Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  We are still in beautiful, snowy Sunriver as my cousin and her new husband are house-sitting up in Portland.  Some of our friends are coming down today and Ben's cousin came down yesterday.  We are going to have a fun filled night with a yummy halibut dinner and lots of champagne!  I'm going to have to find projects to do with champagne corks!  Haha.

As I reminisce over 2010, I completed many of the projects I wanted to do.  There is still a list of things I want to try out for next year.  Without further ado, here is my to-do list for 2011:

Find these adorable letterpress To Do Lists on Etsy

• Wooden frame.  While searching for owl decorations for Audrey's birthday, I came across this frame at the Powell's Books for Home and Garden store on SE Hawthorne.  I thought it was so cute and would be fairly easy to make.  I would collect twigs from our yard (we have TONS of huge trees that dump sticks and twigs during the windy east county storms).  Ben could use his circular saw to cut them into 1 inch or less pieces, and then I would hot glue then to a frame (preferably one found on clearance at Michael's or Target).  I would give it a light sand and could even brush on a coat of polyurethane or just keep it bare.  I thought this idea would be cute with corks, too.  My friend Bailey made a huge cork board with the ends of corks and it turned out so cool.  I'll have to get a picture of it from her.

Notice the cute owl accessories around the frame!

• While on a mission to find owl ornaments for Audrey's birthday (I know, I'm obsessed) I ventured over to Anthropologie and saw this cool circle garland.  It was made out of light blue paper, music sheets, and was sewed together with white thread.  I thought about making one for Audrey's birthday, using this tutorial from The Pleated Poppy, but I just didn't have time.  I do have a 2 3/4" circle punch and a 1" circle punch, which would make this project really easy.  I might just do it for Nathan's 5th birthday in February.  

• Tile Coasters.  I wanted to make these from All Things Heart and Home using cheap ceramic tiles from Georgie's Clay and Ceramics, where I took some free teacher classes and made these little leaf beads, and also the left-over mosaic glass tiles from our bathroom remodel.  I would just need to buy a little grout, but I think this would be a cool, easy project and would make an awesome gift for someone.

• Fingerprint Art.  This next project I thought would be really cute for Nathan to make for his grandparents.  It came from Tutus and Turtles.  I would choose paint colors to match each grandparent's decor, so it wouldn't be too out of place in their homes.  I love how the child who made these signed his name on the bottom, like real art!  Art canvases are on sale at JoAnn's right now, so I may have to go stock up to get ready for Christmas next year!

• Mod Podge Hand Trees.  This project is sooooo cool and I can't wait to try it.  At Second Street came up with this awesome project because she was sick of ugly kid art.  I would gladly hang this at my house!  Again, I might be heading over to JoAnn's for those 50% off canvases! 

• Last but not least, Rice Therapy Bags, from Sew, Mama, Sew!  I thought these would make nice gifts for pregnant friends or even good prizes for baby shower or bridal shower games.  You could make them in a variety of colors and scents.  I know I am hosting a bridal shower and two baby showers this spring, so I may have to whip some of these up!

So that's it.  My not too long To-Do list for 2011.  I'm sure I will find some more awesome projects and even make up a couple of my own as the year goes on.  Keep reading to see what I try and how it all turns out.  And if you leave a nice comment, I might just make one for you! :)