Alpha Stamps Circus Giveaway!

EDIT: Sorry, this contest is now over. Everything is still available for purchase, though. :)

If you know me, you know I love the circus. Alpha Stamps has been having themed giveaways all week, and this theme (in my opinion, at least) is the very best: it's practically a three ring circus in itself! Just look at all the goodies:

Click here to see details of what you could win, and some samples I made using these products. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on the blog, and if you post on your blog or Facebook page, you can enter twice. Best. Prize. Ever.

Quick Placecards and Ornaments for the Christmas Table

Each year for our big family Christmas Eve dinner, we like to set the table with placecards that everyone can keep and later hang on their tree. Each year, it's so fun to see all the ornaments from past Christmases. The last time we did a glass ornament was in 2001, and everyone at the table signed their name. Ten years later, all the kids are grown up, so we thought it would be fun to do one again. These are so easy to do: all you need is a paint pen!

Here's the 2001 ornament:

And some of the signatures:

And here's what we'll be signing this year:

 I thought it would be fun for everyone to have their name on the front. This is such a quick and easy project, and it's so nice to have the look back at the ornament and remember who was at the table that year.

We hosted a dinner party for some of our neighbors this weekend, and because I had a few ornaments left over after making them for the family, I thought it would be a nice take-home gift for our dinner guests. Each couple got an ornament like this one:

Merry Christmas!

Advent Calendars for My Girls

My good friend Amy from Craftster.org made the most fantastic Steampunk advent calendar last year around Christmastime. After seeing that, I got a huge bee in my bonnet about making a more traditional version for each of my girls. Although I found the paper maché boxes in November of 2010, I didn't finish these up until this fall.

I did my best to make them similar, but different enough so the girls can tell whose is whose. Here's what I made for my older daughter: 

And here's the calendar for my younger daughter:

The background papers are all from Graphic45, and the images are mostly from Alpha Stamps. 

I kept the sides and back simple, just using coordinating papers:

Hopefully the girls will use these for many years to come.

Paper Maché Santas

I've been making Santas! These are paper maché forms that are covered with gesso, and then painted and inked to age them. I gave each of the little men something to hold onto. Ho ho ho!

From the back:

Come spring, I'm going to make some of these Santas do double duty as garden elves.