Last Minute Gift Idea...Swiss Roll Towels

It's crunch time!! Christmas is just days away. If you are looking for a hostess gift, party favor, teacher gift or just a little gift to tuck in with something else, I have a quick project for you!!

I made these Christmas Swiss Rolls as party favors for my Christmas party I had last weekend. They were a BIG hit!!  It's something that everyone can use, because they are made from towels!!

Christmas Swiss Rolls...

They look good enough to eat, lol or at least clean up after yourself when you eat!!

Come on in to see how easy they are to make!

Christmas Home Tour 2015...

Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by. All the decorations are up and the hot chocolate is warming on the stove. I hope you can grab a cup too and stay for a while to enjoy the tour of our holiday home.

I just love Christmas and this time of year. Decorating for the holidays for my family and friends is my absolute favorite thing to do. Every room in the house has a tree or some little touch of Christmas. I have been collecting decorations for over 30 years and each year I add something new to that collection. However, as many of you know, I am a big shopper of "after Christmas" sales and thrift store finds are the best! You can really change the look of your home by using what you have in different ways year after year. I'm hoping some of my tips and tricks in this year's post will inspire you in your holiday home!


Welcome to our home for the holidays...

Book Page Flower Tutorial...

Hi everyone! A couple weeks ago I shared a tutorial on how to make a wreath made from book pages (I used an old, falling apart dictionary).  Click here for the instructions. I finally hung it up where I wanted it for the holidays on a chalkboard frame with a big Merry Christmas bow. ( I bought that ribbon at TJMaxx last year)

I also wanted to make a whole tree made with book page ornaments and handmade things to go with the wreath. Here's my attempt at a book page flower and I love them!!

Here it is nestled in the tree!!

Pop in to see the full tutorial...

How to Make a Book Page Wreath...

Hi everyone! I've been busy getting ready for the holidays. Christmas starts early for me, because I have a very big party in early December and the house is decorated from top to bottom. I have 12-13 decorated trees up...one in every room in the house. I've already started in the bedrooms upstairs, because the kids are gone and no one will see it and think I'm crazy!! Downs stairs has to stay decorated for autumn, because we also host Thanksgiving for both sides of the family.

There is one exception this year. Our big family tree is already up in the family room. Our daughter Kelsie moved to Florida 2 weeks ago. She was away for all the holidays last year for a Disney internship and I couldn't have another holiday without her here to celebrate. The weekend before they left, we had an ALL holiday celebration. All four kids had Halloween trick or treat bags and carved pumpkins, we had a big Thanksgiving dinner, we decorated the big family Christmas tree and opened stockings and presents. We also had Easter baskets! Each room in the house was decorated for each holiday including Valentine's Day! I think I have a few pictures that I can share later.

Right now, I wanted to share a wreath I made for one of the rooms.

Book Page Wreath...

I've always wanted to make a wreath from old book pages and was inspired by this post from the blog Knick of Time.

Here's my version.

I just love the texture and the color!

I even made a little bow from the pages.

Come on in to see how easy. It does take some time, but it's worth it!!

Christmas Home Tour 2014...

Welcome to this year's Christmas home tour here at Sew Many Ways. You know I just LOVE decorating for the holidays and this year was no exemption. I have so many new ideas to share with you and lots of projects using old things in new ways.

Welcome to our home…

Grab a cup of your favorite hot drink, sit back and enjoy the tour. This post has over 150 pictures…so get ready!!

Santa's Stuck in the Chimney...

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while...I've been super busy decorating for the holidays and a big Christmas party I'm having this Sunday. I have lots of posts in the works from projects I've been doing and this is one that I wanted to share today! ( As a side note…if you have little ones in your home, you can explain that this is just a decoration!!)

Santa's in the Chimney…

This is a quick and easy project that didn't cost me anything!! Come on in and see…

Wrapped Candy Cane Ornaments...

Here's another easy DIY ornament idea to add a little fun to your Christmas tree….candy canes wrapped with yarn or twine! I had a box of candy canes that I put on the tree last year and stored them away with the decorations. When I opened the box, they didn't look so good. I needed more ornaments for the tree I'm doing with the red, gray and natural colors, so I thought…why not use the yarn I had from the other projects and cover the candy canes?

Here's how they turned out!!

Great project while watching tv…

Kitchen Towel Wall Hanging...

This past weekend, I shared a tutorial to make a quick sew pillow from a kitchen towel. You can click HERE to see that post and the instructions. In that post, I said I would share another idea for making a wall hanging from the other kitchen towels that I purchased.

Here it is and it is so simple…little or no sewing at all.

Perfect and inexpensive wall hanging to fill in those little areas around your house just crying for a little color or something Chrismassy.

So, get your towels ready...

My Love Hate Relationship with Pre-Lit Trees…and How I Fixed It

I have been decorating multiple trees for Christmas for most all of my married life, so when pre-lit trees were invented I was, well, WOO HOO!!! I didn't rush out to buy them right away, but it was a goal to buy them one by one at the end of season sales. I always wait for the 75% off, so the deals are great.

I thought the long hours of stringing lights on trees was over. Did I think the trees would last forever…no. However, I didn't think about the time "IT" would happen. What is the IT, you ask?

This is IT…

That moment in time when the lights on all of my trees don't work...hence, my love hate relationship with pre-lit trees.

Come on in to see more…

Turn a Kitchen Towel into an Adorable Pillow...

Hi everyone! I'm doing a little Christmas decorating early in our daughters' rooms, because we have guest staying in there over the holidays. I can do it early because…1) the girls are on their own now and 2) no one will see it right now and think I'm a looney for putting up trees this early!! Lol I'm not done with the trees yet, but I have done a little sewing. I'll show the full room when I'm finished.

I found awesome kitchen towels in TJ Maxx. They were the perfect color red that I'm using to decorate one of the rooms. When I saw the towels, I knew they were going to be pillows and wall hangings. Here's how the pillows turned out!

Kitchen Towel Pillows made in one minute…

This literally took a minute to make….fold and sew 2 lines of stitching!!

Easy Handmade Clothespin Snowflake Ornaments...

I'm still on the Christmas crafting craze and making more ornaments. Maybe I'm being nostalgic and missing my daughters, but keeping busy keeps my mind busy! Remember last week's post about a red and gray themed tree and handmade ornaments? You can click HERE if you missed it. I want the tree to have a Scandinavian feel, but we'll see how far I get! Lol.

This is my latest craft to add a natural wood element to the tree…

Clothespin Snowflake!!

For the tree, I'm using gray felt, red burlap, yarns, natural wood and berries. I just love the textures.

Here are some of the things I already made…the yarn balls will be made into a garland, but I still need to buy wooden beads to separate the yarn balls. The others are felt ornaments and a letter to Santa. Click HERE for those.

They are so easy to make…just clothespins, hot glue and only takes 10-15 minutes to make.

Heat up your glue gun and let's get started…

Spray Painting Christmas Ornaments…Old to New

I know it's only the beginning of November, but I have been working on Christmas for the past few weeks. I have learned over the years that I need to do things early and not wait to the last minute. I decorate 12 trees for every room in the house and it's a labor of love.

I love using all my decorations over and over in different ways each year. If you use something in a new way or in a different room, it seems like you have a whole new look. I also like creating a new themed tree by using things I already have, but buy a few new things to add to it and make it spectacular!!

I've always wanted to have a red and aqua colored tree. I have a ton of different red ornaments, but no aqua, so here's what I've come up with! I already had that fabric too, so maybe a tree skirt will be in the making.

A box of old plastic ornaments and a $3.59 can of spray paint!!

Let the spray painting begin…

Handmade Christmas Ornaments...

It's November 1st and even though I think about Christmas all year long, from now on, I am in full holiday mode. My clip boards are out and the lists have started. I did a post about organizing for the Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, so if you missed that you can click HERE.

One of my clips boards is just about the 12 Christmas trees I put up in each room...what tree goes where and what the theme will be on each. I have been decorating multiple Christmas trees for most of my 27 married years, so I reuse old things I have in different ways. I also buy things at the end of the year or at clearance sales and that always inspires a new tree theme.

This year I was inspire by this basket I bought on sale at Michael's Craft store. I just love the red sweater fabric and the Scandinavian look. I already had the gray felt and red burlap, so a new tree is born.

Here are some of the things I made already for ornaments on the tree...

 This little ornament is so cute and easy to make. You can either sew it or hot glue it.

Easy step by step picture instructions too...

Mini Frame Christmas Tree…A True Family Tree

I know {{GASP}}…I said Christmas. It's not even September and I'm thinking about decorating for the holidays. Well, to be honest, I think about Christmas all year long. If I see something during my shopping travels that inspires me for a Christmas tree theme, I snap it up. You have to jump on your first instinct when you see something. If you don't, it will be gone.

I found these little beauties in Michael's Craft store for $1.50 each. They hold pictures 2.4" x 2.4" or 2"x3". Perfect little size to fill a tree.

My thoughts for a theme tree? Wait, listen for it…Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold. Can't you hear Burl Ives singing it now!

I just love the look of the antique silver and gold frames. I am going to print pictures of the whole family in black and white and fill the tree with the frames, silver and gold ornaments and other bits and bobs.

The frames in Michael's came in four different styles in each cold.

I couldn't resist, so I bought them all. I had a coupon for 20% off the entire order and I also had a gift certificate.

I obviously, don't have the tree up and decorated to show you (that would scare you to death if I had it up in August, lol), but I'm sharing the idea with you today so that you can start collecting frames for your own tree.

If you already have smaller frames, you can spray paint them all one color or in the silver and gold theme too.

It's a true "Family Tree" with all your loved ones on your Christmas tree.

Hope this inspired you for this upcoming holiday season. For more ideas you can click HERE for my Christmas Home Tours I've shared over the years.

Thanks for stopping by,
~Karen~

Wreath Storage…Using a Coat Rack

Hi everyone! Christmas decorations are down, but I'm still organizing and putting the basement back together. The basement totally turns into a dumping ground when I'm decorating for the holidays. Furniture and regular home decor gets moved to the basement to make room for Christmas. Then the reverse happens when it's time to take everything down and get the house back together again.

While getting the basement and the Christmas storage area back together, I've taken some pictures along the way of some of the ideas I use. Today, I wanted to share some organizing tips for storing artificial wreaths.

We spend valuable money on Christmas evergreen decorations, even when they are on sale, so storing them properly is key to making them last for years.

Come on in and see a few ideas to store your wreaths and evergreens…

Recycled Christmas Card…Folded Circle Ornament

I'm back again with another recycled Christmas card project. Hope you're not tired of them yet! This one is sentimental for me though. My Portuguese grandmother, Avó, taught me how to make these when I was very young. It was probably over 40 years ago.

Folded Christmas Card Ornament…

Easy project you can make in so many different sizes.

Recycled Christmas Cards…Tiny Gift Box

Hi everyone! I'm still going through my box of Christmas cards and thinking of different projects to use them with in instead of just throwing them away. Today's idea is not a new for me, but using a Christmas card with it is. In a previous post, I shared this idea and used a paper towel tube or toilet paper tube covered in cute scrapbooking paper.

This is even easier, because I just used the front of the Christmas card…

Turn this year's Christmas cards into next year's gift box…come on in and see how easy.

Recycled Christmas Cards…Circle Ornament

Welcome to day 2 of my week of recycled Christmas cards. Yesterday I used a circle to decorate the top of a canning jar and today we're using circles again to make a cute little ornament.

Some of the ideas I share on my blog are projects that I've learned from my children…some from my mom and some from my grandmother. One grandmother taught me how to make ornaments from old Christmas cards and the other grandmother taught me how to call a bingo game in the community room of her senior center. Family always makes you so well rounded…a little crafting and a little gambling!! Lol

Back to crafting…

Christmas Card Ornament perfect for your own tree, gift giving or a little decoration on top of a package.

Very easy projects with 6 simple circles. Come on in and see!!

Recycled Christmas Cards…Canning Jar Card

Hi everyone! Thought I would a have a week full of ideas for recycling Christmas cards. We all receive so many beautiful and thoughtful Christmas cards each year, it's a shame to throw them away. I keep them in a large storage container and during the winter months I try to make different crafts with them.

Today's project is a quick and easy one to decorate the tops of canning jar lids. I love using canning jar to give gifts of food during the holidays and throughout the year. The jars come in so many different sizes, it's perfect for food or beverages. I make homemade Irish Cream for gifts and canning jars are the best!!

Here is the decorative top for a gift of homemade caramel popcorn…

Come on in for easy instructions…

Christmas Home Tour 2013...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Our Christmas started early with my ladies party on December 15th, my husband's family on the 23rd, our own Christmas on the 25th and my family is coming up on the 28th. It's wonderful when the holiday lasts a long time to be with friends and family to celebrate the season.

I started decorating right after Thanksgiving and it takes a solid 2 weeks to finish. I just love filling each room with Christmas trees and holiday touches. I use and re-use decorations that I've had for years in different places throughout the house, so it feels like I have something new…just in a different way! I do add to my collection each year with after Christmas sales or bargain buys from the dollar stores or Walmart.

My biggest tip for your holiday decorating is organize and label. When you take down this year's decorations, organize and label everything in storage boxes. If you know where things are next year, your time will be well spent when you start taking things out. You can click HERE for a labeling tip for your Christmas storage boxes.

Let's start the tour for this year's decorations…at the front door.

Welcome to our home!!

and come on in…