Keepsake Ornaments

I spent the weekend making our keepsake ornaments. Every year I like to make photo ornaments for myself and Grandma. At the last minute I found this great tutorial to make snowmen photo ornaments and since I was already planning to make the hand print snowmen I decided to make my Mom a set of a dozen new ornaments.Here’s my set, I just LOVE them! Now I need some fancy ribbon to tie on the loops.Here is my Mom’s set. I included some plain round glitter ornaments and some embellished cube glittered ornaments. I can’t wait for her to see them!
I loved making all these ornaments and the kids liked helping a little too. I have a ton of packages to wrap and a special surprise planned for this week, it’s going to be a busy week!!!

One Week of Pre-Christmas Crafting Left

I haven’t put my tree up yet and I have about 10 projects that absolutely have to get done. I did finish these felt and embroidered ornaments.What is everyone else working on for the holidays?
Have a super crafty (and productive) weekend!!!

Glitter Ornaments (and 1 Wreath) with Friends

Today was a crafting with friends day at my house. We decided to make the glittered ornaments that are all over Pinterest. I had Future floor polish (instead of Mop and Glo) and plenty of clear ornaments and glitter.
This is serious crafting! As you can see Lisa (oobbles) had to be different and make a wreath like we made last year (minus yarn balls). The glitter ornaments are super fun and easy to make, we all wanted to rush out to get more ornaments and glitter.
Here are some of the finished ornaments, Sheena’s on the left and Kashoan’s (kraftykash)on the right. We had good luck with every glitter we tried, but you do get the best coverage with super fine glitter. Here are mine all ready to be embellished further, I’m thinking monograms and snowflakes.
FYI there is a rainbow of glitter all over my house!

Conversation Heart Ornaments

Nothing says Valentine’s Day to me like conversation hearts. I remember sorting through them and reading each one. Where I work they have a Christmas tree that they leave up year round and they are always looking for new ornaments to decorate it, so I decide to make some conversation heart ornaments using basic salt dough.

Basic Salt Dough Recipe:

1 c. salt

2 c. flour

3/4 – 1 c. warm water

Mix salt, flour, and water together until a large ball forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface. The better you knead the dough the nicer the dough. Roll out 1/4” – 1/2” thick and cut shapes with cookie cutters. Place on parchment covered baking sheet and bake 3 – 4 hours at 200 F. I have a collection of different alphabet stamps and I used a set of those to make the words. Make sure to really press the stamp into the dough, I found that it was hard to get a good letter impression without printing the edge of my stamps too. If you look closely you can see the imprints on the hearts on the right hand side.

The salt dough dries really well in the oven and the final texture really reminds me of the real conversation hearts. Once they were dry I painted them. I think that if I made them again I would tint the dough and then I would just have to paint the letter, plus they would have been a softer pastel color like the real hearts. I need to seal these really well to preserve them and then string them on ribbon and they’ll be ready for the tree. These would also be cute with a hole on each side and hung as a banner. This was a really fun, simple project that I think I will revisit again, maybe next year we’ll make monogram ornaments for all the teachers.

Holiday Photo Ornaments

I have been giving my Mom a new ornament every year with a holiday picture of the kids, but with three kids it’s getting hard to fit them all on one tiny little store bought ornament. I can’t believe it never occurred to me that making the ornaments would be even better, duh, I’ll blame it on the crazy holiday season.

When I came across the Juice top photo ornaments on The Crafting Chicks I made a mental note to make them for next year. After taking this years holiday photos on the 23rd. I decided that I needed to make those ornaments for my Mom this year. I went to the craft store on Christmas Eve and I drank 6 quarts of juice and I have to say it was worth it!I love them sooooooo much, I have to drink some more juice so I can make my own set. We do drink a lot of juice here, but not the kind with the metal lids.

The little notes on the back are genius, they are going to be so much fun to read in about 10 years! I’m going to have to make something like this every year. BTW, I’ve already decided I’m using their block ornament for next year!

Greeting Card Ornaments

I know that I’m not the only one who saves every card that has ever been sent to me. Cards are expensive and really pretty, but hidden away in a box no one has the chance to enjoy them. Go get you box of cards, I’ll wait.

You’ll need:

a greeting card, something round (I used a glass, a fancy circle cutter would be awesome), glue, a small diameter hole punch, crochet thread, and a small crochet hook.

Decide what part of the picture on the card you want to use. I decided to use the tree and the Merry Christmas text. You can also use the words from the inside or other paper for the back. This particular card was from the place we bought our gutters and the inside text wasn’t ornament worthy. I used a glass for my template, but anything you can trace around will work, and don’t feel obligated to used something round, ovals and other shapes would be great too.Cut out your shapes and glue them together, wrong sides in. It isn’t essential, but it keeps the two pieces from sliding around while you’re working with them. This is also a great time to neaten you edges if they don’t match up.Use a small sized hole punch to evenly punch holes around the edge. I just eyeballed it and tried to make it fairly even.Start crocheting! I did three single crochet stitches (sc) into each hole in the first round, slip stitch into first stitch. The second round I sc into every stitch, slip stitch to join the begining of the round, and for the third round I chained 5, *skipped one stitch, double crochet in the next stitch, chain two*, repeat from * all the way around and slip stitch to forth chain. Then I chained about 25 and slip stitched into the first stitch again to make the hanging loop. If you have any questions about this pattern just ask, I’m still working on my pattern writing skills. I added a ribbon bow to finish it.Here’s mine with the ones my Mom made, she makes scallops around the edge of hers. This would be a great way to try out some new edging stitches.

I love how easy and inexpensive this project is! I really need to dig into my stash of cards. These are easy to mail and they also make great package decorations.

Felt Peppermint Ornament

I found this great tutorial on Pink Suede Shoes for a felt peppermint ornament and fell in love! So simple, but so fun. I thought it would be a great little something to give all the teachers, assistants, bus drivers, etc. for the holidays.

The one on the bottom right was made using the full sized pattern. I wanted to stretch my glitter felt a little farther, so for the others I reduced the pattern to 65%. I also saved my cut out triangle pieces and made reverse peppermints (twice as many ornaments!!!). I used rick rack for the hangers and finished all the edges with a zigzag. Hand sewing would have be great, but I’m getting a little pressed for time. When stitching the edges I stitched until there was a few inches to go, shoved some stuffing in the opening and kept sewing.

I found this tutorial via Chickabug and there was also a link to the most fabulous two color felt pinecones. I was so excited about them, I was even undeterred when I had to give my name, email, and address and opt out of four different newsletters to get the free template because those pinecones were going to be so awesome. I don’t know where I went wrong, I think the directions were a bit vague or maybe I missed something. It’s from the Family Circle magazine, maybe the actual magazine has better instructions (anyone have a copy? let me know). Mine is sad, and it looks better in the pictures than real life and this is also after I fixed it (as in stopped following the directions and used some glue). Way too much cutting and time invested for such a piece of crap. I would not recommend it and I have to say I am not likely to try one of their free patterns again. However, the tip about ironing freezer paper to you felt to make it easier to trace you pattern on was genius, it’s so hard to trace a nice line on felt, I’ll definitely use that one again.

I have some more felt ornaments to work on this weekend, I’ll share those next week. Have a super crafty weekend!

Nightmare Before Christmas Fan Art

I have recently made two separate Nightmare Before Christmas projects.  First was the set of polymer clay ornament, featuring the many looks of Jack Skellington.  Here they are before baking.

I printed out my inspiration, divided my clay into 12 equally sized balls and started shaping.  I decided to add wire loops before baking, so I wouldn’t have to drill and glue them in later.  I used chain nosed pliers to make loops and then left about an inch long tail that I wrapped around a paint brush, it looked like a corkscrew with a loop on the end.  And then I just screwed them into the soft clay, believe me, these loops aren’t coming out!

I baked them according to the package directions, base coated them with white spray paint, and then painted them with acrylic craft paint.  I finished them by dipping them into triple thick glaze and letting them hang dry.  I had to wipe the drips on them for a few minutes, but it was worth it for the super shiny finish.

I also made a bottle cap charm bracelet using images from the movie.  I did a google image search and then picked out several images to use.  The key to getting the image the perfect size is using a 1” hole punch.  I then glued the images inside the bottle caps and coated the tops with diamond glaze.  The diamond glaze gives a resin like finish without the chemicals and toxic smell, but it is not as durable as resin.

I was even lucky enough to find some Tim Burton styled focal beads.  It is definitely a chunky bracelet, but that what I love about charm bracelets.

I need some more Diamond Glaze now, looks like I’ll have to head to Ben Franklins, the only store in town that carries it!  Halloween is fast approaching, get to crafting!

New Tree of Life Ornaments

I've been in the mood to make some more tree of life ornaments, maybe it is the approach of spring or probably just crafting ADD.I love the asymmetrical square ones, but I am almost out of square bases(I don't think I will be able to find more of this clearance item).This one is truly one of a kind, the deep aqua beads are from my gigantic stash of beads and I have no idea where they came from, so I can't buy more.

Being a craft supply hoarder can be difficult, finding just what you need in your stash is awesome until you realize you've had it for at least five years and you can't buy more, but it does make some definite one of a kind items. I guess there will aways be new discoveries and hopefully it helps my work evolve, so the lesson is: if you like it make sure to get it now, supplies are limited!

Christmas Pajamas

This year I decided that instead of spending $20 plus per outfit for my children for a Christmas outfit that would maybe be worn a couple of times and for pictures was a complete waste. I thought Christmas pajamas would be cute and practical, (they do wear pajamas daily). I used Simplicity pattern #9853 view c to make these one piece jammies. I was looking for fleece fabric in blue with some snowflakes, but when I saw this candy cane striped fabric I knew that it was perfect! I made them a size to big, so they could wear them for a couple of years. I like how they turned out and the pattern was fairly easy to sew. I did not like the instructions for installing the zipper and I will do that differently when I make this pattern again.

Every year I make Christmas picture ornaments for the grandparents. I like to find a different kind each year and this year they will be heart shaped (if you want to make your own I found my ornament frames here). I normally have these made up and give them for Christmas gifts, but this year I am behind and so everyone will be getting a post Christmas gift ornament.

Poison Tree

I recently purchased some glass pearls from someone online to make more of my tree of life ornaments. The ones that I specifically needed were grey, but while I was ordering I decided to order some black ones. They arrived and the black pearls were not what I expected, I expected a "pearl" finish and these were just glass beads painted black, but I am going to use them!!! I present my Poison Tree Ornament.

Inspired by the poem A Poison Tree by William Blake

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,

Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine.

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole

When the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

________________________________________

I also made a lovely breast cancer awareness tree of life ornament for my mother for Christmas. I think that she will really like it, she has been hinting that she wanted one of the icy tree of life ornaments and when I saw these rose quartz chips in the store I decided they would be perfect for her.

I guess Christmas is getting pretty close, I should probably make those pajamas next...

I'm Back!

...and mid November turned into mid December. We got moved in and the task of making everything fit has been a challenge. Half of our stuff is in storage and it seems like everything that I want to do involves a trip to the storage unit. I also managed to lose my pasta machine that I use to make all of my mokume gane ornaments. I have looked everywhere for that thing!!! I finally just broke down and bought another one, thank you hobby lobby for 40% off coupons, so I'm sure it will turn up soon :). I am using our kitchen table as my crafting area and it is quite messy, but I'm creating, I can't be neat too!My tree of life ornaments have been doing well on etsy and that has been keeping my busy with trips to the post office and for more supplies and it has been great!

I have been in the knitting mood and have been knitting my days away. I just finished this cute town and country capelet.

I used Epais yarn instead of homespun, partly because I loved the orange and green color combo and partly because it was a huge skein and there would be less weaving in. I also went up to size 13(US) needles to even get close to gauge. I did try the fringe, but I felt that it was too bulky (I thought that super fluffy fringe just below my ample bosom was extremely unflattering) and decided to leave it plain.

I had so much fun knitting that I decided to knit a cowl for my father in law for Christmas. I got the most luxurious 100% silk yarn and am progressing nicely. We had no idea what to get for him this year, so I am hoping that this will be perfect. It's done in 4 X 4 ribbing and, as you can see, knit in the round.

I am also making several other gifts (salt dough ornaments, holiday pajamas, a special tree of life ornament, and possibly some aprons) and I'll be sharing those soon!

Beaded Tree of Life Ornament

I have long admired the tree of life pendants that I've seen on etsy and I thought that they would make good Christmas ornaments. This is my first attempt at any sort of wire wrapping and I can see how it would be addicting.
I really like how it turned out, the two different colors of glass pearls really give it more interest and depth. I will definitely be making more of these, maybe I could use up some of my gigantic bead stash or maybe I could buy some new pretties to play with.

Polymer Clay Pendants Galore!

I have a serious back log of pendants to sand! I have been trying to get 6 to 12 sanded a day to catch up. Here's what I've done so far.

These are all mokume gane all nicely sanded and buffed, just waiting to be drilled. I am saving these for the fall craft shows I will be attending.

These are made from slices of automatically wrapped canes (bullseye canes). I really like the "retro" feel of these.

Here are the backs, I just used the leftover clay to make marbled sheets for the backs to make the pendants double sided.

And this is my masterpiece, a Balinese filigree ornament. I really enjoy this technique, although it is very time consuming. My crafting ADD kicks in and I just have to fill every gap! I have already started another ornament and I have several more pendants waiting to be baked.

I love polymer clay.