Styrofoam Cone Christmas Decorating Ideas

I don't know about you all, but I'm already thinking about homemade Christmas gifts and wanting to get started!  I also want to use up the supplies I already have and not have to buy anything to make them!  I have SO. MANY. CRAFT. SUPPLIES....surely that won't be a problem.  Right?!

First up, all my Styrofoam cones laying around!  However, depending on how they turn out, these may or may not end up being my own Christmas decorations as opposed to gifts! :)

From burlap to paper, felt, fabric and ribbon, I found my top 5 Styrofoam cone Christmas decorating ideas from Pinterest...where else?!

#1:  Daniela Dobson created this gorgeous paper flower design over on her blog "Create Your Everyday Memories!"  Pick your favorite Christmas paper and punch away!  I love how she added in old book paper too!

#2:  This is my favorite one visually!  This is from Ros Davidson's blog.  Unfortunately, there aren't any directions on her blog, just a mention of an Ebook which can be purchased for $15 with other project instructions as well.  When I first saw this I thought it looked like painted popsicle sticks!  But I'm pretty sure it's paper.  Anyway, I'm sure with our crafty wit, we could figure it out and reproduce it pretty nicely!

#3:  Felt!  I love working with felt!  I've done something similar to this on a heart-shaped Styrofoam wreath for a Valentine's Day decoration.  The design and directions are here at Better Homes and Garden's site.  I love how they used pinking shears to cut out their circles.  I just got my first pair of pinking shears a few weeks ago...I lots of felt circle cutting in their future!

#4:  Burlap!  The Girl Creative hit it out of the park with this one!  So cute!  And easy too, right?!  I love how she did the base with burlap to look like a tree skirt!

#5:  Ribbon and Fabric!  I love this ruffle tree forest from Domestic Imperfection!  What a great way to use up some scrap Christmas fabric!

Which one is your favorite?  Are you already thinking about homemade Christmas gifts or decorations too?  Or is it just me?!  (Even though I don't even have my fall mantle ready yet!)

Go get your craft on!
--Cheryl

Road Trip Shenanigans!

Last week we took our family vacation to the beach...Gulf Shores, AL to be exact.  We had a 6+ hour car trip (one way) with a 6-year-old and a 21-month-old.  I was so happy when I came across some "traveling with kids" ideas at just the right time to get some activities ready for our trip!  Plus, it was also a way for me to get some crafting in, even if it wasn't making cards!

I made these for the 6-year-old, thinking I'd get some other activities together for the "baby."  Well, that never happened.  So he kind of got the leftovers from Sissy's things.

Ready to road trip!

The first idea I came across that I loved was this Road Trip Activity Countdown by Small + Friendly's blog.

I made a countdown for the way there and the way back!

Next, I needed to come up with some activities to put on each link (8 links for each countdown).

Luckily, I came across Kids Activities Blog who had some great ideas for me in THIS blog post.  I'll just highlight some of the more successful activities.

These lacing cards were a hit.  Olivia loves to sew, so I knew she'd really enjoys these.

I printed out the cards and glued them to some card stock to make them more sturdy.  I used my hole piercer to make the holes and had blunt needles already threaded and ready to go for each color.

Hard at work!

Next up was a travel memory game.   

 This was a little too easy for her, but fun nonetheless.

She was pretty excited at finding the matches.

Next up was a Magnetic Tangram Puzzel at Delia Creates. 

She had a little trouble with this one because the printout of the puzzles to recreate was so small.  So she just made up her own designs.

Next up was a Travel Bingo game from Simple As That!  This was great because it had pictures instead of words.  Helpful since she isn't reading just yet. 

I made 2 cards; one for her and one for me!

Here's a super fun favorite...Build a Monster from Simple as That! 

This was her end result. 

And for the grand finale, the one that I think she (and I) enjoyed the most...shadow puppets! 

I printed out the princess fairy set and glued them to card stock before gluing to a Popsicle stick.  Her and I took turns making up stories using the shadow puppets. 

As for the little guy, we liked it when he was like this (i.e., quiet and content)...

but mostly when he was like this...

Which didn't happen nearly enough!

But in the end, it was a great trip!

Go get your craft on!
--Cheryl