Personalized Wooden Picture Frames

Each year I get pictures of my son and give them to family in a picture frame.  This year I found wooden unfinished frames for $4.00 and decided to paint and personize them for each recipient.  I also made a moasiac wooden frame that hang the pictures from wires that I converted from dollar store “canvas” signs.

This was a great way to add a personal touch using colors and themes enjoyed by each individual for little cost.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Wooden Frame
• Dollar store “canvas” signs
• Acrylic paint – in desired colors
• Crafting jewels and scrapbooking adornments as desired
• Staple gun and staples
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Paperclips or small clothes pins
• Crafting wire
• Needle nose pliers
• Wire cutters

Since you don’t really need a step by step tutorial on painting the frames I will just provide instructions for building your moasiac wooden frame that holds pictures from wires.

1. Tear “canvas” paper off of the frames.
2. These were approximately 9 x 6 inches tall, so I measured 1.5 inches on each side to mount together with space in the center for a smaller picture.
3. Hot glue together and then add a couple of staples for added support.
4. Paint the frame as desired.
5. Staple each side where you want to secure the wire to hang your pictures cut wires and sucure wire using needle nose pliers to make a knot around the staples.
6. Use paperclips or mini clothes pins to hang pictures.

I love DIY because it allows for a personalized touch, but also if you think outside of the box you can do it for little cost too!  Happy Crafting and merry Christmas everyone!

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Pallet Porch Signs

I’ve admired all of the porch signs that I see everyone placing on their front porch made out of repurposed old pallets and was dying to make one for myself but since Christmas is a time for giving it wouldn’t have been right.  

My parents wedding anniversary is December 21st and I thought it would be a nice surprise gift for them to make one that commemorated their special day. Recently one of my coworkers called me about some pallets and had one that was the perfect size for my project!

This was just red spray paint, white acrylic paint and clear spray varnish in a matte finish. My parents really loved it and have it prominently displayed in their living room until spring.

Jack Skellington and Sally Christmas Ornaments – Simply Meant to Be

OMy sister in-law is as crazed about the Nightmare Before Christmas as I am and loves Jack and Sally, So this year I made her a couple of ornaments for her tree.  These were particularly fun to make and I think really turned out cute.  I’m hoping they can brighten her spirits this year since she recently experienced the loss of her mother and is having a hard time year.
MATERIAL NEEDED:

• Blue and champagne colored glitter
• Black, white, and red acrylic paint
• Red yarn
• Clear jewelery making plastic string
• Sculpey
• Sculpey Bake and Bond
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Sculpting tools 
• Plastic ornament bulbs

Follow the instructions from my article for the Grinch Glitter Ornament.

Sally:

1. Paint almond shaped eyes horizontally using the white paint. Painting 2-3 coats until you can no longer see the blue coming through.
2. Trace the eyes in black paint and draw a small arch over each eye making her eye lids, then carefully add her eyelashes and under eye circles.
3. Add the black pupils to her eyes and once dry add a few white dots of paint for a sparkle in the eyes.
4. Add a round up turned half circle for her nose in black paint.
5. Draw her small heart shaped lips mixing a little red and black together for her lips.
6. Draw aine going over her left eye and the add horizontal lines running through it to make her stitches. 
7. Run a second line underneath that same eye running towards the back of the ornament adding stitch lines horizontally.
8. Add a line through her mouth running through the one under her eye and add the horizontal stitch marks.
9. Cut yarn to desired length and hot glue to the top of the ornament using a low temperature glue gun.
10. Put the ornament cap back on and hang up to enjoy!

Jack:

1. Paint his face in your desired look using black paint.
2. Using sculpey modeling clay, smooth out the shape of his bow tie on a flat surface adding each branch and smoothing it out. Add a small hole with the needle tool to the top of the head to run the string through.
3. Shape a small pointy heart for the bat head and using a ball tip tool press into the head to create eye sockets secure to the tie with sculpey Bake and bond and bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. While baking, use your needle tip sculpting tool to poke a hole in the bottom of the ornament to run the string through.
5. Paint the bow tie black front to back and then add white lines.
6. Once dry, tie an end of the plastic string through the tie and knot it 2-3 times cutting off the extra end.  Run other end through the hole pushing it as far up as desired and then add a bit of hot glue to keep it in place.

These are fun and easy to make and are sure to be enjoyed by any Nightmare Before Christmas fan! I hope they’ve inspired you to make your very own!  Happy crafting and merry Christmas!

Commemorative Fingerprint Snowman Ornaments

A tradition in my family has been to collect an ornament each year, but ever since I discovered my love of crafting I have been making my own.  This year my son and I did a special collaboration with him lending me his finger tips to make my snowmen.

This is a really simple and cute craft that commemorates tiny fingers for future years.  

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Red glitter
• Mop and Glow
• Clear plastic or glass ornament
• Acrylic paint – white, black, blue, and orange
• Red wire ribbon

1. Pour Mop and Glow into the ornament and swish around the the inside plugging the end with your finger tip; empty the excess.
2. Pour red glitter into the bulb and plug the end with your finger tip and shake until glitter coats the entire inside; add more if needed continuing to shake.
3. Dip finger tip into white paint and make three dots on top of each other in the shape of a snowman.
4. Use a fine tip paint brush and dot the front with snowflakes. 
5. Draw a black line across the top of his head for the brim of the top hat and draw an hour glass shape filling it in black for the remainder of the hat.
6. Dot the eyes and add the buttons.
7. Using the blue paint, draw a line across the neck of the head and then two more going downward for the tails.
8. Draw the tree branche arms using black paint.
9. Paint the bottom white for snow on the ground.

This may be ane of my absolute favorites this year!  Happy crafting and merry Christmas!

Mad Tea Party Christmas Ornaments

Clean cup, clean cup, move down! 

I’m not crazy, my reality is just different from yours.

Off with her head!

I saw a version of these on Etsy a really long time ago and always wanted to have them because I always loved this movie as a little girl.  Now that I am a glitter ornament making diva I thought no time like the present – speaking of presents I’ll be giving them away for Christmas too.  

Maybe I will just have to make them for myself later on, but for now it’s the time of year to give and honestly it makes me feel really wonderful to give my crafts away.  I love the home made stuff, to me it shows how much you care about someone by giving them your time – anyone can make a quick meaningless purchase but home made involves customization and thoughtfulness.

These were really simple, you only need the following items:

• Clear plastic or glass ornaments
• Glitter – red, light blue, light green, and purple (most can be purchased at the dollar store!)
• Mop and Glow
• Acrylic paint – black, yellow and white
• Fine tip artists brushes
• Ribbon – black, green, purple, and light blue

Since they’re silhouettes they’re actually really easy and if you mess up just use a qtip to erase the mistake and try again!  You’ll be amazed at how simple they are to make, especially since the price tag on Etsy was fairly high for the amount of effort and cost of materials.  

For instructions on the glitter filling follow this link: DIY Glitter Ornaments.

Happy crafting and merry Christmas!

DIY Glitter Ornaments: The Grinch and Believe

Have you ever wondered if making those ornaments using glitter and Mop and Glow really work?  Well thanks to finding glitter in various colors I decided to give it a try and to my surprise in really does!

I purchased some clear plastic bulbs from Michael’s in a big pack with DIY in mind and once I found the green glitter at the dollar store it was decided how I was going to use them!  It really is easy and once you fill them you can decorate them in various ways!

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Clear bulb ornament
• Glitter green and red
• Mop and Glow
• Acrylic paint – black and yellow
• Elmer’s glue
• Fine tip art
• Optional* silver plastic glue on jewel
• Wire red and green ribbon

GRINCH:

1. Fill ornament with Mop and Glow and swirl around the inside, pouring out excess.
2. Fill with glitter and plug the end with your finger tip and shake until glitter covers the inside completely.  Add more if needed.
3. Paint oval shaped yellow eyes.
4. Once dried trace the eyes in black adding lashes and under eye bags.
5. Add half open circles for his pupils.
6. Draw his mouth, nose and wrinkles.
7. Tie a bow with the green ribbon around the ornament caps loop.

BELIEVE:

1. Complete steps 1 and 2 from the Grinch ornament using red glitter.
2. Using Elmer’s glue write the word believe on the ornament and cover with glitter.
3. Glue optional star as the dot over the i.
4. Tie a bow with red ribbon around the ornament caps.

These are so cute and easy! I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial! Happy crafting and merry Christmas!

Mini Sculpting: Yukon Cornelius

When I think of the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie, it’s not just the iconic Rudolph that is important to my family.  My favorite is the Bumble and my husband’s is Yukon Cornelius, so of course for my festive Christmas display that I am creating I just had to sculpt him.  This has been a project that I have thought about doing for such a long time and now that I have a dedicated crafting space to work on  each piece in my spare time it has been a delight to watch them come to life.

I always make rough forms of my characters with aluminum foil after seeing this tip on Pinterest a while back – it helps the sculpture keep it’s form while your shaping it and it also doubles your supply of modeling clay!  If the clay gets too soft you should put into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow it to harden a bit for easier sculpting.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Sculpey modeling clay
• Aluminum foil
• Azure blue acrylic paint
• White acrylic paint
• Brown acrylic paint
• Light pink acrylic paint
• Golden Brown acrylic paint
• Black acrylic paint
• Red acrylic paint
• Light yellow acrylic paint
• Gray acrylic paint

TOOLS NEEDED:

• Sculpting tools (Darice 11-Piece Clay Cleaning Tool )
• Sculpey ABB02 Bake and Bond Sculpey Oven Bake Clay (Sculpey Artist Set: 2-Ounce Bake & Bond Bakeable Adhesive for Oven-Bake Clay, 1-Ounce Clay Softener, 1-Ounce Gloss Glaze)
• X-acto knife

1. Start by making a stump shaped torso and a oval ball of aluminum foil for his head and body.  Cover each piece with modeling clay and then add bake and bond to secure the head to the torso, smoothing the seems out with the side of the needle sculpting tool and your finger tips.
2. To form the bearded chin on the face, add a layer of bake and bond to the indented area between the torso and the head and then add a thick layer of clay smoothing it out with your finger tips and side of the needle tool.
3. Add a a flattened ball of clay to the top of his head and create a seem using arrow tip tool for his hat.  Scoop out the slightly flat shape with the scraping tool for the top of the hat creating the brim and then add a ball of clay for the pom pom.
4. Form the base of the arms and legs with aluminum foil and then add clay over the top; leave a small balls of foil to make feet on the legs.  For the legs add a generous amount of clay and use the scraping tool to separate the pants legs from the boots.
5. Add bake and bond to the area where each arm and leg is to be attached before each application of appendige.  Push into place and then use the side of the needle tip tool and finger tips to smooth and attach the arms/legs without seems.
6.  Roll out a string of clay for his belt and apply after adding bake and bond.  Then make a flat square and add to the front for his belt buckle.
7.  Roll out two more strings of clay thinner than the belt for his backpack straps and secure around his arms with bake and bond.
8. Make a ball of foil and cover with clay for his backpack and attach the same way as the head, but no smoothing out of the seems needed here.
9. Roll out some aluminum foil and cover with clay for the handle of his pick axe. Roll out more clay keeping the center wider and create points on each end.  Secure to the handle with bake and bond and smooth the edges with the side of the needle tip tool and your fingers.  Add a square of clay to the top using the same technique.
10. Roll out two balls of clay and flatten for his ear muffs, roll out a small string of clay to attach the muffs on the back of the head and attach with bake and bond.
11. Roll out two small balls of clay and flatten on a table, using the straight tip tool create a flat line and apply to his chest with bake and bond for his shirt pockets.
12. Make a small circle for his nose and cut in half, add bake and bond and smooth on the nose with the needle tool and the flat side of scoop tool.
13. Roll out two stings of clay to twist in place on his face for his mustache and attach with bake and bond.
14. Roll out a ball for his free hand and cut four fingers spreading them slightly.  Add bake and bond to the wrist and smooth out with the needle tool and finger tips.  Add a small stub for his them attaching it the same way.
15. Roll four rolls for fingers for the other hand and attach the same as the other hand, wrapping the fingers around the pick axe handle and then add a thumb. 
16. Use the metal brush to tap the beard and hair on his head to make the curly textured look.
17. Use the needle tool to make round dots for his eyes.
18. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
19. While baking, mix golden brown, light pink, and white paint together to make his skin color.
20. If you have color left over from the bumble, add a little dark blue paint (I mixed azule blue and white together), otherwise just mix white blue together for his coat.
21. Mix red and brown for his beard and hair.
22. Mix brown and black for the pick axe handle.
23. Once out of the oven and cooled, paint him according to the picture below.

Mini Sculpting: The Bumble

I have always loved the movie Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and even more so now that my son shares this love too!  I have been dying to try to sculpt my favorite characters and now that I saw the perfect way to display my characters I’m giving it a shot.

The Bumble is near and dear to me because when my son was two and we watched the movie he would always run and hide behind the couch whenever the Bumble appeared on the screen! It was so adorable and now that he’s a little bit older he loves the Bumble too.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Sculpey modeling clay
• Aluminum foil
• Blue acrylic paint
• White acrylic paint
• Gray acrylic paint
• White doll hair (I purchased a Santa ornament with a flowy beard at the dollar store)
• Hot glue sticks

TOOLS NEEDED:

• Sculpting tools (Darice 11-Piece Clay Cleaning Tool )
• Scissors
• Glue gun
• Sculpey ABB02 Bake and Bond Sculpey Oven Bake Clay (Sculpey Artist Set: 2-Ounce Bake & Bond Bakeable Adhesive for Oven-Bake Clay, 1-Ounce Clay Softener, 1-Ounce Gloss Glaze)

1. Shape some aluminum foil for the torso and cover with modeling clay and then sculpt the pecks using a scraping tool.
2. Next shape aluminum foil into the desired size and shape for his head.  Use the bake and bond to add a small roll of clay to the face and add more to the top of it then create a triangle shape to lay over it creating the nose. Attach the nose by smoothing the clay on the edges with the side of the needle tool and your fingers; to shape the nostrils better if needed after attaching the nose use the needle tool.
3. Add bake and bond to the side of the head where you plan to attach it to his body, smoothing the clay from the head to the body with the sides of your sculpting needle and fingers.
4. Shape more aluminum foil for the arms and cover with modeling clay.  Add more bake and bond where you intend to attach the arms and attach same way you did for the head.
5. Shape more aluminum foil for the legs and feet making sure that they are flat enough to allow him to stand once completed and cover with modeling clay.  Shape the toes by using the cutting tool and smooth out the ends with your fingers.
6. Use the scraping tool to shape the eyes by scraping around and outward then smoothing out with the sides of a tool or your fingers.  Use the crescent shape tool to create the under eye circles.
7. Roll pointy fingers, add bake and bond, press on top of each other gently, roll a ball adding more bake and bond and gently press on top.
8. Add bake and bond to the ends of the arms and attach the hands to the arms in the same way as the other pieces.
9. Roll two pieces of clay out thin and cut with an exacto knife to make the edges sharp and shape into a half circle shape for the teeth.
10. Bake the teeth in oven for about 5 minutes, allow to cool down and add to the mouth.
11. Bake the bumble for 15 minutes.
12. Once cooled, paint him white with gray accents on the arms, legs, body and head.  Paint the teath and eyes white.
13. Paint the hands and face blue.
14. Paint the Iris black.
15. After all of the paint is dry cut short strips of white hair.  Lightly coat areas with hot glue and allow to cool slightly before pressing hair into place.  Repeat layers as needed, gently rub to remove any hair that may be glued into place.

All that is left to do is make Yukon Cornelius, Hermis, Rudolph, Santa!  Once they’re all complete I create my dollar store snowman display with each scene from the movie for you all to see.  Merry Christmas and happy crafting! 🎄🎅🦌

You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

I saw the cutest plank wood Grinch project on Pinterest and I have been dying to try it.  The only problem – I don’t have that materials on hand right now but I do have several large tongue depressor sized crafting sticks so I can make a miniature version of my own! They’re cute, easy to make, and work well as a wall hang, door knob hang or ornament.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Crafting sticks (large tongue depressor sized)
• Acrylic paint in red, lime green, white, yellow, and black
• Scissors
• Green feathers
• White pom-pom ball
• Green floral wire
• Hot glue and gun
• Fine tip paint brushes

1. Add hot glue to the edge of each stick, be careful not to get big smears on the front.  Rub it smooth after it cools down slightly. Glue five of the side by side.
2. Paint them red across the top and mix the green with white to make a more Grinch like color.
3. Cut the ends off of one stick to get a straight edge and paint white.
4. Once dry, glue across the top to separate the hat and his head.
5. Cut another stick down and paint it red and once dry glue to the back of him sticking out slightly for the dangling part of the Santa hat.
6. Next glue a white pom-pom ball on to the end.
7. Paint merry in red, Grinch in the green color you mixed earlier, and mas in red on the brim of the hat.
8. Paint the eyes in an pointed almond shape in yellow.
9. Using a fine tip paint brush, outline the eyes, draw the eyebrows, nose, mouth and other facial details in black.
10. Cut green feathers and glue to the rim of the brim of the hat. Trim as necessary so they’re not too long.
11. Cut a few more feathers and glue to the chin trimming as needed.
12. Cut floral wire to desired length and hot glue into place on the back.

These are so cute I am planning on attaching them to the outside of presents for decoration and an additional gifts for my family.  Merry Grinchmas! 😉🎅

DIY Dollar Store “Snow-Tex”

For Christmas this year I am making my own snowman head ornaments and I need a large amount of Snow-Tex, but the cost of it being $3.99 for a meager 4 oz jar is not happening!  I decided to try my own recipe for it fresh from the dollar store – well mostly anyway.  

This product is simple, easy, and will most certainly save you money!  It’s just two simple ingredients:

• White sand
• White acrylic paint

Mix sand and paint until you get a thick, spreadable paste and voila!  You won’t be able to see a difference – except in your wallet!

On the left DIY version and on the right $3.99 4 oz jar of Snow-Tex!