Glittery Reindeer

I was lucky enough to find three large paper mache' reindeer at the thrift store.  I got all three for $3.95 and was really excited to see that the price tags were still on them......$5.99 each!  I have had them around for a while, trying to decide what to do with them.  To me, paper mache' is not the best surface to paint on, so what 'cha think?  Glitter, of course!

I took them outside to spray paint them white.  It gets a bit tricky, because these are not flat surfaces.  I had to spray, let dry, turn, repeat.  

After the deer were dry, I gathered up the rest of my supplies, ModPodge, glitter, paintbrush, and a parts sorter.  I used a very coarse white glitter....I am obsessed with this stuff.....and an old paintbrush. 

  If you don't have a parts sorter, you can use paper or a cookie sheet or whatever to catch the glitter.  And if you don't have one, get one!  I love this thing for catching and recycling glitter.  There is even a little spout for pouring back in your jar.  You can get them at Harbor Freight for a couple of bucks.

The glittering had to be done in stages, as well.  I would paint on the mod podge, glitter, and move to another section.  The modpodge will dry pretty quickly so do small sections.  And use it generously, not so much that you have globs of the glue but enough that your glitter will stick to it.  I laid this one on its side to be sure to get the inside of the legs, the belly, and under the chin.

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 I took the glittered deer inside to dry.  When completely dry, put on another layer of modpodge.  I water mine down ever so slightly because you do not want this layer to glob or run.  You also don't need to apply it as heavily.  This layer basically anchors the glitter in place.

 When completely dry.....I waited until the following day.....add your embellishment.  I had this beautiful ribbon, enough for all three pieces.

I think it really turned out elegant, don't you?

Sunshine and Candy Canes

I love me some candy canes at Christmas, but I also like them in the summer.....I can explain. Summertime is the perfect time to make my sell-out favorite candy canes.  You start with these ugly plastic candy canes.

 I was going to edit out my shoe, but I thought you could better gauge the size of the cane (approx 32 inches)  You can find these in the Dollar Store and in Walmart.  However, the catch is that they are only available in the fall.  You can also buy them on line through Amazon, (see sidebar for link)

To cover these canes, I cut bias strips of white flannel, approximately 1" wide and as long as your fabric permits.  Starting at the crook end, wrap the cane, covering completely.  I secure the start with hot glue to hold in place and sporadically glue all the way to the bottom.  If your strip runs out, just add another and secure it with glue, slightly overlapping.  Secure at the end.

Cut one inch wide strips of the red fabric.  I used red fleece.  I like the fleece because it is stretchy and gives it dimension.  Wrap in the opposite direction that you wrapped the flannel, leaving a space between the "stripes".  Secure at both ends.

Now here is where the sunshine comes in.  I like to add glitter to my canes.  You can omit this step if you aren't a fan, but then I would ask.....What is wrong with you????  Just kidding. But glitter is a bit like Christmas icicles and Easter grass, once its in your house, it is everywhere!  Thus, outdoors in the sunshine....

I take the canes outside and using a sponge, coat each with ModPodge.  Do these one at a time. This can get messy!  Once the cane is painted with ModPodge, shake some sparkly white glue on it!  This is kinda fun.  I have a great tool I use for this:

 This is actually a parts sorter that I bought at Harbor Freight.  I sprinkle the glitter on the canes over this tray and then dump the glitter back into a large ice cream bucket so I never have to waste any glitter.  You have to work fast so that the glue will adhere to the modpodge  Let dry.  I hang them up on a makeshift clothesline so that they can dry evenly.

Once they are dry, they will have a hard, kind of sugary coating.  Take them in and embellish.  You can do it however you want.  I use jute to tie on some greenery and either a pine cone, rusty bell or pip berries.  Leave a loop in the back for hanging.  Then tie on a bow.  I always spot glue just to keep in place.  You can also add a tag.  Get creative!  If you want a more prim look, omit the glitter and tea stain.  Or wrap in homespun.  The sky is the limit!

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!

 

 

A Flake in Colorado

I purchased these wooden cutouts from Jean when I got the candles, etc.  This would be a cute craft for you to do with your kids.  You can get these cutouts on line, or from any craft store. 

 

Here's how to make your own!

 

Paint both sides and the edges with white.  Drill a hole to hang.  Coat each side with mod podge or white glue and sprinkle with glitter.  I use an ultrafine polyester glitter.  Be sure you apply them over a container or paper plate to catch all of the excess glitter so that you can reuse.  Do one side and let thoroughly dry before turning over and doing the other side.  While you are waiting for the glue to dry, print out the saying as shown above.  Of course, you will want to use your own state (if you are gifting as a couple you could say 'a couple of flakes in XXXXX loves you')  I used a tag punch, but you could cut out in any shape and then punch a hole in the end.  Use a ribbon, jute, or embroidery thread to string through the hole in the ornament and tag.  I used organza ribbon.  I will sell these at my craft shows and also give as gifts to my family who live out of state. 

 

Have fun with this craft!

A bonus post....

It seems like sometimes I get so caught up in things that I don't get around to posting, and then there are other days....Well, anyway, I don't know about you, but sometimes I get an idea for something while I am sleeping.  I think this particular idea came from this really cute snowman that an artisan was selling at a craft show.  She had taken mismatched salt and pepper shakers and put a styrofoam head on it and filled the shaker with glitter.  I thought,  "I am going to try to make them."  Well, I bought the shakers, the styrofoam balls, and I had plenty of glitter.  That was a few months ago and I have never done anything with it.  Then I had this dream or vision, or night time idea that instead of snowmen, maybe angels......
So, I started with this:

The salt shakers were 2/$1 at Dollar Tree and the little wooden butterflies were $.25 at Michaels.  I had the balls which are flat on one end.

And this:

These flurries are seasonal, so if you plan to make them for next year, buy some now because they are really seasonal.  You could use glitter, but that gets a bit expensive and these flurries add just the right amount of sparkle.

 

Paint the balls a flesh color.  Here is a trick for you.  Put masking tape, sticky side up on your work space.  Tape it down so it doesn't move.  Put those balls on the tape and they will not move while you paint them.  If you tape them to a piece of cardboard, you can turn the board so that you can get to all sides.

Paint the butterflies (wings) white.  You need to paint both sides and don't forget that little bit that is the depth of the wood. 

 

If you are using acrylic paint, these will dry pretty quickly.  While they are drying, I lightly fill the shakers with the flurries and replace the top.  Now is a good time to gather supplies like lace, beads, etc for finishing off your angels. 



When the heads are dry, create hair by painting on white glue and using the hair of your choice

 

For the hair, I used black glitter.  You could use fiber, moss, doll hair, etc.  I put each head on a pen or stick so my fingers didn't get in the glue.

 

Then assemble!  I used bits of lace to trim, little beads and pearls, and some crocheted trim around the "necks", and silver key rings, hoop earrings, and gold ribbon for halos.  I made each one a bit different.  Use either black paint or marker for the eyes and blush for the cheeks. 

The angel in the center is made from a mismatched shaker that I had.

One has a hoop earring for a halo, one has some gold wired ribbon.

I had a tiny circle of battenburg lace.  She also has an orphan earring for a halo.

Two different halos, laces, wings, and neck trim. 

 

 

Use this idea for a creative gift, decoration, stocking stuffer. 

Angels among us

Had a partial snow day today, so I got some work done in the studio.  It seems like I am on an angel kick these days.  I made five of these little angel ornaments.  I really love the way they turned out:

I also made a couple of stand-alone wooden angels.

I also got my package from Sandy at Olde Country Cupboard.  The candles smell delish!!!

Come back and see me soon!

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!