3 Easy DIY Christmas Gifts

Hello again lovelys!

Today I have 3 easy DIY gifts for you, each of which can be completed in less than hour and do not require many materials. I'll start with the easiest one first...

1. Painted, Decorative Books

Painted decorative books make the perfect, inexpensive gift! Details on how to DIY on www.lemonstolovelys.blogspot.com

These can be for the home decor enthusiast on your list! All you have to do is find some old, used, hardback books, (these are from Goodwill for .75 a piece) ...

and paint them however you like! I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Country Gray for the front and back cover and Liquid Leaf in Gold for the spine. I chose these colors because it's what I already had in my craft room leftover from another project. Also, I knew that the receiver of this gift would like this color combo for their home. I prefer to use chalk paint when I'm painting books but as long as you are painting a hardback book without a glossy cover, you should be able to use any kind of paint! This project is SUPER easy, inexpensive and pretty! If you wanted to get even more creative, you could add designs to your books like stripes or a cross like these...

For wrapping, tie them up with a piece of twine as a set and tada, you have a handmade gift!

A set of decorative books for the home!

2. Decorative Rosary-Cross Necklace

painted decorative beads and cross make the perfect gift! More on how to DIY at www.lemonstolovelys.blogspot.com

I am not catholic, but I think the rosary is a beautiful symbol! I've been seeing these oversized, decorative rosaries in home decor stores for a while now but they are SO expensive! So, being the cheapo that I am, I figured out how to make one.

First, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought all the materials that I needed...

-2 different sizes of wooden beads

They come 8 to a bag so I bought 4 bags to give my main string 32 beads.
( If you are making an actual rosary you will need way more than that)

Notice that these are smaller than the 1" beads above. I bought 1 pack of these because I only needed 3.
(again, if you are making a rosary, you will need a different amount)

-twine

you could also use canvas string or anytime of jewelry making string

-birch cross

these come 3 to a pack but I only used 2

-materials I already had laying around: Liquid Leaf in gold, Country Gray chalk paint by ASCP, brushes, super glue, drill with small drill bit

First, I started by painting all of my beads the same color, Country Gray by ASCP. To thoroughly cover each bead with paint, I held them one at a time in between my pointer finger and thumb with my left hand and painted with my right hand. (this may sound like it took forever but I used a brush that was equally as wide as the beads so it really only took a few seconds per bead) Chalk paint dries so quickly that I was able to set them down on a towel right after painting each bead and never had to go back and do any touch ups. After all of my beads were painted, I started stringing the larger ones first. After loading all 32 of them onto a piece of twine, I tied a double knot at the top of the necklace, leaving 1/4" of wiggle room in the strand to attach the cross at the bottom. After tying the double knot I cut the twin down as close to the knot as I could so that there wasn't any excess twine leftover.

Next, it was time to attach the 3 smaller beads and the cross to the bottom of the strand. I tied another double knot in the leftover space I just mentioned with a second piece of twine. This knot was in the very center of the beads (16 on each side) at the bottom of the strand. After tying the double knot, I slipped on the first of 3 smaller beads and secured it in place with another double knot...

I continued this step until all 3 beads were attached to the same piece of twine with double knots securing them in place on each side...

Once the necklace was complete, I needed to attach the cross. I decided to use 2 of the 3 crosses that came in the pack because I didn't think that using just 1 was going to be thick enough to achieve the look I was going for. I simply glued 2 of these birch crosses together with some super glue I found in a kitchen drawer to make 1 thick cross...

any glue should work just as long as you don't use a layer that is too thick

Once the glue dried, I painted the cross with the same Country Gray by ASCP and drilled a small hole in the top center. Then I threaded the remaining twine from the strand of 3 smaller beads, through the hole in the cross and tied it off with a double knot. (see previous photo with arrows again)

Then it was time for the gold leaf!

I use the same brush for gold leafing every time. Any brush will do as long as the bristles are somewhat thick, short, and hard. Also, I never use a brush that I want to clean in the end. This brush will only ever be ruined after use or reusable only for gold leafing.

To apply the gold leaf, I dabbed my brush in the paint slightly and then patted the drips into the lid a few times so that my brush was almost completely dry but still had a touch of paint on it. Then I quickly and lightly grazed over each bead. I obviously didn't want the beads to be covered in gold but to look like they had rubbed up against something gold. I did this a couple of times until I thought my beads had a desirable amount of gold paint on each one. I used same approach for the cross too. I've seen some rosaries and decorative necklaces where the cross is solid gold or silver. I love that look too! And tada...

Here are some closeups of the finished product...

painted decorative beads and books make the perfect gift set! More on how to DIY at www.lemonstolovelys.blogspot.com

I LOVE the way this turned out and I'm already thinking about some other color schemes I can use for my next one!

Here is a different one I made a while back for my Prayer Corner...

Paint Colors: French Linen by ASCP & Liquid Leaf in Silver

3. Jewelry Holder

DIY jewelry holder made from an old window. Tutorial on www.lemonstolovelys.blogspot.com

I purchased this window several years ago at an antique store for less than $20. It was missing one glass pane already went I bought it so the hubster only had to remove the last remaining pane for me. After the glass was gone, I took a roll of chicken wire that I purchased from Lowe's and cut it into 2 strips that measured exactly the width of each window pane. This was a little tricky to do because the chicken wire comes rolled up so I had to flatten it out first with heavy objects (I used various tools since I was doing this in the garage) and then cut it with wire cutters once I had it flattened out completely. *Sidenote- I decided to cut the wire into 2 strips because it wasn't wide enough to fit across the entire window with 1 continuous strip. So I used 2, and fastened them together on the middle piece of wood so that it looked like 1 continuous panel of chicken wire from the front.

Then, after I had my 2 strips measured and cut, I stapled the chicken wire to the frame using a staple gun. See close up photo below...

After the stapling was complete, I went back around the edges of the frame and clipped any excess wire that was too long or sharp. Next, I turned to the hubs once again to help me install the hanging hard ware to insure that it would hang on the wall safely.

We ended up using a picture hanging kit to attach a tight wire to the back of the frame and hang it on the wall via a stud. (the window is kind of heavy) And tada....