DIY Faux Sweater Trees

Have you seen those adorable sweater trees floating around the blogosphere? I have and I adore them. The only problem is that I love all of my sweaters too much to cut them up. Oh, and our local thrift stores are closed on the weekend so no snagging them on my time off either. Instead, I came up with a nice fake option, but I'm fancy and I'll call them faux instead. These "sweater" trees are sweet sixteen of The 25 Projects of Christmas.

These are super easy and involve a technique that you probably mastered in day camp -- Finger Knitting.

Insta Replay Monday #12

Happy Monday! Can you believe that there are only two weeks until Christmas Eve? I've been counting down the days for about 3 months and now it's almost here. I know I should be excited but actually, I'm kind of bummed. Before you know it, the festivities will be over. I can't be the only one like this. Despite being busy and spending a lot of time prepping while the Mr. was away, it was fairly uneventful in terms of Instagram photos.

Work. Work. Work.

Dinner date with old friends.

Sleepover with one of my best friends.

Other best friend got a puppy from the same rescue we used. 

Babysat. Twice. Six little children.

Major haircut and color change.  

Driving to the city in the dark all by myself.

Christmas shopping, crafting, and home-cooked meals.

Yep, that's about it.

Have a wonderful Monday! Oh and don't forget to check back later this week for:

• A new take on yarn wrapped trees
• A simple stocking stuffer
• A rustic pinecone decor piece

Snowman Button Cookies

I mentioned on Monday that over the weekend the Mr. and I babysat together. It was a blast since we were with three of our favorite children (our ring bearer, flower girl, and their baby brother). I thought it might be fun to bake a little treat with them since we used to cook together all of the time when I was their nanny. Best decision ever. Today's recipe is the fifteenth of The 25 Projects of Christmas - Snowman Button Cookies.

Maybe I just had the best helpers ever, but these cookies were perfect for little hands to make. You can make this with any prepackaged cookie mix or your favorite cookie dough. And they are just so darn cute, why wouldn't you want to make them?

Color Block Circle Scarf Tutorial

I meant to do this post yesterday, but I'm a procrastinator. If you're anything like me, you have big plans for homemade gifts this Christmas but have barely started. Whoopsie. The fourteenth project of The 25 Projects of Christmas is the perfect gift for the trendy lady in your life: a color blocked circle scarf. Color block, color blocked... Honestly, I'm not sure which one it is so I'll use them interchangeably haha. You may remember seeing it pictured in the gift I made for my handmade gift exchange partner. It's also kind of a double dose of scarves today because I shared my 30-minute crocheted infinity scarf at Kristina J.; check it out!

Would you guess that this was made out of two $2 t-shirts? Thrifty and cute, what's not to like? Let's get started!

Handmade Gift Exchange - What I Gave

You might remember that I was super duper excited to participate in Craftaholics Anonymous' Handmade Gift Exchange - Holiday edition. I still haven't gotten my gift, but mine was sent on it's way last Tuesday. Names had been drawn a couple of weeks ago and and we were tasked with creating a gift for our secret someone. I was assigned Gina B. of Florida. 

 

Well, I don't know Gina B. of Florida. Gina B. of Florida was a very elusive creature in my book. I decided just to wing it. I figured since she was doing this exchange, she must be like me in some way or another so I made gifts that I would have liked to receive: a simple but pretty tote, a necklace, washi tape bookmarks, and a jersey circle scarf.

After finishing the first three presents, I happened to get a response from one of my anonymous questions... Yippee! Well, that excitement was short-lived. Turns out that that her favorite color happened to be green. There's nothing wrong with that except the fact that nothing at this point had been the right color. I put my original fabrics away and went back to the drawing board for the scarf. I opted for a navy and green color combo used 100% cotton jersey since it would be perfect for the Florida weather. 

I would have kept all of those things for me but I can't be a Grinch. I hope Gina likes them though. I'm eagerly awaiting my own gift but I'm sure I'll love whatever it happens to be. 

By the way, check back soon as I'll be sharing a tutorial for how to create your very own color-blocked circle scarf to gift! 

Sugar and Spice Pecans

On a normal day I'd much rather craft than cook, but at the holidays, spending time in the kitchen is my favorite. I'm pretty sure there's nothing better than cookies, cakes, candies, and nuts. Nuts? Yep, I'm nuts about nuts. I might be biased, but I have the best candied pecan recipe ever. I think everyone else agrees, too. Last year, I made these as gifts for neighbors and coworkers and received rave reviews. So, are you ready for number thirteen of The 25 Projects of Christmas? Sugar & Spice {and everything nice} Pecans!

Insta Replay Monday #11

Pardon me while I mope a little bit. The Mr. is away on business all week so I'm bummed. We haven't spent more than one night away from one another in nearly three years. Is that weird? I guess I'm looking forward to eating all of the stuff that he doesn't like: broccoli, couscous, curried peppers and onions, and brussel sprouts. Yep, all that healthy stuff that he pouts about haha.

Anywho. We had a pretty nice week and I am pumped for December. Some highlights:

• I finally ordered our Christmas cards
• We had the first snow of the season!
• I am one gift away from wrapping up my shopping for the Mr. 
• I met a blogger in real life for the first time! - Megan from A Girl and Her Hound
• The Mr. and I babysat our three favorite kids together. The practice is good for him haha
• I went to my very first photography workshop and it was practically life-changing
• And last, but definitely not least, we celebrated my bestie's birthday with fondue. YUM!

So, what was the highlight of your week? Tell me all about it :)