Greetings all, I hope you’ve enjoyed your turkey day with friends and family!  Black Friday is upon us and I’ll probably head out to do some shopping during actual daylight hours. If you’ve had your eye on a Silhouette electronic cutting tool, there’s a great deal that starts at midnight that I want to share with you.   

I’ve owned a Silhouette for over a year and it’s such great crafting tool. Last year, I made a seasonal noel pillow and here is this year’s version made with the very same Silhouette cutting tool.  I found a simple red velvet pillow at World Market for $10 and used the white heat transfer material to make this modern wish pillow.   

For the Black Friday discount, enter the promo code CENTSATIONAL at the Black Friday page for a discount on the Cameo starting at midnight and continuing through the 28th. If you use the code CENTSATIONAL, you’ll get a 40% discount off everything else in the Silhouette online store for crafting (excluding the Cameo, subscriptions, download cards, and gift cards). 

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I’m not sure it’s readily apparent around here but I have big thing for faux bois. Truth be told I didn’t really know the fancy term for wood lookalike decorative objects until a couple years ago when faux bois starting showing up here and there and all around the design-osphere. I had to recall my long ago lessons from high school French to decipher faux bois meant ‘false wood’.  

I’m pretty much obsessed with any decorative object that looks like bark, especially if it’s white, so I thought to myself why not make some faux bois vases for the holidays. For this project, I worked with two products I’ve combined in the past: glass and silicone.  Remember these dessert stands?  I still have them. I learned with that project that silicone and glass bond really tightly together.  For Like Ever.  In Hollywood terms, like Paul and Joanne and unlike Kim and Chris.      

I used the same combination of products to create these fun ceramic look vases, but this time I used the silicone to create the bark like look. They turned out pretty cool.

To recreate a similar version, you’ll need four things:  a glass cylinder vase, DAP household silicone sealant, frosted spray paint; and white spray paint or primer.  

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Last summer, I kept seeing cute paper straws popping up in tablescapes and at summer parties, and I couldn’t help but think they’d be so fun to craft with during the holidays, especially in the traditional Christmas colors of red and white. To me, they look just like peppermint sticks!

I haven’t decorated at Christmas with very much red in years past (call me a rebel) but red and I are no longer estranged. This holiday season you’ll be seeing plenty of crimson at my house so let’s start with this fun and easy craft project: paper straw snowflakes!   

If you want to make some of your own, here’s what you’ll need.  For a large 10 inch snowflake: 5 pipe cleaners; 8 paper straws; 24 beads; center embellishment; ribbon or string.  (For smaller snowflakes, cut 4 paper straws in half for a total of 8 stems).  The baker’s twine and paper straws were ordered online (see sources below) and all other supplies are from Michaels.

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The smells of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie will we wafting through homes in America next week, I’m so excited!  This morning I found myself actually pinning a picture of pumpkin pie.  Mmmmm.  As soon as that holiday passes, Christmas is upon us and soon we’ll be surrounded by the scents of pine, fir and cedar.  I. Can’t. Wait !!

The “Christmas smell” is one of my all-time favorites, bringing back memories of the holiday season from years past. Like you, I look forward to it every December. Earlier this year I was desperate for fresh garland and wreaths for the two magazine shoots, and I had to find an online source for fresh greenery in the off season. Kinda stressful.  

My research led me to Lynch Creek Farms in Washington state. I called them up out of the blue in a semi-panic and they totally saved the day. It was such a pleasant experience, the people at Lynch Creek couldn’t have been kinder or more professional.  In both March and August, they shipped the most gorgeous 26 inch wreaths and yards and yards of cedar garland right to my door. 

Thanks to Lynch Creek Farms, I was able to recreate the holidays with fresh cedar and fir and they were a genuine pleasure to work with.  Here are a couple of shots I took in August that I’ve never shared but I’ll share them today to get you in the mood for the upcoming scents of the Christmas season! 

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here thanks to Mr. Bublé. After I bought his CD the other day (love it!), we’ve been listening to the sounds of Christmas, which put me in the mood to make things feel like Christmas. Yes it’s early, but I make no apologies. I’d like to blame Michael but really it’s my eagerness to get the decorating done early.  Just a little bit every day and I’ll have time to enjoy December!

I had an idea the other day for a craft project that I wasn’t sure would work, but in the end turned out so cute I had to share.  It’s an ornament tree made from dowel rods and marabou feather boas.  How fun is this?

To recreate your own, here’s what you’ll need. One wood bun foot; one ¾” x 36” dowel rod and six ¼” x 36” dowel rods from a home improvement store; white paint (or primer); saw to trim ¾” dowel rod; sharp clippers for ¼” dowel rods; power screwdriver with ¼” drill bit; hot glue gun; 12-15 feet of marabou feather boas from a craft store.  Optional supplies: craft glue, glitter, and tree topper. 

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