This is post in sponsored by DecoArt and Cricut. All ideas, projects, and opinions are my own.

Today I'm joining up with DecoArt and Cricut to help celebrate the holidays! Halloween is over, so now it's time to start thinking of all the crafts you want to make for Christmas! I'm going to share with you today how to make this farmhouse style advent calendar. My kids just love counting down the days to Christmas. They wake up every morning so excited to mark off one more day. This advent calendar is great, because not only do you get to count down, but you have a place to write down something fun to do that day to celebrate :)

Supplies:
Decoart Americana Acrylic Paint in Snow White and Santa Red
Decoart Americana Gel Stain in Walnut
Cricut Explore Air 2
White Craft Paper
Stencil Vinyl

1x8 pine wood cut at least 16" long (for trees)
1x4 @ 29"
1x3 @ 28"
Two 2x2 @ 16"
Two 2x2 @ 24"
4 corner brackets with screws
Jigsaw
Wood glue
Nail gun with 1 1/4" nails or Screw driver with 1"screws
Nails and hammer

Step 1: Using the Cricut, cut out the two trees. These are the "Sweater Short Tree Icon" found in the Cricut images.

One tree is 7", the smaller tree is 5.5".

Step 2: On the 1x8, trace out the 7" tree. Cut this out with the jigsaw. Then trace and cut out two of the 5.5" tree.

Step 3: Sand the trees if needed. Then paint with Americana paint in Snow White; you may want to do 2 or 3 coats to cover uncut trace lines.

Step 4: Cut out a large "1" onto Cricut Stencil Vinyl. This is 3" tall using Stylish Calligraphy font.

Step 5: Paint over the stencil with the Santa Red.

Step 6: Now it's time to build the hanger. Connect the 24" 2x2 pieces to the 16" 2x2 pieces. From the bottom of the top 24" piece to the top of the other, it's 3". Connect these using the corner brackets.

Step 7: Center the 1x3 onto the bottom of the two 16" 2x2 pieces. You should have about a 1/2" overhang on each side. Either using the screws or the nail gun, secure the 1x3 into the bottom of the 2x2s.

Step 8: Using wood glue, center the 1x4 onto the bottom of the 1x3. The overhang will once again be about 1/2" on each end.

Step 9: Rub on the Walnut Gel Stain onto the finished hanger.This stuff by the way is great. It doesn't stink and there's no messy residue like normal stains. Great for indoor projects!

Step 10: From the left side of each 24" piece, make a mark where the nails should go. 1" from each end, and 2" in between each hole mark.

Step 11: Using small nails (make sure they have heads), hammer each nail into the mark.

Step 12: Using wood glue, center the 7" tree into the middle of the 1x3, and glue into place. Then glue the other two trees flanking that tree.

Step 13: Now to make the tags. Paint a light layer of the Santa Red onto one side of white kraft paper. Dry all the way.

Step 14: Place the red side of the kraft paper onto the Cricut cutting sheet. If your paint is completely dried, the paint should not peel off onto the board.

Step 15: Cut out the tags and have the Cricut draw your numbers. You will need to do two mats to get all the tags. Once again, the font is Stylish Calligraphy. The height of each tag is 3.5".

Step 16: On the back of each tag, on the red side, write small things that you want to do that day. Place the tags onto the nails white sides forward.

Then of course, decorate! :)

I love how simple and clean this advent calendar looks. It seems like a lot of steps to get there, but it's totally doable and completely worth it.

Depending on how you count down for Christmas, the 1 will either be Christmas day or 1 day until Christmas. If the latter is the case, write something fun on the back of the tree that you will do every year on Christmas Eve.

This is what it looks like before the countdown starts.

Then after:

The back of each tag of course says something fun to do that day.

My main go to things are movies, crafts, cookies, and hot chocolate. I'll usually try to plan on what day we'll go see the lights and other special things and put those on the corresponding number. This of course changes every year, so it's a good idea to make extra tags just in case :)

This still is just as pretty with the numbers turned over. Makes it even more festive!

Help us celebrate the holidays with DecoArt and Cricut! Check out all the great projects here. And let me know if you recreate this project! I would love to see a picture of it!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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This post is sponsored by Hobby Lobby. All thoughts, opinions, and ideas are my own.

I say this every year, and I'm sure everyone else does also, but where did this year go?! Can you believe Christmas is only two months away? I feel like July was yesterday. As much as I miss and love Summer, I do love the coziness and warmth that Christmas time brings. 

I've been using the same Christmas wreaths in my house for a couple of years now, so I was excited to partner with Hobby Lobby to create a new one. I have been loving the trend I've been seeing all over Instagram lately using embroidery hoops as decor. They are so simple and elegant when used as a decor, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and make a Christmas wreath using one. 

Supplies needed:

Embroidery hoop: Any size you wish, they come in lots of different sizes. I used an 18" for the wreath I'm sharing today. You'll see the smaller ones used later in my home with the same idea. 

4 Pine Stems

Pine Cone Stems

Gold Corkscrew Christmas garland

"Let It Snow" plaque 

Hot glue

 Step 1: Take your embroidery hoop and secure it tight. I decided to keep mine natural, but if you wish to paint or stain it, this would be the time to do so.

 Step 2: Using imaginary lines, separate the hoop into four quadrants. You'll want the top of the pine stems to fall below the mid-line, and equidistant from the middle vertical line. Slightly curve the stems, and hot glue into place.

 Step 3: On the last two stems, cut the majority of the wiring off. You can just bend it back and forth a couple of times, and it should do the trick. If not, use some wire cutters.

 Step 4: Add one of these cut stems on top of a stem you already glued. You'll want to glue it closer to the center vertical line, so it's overlapping, but not completely on top of the already glued one.

 Step 5: Do the same thing with the last stem, placing it on right side. You'll notice I have about a two inch gap between my sprays.

 Step 6: In this gap is where you'll add your pine cone stems. I used the stems that have a little frosted snow on top of them, and a bundle of wood. Hot glue these into place.

 Step 7: To make the piece fuller, I added additional pine cones to the sides, hot gluing in place.

 Step 8: Take the gold garland, and roughly measure the distance between the end of where the pine stems start and then where they end. You'll have this garland hiding behind the stems, so don't go any higher on either side. Hot glue the garland on the underside of the embroidery hoop, just right behind the pine stems. Make sure to glue the "backbone" of the garland, and not the little sprays coming off of it.

 Step 9: Slightly open the hoop on the top, slide some jute into the gap, and around the claw on the back of the "let it snow" wood plaque. Knot the jute. Tighten the hoop back up.

 My favorite part of this whole wreath is the gold corkscrew garland flowing down. Reminds me of snow or icicles. It gives this otherwise simple woodland wreath some elegance also.

 This gets me super excited for Christmas, and can't wait to use the other embroider hoop wreaths above my living room mantel this year! Since the embroidery hoops are so simple, it's easy to add more than one above a mantel without it looking too busy.

I linked to a few of these items in the supply list, but you can find all of them at your local Hobby Lobby! Be sure to bring your 40% coupon with you :)  Happy Holidays!

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hobby Lobby. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Now that Fall is in full swing, I am knee deep in pumpkins at my house. Awhile back I took my traditional Fall decor and switched it to neutral decor using lots and lots of white paint. One of my favorite pumpkins that I continue to use are my curly jute stemmed white pumpkins. They are also the most asked about decor item I have. So, I thought I would share the tutorial again with you all. They are crazy easy to make, and so much fun!

 Supplies:
Craft pumpkins
White acrylic or chalk paint
Hot glue
Jute
Fabric Stiffener
Pencil

Step 1: Find some mini pumpkins either at a craft store, dollar store, or wherever. I found this box from Walmart a few years back for a little under $5.

 Step 2: Paint your pumpkins. Chalk paint works the best on these for quick, full coverage. Spray paint works the worst :) So, save yourself the sanity and skip to the acrylic or chalk paints first.

 Step 3: Start at the base of each stem, dab on a small bit of glue, and place your jute on it. Continue to wrap the jute up the stem, placing small amounts of glue along the way periodically. Be careful not to burn yourself :)

 Step 4: Once you are at the top of the stem, leave about an extra 8-10" of jute hanging.

 Step 5: Coat the hanging jute with some fabric stiffener; then curl around a pencil or pen. Keep it on the pencil/pen until the jute is hard. Then pull out carefully. This usually takes a couple of hours or overnight to harden.

 The direction you placed the the pencil, the tightness of the curl, the time you let it cured, etc will give you a different result and look of the curl. I made the tighter curls by twirling the jute around the pen and not leaving any gaps between the curls, then secured the tip with a clip.

 I made these 6 years ago and they have survived beautifully :) The curl is still there on each one of them.

 As I said before, they are my favorite piece of Fall decor, and a great addition to any vignette.

 Every year they find themselves in different rooms of my house and used in different ways. :)

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 Neutrals have been a huge thing for Fall decor the past few years, but sometimes it's fun to add a little traditional back into the mix of things. I decided to do this will some firey metallic wall art for my mantel in my front room. This is a great project if you are a neutral lover like me, but want to add just a little pop of color to your decor.

Supplies needed:
4 canvases
DecoArt Satin Enamels in Pure White
DecoArt Metallics in Old Gold
DecoArt Metallics in Classic Black
Alphabet Stencils
Paint Brushes

 Step 1: Lay out the canvases in a grid, touching each other. Paint the top two canvases with the Pure White. Don't let it dry just yet, continue on to the next step.

 Step 2: Take the Old Gold and dip it lightly onto a coarse brush and start about half way down the top two canvases, mixing the white and the gold on the brush as you move down.

 Keep moving down the canvases, adding more and more gold paint as you continue on down.

 Step 3: Now paint the top two thirds of the bottom two canvases with the Pure White. Don't let dry.

 Step 4: Add some more Old Gold onto the brush and do a few layers back and forth as you work your way down the canvas. Once again, continue to add more and more gold paint to get a richer color as you go down.

 Once you get to the bottom portion of the canvases that don't have the white, the gold will show through beautifully. Do a couple of layers here to get great saturation.

Step 5: Do the same method with the edges of the canvases.

Step 6: In the bottom right hand corner of each canvas, use the stencils and the Classic Black to spell out Fall. One letter per canvas.

Once everything is dry, hang it up! My inspiration for the ombre effect was like leaves falling off a tree.

The Old Gold shows beautifully especially when hit from light. It looks like a sunset! I just love how it adds so much warmth to this mantel.

For another tip, paint cheap fake pumpkins using the Pure White too!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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