hints/Tips from Deanne:
I made some of those
popcorn ornaments.
Here's some hints
and things that I will pass on.
**You're gonna break
some! Be prepared!
I started out with
12 glass balls.
Ended up with 9, not
bad. The first one I broke right away because I
pulled off the metal
part and let the popcorn kernal fall into the ball. Crash! One gone!
*TIP: Let the popcorn
kernals "sllliiidddeee" into the ornament!
The next one I placed
on it's side and when the first popcorn popped it blew the side out of
the ornament.Bang! Another one gone!
*TIP:Place the ornament
in the microwave upright. The glass on the top I found was a little thicker
and could take the blows of the popping popcorn. The next one broke because
I stopped the microwave too many times. I was experimenting on how much
time I would need to pop all the kernals. And also the cottonball kept
popping out when a popcorn popped and I had to stop the microwave to put
it back in.
*TIP: Use about 14
kernals and the first couple you will have to experiment with to see how
long it will take to pop "most", not all , of them. With my microwave which
is 9 years old, I had to put them on
anywhere from 5-7
minutes. The kernals that don't pop can easily be gently shaken out when
the ball cools down.
*Tip: Make sure the
cotton ball is very tight in the hole.I found two cotton balls worked the
best.
Some more hints that
I learned:
* Use good cushioning
under the ball because they jump when the popcorn pops! I used 2 paper
towels and folded in 4ths.Then I wrapped another one around the ball to
keep it upright.
*Do ONE at a
time and watch it EVERY second!
* Let them cool completely
before doing anything else with them.
Now, I'm going to
decorate them with a piece of gold cording around the top and tie it into
a bow and then place some gold glitter either in the ball with the popcorn
or some little gold glitter dots on the outside.
I made some Christmas
tree ornaments out of popsicle sticks once. It is very easy.
You will need:
4 sticks
One will be the base
One will be the long
branch along the bottom The othe two till have to be cut in half and trimmed
to look like smaller branches. These will form the middle and top
branches of the tree. Glue them on, cover the cut area with buttons. Paint
them green and use a star as the tree topper. They are really cute!
Thanks Carole!
POPSICLE
STICK SNOWMAN ORNAMENT
Take a jumbo stick
and paint both sides white. Cut out a top hat from either black felt or
fun foam and glue to top of stick. Paint black button eyes and mouth and
orange carrot nose for face. Tie red ribbon around neck area for scarf.
Paint 3 dots vertically below scarf for buttons. Punch hole in top center
of hat and tie gold hanger.
Thanks Debbie!
Squirrel
A Sleepin'
This makes 1 squirrel
Materials:
walnut shell- one
half
Red plaid flannel,
2" square
Tan pom-poms: 5 mm,
four ,3/4", one
Plastic animal eyes,
5 mm, one pair
Black bead, 3 mm,
one
Tan bump chenille,
one bump
Cotton ball
White thread. Sewing
needle
Low-temperature glue
gun and glue sticks
Scissors. Ruler
INSTRUCTIONS
For the cradle, glue
cotton hall inside walnut half-shell at rounded end.
For the neck, glue
one large pom-pom on inside of shell at pointed end.
For tail, bend narrow
end of chenille bump over rounded end of shell.
Glue inside shell
to hold. Trim opposite end of chenille bump to
resemble a squirrel's
tail, bend tail in an upward curl.
To form blanket, fold
over 1/4" twice along one edge of fabric. With
folded near neck,
glue edges of blanket over sides of shell; trim excess fabric.
For the head, glue
large pom-pom on top of neck. For the paws, glue one
small pom-pom on top
of blanket on each side of head.
For the ears, glue
one small pom-pom near top on each side of head.
Glue eyes to front
of face, glue black bead nose to bottom of face so nose rests on blanket
edge.
To hang, thread needle
with a single strand of white thread. Insert
needle through
blanket at center side edge;take a 1" stitch and bring
needle out to other
side. Cut both strands to 5 inches; tie ends in an overhand knot to form
a loop.
Crushed
Can Polar Bear
Instructions:
Cut out patterns.
Follow the directions ob the patterns.Crush can by
stepping on it with
open end down. Spray entire can white.
Make the bear. Glue
pupils on eyes. Glue nose on muzzle. See picture to
help you. Glue ears,eyes,
muzzle,tongue,arms and legs to can. For sign,
use black marker to
write RECYCLE! on paper scrap. Glue sign to back of
front paws. (Sign
is optional)
Make the hanger. Place
ribbon around rim of face and tie a tight knot at
top of head. Tie ribbon
ends together at top. Trim ends at a slant.

Christmas
Bear Ornament
Materials:
For each bear, you'll
need:
One gold Christmas
ball ornament
Four 1/2" pom poms
Three 1/4" pom poms
One 2" pom pom
One pair googly eyes
Scrap of red felt
Hot glue gun and glue
sticks
Instructions:
1.Glue the two inch pom pom on top of the Christmas ornament, just in front
of the hanger. This will form the head.
2.Glue two 1/4" pom
poms to the top of the head to form ears. Glue one 1/4" pom pom to the
center of the face to form a nose.
3.Glue the two eyes
in place above the nose.
4.Cut a smile out
of the scrap of red felt and glue to the face underneath the nose.
5.Glue the four 1/2"
pom poms to the ornament to form four legs.
6.You can use 3 dimensional
paint to write a child's name on the bear's tummy.
Candy
Cane Reindeer Tree Decorations
These are the sweetest
little things.I make the EVERY year and add them to children's gifts.They
love them. This is a quick project the kids can make.
Materials:
Candy cane
Pipe cleaner
White glue or, if
an adult is helping, Hot glue gun and glue sticks
One pair of craft
eyes (wiggly ones)
Instructions:
1.Slip the pipe cleaner
under the crook of the candy cane. Pull ends up over
the candy cane and twist together close to the candy cane to secure. Bend
the pipe cleaner to form antlers.
2.Glue the eyes to
the candy cane just in front of the antlers. If you're using
white glue, make sure
to use just a little and hold the eyes in place until the glue is set.
3.Hang your reindeer on the tree or slip him inside a gift bow on a wrapped
present.
Snowman
Necklace
Need:
35mm jingle bells
small paintbrush
white acrylic paint
1/8 " hole punch
scissors
craft foam-black,
orange
craft glue
green pompoms
white floral wire
hot glue gun and sticks
red yarn
Make:
Paint bells white.
Ley dry.
For each snowman ,punch
7 circles from black foam and cut 3/8 " long triangle nose from orange
foam. Holding each bell upside down,use craft glue to attach 2 circles
to the bell for eyes, 5 for the mouth and the nose between eyes and mouth.
Let dry. Cut 2 1/2 " piece of wire. Bend into half-circle. Hot glue wire
ends to sides of the bell to make the top of earmuffs. Glue pompoms over
each end of wire. Cut several inches of yarn for necklace.Fold in half.
Knot ends together. Slip folded end under hanging loop of bell. Pull knotted
ends through fold to attach necklace.
***
I think these would
really be cute as gift tag attachments too. Or as
tree ornaments.
Reindeer
Ornament
(made with a plastic
spoon)
Thanks Tennia!
Thought I'd share
a craft...
It was a shell ornament.
It is a snowman made out of an oyster shell. I've seen the angels
and Santa ones before but this was the first time seeing a snowman.
I'll try my best to describe this cutie:
paint oyster shell
white, float a black line for the head and have a big circle at bottom
for belly. Paint black dots for coal buttons, carrot nose,
coal dots for face, and top it off with a painted hat. This is where
you have to be creative. The top of each shell has a different
shape so your hat takes on different shapes. Some had scarves
painted on them, some had fabric tied around them for scarves and
some had sock hats perched on top. They were adorable and sold
for $15.00 each.
Thanks Maryjo!
Cinnamon
Spice Craft Dough
1 c. apple sauce
1 c. cinnamon
1tsp. nutmeg
1tsp. cloves
Mix until the dough
has the consistency of playdough, adding more applesauce or cinnamon as
needed. Roll flat, dusting countertop and rolling pin with cinnamon
if dough sticks. Cut into shapes with knife or cookie cutter.
Use a toothpick to make a hole for hanging. Dry at room temp. for
5-7 days,
turning over at the
end of the third day to ensure even drying. They dry even quicker
in a a food dehydrator, and give your house a wonderful smell.
Thanks Lucinda!
CINNAMON
ORNAMENTS:
No baking and simple
for kids! Mix 3/4-1 cup applesauce with one 4.12-oz. bottle
ground cinnamon to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 1/4-inch
thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Make hole for ribbon.
Carefully put on rack to dry. Let air dry several days, turning
occasionally. Makes 12 sweet smelling ornaments.
Cinnamon
Ornaments
1 cup cinnamon
1tbs cloves
1tbs Nutmeg
3/4 cup applesauce
(Let drain in a strainer for several hours)
2 tbs white glueMix
cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg add applesauce & glue.
Work mixture with hands until smooth and well mixed. Divide into 4
portions roll out to 1/4 inch thickness cut with cookies cutters. Use straw
to make hole for hanging (if needed). Put on wire rack to dry at room temp
for several days. Turn twice daily so they don't curl. Use ribbon
to hang if needed.
Cinnamon
figurines
3 3/4 ounces of ground
cinnamon
23 ounce jar applesauce
Pour cinnamon into bowl. Add applesauce by the spoonful, stirring until
a stiff dough forms. Mix dough thoroughly by hand. This recipe is
for making little bear figurines, so you basiclaly roll the dough into
balls for the body, head, etc and mush them together. The same recipe
would probably work for other kinds of modelling or for rolling out and
using cookie cutters.
Thanks Linda!
Pop
Can Angel
What you do is take
an empty and cleaned soda can and bend it a little above the middle. Don't
bend it in half, just put a little bit of an angle to it. Remove the pop
top. Now paint the body of the can red and
paint the top of the
can flesh tone. Using the opening of the can as the mouth, paint a nose
and mouth on the top of the can with a paint marker or a sharpee. I paint
the eyes closed so it looks like she is singing.
Then take some paper
ribbon and wrap both ends in so it forms two wings and glue it to the back.
I use a
little wooden star
painted red to cover the place where the ribbon is glued to the can. There
you go! They are really cute when done.
Thanks Bess!
I make a ornament
out of the brown paper. I use the brown paper that comes in the roll
... much cheaper than bags. I have a snowman shape ... put a layer of quilt
batting (the thin kind) sewing (on the sewing machine around the shape)
... cut it out with pinking shears. Oh ... I put a binder twine hanger
in it before I sew around it! Paint eyes and mouth ... Eyes (big black
circle ... small white circle in the center ... use a fine line marker
for eyelashes .. mount (I just do small dots of red ... so it looks like
radishes ... LOL) ... now for the nose ... half a toothpick ... paint orange
(looks like a carrot ... LOL). I tear a piece of fabric for the scarf
and tie around neck. For the buttons down the front I just
use small buttons in any color.
Thanks Tammy!
Candy Cane Ornament
You will need a fat
white pipe cleaner, red ribbon, glue and scissors. Bend the pipe cleaner
into the shape of a candy cane. Glue one end of the ribon to the
curved end of the pipe cleaner. Hold till sticks. Wind the ribbon
at a slant down the length of pipe cleaner. Secure at bottom. Trim
off excess and enjoy your candy cane.
Berry Basket snowflakes
Cut out the bottoms
of the berr baskets. Snip to make snowflake designs. Glue two
together diagonally. You may leave their natural color or paint white.
Sprinkle glitter onto both sides. Tie a loop of yarn at top to make
a hanger.
Santa's peanut
helper
Cut out a long, thin
triangle from red felt to look like a santa hat. Glue the felt to one end
of a peanut n shell. Glue a bit of white cotton under the felt to represent
the white part of Santa's hat. Draw a face
on the peanut.
Glue on some cotton for a beard. Cut a pipe cleaner(white) into four
peices each about two inches long. Glue them onto the peanut for
arms and legs.
Shining stars
You will need paper
a pencil, waxed paper, ribbon, glue and glitter. Draw a star onto a piece
of paper, place a shet of waxed paper over the drawing. Spread glue on
a piece of yarn(not ribbon as mentioned before-sorry) use the yar to outline
the star. While the glue is still wet sprinkle glitter on the it
and let dry overnight. Next day peel the star off the waxed paper
and tie on a ribbon at top so you can hang. You can also make other shapes
such as candy cane, heart, snowman, bell etc.
Deer Knob
You will need and
8 1/2 by 11 piece of deer colored felt, scraps of felt for the antlers,
eyes, collar, ears, and mouth. Draw the shape of a reindeer's head and
neck on the large piece of felt and cut it out. Poke a hole in the
center of the circle and then cut a few slashes around the hole.
Cut ears, eyes, antlers, and a mouth from
your scraps.
Glue to reindeer. Hang on your doorknob to decorat. These instructions
may make this sound hard but if you see the picture it makes it VERY simple.
I am only on a webtv so I have no way to forward the picture, however if
you or anyone wants it I can make arrangements to get it to you.
Christmas Stocking
Trace a stocking shape
onto red felt(make two) and cut out. Thread a long piece of green
yar throught a needle. Sew the two pieces of red felt toghether using
an overcast stitch all the way around the sock
except for the top.
LOL With glue write your childs name on the sock and then sprinkle glitter
on the glue. Let dry and enjoy.
Thanks ?!
Clothespin
Angels
Materials:
To make 16 angels,
you will need
16 clothespins, the
old fashioned clothespin, NOT the spring kind
3 fine tip permanent
markers in brown, red & blue
Gold acrylic paint
4 fine round brushes
1 bag each of metallic
strips & colored crinkled paper
3 yards of 2 1/2"
ribbon
Six 12" beige chenille
stems
Sixteen 1" earring
hoops (or gold wedding rings used in making shower
favors)
3 yards thin, flat
gold cord
4 yards 1/8" ribbon
White glue
Instructions:
Use felt tip pins
to draw dots for eyes, mouth & cheeks. **Could use acrylic paint &
a steady hand instead** Paint gold on top of clothespin to look like
hair & on bottom to look like gold shoes. Cut a 4" chenille stem &
fold 1/4" back at each tip for hands. Glue center to back of clothespin
5/8" below neck. Glue a layer of crinkle paper or metallic strips
around waist, then glue strips around neck to desired fullness. Trim
to just above feet. Glue halo to back of head. Glue 1" ends of an
8" x 1/4" ribbon to back for hanging loop. Trace out a wing pattern
& make a cardboard template & trace onto folded 2 1/2" ribbon,
cut out & glue to back. Glue gold cord bow to neck.
Thanks ?!
Victorian
Christmas Tree Balls
Materials ::
Glass christmas balls
(any size)
tull scraps, lace
feathers or white
down
potpourri
glitter
bleach/hot water
Here goes the
directions!
1. Put 1 cup
bleach in a sink of hot water. Remove loop and cap from the glass
ball and place balls
inside the bleach water. Line the sink with an old towel or some
washclothes because they are very fragile.
2. After about
3-4 hours, the balls should be ready for cleaning. Just clean with
hot tap water, rinsing well, use a Q-tip to wipe out remaining paint.
Rinse all paint out, with hot water then take a piece of twisted paper
towel, pushing halfway into the ball, leaving some to pull out later.
This absorbs all moisture. Let them dry completely.
3. Fill ball
1/4 to 1/3 full with potpourri (the type with small buds, small flowers
or pretty leaves look nice) then a scrap of lace or tull or some pure white
down feathers (just a few), some glitter, (the kind with stars in it is
especially pretty) you can experiment, depending what you have to work
with. In one of mine, I used fake snow (the type you buy in a bag,
it looks like cut up plastic supermarket bags cut really small) instead
of the lace or feathers.
4. Then you
can hot glue a piece of lace around the cap, or under the cap, so it
sticks out from under,
or a tassle to the bottom. These require little to know experience,and
come out amazingly beautiful. (sounds like a bunch of mishmash -
but the things you put in can really come together)
I used a burgundy
color potpourri, with the star glitter, tull and 3-4 small down
feathers. (I found
the feathers under my bed!!)
Thanks Shelle!
Swinging
Snowman Ornament
Here is a quick and easy ornament to make:
Materials
needed:
3-3/8 in. length of
3/4 in. dowel for snowman's body
2-1/2 in. length of
14 in. dowel for the arms
1/4 in. length of
1in. dowel for hat brim
5/8 in. length of
58 in. dowel for the top hat
3/4 x 2-3/8 in. piece
of 1/4 in. wood for the swing
paints: white, black,
orange, red, green toothpick
1/2 x 5-1/2 in. strip
of fabric for scarf
18 gauge wire
Method:
Drill a 14 in. hole
through body 1-5/8 in. from top end for the arms. Drill a 1/16 in. hole
through each end of the 1/4 in. dowel piece, positioning each hole 3/16
in. from the end. Drill a 1/16 in. hole through each end of the swing,
centering them about 1/4 in. from each 3/4 in. end. Slip the 2-1/2 in.
length of 1/4 in. dowel through the pre-drilled hole in snowman's body.
Arrange this piece so the arms are equal in length and the holes at each
end are at top and bottom of dowel. Center and glue the 14 x 1in.
hat brim to the bottom of the 5/8ix 5/8 in. top hat. Paint the top hat
and brim black, swing -black, paint black dot eyes with white highlights,
black slash eyebrows above eyes, black smile mouth, pink cheeks, orange
carrot nose, and 3 black dot buttons evenly spaced down the front below
the arms. green holly leaves and red berries on the top hat just
above brim. Center and glue the snowman's top hat to his head. Center and
glue the snowman to the swing. Tie the fabric strip around the snowman
just below his face and above his arms for a scarf. Fringe the ends
by pulling the threads. Cut an 18 in. length of wire. Bend the center of
wire around a pencil once to create a hanging loop, Remove pencil and slip
wire ends, top to bottom through pre-drilled holes on snowman's arms. Then
through holes in swing, wrap ends around pencil to form a circle of wire
to prevent wire from slipping back through holes. Adjust wires as
needed to balance snowman. Hardest part is cutting the dowel pieces to
length, sounds involved when writing out the directions, but it is really
very quick and easy. Cute too!
Thanks Patti!
Thought this might
be interesting way for the children to make christmas ornaments.
Thanks to Chris at Craftsonline for the idea.
Cast Paper Ornaments
Materials:
Scrap Paper (NOT newspaper!)
Blender
Powder Laundry Starch
Spray on Vegetable
Oil
Paper or Cookie Mold
Sieve
Towel or Sponge
Begin by tearing your
scrap paper into small strips or squares. If you have access to a paper
shredder, they work very well. Place one or two handfulls of paper pieces
into a blender, cover with water.
Let soak at least
15 minutes. Add one teaspoon of laundry starch to the water and blend for
15 to 30
seconds until the
paper pulp has the consistency of cream. Pour pulp into sieve to drain
off excess water.
Spray mold with vegetable
oil and rinse lightly under cool water. Pour pulp into mold. Use a towel
or sponge to press out as much water as possible. It is very important
to press the pulp as
firmly as possible.
Let the mold dry over night. When dry, seperate paper from mold. I'm using
acrylic paint to finish them. With a toothpick I poke a hole in the top
while it's still alittle wet so I can put a ribbon through to hang it on
the tree.
Thanks Sue!
Recycle a juice
can for a drum ornament!
Clean out a frozen
juice can. Save the lid. Cut it down to about 1 1/2 inches.
Paint the lid and bottom white or gold. Put the lid on. Glue
wide ribbon around the can. Red and green plaid looks great!
Zig-zag gold braid back and forth from the lid to the bottom, working around
the can. Add two toothpicks for drumsticks.
Thanks Sarah!
Helpful Tips when
Working with Glass Ornaments
Because I hurt myself
quite a few times working with these glass balls, I thought I'd share
some tips...don't laught at me:o)
1. Be careful!
They are thin and break easy. and the pieces are sharp!
2. Don't set
one next to the kitchen sink to dry..if you have a garbage
disposal there.
I did, somehow it fell in the sink, broke, and now my disposal is clogged.
3. Don't stick
your fingers in the hole! It may get stuck! Expecially if you
have super glue all over your hands!
4. Don't stick
your finger in the hole again! You may cut yourself on the
edge of the ball right inbetween your two fingers..ouch!
5. don't blow
into the hole after you have put super glue in there!! The
air all comes right out and the fumes from the glue REALLY hurts your eyes.
6. Don't pick
up a glass ball 1/2 filled with water out of the oven (when baking
polymer clay) with your bare hands!
7. If a ball does
break, don't sweep your hand accross the work surface to pick up
any small bits!!
8. Keep bandaids
near by if you don't follow rules 1-7 because winnie the pooh does
not look right with blood on his hat!
Thanks Teri !
"Melted" Snowman
Ornament
Have you made this?
Fill a ball 1/2 way with water, add a small carrot (they make these..or
make some with polymer clay:o) 9 or so black beads (eyes, mouth,
and buttons) a tiny black hat (I'm in Texas and use a small cowboy
hat:o), put a CORK on it. I am here to testify that super glue
doesn't work!! Neather
does Modge podge. And wax doesn't work eather..plus it looks
messy! LOL Find some corks..cut them to fit, and seal the ball
with that, then simply put on your ball "lid" decorate with a tag
that says, Florida snowman! OR You can poor hot
glue into the ball, dropping a few
beads, here and there,
then a hat and carrot on top..it will make it NON spillable:o).....but
I like the water better:o)
Thanks Teri!
"I was experimenting
recently using clear glass ornaments and a couple of BB's (copper
ones from my son's old bb gun) and acrylic paint. I put a
couple of drops of paint in a paper cup, put in some bb's; fished out a
bb and GENTLY rolled it around inside the ornament. The
first time I gave it a
good swing and put
a hole in the ornament! I used red and green and white
paint. It makes little spidery lines. I don't know
why you couldn't do this with gold or silver or copper and put a
matching ribbon on the ornament."
I thought it was a
cute idea:o)
Thanks Teri!
Had a decoupage craft
session the other night for the first time and became inspired to incorporate
it with my scroll saw work. Had some cute x-mas wrapping with nice
graphics. Had my son cut around the pictures and decoupage them on
thin wood. I then cut around the pictures on the scroll saw.
Going to drill a hole in the top and add a ribbon. Think these would
make cute, quick, easy and inexpensive gifts for his class room or to add
to a package. Don't want to forsake painting my own items all together
but is a nice option for making easy gifts.
Thanks Jennifer!
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