DIY projects to do BEFORE Christmas...

The countdown until Christmas morning is ON!!  Can you believe that in a mere 17 days it will be Christmas morning?!?!  And that means I have even fewer days to get all of my projects that I'll be gifting to loved-ones done!!

Today the Prince and I woke up an hour earlier than usual... and I've already straightened up the kitchen and have butter sitting out to get it to room temperature for the cookies I need to bake before Sunday at 11:00am for the cookie exchange; I've straightened up the dining room table { aka sewing/craft central }, and I'm now sharing some of the projects I'll be working between now and Christmas. { smile }

For some special little-ones in my life, I'll be personalizing some mugs for them.
{ kinda like these }

Photo courtesy of Design Mom.

I first saw these on Pinterest and then was taken to the great tutorial that Design Mom put together, here.

This next one is for my Prince. { shhh, don't tell him }  

Even though he may or may not have had a hand in helping me select the fabric for these bags...  and as I sit here typing this he keeps saying Carter and pointing at the picture.

  Next year I'm definitely going to have to be more sneaky if I want to surprise him, but for this year I'll just have to hope he forgets about them before Christmas...

Photo courtesy of Make it Perfect.

These storage bags will come in very handy for storing all of his choo-choos and cars.  And even better the hubby and I will be filling the one for cars with a bunch of new cars. { smile }

This cute "Peek-A-Boo Toy Sack" was created by Make it Perfect, you can get the tutorial here if you would like to make one or some, too!

Next come the ornaments I found that I thought would be great for our new tree.  And best thing is the Prince can help me make them!

Photo courtesy of Homemade Grits.

Salt-dough ornaments!  

You can do so many different things with these ornaments to personalize your tree.  They would also make wonderful gifts for family and friends, best thing is that they only take 3 ingredients...

{ water, salt and flour }  

Here's the tutorial if you would like to create some ornaments this year.

And just for fun, I'll call it a present for myself... can you believe that when I sew or create it's always for someone else.

Photo courtesy of Craftaholics Anonymous.

Some pretty appliqued ruffle pillows, I'm leaning towards doing them sans-applique.  I have some wonderful fabrics that I picked up recently that are just begging to be used for this project. 

Here's the tutorial if you should want to make some for yourself, too!

Ok now it's time that I get to work on all of these projects...  not to mention the projects I couldn't tell you about because the person/people receiving them would know what they are getting for Christmas!

What projects are your working on for the holidays?  I'd love to hear about them all!

Pinterest.

I think I am obssessed with Pinterest!  Ok...  I know I am obssessed with it!

 What is Pinterest? 

It's a virtual pinboard/photoboard. 

A what?

A virtual pinboard that allows you to collect images and ideas that you've found online, then organize and share them with others.  The best thing is when you "Pin" a photo it links up to the original website where it was found, which comes in very handy for recipes and/or DIY crafts/projects. 

Why would I use this?

A lot of people use it for planning a special day... like a wedding, decorating their homes (me), recipes (also me), craft ideas (me again), fashion inspiration, etc...  the options are limitless.  Saving to Favorites on Internet Explorer just isn't as easy as Pinterest, trust me.

Here's an example of what I've been using it for...  gardening inspiration!

(For when we have a house that I can have my own garden...  never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth, I've always had a dislike for gardening, until recently, but I guess as we get older our interests change too...  OBVIOUSLY!)

Last question I'm sure you're asking yourself...  how can you be obssessed with a virtual pinboard?

OMG!  Because there are thousands of people using Pinterest daily and pinning amazing ideas/images to their boards, things that I never would have found without Pinterest. 

I've found many amazing ideas/tutorials for crafts like these adorable knit baby blanket and hats from Make it and Love it (a new FAVE blog of mine).

Get the tutorial here.

Or this tutorial for Double Potholders from A Little Gray...

And then there's the cool idea of storing your spices in glass baby jars like this...

From Frugal Decor Mom, get the tutorial here.

And if you combine that idea with this "recipe" for Custom Color Chalkboard Paint, from Martha Stewart herself, you have the perfect DIY storage project!

If you would like to join Pinterest please leave your email address in a comment below so that I can send you an invite, otherwise you can sign-up directly on their website and wait up to a week for your invitation to join, like I did.

Trust me you will LOVE this!!

Steph