Deck the Halls

I was a little late this year (and worn out from black friday shopping) so I didn't get our holiday decorations finished up until yesterday. I still have a few projects on my list and we need to hang the lights outside, but we're getting there! Installing the new appliances (and all the little hang ups that go along with them) have been taking all our free time!

This is our china cabinet when you first walk in our front room. The candle holders and feather tree are both from Pier One (bought during their after Christmas sale). The "Let It Snow" came from a great local craft fair my mom and I attend every year.

Here is our tree with a new star from Home Depot. 

Our console table is covered with some of my favorite ornaments and the scentsy warmer I transformed here. 

 I LOVE these mosaic mirror candles I bought at Pier One several years ago... they were still pretty pricey at 75% off after Christmas, but well worth the money! I filled the tray with small ornaments and jingle bells.

My Grandma made our stockings (I've had mine since I was little and Eric got his last year when we got married). The stocking hangers are also from Pier One.

Eric has a little Christmas tree down in the pool room.

It's covered with special boy ornaments like pool balls...

 Sportscenter Santa...

And a little Christmas pool table...

I'm hoping to finish up a few more touches tonight and I'll post more soon!

Fabric Flower Name Tags

Now that Founder's Day is over I finally have the time to show you how to make the flower name tags.

I did a fabric flower tutorial with a few different options, but decided to keep these simple (since I was making 300)!

I started by cutting a flower shape out of cardstock. I used this as my template for the fabric. For each name tag you will need 5 flower cut outs.

Set one aside and fold the other four in quarters and securing it with a dab of glue.

Then glue each of the quarters onto the fifth cut out.



These petals stand up a little more than some of the others because it was a thicker canvas material, but I also made flowers with printed cotton fabric.

I used ribbon to secure the pin on the back and provide a place for your name. My ribbons strips we about 10" long.

Secure the ribbon with a bit of hot glue in the middle of the flower.

Then glue down the pin. I found these at Michael's, the pack was about $3 for 60 of them.

Once the hot glue is dry, loop the upper part of the ribbon back under the pin. This will help secure the pin on the flower.

And add a dab of glue to keep it in place.

Lastly, I added a rhinestone in the center. Here is the finished product:

We used small white labels for the name part, this way the girls could remove the tag and reuse the flower for something else!

Much better than a label name tag, I love how they turned out!

Founder's Day

Every year Phi Sigma Sigma celebrates Founder's Day by having a luncheon with the other Northern California chapters. This year CSU Sacramento was hosting the event which means the Capitol City Alumni Chapter gets to do all the planning. Somehow I got that job = ) and it's been consuming my life for the past few months.

I'm happy to report that Founder's Day was held yesterday and it was a huge success! We had over 300 attendees and were able to raise over $1200 for the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation which supports the National Kidney Foundation.

Here are my wonderful friends checking everyone in:

I decided to make everyone a fabric flower name tag instead of the usual boring labels when I was planning on only about 150 attendees. It was too late to stop when the final count doubled so as you can imagine I was cutting and gluing for weeks to make 300!

I kept the centerpieces simple and they also served as a door prize for one lucky lady at each table.

The view from the stage, while everyone enjoyed lunch.

On of the most time consuming parts was making all the raffle prizes, but I loved being able to customize everything with our sorority's colors and letters. I also wanted to raise as much money as possible so this was a great way for me to cut costs!

I also asked the girls to bring gently used clothing and household items to donate to WEAVE. WEAVE provides crisis intervention services to women, men and children in Sacramento County who have experienced domestic violence or have been sexually assaulted.

We had enough donations to fill up a truck and a car! It's that easy to make a big difference in someone's life, but it definitely made for a cozy ride home!

It was fun, but I'm so glad it's over~!

Easy Magnetic Bulletin Boards

I've been working on the last few raffle projects for the luncheon I'm planning this weekend and finished up a few magnetic boards last night.

All you need is a frame, sheet metal, fabric (optional), glue, and magnets!

I traced an outline on the sheet metal and used tin snips to (carefully!) cut it out.

I covered the first board in fabric by cutting a piece to size and adhering it to the sheet metal with my tape gun. I put a few strips on the front and also taped the fabric securely to the back.

Then all you have to do is secure it in the frame and add a few magnets! The sheet metal is naturally magnetic, but you may need some extra strong magnets to make sure it holds through the fabric.

I also like the industrial look of the sheet metal so I left the second one uncovered, but you could easily stencil on lettering to personalize it!

Progress: Slowly but Surely...

As usual, every projects turns into more than we were anticipating!

I came home Tuesday to this:

A family room of new (and old) appliances! They look great, but would be even better in the kitchen, don't you think?!

We read all the manuals and figured out what all we need from Home Depot to install them. Of course, the gas hook up for the stove is on the left side and the gas line is on the right. In order to push the stove all the way back against the wall this means Eric has to move the line over a few feet. And we need a new outlet for the microwave and a lower voltage outlet for the gas oven. I tell you, nothing's an easy project around here....

He worked all day yesterday deciphering the mislabeled fuse box and moving electrical and got our dishwasher put in!

It may not look like it, but this helped clean up the kitchen and I ran a load of dishes!

We moved everything from the old refrigerator to the new and are eating out of the family room for the time being!

I'm hoping to have some after pictures for you this weekend! It's a good thing we aren't hosting Thanksgiving this year.

Chalkboard Countdown Sign

I've seen quite a few cute countdown boards lately. I'm sure these are particular fun for kids counting down to a birthday or holiday, but I thought our house needed one too!

I found a nice little sign at Goodwill for $0.49, I think it was originally for halloween as I could faintly make out the words EEK, but it had already been painted solid black.

I painted the back side with Chalkboard paint (just to ensure a nice smooth surface for writing) and used my Silhouette to apply white vinyl.

Wouldn't it be cute in the center of a holiday wreath? Add a festive ribbon and you can use it for any occassion. Now I just have to remember to update the countdown everyday!