Dollar Tree Picture of Madonna and Child

Last week I went to the Dollar Tree (this is an unpaid plug for Dollar Tree). I love this place! You can find some really cool stuff. Click on the link to see if you have a Dollar Tree in your area. They usually have good picks for kids arts and crafts.

I found this cool picture of Madonna and Child (I did not get a "before shot" I think that you can get an idea that it was plain before I added the glitter). As soon as I saw it I saw all kinds of potential. As you can see from prior crafts I am really into glitter right now. It covers a multitude of sins.

For this project I used Mod Podge glue, paint brushes and glitter.

This is the picture I found for $1. Then I painted the glue on where I wanted to highlight...her dress and her head scarf. I love how it turned out. I am going to go back today and to get more, I think there were a few Saints as well...I am not that well versed in Catholic icons and Saints, so I cannot tell you who they were. These would make perfect Christmas gifts.

Reuse...Repackage

For my nieces birthday present I realized that I did not have any birthday wrapping paper...but I am always using my brown paper grocery bags for something...this time I used it to wrap Kayla's gift. Then I grabbed some tissue paper and just formed it into a flower, a stem and a leaf. I taped it all onto the package. I used a bunch of scrap yarn to tie her cards onto the stem. It felt good to reuse and repurpose something that we get every week at the grocery store. Actually, I usually bring my own bags...however, I always make sure to get a few paper and a few plastic bags cuz I use them! I always save tissue paper...just wait to see what I do with tissue paper in April when I make my Easter tree!

Just for Fun

So what do you do with sugar sprinkles.....

You sprinkle them in a heart dish....

Then add a tea candle...and some golden rocks (Jett made them for me for my birthday...how cool is that?)

I had some pink sugar too...my Grammy gave this little dish ages ago...it is pink and green, two of my favorite colors...then add more tea lights.

Set the pretty glass plate on a metal bead vase. Instant fun...instant yum!

Snowmen

I really wanted to continue January with a winter theme. I got the bright of idea of making snowmen. Since we do not get the joy of having snow and making real snowmen I got a bright idea and decided to make snowmen.

Here is what you need:

Styrofoam balls in small, medium and large
glitter (whatever color your heart desires we used pink, gold and silver)
glue (to roll the balls in we used regular white school glue)
hot glue
knife
paper plates
sticks
scrap fabric
yarn

Instructions:

 1) I went to Beverly's (they have a coupon flyer out right now...40% off of one item) and got styrofoam balls, styrofoam glue and fine glitter. I spent about $20. Styrofoam is not cheap. They are about $5.99-6.99 for 6-8 balls. I bought them in medium sizes to create the snowman.

2) Cut the rounded end of each ball so that when you glue them together it sits flat. I did not do this at first (hence the reason there is glitter everywhere...it would have been much easier to have done it without the glitter on the balls) and the balls did not stick together. If you have a better way of making them stick together please let me know. It took me a whole day to get it right.

3) I used paper plates. One for the glue and one for the glitter. This where the boys got in on the fun. They helped me roll the balls in the glue and then roll them in the glitter. It was messy, but they had fun.

4) Assemble and let dry. I let them dry overnight. I used strofoam glue but you can use any glue or hot glue.

5) This is the fun part...I used some scrap material I had lying around...sewed the edges to make scarves. I also crochet hats and one scarf. Don't worry if you don't sew or crochet...you could use ribbons and buttons or whatever you have lying around that would look good on a snowman. Then I added sticks for the arms. I did not put faces on them. I was going to but I liked they way they looked plain.

Here are my snowmen and women...

They turned out a lot better than I thought they were going to turn out.

I embleshed the fabric scarf with a crochet edge.

Week 2- A Simple Wreath

I have a wonderful friend and thankfully, she is also my neighbor, Stevie Harvie. She is truly an inspiration to me. She has taught me the finer points of jam making. She also makes some of the most amazing liquor concoctions ie...Ollieberry Cordial (I am sure you have never tasted something more amazing ;)

For the past few Christmas' Stevie has helped myself and another friend make Christmas wreaths. This year she let me just wing it while she was at my side. While she was watching me she found some birch tree branches laying around and made a very simple, elegant wreath.

I asked her to come over last week and help me make some. Here is how to make a very simple wreath out of any wispy, tree branch. Willow, birch, vine or any other wispy tree branch will work. I know some of us are shrouded in snow and ice, if you are lucky enough to have some sunshine anytime soon, go out on a little nature walk and try this wreath.

1. You will want nice long lengths of vine to work with - anything from 3 feet to 10 feet is a workable length. You want about 10-12 strands. *this is where the kiddos come in...they can help gather the strands of vines, or other trinkets to add to the wreath.

Some sort of birch tree outside our home.

We used some of this green hedge (I have no idea what it is? let me know if you know?) for one of the decorated wreaths.

2. Trim off the leaves if you want, I left mine on.

3. Use two strands and begin coiling the vines. This is the first round of vine in a circle slightly smaller than the size you want. I usually begin with a coil of two or three rounds before weaving. You will build on this set of rounds, and the wreath will grow as you keep coiling around tucking the ends in as you go. Pick up another strand and start where you left off, keep tucking as you go. Keep going until you reach the desired thickness that you want. You can make it as tight or as loose as you want it. It depends on what sort of accents you want in your wreath. Loose is less formal, and lets you weave in decorations, tighter is more uniform and you can just leave the wreath plain, which is very elegant and simple.

4. Attach a wire or string at the back for hanging.

5. Look about your yard or landscape for seasonal foliage. I got some odd looking berries from a friend. They are kina pink which reminds me of Spring or use whatever you desire, the goal is to make it what you want and what you fancy! It does not have to perfect.

A decorated wreath and a plain one.

I tucked in the dried berries. You could use anything, really.

The finished wreath...you can hand it anywhere...outside, inside. It really makes winter seem a little less...frigid.

I have these hangers in front of my home...I liked the way the wreath looked hanging off the hook..esp with my karma guy.

Now, go and make one! Have fun and let the kiddos in on the hunting gathering...xoC
 
 

Decoupage Canvas

For Christmas this year I got this bright idea to have the boys paint on 8x10 oil painting canvas. You can get 2 in a package at Micheal's. for about $9.

Here's what I did:

1. Gave the canvas to the boys and let them paint whatever they wanted.

2. I then let it dry for about an hour.

3. I then used Mod Podge decoupage glue added glitter let that dry for another hour.

4. I printed out a picture of each of the boys on paper (I tried it on glossy photo paper and it did not come out so well) I distressed the paper by using a match and burned the edges.

5. Then I used the mod podge on the back of the photo and placed it on the canvas.

6. Added stickers and lastly, slathered the whole canvas in mod podge glue.

7. Let dry over night.

Here are some of the results:

I loved how Owen's turned out.

Jett actually, helped me do his canvas.

For some reason I could not really get a good shot for this one. I painted this one. I am not a painter by any means. Nonetheless, it was fun to make and I like the results. My bathroom is green and pink and I wanted this to go in my bathroom.

These make great anytime gifts. I had the boys do their foot and handprints for Chris for Father's Day I used bigger canvas for those projects. He has them hanging in his office at work. The above were gifts to the grandparents for Christmas. They are fun, quirky, quick crafts that are fun for kids and mom. The one thing that I should have done that I did not do is use a finishing spray...if you try this project I would suggest going to the craft store and ask someone what spray to use. I think that it still came out fine not using the finshing spray, but if you like to do things a little more perfect I would do it. I just winged this whole project. I knew what I wanted to do in my head, however I have never done decoupage before and I could not find an actual project like this so I made it up as I went along. Now I am hooked and want to do some more projects. It is really fun. If you do this project let me know...post some pics.