I couldn’t resist sharing the tutorial for this DIY Christmas shirt, even if it is only 2 days before Christmas! It’s not too late to make one if you can run out to a craft store and get all the supplies. It is super cute and festive. Better yet, you’ll be the only one who has one because you made it yourself!

This tutorial uses a Cricut Explore Air to make the design. Using Iron on Vinyl, you can make so many cute projects. I also used the same method to personalize our stockings this year.

If you want to use the exact same design that I made, you can download it by clicking here. But I also encourage everyone to make your own projects and put your own personal spin onto it! There are so many cute festive words or designs you can use to make a DIY Christmas Shirt once you know how. And they make great gifts! You can make each shirt something you know the giftee will love. The materials for this project cost less than $10!

All right, if you’re ready for the tutorial, keep scrolling!

Supplies:

• Tshirt
• Iron
• Iron on Vinyl
• Cricut Explore Air
• 12×12 Cricut Mat
• Weeding Tool

Step One: Design Shirt

First, you’ll need to design your shirt in Cricut design space. I used the font bombshell. I wanted my shirt to say “fa la la la la” which is one of my favorite festive phrases.

You can design your design to be spaced exactly how you will want it in the final product. I chose to cut each “la” separately to try and use as little vinyl as possible.

When you’re using iron on vinyl, you need to print it as a mirror image. After you press “make it” in Cricut design space, below where you designate the mat size, you can choose “mirror image,” as you can see in the picture below.

Step Two: Prepare Vinyl and Cut

With iron on vinyl, you want to place the vinyl on your mat with the front facing down. With glittery vinyl, this is super easy to tell, because the front is glittery and the back is dull looking. You can see that in the picture below. You only  need to place vinyl on the mat where your design will be cut. So for my design, that was about 9.5″x6.5″.

Once your mat is ready, load your mat into the Cricut. Be sure that the setting is set to “iron on vinyl.” Then press go and let the Cricut do the cutting!

Step Three: Weed Vinyl

The next thing you want to do is called weeding the vinyl. First, you peel off any of the vinyl that isn’t part of your final design. So pretty much all the negative space will be removed. Iron on vinyl has two layers- the vinyl itself, and a plastic layer on top of that (or underneath it when it’s upside down on the mat). You peel away the extra vinyl from the plastic layer. This should be easy to do, leaving your final design there. If any of your design starts to come up, you can just press it back onto the plastic and it should stick.

Once you peel off the excess, you will still have to remove the holes from inside the letters. This design happens to have holes in every single letter. I use the Cricut weeding tool to remove the middle of the letters. I pretty much just poke it until it starts to come up and then peel it back.

Step Four: Place Design and Iron

Since I wanted to be able to manipulate the letter placement and use as little vinyl as possible, I didn’t print my design how I wanted it to look on the final shirt. So I had to cut each piece and place it on the shirt where I wanted it. The plastic front is sticky, but not too sticky, so it’s easy to lift and adjust each section until you have it where you want.

Once your design is where you want it to be, it’s time to iron. You can place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to make ironing easier. I used a file folder. Make sure not to use any steam when you iron, and set the iron to cotton. Go over the design until it is fully adhered, and then peel the plastic off the top. If you peel to early and the design starts to come up, no big deal, just press it back down and iron again. It took me about 1-2 minutes of ironing for this design, and that was probably more than necessary.

Once you peel the plastic off the letters, your shirt is ready!

And then you’re done!

Now you’ve got a snazzy new Christmas shirt that no one else will have. One of a kind!

Mine turned out super adorable! The red and gold is very festive. I am always impressed with the quality of Cricut’s iron on vinyl. The glitter does not come off of the design or rub off the shirt, even after multiple washings. If you love your shirt you can wear it time and time again. It will last longer if you wash it inside out, but I sometimes forget to do that and my shirts are still great!

These make a great gift too! You could easily add someone’s name to it, or do different color shirts and vinyls for different people.

This shirt is so happy and festive, what’s not to love?

Now that I’m writing this post and wearing my shirt, I’m never going to stop singing Christmas carols. Tis the season to be jolly…..

And the song may be stuck in my head forever. And now yours too probably. Sorry!

I’m so excited to wear my shirt this Christmas!

Let me know how making your own DIY Christmas Shirt goes for you! You can click the thumbnail below to download the file to make this same design.

supplies in this post

The post Diy Christmas Shirt appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

If you’re looking for a fun easy way to make DIY personalized stockings, you’ve come to the right place! This tutorial is super adaptable, so you can really express your personal style. You can use any font or design you want to personalize your stockings, that way you can know exactly who each Christmas stocking belongs to. I absolutely love the results, and can’t get enough of our super cute stockings!

This tutorial uses a Cricut explore air machine to cut iron on vinyl letters. Once you get familiar with the Cricut, you’ll find that it is super easy to use. And it makes such awesome results!

I love decorations that you DIY. They are so much more personal and can really express your style. This year, I decided to go all out for Christmas crafts. So I made these adorable personalized stockings for my family, and I made some really fun pom pom garlands for the tree. I also made a festive shirt that I haven’t posted about yet, but I’ll link to it once I have.

Cricut projects are especially fun because you can make so much with it. I could never have cut out cute iron on vinyl letters myself. Sure, I’m crafty, but I’m not quite that precise. Even better, the iron on vinyl is washable!

Well, if you’re ready to learn how to make these DIY personalized stockings, keep scrolling!

Supplies:

• Stockings
• Cricut Explore Air
• Iron on Vinyl
• Iron

Step One: Design stockings

The first thing you want to do choose how you want to customize your stockings. I’m lucky that my family has different initials, so I used just the first initial for each person. I used Cricut design space to make and resize the letters. Instead of making them all the same font size or same height, I adjusted them until they were as big as I thought looked good together. I used the font Georgia.

I set each of the letters to cut. Don’t forget to measure your stockings so that you don’t make the letters too big or too small.

Iron on vinyl needs to be cut as a mirror image. If you cut it normally, you’ll get backwards letters on your stockings. . Simply select “mirror” before you go to cut, as you can see in the image below. On the preview screen the selection is right below material size.

Step Two: Cut Vinyl on Cricut

Next you want to put your vinyl on your cutting mat. I used a regular strength mat. With iron on vinyl, you want to load it on the mat with the front facing down. With glittery vinyl this is easy to tell, because the front is much shinier and the back is somewhat dull. So you want the dull side up.

You only need to put vinyl on the areas that will actually cut. So for this project, I cut a piece of vinyl to approximately 3″x10″. You can tell what size you need on the preview screen.

Once your vinyl is ready on the mat, Load your mat into the cricut. Then make sure your cricut is set to “iron on vinyl” then press go! Let the cricut do its thing and cut the vinyl letters.

Step three: Weed vinyl

The next step is to weed the vinyl, which means removing any excess vinyl that isn’t part of the final design. You can usually just start pulling up a corner, and the cut parts will stay attached to the clear layer that makes up the front of the vinyl. I love the cricut weeder tool and use it all the time to help weeding out small areas, like the inside of the e.

Then, once the vinyl is all weeded and only your final design remains, you can cut the letters apart from each other to get them ready to go. You want each section of the design that is going on its own stocking to be separate.

Step Four: Iron

Next you’ll want to iron your vinyl onto the stockings. First, place the letter where you want it to go, with the plastic layer on top. The letter should be facing forward and placed where you want it in the final design.

I cut a piece of a file folder to use inside my stocking to make it slightly stiffer so that ironing was easier. This is optional based on what kind of stocking you use.

You will want to set the iron to a setting for cotton, and then start ironing on top of the plastic over the letter. I ironed each letter for about one minute total, but it would probably have been fine with less.

Once the letter is fully adhered, peel back the plastic layer. If any part of the letter starts to come up, just let the plastic fall back down and iron until the letter is fully adhered. Once the plastic is off, you’re done! You’ve got your awesome DIY personalized stockings.

Step Five: Display!

Now all you have to do is hang your stockings and fill them with presents!

I’m so happy with how our DIY personalized stockings turned out. I think they’re super cute. Some of my family thinks capital letters would have looked better, but I just have a thing for lowercase. I almost always like the look of lowercase letters better.

I love having stockings in non-traditional colors as well. It’s easy to find red and green stockings but other colors are more difficult to come by.

Seriously, how cute do they look on the mantle? I just love them. If you can’t already tell, because I only took about 1 zillion pictures that I couldn’t help but share. I hope you enjoy looking at them!

And if you really can’t get enough, check out my Christmas living room tour.

Let me know how making your own DIY personalized stockings goes for you! I would love to see some pictures.

supplies used in this post

The post DIY Personalized Christmas Stockings appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

This year I finally feel like our Christmas decorations look great and express my taste. So I just had to show them off to you!

Even though I’m Jewish, my husband is Christian. I have always LOVED Christmas lights and decorations, so after we got married I started going all out with Christmas decor. Honestly, my husband is just my excuse to decorate, because he wouldn’t even notice if we didn’t have Christmas decorations at all. I really do it because I just love the spirit of Christmas.

Snow, hot chocolate, twinkling lights…. I love it all. I love how happy most people are around the holiday season, despite the crazy competitiveness people get over parking spots. I love how people are grateful for the things they have during the holidays. I love the spirit of giving and picking out gifts for the people I care about. And I love how charitable people are around Christmas. I just had to express all that spirit here!

So here’s a little glimpse of the decorations we have for the holidays! If you want to find some of the decorations we used, sources are at the bottom of the post.

Most of our Christmas decor is around the tree and the fireplace. I sit on our couch all the time facing the tree and fireplace, and the view just makes me so happy!

One of the things I love most about Christmas is holiday cards! Lars can attest that every time we check the mail in December, all I look for are holiday cards and I’m practically giddy about getting them. I love to display them in our living room.

This year I got this adorable Christmas card display from Crate and Barrel. It’s already full (we’ve gotten even more cards since I took these pictures) so I think I need to get another!

If you look closely in the pictures, you can see our family holiday picture hanging up behind them. It’s the picture we used on our holiday card this year.

I mean, seriously, look at all those cute faces! We have the most adorable friends and family. Shoutout to the people who send cards the earliest because you get to be displayed forever on the blog :)

Most of my first Christmas decorations were gifts from others. My mother in law gave us these adorable moose stocking holders. My husband and his family grew up using these holders in Alaska, and I love how they’re such a big part of family tradition.

The little hedgehog holder is from target, we just couldn’t resist.

I also love this cute chalkboard that says happy holidays. We got the chalkboard for a baby shower I cohosted in August, but I’ve kept using it around the house for decor. It fits perfectly here for Christmas!

On our coffee table I set out these antler bowls full of ornaments. My mom got me the bowls several years ago, and I’ve always used them to hold cute ornaments.

Plus how cute is that little wood penguin? I love him! Even though my dog does knock him over regularly with his crazy happy tail.

I have a hard time finding holiday pillows I love, so we just went with these buffalo check covers this year. I’m always on the lookout for more festive pillow covers that are also soft and the right size!

But the best part of our living room at Christmas is when the tree lights up (every day at 4:30). Those lights always make me smile.

And if you are wondering where I got our garlands, I made them! You can read how to make your own pom pom garland here.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse into our holiday living room! I certainly love these pictures.

I hope you and your family have an absolutely wonderful holiday season, whatever you celebrate!

Fa la la la la la la…..

Sources:

Tree: craigslist, similar on amazon • Garlands: DIY project • Topper: Crate and Barrel • Stockings: Amazon and amazon • Pillows: amazon • Card Holder: Crate and Barrel (no longer available) • Stocking holders: Target (no longer available) • Tree Skirt: Target • Silver Ornaments: Target

Some of our Christmas Decor

The post Christmas Living Room Tour appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

If you’re looking for a fun, easy, and adorable Christmas craft, look no further. This pom pom garland is so easy to make, and it looks great on the tree. It is the perfect festive Christmas craft. It makes my tree look so happy and unique! And it really couldn’t be any easier to make. So much cuteness from so little effort!

I wanted my Christmas tree this year to be green and white. Last year I did more traditional with a red ribbon, but it wasn’t really my style. I wanted to do a garland this year that would be a little less traditional and a lot more fun! So I figured a pom pom garland would be the perfect way to do that. And I love it!

It does take a lot of pom poms to make the garland, but it is so worth it! This is the kind of craft that is easy and meditative. You can easily do it while watching tv or listening to music and just get into a flow. Bonus points if you listen to Christmas music while you make it. It probably took me a total of 3 hours of stringing to make 70′ of garland for my tree, but it felt like 20 minutes.

And there is no reason to sit there for 3 hours straight working on the garland. I made this over a few days, in between other tasks when I had time. Crafting is such an enjoyable break. So if you love crafting, keep reading for the full tutorial.

Supplies:

• Thin string (Twine is great, this is the one I used)
• Craft needles
• Pompoms (1.5″ (what I used) or 1″)

I wanted my pom poms to be pretty big, so I used the 1.5″ ones. The 1″ pom poms are much more cost effective. I ended up using more than 70 feet of pom pom garland on my tree, so I needed tons of them! I used 35 packs, or 525 pom poms total. If I had known I would need so many, I would go back and use the 1″ ones. I had to keep ordering more!

I definitely underestimated how long the garlands would need to be, but I’m a sucker for the cascading way they are hung. If you hang them without the cascading, you’ll need much less length.

Step One: Cut String and Thread Needle

I cut my strings into approx 5′ long segments because that was about as long as I could manage without tangling the string. The first thing you want to do is cut your string segment, then thread the needle and tightly knot the string. You also want to put a knot at the end of the string so that the pom poms don’t fall off, leaving a little room on the end in case you need to tie any garlands together.

Step Two: String Pom Poms

Next step is to just go ahead stringing the pom poms! You want to pierce the pom poms slightly off of the middle. They should slip on easily. If you feel resistance, go ahead and re-align them on the needle or you will have trouble moving them down the string.

Once you get them on, move them all the way along the string until the end. Space them out so theres about 1/4″ in between each pom. It is much easier to do this as you go along than to try to space them out later.

Step Three: Tie and Hang

Once you’ve gotten all the pom poms on the string, untie the string from the needle and tie off the end. Then hang them on the tree!

I ended up hanging the pom pom garlands and then figuring out the length needed to finish that string around the tree and tying them together to get the correct size. They aren’t hung perfectly, but I really love the effect they make.

This is by far my favorite christmas tree yet! The pom poms remind me of snowballs and marshmallows and they definitely show my whimsical style. I’m a sucker for the combination of white and green.

Plus I love our tree topper that we got from Crate and Barrel. The moravian star shape is super unique.

Here’s a close up of the garland on the tree:

Seriously, how cute are they?! It still makes me so happy to look at, and I see this tree about a bazillion times a day.

Every time I see the tree it makes me smile. I haven’t decorated that many Christmas trees, but this is the first one I really feel like is “my style.” And it’s super festive.

To be honest, I think all Christmas trees are beautiful if they are lit up! And I love how the pom pom garland looks lit up.

This is by far my favorite Christmas decoration. Maybe next year I’ll add even more ;)

So go ahead and make your own pom pom garland, and let me know how it goes for you!

Supplies and Decor in This Post:

The post DIY Christmas Pom Pom Garland appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

I love making things- be it a cute DIY project, natural beauty recipes, a cleaning product, or even a decorative printable. And I know there are lots of other DIY-ers out there who agree with me! So this holiday season, I thought I would share some awesome homemade gifts that people ACTUALLY want.

I’ve given out almost every single thing on the list as a gift, and with great responses to all! In fact I have yet to give #1 to a person and NOT have them ask me to make them more.

So, here are my favorite 15 awesome gifts you can make:

1. Aloe Vera Moisturizer

This is one of my favorite homemade gifts. Regardless of gender, everyone needs a good quality moisturizer in the winter. This aloe vera moisturizer is so gentle, and yet so moisturizing, that it works with most skin types.

As I mentioned above, every SINGLE person I have given this to as a gift has asked me for more. So I thought it makes sense to start the list with my favorite. I always have plenty of aloe on hand to make this in the winter!

supplies you’ll need

2. Peppermint Body Butter

This peppermint body butter makes a perfect Christmas gift. It’s festive, cute, all natural, and amazingly moisturizing. The pink stripe is actually made without any food dye and the recipe is without any artificial additives. It’s so natural you could eat it and be fine- but I wouldn’t recommend it, even if it smells amazing.

supplies you’ll need

3. Gingerbread Candles

Nothing says Christmas more than gingerbread! I love the smell so much, I knew I had to replicate it for an awesome holiday candle. Candle making may sound intimidating, but trust me, it’s easy! The custom blend of scents smells like freshly baked gingerbread, and is sure to get anyone in the holiday mood.

supplies you’ll need

4. Custom Sign

I love making custom signs! This DIY may be a little more difficult if you aren’t a crafty person, but it is definitely doable. These make such a great gift because they are completely customized. Plus once you figure out this method you can use it to make all kinds of homemade decor for yourself and others.

supplies you’ll need

5. Mint Chocolate M&M’s Fudge

I made this awesome mint chocolate fudge recipe and it is SUPER delicious. It makes a great gift that you can make in bulk for friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Lars became the hero of his office when he brought this fudge in last year. The mint chocolate flavor is perfect for Christmas, and the fudge is actually cute to boot.

supplies you’ll need

6. Laundry Detergent Tabs

These laundry detergent tabs are awesome! They are completely green and natural, and they’re easy and inexpensive to make. They make a great gift for someone you know loves to live a natural lifestyle. Who doesn’t love clean clothes, right?

supplies you’ll need

7. Cocoa Butter Body Lotion

Can you tell how much I love giving natural beauty products for gifts? They always get an amazing response. This cocoa butter body lotion is so deeply moisturizing. It feels so luxurious and expensive. It will make your giftees feel like a million bucks while only costing you a few!

supplies you’ll need

8. Homemade Lip Balm

Everyone uses lip balm, right? This homemade lip balm makes a perfect gift. I gave someone a tube once, and they told me it was “better than Bert’s.” So that’s a pretty great endorsement! It’s an easy gift to make for stocking stuffers, or as part of a gift basket, or when you just want to give someone something small.

supplies you’ll need

9. DIY No Sew Reuseable Duster

Everyone has to dust. But who likes buying disposable duster heads? They’re so costly and wasteful. This DIY washable duster head requires no sewing, and works like a charm. Since they are so easy and inexpensive to make, they make a really great gift.

supplies you’ll need

10. Green Tea Scrub

Green tea is amazing for your skin. This awesome green tea scrub is so healthy, and it smells amazing. Anyone would love to get it as a gift. This one has been highly requested by friends and family. It makes your skin feel fresh and moisturized.

supplies you’ll need

11. Etched Soap Dispenser

A cute dish soap dispenser next to the sink really makes it look better. You would never notice how big a difference it makes until you replace a plastic bottle with this adorable etched soap dispenser. That’s why it makes such a great gift- everyone uses dish soap, or hand soap.

supplies you’ll need

12. Aloe Vera Face Wash

This aloe vera face wash makes a great gift alone or with my aloe vera moisturizer. It’s one of the more popular posts on my site, and people really seem to love it! I used it exclusively for over 2 years, but I’ve since added a few more products to my rotation. It’s a great gift for the natural beauty maven you know!

supplies you’ll need

13. Peanut Butter Cookies

Everyone loves cookies. These peanut butter cookies are so easy to make with only 3 ingredients, and they are gluten free! They are a great gift that you can make in bulk to give to lots of people, or for just one person. Or for yourself. Because you might not want to share these awesome cookies!

supplies you’ll need

14. Essential Oil Kit

Essential oils are awesome because they can be used in so many ways. If you make a kit by putting together a few classic oils, and maybe even a diffuser, it makes a great gift. You could even do seasonal ones, like a christmas themed kit with cinnamon, ginger, and pine.

supplies you’ll need

15. Homemade Shower Soothers

The height of gift-giving season is also the height of cold season. These DIY Shower Soothers are a perfect gift that someone can use when they’re sick, or just for a relaxing shower that smells great. You can package them in a mason jar- which would look adorable! Who wouldn’t love that?

supplies you’ll need

The post 15 Awesome Homemade Gifts that People Actually Want appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

The holidays are coming fast! I always get nervous about having people in my home for the holidays. Especially at this busy time of year, things get messy and disorganized quickly. In my dream world I would have days and hours to clean everything up, but I usually only have a short time to fit it in. There are a few sure fire things I do to prep my house for guests to make it visitor ready in 30 minutes or less.

This list is prioritized in the order that tasks should be done. The first few make the biggest difference, so if you have a limited amount of time you can focus on doing as much cleaning as you can in order. Make it through as many steps as you can in 30 minutes.

You can also tweak the order to suit your needs. If your house is one major dust ball, you can always move that up higher on the list, and the same applies to any of these. Although I do always recommend starting with “manage the clutter” because it makes the biggest difference.

If you do it right, you’ll be able to fake a super clean and guest-ready home in 30 minutes!

1. Manage the clutter

Do you know why all the awesome decor pictures in magazines and on Pinterest always look amazing?

No clutter.

There’s no papers strewn about, or toys on the floor. No empty glasses are left sitting on the coffee table, and no board games are sitting out half finished on the kitchen table. Surfaces and floors are clear of clutter.

To me, this is the step that makes the biggest difference. When all your clutter is out of sight, your house will look at least 50% cleaner.

So the first thing you should do is gather all the clutter in any areas guests will be, and put them in some kind of box or basket. A laundry basket can work well for this. And then put the basket out of sight, in a closet or in a corner of the room.

And voila, your house will appear magically cleaner!

And think broadly in terms of what you can consider clutter. Even if you usually have 10 jackets hanging on the hooks by the front door, those can be put away for guests. The same goes for shoes. Entryways are always important to have extra room when guests come, because their things will end up adding to whatever clutter is there already.

This isn’t a long term solution, just a quick fix. In general if you specify a location that every item in your home belongs, you’ll find you have much less clutter. Maintenance is usually the easiest way to keep your home guest ready.

2. First impressions

First impressions matter!

Whatever the first impression of your home is will affect how comfortable your guests feel in your entire home. If you make the first impression positive, they will think the rest of the house is cleaner. Psychology is strange, but it works.

So consider what your guests will see first, and make sure that space is clutter free and clean. For me the biggest thing is my kitchen island, which you can see from the front door. Keeping it clean and clear of debris and any clutter makes the entire house feel cleaner. Even something as simple as moving a recipe print out from the island to the counter makes it feel cleaner.

3. Sweep and vacuum

It’s amazing what a difference it makes to have clean floors. Your home could be covered in clutter, or spills on the counters, and as long as your floors are clean, it won’t feel icky or dirty.

If your guests come in and take their shoes off, they don’t want to be stepping on yesterday’s crumbs (all though I’ll admit I’ve been guilty of this at times!) Walking on a floor that doesn’t have any dust or crumbs makes you feel like the house is clean, no matter what else is going on.

For us one of the major floor messes is dog toy stuffing. Our pup likes to tear up his toys faster than we have the energy to pick up all the fluff. Just getting the fluff off the floor makes the house look and feel much cleaner.

So even if your floors aren’t amazingly gleaming and shiny, just getting dust and debris off will make a huge difference. Walking on a clean floor is a sure way to make your guests feel comfortable. I’m in love with our dyson vacuum which makes vacuuming go so quickly.

4. Tackle odors

Smell is such a powerful sense. A house can look clean, but if it doesn’t smell nice, nothing else matters. Luckily smells can be a pretty quick fix.

Scented candles, a quick spritz of some homemade febreeze, or simmering some apples and cinnamons on the stove can make a big difference.

5. Clean all surfaces

Do a quick wipe down of surfaces in rooms your guests will see. Clean up bathroom and kitchen countertops, and also wipe down any coffee or side tables. A quick cleaning will make such a big difference. My reusable cleaning wipes are perfect for this.

I think the bathrooms make the biggest difference. When there is no dust and hair all over the place, it feels so much cleaner. Getting the toothpaste gunk off the sink really just makes it look that much better.

Clean surfaces will make your guests feel comfortable to rest their hands or arms on surfaces. After all, there’s nothing that feels ickier than accidentally placing your hand on something sticky. Clean surfaces are the way to go.

6. Dust major areas

If you have time to make it to this step, your house will already be looking almost guest ready. Dusting is just a little extra bonus to your hosting-friendly home.

Hopefully your house isn’t super dusty, but if it is make sure to give it a little extra oomph with homemade dusting spray.

You know best where dust collects in your house. Focus on visible areas (don’t worry about tackling the top of the kitchen cabinets this very second). If you have time to, dusting the baseboards will make your house feel so much cleaner. But that’s really just icing on the cake.

7. Mop floors

Nothing says clean like a good shine! Taking a few minutes to mop and shine wood, laminate, and tile floors will make your guests think that your house is the height of cleanliness. I make an awesome homemade wood floor cleaner that really gives it an awesome shine.

If you make it all the way to step 7, your house will be spic and span. Or, at least your guests will think it is. They don’t need to see the giant box of clutter in the closet, right?

Anyways, this last step will give your house that extra boost. Shiny floors are the ultimate “this house is so clean” message. The look and feel of them is so inviting.

So there you have it! Use these steps to get your house guest-ready in 30 minutes or less. No one has to know how messy you really are, right?

Enjoy hosting!

My favorite cleaning supplies

The post Cleaning for the Holidays in 30 Minutes or Less appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

About two months ago I had one of those rare DIY inspirations- where you are suddenly struck with an idea that you know will work and you have to get to it right away. That’s how I made this moose pillow! And I was right to be inspired. It has turned into one of my favorite projects and a new decor staple in our home. All for less than 30 minutes of work and $15. And no sewing either!

I really can’t stress how easy this was to make. I’m not very good at sewing and I haven’t gotten enough practice with a sewing machine. But I still made this awesome pillow, and you can too.

So keep reading to follow along with how to make this awesome (and easy) DIY moose silhouette pillow!

Supplies:

• a pillow
• a plain white tshirt or plain white fabric
• unique stitch fabric glue
• sharp scissors
• a pen
• a printer

Step One: Cut out stencil

The first thing you will want to do is cut out your stencil. I wanted my moose to be pretty big so I spread him over two pieces of paper which I then taped together. If you want to use the same stencil as me, you can download it by clicking here.

Step Two: Trace Stencil on Fabric

One important part of this step is to make sure your fabric is ironed and starched. I starched my fabric liberally with my DIY Spray Starch. I just took an old tshirt that Lars was about ready to get rid of for this project.

Then just tape your stencil down with masking tape and trace it with a pen or a sharpie. I probably recommend a fine point sharpie because then you get the easy of writing with the precision of tracing.

Step Three: Cut out moose from fabric

The key to this step is to use sharp scissors. I swear by my amazing cutco scissors, but some sharp fabric scissors will work as well. For the interior pieces, I just snipped in the middle of them by folding the fabric and cut my way outwards from there. It’s ok if your moose has some rough edges, especially around the antlers- it actually looks even better that way in my opinion.

Step Four: Glue Moose to Pillowcase

The last step is to simply glue your cutout moose to your pillowcase! I sweat by unique stitch fabric glue– it’s actually even washable, and super easy to use. I applied glue lightly along all the edges, including the cutouts, so they wouldn’t stand out or crease.

In order to get my moose where I want him, I laid him down in place, and folded up piece by piece to add glue. Once I added the glue, I just laid it back down, pressed my finger along the “seams,” cleaned up and excess glue, and moved on to the next section.

Then, all you have to do is let your moose dry for about 12-24 hours, and he will be ready to go!

I have a small love/obsession for moose. I think they are so wonderful and majestic. But I find I have to be careful incorporating too many moose into my decor, because moose can easily go very cheesy or cottage-ey. Thats why I loved that I could make this pillow with a moose shape I picked out myself and it still fits into our more contemporary decor. I try to avoid more silly-looking moose and I prefer moose that look very majestic and wise.

I just love how the white contrasts the navy! If you can’t tell already from my website and images- I love navy and white. The pillow could be a bit christmas-ey, but when you love moose as much as I do they really need to be part of the decor year round.

I don’t think I could love this DIY moose silhouette pillow more! Every time I see it it reminds me how much I love moose and how fun it was to make. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Well, I hope you like your DIY moose silhouette pillow! Let me know how making your own moose pillow goes for you!

supplies used in this post

The post DIY Moose Silhouette Pillow appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

My hands always get so dry in winter. It’s awful- they get cut from the smallest things just because of the dryness. I know I’m not alone in that. Having a good moisturizing body butter makes all the difference. This peppermint body butter is perfect for winter, and it feels so luxurious and amazing. I can’t get enough of it. Best of all, it only costs $6 to make.

Usually a lotion this luxurious feeling costs so much more than that- often upwards of $25. And you can’t always trust their ingredients. Most lotions you can get in the store are mostly water- so they don’t do much for moisturizing and you have to use them multiple times a day. And that’s not even considering all the preservatives and unhealthy ingredients they usually have.

This amazing moisturizing peppermint body butter works so well all you have to do is put some on at night and you’re golden. And every ingredient is healthy, natural, and good for your skin.

Ingredients:

• Cocoa butter: high in antioxidants, great emollient (prevents loss of moisture), high concentrations of nutrients our skin needs
• Coconut oil: moisturizes skin more efficiently than water or petroleum based lotions, naturally antibacterial
• Almond oil: deep moisturizer, soothes irritation
• Beeswax: locks in moisture, protects skin against damaging elements, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory
• Peppermint essential oil: for scent
• Beetroot powder (optional): naturally gives the lotion its pink color in the stripe

Tools:

• A double boiler, real or makeshift (I just use a small pot placed over a saucepan)
• Two small mixing bowls (I love my mix and measure bowls)
• A hand mixer, or a whisk and a persistent arm

DIY Peppermint Body Butter Recipe

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Ingredients

• Heaping 1/4 cup cocoa butter
• 2 tablespoons almond oil
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon beeswax
• 10-20 drops peppermint essential oil
• 1/4 teaspoon beetroot powder

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Instructions

1. Melt your cocoa butter, almond oil, coconut oil, and beeswax over medium heat in a double boiler, or a pot placed on top of a saucepan with a few inches of water
2. Once melted, pour half the mixture into a mixing bowl, and place in the fridge. If you don’t want to add color to your lotion, skip steps 3-4.
3. Add the beetroot powder to the remaining oil mixture on the double boiler. Let simmer, mixing occasionally, for about 5 minutes. You can leave it on longer for a stronger color.
4. Once the mixture starts to turn pink, turn off the heat. The beetroot powder will settle on the bottom of your pot. Carefully pour into a mixing bowl, stopping before you pour in the beetroot powder leftovers. Dispose of the extra mixture from the pot.
5. Place both mixing bowls in the fridge for 15-30 minutes
6. Once the mixtures have hardened but are not completely solid, remove from the fridge and whip with a hand mixer, adding 5-10 drops of peppermint oil per mixing bowl as you mix.
7. Add the lotions to two separate ziplock bags, one for white and one for pink. Snip the corners.
8. Use the ziplock bags to place the lotion in an airtight jar. Alternate white and pink for a striped effect.
9. Store in a cool, dry, place, and use on your dry skin!

I love this homemade lotion! My favorite part about body butters that are mostly cocoa butter is how they just melt on your skin. They are so easy to rub in and absorb. And this lotion is really a great moisturizer.

Do you love the smell of peppermint as much as I do? Because I really just can’t get enough of this awesome peppermint body butter! I love it so much I made some for 14 family members this year for Christmas! The house smelled so great that day.

And really, there’s nothing cuter than that pink stripe!

Let me know how making your own peppermint body butter goes for you!

Supplies Used In This Post

The post DIY Peppermint Body Butter Recipe appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.