November 2, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Christmas in November #2--God's Eye
Today's ornament is another smaller ornament that I have been wanting to make for a long time. I did the research for this craft when I was hosting an Iron Craft Challenge in 2013. The theme of the challenge was Ethnic Crafting. This is a traditional craft from Mexico called Ojo de Dios (God's Eye or the Eye of God).
Materials Used
3 inch craft sticks
Yarn or Embroidery Floss
There are numerous instructions on how to construct these. For written instructions, you can visit here. To see a video (a youtube video will launch), you can visit here. For the samples above, I used three different materials. The example on the far left was made with six strands of embroidery floss. The middle example was made with three colors of Lion Brand Yarns (the bonbon series). The right example used three colors of Lion Brand Yarns (the bonbon series with metallic threads).
Notes
You can use any size sticks you want. Keep in mind, the larger the sticks the more yarn you will need. I chose not to add tassels but those could be included as well. I wanted to make smaller ornaments because I will use these on an miniature tree.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Envelope #305
November 1, 2014
Yes, I know that Halloween is over and tomorrow will be the last in the series. Once you start a series, you gotta finish it, you know.
Christmas in November #1--Button Ball Ornament
This is the first project of the Christmas in November series. The goal here is to inspire your decorating decisions for the holiday season. We are doing this in November so you will have time to incorporate some of these ideas into your decorating. Once the series is over, you will still have three weeks to use some of these ideas if you choose.
I have recently become obsessed with buttons and button projects. While I never have saved buttons before but I know a lot of women who do have collections of buttons. I have made plenty of button boxes for friends so I do know that people do collect buttons.
This is an easy ornament to make. You can add a hanging loop or you can use them as is and place them in a vase or glass container.
Materials Used
3 inch Styrofoam Ball
Assorted Buttons (I used about 100 buttons in all sizes; shank buttons do not work)
Color Ball Pins (I used one color, 1.75 inch pins; 1.25 inch pins would probably work)
This is a very simple project and one that can easily be done with children as long as they can be careful with the sharp pins. Simply use one pin per button and attached the button to the Styrofoam ball. Cover the ball with a single layer of buttons. Add an additional layer when the white Styrofoam shows through. I used the small buttons to cover these areas. This second layer was made possible because of the longer pins.
Make an embroidery floss loop and attach to the sides of the ball that is secured beneath the buttons. I will make several of these and keep them in an open candy dish.
Notes
Keep in mind that a smaller ball is easier to cover with buttons. You will add at least one inch in circumference to the base when you add the buttons.
You can decorate the ornament with assorted buttons (both in size and color) or similar sized buttons or similar colored buttons. I liked the rustic nature of the assorted sizes and colors.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Project #43--Disney Projects (One for the Boys)
This is a continuation of my Disney series. I finally got the name right on this one because it was included in the cutout. Also, this is one for the boys.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Envelope #300
October 27, 2014
300! WOW. I never thought that I would have made it this far. It seems to be all downhill from here. Only 65 more envelopes.
This week is dedicated to Halloween.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Iron Craft 2014 Challenge #21--Halloween X-Ray (Project 42)
For this challenge, we were asked to create something for Halloween. Last year, I did a 30 Days of Halloween series so I wanted to make sure that I didn't duplicate something that I had previously done. I decided to do a cutout but I wanted to add some dimension to it.
I was working on my Envelope a Day series and was finishing up my Alphabet series and came across the letter X. I decided to create an x-ray envelope. I then decided to create a larger version for the Iron Craft Challenge.
Supplies Needed:
Black Card Stock
cutting utensil
Rib Cage Graphic
Acrylic Box Frame (I used a 11 x 14 x 1.5 inch frame)
Vellum Paper (either clear or colored)
Cellophane Tape
Small battery operated tea lights
Painter's Tape
1. Cut out the graphic using black card stock. There are a lot of images out there to use. I think that this would look great done with a skull as well.
2. Cut out a frame for the image so you can mount the image to the frame. The frame should be the exact side of the frame. (In the image below, you can see my guidelines (in pencil) for cutting the frame.
3. Mount the image to the back side of the frame with cellophane tape.
4. Mount the Vellum paper to the back of the cut out. Be sure to cover all of the open spaces in the cutout.
5. Place the framed image face down into the top of the box frame.
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| Back view of the image and frame |
6. Cut out a section of the cardboard backing used for the hanging of the box frame. Some box frames have a single sided cardboard hanging piece and some have a double sided hanging piece. My had double sided cardboard. Cut out a rectangle so the light will shine through the back of the cutout. Be sure to cut the side that does not have the mounting holes or you won't be able to hang your picture if you want to.
7. Using painter's tape, turn on the tea lights and mount one to the inside top lip and bottom lip of the cardboard hanging piece. You want to use a low tack tape so you can repeatedly turn on/off the tea lights when not in use or when you want to replace the lights. Since the cardboard backing is very thin, a stronger tape will tear the cardboard.
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| The cardboard cut out and mounted tea lights. |
8. Place the cardboard with the tea lights facing down into the box frame and then mount on the wall.
Notes:
The only difficulty is making sure that your tea lights are not larger then the depth of your box frame. I had small tea lights that were able to fit. I had two other versions of tea lights that were too wide to fit.
If you don't want to light up your x-ray, you can mount the cut out to a contrasting color of card stock. I was think about mounting this cut out to an acid green colored card stock.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
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