Fotini, Author at Farmhouse Chic Blog

Kids Craft – – Handy Reindeer

December 4, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: art, Christmas Craft, Christmas crafts, diy, handprint art, kids craft, kids crafts, reindeer handprint 7 Comments

Crafting with your kids is a lot of fun! It’s a great time for them to use their creativity and imagination! We always really enjoy making fun crafts that relate to the current season or Holiday. With Christmas right around the corner, we are in full swing around here with crafting 🙂 I thought it would be fun to take our mind off the hustle and bustle and get our hands dirty, literally!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

construction paper
craft paint, paint brush
googly eyes
pom pom balls, or similar
hot glue gun and glue
white crayon

I started by letting my son pick his page colors, he chose green and yellow. Paint the entire hand with brown paint. Expect giggles and wiggles. Christian is so ticklish, love those little laughs 🙂 Have them spread their fingers and firmly press the hand onto the page. Let dry and glue on the googly eyes and pom pom balls. Christian wanted to make both of his pictures Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, so we glued red poms for the nose and green on what’s to be the antlers! We added a small piece of MERRY CHRISTMAS washi tape at the bottom, too! It was Christian’s idea to use a white crayon to make snowflakes around the page, and it looks so cute! He made one for us and one for our Nana and I know she’ll just love it!

What fun crafts do you like to do with your kids during the Holidays?

{ Chalkboard Ornaments Pt. 2 }

December 4, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: chalkboard, chalkboard ornaments, Christmas, Christmas ornaments, crafts, DIY crafts, ornaments 32 Comments

The other day I was so excited to share this project with you guys, and please don’t get me wrong, I love them… But, I had a brilliant idea the other day, and I was so excited with how they turned out!

A few weeks back I had bought a 10 pack of Chalkboard cardstock from Hobby Lobby for $1.99. I was super excited to use these for parties, get togethers, etc. Then I decided to use them as ornaments! Want to know how?

Here’s what you’ll need:

chalkboard cardstock
bakers twine
hole punch
chalk pen
stamps!

With the cardstock already ready to use, grab your stamps and chalk pen. Simply color over the stamp with the chalk pen and press onto the cardstock! You can so easily personalize these ornaments with family member names, favorite Christmas quotes, Bible verses and so much more! I had a set of alphabet letters from Target Dollar Corner and also some stamps I bought from the dollar bins at Michaels too! Hole punch the top of the cardstock to thread you twine through and hang on the tree!

These are so adorable and SO simple!

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{ GIVEAWAY!! }

December 4, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: babyshower, babyshower gifts, diaper cake, eDiaperCakes, giveaway, Rafflecopter giveaway 2 Comments

One of the biggest trends right now is Diaper Cakes! It’s pretty synonymous with baby showers and it’s easy to see why. As a new mom, what kind of gift would you want the most? Diapers! When you receive one, what you are getting is a gift of diapers that is embellished with baby goodies. Most people think that they are just used as centerpieces for baby showers. That is true, but they also make great congratulation gifts for new moms! What a great gift to pull together as an office to get a co-worker, or give to a close friend!

I always love to help promote new companies that are just starting out. I tend to love it more to see them started by these “Momtrepreneurs”, so I’m happy to help support them with my blog. eDiaperCakes is a new company that started earlier this year. The owner herself gave birth to a baby girl in November of 2011. Liz wanted to create a business that would let her stay home with her daughter. That’s how eDiaperCakes.com was born. One thing they do that’s unique from everyone else is that they have a line of children’s book diaper cakes. Their cakes have around 75 diapers and they are normally embellished with 4-6 different baby items on them. They seem to be priced more fairly than their competitors. Two of my favorite cakes are this bumble bee diaper cake and this musical frog.

So if you’re in the market to buy one, they would make an excellent choice! They’re affordable, beautiful and they get hand assembled within two days. Their shipping rates are $5 as well. Wouldn’t that make a great addition to any baby shower?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chalkboard Christmas Printables Pt.2

December 4, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: Christmas, Christmas decor, Christmas printable, Christmas subway art, Free Christmas Printables, free printables, printables, subway art 12 Comments

Do you love personalizing your Holiday decor with printables of your favorite Bible verses, Christmas songs and more? I posted five fantastic free printables for you here last week, and now I’ve created a few more for you to add to your collection!

These make beautiful gifts for family, friends, Church family, secret sisters, secret Santa’s, etc! I hope you enjoy them 🙂

To save them to your computer, right click on the image and save to your desktop to print!

Personalized Ornaments

December 3, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: chalkboard, Christmas, Christmas Craft, Christmas ornaments, diy, DIY crafts, ornaments, Personalized ornaments 6 Comments

I headed to Hobby Lobby with a project in mind… I was on the search for small wooden rectangles and a chalk pen. Did you know chalk pens existed? You must go buy one!! Anyways, I found four {4} thin, wooden rectangles (about 3”x 2”) for $1.47, score! Once I was home, I sprayed the wooden rectangles with chalkboard paint, with two full coats, each side. Let dry completely. My lovely hubby drilled a small hole into the top for the twine I’d be threading through! To “activate” the chalkboard effect, rub chalk over the entire piece and wipe off. I grabbed my new love, the chalk pen and wrote some of my favorite Christmas-y quotes: Joy to the world, Merry & Bright, Peace on Earth and drew a cute snowflake! Previously, I had bought red and white bakers twine at the Target Dollar Corner for $1, so I used this for hanging the ornament on the tree!

How cute are they?! And you can personalize them to say anything you like! Great as gifts or for the kids 🙂

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Christmas Porch Update

December 2, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: before and after, burlap, Christmas decor, Christmas porch, diy, front porch, greenery, home decor, pine cones, porch update 7 Comments

I had a few minutes so spare while the hubby was able to watch the kids, which is a rarity! So, I decided to take advantage of this and work on my porch for a bit! I had two pre-lit evergreen trees that I used to love, but anymore they are just beginning to look a bit pitiful.. Luckily, I had just the thing for them! The kids and I were at my friends house the other day and she had some trimmings from her live Christmas tree sitting on her front porch. I said, ” I know this may sound strange, but are you using those branches on the porch?” She said, ” Nope!”, long story short, I told her I would love to take them and make some wreaths! I got those babies home and just couldn’t wait to use them!! I can’t wait to show you some of my other creations using these beautiful greens, but you’ll just have to wait! Follow with me as I show you how I incorporated them into my front porch!

So, as I was saying earlier, I felt it was time to give those aged evergreens a makeover! I simply did this by adding spurts of the live greenery throughout, and a few pine cones here and there! Wow, they looked so much better already!! I couldn’t believe how much extra branches I had left over, so I grabbed an un-used planter, wrapped it in ivory burlap and tied it together with some of my pretty red ribbon! I filled it with lots of branches and added some pine cones too! At the beginning of the season, one of my friends Dad filled a huge trash bag full of pine cones from his yard for me. I’ve been so excited to put them to use! Thanks Ron 😉 I wanted to add some finishing touches, so I sprayed my trees and planter full of branches with hairspray and poured on some silver glitter for sparkle! It looks beautiful and I’m pretty happy with it for less than a half hour of my time 😉

Oh! And be sure to check out the two wreaths I scored from Jo Ann’s for $10 each, I was excited!

My Jo Ann’s score for my garage lights, $10 each!

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Celebrating the 25 Days of Christmas

December 1, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: 25 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas activities for kids, Christmas crafts, Kids Christmas

Last year I did a fun December Fun Jar with the kids, this year I decided to re-vamp it a little! I used the same concept but added some presents in the mix. Starting today ( December 1st) my kids will open either a present or envelope with a fun activity until Christmas day! It’s a fun way to celebrate the Holiday season, as well as learn about the true meaning of Christmas, Christ!

So here’s a breakdown of what I did:

1. Christmas movie
2. Christmas coloring book
3. Check out Christmas books at the Library
4. Visit the Zoo
5. Gingerbread train kit
6. Christmas craft
7. Eat candy canes!
8. Gather unwanted toys to donate
9. Write letters to Santa and take to Macys
10. Wrap presents
11. Make Reindeer food (recipe here!)
12. Drive around and look at Christmas lights
13. Build a snowman (hope there’s snow!!)
14. Christmas movie
15. Random act of kindness for the day!
16. Sing Christmas songs!
17. Pick out and buy family ornament of the year!
18. Bible Verse- Luke 1:39-45
19. Bible Verse- Luke 1:46-56
20. Bible Verse- Luke 1:57-66
21. Bible Verse- Luke 1:67-80
22. Visit Reindeer Farm
23. Enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate
24. Make Christmas cookies
25. Rejoice in the Lord! Spend the day with family 🙂

I pre-assigned each gift and numbered it (makes it a little easier so I know what to expect!). Pick fun activities or gifts your family can enjoy together, the entire Holiday season!

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{ Fab Pins of the Week }

November 30, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: BHG, Christmas tree, Country Living, DIY crafts, fab pins of the week, glitter, Pinterest 2 Comments

1. { source, Country Living } 2. { source, Crazy Wonderful }

3. { source, BHG } 4. { source, Kate Sears }

1. How stunning is this rustic Christmas tree? It dons custom tag ornaments with old family pictures and/or Bible verses, etc. I LOVE this idea, and have my own version I will be sharing with you next week!!

2. I adore this glitter reindeer silhouette from Crazy Wonderful! Be sure to head over and take a look at her entire entry way, it’s stunning!!

3. These “snow” covered white pine cones and with pops of red really caught my eye! This would look stunning hanging on my front door!

4. Love the simple-ness, yet sophistication of this living room! Perfect!

Our Christmas Tree 2012

November 29, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: burlap, burlap garland, Christmas, Christmas decor, Christmas tree, home decor 6 Comments

I’m like a kid when it comes to decorating for Christmas, I LOVE it! I tend to use red, white and silver. This year I decided to use burlap wired ribbon for the garland. I think it breaks it up nicely and goes well with the rest of my rustic decor!

Unfortunately, I won’t be putting any presents under the tree until Christmas Eve, because there’s a very busy 19 month old running around here and I know they won’t last… I’m still trying to convince my husband to put a tree up in our room and I could wrap the presents and keep them there, we’ll see if that happens 😉

Well, lets get to it already, here’s my tree this year!

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Yarn Letters – JOY!

November 25, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: Christmas crafts, Christmas decor, crafts, diy, DIY crafts, home decor, Joy, paper mache letters 40 Comments

So, I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon with trying out the paper mache letters wrapped in yarn. I love the way they look and I knew they would look fantastic above my fireplace for Christmas! I chose the word “J O Y “, it’s short and sweet and there’s so much to be joyous for during the Christmas season! There are so many shades, texture and varieties of yarn. I went with a bright red yarn with specks of silver. I tend to decorate with red, white and silver for Christmas, so this would be perfect!

Here’s what you’re going to need for this project:

Paper mache letters of choice
Yarn, one spool should be enough (I had lots left over)
Scissors
Glue gun and glue

Since this was my first time doing this, I started with my “O” so I could get the hang of things without having to pull out any tricks.. I cut off about 2 feet on yarn to start with and glued one end to the back of my letter and began wrapping. I chose to leave some spacing in between mine so you could see the brown color of the paper mache. I like how it looked 🙂 I continued doing my letter in small sections, gluing as I went along until the entire letter was complete! Next I did the letter “Y”. This is where a little experience would come into play… I began with the shorter, top sections of the letter first. Then, I went to the middle, placing a small glue dot on the front and pressing to hold the yarn into place. Continue for as long as needed, wrap the bottom and glue. So, as I was saying about experience… I should have started by cutting small pieces of yarn for the “tops” for several rows of the “Y” and gluing into place. This would of given it a more completed look. I quickly learned my lesson, and did this with my remaining letter, “J”. It takes an extra minute, or two but really makes a world of difference.

And there you have it, adorable, personalized letters perfect for your mantle!

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