Snowmen and Ornies and Strainers, oh, my!

Hello, my peeps.  I have been a busy little crafter this last week.  After finishing my suitcases, I dug through some of my thrift store finds......

 Got this bag of little round metal boxes for $2.95.  I don't know what these little boxes were for initially, but when I see round, I think snowmen.  I had a bunch of round magnets so I glued them on to the back.

 Then I just painted on some cute little snowmen faces......  I love doing snowmen.  They are so easy and they don't have to be perfect!  I usually sell out of magnets every year.  These should be really popular.  Oh, yeah.  If you are displaying magnets at a craft show, cookie sheets or old metal bowls make great displays!

So this thrift store that I go to, packages like items in plastic bags and sells them really cheap.  The good thing is that it is really, really cheap.  The bad thing is you can't see what all you have or if anything is broken.  I never pay more than four or five dollars for a 'bag o stuff'' and it is always worth it just to see what goodies I get.  One of the bags I bought had these giant bells in it.

 I simply added a hanger and some ribbon and made ornaments out of them.  So easy and so cute!

This little box was an item I picked up at one of the craft stores after the holidays.  I painted it red and then crackled it with a light buttermilk paint.  For the cut-out, I quilted some green plaid fabric.  I glued on rusty bells and a star.

I bought this strainer last year while on the 127 sale.  I had to drill a hole in the handle for hanging.  I simply glued in some moss and greenery, added a snowman and a homespun bow and it becomes the perfect holiday decoration.  Wouldn't this look adorable in the kitchen??

 This is another box that I bought a while back from the thrift store.  I think this centerpiece looks so cool!

Time for me to get a few things finished up.  I am working on a new pattern and hope to have it ready this week.  As soon as I get it done, you will be the first to know!  I can't wait to show you!

Hope your week is great!

Tutorial Tuesday

This is a really short tutorial today on how to make this beautiful rustic garland.

Very simply, you need to purchase the lights (strand of 20 at Dollar Tree is $1) and weave in to a strand of garland.  They have garland at the dollar store, but this is some that I had on hand after purchasing after Christmas last year.  I think I paid around a dollar for it, but it was too large, so I cut it in half.  Next, I added these cute little bells that I purchased at Dollar Tree, 12/$1.  So it took two packs.  They come in silver and gold tone, but I wanted to make it rustic so I painted with a brown primer.  When dry, I used a needle nosed pliers and punched a hole in the back big enough to fit over the mini lights.

Just be careful not to make the hole too large, or it will fall off the lightbulb.  (If that happens, just add a little glue to hold it on)

Just slide over the bulb and there you have it.  This could also be done on a wreath, or you could rag tie a garland on a strand of lights (more on this later) or you could leave in the original finish.  Maybe add glitter to the bells before putting on the lights.  The possibilities are endless!  This would look great on a mantle, sideboard or down the center of your table.  Have fun with this!