Cheap Christmas craft ideas

So I've been working on some Christmas crafts, and I found one that's not only cheap, but makes really cute Christmas ornaments. Best part is, you can recycle old sweatshirts for this!

Cut strips of fleece or old sweatshirts into one inch squares. I use my rotary cutter and it takes no time at all. They don't have to be perfectly square or exactly one inch, having a little variation actually makes these cuter!

Thread several onto a string, pushed close together and each one turned a slightly different direction. When you have enough to tie off into a circle in a nice wreath shape, sew the ends together and tie it off. I made mine wreath ornaments about four inches across.

Here's the fun part! Glue on beads and / or bows, tie a loop at the top and you have yourself some cheap homemade Christmas ornaments for pennies. It doesn't take much fabric at all to do these, and if you recycle old sweatshirts it's practically free! I'm making these in sets of six for presents. I've done sets in all white, dark green, and some in favorite football team colors. Each one has turned out fanastic!

Another cheap Christmas craft idea I'm working on this week is sewing gift bags. I used to spend around $20 to buy gift bags and wrapping paper each year. Well, I have a ton of fabric laying around, so I'm going to sew my own. Nothing really fancy, just a rectangular piece of fabric with the top folded over and hemmed, and sewn up the sides. Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes for each, and I already have the fabric. These are so simple you don't need a pattern an even a beginner can do wonderfully. I will tie off each with a ribbon, or possibly a drawstring. The bags can be reused by the gift recipient, too!

I still haven't started the full sized wreaths, but I'm thinking of carrying over the sports colors themes for those, too. I've seen a lot of cute patterns for wreaths online, but I think I'll stick to tying six inch long and one inch wide strips of fabric to a wire frame. I haven't seen any done with polar fleece, but going to give it a shot. I think the look will be super cute!

Mondays

So we survived Thanksgiving, and the fluffy pumpkin pie was delicious. Rushing around and visiting left little time to clean house, so as per usual on Mondays, I'm tackling housework with a vengance. Well, when I get a little more motivated I will!

I rearranged the living room over the weekend to allow more play area for Gracie. She has her own little corner now with her toybox and doll baby bed, plus her favorite box she likes to use as a playhouse. It's funny how just moving a recliner and scooting the couch a foot can make such a huge difference!

Once I get a little more clutter out of the way it's time to dig out the Christmas decorations. I hate to admit it, but the vast majority of my Christmas decorations are buried deep in the back of an over stuffed storage unit! There's enough here to do a little decorating and a smallish tree. Gracie's really a fan of the big gaudy yard displays, so I'm afraid I'll have to go buy some more to make her happy. 

I'm thinking of digging in and making something crafty to add to the decorations we already have. Years ago my oldest daughter brought home a wreath made at school, made by tying strips of decorative fabric around a coat hanger that was twisted into a circle. It's one of my favorite Christmas decorations! I have oodles of fabric laying around, so I think I'll enlist Gracie's help to make a new one.

All in all, Mondays are... well, Mondays around here. It's raining and cold, and a ton of housework awaits. It's the perfect day to whip up a crock pot dinner and just dig in. Thankfully, with a "new" play area, I'll have one less toddler under my feet as I clean. A girl can dream, right?