DIY Soda Can Crafts Roundup

Now that Christmas is over, have I got a diy collection to share with you! Something to get you started in the new year! Did you know you can make extraordinary craft items out of the most unusual items like soda cans! Thank goodness for projects that recycle aluminum soda and or beer cans! We all seem to have lots of them at one time or another! And it's really exciting what you can make with soda cans. Just check out the following projects:

Soda Can Hydrangeas Wall Art

Soda Can Flowers Wall Art

Tin Can Flowers Copycat Wreath

DIY Soda Can Dogwood Stem

Recycled SodaBeer Cans Candle Holder

Soda Can Wall Knockoff Art

Updating Thriftstore Find with Soda Can Flowers

Update Chair Pot Holder with Soda Can Flowers

Upcycle Frypan with Soda Can Flowers

It really is amazing what can be made out of soda cans! I hope you enjoyed this round-up! Be sure to save your empty soda cans!

DT Ornament Candle Holders DIY

I love shopping at the Dollar Tree as most of us do! You can find some amazing things there for a $1.25, especially during the holidays! I like to pick up a variety of Christmas ornaments from the Dollar Tree! There are so many projects you can do with ornaments besides hanging them on a tree. One project is making candle holders out of ornaments! And who doesn't love candleholders! They're not just for the holidays, either! They can easily transition into winter decor! Imagine a warm, inviting glow - chasing the chill in the air away!  A project perfect for this month's Winter Crafts, Projects Blog Hop Challenge!

Natural Woven Tree with Berries

 

It's been there all along! Yes, this natural woven tree has been tucked away in my garage for at least seven years. Oh my! I was drawn to it in a thrift store and couldn't resist the price of  six dollars for a handmade woven grapevines and limbs to weave an intricate pattern into a cone tree over four feet tall! Amazing! But, as the Christmas seasons rolled around year after year, I would look at it and just wonder how could I possibly decorate it? It was so rustic! So, I would cover it up or push it aside and move on .  .  . until this year! 

Now, I belong to a monthly Sustainable Pinterest Challenge Group hosted by Julie @Sum of Their Stories. The theme for December is Winter - which can include quite a bit of ideas! The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all of us to create a project that a) is inspired by a pin on one of our Pinterest boards and b) have some sort of a sustainable element to it. This could be an upcycling or recycling element, or something that reduces waste, uses leftovers, etc. The problem I had was most handmade grapevine trees on Pinterest were quite small with the grapevines wrapped around a wire frame in a circular pattern like this pin. But then this pin mimics natural elements in a whopping size of eight feet, and even mentions sustainability and organic charm, I guess because it was handmade out of iron.

And this pin came very close to actually handcrafting a naturally woven tree but the link went nowhere. Nevertheless, I was inspired to do something with my woven tree for the holidays based on the pins I found!

Julie | Sum of their Stories
Gail | Purple Hues and Me
Julie | Treasures Made From Yarn
T’onna | Sew Crafty Crochet
Niki | Life as a LEO Wife
Mel | Decor Craft Design
Allyson | Southern Sunflowers

So, I'm finally hauling this awesome handmade woven cone tree out of hiding, oh I mean, storage and sharing how I decorated it using natural elements I found in my backyard!

After doing a bit of research on types of grapevines, I believe this tree is woven using muscadine grapevines. They are known to get quite chunky and thick with woody, stalky vines. And they are one of the strongest vines grown in the wild. Just take a look up close to see how thick these vines are.

In my neighborhood, those of us living on the north side of my street have an open hilly berm surrounding our backyards and it's filled with lots of pine trees with pinecones, ornamental grasses, and pretty plants like this Nanina bush which has  lovely but poisonous red heavenly bamboo berries. Since I have no young children in my life or any visiting me, I decided to pick a few of these berries to decorate my woven tree.

                  

After wrapping the tree with brown wired LED lights, I randomly tucked groups of berries .  .  .

around the tree, starting at the top.

Adding a natural touch to a holiday decorative piece.

It really looks cool sparkling with lights!

This looks great but then it needed a star on the top! I've made recycled newspaper woven stars before, but time was not on my side, so I had to come up with a simple to make star. One made out of paper stem wire folded into the shape of a star with stem wire wrapped around it.

How to Make a Star:

Glue together the ends of two paper stem wires (18") using a quick grab all purpose adhesive (RapidFuse) and let dry. Once dry, measure the extended stem  4.5 inches and fold into a upside down "V."

Then measure another four and a half inches and fold another "V" shape.

Continue folding the stem wire at four and a half inches to form five "V" shapes -

shaping the stem wire .  .  .

into a star - cutting off excess wire and gluing the ends together. Place a drop of glue underneath where the stem wires cross to seal together.

Then wrap plain stem wire around  the star .  .  .

varying the direction .  .  .

until satisfied with the look.

Then attach star to the top of the woven tree .  .  .

to complete the lovely look!

Now, it's time to meet the other Sustainable Pinterest Challenge participants and their awesome Winter projects:

DIY Punched Tin Lantern Upcycle
Free Printable Thank you & DIY Snack Basket for Christmas Delivery Drivers
Cardboard Ornament Craft Idea
Upcycled Christmas Vase
Upcycled Plaid Scarf Wreath
Snowman
Natural Woven Tree with Berries

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Holiday Candle Ring on Tray

Dress up your favorite pillar candle with the addition of a beautiful candle ring for the holidays!  To do this, I'm starting with a wooden round tray base I found at a thrift store a few years ago. It was dirty and a little beat up, but I couldn't resist the price of $1.50! I had no idea what I would do with it until now. I envisioned embellishing the round tray with a pearl and beaded garland, two different sizes of clear ornaments, pink glitter balls, tiny glitter ball stems and pink handmade faux leather glitter leaves along with a LED pillar candle placed in the center. Sounds fabulous, doesn't it! Perfect for Christmas and special occasions throughout the year, too! And it's ideal for this month's "Do It Over Designers" project.

DIY 3D Decoupage Poinsettia Ornament

 

We all know that decorating our Christmas trees is one of the best parts of the holiday season, and creating homemade ornaments certainly adds a personal touch to it all! So it's definitely fun when we discover unique ways to make our tree ornaments. Today, I'm joining a group of creative bloggers sharing their ideas on making gorgeous Christmas ornaments. A big "Thank You" to our host, Shae from Sweet Southern Grace for hosting this awesome blog hop! 

Recently, I was having a Let's Get Crafty class on making 3D decoupage flower napkins on glass and thought it would be fun to make Christmas ornaments using the same technique. And one of the participants offered her poinsettia napkins for me to use on the ornament. Isn't this napkin pretty! Can you visualize it on an ornament? I can, but not in the usual front placement! Although that would be lovely, too! I want to place the 3D poinsettia around the opening of the ornament and have it flaring out from the top. After all, flowers are usually upright, lol! 

Double Wood Craft Rings Wreath

One of my favorite styles of wreaths is the two embroidery hoops wreath.  It's quite different from the usual grapevine or evergreen wreaths. So for this month's Creative Craft Hop,  hosted by Sara @Birdz of a Feather, I decided to make a holiday version using two wood craft rings I picked up at the thrift store, and a couple of handmade purple velvet poinsettia flowers. You do know that poinsettia flowers come in purple, too! Lol! I discovered them on a trip to North Carolina a few years ago! And I have been kicking myself for not buying the purple plant ever since. I haven't seen them here in Maryland! But I digress! So let's get started!

No-Sew Ribbon Wine GiftBag

Do you know what the favorite last minute gift giving of all time is? A bottle of wine! Gotcha! This is just my opinion, lol! But if you're into giving a bottle of wine, and so many are, why not make your own gift bags to keep on hand, just in case you need one at the last minute! You know a handcrafted wine giftbag offers a personal touch to gift giving and makes giving a bottle of wine that more special! And the best part, once you know how to make this lovely no-sew wine giftbag you'll be making them throughout the year using any type of four inch wide decorative ribbon! Giving wine is a lovely idea anytime of the year!

Gift wrapping a bottle can be a bit of a challenge, but this giftbag is a pretty simple design that comes together in no time! And using decorative wired ribbon that's at least four inches wide helps give the bag a designer look!