Sunday, December 2, 2012

Christmas Beaded Angel Ornament

7:32 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me crafts diy 12 comments

This time of the year we see all sorts of angel ornaments. There are some very pretty ones out there. I made a sweet ribbon angel ornament that's become very popular here. I keep plenty of craft beads on hand, so today I'm showing you how easy it is to make a cute little Christmas Beaded Angel Ornament you've probably seen before in blogland and really liked.

What you'll need to make your own Beaded Angel Ornament:

44 acrylic faceted 8mm craft beads (dress)
1 16mm craft bead (head)
24 3X6mm beads (wings)
16 6/0 glass seed beads (halo)
54 inches (approximate) 24 gauge wire

1) Find the center point of the wire. Bend wire into L shape at center.

2) Slide 9 (8mm) beads to the bend in the wire.

3) Slide 8 beads onto one end of the wire keeping them near the end.
Thread other end of the wire back through the 9 beads and pull tight. Flatten out the rows as needed.

4) Slide 7 beads onto one end of the wire, push the other end through all 8 beads, and pull tight.

5) Continue adding one less bead for each row, using the same method until there is a row with just two beads. Remember to flatten out each row.

6) Take the longer end of the wire and thread 12 3X6mm beads on it. Pass the wire through the row of 3 (8mm) beads and then thread 12 3X6mm beads on the wire and then pass it through the row of 2 (8mm) beads.

7) Pass both ends through the 16mm bead

8) Take the longer end of the wire and thread 16 seed beads for the halo. Take both ends of the wire and wrap them around the wire just below the halo.

9) Cut off any extra wire, adjust the halo and wings. Ta Da!

You can add (between the two last beads and head bead) a hanger of your choice.

A variation using light purple beads:

These beaded angels make for a beautiful ornament for your Christmas tree or just a decorative item to place on a gift or to decorate around your home. They also make really great hand crafted gifts for the holidays!!!

Enjoy!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Family Jewelry Christmas Tree

12:12 PM Gail @Purple Hues and Me crafts diy 23 comments

Family Jewelry Christmas Tree


Frontgate Jewelry Tree with Pedestal

Did you see the 2012 Christmas issue of Frontgate? It featured a Jewelry Tree with Pedestal (no longer available) that contains "more than 60 brooches and metallic buttons that are hand-set over shining gold paillettes, making each tree a one-of-a-kind masterpiece."

When I looked at that tree, I thought about my mother's costume jewelry that I've had for nearly thirty years, and that of my mother-in-law, and the broken and damaged jewelry that I own, and the jewelry I no longer wore or wanted. My sister's and niece's jewelry - jewelry from the family. This would be a perfect way to use the pieces of jewelry I had accumulated.

I got to thinking that it actually doesn't look like the jewelry tree would be too difficult to make. I already had a 16 inch styrofoam tree, a little ceramic urn for the base, gold paint, beads and rhinestones for filler, pins, glitter glue and a glue gun.

I really forgot to take pictures at the start. This was a labor of love and I wasn't really thinking about photos. To begin, I needed to paint the white stryrofoam tree using FolkArt pure gold metallic paint. It really didn't take much to cover.

Next, I randomly glued the larger jewelry pieces all over the tree. I broke down the necklaces and bracelets into smaller pieces before gluing. If any pieces looked too bulky, I pressed them into the foam after gluing. I used pearl beads cut from necklaces (I had lots of these) as fillers around the tree. For a final touch, I used glitter glue to fill in any spaces after I had finished adding all the jewelry pieces. This gave the tree a sparkly effect.

This is a photo brooch that belonged to my mother (center with a bow on top)

I added a picture of her to the brooch . . .
making this tree very special.

The width of the opening on the urn was the same width as the base of the tree so I had to place the finish tree on top of a little silver dish that I had before putting it onto the urn.

This is truly a keepsake that I will treasure and perhaps pass along . . .

Enjoy!

Friday, November 23, 2012

DollarTree Ornament

11:17 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me crafts diy 8 comments

Deck the Walls with . . .

We all love crafting with DollarTree items. They are so festive and whimsical! I love my red wall decor that I made from Christmas items I found at the DollarTree. Here is a picture tutorial on how I put it together.

Plain felt red ornament

Decorated it using silver glitter glue

Made a bow out of ribbon from DS, added greenery and whimsical fillers

Fa la la la la la la la la!

Enjoy!

DollarTree Christmas Glitter Trees

7:42 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me crafts diy 21 comments

Calling all DollarTree Crafts: Coming up with something to be a part of the Holiday Link Party!

Oooh-la la. Fa-la-la. Chic Glitter Trees!

These trees are made entirely with everything from the DollarTree store. Cheap and easy - that's the way to go.

I remember checking out Christmas items at Pier1 recently, and these colorful beaded cone trees caught my eye and I thought I would try to make this for the dollar tree link party. They were basically made from cardboard, glitter and beads. Although the trees were festive, I didn't want to make it in the same color. I wanted something more christmasy. Besides, I couldn't find those colors or seed beads at the DollarTree store and I wanted this to be done entirely with items from the dollar store.


Pier1

Anyway, I got some poster board (2 for $1.00), glitter glue, and shake-on glitter (3 packs) from DollarTree.

To make the tree I rolled the poster board into a cone shape,

Roll your green piece of poster board into a cone shape and use hot glue to hold it in this shape. You may have to try a couple of times before you get a good cone shape. Trim the bottom of your cone so it is level.

Read more: How to Make a Christmas Tree From Poster Board | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5744874_make-christmas-tree-poster-board.html#ixzz2CmutC3rA

forming the point or tip of the cone.

I then glued the poster board cone inside and at the seam with white glue and secured the roll with masking tape until the glue dried.

Next, I trimmed the bottom of the cone so it was level.

It looked pretty good so I made three different sizes.

To add the glitter, I diluted white glue with a little bit of water to make it brushable. I then divided the cone into sections and brushed the glue over the top section with a sponge brush.

Working over a tray, I sprinkled the silver shake-on-glitter over the entire top area and allowed it to dry before moving on to the next area. Skipping the second section, I repeated the process, applying glue, sprinkling silver glitter and allowing to dry. I did this every other section until the silver glitter sections were completely covered and dried. I collected all of the silver glitter that fell into the tray and put it back into the shaker bottle.

Next, I repeated the same process for adding the red glitter. I used the glitter glue to fill in missed areas. It takes a long time, usually overnight, for the glitter glue to dry. Next time I'll use white poster board or paint the areas first the same color of glitter.

Overall, I think the glitter trees look very festive! But these photos don't capture their true glittery beauty. Not bad for a Dollar Tree Craft!