Try This Anthropologie XO Vase Hack

XO vase-anthropologie hack- valentines day decor-DIY flower vase

I was perusing the Anthropologie site last week. They were having a great sale, and I love to stock up on gifts. I ran across these XO vases. They are darling, and the price is not ridiculous at all, but after a quick trip to Walmart, I saw white cups for .50 cents, and my mind went straight to the cute red X’s and O’s on Anthropologie’s vase. No calligraphy or crazy artistic expertise needed for this DIY XO vase. If you learned how to draw X’s and O’s in kindergarten, YOU GOT THIS!

The DIY vase is not made of glass or pottery, but if you’re looking for a thoughtful, low-budget buy for a girlfriend, friend or loved one this Valentine’s Day, this is a good one. Actually, I’d argue that an XO vase is relevant all year long – we give hugs and kisses all year, right?!

Let’s get this LOVEly vase party started.

XO vase-anthropologie hack- valentines day decor-DIY flower vase

DIY XO Vase, Anthropologie Hack

Materials:

  • White tumblers – here and here (pink and teal also available at Target for .50 cents)
  • Enamel paint, red (Michaels, Joann’s or Walmart)
  • paint brush (thin, slanted tip worked best for us)
  • waterproof sealant (optional, if you want them to last longer)

Directions:

Step 1: With a paintbrush, draw X’s and O’s all over the vase with enamel paint. Enamel paint is best because it’s dishwasher safe. NOTE: Since the cups are plastic, the XO can scratch off, even with dishwasher safe paint. So, spraying or painting the cups with a dishwasher safe sealant is a good idea if you want them to last. Leave a small space between each set of XO’s. Start at the top of the cup and make your way down. If you want to add weight to the bottom, add a rock. Wait to the paint to dry, and then fill with water and pretty flowers. That’s it!

BTW…if DIYing is not your thing, the real version at Anthropologie version is really pretty and a great gift!

XO vase-anthropologie hack- valentines day decor-DIY flower vase

XO vase-anthropologie hack- valentines day decor-DIY flower vase

 

XO vase-anthropologie hack- valentines day decor-DIY flower vase

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

Holiday DIY: How To Dress Up Boxed Wine for The Holidays

DIY Boxed Wine Gingerbread Boxes

Last time, we got cozy and cute with DIY beanie wine bottle toppers. Today, we’re dressing up boxed wine. In fact, we made a DIY boxed wine gingerbread village we lovingly call Vinoville. Let’s get one thing clear, there’s nothing wrong with boxed wine. If your a wino, it may not be your thing, and that’s cool. We love a smooth bottle of Brunello di Montalcino as must as anyone, and if we had the budget, we would splurge all the time.

But, we love to sip wine, whether it’s in a bottle or box. Wine, even when it’s presented from a box, tastes good, and helps us get our chill on. Plus, we’re getting more bang for our buck, and gotta love that! As a college student or 20-something who is hanging with girlfriends – a boxed wine on the table or bar is ALL good. As grown women who like to host (sometimes), a box of wine is not the prettiest addition to the bar. Again, absolutely nothing wrong with it, but dressing it up just a bit can make all the difference for a more ‘grown-up’ look, especially during the holidays. You can do it for very little money, and get creative with it! You can use the wrapping paper you have on-hand, so you don’t even have to go to the store. We love to wrap with Kraft paper, so we had some on hand, and used it to create Gingerbread Houses. But, imagine how cute this would be with plaid paper, or pretty metallic paper with a big bow!

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

DIY Boxed Wine Makeover: Gingerbread Houses 

Materials:

Directions:

Step 1: Remove the cardboard circle, where the spout comes out. Next, trace that circle  on the wrapping paper. Make sure you do it in the middle, like your wrapping a gift, so you have enough paper on all sides (basically don’t trace it on the edge of the wrapping paper). Cut the circle out with scissors or an X-acto knife. You can make it slightly larger so it doesn’t rip when you pull the spout through, or if you rip it like we did on one of them, you can add a black paper door (or even a mini wreath) around it and no one will ever know.

Step 2: Wrap the wine boxes. We didn’t get a good photo of that, but put the wine box upside down (you can take the bag out if it’s too heavy and crinkles the paper), and line up the cut out circle with the spout. You can pull the spout through it at this point if you didn’t already in step one. Wrap it like a gift, so do the back first, then “cut-in” on the sides for the bottom just like you would for a gift. See step 3 for the roof.

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

 

Step 3: Cut in the sides just like you did for the bottom, but just tape one of the sides, not the final “corner” – that peak is the roof. Kraft paper stays nice and straight. If you use flimsy wrapping paper, you can either find something to prop it up, have a flat roof or keep open up and glue two of the sides of the wine box together before wrapping it, so it creates a peak (we did that for the white-roof one before we created a ruffle roof with a crepe paper roll).

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY-ho ho ho pour the pinot-wine craft

Step 4: Now, it’s time to make gingerbread house lines, swirls, doors, snowflakes, etc. Make each house your own. We used a marker pen for the white decorations, and added ribbon, pins and mini Santa hats, and a bell to accessorize. They can be as simple or as complex as you want. How fun would it be to make the Grinch house, Whoville, or even ugly Christmas sweaters?! If you want the labels, we can email them to you for free. Email us at hello@jsorelle.com or IM us on IG here and tell us you want the boxed gingerbread house wine printables. We have one for Merlot, Pinot and Chardonnay!

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

Step 5: Let the wine flow. Cheers!

diy boxed wine gingerbread houses-holiday DIY

Gift Guide To Shop Small This Holiday Season

holiday warm and cozy vibes

Small businesses are the heartbeat of what we believe in – living the American dream, courage to step outside the box, creativity to run a business how you want, generations of Americans continuing the tradition of their parents and grandparents, families working together to bring their dreams to fruition, and less government (more freedom). They are the soul of this country. This support may look one way for some, and different for others. You can buy goods, or services. Some ideas are to order food to-go from a local restaurant, buy gift cards at local restaurants and stores, get that photography session of your family with a good local photographer, or buy from a local maker. Let’s support them (if your means allow), because they need us more than ever! If you have any other favorite small shops, let us know about them and we can feature on our Instagram. Below are some faves. Support Small Business Gift Guide shop small cancer gift guide

  1. Sunday Candle Co.: This company is woman-owned and based in our hometown in Denver, Colorado. Her packaging is so pretty, candles look beautiful and we can smell them now. Give the gift of warm and cozy.
  2. LA Antler Co.: Addie had me hooked on antlers years ago when she helped me with this fun photo shoot for Real Simple. She lives in the Rocky Mountains, and not only is she fun and amazing, her antlers are special, too. They are as authentic as you can get. You can buy them for chic mountain home decor, or as a necklace, keychain and ornament. I have a necklace, and this year I want the twine-wrapped antlers for my home.
  3. Shop Gage Huntley: There is no censorship to the custom jewelry you can buy at this shop. They make us laugh, and some products are things we want to say, but never do. We will let the pieces speak for themselves.
  4. Copper Fox Company: These personalized wood cutting boards make a lovely gift for families, newlyweds, parents, grandparents and even those who love to play hostess. Charcuterie boards are hot as ever, and it would be fun to have a beautiful board to display those meats and cheeses on.
  5. Made by Mary, Faith Over Fear Necklace: THIS is amazing. I asked for this for my birthday. All the worries and fears cloud my head way too often, and I just need to breathe, and remember to have faith in God, in the people I love, and in myself!
  6. Oxford Pennant: We love a good pennant, and Oxford has something for everyone. We love so many, it was hard to choose, but this forever mistletoe brings us so much cheer this holiday season! Gimme Some Sugar on Christmas, and everyday after.
  7. Olivia Care: Jenna loves this hand sanitizer spray. It’s made in Cali and smells amazing. Plus it softens your hands and does not dry them out.
  8. Harper Made: We bought this mountain necklace as a gift, and wanted to keep for ourselves. This is a beautiful gift for the mountain loving girls in your life, and a good price point, too! The mountains are calling…we must go!
  9. AVYN, bras for the modern mom: I am not breastfeeding, and wear this bra all the time – I love it (Jess). If you are breastfeeding, or know a new mother in your life, get her this! These women are awesome, and their bras are comfortable and cute. We SO wish we had this when we were moms of babies, and breastfeeding.
  10. Cole and Dainer: We love Nicole, the owner of this shop, and her products are so cozy and beautifully made! The prints are our favorite! Whether your shopping for a baby blanket, home throw, burp cloths or even masks, her products made a lovely gift for a friend (or yourself).
  11. G Michelle Designs: This is a local Colorado girl who can make custom signs, anything for weddings, personalized mugs, and ornaments for Christmas. She’s dang good at calligraphy and barre, too! These ornaments are totally customizable (color background, no color background, names, shape, etc.) and the gnome ornament are new and our favorite! Prices are $12-$15. Gnomes are hot again this year – spread gnome cheer to everyone on your list! Email her at gmichelledesigns@gmail.com to order!
  12. Ski Town All-Stars: This cool company designs and customizes hats in Vail, Colorado. You can get hats made for your company, or maybe a funny phrase you’ve always wanted on a hat for friends or family. They have some already made, like this Corona one, or you can make your own. Check them out.
  13. Aksels: This company has really fun hats for kids and adults, especially if your in CO. We love their printed socks, too. My son loves the feel of their masks. You can pick up at their warehouse, find their products in stores, or ship from their website. If you’ve ever been to a concert at Red Rocks, you need these socks. One of the best concert venues ever! Yes, please.
  14. Not pictured, but on our IG is this adorable CIAO bag we can’t get enough of from the ever-so stylish Brooke at Antlers & Rose.

Favorite Locals Shops We live in Colorado, and there are a few shops we just love. They have gifts for everyone, and well, they are the cutest!! Stop in to say hi, and keep them busy (and open)!

  • Fleur de Lis, a paperie: Jenna can create Christmas cards, invites for baby showers, parties, and wedding invitations is really her thang! Show her some love with all your paper and invite needs!
  • Andiamo Oils: We LOVE ourselves some doTERRA essential oils! Seriously, we use them daily. Jodi has the knowledge to help you if you want to add (or diffuse) oils. We love some of the other face and vitamins products, too. You can set up an account for $35 and get 25% oils for the year, or just order through her to see if you like them. No minimum purchase every month, which we love. SOOOO good!
  • Patterns and Pops: These girls are the cutest. They have try on shopping parties on IG, which are really hard to not shop because it’s so easy and the items are so cute. Shop in person, IG or online. IG is our favorite!
  • Valleygirl Boutique/Ruby Jane: They have several locations throughout Colorado, so wherever you are, you can find them. If you’re not in CO, you can shop online! We love the Edwards store, and the Highlands one. They have great, affordable fashion at all price points, and home and gift items, too!

Happy gifting!

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle DIY Halloween Costumes

 

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle DIY Halloween CostumesOne of our kids favorite movies for the past couple of years is Jumanji. We love the Robin Williams original version, so it was a hard one to beat, but the new versions of the cursed game did not disappoint. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Jumaji: The Next Level feature a new cast of characters that get sucked into a video game where they transform into their avatar characters (with different strengths and weaknesses); as opposed to Williams movie where the game came to life on a board game with the roll of a dice. If you haven’t seen the movies, we highly recommend them! Our kids love them, and we laugh every.single.time we watch them. Since we have nothing but love for the jungle adventure movie, our kids jumped with excitement when we mentioned DIY Jumanji halloween costumes for 2020.

As you know, we love costumes that have items of normal clothing that can be re-worn (even better when we already own it), and Jessica always has to have a DIY element. Groups costumes are getting harder and harder with our kids getting older and more opinionated, but we would love for the tradition to continue as long as our kids will go for it. In the past, we dove under the sea with a DIY diver costume, DIY jellyfish (one of our all-time faves) and Deadliest Catch fisherman. Next, we ventured into the magical world of Harry Potter. And, who can forget the colorful world of the Dreamworks DIY Troll costume. Last year, we went a little dark with our glorious DIY Maleficent.

This year, welcome to the jungle! You have plenty of time to get this costume together – it can totally be done now, or last-minute is more your thing. Here’s how we did it…

Jumanji Welcome To the Jungle DIY Halloween Costumes for kidsFINAL

Ruby Roundhouse
Army cargo pants: Walmart $12
Gloves: $1 Walmart gloves, and cut tips
Maroon top: Target $8
Combat boots: Target $24 (we had these already)
Old school boombox: We made this with a recycled shoe box, black paint, clay buttons, and chair floor protectors
Harness: DIY, folded black duct tape
Utility belt: Amazon, $13 (you can use one or two of the pockets for the other costumes)
Red hair wax: Amazon, $10

Dr. Shelly Oberon
Safari hat: Amazon for $17
Safari jacket: Amazon for $29
Shorts: already owned
Bogs boots: already owned, but these are great winter boots that last forever
Round circle frame glasses: Amazon, $9
Button up shirt: already owned, and most any would work
Green bowtie: Amazon, $9 (comes with suspenders, and you’ll be all set for St. Patrick’s day)
Vest: Thrift store score from my mother-in-law but Amazon has one for $30 if your thrift store doesn’t have one

“Mouse” Finbar
Green backpack: Waterproof Utility Bag (rave reviews for this bag outdoors) This is a big part of the movie because he’s backpack guy
Cargo shorts: Gap, $13
Polo shirt: already owned it
Vest: already owned, but this one or this one would work too (both under $15)
Bucket hat: Amazon for $12
Red bandana: already owned it
Binoculars: already owned, but this $9 pair works, or this pair if you want it to last awhile longer
Boots: already had, but this pair of black boots from Target work
Camo socks: Old Navy, $10 for 3 pairs

Smolder Bravestone
Utility shirt: already owned it, but here’s one
Green pants: already owned it, but here’s one
Military belt with holster: Amazon, $20
Boots: Walmart, $16

Accessories/DIY Costume Props
Boombox: DIY
Jumanji game: DIY with boxes. We used brown and copper paint to paint the box, the texture on the box is made with a hot glue gun – we traced the name of the game and the design on front from an online print out and then painted the glue copper. The handle is made with black folded duct tape. If you need a tutorial, email us at hello@jsorelle.com. We can send them to you.
Printables of character strengths and weaknesses: free printable from Handmade Charlotte

jumanji game pieces

jumanji game pieces diy halloween costume jumanji props

DIY group halloween costume for kids - jumanji welcome to the jungle

Happy Halloween from our jungle crew! Our other adorable crew is dressing as a family, and they are traveling along the yellow brick road. Check in to our instagram to see the looks on Halloween!

diy jumanji halloween costumes - group costume idea

Halloween Crafts and Decor For Kids & Adults

cactus pumpkins_diy no carve pumpkin

It’s October, which means the leaves begin to fall, pumpkins adorn our porches, and the witches, ghosts, goblins and googly eye everything come out to play. We have a somewhat hard time in fall…it’s a bittersweet season for us. We are sad to say goodbye to summer, the pool and warm weather, yet we enjoy the vibrant colors on the trees, sipping hot tea (or coffee) and cooler days. But, we know fall is short-lived, and soon Colorado will be covered in white with cold temps. While we enjoy the stillness and beauty of the cold days with falling snow, it’s a long, cold and dark winter ahead. The changing seasons bring so many emotions, but as we get older, I think we see what season we would like to spend 90% of our time in. And, for us, it’s not the winter. 🙂

For now, we will embrace the fall season. We’ve created a few scary, but mostly sweet, fall and Halloween DIY’s over the years. We’re sharing some of our favorite fall DIY’s below, and there’s truly something for every age. Plus, they all are totally doable Halloween crafts, for those of us who have DIY in us, and those who don’t!

halloween and fall DIY crafts-pumpkin wine dispenser

1. Halloween Candle with DIY Googly Eyes: This is a new Halloween DIY, and we are obsessed. The DIY wax eyeballs create such a chic Halloween touch to any party or table setting. Find all the details here. We’ll give you a clue, you can break into your kids crayon box for this one.

2. Pumpkin Wine Dispenser: This is one of our all-time favorites. It’s a pumpkin wine dispenser!! Best part is the wine, of course, but also the fact that you can use it year and after! The wine will flow for all who desire. This is just too good (and easy) not to make!

3. Chocolate Cupcake Toppers: We love our chocolate. This fun cupcake topper looks super fancy, and like your an expert pastry chef, but the only skill set you truly need is the ability to trace. You just need to swap a pencil in for melted chocolate. See how to do it here.

4. Faux Floral Arrangement: Fall doesn’t mean all leaves and branches. You can create a pretty floral masterpiece with just a few stems, and skeleton props. See how we did it here.

diy halloween crafts and googly eye monster DIY for kids

1. Sticker Halloween Jokes: We love a good laugh, and our kids love ALL the cheesy jokes, so we made a FREE Halloween jokes printable for you. All you need to do is print it on sticker paper (Astrobrights in our favorite), and attach it to any snack, treat or gift you want. Due to all the COVID restrictions this year, kids are only allowed to bring pre-packaged items to school, so you can dress them up with Halloween stickers to get the kids laughing! Download the free printable here.

2. Furry Monster Pillows: You don’t need a sewing machine for this one (and barely any sewing kids), and the kids will love the cuddle session with an adorable, cute monster.

3. Blow Art with a Straw: Your kids will love this one, and it will keep them entertained for hours on those cold days when you are reaching your sanity limits inside.

4. Fingerprint Monster Pumpkins: We created 7 no-carve pumpkin ideas for Real Simple a few years ago, and this was a favorite. Paint your kids fingertips with paint, press tips on the pumpkin, then transform them into adorable monsters. You can avoid the whole sticky, gooey mess of carving pumpkins! You can this tutorial, plus 20 awesome other ideas, here.