Sunday, November 28, 2010

Ho Ho Ho...Here we go!

Drum Roll Please...
Our first Christmas themed tutorial will be this Vintage Deer Ornament.

Our first guest blogger is:

Valerie has a wonderful blog called...                                                            

Yarni Gras!
(Click on her blog name to go to it.) 
Valerie tells me: I'm a happily married mother of two kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats...the list goes on. Love God, my family, our pets.....at the same time, I'm a total craftaholic who loves a good margarita!
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Her tutorial:
I have always loved the vintage ornaments that resemble teeny dioramas....but don't have any. So I tried my hand at creating one:


I liked it so much, I decided to share how I did it. Some steps weren't photographed cause I added things AFTER it was finished. (okay, so I'm not Martha. I don't have one made and another one going through the process....)

First, gather your supplies:
*a wee little box (mine is 1.5" by 2.5")
white spray paint
glue
scissors
tiny bit of polyfil or cotton ball fluff
miniature deer (miniatures at Hobby Lobby)
miniature trees (craft section at Hobby Lobby)
star sequins and 1 start shaped bead
variety of glitters
thick sparkly glitter glue
small amount of white sparkly felt

you will also need if hanging it:
yarn
tapestry needle
skewer
***
First, spray paint the little box white.

 
To make the 'sky' use a bit of glue and sparkly blue glitter...just a little. Put it on the back, top and both sides. Glue a few little sequin stars on the back at this point too.
For the snow, glue down a wee bit of poly-fil and tamp it down good. Let it dry and then pull the majority off. What you have left will be the snow. (see? no snow, no stars....I love hindsight!)
 
Take a little tree and cut the stump off.
You can leave it on if you need the height. My little box was so tiny, I opted to clip it.
 
 Then, cut the stumps off the remaining trees you will use. I used one big tree and two little ones.
For the back tree that will be against the box, cut the back off straight so you can glue it onto the back and it will lie flat. See?
Then arrange the other trees around it and glue them down.
Then glue down your deer.
Once dried, take your thick glitter glue and go around the trees and deer. Put a dot onto the top of each tree and drag it down with your fingertip. Do it lightly so you don't rub it completely off.
 
 After everything is dried (again!) take a piece of the felt and cut a strip that will go around the little box.
Glue it down with the seam on the bottom.
If you want to hang it like I did you can use a skewer and put a hole in the top and in the felt. Be careful not to crush your little box. Again, this was something I should have thought of BEFORE I finished most of the ornament!!!! Oh well...that's what happens when you are crafting with wine!
Thread your yarn through both pieces and glue it together, this holds the hanger in place really well once dried.
Clip the knot as close as you can.


 Once the felt is dried to the box, slather glue on it and roll it in MORE GLITTER!!!! Remember, glitter is GOOD!
Then, add a thick band of glitter glue around the front to hide the demarcation between the box and felt if you can still see it.
Now for that pesky little knot...

This is where you need a star shaped bead. Simply glue it on top of the knot facing forward. This part is tricky because the space is so teeny.
If you use white glue, you'll need to let it dry on its back so the bead doesn't fall off.

This is what it looks like hung on my Year of Enchantment tree.
I love this angle, it looks so natural. I'll probably put it on my big tree though...and add glitter...maybe some more glitter...?
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So cute-Thanks for sharing Val~!
More guest bloggers are coming...
If you are interested in sharing a Christmas idea contact me~

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Outside Today...

~Cold Little Hummingbird~
Seattle Washington

ADDED NOTE:
This little guy is very healthy and has been with me for 6 years (year round.) It's not often we have real cold weather here-I always make sure their feeders stay thawed out and that they have places to stay warm when the weather does get chilly.
I have about 6 hummingbirds that stay through the winter. They love playing and chasing each other when it snows and all other times!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Christmas Ornament/Garland Ideas...

ONLY at Christmastime can you find me in a K-Mart store...They always have the cutest Christmas decorations there.  My husband Tim and I ventured into K-Mart the other day. I just HAD to get out my camera and take pictures of some of the Christmas decorations to share with you all.  Tim of course just shook his head when the camera came out. You should have seen his face when I asked him to "please" hold some garland so I could get a picture of it! (Insert growl from him here.)-(Love you babe!) ;)
Anyhoo,  I'm clicking away and suddenly we hear over the store intercom system, "Code 2, Code 2!" "Code 2, Code 2!" Both Tim and I looked up at each other with the deer in the headlight look and
 I whisper-yelled,
"RUN!"
 Of course we didn't, we just laughed cause we're dorkie that way.
I was real nervous taking the pictures and to serve me right ALL of them came out blurry.  BUT I looked up K-mart/Sears Online store and they had pictures right there for me!  
 By the way, you can buy all that you see on this post at K-mart or Sears stores-Their online stores have everything too. OR you can make them yourself~
So without further ado...
 For all you crocheters out there. Oh, I wish I knew how to crochet, I'd be making lots of these!


These crochet ornaments are from Country Living designs.


 Ty Pennington designs created this ruffled pine cone-I would probably make this in a red and white toile.


 Country Living again-I'd do this one with plaid ribbon.



 Jaclyn Smith designed pink pine cone-I touched it and it feels like that fun foam you can buy at craft stores.


~GARLAND~

 Seriously, how hard could this be to make? Put those kids to crafting! (Country Living)


 Remember making pom poms? (Country Living)



My favorite! 
 9 foot Yo Yo Garland-It is super cute-Better looking in person then in photo~ Easy to make girls!
 (Country Living)

Thank you to everyone who is participating in my homemade Christmas deal. It's not too late to join and it doesn't have to be ornaments-Anything Christmas works.  See this POST to learn how to be a celebrity guest on my blog.
We will be starting our celebrity guest tutorials next Monday~

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Christmas Tree Ornaments...


Store bought or Homemade or Both?
 
Usually my main tree is all store bought and very classic. 
 BUT not this year!  Noelle will be 2 years old so I want the tree to be more fun and whimsical for her.
This year I will be buying AND making my ornaments-The one's I make I will share with you.
 
I was wondering if any of you out there with or without blogs, would like to share how to make your homemade ornaments on my blog.  If you have a blog all I would need is a html of your post. If you don't know how to do this E mail me (robinruns@comcast.net) and I will write you back and show you how, it's very easy.  Also your blog will be mentioned so everyone can go and check it out~♥
If you don't have a blog, I would just need you to E mail me pictures and directions. 
By the way, it doesn't matter the style...Primitive, modern, whimsical etc. etc.-I tend to have lovely followers from all genres.
 
One more thing... I just started a Facebook page for this blog. It's a way to see what is going on in between what I post here.  I also will be sharing different craft and food recipes on it that I don't blog about.   To join just click on the blue and white Facebook square on the top right of my blog. Once you get there join by clicking "like." By the way, you have to have a Facebook account to join my Facebook page (that's just the way they work!)

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

Something To Ponder Over The Weekend...



1. West Virginia: 1 in 42 (Who'd thought?)
2. Iowa: 1 in 67
3. Michigan: 1 in 70
4. South Dakota: 1 in 76
5. Montana: 1 in 82

I was shocked that Washington was a low risk state -I've hit a deer and know many others here that have too.  Then again, we do spend a lot of time in the mountains. 
Check out Hawaii's odds 1 in 13,011~ HA!
Have a great weekend, watch out for deer West Virginians!
(All info from State Farm Insurance)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Monday, November 1, 2010

Fall Window Pane Chandie~Lit Up...

Remember when I showed you all how to make this Window Pane Chandelier in THIS post?
Well, I added some lights and candles and wanted to show you how it looks at night... 

 Here's the table with some pumpkin candles added to it~


 A close up of the Chandelier~


Close up of top of Chandie~


Full view~
I've really enjoyed it both day and night and I can't wait to change it up with Christmas decor!
♫♪Fa la la la la, la la la laaaaa!♪♫


(Our grand daughter Noelle.)
How did Little Bunny Foo Foo get on this post? Wink wink! ;)