate. Every time I gain a new reader, I squeal like a little kid on Christmas. A new comment? The goofiest grin ever. A big feature? Yeah, that's like euphoria packed into one little web address. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It doesn't matter how much I say it, I'll never be able to fully express how much I appreciate your support. Stay tuned as I'll be hosting my first giveaway next week!

Advent Activity Jar

Do you use a traditional Advent Calendar at the holidays (or any fun modern variation)? I know a lot of families that do especially when young children are involved and I understand why because I loved mine when I was little. Every year my grandparents got each of us one of those cardboard boxes with the little doors that hid a piece of chocolate. You know what I'm talking about, right? As much as I looked forward to getting something each day; now that I'm grown, I like the idea of DOING something each day just a little a whole lot more.

That was my inspiration behind the fifth tutorial of the 25 Projects of Christmas: an Advent Activity Jar. 

If you're looking for an easy way to create memories with your family, this is sure to please.  You only need a few things: materials, a list of stuff you want to do, and 15 minutes. Yep, that's it. Easy peasy!

Christmas Tree Ribbon Art

When Christmas comes around, I love to change out the art in our house. It's nice to have small little vignettes here and there all around the house, but I like the dramatic as well. I can never find affordable pieces that are large enough to make a statement so it was about time I made one. 

On the 4th day of The 25 Projects of Christmas, my true love gave to me Christmas Tree Ribbon Art. 

This is a great size without being too overwhelming at 18" x 24". Seeing as I already had all of the materials floating around it was also completely free. 

Insta Replay Monday #8

Welcome to week 8 of Insta Replay Monday! Oh my goodness, how is it Monday already?! Time seriously flies. I had a roller coaster week but then a super productive weekend. Somehow I even squeezed in some babysitting for a few hours. Still, I forgot a huge must do: planting the spring bulbs in the garden. Ugh, I guess I'll be doing that each night this week before the sun sets. 

As chaotic as this week was, I wasn't very active on Instagram until this weekend; take a look!

By the way, be sure to check back this week for some really exceptional holiday projects. You won't want to miss it!

Washi Tape Luminary

I'm apologizing ahead of time... If you're anything like the Mr. with his "one holiday at a time" ideal, you won't be getting that from me this year. I am like 99.9% dedicated to Christmas at this point.  We aren't hosting Thanksgiving so I'm all about getting prepared for my favorite time of year. It's only the second week of November and we're already onto the third part of The 25 Projects of Christmas!

Number three is a Washi Tape Luminary.

Not only is this a festive decoration, it would be a simple DIY gift (and not necessarily in holiday colors in that case).

The Grinch {Printable}

Number 2 of the 25 Projects of Christmas is a "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Printable. Enjoy!

DIY Pine Cone and Lace Angel

Is it bad that I have a countdown for Christmas on my phone? Is it worse that I've had this countdown going on since September? I'm slightly embarrassed to have even admitted that. Now that it's out in the open, you can understand why I have plans for a ton of holiday projects which will be filed under The 25 Projects of Christmas. The series will include DIY gifts, decorations, recipes, printables and activities! Today is the first post: Pine Cone & Lace Angel Ornament.

This rustic angel ornament is made out of a pine cone and a lace remnant and was incredibly easy to assemble.

Insta Replay Monday #7

Wow, it's Monday already? I hope you had a really nice weekend. Last week was a blur due to the chaos that ensued in the tri-state area after Hurricane Sandy. Even though it's in the past for just about everyone I know, there are still a ton of people out there where this is very much a present reality. If you have the resources to help, please consider doing what you can. Okay okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

Now, my week in pictures. 

And no, Quinn didn't shrink. That's the Mr.'s parents' puppy, Buddy. Can you believe that little fatty is only 4 months old? Spending quality time with him was definitely a highlight but there were plenty of other special memories as well.

Now that you've seen the past, on to the future: Christmas! Here at Spool and Spoon, I'll be featuring 25 Projects of Christmas so I hope you check back soon. Project #1 is tomorrow!

Handmade Gift Exchange - Holiday 2012

Christmas is only right around the corner! Can you believe it? As with just about everyone else on God's green Earth, it's my absolute favorite time of year. I always go overboard on gifts and the Mr. and I are trying to cut back a teency-weency little bit. There are no guarantees that I can stick to the plan though haha. Still, I'm actually participating in Craftaholics Anonymous's Handmade Gift Exchange this year and I couldn't be more thrilled. 

Guess what, you can do it too! You don't even need a blog, just a big heart and some crafty talents. If you're interested, sign ups are open between November 1st and 7th at Craftaholics Anonymous. As of right this second there are already 130 people signed up for the US exchange and that's from today only! This is a great opportunity to pay it forward but also get something wonderful in return. Even better yet is that this is not limited to the great US of A; crafters from around the world are invited to participate as well!

If the idea of doing anything extra at Christmastime is too much for you to handle, consider signing up for alerts about the Summer 2013 exchange. I hope you'll consider taking part because this is sure to be a fun memory in the making.

Día de los Muertos

You may have thought that Halloween was over and you'd be right but today is yet another "morbid" holiday: Día de los Muertos!

As creepy as it might seem with all of the skeletons and what not, it's actually a very special time of year. The day is dedicated to memorializing, remembering, and including the special people in our lives who have passed. Throughout Mexico you'll find altars of all sizes complete with photos, skulls, flowers, art, and gifts to the dead.