Friday, November 15, 2019

Easy Clay Angels

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Welcome to the 5th annual 12 Days of Holiday Ideas event, hosted by Shirley of Intelligent Domestications  and  Erlene of My Pinterventures Between Nov. 11th and December 6th there will be hundreds of new ideas shared by over 55 Co-host bloggers! 

 It's Day Three - Holiday Kid Activities and I'm sharing a fun kid's activity on making easy clay angels!

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 Go here to see our kick-off collection of Holiday ideas as well as all of this years talented participating DIY and Foodie Blogs. Download this years November and December calendars with all of the topics and dates so you can make plans to watch for ideas!
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Easy Clay Angels
Kids love playing with clay, so why not get them crafting this holiday season by showing them how to create adorable angel ornaments using two simple cookie cutters. A circle and a heart! You won't believe how easy the angel is to make!  And the best part, instead of an ornament, the angel can also be used as a topper for Christmas presents or given as keepsakes to family and friends. 

Materials:
Air Dry Clay
Circle and Heart Cookie Cutters
Rolling Pin
Parchment Paper
Crochet Doily (dollar store)
Stamp
Dull knife
Acrylic Paint/brush - white
Glitter
Wire for hanging
Let's get started by rolling a small amount of clay into a ball and then smoothing it out thin using a rolling pin. Kids love doing things like this!
Next, cut out a circle using the cookie cutter and then do the same with the heart cookie cutter, too! (not shown)
To create a texture in the clay, lay the crochet doily on top of the clay circle and heart and press the rolling pin over them  .  .  .
creating a lovely impression from the doily. Watch how fascinated the kids will be doing this! 
 Kids can also personalize the angels by using different kinds of stamps like this snowflake stamp, too!
Next,  fold over the circle sides, overlapping into a triangular shape that's narrow at the top and flairs out at the bottom, for the body. This is so easy for kids! Just fold one side and then the other, overlapping!

And then make wings with the heart by .  .  .

taking the dull side of a knife (adults might need to help with this) and slicing three quarters of the way through the middle of the heart at the bottom. Be sure to leave the upper portion intact.
Then spread the heart open leaving the uncut area together for a cute set of wings!

Place the angel body on top of the wings and use a finger to pinch down to seal together. You can use a skewer stick to make a small hole in the back for a hanger.

Then with a small amount of clay, roll into a ball for the head and gently place it between the opening at the top. Press the clay of the head, body and wings together to seal at the top. 
Make a halo by rolling a tiny piece of clay back and forth in the palm of your hand for a small coil and then shape into a ring.  Attach to back of head, pinching together.  Use a tad bit of water to seal, if needed. Let the clay angel air dry at least 24 hrs. or longer. You'll know when it's ready!
Paint the angels white and sprinkle with glitter while the paint is still wet. I thought the glitter was white, but it shows up in the photos as pink and blue. But I love the glistening effect and kids will too!



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DecoArt  winner will receive a prize package valued at $100!
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Thursday, November 14, 2019

Gimp Braid Trim Snowflake Ornament

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Gimp Braid Trim Snowflake Ornament
Do you have a thing for handcrafted ornaments? I know I do! I love making christmas ornaments! That's why I participate in the Ornament Exchange Link Party each year that's hosted by Erlene @MyPinterventures!  This year I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and making a snowflake that was inspired from one I saw on Etsy, for my ornament exchange partner, Jeanie @ Create and Babble!   

Jeanie and I have similar likes for traditional decor when it comes to ornaments. I think everyone loves snowflakes of just about any type and I hope Jeanie likes this one, too!  I love how the trim and beads adds a touch of vintage charm!  

And the gimp braid trim makes it look far more complicated then it really is. But I can assure you that it's quite easy to make! Here's how!

 Materials:
Gimp braid trim - 2+yds
10-12mm beads - 22
Decorative buttons or bling - 2
Hot glue, fabric glue
Parchment paper
Ruler, scissors
Hanger

 Steps:

 First, cut 6 or 7  ten inch strips of gimp braid. A typical snowflake has 6 arms or points, but when I glued the "arms" to the center, I thought there was too much space showing so I added an extra arm! Lol! They do say each snowflake is unique, don't they?
Next, seal ends to prevent raveling by adding a small dab of glue to the ends and pressing the ends down on parchment paper to seal. Make sure the glue is dry before proceeding.
Then fold the strip in half.
And then fold each side up like a "W"
The measurement using a ruler for the longer sides should be around 3" or a little less. 
Next, fold the sides down - at the 1 1/2 inch mark, making sure the bottom edges are even  .  .  .
and begin  adding a dab of glue in-between the trim sides near the bottom to close together.

making sure you get in be-tween all bottom trim openings. 

Once the bottom side trims are glue together, press down the top loops to open.
Then add a small dab of glue to the inside top middle loop and insert a bead, squeezing the braid together at the bottom of the bead. Do not add glue to the braid below the bead.
Repeat previous steps for adding beads to the right and left loops to form the "arm."
Continue gluing beads into the middle of all the loops in each arm.
Once all the beads are glued in, arrange the arms together for the snowflake to judge how much trim is needed to roll for the center.
To make the center, take a bead and the end of the trim, adding a dab of glue and begin rolling the braid around the bead, adding just a bit of glue as you roll.
Once you've reached the size of the center you need, cut off the excess trim, adding glue to the end to seal.
Begin gluing on the arms by adding glue to the arms' base and pressing firmly to the center. 
Don't you just love how this has taken shape!
Glue on a center bling or button to the front and back or leave as is!

Run  wire twine or ribbon through the middle of the center loop and tie in knot for hanging and it's done!

In addition, as a lovely ornament, this makes for a beautiful gift wrap topper or decorative winter theme accent, too!
Join us by linking up at our 2019 Ornament Exchange Link Party and be sure to check out all of the wonderful Christmas ornament tutorials, too!

Ornament Exchange Link Party

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Welcome to the 2019 Ornament Exchange Link Party! It’s the fourth year of the blogger ornament exchange and you'll find hundreds of DIY ornament tutorials and inspiration. This link party runs from November 14th through December 14th, so make sure to come back to add as many handmade ornament tutorials before it closes! 

 This year, we have 38 talented bloggers hosting the handmade ornament exchange link party! The rules of the challenge were simple: create a handmade ornament for $15 or under, create a tutorial (all tutorials are linked below), and ship the ornament off to a new home! Add your click to tweet if you have a plugin 2019 Ornament Exchange Long

ORNAMENT EXCHANGE LINK PARTY HOSTS



I made a gimp braid trim snowflake ornament for my exchange partner, Jeanie @Create and Babble this year and she sent me a group of lovely Christmas house ornaments which I truly love! Just click on the links for the complete tutorial!





2019 Ornament Exchange Link Party
Share your handmade ornament tutorial on the link party below ⇓⇓ Add as many ornament tutorials as you like until December 14th.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Monday, November 11, 2019

Dollar Store Slippers Gnome Ornament

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It's that time again for our Monthly Challenge Blog Hop!
I've joined a group of creative bloggers to bring you a monthly challenge blog hop. On the 2nd Monday of each month we share our themed creations for the month.  This month it's a Dollar Store Craft!  And who doesn't love creating something awesome using items from the dollar store!

 Gnomes continues to be quite popular and trendy this holiday season! They are  the absolute cutest and can be found just about everywhere in all kinds of materials, colors, shapes, and sizes!  And they're also the perfect addition to almost any type of holiday decor! So I've jumped on the band wagon to create my own using plaid slippers from the Dollar Tree!

I hope the first thing you thought when you saw this wasn't, "Oh no she didn't! I can't believe she destroyed a perfectly good pair of slippers to make this gnome ornament!" Well, yes I did! But please remember they were just a dollar!  Besides, I bought an extra pair to wear around the house! I couldn't resist! They are so cool and comfortable! Cool as a pair of slippers and cool as a gnome ornament, too! And the best part, you really don't need to spend anymore than a couple of dollars to make this adorable ornament! You better believe it! And I'm sure you have all the other items you'll need in your stash to put it together, too!

 Materials:
Dollar store faux fur lined slippers
Dollar store nude foot-ped
Seam Ripper or craft knife
Cardstock to draw hat template
Fabric glue or hot glue
Fiber-fil or cotton ball
Cardboard
Twine/thick thread

 Let's start by taking the slippers apart. I used a craft knife to break the side seams and I'm sure a seam ripper would be much easier for this, but I couldn't find mine - too much clutter right now, lol! 
The best thing about opening up the seam is that the faux fur lining separates from the sole completely into one piece.  And it's perfect to use for the beard!
Next, lay out the opened slippers and cut off just enough to make the hat! Save the rest for another awesome project!

Then, make a template of a gnome's hat out of cardstock - I purposely drew the hat to include the curvature of the slipper - it's a great spot for the nose! Next, place the pattern on top of the slipper fabric .  .  .

and cut out.
Place right sides (plaid)together and run a bead of glue along the inside edges, leaving the bottom open. Firmly press the edges together and let dry completely.
Once dry, turn the hat inside out. Oh boy, doesn't this look awesome!
Next, fold the faux fur from the sole in half, coating with glue inside to seal the piece together and let dry.
Insert faux fur at the fold into the bottom of hat, adjusting fit and gluing in place.

Then round off the shape of the beard with scissors.

Don't you just love how it's taking shape!
To make the nose - take a small amount of fiber-fil or a cotton ball from the medicine cabinet, and shape into a ball .  .  .
stuffing it in the toe area of the foot-ped and tying the ball tight with a cut-off strip from the ped.
Then cut off the excess fabric .  .  .
and glue nose onto center curve, just below hat edge.
Make a hanger by wrapping twine around cardboard - grouping in three, 
3 strands and tying in a knot .  .  .
to braid.
Once braided, fold twine braid to make a loop, adding glue to ends and insert into center top of hat for hanger. Let dry.

What a fun and easy way to add a bit of whimsy to your holiday tree this season!
Want to see more of what can be created from dollar store goodies? Be sure to visit each and every blogger who joined in this month's challenge! 


Meet this month's co-hosts!
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