Christmas Party Bow Favor Bags

Hi everybody! I'm over on Bowdabrablog sharing with you an easy tutorial on making this adorable Christmas party bow favor bag.   Your guests will be amazed and it's a great way to get the party started with a beautiful holiday table display! 

So stop by and get all the details and make your party a memorable way to send off guests.  Good things come in fabulous packages and these Bowdabra Bow Favor Bags are so tastefully chic! Why not make a few!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Ruffled Ribbon Angel Ornaments DIY

Want to make adorable handcrafted Christmas ornaments with items you have at home?  With only a few supplies this DIY ruffled ribbon angel ornament is simple to make.  Almost everyone has wired ribbon in their craft stash, along with a bit of tulle, plain or glittered poster board, small ball ornaments, skewer stick, tacky glue, hot glue, tape and seed beads to make this lovely ornament.

Here's how: 

Draw a 10" circle on poster board and cut out.

Divide in half .  .  .

and bring one end of the half circle over to the other forming a pointed end and cone shape. Hold it together and make sure the lower edge of both sides overlap evenly.  Tape the inside of the cone where the two sides overlap and your cone is ready for the next step!

Glue on tulle to cover cone for a dressy look instead of painting.

Hot glue shank of ball ornament to tip of cone for the head.

Take a strip (double the diameter of the bottom portion of cone) of wired ribbon and gently expose the wire on opposite ends, same side. Once you have both wire ends, begin pulling the wire and gathering the ribbon into ruffles.

Position ruffles on the cone and tie wire in a knot. Cut off excess wire and save for halo. Add as many ruffles as needed to cover cone. You might need a dab of glue to hold in place.

Cut off additional ribbon trim to cover area around "neck."  Use wire ribbon trim to make arms and glue on.

For hair, cut off wire fabric edges from ribbon and wrap ends around skewer stick into spiral curls. 

Glue hair on top of head.  Use excess wire from ruffles to string on seed beads for halo,

forming a circle and gluing on to back of head.

Hand draw wings on glittered poster board and cut out. Glue pattern on back of another piece of glittered poster board for double facing, let dry, and cut out.

Hot glue wings on back just below head.

And finally, glue on ribbon hanger and bow embellishments.

Take a look at the back:

Have fun making lots of Ruffled Ribbon Angel ornaments using

different types of wired ribbon for a fabulous looking tree !

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Holiday Crafting!

How to Make a Reindeer Bow Gift Topper

Want to learn how to make this adorable reindeer bow gift topper?  I'm over on Bowdabrablog where I'm part of the design team, sharing  with you one way  to dress up drab holiday gift wrapping!  It's an easy and simple creation that makes the holiday giving extra special!  You can find the details in my tutorial at Bowdabrablog!  Have fun stopping by!

And remember, everything looks better with a bow!

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Ribbon Quilling Comb Ornament

Welcome to our Wrapping Up the Holidays Link Party!  I'm thrilled to be joining a group of talented ladies for an awesome link party highlighting Christmas ideas ranging from Tree Trimmings, Gift Wraps & Cards, Recipes, Holiday Traditions and Family Activities!  
We thought it would be fun for all of us to share an extended link party celebrating all that's Christmas from November 15th to December 24th.


Handcrafting my Christmas décor is one of my favorite traditions this time of year and I'm so excited to be sharing with you how to make a ribbon quilling comb snowflake ornament.  You might know that quilling,  the coiling and shaping of narrow paper strips to create a design - has been around for many, many years and that beautiful paper quilling patterns and designs can be created with a quilling comb technique. But instead of using paper, I'm using ribbon to make an ornament.  And I'm also creating a "comb" out of cardboard and skewer sticks so that I can use a larger width ribbon and a simple quilling technique to make a lovely ribbon snowflake. A regular quilling comb just wouldn't work for this size.

Materials Needed:
Ribbon - 3/8" & 1/8" wide
Cardboard corrugated flap
Skewer sticks
Hot glue gun
Scissors/embellishments

  

Let's begin by making the quilling comb:

1.  Cut the closing flap off of a cardboard box making sure the corrugated openings are large enough for skewer sticks.

2.  Insert pointed ends of skewer sticks into every other corrugated hole or channel.  Press the flap with the pointed stick ends down on a flat surface so none will be protruding out.

3.  Continue inserting sticks until flap is filled and your handmade quilling comb is ready!

4.  Next, cut approximately 60 inches of ribbon for each snowflake "ray" (depending on size of flap and skewers). Insert ribbon in between the first and second stick or prong and place a dab of glue on the ribbon end to secure  around the first prong.  Gently move ribbon sideways and back to make sure it is not stuck to the wood. 
5.  Next, wrap a long loop around the tenth prong, down and around the first prong and apply a little bit of glue on the ribbon.

6.  Wrap a second loop around to the right on the eight prong, down and back around the first prong, applying a bit of glue to the back and front of the ribbon base.

7 & 8.  Next, wrap a loop on the eighth prong to the left of the first loop and back down to the first prong, securing the ribbon with a bit of glue on the front and back. 

9, 10, 11.  Continue decreasing the loop sizes on the prongs, adding a right loop and left loop, wrapping down and around, as before, adding glue to secure.

12. When finished looping, apply a bit of glue to the bottom of the looped ribbon to hold the shape, cut off excess ribbon and remove from comb.

Voila! What a pretty design for a snowflake ray!

Now make five more!

Then take a strip of 1/8 inch ribbon and thread it through the open bottom loops of each snowflake ray .  .  .

gathering into a circle.  Tie into a knot and make a loop for hanging.

Add an embellishment to front and back center and your adorable

Ribbon Quilling Ornament is ready for hanging on the tree!

   Have fun linking up your favorite projects, both new or old and family friendly!Be sure to click on the links below to see the awesome holiday projects each host shares!
And please don't forget to visit, comment and share on social media!

When you link to any one of our lovely co-hosts your post will be seen on ALL of these great sites!

Beverly @Across the Boulevard

Sherry @ Olives & Okra

Keri @ One Mama's Daily Drama

Gail @ Purple Hues and Me

Monroe @Sew Crafty Crochet

Marci @Stone Cottage Adventures

Mary @The Boondocks Blog

An InLinkz Link-up

FaveCraft's Best Ornament 2016 Contest

Great news!  I entered my Ribbon Angel Ornament tutorial to  Fave Crafts Best Ornament Contest 2016.  #FaveOrnament

And guess what?  My project was just added to their site and a chance for me to win $250.00! 

Oh boy! How cool is that!

You can find my tutorial here:  http://www.favecrafts.com/Ornaments/Ribbon-Angel-Ornament-FaveOrnament2016

Please take a moment and check it out for my chance to win! 

FaveCrafts is the best craft site in the world! 

Thank you so much!

No-Sew Deer Antlers Napkin Ring

For crafters, it's never too early to start making Christmas projects.  Right now, the stores are stocked to the brim with holiday assortments and I'm slowly making my way around to see the fabulous displays and to find out what's trendy and inspiring before things get too picked over!
On a recent trip to Pier1, I found the cutest antler napkin rings made out of burlap and pom poms. 

Pier1 source

The antlers were stitched together but instantly I knew I could make one using fabric glue.  Check out how I did it!

Gather :

Antler template

Burlap ribbon - 2.5" wide

Fabric-Tac fabric glue

Poly-fil

Pom pom

Cabone wood 2" rings

Twine

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Skewer stick/clips

First, I googled antlers to find a pattern I could use.  I made adjustments to one that I liked and drew the following.  You can Copy and paste to Word or right click to save picture as, if you like. 

Next, I printed and cut out the pattern and used it to cut the antlers out of burlap ribbon.

Then, line up the way you want the antlers to look and carefully add Fabri-Tac fabric glue around the edges on one side. Leave the bottom clear of glue so you can stuff it. The glue can be a bit stringy and you might need to use the pointed tip of a skewer stick to keep it on edge. *Do not put glue anywhere else except on the edges. 

Press the top pattern to the glue side, first on the edges, laying it down carefully. Press down and around the edges making sure to seal. Allow to dry completely before stuffing.

 Next, after drying, insert the flat end of a skewer stick inside to make sure the antlers are open completely and then stuff with poly-fil.  Use the flat end of a skewer to push the filling into the round areas, being extremely careful not to open any edges. (like I did) If you open any edges, push in the filling, add more glue and use a clip to seal until dry. 

Once stuffed, clean up any excess glue and seal the ends with fabric glue.

I already had cabone wood rings from another project but you can find them at Walmart (5 for $1.54).

I wrapped twine around the wood ring, sealing the ends on with hot glue. 

Then, I hot glued the ends of the antlers onto the twine wrapped ring.

 And finally, glued on the pom pom in the center of the antlers for an adorable holiday napkin ring!

 Imagine your holiday table adorned with these cuties!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Handcrafted Turkey DIY

 The following tutorial is an update from a previous post from last year. Recently I was looking at some ornamental grasses in my yard  and thought the shape resembled a very lush turkey. So naturally when I get inspired like that, I really have to act on it and make something!  

What I came up with is an adorable handcrafted turkey made with natural elements like the ornamental grasses, and a few other things I found in my stash:  

Pinecones and ornamental grasses

Styrofoam ball 6"

Burlap

Mod Podge/brush 

Cardboard

Faux pear or squash

Beads(eyes)

Brush bristles/pliers

Hot glue gun
Acrylic paint
Hairspray

Heavy duty scissors or wire cutters 

Proxxon hot wire cutter or craft knife

I started by cutting the styrofoam ball in half using my Proxxon wire cutter for a nice, smooth finish.  *You can also use a craft knife to make all the cuts - but they won't be as nice!

Then, I moved the tension of the hot wire to cut at an angle and sliced one of the half balls diagonally, for the body.

Next, I moved the Proxxon wire back into the straight cutting position and cut the faux pear in half for the head and neck, but it was still too big so .  .  .

I sliced a little more off on one side. Don't think I could have cut this evenly and smooth without using a great tool like the Proxxon!

Next, I painted the foam with mod podge and covered it with burlap, let dry and cut off the excess burlap .

 After the burlap dried, I glued the pear shape (head and neck) onto the bottom center of the foam.

Then, I pulled out bristles from a dollarstore brush that I used here and glued them on the back end of the foam and painted them.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the bristles to stand up like I wanted them to so I ended up covering them later.

Next, I cut the scales off of pinecones and layered them on with hot glue starting at the edge of the bristles and .  .  .

adding them around the entire body of the turkey.

Then, I cut off a few stalks of ornamental grasses and glued them on in a fan shape on the back side of the turkey body.

I really love the look of ornamental grasses as feathers - nice and fluffy!

For the beak, I made a small cone shape out of cardboard that I cut down .  .  .

and covered with hot glue and let dry.  Then I cut off the excess glue .  .  .

and painted the beak.  Once dry, the beak and eyes were glued on. 

Then I added another type of ornamental leaves over the bristles to give a dramatic look which I also love!

I gave the grasses a coating of hairspray to help preserve the foliage.

I'm loving this neutral hued handcrafted turkey .  .  .  it really makes for a lovely addition to any Thanksgiving décor!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Crafting!