52 Weeks of Pinterest: Weeks 9, 10, & 11

Yeah, yeah, yeah....I'm a little behind, but I have been loving the Christmas crafts I've been finding on Pinterest! I have made several neat things as I prep for the holidays, but these were my favorite three.

This one isn't Christmas related, but still fun. I turned a nasty old cookie sheet into an activity tray for C. The original Pinterest pin converted the cookie sheet into a magnet message board, but this was more useful to us.

I painted the entire thing with chalk board spray paint, then glued scrapbook paper to the front to give it a little color. Though he's still a tad too young to really dive into the whole chalk thing, he loves magnets and they really help him practice his pincher grip (grasping things between his thumb and forefinger). Now he can play with his magnets without having to be in the kitchen.

When I started finding all of the ornament tutorials on Pinterest, I bought a few packs of glass bulb ornaments at Michael's - and am I happy I did! The idea of putting small items into one of the bulbs to create a custom ornament is so darn cool.

I filled this one with small crafty items that were just sitting around my craft room. Spools of thread from a travel sewing kit, buttons, pins, etc. A little yarn to hang it and it was ready to go. For another, I hot glued pearl beads to pretty lace and just shoved it all into the ornament. With a white ribbon tie, it looks so elegant! Who knew it took all of 10 minutes to make.

My absolute favorite ornament project, however, was the glitter floor wax ornaments. They are simply stunning and incredibly easy to make. The hardest part of the whole project was finding the darn floor wax!

In the tutorial, she uses Pledge floor wax, but I could not find that anywhere. The truth of the matter is that anything called "floor finisher" will work. You need it to dry clear and hard in order for it to work so a cleaner or polisher won't do. I found a brand called Quick Shine and it worked like a charm. The bottle cost around $6, but I used so little of it, I'll have it for years to come. Mooooore glitter ornaments!

For the glitter, I went to Michael's and after balking at the $6/jar cost of the Martha Stewart brand, found the store brand fine glitter for half the price. Add in some 50% off coupons and I was well on my way to some inexpensive ornaments. The colors I used were "cherry" and "emerald."

 It took me about 40 minutes to make a dozen small ornaments and four large. Then it took me another 15 minutes to clean up the glitter. If you have a funnel, use it. If you don't, get one before starting this project. Because remember...

The ornaments in the basket are for a gift exchange we're doing and the rest are either on our tree or wrapped up as other gifts. The pictures do them no justice and I'm not just saying that because I made them. The method of making them create this striking look to them that just pops when you put it on the tree. Love it!

Want some motivation to actually DO some of those neat projects you pin? Its never too late! Join the 52 Weeks of Pinterest challenge at Dutch Being Me!