Day 7 of the Twelve Days of Christmas

We're on Day 7! and today's project is a cute button wreath. They are really easy to make, with just a few supplies and a few tips to make it easier for you. And kids love to make these, too. So, let's start with a big container of buttons and some thin, malleable wire. I use those little spools of colored wire that you can get in the jewelry/craft department.

Pour the buttons into a bowl or tray so they are easier to sort through. Cut a piece of wire about 16" long and pick out 20-25 buttons that you like for your wreath. Lay them out in the order you want to string them and all need to be facing up. Start by taking one button and putting the wire from the back to the front in one hole and back down from front to back in the other hole. Slide the button down to the other end of the wire, leaving about 4" of wire at the end. The next button will be the opposite. Put the wire from front to back and then back to front. Slide it over under the edge of the first button. The next one will be the same as the first........back to front and front to back, and slide it over under the edge of the 2nd button. Continue this way until all the buttons are wired except the last one.

You need to end up on a button that is on the top layer. For the last button, you will use both ends of the wire, taking the end of one wire and putting it down one hole of the last button, and taking the other end of the wire and putting it down the other hole. Then twist them together tightly, and use what's left to make a loop to hang the wreath. Glue a little bow to the top and you're done! You can see in the photo above that I put an extra little red button in strategic places on this one to represent berries. In the first photo, you can see that we used some ceramic Christmas light buttons for decoration. It's fun to use buttons that are unexpected. And it's a cute way to showcase some of your cool buttons, too.

Have fun and make a ton. They are great package toppers, too. Remember......"You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." Yogi Bear.  Keep your eyes on the road and meet me back here tomorrow,

Day 6 of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 6 is a merry day! I love, love, love today's project!!! And they are so simple to make. I call them my Joy Blocks, which is not very original, I know, but it fits and it's easy to remember.

You start with 4 2x4's in these sizes: 3", 4", 5", and 6". Sand them until they are smooth and paint them as shown. The 3" and 4" blocks are white, the 5" is red and the 6" is green. Put on at least two coats, letting them dry in between coats. Spray them with acrylic spray and then antique them with some wood stain if you want. Let them dry until the stain is absolutely dry, or it will stain your paper, too. Cut some scraps of Christmas paper to go on the edges, and decoupage it on. I used green paper on the red block and red paper on the green block. I didn't do the edges of the white blocks. I did the front of the 4" block, and then tied a ribbon around the 3" block so it looks like a package.  Let it dry thoroughly and then sand the edges a little or a lot, depending on how you want it to look. I only sanded mine until the edges of the paper were smooth. I didn't want the primitive look on these, so I didn't sand down to the wood, but you could, if that's the look you want. Then I spattered the red and green blocks with white paint, and the white 3" block with red and green paint.

The plastic candy cane I used for the J was too long, so I cut it off and then used the barbecue lighter to melt it a little bit and round the edges. I tied a silver bow at the top to form the cross bar.

The O wreath is another of the photo rings like I used on day 3. I covered it with gold ribbon and put a pine sprig and some berries on it. On the 3" block, paint the words, "to the world". You can use fancy script, or vinyl letters, or whatever you like, then tie a wide ribbon around it to make it into a package.

The Y is a button snowman with his arms raised to form the Y. Only I didn't use just buttons. I used one button and two glass bubbles. I put white felt on the back of the glass bubbles, and then I used fabric paint to paint little buttons, a coal mouth, eyes and a carrot nose. I went outside and found a couple of little sticks that I trimmed to the size I needed, cut some felt into a hat and scarf, and glued them to the snowman. I glued a little pom-pom to the hat.

I think I'll have to make a few more sets of these to give as gifts. I think they turned out really cute. Make yourself a batch and have some fun!

We're half way through the twelve days! I hope you will join me tomorrow for the next project. It's a fast and easy one that your kids will like, too. Until then, remember....when you think all is lost, the future remains. See ya tomorrow!

                                

This post is linked to:

Wow Us Wednesday at  http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

Rook No. 17 A Little Birdie Told Me...No. 48 at  http://www.rookno17.com/2011/11/3-charming-holiday-crafts-little-birdie.html
Motivate Me Monday #100 at Keeping It Simple
Christmas Cheer Link Party at Hi Sugarplum
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative

Day 5 of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Happy \Day 5! A while back I had a Friday Friends! post which featured a cute little cupcake stand from 9 to 5. I loved it so much that I wanted one of my own, but I wanted to be able to change it for the seasons or the reasons for using it. So I came up with this idea.

Go to the dollar store and look at all the glasses, goblets and plates and pick out what you like. Bring them home and wash them really well. I found some glass baubles for floral displays in clear and two colors of blue, and filled the goblet, but you could use just about anything. I think small colored Christmas balls would look really good. Take some white floral clay and roll it into a skinny snake and put it around the rim of the goblet. Floral clay is used to hold floral frogs and styrofoam in vases and bowls of water, so it is water proof and really sticky. Don't make your snake too big, because when you press the plate onto the goblet, which you will do now, it will spread, and you don't want it to get too wide and ugly.

(My clay looks lumpy because I forgot to take a picture before I put the plate on and I had to pull it back off). Now, press your plate onto your goblet or glass, being careful to center it the best you can. Press pretty hard so that the clay will adhere well and evenly.

It looks pretty nice, and the clay doesn't look out of place or anything. Now all you have to do is fill it up! Then, for the next holiday or event, you can take it apart and fill the goblet with something new and put the plate back on. You can wash it without it coming apart, but don't put it in the dishwasher. It won't hold up to that.

A large doily or several small ones make it look very nice.  I think it will be fun to see what I can come up with to put in the goblet, and you could make it with more than one tier, too! Use glass candle holders for the supports. You could also turn a small bowl upside down to use as your base, then put a plate, a candle holder and another plate. Be creative! I'll bet you can come up with lots of cute ideas.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and it seems to get the creative juices flowing for me. I hope it does for you, too. It also gets me thinking about family and friends that I haven't seen for a while and the new friends I've made this year. As Henry David Thoreau said, "The language of friendship is not words, but meanings," and I mean it when I say,  I count you all as my friends, and hope you count me as one, too. Until tomorrow,

Day 4 of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Day Four is another recycled craft. I call it the Jingle Chime and it's made from a recycled 2 or 2 1/2 litre soda bottle. Mine is a 2 1/2 litre because that's what I can get at the dollar store. If you get a green bottle, you already have a head start on Christmas colors. Cut the bottle in half and you're going to use the bottom half. Set the bottle bottom on what I call its feet. There are five of them with an arch in between them. Stand a ruler up next to it and make a mark at 3" up at every "foot" of the bottle and at 4" up at every arch. Draw scallops using those marks. Cut the scallops with scissors. (I used my kitchen shears.)

Now you either need to punch holes or drill them, one in each foot and one in the center. I used my Silent Setter for the holes in the feet, but the one in the center is harder, because it doesn't sit flat on the table, so I had to drill that one.

Sorry the pic is so blurry. I circled the holes so you could see them. There's one more
at the top that's out of the photo. I forgot to circle the middle one, but you can see it pretty plainly.

Now you need your supplies. Hot glue gun and glue sticks, jute, twine, or cord, bells, ribbon and decorations. I also used a round coaster for the clapper.

Start by making your hanger. Cut five pieces of just 10" long. String the jute through the holes, making knots on the inside that are big enough that they won't pull through the holes Put all the pieces together, make a loop and tie them in an overhand knot. Trim your ends even with the knot. Now is the easiest time to put the jute through the middle hole, too, so you're going to make the clapper next. Cover both sides of the coaster with Christmas cards, wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, whatever you like. I used two antique Christmas cards. Punch a hole in the top and bottom edges of the coaster. (I used my Crop-a-Dial because it punches easily through thick stuff.) Cut a piece of jute about 16-18" long and put it through the hole in the top of the coaster. Put both ends up through the hole in the middle of the bottle and tie them in a large knot. Now you can decorate it.

I decorated the top with greenery and a poinsettia, Then I decided it needed something on the inside to make it look more finished, so I glued some pine cones and a little greenery up in there, and I think it looks much better. Now it's time to string the bells. Use a paper punch to punch a hole in each scallop. Measure from the holes to the bottom of the clapper and double that measurement. Cut six pieces of jute this length. String a bell onto a piece of jute, put the jute through a hole, and tie the two ends together. Do this for all five holes. Your sixth bell and piece of jute get tied to the bottom of the clapper. Tie ribbon bows at the knots to make them look cute and add a little color. You now have an easy and cute Jingle Chime, and you will be able to hear jingle bells any time. I hung mine on the front porch so the wind will catch the clapper. It looks nice there.

The finished product hanging on my porch.

Close-up of the other side of the clapper.

 That's it for Day 4. Make some of these with your kids. They might need a little help, but they will love making them. You can use regular jingle bells, and I suppose you could use 1 litre bottles, too. These would make cute teacher gifts and you wouldn't have to spend an arm and a leg! I don't know about you, but things are really tight for us this year, so I am having to be very cost-conscious. Oprah said, "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." I am truly grateful for what I DO have. See you tomorrow,

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas

Today I have an ornament for your tree, or even better, for grandma's tree. These photo ornaments are a recycled craft. They are made with the plastic rings that come out of the end of rolls of photographic paper used in 1-hour photo machines. I get mine at Wal*Mart, but you can probably get them at any photo processing place. Just go in and ask them to save them for you. Please remember to go get them, though, or they won't do it again.

You will need between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 yards of ribbon, depending on the width of the ribbon. Narrower ribbon takes more and wider ribbon takes less. Using hot glue and a hot glue gun, glue one end of the ribbon to the plastic ring. Then start wrapping the ribbon around the ring, overlapping each wrap a little. Continue wrapping until you have covered the whole ring, then trim the ribbon and glue it down.

Cut another piece of ribbon about 5" long and glue it to the back as a hanging loop. Now decorate the ring. I have lots of photos of ideas for you. Some of them are the original ornaments I made in 2001, and some are this year's batch, which have no pictures in them yet. All that's left is cut and glue your photos on the back and cover them with cardstock or felt, or something to finish the back. On some of mine you will see snowflakes, stars, ribbon, holly......lots of different things to add to the detail of the ornament.



This is this year's batrch. I just have to print the photos now, and I can finish them. I've always had a problem knowing how to store them to keep them from getting banged up, but I think I just figured it out! I will cover the chocolate milk canister with some pretty Christmas paper and cut circles of plain white cardstock to go in-between the ornaments. I definitely need another one, though, don't I?

Well, that's day number two. I hope you will go right out to your 1-hour photo and ask for those photo rings! This is also something the kids could do, with your help on the glue gun. Have fun, and  keep the home fires burning. See you tomorrow,

Friday Friends!

You get a double whammy today! Friday Friends! and Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas. Goody, goody. Our first Friday Friend this week is Crystal over at Little Bit Funky. I was looking for hand print art for kids and found these adorable ornaments. My interest was piqued at the description of hand print snowmen. I wondered how the heck you could make a snowman from a hand print, and boy, was I impressed. They are so cute, and there are so many great ideas on her blog. Lots of links to other great ideas, too. Go take a look at  http://www.littlebitfunky.com/2010/12/make-these-now-handprint-snowman.html .

Next up are Jeanine and Amy from Serving Pink Lemonade. They have a fantastic site and some awesome kid's craft ideas. I'm always on the lookout for good ideas for kids, and they are worth looking at. They also do some really nice adult stuff, too, and that's what caught my eye this week. A Christmas printable for free! Go to

http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-word-art.html and print one for yourself, and maybe a few for gifts!

Last but not least for today is Robin Gallagher at Robin's Quilts, Etc. She has her fingers in a lot of pies, including quilting retreats and selvaging. Yep, I said selvaging. Anyway, what I chose for you today is her Snippets and Thread Catcher tutorial. This little catcher is so pretty, almost too cute to use for a trash can! And it folds up to take with you anywhere. So go over and take a look at how easy it is to make.  http://robingallagher.blogspot.com/2011/11/snippets-and-threads.html 

And if you are curious about selvaging, go to the selvage blog and check it out. Be sure to look at the side bar, too.

Well that's it for today on Friday Friends, but don't forget to check out the 12 Days of Christmas, too. I have been insane trying to keep up with everything, but as Thomas Edison said, "If we did all the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves", and I haven't reached that point yet. Until next time,

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas

I am loving this cold weather. We have no snow, but we do have cold, and as long as I can keep my toes and fingers warm, I love it. Today's project is a quick, easy craft that you can make for your kids or do with your kids. They make good gifts for kids, teachers and moms who like to read. When my little granddaughter was going through chemo, she made one of these for me at the hospital. There was a group called Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer that had volunteers come into the hospital and do arts and crafts with the kids. They loved it and had so much fun. Madison wasn't old enough to really do a lot, but they all loved her and would take her down to the playroom and help her do it anyway. So I became the proud owner of a rather ugly, bright green bookmark that I love with all my heart. So here's what they look like...

I made them for all the grandkids, to go in a book for Christmas. They are all individual, and I used either ribbon or beads that I thought each child would like. The blue and gold one is school colors, the Titans one is for a Tennessee Titans fan. One grandson is learning to fish, so he got a fish. You get the idea.

You need about 15" of the wider ribbons and twice that of the narrow ribbons. The narrow ribbons get folded in half so they have a little more substance, and they have a tail only on one end. Thread your first bead on the narrow ribbon and move it to the halfway mark. Fold the ribbon in half and thread the rest of your beads on both ends of the ribbon together, like they were one piece. Put three or four nice beads on and then tie a knot as close to them as you can. Then thread several smaller beads on the other end and tie knots on both sides of them. Cut the ribbons at an angle so they don't fray away. With the wider ribbon, the only thing that changes is you tie knots on both sides of the beads at both ends. The length of the ribbons is determined by the size of books they generally read, but I usually try to put at least 10" between the beads. Here are close-ups so you can see them better.

Let your imagination run wild, and your choice of beads, too. Some of you probably have some really cool beads you can use. I used what I had, because I'm trying to do Christmas mostly with what I have on-hand. Money is tight, and we need all we can get to go to Elko to be with the family!

That's today's project. Let you kids make some, too. Don't hog all the fun. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! Crafting fun to you all,

Day One of the 12 Days of Christmas

Merry Christmas!!! Ho Ho Ho!!! I know, it's a little early, but this year I have decided to do my 12 Days of Christmas starting on December 1st instead of the 13th, so that there is time to actually make the projects! And I have a good line-up this year for your holiday enjoyment.

So today is Day One, and we are starting with an Advent Calendar. Its really cute and not hard to do, but it does take some time to make, so lets get started!

I had trouble getting a good picture because its long and skinny.

You need 3 sheets of 12x12 cardstock in your favorite Christmas color (mine are red), these are your base sheets. You also need 2 more sheets in the complimentary color (mine are green). Set all of these aside for now. Then you need 24 scraps of Christmas design or solid color paper to make the pockets. You need to cut 24 pockets that are 3 1/2"x 3 5/8". Take one of those pieces and score three edges 1/2" in from the edges. Cut the two bottom corners at an angle and fold up the pocket.  This should make your pocket, when folded, 3" tall and 2 5/8" wide. (You can also make a template out of poster board or a thin plastic sheet type cutting board and place it on each pocket and fold around it. Just make sure if you do it this way, that your template is a little smaller so that your finished pocket still measures 2 5/8" x 3".)

Now do this with the other 23 pockets. You can use cardstock or paper. It won't matter. Now here comes the fun part. Decorate those pockets any way you like!

The picture part moved up where it didn't belong, but I think you can still see the pockets OK.

You can see that on some of the pockets I used a circle punch on the top edge and left some of them straight. I used a different paper for every pocket, but you could use all coordinating papers if you wanted. I used a QuicKuts font for the numbers, sorry I don't remember which one. It belongs to my sister-in-law. I love its old-fashioned look. Like I said, this is the fun part, so just have FUN!

Now let's start the assembly. Lay out your two base sheets of cardstock. Take the two complimentary color sheets and trim 1/2" off two sides, then place them on the two base sheets and center them. There should be 1/4" all the way around. Attach them with scrapbook adhesive, whichever kind you prefer, but make sure it is permanent. These two together now make up your base sheets. Put two eyelets on the top and bottom edges of each base sheet, about 1/2" from the top and bottom edges and 3" in from the sides. These are for attaching the sheets together and for hanging.

 Lay out all your pockets in numerical order. For this step, all the measurments will be for the TOP base sheet, the one that is now 11 1/2" square. You should have 1/4" between each pocket and 1/4" on each edge. Starting at the top of the page, leave 3/4" inch above each pocket so you have room for the cards to go in an out, and so they don't overlap onto the pocket above.  Make them as even as possible and attach them to the base sheets.

The next thing to do is to decide on the activities you want to put on the cards. Here is a list of what's on mine, but you can put whatever you want on yours.

1.   Do a good deed every day in December
2.   Make a Friendship Bread Starter (recipes are online)
3.   Make handmade Christmas cards
4.   Make a new ornament for your tree
5.   Finish your cards
6.   Make presents for Grandmas and Grandpas
7.   Make some Christmas cookies
8.   Take some cookies to the neighbors
9.   Make a Christmas card ball ( directions in 12 Days of Christmas 2010)
10. Make some Christmas candy
11. Make gifts for teachers.
12. Have a Christmas movie marathon
13. Finish the grandparents' gifts
14. Play "Build a Snowman" (coning up in a future post)
15. Drive around and look at Christmas lights
16. Do your last-minute shopping.
17. Wrap all the presents!
18. Make some Friendship Bread
19. Go caroling OR Have hot chocolate and sing some carols.
20. Read a new Christmas book or story
21. Wear Santa hats all day long
22. Have a Fruitcake Toss competition
23. Play "I Spy" around the Christmas tree
24. Read the true Christmas story from the 2nd chapter of Luke in the New Testament

I printed the cards on business card stock, so they were exactly the right size. at the top of the backs of the cards, I stamped Merry Christmas with a little stamp I have that just fits, so that it shows when the cards are in the pockets.

The last sheet of 12x12 cardstock you have left is for the picture section. Score it at 6", right down the middle, and fold it in half. You can attach your family photo any way you like. I cut a hole for my picture to go behind, like a photo mat, but you could just attach the picture right to the cardstock and it would look just as good. I found a little poem in an old Christmas card that I liked and printed it out and cut a hole for it, too. Now, choose the color of ribbon that you want to use to fasten them together, and tie the sheets together using the eyelet holes. Put a loop through the top two eyelets to hang it by, and Ta Duh! You have an advent calendar like no one else's!

Here is what the little poem says:

It's a season of magic

and sugar spun sights,

Of gossamer angels and

 bright, twinkling lights.

It's a season of feelings,

of love and of laughter,

Of memories to make

 and to keep ever after.

I hope you will enjoy making these advent calendars and will use them through the years. I leave the same picture every year to remind me of what my family looked like in 2005. Wow! We have lost two of the adults in this photo, through divorce, gained two others, through marriage, and gained two more grandchildren and three step-grandchildren since then. And there are six who are not in the picture! As of today, December 1, 2011, we have 8 children, five ex-children that we still care about, and 18 grandchildren, including all those we gained through marriages! Maybe I DO need a new picture!

I hope you are getting into the Christmas Spirit, and remember what Anne Frank said..."No one has ever become poor by giving."  Until tomorrow,