handmade cass

We only did a small tree this year since we traveled for the holiday.  Just enough to show off a few favorite ornaments. And my mom was generous enough to let me borrow the wool and burlap penny rug she made for her little display trees.  On the other side there are more animals with dimensional tails and fur.  It is one of my favorite things she has made. And my new favorite ornament - a blown glass narwhal!  I saw this in the Anthropologie catalog and had to go to two stores to find it.   Hoping that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!

Well, the great Christmas card debate was never really resolved.  I waited too long and had to make a very simplified version of a homemade card because I ran out of the Shutterfly picture cards (which turned out really nice!). There were a few exceptions.  I had about an hour last weekend to work on cards and I made up this beauty.   My Copic markers were feeling neglected and I have been wanting to use this matryoshka nativity stamp for almost a year.  I am really happy with the card!  Unfortunately I only had time to make one.   I also started taking a picture of the colors I am using if I want to reference later.   AND I got to use my new Janome mini.  I love this fun little machine for paper crafts.  Please excuse the serious mess behind it.  No time for cleaning - only making a mess then leaving the room. I may be taking a break for a while while we celebrate my daughter's birthday and visit with the in-laws.  ...

I have had two reviews posted recently on Craft Critique.  Take a look and let me know if you have any opinions on the subjects. I gathered a number of pigment pens that were handy and did some research to see how they really compare.  You can see the "Pen Comparison: Archival Ink" article here. And I had the opportunity to try out a few Stampendous products, including the stamp cleaners, cling rubber stamps, and clear handle.  You can read the "Stampendous Stamp Cleaner Review" here.

I found the most beautiful wreath at my local craft store a few weeks ago - made of natural wood shavings in the shape of roses.  I had to wait for it to go on sale, but my husband brought it home for me as a present last week!  Before you think he is telepathic, just know that my mom coached him. So I had the wreath at home and it even had a protective layer of clear spray paint on it, but I was too scared that it would get ruined outside on our front door.  Destiny stepped in and I found a really pretty mini version of the wreath in red at Target!  So I am going to hang that one on our front door and keep the big one inside year round.  (I'll have to do a separate post on my many attempts to get it hung up.) The funny thing is that my husband came home and thought that I had painted the one he gave me red.  Even though it's about half the size.  Silly men.  Of course I DID add some Smooch Spritz to the red wreath because I think every Chri...

There is one post I did a while back that gets about 500% more views than anything else on this blog.  So I felt like it was time to give a few more ideas for handmade flower hair clips . I saw this idea in a magazine and they were using it as a topper for gift wrap.  But I adapted the measurements and supplies to make it into a perfect hair clip, or any other situation where you might need a felt flower.  Enjoy! First, start with two strips of felt in different colors. The measurements and cuts don't need to be perfect, but mine were about 1.5" by 10".  Then use a sharp pair of scissors to cut fringe along both strips (you can do both at the same time by layering). Next, add a line of glue along the bottom of one strip and place the other on top.  I like to use Aleene's Tacky Glue for any project like this one.  It is super sticky, dries clear, and is still easy to clean up. Then add one more line of glue on the top layer. Roll both strips up, keepi...

Almost every Friday morning I have a babysitter come over for two hours to distract the little one.  I originally thought I would clean the house and feel great about it.  But it turned into a two hour vacation in my craft area.  I try to get as much done as I can and feel like I am racing the clock.  But I've always worked better under pressure.  If only I could get those Christmas cards started... I have next Friday all planned out already.  I am going to read up on  Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas  ahead of time (for all the new techniques) and get as many tags done as I can.  I love this series on his blog!  And my wish list of supplies is growing every day he does a new one. Today I wanted to use up the rest of my twine zig-zags since I worked so hard on them.  The layout has a similar feel to the original but I needed a birthday card this time. Chevron patterned birthday card I also wanted to package it up in my ne...

Something new for me!  I am dedicating more time to my crafts now and have started submitting some projects for publication and design teams.  I recently did a few new projects for The Twinery's design team application, and I would love to share them. Chevron patterned Christmas card and matching envelope set. I have been loving the Chevron patterns that are popping up everywhere and this idea came to me right before I went to sleep one night last week.  I used American Crafts double-sided tape to adhere the twine in strips.  Then cut into the proper shapes and adhered to the card.  The twine is from The Twinery and Thickers letters are from American Crafts. Quick tip: If you plan to make your own chevron pattern, it is really helpful to have a line guide so your pattern doesn't get too crooked.  My first attempt went off track really quickly (you can see it in the corner below), so I used some post-it strips as a guide to keep me in line. Ro...

Now the cat's out of the bag.  My friends and family are getting homemade hot chocolate mixes this year!  Because of holiday travel schedules I had to get some of them done pretty early so I might as well post the pictures now. My idea started this year when I saw how many baby food jars started piling up in our recycling bin.  I wanted to repurpose some of them and I knew I could come up with some kind of mix.  I layered hot chocolate mix on the bottom, milk chocolate shavings in the middle (using a vegetable peeler makes this a piece of cake!), and marshmallows on top. After I got the jars all cleaned and dried, I covered the lids with a few layers using my circle and scalloped circle punches.  I printed out the labels on my favorite recycled paper from Neenah , and adhered with double sided tape.  And to finish them off I cut out circles of festive Christmas fabric and tied it off with green twine from The Twinery.

I was more than a little bit interested when I heard that Martha Stewart came out with an entire line of paints and accessories for Michael's.  And I started out slow, just getting one color so I could paint some plastic ornaments for Christmas. Then it turned into this... Here is the story.  We are traveling to see my in-laws for Christmas and there has been much planning about babies around the Christmas tree.  So I decided to decorate some plastic ornaments and send them over ahead of time so my mother-in-law can put those on the bottom of the tree. A couple years back I had seen a demo at the Plaid booth at CHA.  They were swirling paint around the inside of clear ornaments.  Perfect!  Should just be able to squeeze some paint into the ornament, swirl, dry, and done.  Not so much... I squeezed, swirled, and dried.  But as the paint was drying on the inside it was cracking. So I added a second coat.  That one took off some of the origi...

Handmade Christmas cards or photo cards... I have been going back and forth for weeks.  And now here it is a month before I want to get my cards out and I still haven't started anything handmade yet.  Here is the issue - I know that I am going to include a photo with the card anyway, and I have a credit at Shutterfly to print enough photo cards for everyone on our list (about 35).  So do I take the easy way out and do them all there?  Or do I divide the list and make some cards?  If so, then who would get the handmade ones - people I like or don't like?  Just kidding.  I like everyone on our list.  But seriously.  Don't know what to do. 11/19/2011 Update I ended up ordering 15 cards on Shutterfly and I'm hoping they get here soon so I can see if I like them.  If so then I'll just order the rest and be done with it.  But I should probably get started on a few cards just in case.  I already have the photo file ready to pri...

I saw a really easy costume idea in Martha Stewart magazine, that was for a birdcage veil with a spider on it.   And it was easy to make, but I wasted a ton of time trying to find the authentic birdcage netting - called Russian netting/veiling for anyone who is searching.  And then I ran out of time and had to get the closest thing I could find at our local fabric stores.  The supplies I used were: glitter black tulle fine black tulle (to make a little flower) paper mache spider purple glitter purple headband spray adhesive hot glue gun needle and black thread There wasn't a picture of this project on the Martha Stewart website, but you can see it in my magazine clipping below (click to enlarge). And my version: Birdcage veil with spider for Halloween I used a running stitch to gather the glitter tulle so that the back was a bit shorter and pointed upwards.  Then the longer half was draped over half my face and I glued it onto the headband. I used a...

I have really been getting into the crafty spirit lately.  In fact I've been working on so many projects that I can't even keep up with getting pictures posted.  And I forgot to take a picture of the ornaments I just finished and sent off to my mother-in-law!  Oops. But I did get lots of pictures when my aunt and cousin threw a crafty party so we could all get together and decorate some sugar skulls before Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos .  They used a mold to make a sugar skull for everyone, and we all brought a few different things for decorations - glitter, sequins, beads, and a million different colors of icing.  This was something new for me to try, although I see the sugar skulls around quite a bit here in San Diego. The sugar skulls were all set up with the decorating supplies, just waiting for everyone to get started. My cousins brought their sweet baby girl for the special crafting day. And my little helper was also on hand for all the...

I am still adding lists to my Smash Book whenever I can sneak away for a couple minutes.  Here are a couple pictures of the latest.   Today I added a variation on the list.  There were a ton of pictures and recipes that I loved in the October 2011 Martha Stewart Magazine, so I did a collage of pictures and stuck my favorite recipes into a glassine pocket on the page. Just hoping that the Smash Tape will keep the glassine envelope in place. It's hard to get anything that will stick to them!