Hello World,

I recently purchased a paper punch from Ross (of all places to find crafting supplies) for only $5!!!! And this punch is huge compared to the ones sold at Michael’s. Check out below to see how to make your own paper hearts garland:

1.  Find a decent amount of paper you want to punch. I found an old music book at my local recycling center. Turn on a movie and go at it. Try to salvage as much paper as possible when positioning your punches. I was able to punch a few sheets of paper at the same time without hurting my punch. (My paper was thin.)

2.  Gather all your paper hearts, thread up your machine (and coordinating bobbin), and set your machine to a straight stitch.

3.  One at a time sew through paper hearts. I fed paper heart after paper heart through my feed dogs without lifting my presser foot.

4.  Continue sewing paper hearts onto your strand until you have reached your desired length. Tie your tail end threads each in knots to secure your ends.

Now you have some super cute home decor!  I hung mine up in my living room, along with string lights, and some red pom-pom yarn my mom bought me for Christmas. (Pretty sure you can find the yarn at Michael’s or Joann’s.

I might have punched a little too many paper hearts, but I think I will sprinkle them across my dining table when I get around to decorating the rest of my apartment. (Yes, I know it is only the beginning of January, but I have always loved Valentine decorations!)

Happy Crafting!

Back this summer, I was approached by Cat, of Cut Out + Keep, asking if I would like to be featured as one of their Crafty Superstars. I immediately said YES. I have been using Cut Out + Keep since I was in Junior/Senior high for crafting inspiration.

I am so excited to be featured on the main page and at the lead of the Superstars tab for an entire week! Every day, for a week, a new crafting tutorial will be revealed for those who visit Cut Out + Keep.

Past Crafty Superstars include Erica Domesek (PS I made this) and Mark Montano (TLC). Check out the Can Can Dancer tutorials and an interview here: Link.

(Look its MEEEEEE! on the footer of every page this week. 🙂 )

Happy almost New Year! And happy crafting!

~Crafty Superstar #109 (aka Can Can Dancer)

Here is another post courtesy of my mom. My parents have multiple Christmas trees in their house each with a different theme- purple/girly, angels/pastel, santas/red and sometimes a cowboy tree. My mom took step-by-step pictures of how she decorates her red tree.

Check out below to see how:

Here is a naked 9 ft pre-lit tree.

This is a tree skirt that my mom has had for over 20 years. My aunt made it. It even is reversible with green on the other side.

Find some large ribbon to decorate the tree with. (I have sparkly purple on my own tree and I got it on clearance at Michael’s after Christmas last year- leftover from the custom floral department.)

This year my mom decided to use candy-cane looking ribbon. She gathered 12 loops and left the two tail ends free. She secured the 12 loops with thin wire. (She bought her ribbon from Costco for $7ish)

Wire the bow to the top of your tree and cascade more ribbon down the body of your tree. (6-8 rows of cascading ribbon depending on the thickness of your wire.)

My mom bought red Christmas ornaments at Kmart.

She also gathered personal ornaments that matched the tree. (I made some of them a LONG time ago. lol)

Here is the tree with ribbon, red balls and homemade ornaments.

She also bought simple metallic bows at Kmart to fill in any gaps.

She also added a star to the top of the tree (It’s hiding behind the ribbon. lol)

Here are their new custom cabinets- with the shelves all filled. Check out how they built them here: link.