{Homemade Christmas} Find out how you can be a part of this event!!!

Here's the deal. Money is tight for everyone these days. If it is not tight for you, I certainly would not object if you passed a little my way ;)

So I decided that everything I buy this year for my family will be handmade. Yes, yes, there are a few exceptions. I will not be making chocolate oranges or andes mints. Somethings are best left to the experts.

I am, however, going to be making some cool fabulous gifts that I will be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

I will also be having guests come by to show you their homemade gifts and ideas too!

AND WAIT!!!

I will also be having LOTS and LOTS of giveaways, from some amazing blogs and stores! So even if you decide not to make your own gifts at least you have a chance to buy or win some that come from other homes ;)

There is still room available if you would like to be a part of the Spunky Junky Homemade Christmas.

Here is what I am looking for:

**guest posts for homemade christmas gifts

**blogs or stores interested in doing giveaways

**individuals interested in sharing ideas on how to be more thrifty during the Holidays!

If you are interested in joining The Homemade Christmas send me an email
spunkyjunkyblog@gmail.com

I would love all of you to be a part of this wonderful event and to help make the Holidays amazing {and less expensive} for everyone!!!

{Tutorial Tuesday} Walnut Wreath

I did it. I jumped on the bandwagon. I mean, really, who wouldn't? I have seen them all. Lima bean wreaths, hazel nut wreaths, candy wreaths, feather wreaths, cupcake wreaths--wreaths, wreaths, wreaths.

So I did it, I gave in and made a walnut wreath.

 The supplies are simple. However, finding walnuts proved to be a more difficult venture. I am sure you will have better luck finding them then I did. I finally found some at Wally World...go figure ;)

 So I bought four bags of the JUMBO walnuts. I am not walnut expert but they are big guys! I ended up using every single one so if you use a ten inch wreath form then you may want four bags as well.

 I started off by glueing the walnuts to the wreath. I made sure to also glue the walnuts to each other for added support.

 Easy. Easy. Ba. Boom! When I finished my wreath weighed the size of a small large country.

I knew I wanted to coordinate my wreath to match my Christmas colors so I gave it a coat of Kilz Primer as well as a nice cover of Krylon white spray paint. That's right my spray paint obsession continues.

 While the wreath dried I sorted through some fan-tabulous ornaments that I picked up at Wal-Mart. I decided to use these ornaments to embellish the wreath. The best part about these little guys is that they were only a dollar a piece.

Sparkly, cute, and cheap, what could be better?

 I then took my nifty glue glue and stuck the ornaments to the wreath, added a coordinated ribbon and hung the 50 pound wreath on our front door!

Voila!

And don't forget to check out this week's giveaway from this cute little shop! Her stuff is soo freaking a-dorable!!!

{Guest Tutorial} Rolled rossette ornament...

Last week I did a guest post at Under the Table and Dreaming. Head on over there to see the 24 the amazing ornaments ideas!

As for my ornament tutorial. Check it out here!

Hope ya'll had an amazing Thanksgiving!

In our house we have finally recovered from our turkey coma. I have also finally showered and recooperated from my Black Friday mishaps. just in case your were wondering ;)

{Funky Find Friday}or the lack there of....

 I love Black Friday. BUT a lack of sleep, food, and a complete loss of rational thinking led to a less than productive buying adventure today.

I think I may have witnessed my worst Black Friday ever. ahhhhhhh.

 I usually love this day. I find awesome steals, cheap stocking stuffers, amazing treasures, and a few random "needs" that are just too good to pass up. HOWEVER, I failed today.  And it is all because of this thing...

(here is a review of this puppy if you want to check it out).

That's right all my troubles started because of the Rotating Belgium Waffle Maker. Anyone that knows me knows that out of all, yes ALL, the foods in the world I loathe waffles the most, but yet I spent a good portion of my morning trying to find one for a Christmas gift. I literally got smacked down at every store.

And it was all because of a $10.00 waffle maker. REALLY PEOPLE? I thought Wii gadgets and the Flip were the hot ticket items?

And to top it off I bought twin size blankets for our bed. Believe me when I say that I tried to make them fit. I can say without a single doubt in my mind that one twin blanket will definitely NOT fit on a queen bed...if you have a solution though, let me know. .

So enough even though I did not get to shower today, and my hair looks as though I styled it with Crisco, Little Sis #3 and I still managed to find this:

Isn't it amazing! That's right  the Bella Cucinda Donut Maker allows YOU to bake seven mini donuts without the hassle of oil or burning your arm hairs.  Awesome! However, I probably won't be saying that once I have to start laying on the floor to zip up my pants.

 Now, I must sleep. Really. I love ya'll but if you don't want to get another round of pictures like these tomorrow I need to get reacquainted with my bed....and my shower...

That's right folks I am givin' you the RAW and dirty pics of Halsey...no makeup, no shampoo. gross. sorry.

And if you still don't believe I had a bad shopping day, well look at how Punk felt today.

'nuf said.

{Humpday Giveaway} Houndstooth Headband

Giveaway, giveaway, give oh' give awayyyy! I think I could make a nice new version to Jingle Bells with this one.

Okay I am so excited that I am beyond giddy. I don't even think a double dose of five hour energy could compare to my excitement!

Over the next few weeks I will be doing a random assortment of giveaways. I have some amazing companies that will be giving away some awesome gifts! There will be everything from clutches to jewelry to baby accessories...you name it we will have it!

But for today ya'll are just going to have to enjoy another Spunky Junky giveaway. Over the next few weeks I will also be showcasing a lot of NEW and EXCITING Spunky Junky accessories.

I love this houndstooth n' mustard heaband. It is so classy but yet it is so funky too!

Imagine what you would look like with this baby on your little noggin! That's right, you would look HOT!

 You know what to do:
*Become a fan of Spunky Junky on facebook (1 entry)
*Become a follower of the Spunky Junky blog (1 entry)
*Leave a comment below telling me what would be your dream Christmas gift (1 entry)

So while you are dreaming of a houndstooth headband I am going to go get a little bit of snuggle time with my Punk!

The giveaway is now closed!

{Tutorial Tuesday} Tissue Paper Christmas Trees...

So remember how I talked about hoarding? Well, if you don't remember check it out. I hoard a lot of things. One thing that I just can't break the habit of hoarding is tissue paper. I unwrap presents carefully so as not to rip the tissue paper. I then stack in nice, neat piles. The stack is tall...I mean very tall...and very annoying to Hunk. I just can't bring myself to throw it away. It's an addiction.

Sooooo, I figured out a way to put all that tissue paper to a good use.

 That's right! I made Christmas trees out of tissue paper, and it was soooo easy!
For this project you will need:
*tissue paper (Ten sheets for the large tree and six or eight sheets for the small trees)
*Styrofoam tree foams
*LOTS of hot glue

Once I had made a ba-gillion tissue paper flowers I then started from the bottom of the tree foam and began to glue them in place.

While doing this step I made sure to glue them close enough that I didn't see the styrofoam, but not so close that they overcrowded one another.

When I was finished I used the extra tissue flowers to fill in the bare spots! Note: You will see that I started off using polka dot paper, but I ran out...So when I started the blue tree above I mixed different colors of blue paper together to provide added texture. I am just that much of a genius ;)....and I will finish the polka dot tree, promise.

Fact: I am somewhat lazy. Okay, maybe I am not lazy, but I hate driving to the store. Sooo, when I ran out of styrofoam tree foams I decided to make my own. Easy, easy, and it will save you a ton of money. AND, since YOU will be covering it up, who cares what is underneath the tissue paper!

Note: I used a cup as the base because it has a curled lip and it was more sturdy then just using scrapbook paper....it also provided extra height to the tree.

I knew I wanted a variety of textures so for the green tree I cut  tissue paper in 1 1/2 inch wide strips and rolled them into rosettes. NOTE: occasionally place a dab of glue on the rosette as you roll so it stays together. Once I had finished making a few I would glue them to the ghetto, yet ingenius, tree form.

Didn't they turn out great!

And the price?

Styrofoam Tree form: $3.99

Tissue Paper: FREE

Paper cup tree forms: FREE

Time: 2.5 hours

Look: Supa' Stylin'

Hey! I'm not done!

Don't forget to check out this week's giveaway!!

{Feature Blog} Mommy Diaries

Jenna from the Mommy Diaries sent me these pictures of HER 15 minute canvas project.

Check her out and give her some of your good ole' bloggin' love! Check out there Halloween costumes as well! She was Flo, her husband was the Verizon Dude and her little Punk was the cutest little skeleton...freaking a-dorable!

Eight little things you might {not} want to know about me...

So a few days ago I woke to the pleasant surprise of a message from Tammy over at tt scraps. She awarded me, along with seven other blogs, The Stylish Blog Award. Ahhh, Tammy you are sweetheart, thanks so much for brightening my day!

Rumor has it that once you receive the award you are suppose to make a fool out of yourself by running around your yard in your undies singin'

"It's gettin' hot in hereeee, soooo take off all yo clothes..."

Jokes!

To "pay it forward" I was suppose to follow the criteria below, OBVIOUSLY  it is not nearly as fun as running around all Adam and Eve like;)

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

O.K. ya'll don't judge:

Things you may or may NOT want to know about me:
1. When I was a little girl I had a crush on Daniel Boone...weird.
2. I still sleep with my baby blanket...it's name is Yellow Blanky (Hunk calls it a pee rag) Fact: that is gross, and it is a lovely blanket that he is jealous of because of our long history together.
3. I love the smell of root cellars...you know the musty, dingy smell. Ahhhhhh amazing!
4. My first car was a 1970 Datsun station wagon that had a fish decal on the door.
5. I was a Nanny Slammer for many, many years. Don't know what that is....look it up...you may have a chuckle ;)
6. I once fell in the into the Gulf of Finland...during the winter...
7. Nothing is better on a cold day then dipping toast in hot chocolate...AND EATING IT!
8. Hunk had a crush on my little sis BEFORE me...little does she know that she passed up a great catch....SUCKA!!!!

Eight blogs that I have recently discovered...and secretly stalk/love/drool over/obsess about/wish I could be like them/want them to know how amazing they are to me:

Me and Jilly

Daybook

The Painted Hive

Blush and Bashful

Paisley Pink Polka Dots

Little Ditties

The Pretty Poppy

My Owl Barn

Check 'um out! Give 'um some love!

*Hey awardees don't forget to grab the Stylish Blog Award button*

{Tutorial Tuesday} Leather Clutch

So yesterday I gave you a small sneak peek at a new project I finished. I am so excited to show you this tutorial that I can hardly contain my bubbling excitement ;)

Find my chi, do some yoga, calm down.

Five minutes later...

O.K. excitement is under control.

Dilemma: Have you ever made something (e.i. dress, skirt, purse, whatever) and it didn't look quite as professional as you wanted it to look. You just knew that people would notice it was handmade. note: handmade is not bad...I mean this is a tutorial.

For instance, this purse:

 While, I was at home my Mom helped me make this beauty, I knew I wanted a cool clutch, but I didn't have time to make the inner lining and I didn't have the proper hardware to make a clutch that would pop open and shut. So she let me on a secret (that I will now share with you): use the hardware and lining of an old purse. GENIUS!

 First  find a old purse. My Mom picked this one up at a thrift store. This purse not only served as the pattern for the new purse, but the hardware and inner lining were used in a newly-updated clutch.

 Once we decided on a purse we then started to cut the hardware out. Be sure to not rip the inner lining while doing this step.

 It will start to look messy and a bit overwhelming, but don't be alarmed...it will all work out...I promise.

 This is what the hardware looked like that we removed for the white purse.

Keep this close because you will be using it very soon!

Once we  cut the hardware out, and removed the liner, we then turned the purse inside out and used it as a pattern.

So one of the reasons I was SOOOO excited about this clutch is because the leather that we used is actual Coach leather. That's right I made my purse from Coach leather. My dad, the saddlemaker, gets his leather from the same place as Coach. One day, he was telling me about it and when I got all giddy he said, "What's Coach"? After I was finally able to pick my jaw up off the floor I explained that Coach makes the best purses EVER.

 He still doesn't understand my excitement.

 ANYWAY, back to the tutorial. I knew I wanted to embellish the purse so I found a coordinating color that I liked and I cut out some flowers using a leather punch.

BEFORE, sewing the purse together we sewed the flowers to the turquoise leather.

Now, this may be the MOST IMPORTANT STEP. We laid the "old" cardboard that was inside the white purse on the new leather. We needed to know where the "slits" needed to be so we would have an accurate cut when it came time to insert the hardware back into the new purse.

understand?

This is what the slit should looked like. The size of the slit will depend on the width of your hardware.

 Once the slits were made a stitch went around the purse. ***Sew with 1/4" allowance around the outside.

We then, puckered the two botton ends...like this...

 And sewed across...like this...

This is what the clutch looked like once we puckered the ends. We did this so that the purse would have more depth inside. Simple. Easy.

We then trimmed off the ends.

IMPORTANT STEP #2: Once the leather had been sewed together we needed to insert the inner lining back in, in this step make sure to:

1. turn the leather inside out

2. turn the lining inside out

3. have the outside of the purse facing the inside of the lining.

Basically, you purse should look backwards right now.

Then sew the purse together.

 Now, that the purse is sewed together it will look completely WRONG. Don't panic. We picked the stitching out of one of the sides of the lining and did this....

We pulled the purse through the un-stitched lining...

Sewed the lining back together...

And then we went to work on our hardware. We took the hardware a part so we had two pieces.

Remember the slits we made earlier?  Then we pushed the hardware through the cuts.

This is what it looked like before we put the screw back in that attached the two pieces of hardware.

 We popped it open to make sure it worked...and it did! Yeah!

Now, I have a new clutch. Not only does it look great from the outside, but it looks amazing on the inside too!