first christmas craftiness of the year...

***please excuse the bad pictures! it's overcast here & i'm trying to shoot the pics w/o a flash because they seem to be better (but not great!) w/o it.
well, now that i'm home & most of the laundry is done & the house somewhat back in order, the true christmas craftiness has begun.

we started with the wrapping paper i told you about & promised pics (can't wait to get the pics back from c's camera of hudson actually doing the painting - priceless!)...



i think the paper turned out really cute. as you can see, i used thick yarn for the ribbon (on sale @ michael's!) & just a sharpie to label the gifts. on the back, i wrote "wrapping paper artwork by hudson", just so everyone was clear on the artist :)
so here are my suggestions if you want to try this (& so i remember for next year)...
-pick a pretty day (maybe even in october) to roll the whole paper out on a sidewalk or driveway
-strip child(ren) down, give them plates full of fingerpaint (among other pluses, it dries faster & is easy to clean up) & let them at it!
-beware because the paper can get slippery
-show them how to do handprints - hudson loved doing that
-when finished, carry directly child directly to the tub!!
- let paint dry (1-1.5 hrs, i'd think) & then roll up & hose the driveway down

and fyi: if you are crazy like me & want to try this inside, the fingerpaint really wasn't hard to clean off of our tile floors & cabinets, it was just kind of a pain. and it was hard to keep our dog off of the paper while it dried (oh, & don't do this right before dinner b/c then you'll be stepping around the paper & you will be annoyed!)

anyway, it was a really fun project & would be even more fun done outside. hudson really, really liked it & that made it so special. and it was CHEAP! the whole huge roll was something like $3, the paint wasn't even $2 for a good sized jar, & the yarn was about $5 on sale (for more than you could probably use). and good thing we saved on wrapping paper this year because i just shipped the packages today & WHOA - so $$$! bummer!

so on to project number 2, a christmas ball wreath...



here it is on our mantel - i just started decorating it...


cute & fun! i got the idea from this post & i'm really happy with the way it turned out! again, a few suggestions in case you want to try it...

-be sure to hot glue the ornament tops on because they really will fall off & it's a total bummer (plus a pain to clean up - trust me!)
-my first hanger's hook part snapped off, so be sure yours is sturdy before you get tons of balls on there & have to redo it.
-i think the key is getting different sized balls - i got 3 different sizes. @ first i was unsure about how it would turn out - if it would have big gaps, but then i just started stringing & making sure to put a variety of sizes throughout & it worked out great.
-when you get to the end, be sure to fill the hanger all the way before you twist it back together - mine's a little sparce @ the top & not as full as i think it's supposed to be.

the only bummer (how many times will i use that word in this post??!) about this project is that it cost me about the same amount it would have to just buy it! i looked @ the dollar store for ornaments, but they only had one size & i knew i wasn't going to have to go to big lots or some other super cheap store, so i decided to just buy mine @ target. i bought the cheapest ones they had, but it still took quite alot (about 80). oh well, it was a fun project & i might buy up some more ornaments when they're super, super cheap after christmas in case i want to do another one next year (or wouldn't that be a cute gift?!).

okay, so that's that. i'm off to see what other craftiness i can get into before i hear the little guy on the monitor...