A December to remember

December is always a busy month, and I usually enjoy the hustle and bustle, but could of done with a little less this year.

The month didn't start off that great: the car needed new tires, the roof had a big leak, and the washing machine died.

Not the type of purchases you want to be making right before Christmas!  On the bright side I feel safe driving around, I can enjoy the Washington rain again, and I found an awesome deal on a LG front loading washing machine.  The washing machine even plays a happy tune when it has finished - laundry was never so much fun!

I was so busy getting ready for Christmas I did not get a chance to post any of my favorite craft projects.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is making home-made gifts.

My favorite project was making these hand-painted Toms for Jadyn of her favorite boy bands.

I found fake Toms in solid black and at Rite Aid for $10. 

For the fronts I copied and cut out the logos for One Direction and Justin Bieber on contact paper and stuck it on the shoes, and then carefully painted them on.

For the back I stuck on alphabet stickers and painted over them, and removed stickers once paint was dry.

I think they turned out great and my daughter LOVED them.

For my next project I really got carried away making these fun frilly scarves.  Each scarf was made from a XL men's T-shirts.  I also made matching flower clips out of the left over scraps.

For the scarves I followed the directions on this video from Studio 5.

My favorite ones were those made from sports t-shirts.  I am surprised that we have any t-shirts left in the house :)

I also had fun working with some of my co-workers decorating for our work Holiday party.  My favorite was crafting cone trees and Christmas Crackers.

 I must of made at least 50 cone trees (inspired by The Creativity Exchange) in all different sizes.  

With the close of the year, I look forward to 2013 and the opportunity to re-dedicate myself to improve.