DIY Merry & Bright Ornament

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‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through blogging land,
bloggers were hustling with super glue in their hand.

Ornaments were hung on the tree with care,
but one was missing from bloggers who hope to put one of their own there.

We knew in a moment, it must be #swapthatdiy time,
For those who read our first one, it was a sublime.

Lifestyle, DIY, food and fashion – not one of them the same,
A Joyful Riot, Pretty Life Girls, DIY Candy, Cut, Cut, Craft!, A Bubbly Life, The Bold Adobe, The Sweetest Occasion, Tell Love and Party and One Little Minute Blog – we called them each by name!

Happy ornament making to all, and to all a good night.

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It’s our 2nd official DIY swap, and it’s a good one. We made Merry & Bright ornaments to brighten up the sisters of A Joyful Riot holidays. We couldn’t do a Merry without a Bright, so we sent all three. Our ornaments were inspired by big, 36” balloons by Big Ass Balloons, so the ornaments are meant to be 36” balloons with the string of tassels.

Merry Christmas, Malissa and Machelle, and everyone who participated.

Materials:

  • Bulb ornament, less than $1
  • Gold mylar
  • White tissue paper
  • Red acrylic paint
  • Paintbrush
  • Hot glue and hot glue gun
  • Red embroidery string
  • Red craft/jewelry wire, Michaels
  • Drill

 Directions:

Drill two small holes on the top of the ornament, one of each side of the top of the ornament.

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Trace or free-hand the word Merry & Bright on the ornaments, then paint the words with a small paintbrush and red paint.

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Fill the ornaments with confetti {we cut small squares of the gold mylar and hole-punched tissue paper for white confetti}. There is a natural static that occurs, so some of the confetti will stick to the sides of the ornament.

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Cut a piece of string about 1 foot long for the tassel string. We made little tassels from the white tissue paper and gold mylar. We tied each mini tassel to the string with a knot, one above the other. Once all the tassels were in a row, we dabbed a bit of super glue on top each one, to keep them in a straight line.

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Cut a 4-inch piece of the red wire and string it through the two holes on top of the ornament. To add a touch of cuteness, make a bow out of the red wire, and wrap additional wire around center of the bow to keep it in place.

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DIY Black and White Coasters + Idea Swap

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It’s National Swap Idea Day. In honor of the swap day, we teamed up with some of our favorite bloggers to create DIY desk accessories to swap with one another. The challenge was to create a DIY desk accessory or DIY desk organization item for under $20. That’s it! Every blogger that participated was assigned to another blogger, so no one went home empty handed…and now we all have a new desk accessory!

I know Jodi and I {Jessica} are in the need of a serious desk overhaul, so we were excited to see what everyone came up with.

Our girl, Christina Williams Blog, was the lucky recipient of our gift swap – DIY black and white coasters with quotes. We all need inspirational and uplifting quotes while we work, and a hot cup of joe to keep us going. So, our black and white coasters with an antler base is a chic way to get rid of those annoying coffee cup rings. Plus it’s a daily reminder to dream and believe in ourselves.

Shh! Jenna secretly wishes she could keep the coasters because it’s black and white {those are the only two colors she likes} and she drinks coffee all day! 

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Here’s how we did it.

Materials Needed:

  • Coasters {we found ours at the thrift store, along with the antler base for $6}
  • White, gloss spray paint
  • Black Vinyl from Silhouette
  • Frog Tape
  • Shellac

Directions:

  • Step 1: Spray paint the coasters, and antler base white. Below is our original thrift store find.

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  • Step 2: Design or purchase a design from Silhouette with inspiration words. We used our Silhouette electronic cutting machine to cut the vinyl for this project; however, you could easily use Mod Podge to adhere your design and favorite quotes to the coasters, or just paint your own quotes.

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  • Step 3: Transfer the vinyl to the coasters, following Silhouette vinyl transfer directions. Instead of transfer paper, we used Frog Tape.
  • Step 4: Spray the coasters with waterproof Shellac or sealant.

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  • Step 5: Sip while you work.

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We are obsessed with the Pencil and Air Plant Holder Miranda at One Little Minute Blog sent us. Air plants is just about the only indoor plant we can keep alive, so it’s perfect!

Check out all the amazing projects and women involved – you are gonna LOVE what you find. All projects are featured on instagram, too.