November 27, 2013

DIY - Crafty Holiday Cone Tree Tutorial with Ribbon and Sequins

After moving into our current home, I knew I wanted to start our own Holiday traditions here. Ones we can keep following up on when we start a family. Growing up we had a lot of holiday traditions. One being getting our Grandparent's tree up reeeaally early in November every year, so they could have their fancy holiday party with all their friends. Even making gingerbread cookies with my mom.
 Mostly I was designated to pressing M&Ms onto their stomachs for buttons. (Back then I wasn't so steady with the icing or that great at baking at all for that matter...)
I have nothing but warm and fond memories of Christmas as a child, and making sure my own family feels that way is very important to me. After lots of moving around and downsizing happening over the years in my family, I have received essentially all of my christmas decorations from my Grandma and Mom. They're a symbol of the past and I love the idea of carrying them on into the future here at my house.
Even though I really covet my extremely old Christmas items that hold a lot of value in my heart, I'm really big on crafting up my own decorations. Probably my favourite holiday things are the ones that were handmade by my family members. (I always tried to figure out how they were made and wished I could do something that amazing!) Now I feel that it is my job to get cracking on some crafty things to fill our space, and inspire the new and future generation of little ones in our life. My tradition? Making at least one new holiday tree every year!


This is what you need:

* sequins (two different colours and sizes.)
* small beads/seed beads
* sewing pins
* sewing ribbon/fabric edging
* scissors
* styrofoam cone tree

Let's get going on this super cute mod-looking tree!
This project requires a bit of coordination (and both hands), but it's very easy.

 STEP 1 Start from the very top, so if you get to the bottom and theres space left, you can slice it off with a knife without compromising your tree. place your ribbon edge down and secure with 1 to 2 pins. Push them right into the styrofoam.

STEP 2 as you wrap your ribbon around the cone, push pins into the cone with your desired sequin pattern. This creates sparkly ornaments on your tree. For mine, I first put on one red seed bead, then a smaller red sequin and then a larger pearlized sequin. I chose to put my sequins on in their concave position, so I would get the most out of their sparkle. Because my ribbon had flowers on it, I used the middle of the flower as a marker of where my pin should go.

STEP 3 Once you get back to where you started, make a cut in your ribbon. Not right at where the ribbons meet. Give a little bit of room, because we have to fold it over. So the line doesn't look messy or unfinished, slightly fold your ribbon over and use 2 pins to secure each side of the very end. 

STEP 4 Repeat steps 1-3 all the way down to the very bottom, or as far as you can go. I did each layer so the edges would join at the same place as the last. That way there is a seam down only one side of the tree. If there's extra styrofoam you can cut it off like I said above, or just leave it how it is. Maybe you'll find another way of finishing yours off, Like by attaching fake glittery snow with glue around the very bottom edge! So cute!
(The diy cone tree to the left was one I made last year inspired by another blogger's holiday post, but I can't find the original blog now! If you know of it please let me know, so I can give credit where deserved. I will post a link when I finally come across it too.)
This is such an easy, no glue/no mess way to get a clean and sleek holiday cone tree. I hope it inspires you to make one or even think up some of your own holiday DIY projects!

Happy crafting!


Marissa xo


November 21, 2013

CharmingShopVintage Press Feature

Did you know the retro "His" and "Hers" Egg cups in my shop CharmingShopVintage
were recently featured on a blog post?
It's true! 
They were featured on Mashable.com along with twelve other vintage and handmade items for a post entitled "13 Super Awkward Couple Gifts on Etsy." 

Although I don't completely agree with the writers stance on how scary they are, (and she did say they were mugs, not egg cups!) I think it's a cute little post on some of the outside-the-box and unique things you can find on Etsy.
This blog post obviously got a bit of a buzz, because it created some extra traffic in my shop. If it helps find this adorable little egg cup set a good home, I'm all for it! It sure did make me laugh.
Click here to see the full post including the rest of the items.

Thanks for stopping by today.
Just to let you in on my new shop deals, get 10% off anything at CharmingShopVintage with the new holiday shopping coupon code SALE10OFF. Also don't forget to enter my Holiday Giveaway! All the details are in the post below!

Have a good night ladies and gentlemen!


Marissa xo



November 19, 2013

Winter/Holiday Giveaway with CharmingShopVintage

Hello darlings,

Winter has officially hit Winnipeg. The ground is blanketed with snow and I have already been out shovelling the paths and sidewalks around our house. Im already so tempted to get my christmas decor out. All my favourite bloggers seem to be set for the holidays with their trees up already!  
I'm holding out for another week at least.

In the meantime, I thought I would get the holiday mood going over here with a winter giveaway!
I must say, I was a little inspired by another local giveaway from Daphne over at Vixage. (Click the link to see her lovely giveaway!) 
Here's what you get:

* Beautiful long vintage scarf
* Vintage red and gold beaded necklace with ornate clasp
* Vintage red and green buttons
* 2 antique keys
* Kitschy heart pin
* Vintage frame with vintage wrapping paper featuring holly and red birds inside. Cute holiday decor!

And of course I plan on throwing in a few extra little things!


Here's how to qualify!:

As I'm sure you can tell by the photo, this giveaway was intended to be a Instagram Giveaway, but if you don't have an account, I included some separate rules for you!

To qualify:

1) Follow my blog, CharmingShopLife for one ballot.
2) Follow my Instagram feed, @marissahowes for one ballot.
3) Repost this photo on Instagram, tagging @marissahowes and #charmingshopvintage for one ballot.

Each one you do gets you a ballot for the draw. Do all three and you get three! I will of course accept multiple Instagram reposts for extra ballots.


For non-instagram users:

1) Follow my blog, CharmingShopLife for one ballot.
2) Follow my shop CharmingShopVintage on Etsy for one ballot.
3) Follow my shop Facebook account for one ballot.
(Links are provided on the right of my Blog.)

Each one you do gets you a ballot for the draw. Do all three and you get three, just like above!


Extra Info:

* Giveaway will end December 10th. At that point I will randomly select a winner.
* Open to Canada and the U.S. only.
Any questions? Just let me know!

Good luck everyone!


Marissa xo