I have been all about the crafts this holiday season! My goal was decorate the house with supplies I already had, but in new and different ways. I also wanted to recycle/repurpose some of the items I've collected. That includes old Altoid, coffee and cookie tins and glass bottles, from pickles to kumbucha, I could use to package gifts and also place around the house. (Altoid and kumbucha are great low sugar snacks, and are the only diet mention in this post!) At the bottom I have a
cute giveaway I wanted to share with my readers! I perfect little purse tin to carry your stevia packets (or bandaides, safety pins, hairbands, etc) in.
I am fascinated with chalkboard paint and script right now. I decorated these little tins for the kid's teachers and will fill them with fun candies lined with the red and white chevron paper. I'm no artist, but I really wanted these to look pretty. I put the teacher's initial on one side and holly and berries on the other. I decorated a coffee tin for myself. You can always erase it and write something new. I used spray chalkpaint for this project and followed the directions.

This was my favorite project, making icicle branches. I used glue, small branches, and clear vase filler (the "icicles", purchased from Michaels). I had the hubby cut off small branches from an over grown tree in the side yard. They were sticking over the deck, so this was a two for one! I trimmed them up on the bottom, snipping off everything on the bottom 10 inches or so. I laid one branch at a time over a big tote lid (to catch the extra "icicles") and painted the everything except the bottom 10 inches with a thick layer of glue. Then I poured the clear vase filler slowly over the glued areas until it was well covered. They turned out great! I mixed them with artificial flowers that I already had in a big vase and put it on my mantel. These are really pricey to buy, especially if you want to use a lot of them in your arrangement.


These are my glitter pine cones and I LOVE them! The funny story is that I was determined to use "found pine cones", not store bought. So I bugged my friends to see if they had any in their yards. Everyone said no, but the store was selling the cinnamon kind... Then a friend mentioned on a certain side street she had seen some. It is a along a new running route I had been using for my Half Marathon training, but I'd never seen pine cones, but sure enough when I drove by, there they were! My mind is apparently occupied with just breathing while I run, because I must have stepped right over them. On the down side they had a few tiny spiders and other weird things in them. Ha! A little glue on the tips and a sprinkle of glitter and they look great in my big Apothecary jar I got on sale for $15.

I also made two of these mini garland trees. I bought two poster boards and folded and taped them into a big cone. Then I took some unused garland and hot glued it around the big cone. I placed them on either side of my fireplace. Kind of boring, but a little project I wanted to try, since I'd seen these at the stores for about $25 each. It cost me about .50 since I just needed the poster board.
And I LOVE my glitter vases! I painted an old kumbucha bottle with glue and sprinkled a really pretty iridescent glitter all over it. When it was dry I painted on good layer of modge podge over it all, so the glitter wouldn't flake off and leave a glitter trail everywhere. I display this pretty vase on a shelf and put flowers in it. I also made a few with friends from old pickle jars that are perfect for candles.
And
the giveaway! Leave a comment or tweet about this post to win the red and white chevron tin. I will add the winners initials or name to the top! Or you can choose the glitter top box (the glitter doesn't fall off since it has a clear modge podge layer on top). Winners choice, both handmade by me!
These are repurposed Altoid tins and are perfect for carrying little things in your bag or keeping your car. I use mine to keep stevia packets in my purse. I'm thinking of a way to man these up, to use as small storage in the boys backpacks too. I love these little things!
To enter: Leave a comment, tell me what you would put in it! You can also tweet about this post with a link back to my blog, just leave a 2nd comment that lets me know and @meandjorge in the tweet. I will choose winners on Wednesday Dec. 19th at noon, so make sure to check back or leave a way to contact me.