Friday, December 03, 2010

numismatists and ornaments

My father-in-law is an avid, budding numismatists (coin-collector) so for one of his Christmas presents I made him a themed tissue box cover.






The tissue box is from my stash (I went through a phase of decorating tissue boxes for gifts). I painted it. Then I went on the web and looked for interesting photos of money. I printed my photos on plain printer paper and then wadded them up. Then I smoothed them out and cut them out. I finished by pouring really thick instant coffee over them. I rinsed them and let them dry. After that it was simply a matter of decoupaging them to the tissue box.


Yesterday, I put up the big tree. After putting the tree together and stringing the lights, I was in no mood for decorations and told the girls they would have to wait. K (my six-year-old) decided to make her own decorations. The first one is the manger with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The second one is baby Jesus. She made them all by  herself.


Every year, I make frame ornaments of the girls for the grandparents. This past January I found these really cute purse frames on sale.


I started this on C's first Christmas. Every year the grands get a framed ornament of the girls. I hope that someday it will serve as a unique record of their growth. On our tree I hang an ornament of a family picture and of a picture of the two of them together. When I started this project I had a hard time finding frame ornaments I liked so I decided to simply buy the little frames used for wallet pictures. I remove the kickstand, drill some holes for ribbon and tada!!


If you want to read a full tutorial you can check out the tutorial I posted on Suite101.

Finally, the girls and I made applesauce ornaments.








We've made these several times now (they make great air fresheners for the car). I have instructions for them posted at Suite101.

I will be sharing this at:

12 comments:

  1. My mom is an on again off again coin collector. What a great idea! And adorable ornaments!

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  2. Everything so cool! I love that your 6 year old refused to wait! So proactive. The applesauce idea sounds pretty cool, must check it out.

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  3. Your applesauce ornaments are cute. I might make gingerbread ones if I can get it together.

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  4. I love your daughter, that is something that my first two kids would totally do. You should laminate and save those ornaments, they are very cute.

    Great purse photo frames too, those are perfect for G'mas. We try to do a photo themed gift for each set of Grandparents each Christmas too.

    Thanks for your sweet comment too. I hope that my post didn't come off as sounding grumbly towards others, as that definitely wasn't the intent. I appreciate you and your sentiments :)

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  5. The nativity and baby jesus are so adorable... something to keep safe until she is all grown up !!

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  6. Your fil is going to be thrilled with that box cover!

    Good for K! She did a wonderful job with her nativity!

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  7. Numismatist! That's my new word for the year. Very cool decoupage on the box, and an interesting process to get that look too.

    I love ornaments that the kids make on their own. The manger is my favourite here. It's beautiful!

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  8. Love the decorations, particularly the one of Mary. So sweet.

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  9. I made the spicy applesauce ones years ago with my daughter, and they still smell yummy.

    I love love love K's ornaments!!!!!!!!

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  10. Nothing better than selfmade ornaments!
    Have a glorious new week. xxxx

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  11. Wow - loads of cool ideas in this post, love K's paper ornaments, my Cyan also took it upon herself to start making some of her own decorations, I think she's getting impatient as we haven't got a tree yet! The photo ornaments are a great idea, and I LOVE your cinnamon/applesauce ornaments!

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  12. Love the tissue box holder Melissa! And your gingerbread people are the cutest I've seen :D Thank you for linking up to "Amaze Me Monday" blog party. I hope to see you next week!

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