A treasury bonanza (treasury Tuesday).

Hello! It's been a while so I wanted to pop in to say "Hi," and to let y'all know I'm still alive and kicking over here. Life's been pretty busy recently, and I just haven't had the time or energy to blog. With the holidays coming up December's guaranteed to be another busy month as well. I'm hoping to get back to blogging regularly in the new year. For now, enjoy these lovely treasuries that I've been featured in this month.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!

Literary Second Life

San Diego Red Gold & White Christmas

Geographia

Cute and Quirky Christmas

Het Wilhelmus!

Removing jar labels (testing Pinterest).

If you're anything like me, you have about a gazillion things pinned that you want to try out "someday." Well, last week I decided that "someday" had finally come for a few of those pins. The first one I tested was this pin from Don't Waste the Crumbs on removing stubborn jar labels.

Jars make simple and sweet vases when they are all cleaned up.

Transfer attempt (a craft fail).

The fabulous ladies from Four Marrs and One Venus and Nellie Bellie are hosting a Stinky Linky Party for those crafting, cooking, and DIY projects that don't quite go as planned. I'm sure we all have a few big fails (at least I know I do), and normally they would never see the light of the internet. This linky party gives us bloggers a chance to let it all hang out, and to see that everyone goofs sometimes (which can be easy to forget when we only show off our best work). Make sure to check out the other stinkers, and don't be afraid to show off yours too!

Paper star garland (DIY).

Well, I finally got around to taking down the heart garland above my kitchen sink, and I needed something summery to replace it. I love this happy little star garland that took its place.

Anniversary photo wall (home decor).

Last month, Matt and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! We ate a few bites of (stale, freezer-burned) wedding cake, went out for a lovely dinner, and enjoyed each others company all day. The traditional gift for a one year anniversary is paper, so for part of Matt's gift I put together this photo wall commemorating our love.

Paper American flag (kids' craft).

This is a simple little Fourth of July craft that I did with the three and a half year old that I watch. He had a blast making it, and has been showing it off to everyone. I love that he had so much fun while working on his cutting, coordination, and listening skills too (not to mention practice with colors, shapes, and counting!).

These directions are based on how I did it with him, but this is easy to adjust to other ages/levels of development. I had him cut out the shapes himself (using children's safety scissors of course), but you could do the cutting for younger kids. For older kids, you can give the more autonomy when putting everything together.

Folded paper stars (DIY).

The idea for these stars has been floating around in my brain for a while now. I kept searching Pinterest for something that matched my idea, but nothing was quite right. One night, I decided to just start playing around with a strip of paper to see what I could come up with, and this is the result. 

I love the way that these stars turned out. They would be perfect scattered around on a dessert buffet; you could string them together to make a garland; they would be excellent decor for Independence day, or a birthday; the possibilities are endless. 

A zen garden and various updates.

One of our favorite wedding gifts was this big beautiful rectangular metal centerpiece (it's 3 feet long). It's meant to be a reflecting pool (and it's beautiful that way). However, since it's still water, it get's grimy and nasty fairly quickly. Once a month, I had to dump the water out, wash all of the rocks, and then refill it; that got old fast.

Our solution was to turn it into a zen garden instead. I filled it up with sand, added a few of our river rocks, then played around to make the patterns (I used a serving fork since we are still looking for the perfect little rake). Now I don't have to worry about cleaning it, and I have a fun little zen garden to play in when I'm bored, or just need a relaxing little break.

Our new zen garden (top); reflecting pool with floating candles (bottom)

I also want to share a few exciting bits of bloggy news. I have finally created About me, Blog roll & link parties, and Awards and features pages. Go check them out to learn more!

I am also signed up for two wonderful blog projects: Get Your Chef On, and Trading Blogs. Click on the buttons below to learn more about these exciting activities!

Lace earring holder (tutorial).

This earring holder is surprising simple to make, looks great, and is an easy way to organize all of your jewelry. These make great gifts too - I love personalizing the frame design to match my friends' styles. This one's mine... kind of boring - I was going to decorate it, but I've been lazy this week. That'll have to be a project for a later date.

This is a very loosely written tutorial because the fun part is making the design uniquely yours. If you make one, I'd love to see a picture of it! Either post a link to it in the comments, or email it to me at MdoubleMcrafts {at} gmail {dot} com.

Eucalyptus heart wreath.

Remember the paper flower I showed you how to make last week? Here is what I did with mine! I made this wreath out of eucalyptus branches from the gully by our house, but this is a great way to decorate any wreath for Valentine's day.

Honestly, I really had no clue what I was doing when I was making the wreath, and I am sure there is a much better way of going about it, so I'm not going to post a full tutorial.

For those who are curious however, here's a quick rundown: I made the frame by cutting the hook part off of a wire coat hanger & wrangling it into a heart shape. I then twisted several branches around the wire (starting at the bottom of the heart, & allowing the extra leaves to dangle into the heart at the top). I wrapped floral wire around the whole thing to secure it, and then I tucked individual leaves in to fill out the wreath & hide the wire. I used wire to attach the ribbon for hanging, and I glued the flower on using E6000.

I'm not thrilled with the way it came out, but since it's only going to be up for a few weeks it's good enough that I'm not going to redo it. I love the smell of the eucalyptus, and I'm already brainstorming how to use it in my spring decorations. Let me know if you have any ideas!