DIY Christmas Pennant Banner

Now that its December, Christmas decorating is in full swing!!

Today I'm going to show you how to make a super easy Christmas banner! 

You will need: 

Burlap triangles (hand cut or store bought)

Paint

Stencil brushes

Round stencil sponges 

Twine

Frog tape- straight and chevron shape tape

Let's get started! 

First if you made your own burlap triangles you'll want to sew along the edge to keep them from unraveling!! You can buy these ready to decorate at almost any craft supply store. I have seen them at Hobby Lobby!

Next, lay the triangles in a protected work surface. For the stripe and the chevron you'll want I add tape where you don't want the paint. 

Next, use your pushes to carefully apply paint. Let dry, this usually only takes about 30-40 min. 

Let's the chevron and stripes begin to dry. For the polka dots I free hand them using a round sponge stencil tool. 

I believe these are from Michaels. Add as many polka dots as you like! I wanted 2 different sizes so I used a small and large sponge!

Once dry and you have removed the tape you are ready to add them to the twine. I like to leave about 3' on each end for hanging. 

I attach mine using a zig zag stitch to ensure they stay in place! Also a piping foot is great to help keep the twine in pace while sewing! Simply sew along the top edge until all the pennants are in place! 

That's it! Your done! 

Super easy and fun to make! It's a great project for the kids to help out with! 

Have fun! I would love to see your creations! Find me in Instagram and tag the little green bean to show me your work! 

Missy

Pinterest craft night- make your own snow globes.

Tonight the boys and I made some snow globes. They are all over Pinterest right now. I read a couple different tutorials and I'm here to tell you what works and what doesn't! I was having a panic attack when I thought I was having my first Pinterest fail moment! Then I realized the cause. So I'm here tonight to prevent you from having my same fear. 

1. No need for styrofoam. It's messy, glue melts it and it makes the water cloudy. 

2. Canning jars or old sauce jars are the way to go, jars without seals leak. Trust me. 

3. You need lots, I mean lots of glitter. 

4. Don't go crazy buying a ton of stuff to put in them. Unless you are using really large jars, not much fits on that lid. 

Now that you know what not to do, I'm going to show you step by step what to do! 

Here's what we are going for! A cute snow globe, it's inexpensive and the kids can help make it!

Supply's: 

Jars- canning or some type of jar with a seal. 

Ornaments or figurines. Make sure they fit in the mouth of the jar and they are tall enough to see. 

Glycerin- cake supply aisle at Michaels

Distiller water 

Diamond dust and a chunky white glitter

Small pliers (if you bought ornaments you'll want to take out the eye screw.)

And a hot glue gun. You don't need any fancy epoxy or other glue hot glue works great! 

Step 1. Remove eye screw or hooks from ornament with pliers. 

Next use hot glue and apply to the base of the ornament. Press into the inside of the lid. Hold until the glue dries and its secure. 

Now let that sit a moment , fill your jar almost to the top with water. Add some glycerin. I didn't measure. I just dumped it in! Add lots of glitter! 

Now you are ready to add the lid with your ornament. Carefully add to the jar, it may spill if you have too much water. Screw lid on tight. Turn it over! Now if you need you can add more glitter and glycerin. If the glitter falls too fast you need more glycerin. Be sure to shake well! 

Now you can leave the bottom as is it add a ribbon or lace. I like how the lace made it look more like a real snow globe with a base! 

Simply add hot glue around the outside of the lid, and then apply your trim.

So there you have it! Very easy to do, and hopefull you can avoid the mistakes I made! 

They were fun and now the kids each have their own snow globe! They would make great gifts for the grand parents or teachers! 

Happy crafting!

Missy

Christmas decor in the kitchen

I love when everything just comes together! Christmas is my favorite holiday and I alsways decorate around the 1st of November. It usually takes me hours but over the years I have grown to love some of the more simple things that are easy to put up and take down!

This blue box sits on my island I try to keep it cute but often find pencils, Legos and other misc items in there (that's just part of my life with boys I guess) but for Christmas I decorated it with ornaments and some cute little candy cane stripe trees! Very easy and inexpensive to do. 

Sprinkle an assortment of ornaments in various colors and sizes. I even used some mini garland balls that I spray painted silver!

I wrapped this adorable snowman and snowflake wire garland around the outside! And that was it! 

So many fun things to do! My kitchen is red and turquoise which was so fun to decorate this year! 

Last year I made this table runner from fabric scraps and a matching mini ruffle tree skirt for my tiny white tree. I didn't get to make it until late December, so I am glad I get to put it out early this year!

It was fun to add simple elements of Christmas all around the kitchen! Even the window gets dressed up! 

That's the kitchen! All ready for holiday baking and gatherings! 

Maybe I should bake some snicker doodles! 

~Missy 

DIY Christmas Décor- a tutorial

I love to make my own Christmas decor when I can. This past weekend I spent some time out doors cutting fresh pine to create some wonderful outdoor arrangements to decorate my porch! Then it was time to work on the inside of the house! I am in love with anything burlap and love how burlap ribbon looks on a Christmas tree. It is super easy to make, so let me show you how!

 

To start, get yourself some burlap. It can be bought at any fabric store, or go to your local coffee bean roaster, they often give them away. 

Cut the burlap into long strips, mine are about 2.5 inches wide. I always cut with a rotary cutter (they are made specifically to cut things like fabric) but scissors work well too.

 Before we go onto the next step, we need to finish the edges of the burlap. Now if you have a serger (specific sewing machine), just run it through to finish the edges. If not, a simple stitch along the edge with a regular sewing machine will work well too.

I like this look too because it allows you to fray the edge slightly without everything unraveling.

 

Now before we add this to the tree, I want to show you how to make one more of my favorite items. Rag ball Ornaments! 

You will need some type of Styrofoam or paper mache balls. The ones I use are 3” in diameter. For the fabric, you don’t need much. 1/4 yard would be plenty. I cut 6 strips that were 1 1/4” wide by 10.5” long. 

Begin by taking 1 strip and use hot glue to glue the 1st strip to the top of the ball. Wrap around and glue the bottom over the top. Continue this process until you have covered the entire ball. I will alternate where I glue so all of the glue isn’t at the top.

Once you have covered the entire ball. Add a hanger. I used twine to keep it rustic looking. Tie a knot at the bottom, dab in hot glue and attach to the top of the ball. I also used a long quilting pin to secure it in place.

 Time to add them to your tree! I twist the garland as I wrap it around the tree.

 

This one shown is what the serged edge looks like. I used a contrasting thread here.

And there you have it. Wonderful handmade decor that is very affordable. These would make such great gifts! You can customize them to match any decor, experiment with other fabrics such as cotton, muslin and lace! 

If you are uncomfortable attempting DIY tree décor for the holidays, I know that Shutterfly has customizable Christmas ornaments you can create pretty easily. Have fun! 

I would love to see what you create! If you instagram, please use #thelittlegreenbean on your DIY Christmas projects for a chance to be featured!

Enjoy your projects!

~Missy

The little green bean

The big day is almost here!

I'm I know it's not even Halloween yet but I am ramping up for a busy Christmas season! I have been updating my Chirstmas pillows and Stocking assortment for this season! I wish I had more time just to design! I love coming up with new pieces! 

So far these guys are my favorite!! I had this idea last year and time just got away from me. 

My goal was to offer more variety this year!

So I created 4 basic designs and then applied different colors and patterns!

I am really excited to show you this last photo! I found out this summer that my natural stocking assortment was going to be featured in a very popular magazine!  With over 92,000 copies in print each issue and so much more than food! It's the magazine "Simply Gluten Free"

The holiday issue comes out next week and I can't wait to see it! 

Look for these stockings!! It's my first official magazine feature so I am pretty excited! So please pick up a copy Nov.1! 

Now it's time to get back in the studio! The burlap is calling my name! 

Missy