What 'cha Working on Wednesday?????

Monday was kind of a bust for me.  I spent the day with the DMV getting my van licensed and then drove to pick up miscellaneous items.  So I didn't get much done in the studio.  But yesterday I killed it....and even managed to get some laundry done!

One of my hubby's co-workers just welcomed a new baby girl.  So in addition to shopping for the little one, I also made some of these really cute items from Sunflower Friends:

They have a cute little rhyme and the graphics easily fit in a 4 x 6 bag.  Just put in a pair of baby socks and staple on the topper.  I am sure that these will be great sellers at my shows this year.  They come in blue, pink, green, and purple.

A couple of weeks ago I went in Dollar Tree.  I love that store!  I just get so many ideas!  This is a craft that I have been doing for a few years:

Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.....Just spray your $1 muffin tin with the color of your choice.  I use my favorite rusty primer.  Spray both sides.  I put a piece of jute through the hole and hang it from the clothesline.  Once it is dry, coat with a clearcoat spray.  When that is dry, just paint on the faces.  I used Light Buttermilk.  Change them up a little so they are all a bit different.  I splattered with some light buttermilk paint to replicate snow and gave it another shot of clear coat.  Attach a ribbon and you are good to go.  These look so cute in the kitchen over the holidays.  Make sure you wrap them when storing so they will not scratch.

Also at the dollar store, I found a box of seven emergency candles.  They are really short, maybe 3 or 4 inches long.  I found a free Santa graphic online and shrunk it to fit a small label.  I cut it with a paper pinker and used a glue stick to attach to a piece of brown paper.

I wrapped the paper around three candles, secured with some light twine(also purchased at Dollar Tree) and hot glued on a rusty star.  You could use a bell, or leave it plain.  You could also use a patterned paper, like gift wrap or scrapbooking paper.  I think they are so cute!  And so cheap!  These are going to be a great seller at my shows!

So I am off to get busy.  I sold a couple of dolls on Etsy and I have to get them ready to ship.  Did you know that I include birth certificates and adoption papers with all my dolls?  Check them out at my Etsy shop and take advantage of my sale.  Have a great day, my friends!  Happy crafting!

Thursday Tutorial

I've been working on some snowball ornaments lately.  They are so easy so I thought you might like to know how to do them too!

You buy these little white buckets at the dollar store (Dollar Tree)  They are in the wedding department.  They are packaged three in a pack. 

I take mine outside and spray them with my favorite spray:  Rust-oleum Rusty Metal Primer. 

When I made these last year, I painted the buckets with red.  Do whatever color works best for you.  Next I made the snowballs.  Last year, I used styrofoam, but that gets pretty pricey so this year I decided to make my own.

 

I had some plaster of paris so I stirred some up and rolled them into little balls.

                          

Okay, so here are a few tips I learned from trial and error....alot of errors.  Mix the plaster in small batches.  It will become too dry to mold within about 20 minutes or so.  I stirred it up in an old cool whip container and used plastic utensils that I could toss when I was finished.

 

Mix the plaster on the dry side.  It is easier to handle, dries faster, and doesn't puddle while drying.  Roll the balls around in your hand as if you were making cookies.  Oh, yeah.  Put down wax paper or plastic wrap for them to dry on.  Let the balls dry overnight.

 

Next I took the balls outside and sprayed them with sealer and sprinkled with glitter.  Just a bit of glitter goes a long way.  I printed out "Snowballs 4 Sale  5c" and cut into little signs.  Last year I used my tag punch and though cute, packing them was difficult and several tags got bent. 

 

Use a paper towel (I use the Select a Size towel by Bounty, but a half of a normal towel will work just fine)  Wad it up, squirt a little hot glue in the bottom of each bucket and push down.  Grab a small amount of fiberfill and roll into a ball.  Add a bit of glue and push down on top of the towel.  Add your snowballs.  I glue each one on the bottom and then a bit to hold them together.  I glue three in a triangle on top of the fiberfill and then put one on top of those, pyramid style.   Glue on the label....just use a glue stick if you want and add a bow.......voila.....snowballs in a bucket!

 

 

Busy....birthday....anniversary.....

Its been a couple of weeks since I last posted but I have been so busy!  We had company from Illinois last weekend.  My brother in law and family spent a few nights here and it was so great to see them all.  We spent one day sightseeing in the mountains and one day celebrating hubby's birthday.  We had a cook out and the family came over to celebrate.  We also celebrated our 43rd wedding anniverary.  What a busy week!

So now it is back to creating.  I am working on two raggedies, a teddy bear, and some candy corns.  Right now it is a pile of unfinished fabric.  I did finish up some more angel ornies from dollar store flowers.  These are pink, and I think any little girl would love to hang these on her tree!

I also made some "Santa Clotheslines".  These are a great seller at my shows but are time consuming to do because they have quite a bit of hand stitching.  I pack them in bags, unassembled, so that they don't tangle.

Well, I've finished my second cup of coffee so it is really time to get started on my to do list.  More later....

Angelic Friday

Just a quick post and I am off to the doctor.  I finished up some more of my flower angels and  they look so cute:

Have fun with these.  Personalize each one, making it a bit different, special:

Make their hairstyles different.   I used ribbon for some of the wings, but you could also use hearts, stars, grapevine, etc.  Some of my angels have ribbons or pearls at the neckline, some don't.  Thi will make a great item for gifts or for your craft shows. 

Have a great weekend......and happy crafting!