25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #13 - Crepe Paper Poinsettia

Today I've got a flower for you!

For some reason I got into making paper flowers over the summer. I posted a double peony I made from crepe paper. Well, I have created another paper flower this time it's a crepe paper poinsettia!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

#13 - Crepe Paper Poinsettia

Just a note before we begin ~ I wanted to talk about crepe paper. There are several different types of crepe paper on the market some very thin while others are thicker and more durable.

Crepe paper is very inexpensive to craft with. You can buy a 20" x 7.5' sheet for about a dollar most places. It comes in a variety of colors and sometimes patterns as well.

I have found that the crepe paper from D. Blumchen & Co is about the best out there. They not only sell single but double sided crepe paper. I love the double sided because it's got more of a body and holds it's shape better. I also like it because your creations look more natural with two colors.

Supplies:

Petal Pattern (see below)

Crepe Paper (Red & Green)

Pearl Stamen (Red Lead)

Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Sunshine Yellow

Tacky Glue

Wire

(optional) floral tape

Instructions:

1. Print the pattern on cardstock & cut out.

2. Cut 5 small petals, 7 medium petals, 7 large petals and 5-7 leaves from the crepe paper.

3. By nature, crepe paper has a bit of stretch to it. to give the petals a more natural form, stretch the inside of each petal/leaf down the center as shown.

The petals will have a nice arch after you have done so....

4. Color the stamen by dipping in yellow alcohol inks.

5. Create the stamen and flower base by wrapping the wire around 4-5 of the stamen stems as shown in the following photos:

6. Add a small dab of glue to the bottom of the smallest petals and wrap around the stamen/wire stem as shown:

7. Continue by adding the 7 medium flower petals and 7 large flower petals by simply wrapping around the stem.

Hint: I found it much easier and quicker to work if I applied glue to several petals at once. This allowed me to add petals without interruption and I was less likely to mess up the existing petals from too much picking it up and putting it down to add more glue.

8. (Optional) This is totally up to you but I am pretty messy glue wise when I am making flowers. I found that if I wrap the flower petals/stem with a bit of the floral tape after all of the petals had been added I didn't have to worry about transferring the excess glue to my leaf step. (you could also do so in between adding small, medium & large flower petals).

9. Attach the leaves to the flower stem ~ I found that if you flip the flower over (face pointing down) I was able to better position the leaves. After all leaves were added, I added another layer of the floral tape.

10. Fluff...sounds silly but I find you can push and mold the flower to a nice pleasing shape after you're finished adding the various parts and pieces.

And you're done!!

These look great tucked into a Christmas Tree or evergreen garland, added to a gift, several grouped together for a nice center piece or just strategically placed around your home for a splash of holiday cheer!

Pretty cool huh?

And you don't even have to worry about remembering to water it ;) LOL!!!

If this poinsettia is too time consuming for you ~ no worries...tomorrow I've got a REALLY quick and EASY alternative for you :)

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #12 - Flocked Ornaments

I don't know about you but when I was a kid I LOVED flocked things...plastic animals, books with flocked images, cards with flocking, etc. It was such a fun surprise to find it where you didn't expect it.

Well, you can create your very own flocked ornaments!!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

#12 - Flocked Ornaments

Option #1

Supplies:

Flocking

Ornament

Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue or Glossy Accents

Instructions:

1. Draw desired shapes on the ornament using Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue. I love this glue paired with flocking. It's thick enough that you can draw designs and it doesn't run like other glues/adhesives do. You can use other glues but you'll probably have to work on one image at a time to prevent it from dripping.

My snowflakes

2. Sprinkle the flocking powder on the glue.

Now, you'll need to turn your ornament to add additional flocking so the entire image has been covered...notice the white showing through once the ornament has been turned.

3. Let this section dry....this is the most difficult part of the whole ornament...letting it dry. Once the original section has dried, continue on to flock the rest of the ornament in sections.

Of course today it was frightfully cold so my glue wasn't drying very fast at all so these photos give you the basic idea. The glue will eventually dry clear and all you'll see is the flocking.

Option #2

Making Memories Flocking Kit

O.k...this is a great kit if you can find it! Everything you need to flock or foil in one dandy little folder! I ran on to it by chance one day so I picked it up just to see what it was like. I think it was like $4.00 or so ~ you can find it on-line for less.

All you have to do is cut one of the adhesive images from the sheet and rub it onto your ornament.

Place the flocked paper over the image and rub.

And you're done! Instant satisfaction - LOL!!

So there you go ~ another fun ornament to add to your list!

Have fun crafting Friends!!

Vintage Optical Lens ~ Where to Find???

I had lots of questions about where to find the optical lenses I used in yesterday's ornament so I did some looking around for you :)

Here are several options:

Anima Designs

Etsy

Crazy About Scrapbooks

and I'm sure there are some on Ebay as well.

Hope that helps!!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #11 - Child Friendly - Cupcake Liner Ornaments

I went through my Room-Mother file and found another fun ornament I did with my boy's classes when they were little. I was trying to fit the bill of inexpensive, fun and easy for small children and again...I think this works!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

#11 - Cupcake Liner Ornaments

Supplies:

Cupcake Liners (decorated or plain)

Old Christmas Cards

Rubber Stamps (optional)

Ink (optional)

Elmers or other Liquid Adhesive

Embellishments (sequins, glitter, ribbon, etc.)

Pipe Cleaners or something similar

Instructions:

1. Choose an image. Trace and cut a 1 3/4" circle from the image - make sure you center the area you want to include in the decoration. When I was doing this for one of the classes I had the circles already cut...eliminates ALOT of time and energy ;) If you do so, the kids will be able to make several ornaments instead of just one.

Option: for older children, you can cut plain white circles and they can stamp various images and sayings on them instead of using the card images. They can further personalize it by coloring the stamped images with colored pencils, crayons, markers, etc.

2. Smoosh the cupcake liner down a couple times. It doesn't have to be perfectly flat but the sides do need to flair out a bit so you can work inside the liner. (kids love this part!!)

3. Glue the desired image on the inside of the cupcake liner. Elmers or any other liquid glue works great for this!

4. O.k...take a deep breath and bring on the glittery stuff ;) LOL!!! I know...it gets ALL over the place but seriously ~ kids LOVE working with this stuff. Sequins, glitter, gemstones, etc... it's all good to a kid! When I was working with a class I would give each child a pie tin, pour in their choice of "goodies" and then let em at it. It worked very well because each child got to use what he/she wanted but didn't have the opportunity to dump the entire container full on their creations ;) LOL!!

If there was anything left (rarely) after they decorated their ornaments it all went into a "mix" bag for the next time.

Now, mine aren't as fun as the kid's creations would be but you get the idea...

6. After the goodies have dried, attach a pipe cleaner or something similar to the back with clear mailing tape (secures it really well and it won't fall off!). Bend the exposed end into a hook for hanging.

You're done....well, except for the clean up but it's really not that bad.

NOTE: If you're working with your own kids, using duplicate photos from the past year are great replacements for the Christmas card images. Makes a great little hand-made gift for relatives :)

Be sure to check back later today...

I've got a bonus second ornament for the day ~

it just has to dry first!

Trans Maxx Winner!!

Goodness, I got so busy last week once I started working on the ornaments I totally forgot to post the winner of the Trans Maxx Give-A-Way.

Without further delays the winner is ....

Christi in CT!!!

Christi in CT said...
I am truly siked about this product! It looks SO easy and beatiful, I really like the etheral look of the glass! Narrow down to my favorite sheet(s)? Are you kidding me? I'll try. . .lol - I adore the Vintage Fairies, DVF112, LOVE cats, so DI130, DI131, of course I like the nests & eggs, DI122 & ALL of those fantastically priced bundles! Oh thanks for the tutorial, Christi
November 24, 2009 7:16 PM

Congrats Christi!

Please send me your snail mail addy and I'll get your goodies in the mail to you :)

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #10 - Optical Lens Ornaments

Today's ornament is really easy but it looks oh so cool because it's made from a vintage Optical Lens!! These are one of my fav's because I love all things vintage. Sometimes I think simple objects (like the opt. lens) makes a great statement.

Here you go...

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

#10 - Optical Lens Ornaments

The great thing about these ornaments is they are large enough to look great on a tree but they are small enough to double as a charm for your necklace too!! Add them to cards for a gift n card in one, you can even use them on scrapbook pages or in your altered art projects. They really are handy little pieces to create.

Supplies:

Optical Lens (you can find these on E-bay cheaper than a retail on-line store)

Collage Image

Glossy Accents

Micro Beads

Hanger

Ribbon

Instructions:

1. Determine what area of your collage image you want to use for your ornament. Don't worry if there are white edges showing a bit. We'll take care of that in later steps.

2. Apply Glossy Accents to the back side of the optical lens and place it on the collage image. Some optical lenses are curved so you may have to form the image to the lens temporarily while the Glossy Accents begins to dry. Once the image has set, you may set it aside to dry completely.

3. After the image has dried, cut away the excess paper and wipe off any extra Glossy Accents that may have gotten on the metal frame.

4. Run a line of Glossy Accents along the edge of the frame as desired then sprinkle on some micro beads (color of your choice). This will cover any white edges that may have been showing while adding dimension and interest. Let this dry completely.

5. Add a ribbon and hanger...and ENJOY!

Way easy but oh what wonderful results!

As I mentioned above by simply changing the Christmas image to other images you could easily have a charm to wear or an embellishments for cards, scrapbook pages, collage or altered art projects. The possibilities are endless!!!

Now, I know sometimes optical lenses are hard to find so I'm going to be giving a couple away along with a few Christmas images and micro beads!

Just post your comment here and you'll be entered to win!

You have until 12-13-09 to enter!

Good Luck Friends!!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #9 - Kid Friendly Puzzle Ornaments

I have had a few requests for ornaments that are inexpensive and child friendly. Lots of people want to make ornaments with their children or grandchildren and would like something quick and easy as well. I switched up a few things and came up with something I think will fit the bill....

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

#9 - Kid Friendly Puzzle Ornaments

These ornaments are made almost entirely out of puzzle pieces. I chose this because it's usually something that many people have on hand and if not you can buy used puzzles at second hand stores for around .25 - .50 cents. One standard puzzle will create many many ornaments ~ great if you're working with larger groups of children (school, church, day-care, etc) or if you just want to make lots of ornaments. If you do have to purchase a used puzzle the finished ornaments will probably cost about two or three cents a piece! Doesn't get much better than that. :)

Supplies:

Puzzle Pieces

Paint (any child friendly paint will work)

White Glue (elmers works great with this!)

Embellishments of your choice - Ribbon, Glitter, Sequins, etc. Whatever you have on hand!

Instructions:

1. Paint the back of each puzzle piece with desired color of paint. Let them dry completely.

2. Assemble the pieces in various basic shapes ~ star, snowflake, wreath, candy cane, stocking, Christmas trees, etc. To help smaller children you can draw the basic shape on a piece of cardstock and have them glue the painted puzzle pieces directly to the shape.

3. After the ornaments have dried, embellish as desired. Ideas include: pipe cleaners, glitter, sequins, pony beads, ribbon, fibers, yarn, wiggle eyes, etc. Whatever you have in your stash will work!

Here are just a few finished ornaments to get you going....

These are really easy and fun for children of all ages.

I am going to dig out my "Room Mother" idea folder and see if I can come up with a few more child & pocket book friendly ornaments to share in the coming days.

Tomorrow I'm going to share one of my favorite ornaments to make...

I think you'll "SEE" why ;)

Till then friends, go get inky!!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments ~ #8 - Button Decorated Ornaments

YES!! One of my addictions ~ buttons! I have a HUGE collection of buttons...mostly vintage ones but lots of new ones thrown into the mix.

This is my button container...yes, it's a bread box and yes, it's almost full. Told you it was an addiction with me ~ I wasn't kidding! Now I didn't buy them all, my grandma gave me several tins full of buttons (you know those old round cookie type tins) collected by various members of the family over the years.

These ornaments are a great way to spiff up plain colored ornaments and give them a little zip! It's also a super way to use up odds and ends buttons you might have in your stash.

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

#8 - Button Decorated Ornaments

Idea #1 - Button Belted Ornament

Supplies:

Buttons

Ornament

Glue Dots

Side Cutters

Instructions:

1. Snip off any shanks your buttons might have. This will allow you to attach the buttons to the ornament and have them sit properly.

2. Place a Glue Dot on the back of each button and work your way around the center point of the ornament...you can see I've already got several buttons on the ornament in the background.

And you'll end up with an ornament something like this...

Idea #2 - Ribbon & Buttons

Supplies:

Buttons

Ribbon

Ornament

Glue Dots

Double Stick Tape

Side Cutters

Instructions:

1. Snip off any shanks the buttons may have.

2. Beginning at the top, wrap the double stick tape around the bulb from cap to cap as shown. You can see that I have added ribbon to the first strip of adhesive and have placed the second strip (white) ready for more ribbon.

3. Add as many strips of ribbon as desired. I usually add 3 or 4 - this spaces the ribbon nicely.

4. Add buttons where desired. I have added one at each strip of ribbon as well as around the cap.

And here is what your ornament may look like....

So there you go...

another quick and easy ornament!

I know they aren't all inky but I do hope you're all enjoying these ornaments.

I am having fun making and sharing them with you!

There are just so many fun ways to create hand-made ornaments it's hard to decide which ones to post each day!

Vintage Postcard Sunday - Winter Images

This weeks postcards feature a recent addition to Indiana's weather score card....SNOW! Yep, it's started snowing a bit this week...a couple mornings we've had snow collected in the crevices but no real accumulation ~ yet! They say we're supposed to get some this week so we'll see if they are right or not. Just for the record, I'm not ready for it...I guess I don't get to vote though ;) LOL!!

Not sure where these are from since they are in other languages but they are pretty places. If anyone knows the areas, please feel free to post and let us know where they are located.

Sommerfrische Puchberg am Schneeberg, N.Oe.

Ertchweigerhaus 1000m

Donnersbach. Ennstal. Stmk.

Abetone - Vista del Monte Gimito

Rifugio della Senetta (m. 1800)

Abetone - Monte Gimito

Il Rifugio della Selletta (m 1800)

Flachau im Pongau, Salzburg

(Now, I do recognize this name...I believe it's Germany)

Enjoy!!

Questions - 25 Days of Handmade Ornaments - 1-7

I've been getting lots of questions about the ornaments so far, many dups ~ so I thought I'd post the answers here :)

Ornament #1 - Lace Snowflake ~

Q - What size did I print out the pattern to make the giant snowflake? I want to make some for my windows.

A - Those were 6" squares which ended up making a 12" snowflake.

Q - What size patterns should I use to make some for my tree?

A - You can print the grids around 2-3" to make a good size ornament for the tree (4-6" finished snowflake).

Lots of people commented on my inky fingers that got in the picture ;) LOL...don't call it Ink Stains for nothin! And yes, I really do get into my art. I always say you're just not doing it right if your fingers come out clean!

Ornament #2 - Paper Filled Glass Balls ~

Q - Where did I find the neat sheet music? Is the sheet music stamped? Did I make the sheet music?

A - The sheet music is real vintage sheet music that I got at an auction a couple years ago. You can however use stamped sheet music. There are several stamps out there with a musical theme (Tim Holtz has a great one - Festive Sounds)that you can stamp onto tan/cream colored cardstock, add a bit of distress ink and you're set to go. You could of course stamp on both sides so the musical notes show on both sides but the outside is most important.

Ornament #3 - Frosted Memory Glass Ornaments ~

Q - Where can I find Frosted Memory Glass?

A - Tons of people have asked about this. I know some KMart stores carry the Frosted Memory Glass but it's not ava. at all locations so I guess that's hit or miss. Other stores which carry the Frosted variety - Create for Less, Scrapbooking Warehouse, Ritz Camera, ebay and more!

Q - Which side of the glass did I stamp and emboss on?

A - Either side works well.

If you stamp on the Frosted side the image shows up great on both sides no matter which is facing out on your finished ornament.

If you stamp on the smooth side and you have the Frosted side facing out on the finished ornament your image will look muted because of the frosted effect. Just as if you were looking through a frosty window on a winter morning.

Q - Who makes the stamps I used?

A - The stamps in idea 1 & 3 were all from a Fiskars set of stamps - Twas the Night, the stamps on idea #2 are from Inkadinkado - Snowflakes LM809397 (99397) .

Ornament #4 - Traditional Grunge Board Ornament

Q - Where can I find Grunge Board?

A - I'm told that some Wal-Mart stores carry it but they don't in my area so I guess it's again hit and miss store by store. I know the craft departments at the stores around here vary greatly in what they do and don't carry so your best bet is to just call around and see if they carry it. Same for Target and KMart.

On-Line - some places that carry it are - Scrapbook.com, Joggles, Create for Less.

Ornament #5 - Segmented Ornament & 6 Segmented with a Twist ~

Q - What size circles did I use to make each ornament?

A - All of the circles I used were cut using the Nestabilities Large Circle & Scallop Circle die sets. For the Segmented red ornament (#5) - I used the 3 1/4 & 3 3/4" (approx) circle die-cut. Segmented blue ornament (#5) - 2 3/4" circle. Segmented with a Twist ornament (#6) - 3 1/4" circle die-cut.

You can of course use anything to make the circles. I've used lids, plates, bowls, glasses, etc. as a pattern to create just the right size circle I needed for a particular project. They don't have to be die-cuts. Anything goes when you're crafting ;)

Ornament #7 - Glitter Filled Ornament ~

Q - Why did I use that particular adhesive?

A - It's new to my adhesive collection and I wanted to play with it. LOL...

Actually, that's partly true but you have to get just the right balance of sticky vs. fluid movement when you make these ornaments.

You want a glue that moves well yet retains a good "stickyness".

I have in the past tried this using a watered down thicker white glue (Elmers, Mod Podge, etc.) but by the time you water it down enough to get it to move freely and coat the inside of the ornament it just doesn't hold the glitter like it would if it weren't diluted.

Glossy Accents and the like are way to thick and you'd have to use lots of it to coat the inside of the ornament and again not good diluted.

The Leafing adhesive is thinner bodied which allows for the great coverage and you're not taking away from the sticky factor since you don't have to water it down. The thinner body is also why you must move quickly between coating the ornament and pouring/shaking the glitter around. If you leave it sit too long the glue will slide back down the glass leaving a streaky finish...it does make a cool effect if that's what you're looking for though so I guess that's up to you.

Q - What type of Glitter did I use?

A - I used Art Institute Glitter brand but you could use any fine glitter you'd like. I've never tried using Glass Glitter because the flakes are much heavier and thicker so I don't know how well it would coat as it dried.

I think I answered all the questions I had but if I missed any, please let me know and I'll answer it as best I can :)

I'll have another ornament this afternoon as well as some Vintage Postcards to share with you :)

See you then!!