Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Friday, January 11, 2013

17 getting back into the groove of things, but first...

The holidays was a mix bag... happiness and sorrow... restlessness and peace...
Although I'm sad the magic is over, I'm also glad to put it behind and look forward to what 2013 will bring. Before we move forward, I wanna share with you my mug project.
Remember? Let's start with a refresher...
Mug #1.
This one started it all...
Post HERE.

Mugs #2 & 3.
My nephew and niece.
Post HERE.
So after MANY late nights and asking myself what ever possessed me to do this, I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel...
19 mugs in total (Mr.'s mug was in the dish rack).
As I sit here looking at the pics I can't believe I did it. *chuckle* Now I do see the light, but I'm not out of the tunnel... yet.
I still have three more mugs to complete, plus mug #2 (my beloved nephew) accidentally dropped his in excitement. So actually that makes 4 more. *eyes rolling back*
Despite the cursing and loosing my eyesight, I actually enjoyed creating each one. Each mug was an opportunity for me to reflect and be thankful for having them in my life. 
So bare with me as I slowly get back into the groove of things. As if the busyness of the holidays wasn't enough, I threw out my back in the process while baking 14 red velvet cakes... yes... 14. Nothing is ever done in small quantities in this family. 
Sheesh!


Friday, November 9, 2012

6 Mugs 2&3 Done

I did say I would only make these for the fellas in the family for Christmas...
I should've known better.
I had a hard time finishing Mug #2, figuring out the style of hat and what kind of graphic could I use to describe her personality. It was only when she mentioned how she likes peacock feathers that I could finally finish it.
Ah... Mug#3...
I had fun with this one. He's a banker and yes ladies... he is single! This is my nephew... good looking, ay? Yup... it's in the genes. HA! I thought it would be fun to add a pipe and a bowler hat.
He's a watch man. Ugh... what a pain to paint a watch though. I think I could've done a better job, but this will do. I know-I know.. I'm my worst critic.
Okay, so as I said earlier I was going to make mugs for the fellas, but now there's a change of plans. So what was going to be only about 9 mugs has now just about doubled.
AAAAACK!!!
Have I lost my mind?! I'm a gluten for punishment. Seriously. So here's to late nights of painting, sewing, baking and decorating... 
yup... 
it's gonna be a great Christmas!
***

Saturday, February 11, 2012

2 Christmas Card Alternative

Tutorial looks familiar? A few of my favorite tutorials has made the move from Happy Find and is now residing here. Enjoy!
***

DSC09955 
 Back in December 2009, I wanted to send something other than a card. I saw these beautiful poem spools from Felt at Home and fell in love. I wanted to make something that is a fusion of a card and ornament and came up with this.

Here's a fun little twist to give to friends and love ones this holiday!
Supplies:
-small wooden spools
-round wooden balls or finials
-extra small screw eyes
-ribbons & lace
-a message printed on paper
-hot glue
-sewing machine
-needle
-scissors
-thread
-acrylic paints & paintbrushes
-varnish for acrylic paints
***
DSC09895 
Take your finial or round ball and paint a skin tone all over.

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 DSC09899 

Once the paint dries, using a pencil and very lightly, draw the face.

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 Using a very fine paintbrush, paint the face.

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   Oh hello, little lady!

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Paint the hair.
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 Wait for the paint to completely dry. 


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 Grab a screw eye... 

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Slowly and firmly twist the screw eye to the top of the head.

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 Top and center.

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You can use the handle of a paintbrush to twist the screw.

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 Once screwed in, it should look like this.

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Take you varnish and do a light layer all over the head. Let it dry.

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 When the varnish is dry, it will give a nice sheen to your doll head.

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Grab your spool and glue gun...

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 and put a thin strip of glue around the top of the spool. This will bind the head and the spool together.

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It should look like this.
My dear... you'll catch a cold! let's dress you up!

Christmas ornament 1 
To make a collar or scarf for her...

take a piece of lace or any other trim you fancy and cut 2 1/2" in length.

DSC09929 
 Glue the lace along the neckline (where the spool and the head meets) all the way around.

Christmas ornament 2 
 To make the "skirt", your ribbon should fit the spool accordingly. So if your spool is 1/2" in height, than your ribbon should be 1/2" in height as well. So in this case, I am using a 1/2" ribbon.

Cut 6 1/2" of the ribbon (again, the length depends on the size of your spool). This will give enough length to wrap around the spool and for a message.
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        Fold in 1/4" at one end of the ribbon and glue. Set aside. 

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On a 1/3" x 4" strip of paper, either type or handwrite your message. Make sure to leave space all along the edge for you to sew the paper onto the ribbon.
***You could use scrapbook paper instead of ribbon with your message printed on it. This eliminates a step, but I like to torture myself and add extra steps.***

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Take your message and place it on the backside of the ribbon, butt against the fold.

Set your sewing machine to the smallest straight stitch and sew along the edge of the paper.

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It should look like this.

Christmas ornament 4 
 Now you will need to adhere the ribbon to the spool. With the raw edge of the ribbon, glue the ribbon to the backside of the spool. Continue to glue the ribbon to the spool until you reach the message. The message should be on the inside of the ribbon (or backside if you will) and wrap clockwise.

Set aside.

Christmas ornament 3 
 Cut 12" of thin ribbon. This will keep your message from unraveling.

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Hand stitch the thin ribbon to the end of the "message" ribbon.

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Take an extra piece of thin ribbon and glue it to the inside edge of the message ribbon. This will give a finished look and hide the stitch. I didn't do a good job hiding it. Sorry! 

Christmas ornament 5 

Continue to wrap and glue the ribbon all the way around. Cut the end.

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It should look like this. The backside...

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the frontside.

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Cut 6" of thin ribbon, loop it through the hook and knot it.

Wrap your message around the spool and with the thin ribbon, wrap and tie shut...

TA-DAH!!!!
Chrisstmas ornament 6 

A pretty-pretty ornament to adorn the tree!

   
  

       

0 Greeting Spools


Tutorial looks familiar? A few of my favorite tutorials has made the move from Happy Find and is now residing here. Enjoy!
***



Hello sweets!
Crafting is my drug. When the babes are tended to and the chores are done, you'll find me in my little craft space making pretty things. And speaking of pretty things... boy do I have a tutorial for you!
Greeting spools
I am guest posting over at Go Greeno with a  tutorial that I actually posted several years back, but this time, it's with a twist. I had this vision in my head. I wanted to make a little wooden doll, reminiscent of a Matroyshka if you will, but I didn't want to paint a face on it. I wanted to have Lala (my wee one's) face instead.
I have been tinkering with several different transfer techniques, (HERE, HERE and HERE) none came close to the clarity and quality of what I was envisioning, especially when you're working with a curved surface. So after a few tries - a few failures, I came up with this:
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Cute, right?
So let's take it to another level...
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Let's make a greeting spool!
A perfect little gift for the special peeps in your life. A treasure to keep forever!
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So enough of my jibba-jabba and let's get craftin'!
***
SUPPLIES:
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As shown above:
-hot glue gun.
-iron on sheets.
-fabric (preferably lightweight white cotton).
-mod podge.
-scissors.
-acrylic paint and paint brushes.
-wooden thread spool.
-wooden ball with a flat bottom (or a wooden bead or wooden doll head will work).
NOT shown ( I just plum forgot to add in the pic):
-varnish.
-an iron & ironing board.
-ribbon, felt, paper and/or fabric to use for your actual greeting.
***
Greeting spool 1
First, measure your wooden ball to determine the size of face to print out.
***I printed out several different sizes on a piece of paper first to figure out the right size.***
Once you figure that out, then print the picture onto your iron on transfer sheet. Don't forget to "mirror" your image if you want your image to face in a certain direction.
Next, follow manufacturer's directions and transfer the photo onto your fabric. I highly recommend lightweight cotton fabric in white. It's easier to work with.
Greeting spool 2
Cut out your child's face.
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Place photo on wooden ball for placement and decoupage using Mod Podge.
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Once you decoupaged (such a fancy word), it should look something like this.
Greeting spool 3
Now paint around the face. I painted a little bit on the photo along the edge.
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Once you're done painting and the paint is all nice and dry, it's going to look a little "rough" or dull.
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Paint a thin coat of varnish and set aside to dry. It's going to look all shiny and prrretty!
While that's drying, you can start dressing up your spool. For ideas, tips and just plain know how, hop over to my ol' tutorial (click on the photos below to take you there).
Go on... I'll be here waiting.
  DSC09953
  DSC09955
Okie-dokie...
Once you have your spool all done and pretty, your doll head should be dry and ready. Using your hot glue gun, attach the head to the spool and...
drum roll, please...
Lala greetings 1
You're done! Now all you have to do is admire your handy-dandy work and wrap it up. Easy, right?
Now if making little greeting spools isn't your cup o'tea, than how about making an awesome chess set using photos of friends and family? How's that for a cool handmade gift for Christmas?! Or how about making one into a necklace? Or even a set of dolls of the family for a special little girl to play house with? Or for boys, making them into mini super heroes? AH! The possibilities!
The wooden balls and spools I got from Michaels and JoAnn's. I'm thinking of buying some of these next time:
Wooden dolls on Etsy
***
Oh my dear friends, it's time I mosey on outta here. Thank you, Ashley for having me over! It was fun.
Have a blessed magical holiday season
&
Keep craftin'!!!
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