Woven Clay Check Mitten Ornament

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 7 of our 12 Days of Holiday Ideas event and it's all about DIY ORNAMENTS!
I love making handcrafted ornaments for the holidays! And you're going to love this handmade woven clay check mitten ornament tutorial I'm sharing with you! I got the idea by combining the woven pie crust technique using strips of colorful clay and a cookie cutter to make this awesome looking ornament! And the best part, you can use colorful clay to make just about any design including the trendy buffalo check!

Materials:

• Mitten shape cookie cutter
• Sculpey Souffle Clay 1.7oz - red, green and white 
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pin
• Pizza cutter
• Skewer stick
• 1/4" hanging ribbon

 Lay a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and knead the clay to get it soft. Do the red color first, and then the green separately. Use separate sheets of parchment paper, too, for each color. The clay bleeds.

Place the clay down on the parchment paper and lay another sheet of parchment paper on top.  Roll out the clay into the largest piece possible to at least six inches tall.  I use parchment paper so the clay won't stick to the rolling pin or work surface.

 Using a pizza cutter, begin cutting 1/2" strips. I can't cut straight so I use a plastic strip from packing material to keep the lines straight.

 You can only get so many strips from 1.7 ounces of clay - six to be exact, no matter how hard I tried to get one more for seven, 

 Next, group the same color strips together. The pieces should be large enough when grouped together to accommodate the mitten cookie cutter. First, red and

then green - or vice versa, your choice.

To weave the strips:
 Starting with the green strips, lift every other strip and fold it gently back.

Place a strip of red horizontal across the green flat strips.

 Then bring the folded strips back down.

Do the same thing for the next row, alternating strips, lifting every other strip and folding them gently back, and then placing a strip down over the flat strips.

 Continue, following the same steps .  .  .

 for each row .  .  . folding the strips back

 repeating the pattern .  .  . of laying a strip down horizontal.

See how the weave is coming together!

 Folding back alternating strips, and laying a strip down horizontal!

 until all the strips .  .  .

are woven together.

 Then lay parchment paper on top and gently roll the strips to .  .  .

 make the weave tighter. 

 Next, place the mitten cookie cutter down on the woven clay and 

 cut out the mitten, removing the excess clay from around the cookie cutter.

Next, roll out a small section of white clay and use just the cuff of the cookie cutter to cut out  and place on the bottom of the clay mitten. Pressing down to seal together.

Use the flat end of a skewer stick to fluff up the white clay to mimic a fur cuff.

 Looks awesome!

 Use the skewer stick to make a hole in the bottom center for hanging. 

 Use the side of the cutter to push back and straighten the clay by the hole. Bake in a 275 degree oven for 30 minutes according to the clay package. Let cool!

Perfect for your Christmas tree or  .  .  .

 adorning a present!

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

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!

We are hosting a BIG GIVEAWAY from our Sponsors this year! Be sure to scroll all the way down for more information and to enter to win!

MEET OUR SPONSORS who have generously donated fabulous prizes for the Big Christmas Giveaway!

DecoArt  winner will receive a prize package valued at $100!

Dixie Crystals/Imperial Sugar winner will receive a Keurig Coffee Maker valued at $100!

Oriental Trading winner will receive an OrientalTrading.com gift card valued at $200!

Cabot Cheese winner will receive a gift basket of Cabot products valued at $75!

Burlap Fabric winner will receive a prize pack of products valued at $50!

Zulay Kitchens winner will receive one Milk Frother and a Lemon Squeezer valued at $21

It's Home To You winner will receive one wooden Santa sign valued at $65

 

Giveaway begins Nov. 8, 2019 and ends Dec. 6, 2019. Winners will be notified by December 13, 2019. Sponsors will ship each prize to the winner. There will be a total of six winners, one for each prize. Drawing is by random selection using the Rafflecopter widget. 

Must be 18 to win. Open to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Ribbon Decorated Swag Wreath

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! 

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!

We are hosting a BIG GIVEAWAY from our Sponsors this year! Be sure to scroll all the way down for more information and to enter to win!

It's Day 6 and we are sharing DIY Wreaths!

Are you looking for something different for your door this holiday season other than the usual round wreath? Why not try a swag this year? A swag wreath can be easily customized to fit in with your decor. And it just takes a few accessories to make it pretty!

Take ribbon, for example. I am in love with this gold and white check ribbon! It's reversible with a shiny gold finish on one side. And it reminds me of a MacKenzie-Childs pattern, too!

I don't seem to be able to make beautiful, eye popping wreaths - that's why I try  to stay away from giving tutorials on diy wreaths. But I thought this ribbon and another smaller reversible ribbon, along with a few decorative stems and pine cones would be more than enough to decorate a plain white swag wreath. Easy, peasy! 

Also, it seemed like it would be easier to decorate the swag by hanging it up on a command hook. Hmm, I was so wrong!

 To get started, I cut off assorted ribbon tails and wrapped a chenille stem around the middle to attach them to the swag.

 Next, I got out my trusty Bowdabra to make the bows. First, the gold check ribbon and .  .  .

 then the smaller reversible gold and silver ribbon, on top! The Bowdabra is such a great tool to make .  .  .

 all sorts of bow loops and bows!

 Next, I dove tailed the ribbon ends by folding the ribbon together and cutting at an angle from the corner bottom edge to the fold .  .  .

for nice finished ends!

 Then, I started gluing on a few accessories like gold glitter pine cones .  .  .

 and gold glitter ball stems .  .  . and then the command hook fell down! I had to get out my wreath hanger that fits over the door .  .  .

 to finish this pretty holiday swag wreath!

  I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

MEET OUR SPONSORS who have generously donated fabulous prizes for the Big Christmas Giveaway!

DecoArt  winner will receive a prize package valued at $100!

Dixie Crystals/Imperial Sugar winner will receive a Keurig Coffee Maker valued at $100!

Oriental Trading winner will receive an OrientalTrading.com gift card valued at $200!

Cabot Cheese winner will receive a gift basket of Cabot products valued at $75!

Burlap Fabric winner will receive a prize pack of products valued at $50!

Zulay Kitchens winner will receive one Milk Frother and a Lemon Squeezer valued at $21

It's Home To You winner will receive one wooden Santa sign valued at $65

 

Giveaway begins Nov. 8, 2019 and ends Dec. 6, 2019. Winners will be notified by December 13, 2019. Sponsors will ship each prize to the winner. There will be a total of six winners, one for each prize. Drawing is by random selection using the Rafflecopter widget. 

Must be 18 to win. Open to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter Giveaway

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Easy Clay Angels

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!

                                 

 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!

We are hosting a BIG GIVEAWAY from our Sponsors this year! Be sure to scroll all the way down for more information and to enter to win!

---

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!

---

MEET OUR SPONSORS who have generously donated fabulous prizes for the Big Christmas Giveaway!

DecoArt  winner will receive a prize package valued at $100!

Dixie Crystals/Imperial Sugar winner will receive a Keurig Coffee Maker valued at $100!

Oriental Trading winner will receive an OrientalTrading.com gift card valued at $200!

Cabot Cheese winner will receive a gift basket of Cabot products valued at $75!

Burlap Fabric winner will receive a prize pack of products valued at $50!

Zulay Kitchens winner will receive one Milk Frother and a Lemon Squeezer valued at $21

It's Home To You winner will receive one wooden Santa sign valued at $65

 

Giveaway begins Nov. 8, 2019 and ends Dec. 6, 2019. Winners will be notified by December 13, 2019. Sponsors will ship each prize to the winner. There will be a total of six winners, one for each prize. Drawing is by random selection using the Rafflecopter widget. 

Must be 18 to win. Open to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter