Thankful Card

A card I forgot to share in November.

Or was it because I was embarrassed to share it?

One of those cards I tend to make and think afterwards

"What was I thinking? Eww, that's a redo!"

I should have left the swirl and leaf off.

Less is more many times ;)

The skeleton leaf was gifted to me by a friend.

I don't know why I glued it in the center!

The papers, ink, wreath image and thankful die cut

were all from Stampin' Up!

The swirly die cut is from Recollections/Michael's.

Thanks for looking =) 

Pieced Felt Polar Bear Ornaments

Two too cute polar bear ornaments 

made from tiny pieces of felt,

cut and hand stitched together.

The wee little Christmas trees on this sweater are stitched

Even the facial details are stitched on each bear

Oh my gosh,  I thought the beaded felt ornaments I shared previously took a long time to make and were difficult to see well. I worked on these two cuties for days ! Such small pieces and teeny tiny stitches to assemble them. I even skipped some of the beading details to save some time. So much work love went into these !

I hope my kids appreciate them one day :)

They were made with another unused kit I found at the same yard sale as the beaded felt snowflake ornament set and was dated 1987.

Anyone remember the days of price tags, 

before there were bar codes to scan ?

Also, check out what I believe to be 

the original price of just $1.44 on this kit !

Thanks for looking =) 

I'm entering my ornaments 

(stitched Christmas trees sweater) 

in the following challenges: 

Through The Craft Room Door

613 Avenue Create Anything Goes

Crafting By Designs

Fabric Scrap Ornaments

Fabric scrap ornaments made with an old

craft kit I picked up new in package,  second hand.

It was so old (1993) the needles were rusted to the fabric ! 

Otherwise in good shape so I put it to use =) 

Thanks for looking =)

Wood and Fabric Ornaments

Four old fabric scrap and woodsies ornament kits

that I finally, after all these years, made !

I really don't know why I never made them before.

I suppose because I moved away from general crafts to

all things paper crafting years ago.

 Plus, at the time I had two little kids.

that kept me busy, not as much time to craft.

I still have quite a little stash of Christmas crafts to make one day.....

The bases of these ornaments are nothing more than

a wood bead, a wood spool and a popsicle stick. 

I didn't think to take a photo of that part

before assembling them. 

Various scraps of fabric, and other embellishments

finish them off.

Thanks for looking =)

I'm entering my ornaments (angel) in the Anything Goes challenge at Crafting By Designs
and
Christmas Crafts All Year Round

Beaded Felt Ornaments

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I hate to admit it, but I have had this ornament kit for several years !
I found it at a yard sale and never took the time to make them.
Apparently the person that originally bought them didn't get around to making them either:
there was a price sticker on it, clearanced out to 50c in 1987!

I finally did make them this year. It's the first time I've done such a stitchery/beading project. They took a lot of patience and time. I'm guessing close to 12 hours total !!!!

As I was working on them, I was thinking to myself it would have been nice to have made them a few years back when I first bought them - and had better eyesight ;) My trifocals do not work for close up work, so I made them without wearing glasses.

I added the ribbon bow and hanger. I think I'm going to make a tiny tag with the year 2018 on it and maybe add a tiny jingle bell, too.  I know I have jingle bells somewhere. Things are a bit difficult to find sometimes since I've moved my crafty space so many times this past year and will be doing so again at years end.

I hope one day my kids will want these ornaments ...........

Anyone else remember the days of price tags, 

before there were bar codes to scan ?

Also, check out the original price of just $1.44 on this kit !

Thanks for looking =) 

I'm entering these in the following challenges:

http://useyourstuff.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-339-silver-and-gold.html

https://merrylittlechristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2018/12/mlccb-5-december-anything-christmas-goes.html

http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-anyting-goes-challenge-4th-december.html

https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2018/12/holiday-anything-goes.html

http://avenue613.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-216-anything-goes-optional.html

Oui Succulent Jar

My daughter was in a wedding not too long ago and kept the spray she carried.

She walked into my craft room with it in her hand the other day, asking me what could she do with it. As I was telling her "Maybe tie a bow on it, hang it on the door" she spied one of my empty Oui yogurt jars.

She picked it up asking "What is this for?" I replied that it actually had buttons in it
(that were scattered on my table at the time) for the time being, but I had other plans for it.

"Why?", I replied.

"Maybe I can cut the succulent and ribbon off of this and put it in the jar. Do you have rocks ? What about sand ?"

Oh,  my crafty heart fluttered to hear her say this !!!

"Why yes I do. Perfect idea !"

We finally made it yesterday. My Mom even showed up as we were finishing and offered a finger to help hold the bows as my daughter hot glued them in place!

She liked the bit of twine and the wooden heart I had on my Gratitude Tree Jar . She decided to leave the wood heart unpainted and stick it down inside the jar rather than hot glue it to the bows as I had done to mine. The other supplies include rocks from our rock garden outside the house, some old sand from my craft supplies and moss from my floral supplies. The succulent and ribbon were from the floral spray she carried as a bridesmaid in the wedding. I enjoyed helping as she needed it while she was being crafty and hope to do it again someday :)



BEFORE:

Since she didn't want the remaining greenery,

it is headed for my stash of

floral supplies to be reused one day.

Thanks for looking =)

DIY Gel Air Freshener Oui Jar

Another simple thing to do with empty glass jars 

(the cute little Oui yogurt jars in this sample)

is to make home made gel air fresheners !

I made some years ago for a Christmas bazaar using baby food jars.

This particular jar was hand painted to resemble a peppermint candy since

I used a peppermint scent, perfect for the season.

The glass was painted with acrylic craft paints, the indoor/outdoor glossy type.
It took three coats of the white to cover.

Red and white baker's twine, a snowflake die cut and red button finish it off.

Embellish the jar however you like: 
paint/etch/add die cuts/etc to the outside of the jar. 
I've not done it personally, but you could probably
try to tint the gel if leaving the glass clear. 
Maybe even add small items inside 
before pouring the gel ?

If giving as a gift, you will want to wrap plastic wrap 
around the top of it before gifting.

DIY Gel Air Freshener

-small clean glass jars
-2 cups distilled water
-1 oz. unflavored gelatin such as Knox (4 envelopes)
-2 tablespoons salt (or a splash of vodka) to deter mold growth
-fragrance    NOTE: I didn't include an exact amount 
because depending on the scent you are using, 
you may need to add more or less to your liking

Pour 1/2 cup of the distilled water into a glass mixing bowl, preferably one with a
spout to make it easier on yourself when pouring into the jars. 

Sprinkle the gelatin over the top of the water. Let sit while bringing the remaining 
1 1/2 cups of the distilled water with the salt in a saucepan to boiling.  
Stir until the salt is dissolved. 

Immediately pour the hot water and dissolved salt mix into the bowl with the gelatin.

Stir well until the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved.

Gently add in the fragrance, stirring until well mixed.

Carefully pour the liquid into the clean jars. 

Once they are totally cool, decorate then cover tightly with plastic wrap until your are ready to gift/use them. 

NOTE:  you can decorate the jars ahead of time, but be aware that depending on what you use on them, the warm gel inside may effect the decorations -
or there is the chance of spilling the gel as you are pouring. When I made these types of crafts years ago, I painted mine first. I painted my jars with the indoor/outdoor type paint then "set" the paints in the oven according to the manufacturers instructions. The gel air freshener mix was then added with a pour spout mixing bowl to the cool, painted jars with no problems. 

Thanks for looking =) 

Potpourr"Oui" Jar

Here is a super easy way to reuse a Oui yogurt jar
(or any jar):

clean and dry well, fill with potpourri , add a lace doily
tied with ribbon/twine and embellish (if desired) to the top.

Potpourri jars are so 1980's , I know ;) 

Thanks for looking ! 

Bed Spring Fleece Christmas Tree

(my daughter said this looks like those things in a car wash!)

I saved some springs from an old old mattress

last year to try to do something with them.

I have several ideas, this being the first.

I'm not really sure that I like it though.......

I had this bright green fleece leftover from a project years ago.

It was actually a small, cheap blanket that I cut up.

I started with keeping the "branches" sparse on the tree,

but it looked quite silly, so I added more.

Had they been thinner cotton plaid fabric,

it would've looked better (I've seen bed spring trees like that).

I do have that type of fabric in my stash, 

but wanted to try to work with this fleece.

Honestly, I wanted to make loops of the fleece

and attach it to a cone shaped piece of foam.

That sort of thing can't be found locally though,

so I decided to experiment with the bed springs.

Simply cut strips of fabric and tie a basic knot around the 

wire, alternating the direction that you tie it in.

Hot glue on pom poms, colorful buttons, etc to decorate.

I used plastic beads since I didn't have any

pom poms in my craft supplies stash. 

The star on top was made with two pieces of paper punched

card stock glued back to back with a strip of card stock between.

The strip is wrapped around the top of the wire to keep the star in

place and standing upright. 

I had thought about making a bunch of these to take to 

our annual family get together, possibly taking pom poms

so each family could decorate a tree, Then I thought better of it,

that could be a messy project so I think I'll skip this silly idea. 

Thanks for looking =) 

Crackle Painted Reindeer

Today's project is another "repurposing" of an old item

that I made from a destined for the trash piece of home decor.

We don't know where it came from, but my daughter came across

it when she was moving and wanted to throw it away or donate it.

I knew this plain old wooden deer shape had potential

and that it wouldn't take much to update it, so I took it :) 

A little crackle paint then hot gluing

on of some greenery and twine. 

Ta-dah, greatly improved !
(I think my daughter wants it back now)

This project is my design team project for the 

Love To Craft Challenge blog.

We are a month long anything crafty goes challenge.

 Share what crafty project you are working on this month with us!

HOW TO

In addition to the item you want to crackle. you'll need:

two contrasting colors of acrylic craft paint

a crackling medium

wide paint brush

decorative embellishments

hot glue

Optional:

antiquing medium and old rag

brown paint and an old toothbrush to splatter with

(I didn't end up using them on this project, but have in the past)

I've had the supplies pictured in my craft hoard for quite some time. I assume they would still be available but perhaps by different manufacturers

I removed the ribbon bow and wiped the wood down well. Since it had the brown stain already, I decided to crackle over that. Normally you would paint a base coat of a contrasting color to your top coat when crackling.

Apply a nice even coat of the crackling medium and allow to dry thoroughly before the next step. It has a nice glossy sheen to it when wet.

Once the crackle medium has dried (notice it looks flat now), apply your top coat of paint.

NOTE: you want to apply the paint in one direction and only one layerusing a wide paint brush. Do not go back over it and try not to overlap the edges. Going back over it ruins the look. The crackle is almost immediate, depending on the weather conditions. The thicker the layer of paint, the wider the crackle lines. The thinner the layer of paint, the finer the crackle lines. You may want to experiment first to see how it reacts and what you like.

Crackle painting is a fairly quick and easy way to update a piece of home decor.

 It's also a fun technique, watching the paint react with the crackle medium!

This is a thick layer of cream paint over the crackle medium , creating larger cracks. 

I painted the opposite side with a thinner layer of paint to show the difference it makes
 versus using a thick layer of paint.

Once the crackled paint dries, you can rub on antiquing medium . You could also splatter it with an old toothbrush lightly dipped in paint to create a fly specked look.

Hot glue on your embellishments and if you wish to make it an ornament, add a hanger of some sort.

That's all  there is to it ! Have fun finding things to crackle !

Happy Holidays ! 

I'm entering my project in the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes December
https://merrylittlechristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2018/12/mlccb-5-december-anything-christmas-goes.html


Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Anything Goes December
https://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.com/2018/12/december-challenge-anything-goes.html

Crafting By Designs Christmas
https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2018/11/get-ready-for-christmas-november-edition.html

Through The Craft Room Door Anything Goes


Thanks for looking =)