Snowmen Clothespins

I always love it when it is warm and dry so I can take some of my messier crafts outdoors.  I have been making these clothespin snowmen for several years and I nearly always sell out.  I buy the clothespins at the dollar tree.  It is the cheapest place around but you do need to look at each one before painting and cull out the broken or irregular ones.  I have an old table that I keep in the back yard that I use to paint or rust things on.  I lay out all the pins and spray them with white paint.  When they are dry, I turn them over and paint the other side.

 When they are all dry, I bring them inside and using a sharpie, I dot on eyes and buttons.  Some have their faces on the long piece and some on the short.  See below.

 I put mouths on some.  Some I leave without.  I use a fine line marker for this.  I try to mix it up a little.

 For the noses I use orange paint.  Again, I try to make it so no two are exactly alike.  If you use a small brush, you can dot it where the nose begins and drag it in the direction you want to make it look like a long carrot.

 I save all my scraps and this is the perfect use for them.  Small thin strips are tied around the "neck" or joint of the pin.  I display these in a large bowl or basket.  Customers love to go thru the bowl, finding the right ones.

You can use these to decorate packages, hang on the tree, or even put on a piece of jute for a garland.

Wendy Witch

Happy Tuesday, Y'all~!   I am excited to show you Wendy, my new witchy doll.

Wendy is a 17" doll I made from a pattern from Chestnut Junction.  She really turned out sweet.  She holds a little stuffed ghost, wears a "boo" tag and has a tall hat that I wired so it can be positioned however you like. I have two of these done and for sale on my Etsy site.  And don't forget, I have a 20% sale going on!  Spend $25 or more and include the coupon code SCHOOL20. 

I also have some more of my Westie ornies.  I sell a ton of these.  They come with a tag for putting the puppy's name or date or whatever:

I also have these in black and black and white houndstooth.  Cute, huh?

I bought a used van to use in my shows and I am excited about that.  The little Jeep just could not haul enough stuff......and think of all the Christmas shopping I can do with it!  Well I am off.  I sold a couple of dolls and I need to get them in the mail!

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!

 

 

Thrifty Thursday

If you know me, you know that I am thrifty.  I love to coupon, repurpose and reuse.  I've been working on doing some cleaning and organizing in my studio, aka my third bedroom, and I was amazed at how much lace I have.  I did purchase a stash from my friend Jean, but I have so much.  Now, I'm not really a lacy kinda gal, but  do like some shabby chic and Victorian items if they aren't too ornate.  So.....drum roll, please.....my new ornie:

The ornie is made of antique white felt and is trimmed in lace, assorted trims, buttons, and even some pearls.  While I was at it, I decided to try my hand at making a pattern.  I have sold patterns before, but never an e-pattern.  So, since this is my first crack at it, I am offering it to you for free!!!  Just click on the pic of the ornie on the side bar and the pattern is yours.    I am going to walk you through it just in case you have an issue with it:

I used an antique white colored felt.  You could use any color or could use flannel, terry, warm and natural batting or even fleece.  Just be careful that the fabric is sturdy enough.  I used three thicknesses of this light weight felt but with a fleece you might get by with two and you may have to use four thicknesses if you use a lighter weight fabric such as flannel.

For this size star, I cut three rectangles approximately 5 x 7 1/2 inches.  I traced the star onto one thickness of felt only.  Then I flipped over the rectangle and laid out my lace and trims on the unmarked side.  I totally covered the rectangle with a large lace scrap and then added my ribbon and smaller scraps randomly.  I pinned them in place and sewed along the small pieces to keep them in place.  I guess you could glue them or hand stitch them, but I used my machine.  Then I flipped it back over and stitched along the traced line. 

 

Cut out the star a little outside your stitching line.  About a quarter of an inch is about right.  Then place your cut out, lace trimmmed star right side up on top of your remaining two rectangles.

If you are going to make this as an ornament, cut a piece of ribbon or lace and insert the loop between the top and second layer.  Pin in place and sew entirely around the star on the stitch lines.  Cut the bottom two layers, using the star on top as your guide.  I used a pinking shears to give it a jagged edge.  Also, if you are using a fabric that ravels, you may want to pink to reduce the fraying.  Fray check can also be used for fraying if you want to use a scissors.  Felt, fleece, batting will not fray. 

Then finish!  Be creative.  I used two buttons.  Either sew or glue them on.  I added a ribbon bow and some pearly beads to finish it off.  If you want to make this a brooch, simply glue or sew on a pin back.  If I were going to make this a pin, I might even add additional lace ruffles to the back.  You could use old jewelry, charms, sequins, bells, etc.  Have fun with this!!!

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....

Tutorial Tuesday

Hello, my peeps.  Hope your weekend was great.  Well, its back to the grindstone today.  We spent the weekend with our home improvement list, and I could hardly wait to get back in the studio.....and to get it cleaned up.  I bought 10 packages of the ping pong balls for the snowmen (prior post) and some other goodies from the dollar store.  So here is my latest creation:

And can you guess what this little sweetie is made from????

These disposable champange glasses have that great bell shape for a skirt.  You get 6 in a package for a dollar.  For the dress, I tore a piece of homespun(use whatever pattern or fabric suits your fancy) 5" x 10".  I ran a loose gathering stitch about a half inch from one of the long ends and pulled it tight.  Knot off your thread.  Then place atop the stem of the inverted glass.  Of course, you will remove the plastic base.  Hot glue into place.  I also placed just a dot of glue on the back to hold the skirt together.  Hot glue the head in place.  For the heads, I simply paint 1" wooden balls in a flesh tone.  I do several of these at a time and like to use the ones with a flat side. (hint:  Put a piece of masking tape sticky side up on your painting surface.  This will hold the balls in place while you paint.)  Paint on eyes or use a marker.  Blush the cheeks.  I tied a piece of jute over the stitching line and glued on a rusty bell.  I tore another piece of matching homespun 5" long and about an inch and a half wide and glued to the back.  I glued a tiny flesh painted ball to the area where the ends meet to simulate hands.  For the wings, I took some strands of raffia, tied it in a bow and glued it on the back.  Glue on some moss for hair.  I used rusty wire for a tiny halo.  I can see alot of uses for these.  How about a name tag where the ball (hand) is?  They are light weight enough to use as an ornament or a topper on a small tree.  Let your imagination run wild!