It’s here and I couldn’t be more tickled!
Some of my project ideas are in this latest Nov/Dec issue of Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine.
First of all, I have to say everyone there was so great to work with – and so much fun, too. They’re really smart…I worked some on the gift wrap station (pg 46) and they added some things to it that had never even occurred to me!
Another project that I worked on is at their website: the outdoor snowman. My idea was to take a piece of fencing large enough to paint a family of snowpeople, with a place at one of them so that you could stand behind and look as though you are one of the snowpeople, for funny photographs. I got the idea from those neighborhoods where all the residents have those signs in their yard that say “Merry Christmas from the ____ Family”, so I thought that would be fun, plus adding the circle to show your face in one place. What the magazine group decided, though, was to cut out one snowman from plywood and that makes it so much more simple and fast for anyone to accomplish – and store away. Really nice.
In the Chanukah room makeover (pages 40-41), I did the Star of David / snowflake paper craft wreaths – which would work with Christmas, Chanukah, or any winter holiday. Just spraypaint it any color that works with your decor, or keep it the natural brown color. I’m thinking about hanging some of these from the porch ceiling this year.
The dreidel pad game idea came about so kids can have their own place to play. I actually made it a two-sided pad so they can paint one side if they like, and play a game I came up with on the other, chalkboard-painted side. The idea was to play dreidel traditionally, but to also keep up with a score for each player depending on where in the bullseye shape the dreidel fell. Anything to win more chocolate gelt!
One thing that I can’t find explained on the website is the menorah topiary that’s on the coffee table – you can see it a little bit in the screenshot pic above. For that one, I took one of those closet organizer wire corner pieces from Lowe’s, cut off any tines that didn’t make the menorah shape, added little protective nubs to the menorah tips so it isn’t scratchy (those are in the closet section of the store too), spraypainted it silver, then potted it with ivy (they used rosemary for the photoshoot).
I really love everything they did – it was a fantastic experience – and I hope other people have fun or get inspired by what’s in the magazine’s pages. If you try any of the projects in the magazine, you can vote and comment on them at the website too.
Love these other ideas in this issue:
Cork toppers on page 21…
Wreath chandelier for the porch on page 27
Twinkling towers using tomato cages on page 28
The burlap background above the mantel on page 37
…so-so-so nice. If you don’t already, you can get Creative Ideas sent to your home at no charge by signing up here – and if you need this holiday issue, it’s available at the local Lowe’s stores too. I posted this on my Facebook wall (thanks for all the sweet comments!), and if you’re on FB too, you can look Creative Ideas up there also.