Glitter Ornaments

When my husband spent time time celebrating his brother's 65th birthday, I decided to have a two-day Crafters Retreat. My piles of  "next projects" are teetering, so I thought I'd see if I could winnow them down a bit by having some crafting fun.

I started by making glitter ornaments.

I learned about this technique on Facebook and Pinterest. I gathered the plastic globe ornaments, some floor wax, and all the glitter I had on hand. Glitter can be so messy, so I covered my surfaces thoroughly. I also prepared my drying racks.

First, pull off the ornament topper. Pour in some floor wax. Swirl the wax inside the ornament so the entire surface on the inside is covered. Drain the excess liquid.

Carefully pour some glitter inside the ornament. Swirl and shake until the glitter covers the entire inside surface. Turn the ornament upside down and shake out the excess glitter. 

Some tips? 

• Swirl the floor wax around the globe instead of shaking it. Shaking causes bubbles to form.
  
• Fine glitter works somewhat better than big glitter. I used up all my big glitter on this project before trying the fine glitter. The fine glitter coated more thoroughly.
• Don't be stingy with the glitter. Adding a larger-than-needed amount seemed to help coat the inside of the ornament better, even if you end up shaking a lot of the excess back out. The excess can be used on the next ornament. For this ornament, I had to combine three colors of glitter to have enough to cover the inside surface.
  
  

Set the ornaments upside down on the rack until dry.

Add the topper back in. I decided to use a 12 inch length of white satin ribbon to tie a bow around the top of each ornament.

Overall, this was a fairly successful operation. I'll need to dig out some nail polish remover to get rid of some sticky spots on the outside of a couple of the ornaments. I used plastic ornament globes. The blue one got smunched in and I couldn't get the dent out all the way. That one I'll keep for myself. But it's pretty nice to already have the 2025 family Christmas ornaments done!

Shhhhhh! Don't tell anyone these are really 10 months late. I'd originally planned to make them for 2024.

Here's one of the videos I used to help me learn:

One craft complete for the Crafter's Retreat! Now ... which technique to pick next?

Petit Purses: Part 1

Jodie and I crocheted some purses for little girls that will be distributed through Bags of Love. Kids in crisis don't only need safe shelter and the basics of blankets and toiletries, but they also can use comfort items. That might be a teddy bear. Or it might be a little purse to call their own and hold their treasures.

I found this pattern through Pinterest. We made five altogether, each one taking approximately 4 to 5 hours to create. I'll share the first two here and the other three later this week. 

This pattern uses the "granny stitch." It's the same kind of crochet stitch used in classic granny square afghans. We used a single strand of 4-ply yarn. The bag is worked in the round.

This pink lady was my first attempt. I followed the pattern directions that called for crocheting two narrow handles.

So that none of the treasures would fall out of the holes created by the granny clusters, I decided to line the purses with coordinating fabric. The cherries are cheery!

For the decoration, I crocheted a white flower, then attached it to the purse with a pink flower-shaped button. The buttons I used on this project were some I found at a thrift store several months ago.

For my second attempt, I followed the pattern for the body of the purse, but put my own twist on the handle by crocheting a single, wider handle.

I lined this purse with a fabric that had characters from the movie Frozen. 

For decoration, another white crocheted flower with a purple flower-shaped button.

Jodie and I are quite pleased with the result. We got a bit more adventurous for the next purses, using variegated and specialty yarns.

Thinking of You

I made a Springtime card for a far-away friend in a new-to-me design from Pinterest that inspired me. The original card is by Karen Dunbrook.

Though the original card with made with paper strips, I decided to use coordinating bright colors of 5/8" wide ribbon in blue, orange and green.

I used a layer of white cardstock on top of yellow for a pop of border color. I figured out the placement of ribbons on the back of that white layer.

Then I used an X-ACTO knife and straight edge to make the precise cuts.

I wove the ribbon through the card slots using a safety pin

then adhered the ribbon on the back of the white cardstock with strong double-sided tape.

The bottom later of the sentiment is made from handmade, textured scrapbook paper. I added a white layer on top and stamped on the "Thinking of You."

Inside, I added a greeting that I'd typed up on the computer, and stamped the jar full of love. I hand-wrote a personal message on the left side of the card.

I finished the back in the usual way. (I'm pretty sure that I remember to sign it).

I gussied up the envelope with a matching scrap of yellow paper on the inside, and stamped the mailbox full of love on the back. Pretty cute stamp!

When she received it, my friend let me know it brightened her day. 

That is the point of sending handmade greetings, isn't it? It's why I send them. Plus, the hours spent making special cards is almost like getting to spend that time in my friend's presence.

Flash Craft: Cupid's Arrow

My primary creative intention for 2022 is to make what I call Flash Crafts. I'm continually bombarded with great crafting ideas. Last year, when I was in my creative slump, I completed very few projects. 

Now that I'm emerging from that slump, I've decided that if I see a project that catches my attention, I will drop whatever I'm doing and make that project within five days. A Flash Craft!

Here's my first. Some Cupid's Arrows for our granddaughters.

I found this idea on the Happiness is Homemade blog. Adorable! So I gathered my supplies:

• glittery foam hearts
• red pencils
• red duct tape
• a wooden heart shape

I used the wooden heart shape to cut smaller hearts from the big ones I had on hand. I used hot glue to adhere the two sides of the hearts together, leaving a hole at the top of the heart shape.

Figuring out how to make the duct tape "feathers" was a little tricky. Mine didn't come out the same, but that's OK. 

I sharpened the pencils because they fit into the point of the arrow better.

All in all, it took less than two hours from seeing the idea to having a finished craft.

Flash!

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Inspired by Happiness is Homemade

2021 Family Ornaments

Last week my friend Karen stopped by to play in my Studio with me. We each made a set of wood bead snowman ornaments for our families. We had a great time chatting and crafting. All of the ornaments are adorable. 

My inspiration came from ornaments I saw on Pinterest (see below). But instead of using beads all the same size, I chose beads of graduating size that I bought through Amazon. Instead of stringing the beads on yarn, I used wavy green chenille stems that I had in my stash. 

The ornaments went together very quickly! These first four are for my daughter Julie's family. They each have a charming satin red bow for the embellishment.

The snowmen for Jodie and Kenny are sporting bright red felt scarves.

For Jeanne, I chose a blue felt scarf.

Each snowman has the date and recipient's name on the back.

For now, the ornaments for Dale and me are hanging out together in my Studio, waiting to be hung on the tree.

This handmade ornament tradition is one I hope to continue into retirement. It's fun to go to our daughter's homes and see them on display each year as they grow their own family traditions.

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My ornaments are inspired by Anita at creatingme

Holiday Character Packages

I made these holiday characters from a base of toilet paper tubes and construction paper.

This kid is ready for a snow day

Santa looks surprised

My personal favorite is the reindeer

Inside each is a rolled-up pair of socks for our granddaughters!

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I was inspired by Sam of simpleeverydaymom:

and by thebestideasforkids:

2020 Family Ornaments

Long-time readers of my blog will recall that every year I make Christmas ornaments for my family. Over the years I've used sewing, counted cross-stitch, pipe cleaners, beads, pompoms, and many other craft techniques.

This year I returned to feltcraft. I was inspired by an ornament on Pinterest. Originally I was going to embroider, sew, and use beads like the inspiration piece. But when the time came and I found myself up against a mailing deadline, I decided to simplify the ornament by using glue, Sharpie, and a paint pen.

Here's my process:

First I used my inspiration photo to create a pattern for a three-inch ornament. I made the pieces on paper, then transferred them to cardstock to make a sturdier pattern. Next, I traced the pattern pieces upside down onto felt. That way any tracing lines would not show on the finished ornament. I cut out the pieces, and made a sample ornament to see how the pieces would come together.

I decided to try Aileen's Fast Grab Tacky Glue. It's very thick and holds the pieces together quickly. Plus, it dries clear. I'd tried a few other glues before I settled on this one. The others didn't work as well. When I ran out of the Fast Grab glue, I used plain ol' Elmer's white glue. If you leave it in the open air for a while, it will thicken up a bit.

My first step was to tape a loop of baker's twine to the top of the heart. Taping helped to hold the twine in place as I was manipulating the felt in the gluing stage. I tucked the knot inside the ornament for a nice clean loop finish.

I find it easier to use glue if I put it in a puddle on a plastic lid from peanut can. This way I can use a wooden applicator to dip into the glue and spread it on the craft felt pieces.

The blue heart was glued to the white heart, sandwiching the twine loop. Then the snowman was glued to the blue. I didn't have any light blue felt on hand, so I couldn't exactly mimic my inspiration piece. The dark blue works as a night sky.

Then I added the two pieces of the scarf and the snowman's orange nose. The ornament is rather thick when all those layers are in place. I used some sharp scissors to trim up the pieces that overlapped on the sides and give the ornaments a clean finish.

I used an ultra fine tip black Sharpie to draw the mouth. After some experimentation, I found that making a series of small dots to create the mouth worked better than simply drawing the mouth in a single stroke. This kept the felt from bunching up around the tip of the marker.

To make the snow, I used a paint pen. I got this Forever in Time white metallic marker at Dollar Tree. The ornament was complete.

As a side note, I also used this pen to trace the pattern onto the dark pieces of felt. I tried pen (couldn't see the line well) and chalk (line was too thick) before landing on this method. It worked well.

For a final touch, I got out my label maker and added each person's name and the year to the back of the ornament.

With that, the ornaments were done! I'll be able to include them in the box of gifts for Julie's family. Jeanne, Jodie, and Ken will receive theirs in person when we drop off Christmas presents.

These snowmen are a happy little bunch!

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Inspired by cathspenniesdesigns.com, found on Pinterest