Hark the {Cream Cheese} Herald Angel

Here is a cream cheese with pepper jelly angel I made for Christmas. Using a large cookie cutter, I just molded the cream cheese!

A Craft-Made Christmas Post 3: No Sew Ruffle & Monogrammed Tree Skirt

No Tree is complete without a tree skirt! Since this our first Christmas as a happy married couple, I may have gone a teeny bit overboard. Good thing there is no such thing as overboard at Christmas! Here is a how-to on my DIY NO SEW Ruffled and Monogrammed Tree Skirt!

What you will need:
-a cheap felt tree skirt (I bought mine at Target for $5!)
-2 yards of another color of felt (lime green for me)
-one roll of ric rac in the color of your choice. Again for me, lime green
-hot glue gun
-hot glue sticks
-scissors
-straight pins 

Red felt tree skirt I bought from Target

Step 1: cut your felt into strips that are about 6 inches wide. This does not have to be an exact measurement.

Here's a Sweet Southern Charm Trick: Fold your strips as you cut to keep them straight.

 Step 2: Turn your tree skirt to the back side.

Step 3: start hot gluing strips of the green felt around the tree skirt. Work in sections. Ruffle the skirt as you go. **WARNING** HOT GLUE CAN BURN THE MESS OUT OF YOUR FINGERS!! Unless you don't want to feel anything for the next few days, be careful....

This is what the skirt will look like when you are all glued!

Flipped over!

 Step 4: Unroll all the ric-rac. Place the ric-rac in a circle on the right side of the tree skirt. Once in place, hot glue into place. You only have to glue only under each "hump." This makes it so much easier because you can just leave the straight pins in place while you glue.

Step 5: Cut 4 even strips of the colored felt. Glue to the wrong side of the tree skirt in order to tie a bow. 

 

Step 6: Once you have the skirt all glued, take it to your favorite embroiderer (Thank you Hope Crew!)

Optional: Step 7: Put your baby puppy by the ruffle monogrammed tree skirt and take the cutest picture ever!

A Craft-Made Christmas Post 1: DIY No-Mess Glitter Ornaments

CHRISTMAS IS HERE!! I am a self-proclaimed Christmas freak. Lucky for me, I married someone who loves Christmas just as much. We have decked the halls of our apartment from head to toe and we have the most beautiful tree up!

Because I love Christmas so much and love my arts and crafts equally as much, I am starting a series here on the Sweet Southern Charm called A Craft-Made Christmas. I will share some craft projects that will not only make your Christmas beautiful but will make it personalized!

For the first post, I thought we would start with some ornaments. These NO MESS DIY Ornaments are perfect for your tree or to use on a table because did I mention, these are NO MESS! What's not to love about that.

For the first kind of ornament, you will need the following:

-A box of clear glass ornaments
-Pledge vinyl floor cleaner with the BLUE top
-Very fine glitter

First, take all the tops off the ornaments. Next, put some of the floor cleaner in the ornament and swirl it around until it coats the ornament. 

Put a good bit of glitter into the ornament and cover the top. Start by swirling the glitter all around.

After you swirl, give it a good shake. Put the cap back on and DONE!

No Mess DIY Glitter ornaments

Modge Podge + Wedding Pictures= The Wedding Wall

Here is a little Pinterest project for your Saturday. I have been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks, but just got a little behind. Here is what we call "Our Wedding Wall." It is our collage of wedding pictures displayed on the long awkward wall in our bedroom. It has become such a big hit with our visitors and I hope you like it too!

I started off with blank canvases and mod podge

Place the picture down and mod podge all over the top. It will look milky but it will dry clear.

All the pictures on our wedding wall! We used 8x10s, 5x7s, and 11x14s

Monogram Mirror with Tutorial

During my weekly daily stroll through Hobby Heaven, aka Hobby Lobby, I passed by a section in the store that I have never crafted from: the glass section. I decided to stop and see what was going on in this uncharted territory. I stumbled across some Armour Etch Cream, and after I read the label for its uses and saw the word "mirror," BAM! I had my next project. I would monogram a mirror! I had seen this technique done on the Martha Stewart show and memories of my want to do this came flooding back in. Plus, this solved the "what are we going to put over the dresser" dilemma in the soon to be (10 days!!!) Pierce Apartment-hold (it's technically not a household yet). So here's some pictures and the tutorial on how to create this:

Materials:

For the Monogram: 
-clear vinyl contact paper
-a box cutter or other type of precise blade
-a mirror
-Armour Etch cream (make sure to get this kind, not the cheaper version. Trust me, you'll end up just buying this one in the long run)
-a print out of any type letter you want to use ( I used a monogram "P" in about 700 pt. font)
-tape
-paint brush or sponge

If painting the mirror too:
-Spray Paint
-Newspaper
-Glazing Materials (see This Post)

Directions: 

To get started on our mirror, my mom graciously donated an old wooden mirror we had at the house. Little kitty once again, was my assistant....

Little kitty held the mirror up so you could see it...

 I first spray painted the wood an ivory.

After the spray paint had dried, I glazed the mirror in order to have the same finish as the dresser. For instructions on how to glaze furniture, see my post Click Here.

The mirror after the glaze is wiped off.

After the spray paint and glaze are set, remove the newspaper and clean the mirror well with Windex.

In the area where you want your monogram to go, stick a large piece of clear contact paper to the mirror. Try to not have as many bubbles as possible.

Next, tape the letter print out on top of the contact paper EXACTLY where you want your monogram to be.

Time to cut! This step can be time consuming depending on what kind of letter you use. If you do not have a steady hand, I recommend using a more print style font rather than a script like the one I used.

Use the print out letter as a stencil and cut all the way around it.

After you have cut the letter out, remove the contact paper of that letter where you have a stencil on the mirror.

Next, apply the etch cream. I used a fluffy paint brush for this step. You can use a sponge, but you will get more application with a paint brush.

You want to apply a THICK THICK layer onto the stencil. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.

Rinse the cream off with either a water hose or a damp paper towel. Do NOT rinse in the sink. This cream may damage the finish on the sink!

REPEAT!! This step will take several applications. Just keep rinsing and repeating until you get your desired frostiness.

After you get the mirror just as you want it, remove the contact paper and TADA! you have a monogram mirror.

Here is our monogram mirror!