Welcome to day 4 of the 5 Days Of Christmas!! The one thing my boys love to do is use different things to count down to Christmas. We have trucks with numbers on them and they have 2 different Advent calendars that has candy in them. This is one tradition I love and it keeps my boys excited for Christmas.

It is all their countdowns that gave me the idea to make my own. I found a few different pieces to make these countdowns. Each project is a bit different.

Lets Get Started

Supplies for project 1

So some where along the way my picture for the packaging for these blocks got deleted. These blocks came with the numbers and papers and were all together. I bought them at Hobby Lobby in their Christmas craft section. Other supplies I used were a 2X2 wooden block and a truck light from Dollar Tree. The only paint I used was Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. To glue everything together I used hot glue and then Mod Podge to seal the blocks.

How to make the blocks countdown

To start the block project, I painted all of the blocks black with the Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink. I did all the sides and the top and bottoms. After everything was dry I took sandpaper and sanded down all the edges. This is a personal preference because I like things to look rustic and like they have been used for a while. Do these in a style you like.

Once I was done sanding, I wiped off the blocks with a damp cloth to get the saw dust off. I started placing the numbers on the clocks. They did have adhesive on them but it was not sticky enough to hold the numbers on to the blocks. I decided to put a coat of Mod Podge down then stick the numbers on. After that I put 2 coats of Mod Podge over the top of the numbers to hold them in place. I did not use the papers in the kit that were supposed to go under the numbers. I did not really like them. On the rectangular block I added the “Days Till Christmas” the same way I did the numbers.

To get the red truck, I broke apart the light stand it was attached to. It came apart with just a little bit of force. I glued it to the 2X2 block that I had. This part of the project really is optional. I wanted to add a bit more to the three countdown blocks and thought a base for them would be perfect.

What do you think? It’s about 8 inches high so it does not take up a ton of room. Since it was a kit, it was not hard to assemble either. Kits like these are great as a base line for a craft and you can get creative with it and change it up. The fun in crafting is making it your style.

Supplies for project 2

Now lets look at the next project. I found this countdown set at Target. It has the numbers with it, several words, and a few blank boards to put your words on with stickers or vinyl. The truck is an ornament from Michael’s Craft supply. I also used some paint and hot glue.

The first thing I did was paint my truck. I have found that paint markers are great. That is what I used to paint the truck. Once it was dry, I glued it to the top of the sign with hot glue.

I wanted something that said “Happy New Year”. So I used my Cricut and cut out those words and added them to one of the extra boards.

That was it. It is easy to just add to something that is already made. It is fun to have stuff that fits your style. Now if you wanted this board up all year round I would put something different at the top. You could add a small photo frame to the top. One that is easy to change out the photo on. It is a piece of decor that can be up all year round.

Thank you for joining me on day 4 of the 5 Days Of Christmas! Tomorrow is the last day. Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe! Also find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Have a great Thursday!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project 1

Countdown Block and Number Set- Hobby Lobby

Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink- Walmart

Mod Podge- Any Craft supply store

2X2 Block- Michael’s Craft Supply Store

Red Truck Light- Dollare Tree

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Project 2

Countdown Board- Target

Truck Ornament- Michael’s Craft Supply Store

Paint- What ever you have on hand

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Welcome to day 3 of the 5 Days Of Christmas!!! The one thing that has been really popular this year are small shadowboxes with figures or 3D stickers inside that make a scene. I could stack these all over my house because I love them so much. They really make me smile. Some might look at these tiny boxes and think that nothing will fit in them but man are they wrong. I honestly cannot pick my favorite because they are all so cute!

Lets Get Start

Supplies

For this project you will need small signs or shadow boxes. I found the tiny ones at Target and the others were at Dollar Tree. You will also need small figures or stickers to place inside the box. The other thing I used was White Waverly Chalk Paint. As for the words, I did use my Cricut and 651 sticky vinyl. In place of the vinyl though you can use stickers or write something in your own handwriting. You could also print out words from the computer and Mod Podge them inside the boxes. I attached everything with hot glue so you will need some form of glue.

The first thing I did was paint all the boxes White with the Waverly Chalk Paint. I painter all of the sides of the box including the back. I do this so that if I want to add something like another scene or a whole different holiday on the back I can. If you are making several boxes, paint them all at one once to save yourself some time.

After everything is painted and dry, you can start putting stuff in the boxes. With the box above, I was able to remove the back and glue on some scrapbook paper. Then I hot glued the back back on and started with the buttons. I cut the back loops off of the buttons. Then started placing them where I thought they would look best. Once I was satisfied, I measured out the black space on the box to get it ready for words.

The next step was adding the words. Now for these tiny shadowboxes I had to cut out some really small words. It was a bit rough trying to get them in that small space so be careful and take your time. Once you have your words, take everything out of the box but remember where it goes. Then place your words in the box. After you placed the words down, hot glue your figures in place. Take your time with the words because you are working with limited space.

I followed these steps for each box. Trying to make each one a bit different.

These are the final products. Like I said before, I can not pick a favorite. Each one is so different and unique. The gnomes crack me up. The red truck had been an obsession for years. I loved them and buffalo check way before it was cool. These boxes are great for 3-tiered trays or to just add a little something more to a space.

Thank you so much for joining me for day 3 of the 5 Days Of Christmas. We have two more days left so please come back for more Christmas decor ideas.

Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe!

Have a wonderful day!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Shadow Boxes- Target, Dollar Tree, or any where you can find something that looks like a shadowbox.

White Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Figures and Stickers- Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, Michaels Craft Supplies

Bows- Walmart

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue sticks- Hobby Lobby

Welcome to Day 2 of the 5 Days Of Christmas!! Today we going to make garlands. I love garlands for spaces like just above a couch or buffet table. I also put a garland and sometimes two on my curio cabinet. When you layer garlands it gives it a different look. It really can add some personality to a space.

These two garlands are pretty easy. They did not take long which is good and they really changed up the space in my living room.

Lets Get Started!!

Supplies for both Garlands

The garlands use the same basic supplies. I used these ornaments from Dollar Tree. They get these ornaments in for each holiday. I also used some twine and ribbon along with different kinds of paint. To attach some of the ornaments to the ribbon, I used hot glue. There are not a ton of supplies for this one.

Start by painting the ornaments in the colors that you want. I used Waverly Chalk paint and Arteza Acrylic Metallic paint. As you can see with the trees and “Merry” I painted them green and then used a stiff fan brush to add snow. I was trying to channel my inner Bob Ross but it did not work very well.

After the paint was dry on the bells, I added bows to the top of them.

To attach the bells to the twine, I used the small twine pieces that came with the ornaments. I attached the trees the same way to the ribbon but the “Merry” I attached with hot glue. I did not want to loop twine through the letters and I like it much better with how I glued them down.

Now I made a mistake. I glued and tied the trees and “Merry” words to far apart. So my advice for this is to hang your string or ribbon up first in the spot where you want to put the garland. This is how I did it with the bells. I then started in the middle of the garland and then worked my way out tying and spacing the bells out as I went. It worked much better that way.

I can not decide which garland I like best. I love how rustic they both are. They fit well in farmhouse decor. Do not feel like you have to paint these ornaments. You could stain them with a wood stain or create your own stain with paint and water. That would really make it farm house and rustic. Instead of ornaments, you could just tie small strips of sting, ribbon, and material on some string or ribbon and give this a whole other look.

Thank you so much for joining me for day 2 of the 5 Days Of Christmas. Join me tomorrow for another fun project. Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe!! Also find me on Facebook and Instagram!!

Have a wonderful day

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Ornaments- Dollar Tree

Waverly Chalk Paint- Walmart

Arteza Metallic Acrylic Paint- Amazon

Paint Brushes- Any Craft supply store

Ribbon- Michael’s Craft Supply

Twine- Hobby Lobby

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Welcome to the 5 Days Of Christmas 2020!

I am going to give you some simple ideas all week long for Christmas decor. It is the 5 Days Of Christmas!! There will not be a whole lot of explanation and long posts because there is no need for it. A lot of the crafts this week will be fast and easy.

Day 1 of the 5 Days of Christmas is a Christmas Village. These are very popular. They are also very expensive. I found a wooden village at Walmart this year but it is around $10.00 per piece and it had around 20 different pieces. I knew there had to be a more affordable way to make one. That is where Target came in.

Lets Get Started

Supplies

You will need anything that is in the shape of a house. I found these wooden houses at Target. These could be cut out of Balsa wood or foam core board. Go with your budget and what you feel comfortable with.

From there, you need any kind of embellishments you want. Think about what people use to decorate their houses for Christmas. I have little lights, wreaths, trees, and figures. The decorations for the mini trees are prefect for this project. For snow I used a car cloth from Dollar Tree. Its amazing!!

To start this project, I did stain a few of the houses because I wanted some variety. If you want to stain your houses and you are working with wood, take what ever paint color you are using and mix it with water until you have the consistency you want. The thinner the paint, the less coverage you will have but you can always build up to the coverage you want. Then paint your houses.

Now it’s time to decorate. I used hot glue to add all the embellishments and decorations. Like I said earlier, think about how people decorate their homes for Christmas and use that as your inspiration.

From there, I trimmed and cut the white car cloth and glued it down to make it look like falling snow. It is not perfect but it works well. You could use cotton balls or white felt. Anything like that to look like snow.

How simple was that?! This is a project that has a big impact with little effort and money. I could not bare the thought of selling this one so it is currently on display in my craft room and I love it.

Thank you for joining me on Day 1 of the 5 Days of Christmas!

Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe!!! Also find me on Facebook and Instagram!

Join me again tomorrow for Day 2 of the 5 Days of Christmas and have a great day!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Wooden and Metal Houses- Target

Embellishments- Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree

White Car Cloth- Dollar Tree

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Sometimes red can be a bit much!! But in the case of this wreath, I think it is perfect!! A sweet friend of mine found a picture of this wreath on Facebook and she asked if I could possibly make it. It is a BIG wreath. It also has lots of parts to it. One side is berries and the other side is ornaments. To be honest, I was not sure I would like the wreath in person but now I wish I had bought enough stuff to make one for myself.

Lets Get Started

Supplies

As far as supplies go, I went to Hobby Lobby. You could find similar stuff at Dollar Tree but it would not look the same. I know I normally do pretty affordable crafts but I feel like if you want a great look on this one, you need to spend the extra.

I used red berries, a few different kinds of poinsettias, and lots of red ornaments of different sizes. Everything was about the same shade of red. I bought stuff that had glitter and stuff without. The variety makes the wreath interesting. The last few things you will need is some ribbon, and a wreath form. You can get any size you want. Just make sure the embellishments you buy are not to big for the wreath. Also I put a lantern in the middle of the wreath. I did use some hot glue to hold everything in place.

To start, place the poinsettias at the top of the wreath form. I had them spread out a bit a first, but them put them in a line going vertical on the form. From there I started clipping the longer stems off the berries and arranging them around the left side of the wreath. I did a pattern with the different kinds of berries because I am very OCD when it comes to things having balance.

After that I started placing the different size and type of red ornaments around the right side of the form. To make sure I had the spacing right, I added a big bow at the bottom. If you can not make a bow, Dollar Tree has them for a great price.

Once I was happy with how the wreath looked, I started hot gluing everything on. I did use some clear string to help hold up the lantern and then glued it like crazy at the bottom. That was it!! It all took me about 20 minutes to put together. I walked around the store longer buying the stuff than I did actually making the wreath.

This wreath is absolutely gorgeous in person. It shines and sparkles!! My teal door makes it pop too. The red looks amazing and I am glad I stuck with variations of one shade of red. This would probably be a $150.00 wreath if you bought it in the store and I made it for a fourth of that cost. I love it!

I hope you are happy and healthy and ready for this holiday season. It has been a hard year so try to find the beauty that is all around you this Christmas season.

Please Like, Share, Comment, and Subscribe! Also find me on Facebook and Instagram

Have a wonderful weekend

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

ALL Floral- Hobby Lobby

Lantern- Hobby Lobby

Ribbon- Hobby Lobby

Ornaments- Hobby Lobby

Wreath Form- I had this on hand but any craft supply store

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

While Christmas has not really hit the McGuire household yet, and it will not until after Thanksgiving, it is going to be on the blog for a while. I have lots of projects planned. I am working around my three boys doing schooling from home right now, but I will make it work.

These first set of projects are ones that even if you do not have a Cricut or the time to stencil things, it is perfect for you. Only one requires painting but the other two are done by just buying the main pieces and then embellishing them.

Let’s Get Started

Project #1

Supplies

For this first project you will need a square sign. I found mine at Target in the Bullseye Playground along with the already cut out vinyl words. Another thing you might want to embellish the sign is some flowers which I got at Hobby Lobby. They have great Christmas sales right now so you will not pay full price for them. I did use some contact paper as transfer tape, twine, and some hot glue too.

To start this project I cut the string off of the wooded square. I wanted the planks to go horizonal, not vertical. Then I put wood filler in the holes so I had a solid piece. From there I weeded out the white vinyl (pull the white off of the paper decal leaving just the words behind on the paper. Also do this with the insides of the letters.) Then take the contact paper and place it over the words. Once the words are on the contact paper you can placed them on the square where you want them. Make sure you put them down where you want because the letters might not come back up. Press all the letters down well so they do not lift back up.

Next glue the flowers or holly around where you want it on the sign. I put mine at the bottom, but do what you like.

Finally put some twine on the back with hot glue. This will be your new hanger.

How beautiful is this sign, It took no time at all. I was done with it in about 10 minutes. It did cost around $6.00 because the sign itself was $3.00 and the flowers were from Hobby Lobby but I did not even come close to using them all.

Project #2

Supplies

This next project was done with a sled I got at Target Bullseye Playground and flowers from Dollar Tree. None of the decals from Target fit on the sled except the mistletoe one and I did not want to copy the picture on the packaging. So I used my Cricut to cut out the beautiful tree decal.

I know I said that these were done without a cutting machine but I wanted to give you the options on what you could use if you do not have a cutting machine. Vinyl stickers of all kinds are on Etsy. You can buy them at several craft stores too. I try to make all my projects as authentic as possible which is why I did not put a Target one on this sled.

I got out my Cricut to start this project. You can use stickers, write or draw, or use stencils on the sled. I used the same method as above with the contact paper to get the vinyl tree onto my sled.

After that I used hot glue and glued the poinsettias and some leaves on the top of the sled.

I love this so much. It turned out so much better than I expected. This would be great on a Dollar Tree sled too. I am loving the Nordic style trees this year. It is very festive and traditional Christmas decor.

Project #3

Supplies

Lots of supplies for this project. This one also takes some time to put together. You will need some type of large sign. I used a tag shaped sign from Dollar Tree. The Vinyl decal is from the Target Bullseye Playground. You will also need some paint, paint brushes, twine, sand paper and hot glue. I finished it up with some ribbon and already made bow.

Since my tag was not a blank canvas I had to paint it. I painted it white with Waverly Chalk Paint. Then dry brushed it with Waverly Antique Wax. If the wax was to dark I used sand paper and sanded it down some to lighten the was up. This is all about what look you prefer. I also sanded the edges down to make it more distressed.

To put the decal on, I used the same method with the contact paper as I did before. I did do it word by word though except the “check it twice” I put all three words on the contact paper at the same time and applied them to the tag.

After the words were on, I felt like the sign needed something to divide the words up a bit. So I took some black chalk paint and free handed two rectangles. One between each word. Then I painted a thin boarder around the black rectangles with red chalk paint.

Now I send pictures to a few trusted people to see if they like what I create and if they think it is missing anything. Well I had a friend suggest that I add a piece of chalk somehow. I was going to hang it from string at the top of the sign but I did not want it to stay in front of all the words so I then decided to put the chalk on the side of the sign. This was done with ribbon.

I took the ribbon and looped it around the chalk. Then took hot glue and glued it to the back of the sign. This makes it to where the chalk can come out and be put back on the sign.

Finally I added a store bought bow from Walmart and put some twine at the top to be able to hang the sign.

Here it is!! This is a complete transformation from the Dollar Tree tag I started off as. It would be fun to hang this on a kid’s room door to maybe keep them in line until Christmas comes. (I might be the only sassy one to do that) Your kids might have a lot of fun with this one.

Thank you much for joining me for these beautiful Christmas crafts. They were a lot of fun to create. I have lots more Christmas decor to show you. Some of it is very simple and some is very cheap.

Have a great weekend and stay healthy! Also Like, Comment, Share, and Subscribe!

Melissa McGuire

Supplies

Project #1

Wooden Square- Target Bullseye Playground

Wood Filler- Lowe’s

Flowers- Hobby Lobby

Vinyl Decal- Target Bullseye Playground

Contact Paper- Dollar Tree

Twine- Hobby Lobby

Surbonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Project #2

Sled- Target Bullseye Playground

Cricut Explorer Air 2- Michael’s Craft Supply

Orical 651 Silver Vinyl- Michael’s Craft Supply

Flowers- Dollar Tree

Contact paper- Dollar Tree

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby

Project #3

Wooden Tag- Dollar Tree

Waverly Chalk Paint in White- Walmart

Waverly Antique Wax- Walmart

Waverly Chalk Paint in Ink- Walmart

Red Chalk Paint- Walmart

Chalk- Walmart

Ribbon- Michael’s Craft Store

Twine- Hobby Lobby

Already Made Bow- Walmart

Surebonder Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks- Hobby Lobby