Hang Your Stockings

Here is a how to if you want to make your own Stocking Hanger. The board that I used is 8" tall and 36" wide. I routed it and painted it a cranberry red color.




Next I stained it. This photo was taken after the 1st coat of stain. As you can see it needed another application. I let the stain set for 24 hours after each application. After I stained the sign I put two backs in the back. I think that it is important to use two backs on this sign so when kids are touching their stockings your sign will be stable.

After I put the backs on I applied the sticker.



Now the only thing that was left to do was to decide where to put the knobs. My favorite place to buy knobs is Home Depot because you can find some for under $2.00. Knobs can get really pricey, so if you're looking to do this for a reasonable price go to Home Depot. I like using knobs because they are very secure. I laid them on the board so I could make sure I liked how they looked and then measured from there. I placed the knobs 1 1/2 up from the bottom. Then the next step is to drill the holes where you have marked and screw the knobs on.



I made this sign for a boutique so it doesn't have personalized names. If you'd like to order one I'd love to personalize the names for your family above the knobs. You're always welcome to order the stickers and do it yourself too:).

Thoughtful and Affordable Gifts

It's that time of year where we are thinking about how we can give a thoughtful gift and come in under budget! 6x6 tiles are a great way to go!



You can personalize the saying depending on who you are giving to.



It's also a nice addition if you're just looking for a little something more to go in a gift basket.



If you're looking for a great easel I like to get mine at Pier One or Hobby Lobby or Michael's are great if you have a coupon or they're on sale! If you'd like to order a tile they are $5.99, if you want to do it yourself and just order the vinyl the vinyl is $2.75. Lowe's is my favorite place to buy this particular size of tile, but Home Depot carries this as well.

Message me with any questions: kristin@signaturecreationsllc.com

Halloween Dinner Fun

I absolutely love Halloween. Today I went grocery shopping for items for a Halloween dinner and I got a little carried away. I ended up with enough stuff for two dinners. So we had a fun Halloween themed dinner tonight and then on Halloween we will have another dinner.

While I was at Fry's though I picked up some nice plastic orange plates for $1.00 each. When I got home I had each of my kids pick out a pumpkin face and we put a vinyl face on to make a jack-o-lantern. And yes I did wash them after I put the vinyl on before we used them. So easy, so fun, and we can use them again.




For our cups I just used paper cups and put black vinyl on for ghost eyes and served milk. I was originally planning on using our glass cups which are much bigger so the eyes on these are a little big... I first saw this idea on pinterest. http://www.tastespotting.com/detail/4596 It would also be cute to do a pumpkin face and serve orange soda, but I wanted to go a little healthier than soda so we did the ghosts.


For the food we just did kid friendly familiar foods. We had everyone make their own "Monster Pizza". Everyone made their own face on a whole wheat English muffin.



We also had "monster chompers", apples that are cut in quarters with a sliver cut out of the middle with almond slices. I've never seen apple slices disappear so quickly at my house before. I guess I need to spruce up our afternoon snacks.



And of course for dessert tonight we went with the classic graveyard pudding.

While I don't know that we had one brand new idea at our dinner it sure is fun to mix and match ideas and make your own fun Halloween for your family.

Family Is...

I absolutely love what one of my good friend's ordered and we put up at her house today!
I think this is such an adorable idea to accent your family pictures.


This is a fun way to describe and personalize your home.

How would you describe your family?

Spice Up Your Witch Hat

Dressing up as a witch is absolutely one of my favorite costumes! You can be scary, you can be cute and you can be funky. Every witch costume definitely needs a hat though! And after today I also think that my Halloween decor will not seem complete without a fun witch hat!

I see so many possibilities for ways to spruce up your witch hat, but I will share what I did with you today.

So this is what I started with... just your basic black hat.

I think that it would be adorable to add a boa to this and some beading, but today I went a different route... tulle. I used a spool of tulle that I got from Hobby Lobby and I made a loop with it and hand sewed it to the hat. I did 2 or 3 loops about every inch all the way around the hat.



Next I added two feathery clips and a flower which I made into a clip. I also purchased these items at Hobby Lobby.





I thought about just gluing these to the hat, but I decided to just clip them to the tulle so that when Halloween is over they would be removable and available to wear year round.


I love all of the possibilities that Halloween brings! Have a great weekend everyone:).

Halloween Craft

I want to share with you this super fun, easy and cheap craft that a very good friend of mine shared with me. These jars are my kids favorite Halloween decoration and even the 10 year old boys that come over to carpool can't get enough of these either. They are always rearranging them and admiring them:).

So this is what you need for this craft:

An empty glass jar. Any size jar is great and having different shapes is super fun
Tissue Paper
Mod Podge
Paint Brush
Faces
Ribbon



The 1st step is to cut your tissue paper in strips. We did about 1" strips. Next paint the Mod Podge on your jar in strips and glue the paper on. After that has dried apply your faces. I of course used vinyl, but you could cut faces out of tissue paper if you'd like. The last step was to add a thin black ribbon to the top of the jar to "finish" off the look. We did that with a dob of hot glue. You can put in the battery operated lights, or small candles to light up at night. The kids love how they glow. They are super cute. Thanks T for sharing this idea with me. I had to pass it along so you and your gremlins can enjoy them as much as we are:).

My Pumpkin Patch

A couple of years ago I saw in Better Homes and Garden that they decorated the carve-able pumpkins that you can buy at craft stores. This quickly became one of my all time favorite things to do for fall! (I can't wait to show you my Thanksgiving pumpkin also).



I love this Off With Your Head pumpkin. I started by placing the vinyl on the pumpkin first. Then I took ribbon, and I used the kind that's 50 cents a spool for this one and corsage pins to adhere the ribbon down the ridges. I did every other ridge roughly and finished off each ribbon with a dab of hot glue underneath. It's fun for Halloween and let's be honest, some days I wish I could get away with saying "Off with your head" when something isn't going so smoothly. This is a fast, easy craft. If you can find a pumpkin on clearance then it is very affordable too!




I love this beaded pumpkin. First a friend of mine helped me sketch the design on the pumpkin and then I started gluing different sized beads with hot glue on the design. this pumpkins was very time consuming and got a little pricey with all of the beads, but it is such a fun addition.



I think the eek! is adorable. I found the spider at Michael's last year and I think that it totally makes the pumpkin!



I hope everyone has had a great start to fall! Halloween is one of my favorite Holidays! Please message me if you'd like to order vinyl for a your carve-able pumpkin kristin@signaturecreationsllc.com It usually runs about $1.50 for this kind of decal. Happy Monday everyone!

Football Fever

With fall approaching it's definitely time for football again! I love this idea that one of my customers did for her son's room. It is amazing! After she painted the wall she actually used tape to mark the yard lines and the end zones. The numbers and the team name are done in vinyl. She ordered two colors for the names and created a shadow with them! So creative and super fun!

Back To School

It wouldn't feel like back to school time without blinging out our folders... just a little bit. Okay so maybe it would, but we just love to do it anyway. A little paper, a little ribbon and a little vinyl can make looking at your homework folder a little more fun, right?



When we are getting ready to go back to school it seems like you have to label EVERYTHING! So why not make it a little fun?

I love how these water bottles turned out.

So if you are making stickers at home on your Cricket I think the most important tip for vinyl on a water bottle is use a chunky font if you want to be able to run it through the dishwasher and have it last. Even with a very durable vinyl if your lettering is too thin over time you will loose a letter or two to the dishwasher. You could always hand wash, but I prefer not to if my dishwasher can do the work for me. I also try to avoid using the matte vinyl for water bottles and go with the vinyl that is thicker and a little more durable for water and heat. Or you can always email me and I would love to print out names for you.

I had a little fun with this water bottle. I thought it would be fun to do polka-dots to go with her lunch box.




A couple of years ago my kids made these pencil boxes. I let them decorate it how they wanted to and they are still using them! So cute and they had a ton of fun doing it.



I hope that everyone has a great first day at school! We have had such a fun summer. I have loved being with my kids and I will miss them, but I'm so grateful that they can get a good education!

Placemat Purses

These purses are so fun and easy to make. You can use them for a purse, scripture holder, or even a little lunch bag. You can find cute placemats anywhere, the $1 store, Wal-Mart, Target, Kohls, etc. The blue one shown in this post I got at the dollar store and the others pictured I picked up at Target.

1st measure about 2 1/2 inches in from the side and pin ribbon on the front side of the placemat. Start with the ribbon a few inches down on the left side and then pin to the end.


Once you come to the end of the placemat do not cut the end of the ribbon, measure about 13" for the straps and then start pinning 2 1/2 inches down the other side. Once you reach that end measure another 13" and then pin the ribbon until it meets up where you started. I like to turn the ribbon under so the ends do not show to reduce fraying.



I added another strip of ribbon on the left-hand side about an inch in from the other ribbon. Then I sewed a fabric flower over where the two ribbons met together.



Next fold the placemat with the right sides together and stitch the edges closed.



For the last step take the bottom corners and fold them out into a triangle.



Then measure 1 1/2 inches from the tip of the triangle and stitch across.



Turn the bag right side out and you're done! If you want you can add a small piece of Velcro at the top to close the bag.













My girls have loved these purses and they have so much fun coming up with combinations of ribbons and flowers, as well as reasons to use them!