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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Gingerbread Creation Showdown: Gum Paste Sculpting and Color Mixing

So as it turns out, I am not the Cake Boss! 😉  They’re having a gingerbread house competition at my son’s school and since I have gotten better at sculpting miniatures I had Cake Boss dreams of sweeping the floor with my competition after winning the pumpkin decorating contest in October! 😂😂  So I decided that I would make a Grinch Who Stole Christmas entry and sculp him with gum paste (modeling chocolate).

Since I like to try new things, but am always trying to lower my cost I tried to substitute powdered food coloring with Jell-O – BAD IDEA!  Definitely just use gel food coloring.  I am lucky I had some on hand.  The Jell-O concoction is grainy and pale.  I’m not sure what the trick to this stuff is, but my four and a half years old was impressed and since the judges are his peers my fingers are crossed that I have a shot at winning.

Did the decorating of the house with my son and made Max the dog to sit on the roof.  We used a premade gingerbread kit since these are not my forte and it’s not a rule violator.   The icing bag broke and made a huge mess.  I guess I will have to make my own later on, oh well.  Happy crafting and Merry Grinchmas! 😉

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.

Snowman Ornament with a Knit Hat

You all know how much I love the dollar store and this year I saw a cute idea for making knit hats as ornaments, but I thought it would be even cuter if you combined it with a snowman head!  I was disappointed when I went this weekend and saw there was no more foam balls, but then I realized that I could actually get the ornaments in a larger quantity and do the same thing! – a total bonus! These are so cute and easy, they’ll have you running straight to the dollar store right away!

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Small plastic ornaments from the dollar store (or foam balls of equivalent size)
• Snow-Tex to make it look like real snow
• Diamond Dust for sparkle
• Yarn
• Toilet paper tubes
• Small bells
• Air drying clay
• Black acrylic paint
• Pink acrylic paint
• Orange acrylic paint
• Hot glue and gun
• Ornament hooks

1. Start off by covering a generous layer of Snow-Tex to cover the whole ornament.
2. Prop on toilet paper tube to dry.
3. Cut off the end of a toilet paper tube to the desired width for the rim of your knit cap.
4. Cut a lot of yarn at least 10 inches long.
5. Now we simply make a loop and we put it in our little circle, completing this all the way around.
6. After you have finished the ring, pull all the ends through the tube and tie it off with a bell on a piece of yarn.
7. Cut off the extra length to create the pom-pom on top.
8. Once the Snow-Tex is dry, sculpt a carrot by rolling out a cone shape from the air drying clay and rub onto the head. 
9. Use a clay too or side of a tooth pick to make indentions to make it look like a carrot.
10. Hot glue the hat to the head.
11. Once dried, paint the eyes and mouth with black paint.  Add the rosey cheek color in a pink circle and paint the carrot orange.
12. Add an ornament hook and done!

Super cute and easy! These are a great dollar store make over to wow your friends and family with a nice ornament for a Christmas present, you can even use it on the outside of present to compliment your wrapping job!  Merry Christmas everyone!

A Message in Sharing from Elf on the Shelf: Gotta Give to Get

Today my son had a bit of rough day and finished it with good manners and listening.  Must have been the trip to meet Santa today! 😉

Today his elf, Tattle, has asked him to donate toys so he can get a good word with the big man Santa.  He told him that Santa likes children that give their old toys to children with less – Santa likes that and will ensure that they’re rewarded with an extra special gift! 

He was given the hat as a good faith offering.  My fingers are crossed in hopes that he is more willing to part with the old to make way with the new so I am not forced to do it behind his back and he learns the less to declutter.  Merry Christmas!

Candy Cane Wreaths

My sister saw a friend from works wreath that she created out of candy canes, so she got infected by the crafting bug and said let’s do it!  We took a quick trip to the dollar store and grabbed some supplies.  They’re super cute and easy, we each are going to make one and even crafted one for my parents anniversary on the 21st.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Hot glue and gun
• Wire ribbon
• Regular ribbon
• Ornament of your choice
• Peppermints (optional)
• Assorted candy cane size

1. We started by creating hearts by hot gluing two candy canes facing inwards by the hook.
2. Hot glue two sets together by gluing the flat sides together until you form a circle all the way around.
3. Hot glue your ornament into the center.
4. Cut small 1-2 inch strips of ribbon to hot glue around 2 candy canes for added stability.
5. Create a bow at the top and a loop to hang the wreath on. 

In the second one we used unwrapped (must spray with an acrylic sealant if being used on your door or  it will melt from condensation!) smally canes to create smaller hearts and added the peppermints to the arches of the hearts because my mom really loves bling and this just took it to next level.

Nothing says Christmas like candy canes! Happy holidays and get crafting!

Elf on the Shelf Has Arrived

I love the holidays and get especially festive Thanksgiving spending time enjoying a good meal with family.  It’s also the day before I start our Christmas season in our house.  This year after careful consideration of our elf Tattles big return, he decided to fly in on my son’s Air Patroller with a personalized story book, Elf on the Shelf jammies, and white chocolate Santa beard lollipop.

I can’t wait to pull out the decorations tomorrow and have a pajama party with my son. This is my favorite time of year.  I hope you all enjoyed a peaceful Thanksgiving!

Elf on the Shelf: Nightmare Before Christmas

This was just too tempting to not repurpose my Nightmare Before Christmas crew for my son’s elf named “Tattle” big return.  They’ve taped his mouth shut so he can’t tell on their boy since they celebrate mischief.

Merry Christmas !