DIY Mid Century Christmas Putz Houses

It's that time of year again, and this year we've got some pretty sweet DIY projects headed your way. We're super excited to share this one with you– inspired by our trip to LA and Palm Springs this summer, we took the classic Christmas 'putz houses' and gave 'em a modern, mid century twist!

Now before you freak out and say, 'Gosh... you're insane for cutting and building these mini houses... get a life already!' We'll partially agree in saying there could have been a better way of spending our time than spending a day making these houses, but on the other hand– these are freaking adorable and we reject your judgement, hah!

The best part about these is that there are templates online that you can print out to make whatever style house you want. Heck, go ahead and build an entire modern little village if you're feeling up for it! (*Side note, this woman is amazing and took the time to upload a bunch of different styles, so check 'em out!)

Um, look at this adorable little A-frame. We'll be moving in in 3-2-1...

These are simple to build once you have the template. We traced and cut ours out of the backs of old cereal boxes– cardboard sturdy enough to stand up without flopping over, but not so thick that you can't cut or fold without freaking out and throwing it across the room.

Mini bottle brush trees make anything look adorable and festive AF, so we definitely planted them with every putz house. For a more modern look, get some neon-colored trees, or just stick with the classic evergreen, cause it's Christmas.

For a little extra touch, we covered the backside of the 'windows' with some tracing paper, and placed a battery operated tea light inside each house for that cozy Christmas glow.

Adorable, right?!

Of course we made a mini paper car. Gotta get places, am I right?

We can't all be lucky enough to live in Palm Springs, but at least we can pretend with these lil' putz houses. Here's to the start of another holiday season! 

Make sure you share your DIY's with us if you try them using #rayandablog– can't wait to see what you all come up with!

DIY WINTER CAT ORNAMENT

It's week two of our Christmas DIY, which means we're almost halfway through December! If you didn't already know we are as crazy as crazy cat ladies get, minus the home full of cats. To show our appreciation to our felines we made a Christmas ornament purrfect for any cat lover.

M A T E R I A L S

+ Open front plastic ornament
+ Cotton balls
+ Glue
+ Mini cat figurine
+ Spray paint
+ Mini bottle brush trees
+ Glitter
+ Twine or ribbon

S T E P   O N E

Get your cat figurine and spray paint the color of your choice, we chose gold! Apply a couple coats and let dry in between. Choose a bright, poppy color for a retro or modern Christmas feel, or a metallic for a more classic holiday look.

S T E P   T W O

Pull apart a couple cotton balls for the fluffy snow and lay them inside the ornament to make sure it fits nicely. Apply glue inside the ornament at the bottom and press down the cotton on top, let dry.

S T E P   T H R E E

While the cat is drying, glue the mini bottle brush trees inside the ornament on top of the cotton. You might even want to pull apart the cotton to make an opening so they're secured to the bottom of the ornament.

S T E P   F O U R

Glue the cat on top of the snow. Depending on how heavy the figurine is you will want to dig it deeper into the cotton so it doesn't fall over, or create a small opening like you did for the mini trees to secure to the bottom of the ornament.

S T E P   F I V E

Sprinkle some festive glitter onto the cotton for a super fun, sparkly holiday touch. Don't forget to tie your favorite twine or ribbon to the top of the ornament!

We couldn't have done this DIY without the help of Rachel's cat, Butternut, who kept us on our toes while he proceeded to play with literally everything on the table– such a curious lil guy! Follow us on Instagram @rayandablog for more updates and fun!

#meowychristmas

DIY CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

To start off the month of December we made this little Christmas countdown for your home! All the supplies can be found at your local craft store and you may already have most of them in your craft drawers. We stood gushing over this adorable little wooden house smack in the middle of AC Moore, we were that excited. You can even customize the little house any way you want! We decided to keep the house in its nat-ur-al wooden state.

M A T E R I A L S

+ Wood house

+ Two wood blocks

+ Spray paint

+ Paint pen

+ Baker's twine 

+ Scrapbook paper

+ Scissors

S T E P   O N E

Spray paint the blocks and let dry in between coats. Apply two or three coats. Let fully dry.

S T E P   T W O

Start by cutting out triangles from scrapbook paper and space it out to say "Days til Christmas." Write a letter on each triangle and glue onto the baker's twine. Let dry. And let it be know– mini is better!

S T E P   T H R E E

Glue the mini garlands onto the wooden house. (See? It's adorable.)

S T E P   F O U R

After the blocks are fully dry, using the paint pen write on the numbers "0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5" on the sides of one block and "0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8" onto the sides of the second block.

Set the blocks into the wooden house and you have yourself a Christmas countdown to display! We would love to see how you customize your own countdown. Tag us on Instagram @rayandablog

Keep an eye out for more Christmas crafts coming your way every week! We're getting realllll crafty this month, get ready...

#christmascountdown

DIY PUMPKIN PIE GARLAND

Since we're in full swing preparing for Thanksgiving this Thursday we've put together a super simple DIY to add to your family party decor. It takes a handful of supplies and only about 10 minutes to make. Everyone loves pumpkin pie, so why not make it a garland? You can even jazz it up using different ribbons or textured paper for this– Get creative!

M A T E R I A L S

+ Orange card stock

+ White pom-poms

+ Twine 

+ Scissors

+ Glue

S T E P   O N E

Cut out a pie slice shape on the card stock and use this piece as a template to make sure they are the same size. Depending on how long you would like the garland cut out as many pie slices as you would like!

S T E P   T W O

Glue a white pom-pom to each pie slice, let dry.

S T E P   T H R E E 

Cut a long piece of twine and glue the back of the pie slices onto the twine. Let dry and BAM... instant Thanksgiving decor!

Have any fun decorations that you're making this week? We would love to see them! Tag @rayandablog on Instagram to share them with us!

#extracoolwhipplease

DIY Mini Pumpkins (and a giveaway!)

It's just something about this time of year that makes us want to buy all the pumpkins. During October it's easy to spend more money on said pumpkins than on food. It's not sad– it's for the blog folks...

Our mission– take all the cool pinned ideas we've seen and put our own twist on them! And let's face it... no one really wants to dump out pumpkin guts, so these are all no cutting-no gluing-sewing-no crying-required.

A little bit of spray paint goes a long way. That's the easiest way to transform your pumpkin from mehhh to glam. Stick on some letter stickers, and you've reached a whole new level my friend. 

Sharpies are among the best inventions ever known to mankind. With a little imagination and a steady hand, (hold on the coffee before you do these, we learned the hard way) you'll have a killer customized pumpkin in no time at all!

We're also hosting a little giveaway– 3 lucky winners will each receive one of these customized pumpkins from yours truly, but you have to...

1. Follow us on Instagram (@rayandablog)

2. Comment on our post (this is where we'll pull your name!) 

3. Like us on Facebook! And we love your comments, so send them our way!

Got it? We can't wait to see your pumpkin makeovers, and select our winners! You have until next Wednesday, October 26 to enter!

#paintyopumpkin

NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY

 

Get out your pen and ink, it’s National Handwriting Day! (Bonus points if you have a quill and inkwell.)

Yes, this is a thing. In fact, WIMA (Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association) made it an official day to celebrate the art of the handwritten gesture. "Though computers and e-mail play an important role in our lives, nothing will ever replace the sincerity and individualism expressed through the handwritten word." —David H. Baker, WIMA's Executive Director. We couldn’t agree with this statement even more.

Check out some of these handwritten samples we’re swooning over:

We’re all about sending handwritten letters and cards through snail mail. So, get out a writing utensil and write a friend or loved one a letter! Everyone loves receiving something in the mail no matter how big or small.

#handwrittenisbetter 

Photo 1: http://vsco.co/tylrhufm/grid/1 
Photo 2: https://www.instagram.com/thelovelydrawer/
Photo 3: https://www.instagram.com/spoiltbytes/
Photo 4: https://www.instagram.com/paulaandwaffle/ 
Photo 5: https://www.instagram.com/aawizzzy/

NEW YEAR'S HOPES AND GOALS

We can’t believe that 2015 is already coming to an end as we’re getting ready to welcome in 2016. This past year we both graduated college, Ray got engaged and started her new job post college and A finally hit the West coast, went to too many concerts, and got a new cat! Things have been crazy, but good!

We’re both excited for the New Year and what is to come, but instead of striving for resolutions which we forget in a week or two, we have some New Year's hopes and goals.

FOR US PERSONALLY

Ray
+ Stay grateful — Life is never perfect and goes exactly the way I want it to, but there is so much to be thankful for everyday. It's not a bad life, just an off day.
+ Explore! My goal will be to travel somewhere new once a year when I am married. I love seeing new sights and taking in new environments. First stop (hopefully) Montana!
+ Stay calm — I need to remember that making a mistake isn't the end of the world. Each mistake is the opportunity to learn and grow from it.

A

+ Live more purposefully — to really think about why I do what I do, and do everything to the fullest!

+ Travel more! There’s so much to see out there, and so little time (and money), but it's possible, and something I want to strive to do more of.

+ Invest more into friendships — so easily overlooked, but oh so important!

FOR THE BLOG

+ Expand and grow our audience to more awesome readers like you!
+ Spread the word about more local businesses.
+ Support and get to know more bloggers!

FOR OTHERS

+ Show more love. No matter where you’re from, who you are, what you believe, everyone is worth so much more than we can imagine. 
+ Embrace creativity! Whether it’s writing, making art and music, cooking— let your creative juices run wild, it’s good for you!
+ Have compassion. It is so easy to get caught up in life and think about what is best for ourselves. If we just took more time to acknowledge others and be willing to help, the world could be a brighter place.

Now that we’ve shared our hopes and goals for the New Year we would love to hear from you about yours!

#freshstart

Photo: http://vsco.co/temicoker/

CHRISTMAS JAMS

So, tomorrow is Christmas, and it's supposed to be way way warmer than we’re used to in southeast PA. Since we haven't had any snow this season, we have relied on Christmas albums to get us in the holiday spirit. Here’s a list of our favorite Christmas albums that really get us in the festive mood!

  
Let it Snow Baby, Let it Reindeer - Relient K

Christmas Eve and Other Stories - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Songs for Christmas - Sufjan Stevens

A Very She & Him Christmas - She & Him

That's Christmas to Me - Pentatonix

What are your favorite Christmas songs and albums? We’d love some new tunes to add to our holiday playlist for next year!   

#christmassingalong