Last Minute Lori Here!

I just, just found this blog hop on-The Girl Creative. It's a Christmas Tree blog hop and I just LOVE blog hops! It's such a fun way to meet new bloggers! Stop over and visit some of the other blog hoppers as well! So without further adieu, here is my tree:









Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Found some new Crafty Blogs!

In hopes of finding some great crafts to make as gifts for Christmas I came across two blogs that I absolutely LOVE! They are: Craftaholics Anonymous and todays Creative Blog. These blogs are wonderful and Linda's blog, Craftaholics Anonymous has tons of tutorials. As a matter of fact, I'm being featured on December 16th! Pop on over and have a peek at what I created for Reader's Tutorial Week. I can't say now, so you'll have to wait until the 16th.

Have a wonderful day!

A Handcrafted Ornament for Christmas

I created this Pinecone Ornament for a Christmas Swap and thought I'd share the tutorial here. It's a bit time consuming, but not difficult at all. If you have any questions, just email me. Enjoy!

PINECONE ORNAMENT

Materials Needed:
2 or 3 inch styrofoam egg
1 sheet 12x12 patterned paper
Ribbon
Dressmaker Pins (aka lace or bridal pins) *I call them "common pins".
Glue Gun
Optional: Springs of holly, pine, berries

Start by cutting your pattern paper into 1 inch strips. Next, trim the strips into 1 inch pieces. You will use most, if not all, of the 12x12 sheet of patterned paper, depending on how tight you layer your pieces. Next take your 1 inch pieces and fold in two corners to the center to create a point. The opposite end of the 1" square is left straight. Do this to all the squares before applying to the egg.

Now you're ready to start placing the pieces onto the styrofoam egg. You want to start at the narrow end of the egg. Place two trianges with the tips touching (one opposite the other) and pin each piece down using the dressmaker pins. You want to pin it along the straight edge opposite the point. Place two more pieces on either side of the first two, overlapping the edges. Keep layering the pieces, overlapping as you go around the egg. You want to make sure you're covering up the dressmaker pins as you layer each piece. Continue in rows until you reach the top of the egg.

Don't worry about the top pins showing They'll be covered with ribbon. Cut 2 pieces of ribbon 5 inches long and another one 8 inches long. Make small loops with the 5 inch pieces and hot glue to the top of the egg, covering the pins. Make a large loop with the 8 inch piece--this will be used to hang the ornament. You can also add berries, greenery, etc to add more sparkle to your creation.

It's Time to Craft for Christmas!

I'm just starting to find ideas of what I want to make for gifts for family and friends. It's a lean year (budget-wise) and so I'm creating alot of home-made gifts--but, you know, even if I had alot of money, I'd probably still create something as it seems more personal with more thought put into it. I LOVE handmade creations and treasure more than I would any store-bought item. I'm browsing plenty of craft sites and blogs and just went to the library to grab some books that gave me several ideas as well. Just a short post today ladies and I'm feeling a bit 'icky', but will post anything I create as soon as it's done.

Halloween Crafts

With the Halloween holiday quickly approaching, I thought I'd share some crafts for those last minute decorators (like me!). I found these ideas on DIY--lots of great ideas on their site. Here are a few that I thought would be great to share:

The instructions are too long to post here, so you can go HERE and read them.
Here's another favorite of mine!

Materials and Tools:

old glass jars
black spray paint
wax metallic finishes
rubber or plastic toys, stuffed animals, knick knacks, etc.
water
food coloring
measuring cup
stir stick
tags
pen
ink pad
twine or string
scissors

Steps:

1. Wash the jars and lids thoroughly. Spray paint the lids and, once dry, apply wax metallic finishes to them for an aged look.
2. Fill a measuring cup with water. Add a drop of food coloring and stir. Add more food coloring or more water to get the intensity of color that you want.
3. Place a toy or knick-knack into the jar and fill the jar with water. Screw the lid on tightly.
4. Using the tags, write out a label for each jar. To antique the tags, gently pat or rub them on an ink pad.
5. Tie the labels onto the jars with twine.

And I'll leave you with one last decorating idea:
Glitzy Candles:

Materials and Tools:

pillar or taper candles
Candle DecoPaint (by Marvy Uchida)
ultra-fine glitter
manila folder

Steps:

1. Use the Candle DecoPaint to add Halloween-themed drawings to the pillar candles. Crazy stripes also look spooky.
2. While the candle DecoPaint is still wet, sprinkle ultra-fine glitter over areas that you wish to highlight.
3. Work over a manila folder so that you can easily funnel any stray glitter back into its canister.

Allow the candle to dry for 24 hours.

Spooky Candles
Materials and Tools:

three tall glass enclosed candles
4" wooden letters, spelling "E-E-K," or "B-O-O"
craft paint
paintbrushes
Perfect Pearls embellishing pigment kit (by Ranger Ink)
spray bottle filled with water
8-mm jump rings
E6000 glue
chain
needle-nosed jewelry pliers

Steps:

1. Paint the wooden letters with craft paint and allow them to dry. An eerie mix of green and black paint or a ghostly white works well.
2. Rub the pad of Pearlizing Perfect medium on each letter.
3. Use a paintbrush to dust the patina powders included in the kit on each letter. Spray with water from the spray bottle to set the pigments, and allow them to dry.
4. Use E6000 glue to attach an 8-mm jump ring to the back of each letter in the center and at the top. Position the jump ring so that approximately half of the ring is exposed at the top of the letter.
Note: Allow the glue to dry for at least 8 hours.
5. Wrap chain around the lip of the candle glass. Link the chain together to form a loop of chain around the top of the candle with a tail of chain.

These projects I downloaded from the DIY site. They have lots and lots of great ideas!

Happy Haunting!

I've had a busy month

It's been nearly a month since posting here. I'm working on my doll for the challenge at CDA as well as creating for the DT at SCF (Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends). I also had a procedure done last week and felt crappy for a few days afterwards. I've also spent the last two days creating buttons for my various blogs. Look to the right and scroll down to where it says: You Can Find Me At. Click on a button to my other blog(s).

Creating Patterns Isn't Easy

I've been trying to creative my own cloth doll pattern and it's not that easy. I have a very basic design and am going to try and make something from it, so wish me luck. I'm also in the Halloween Challenge over at Cloth Doll Artistry. I know that I can use a store bought pattern, but I'm trying to come up with my own. So, stay in touch and see what I come up with!