Rethinking Wreaths – design finch I love sprucing up the house for Christmas, but sometimes its difficult to find contemporary holiday decor that reflects our clean, minimalist style. This year I’ve had my eyes peeled for a festive new wreath…something simple, yet slightly funky that will coordinate with the white and silver color scheme we already have going on. Oh, and also no fake greenery or silk flowers allowed (which pretty much rules out anything you might buy off the shelf at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby). I’m afraid I may be forced to fire up the hot glue gun and get crafty in order to see my envisioned Christmas wreath come true. 1. Apparently you can make a wreath out of almost anything….fur, moss, yarn, ornaments, coffee filters, twigs, paper, pipe. Gwynn Wasson Designs: {Tips & Hints} Candy Wreath Tutorial I've been dying to make a candy wreath since before Halloween but I just haven't had the time. So I was really excited to finally be able to make one last week!! If you would like to make one too, here's what you will need: - Two 20oz bags of Peppermint Starlights - One 16" styrofoam wreath form - One 20 yd. roll of 1 1/2" floral ribbon - One 4 yd. roll of 1 1/2" decorative ribbon - Hot Glue - Shellac (optional) I started by wrapping the wreath form with the floral ribbon. This serves two purposes: 1. 2. Next unwrap your starlights and begin to hot glue them to wreath. Instead of gluing in rows, I glued more in a brick pattern. One of the places where your starlights will probably not line up properly is the outside edge of the wreath. (** NOTE** If you will be hanging this wreath in a warm or damp climate, I highly recommend shellacking it, to prevent the candies from melting, prior to adding any of the decorative ribbon.) So, there you have it.
Giant craft stick snowflakes I could hardly wait to show you this Popsicle stick craft! These snowflakes are fun, easy, and so inexpensive to make. The smallest snowflake is 12 inches across; the largest is 24 inches. How to make giant craft stick snowflakes Supplies and tools craft sticksprotractor hot glue gun and glue fishing line clear cellophane tape 3/8- to 1/2-inch-wide holiday ribbon red and white paint (I used Benjamin Moore Aura Steam [AF-15] and Caliente [AF-290]) round 12mm rhinestones scissors double-stick foam tape small paintbrushdrop cloth or newspaper All my snowflakes are based on three basic patterns, which I will call star, hexagon, and rotated hexagon. The star 1. 2. 3. The hexagon 1A. 1B. 2. 3. 4. The rotated hexagon 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Sock Snowmen This morning when I went out to take my daughter to school it was -12. That is too cold for my blood and despite the beautiful snow on the ground there is NO way you're getting me outside to make a snowman. So, instead, I'll opt for the inside version made out of socks. They're easier to make, last longer and dare I say it... they're cuter too. Want to make your own? You'll need the following: 1- white sock. Step 1: cut the foot part off of your sock and discard. Step 2 & 3: Turn the tube part of your sock inside out and wrap a rubber band around the bottom. Step 4 & 5: Fill the sock with rice. Step 6: Taking the ankle socks, cut as shown above. Step 7, 8 & 9: First, take the sock without a toe and a heel and put it over your rice filled sock. Step 10: Next you add your embellishments. And there you have it - the cutest, easiest, little snowman you'll ever make. Just some quick tips: - you could sew the sock instead of using a rubber band. So that's it - super easy and way cute! Enjoy!
Christmas tree ornament mobile, how-to Here is how I made my Christmas tree ornament mobile, it was easier than it looks, promise. The Supplies a 17″ steamer rack from a restaurant supply storeabout 5 feet of lightweight jack chaina small carabiner100 basic ornament hooksone roll, 500 feet, monofilament jewelry string (not the stretchy sort)200 jewelry crimp beads or tubesjewelry crimping tool100 lanyard hooks100 ornaments Note: In the photo above I show earring wire instead of ornament hooks. Creating the Mobile Frame Creating the frame for my ornament tree mobile turned out to be fairly simple. For the top of the mobile I needed something that would allow me to easily secure a lot of hanging points without them sliding around too much. Turn the rack upside down and the spots where the legs were secured neatly become four hanging points. I bought some inexpensive jack chain to use for hanging. I joined the chains using another lanyard hook, and put that on a little carabiner which hung from the hook in the ceiling.
Sawdust and Paper Scraps: 3D Star Ornament Tutorial Added bonus: Your teacher will always have an extra pencil handy. Materials: $1 grape vine wreath40 Pencils ($1 per pack of ten) = $4glue gunribbonscissors I started by trimming all of the excess curls and messy branches off of the grapevine wreath to give it a clean look. Next I started hot gluing pencils onto the wreath. When I got back around to the beginning (or end if you look at it that way). To finish it off I wove some rick rack ribbon around the wreath, gluing in strategic places to keep it attached. So for a total of $5 and about 20 minutes, we have a great gift that my daughter is really proud to have helped make for her teacher. Tags: Craft, gift, Teacher gift