Sleigh Ride Sign

Another quarantine craft.  I had some old wood in my backyard I should have tossed a year ago, but...I decided to make a scrappy sign out of it.  I used my Cricut to cut out stencil using some old vinyl.  I used some left over quilt batting to make the gloves that I hung on the metal with a rope.  I tried to rough up the edges with a little sandpaper and I splattered white paint all over with a toothbrush because I always like how that looks!  I don't know why I'm stuck on Christmas crafts in March, but...there's nobody around to judge those decisions!

Dollar Store Snow Village Make Over

 I recently shared this idea on Good Morning, Texas.  When I'm on (at least once a month, sometimes more depending on what's going on in my life and on their show) I try to post the videos on facebook...b/c I don't always get around to blogging about the crafts.  Here is that video.  Here is my facebook page.  And here are a few pictures...
I found these houses at the Dollar Tree.  I sounded a little like an advertisement on GMT, BUT....I don't/and actually can't get paid by any store for mentioning them, when I do-it's genuinely b/c that is where I found it and I hate being told about a craft and then going 43 places trying to find 'which' craft store or dollar store the item is at I want to use.

 The colors weren't to my liking, so I took a dollar can of white spray (from Walmart....just...fyi-they sell a lot of colors for a buck).  I gave them a couple of coats.

I took mod podge and 'painted' the whole thing and then sprinkled it with glitter.  I'm putting these in some apothecary jars with some snow and trees.  Not bad for a buck and some change.

Snowman Treat Jars

 I have  a friend that does craft shows throughout the seasons.  She is a pro at painting.  I asked her to teach me some skillzzz this summer, and she delivered.  Another friend of mine gave me a ton of old baby jars she found in her attic.  I took the lids over to Terry's house and painted some pumpkin face jars (I posted in October) and these little snowmen.  I'm going to give a more detailed painting tutorial soon, but....in the meantime.  I love these.

I used regular ol' paint.  The base of the snowman is called sand.  It took two coats.  I then took a watered down brown and ran it over the sand to make it a 'dirty' snowman.  Next up were the face details (the coal mouth was made with the end of a paint brush) and then I flicked white paint over the whole thing.  Once he dried I added a coal of clear sealer and then some twine.

Frosted Mirrors

I'm taking some 'snow' themed crafts to GMT and so I decided it was time to 'frost' a few things.  I've done glass before, but I decided to try out some looking glasses.  I've seen 'stuff' like this for sale.  You can use any glass, but I bought some small glasses in different shapes and a few stencils and frosted glass (sold where the rest of the spray paint is sold).  

 I cut the stencil down to fit and then just used some painter's tape to hold it in place.

I sprayed a few coats of paint (it looks clear at first), but give it ten minutes and you can peel off the tape for frosted mirrors.  I'm making a small collection of these in different shapes and sizes.  I found my mirrors near the stain glass section at Hobby Lobby for just a few bucks.

Plastic Bag Wreath

 I was tasked with putting together some 'snow' themed projects for an upcoming Good Morning, Texas.  Here is number one.  I actually saw a wreath like this at my friend's house.  She said she saw it online somewhere.  She used a wire hanger she had pulled down into the shape of a circle.  I googled it and found a board with a wreath like this AND a bunch of other things to do with plastic bags.  You can cut and use grocery store bags, a large laundry bags, or....I bought a box of 150 bags for a buck at Walmart (the non sealing kind).  Instead of a hanger, I also found a wreath frame for a dollar at the Dollar Tree.

I squished the bags (I put the open flap on the inside so it was a little shorter this way, but much more even-I tried it both ways and found this looked the best).  Then I just went around tying knots.  I only tied knots on the inside three rings-I didn't need it as fluffy as four rings for the place it's going to live.  It took me about 30 minutes, but it's pretty brainless, goes faster the longer you work, and you can catch up on random TV marathons like Finding Bigfoot or American Pickers.    Not too shabby for 2 dollars....and now....bring on the snow-my wreath is ready for 'ya ol' man winter.

Snowman Jar

Sometimes you need a cheater Christmas gift.  Every year I've got a list of things I plan to put together for people....and then November comes....and December slips in and it's time to give out gives and I'm all out of time to make those gifts.  I cheated and made this little jar, which I saw here a few years ago.  The innards are white pretzels...which brings up my cheating-I bought them. I found them for a few bucks at the store already dipped and thought-you know....I'm pretty sure mine aren't going to taste 'better', they will just take more time, so I bought them.  I think packaging pre-made food in a cute jar makes it OK.  I have drizzled them with an alternative color of chocolate before to make them a little more gourmet, but....this year....I'm leaving them snowy white.  I also made some tags I'm attaching to these little guys.  You can download those here.  I took some scraps of fabric and tied them around the lids of my jars and fringed the edge.  I glued three buttons down the jar and ta da-frosty's belly is filled and one or three more gifts are knocked off my list.

DIY Snow Globe

 

I know it's a little early be talking St Pat's Day...but...on that note, it's a little late to be talking Christmas-unless, of course, you are already planning for next year.  In that case, let's be friends.  I put together some snow globes to share on GMT today via the Exec Producer's request.  :O)  I went a little bit crazy trying to find new and fun ways...and the only thing that limited the projects I brought was a lack of time, space in my car, but I may have found a new passion.  First up, the traditional globe.  The other two I'm sharing are Valentine's Day oriented, so I wanted something fun and spring-ee.  I've seen these water globes using trees from the doll house section of the craft stores, toys from the dollar bins in stores, but I found this little clover cookie cutter and coins and decided this would be fun with some gold glitter.  

For supplies, grab some distilled water at the store, glycerin (found near the cake decorating supplies-used to 'freshen' old food gels, or buy the skin care in drug stores), you can also use baby oil.  I also got some E6000 glue-gorilla glue would work as well, or even hot glue.  I just really wanted to make sure it was stuck for life.  You want to make sure the objects you put in your globe don't have paint that will chip off because it will color the water-so plastics etc work best.  

I used the E6000 to glue down my cookie cuter and a few coins at the bottom of my tray.  I actually have the cookie cutter glued to a bottle cap to make it stick up over the lid, and I used the coins to over up the cap.  I let it dry for several hours before moving on to step two.  

 I added about a Tablespoon of glitter, a teaspoon of glycerin (don't add to much or it will make it murky, but you probably do want to add it b/c it helps the glitter float more slowly to the base) and then top with distilled water.  Close off your jar, shake and enjoy.  One tip, I would prefer recycled jars like mayo and pickles b/c the seal seems to be made for liquids.  If you have to use a jar that doesn't have a strong seal, run some hot glue around the edge to help the seal.

A few other projects I'll be sharing are these waterless globes.  I blogged about those earlier this week...

...and edible snowglobes.

I'll post a link to my facebook page later.

Waterless Snow Globe

 I'm working on some snow globe projects...and now I'm obsessed.  I made this little waterless snow globe.  You could do this for any season, but since Valetine's is around the corner....it seemed like a good plan.  All you need is a jar, foam (if your object isn't flat on the bottom), and twinkle flakes (glitter or confetti would work as well-I chose this b/c it clings a little to the side).

 I took a piece of foam and glued it to the top.  If you are using a flat bottomed object, just glue it directly to the base.

 I cut down this little plant pick (found this guy at Hobby Lobby for a buck-I usually wait for a sale-these go on 30-50 percent off almost every other week, but I was under a time crunch).

 I poured some of these twinkle flakes into the jar (about 1/8 cup) along with some little heart confetti I found.  I found this 80 percent off at Hobby Lobby near the Christmas stuff, but they also sell stuff like this near the tissue paper etc).

 I decided to wrap some twinkle grass around the foam since it was green.  They have all sorts of colors of this on sale right now near the Valentine's 'stuff' in the craft store.  I also added a foam glitter heart...

 I screwed the lid on and shook it up-the flakes sort of cling to cupid and the walls of the glass.

 I added a ribbon and another little heart around the base.  If I can hold something still for more than 21 seconds I think a ribbon makes everything better.

Edible Snow Globe

This Christmas I saw a snow globe made out of cookies.  I decided to adapt that to candy...and Valentine's day.  I used this little heart ring, some sprinkles, and a baby jar.

 You could cut off the bottom of the ring to hot glue it directly to the jar lid, but to raise it up a little I used a little piece of foam that I glued to the jar lid, and then pressed the ring down into the foam.

 I added some sprinkles to the jar.

 Ta da!

You could adapt this for any holiday-little foil chocolate Santas, bunnies, or lollipops.  I'd have a baby just to collect more of these little jars-the possibilities are endless.  I have two more snow globes coming up this week...

Penguin Pack

My goddaughter's mother loves penguins....thus-Micah has no choice.  Zero.  She will like these little creatures, or there will be therapy involved.  This year, for her birthday, I decided to go with the theme.

 I bought a book (of course) and then went a little crazy.  I made a tic tac to board with little wooden eggs (Mondays' post) and then a penguin shirt (yesterday's post) and then I let the store 'make' the rest of the penguin themed stuff.

 I found quite a bit in the dollar section of Michael's and Target as well, along with anything and everything penguin....she doesn't already own.  Incidentally-I'm predating this post and writing it on April 9th....almost 8 months before I'm mailing this....you can bet it has grown since this time.....

No Sew Penguin Shirt

I made this little shirt for my goddaughter.  Her gift this year is penguin themed.  Here is a free template for the parts of the penguins.  I just cut it out of some of my scrap fabrics.  I use some steam a seam (Warm Company Steam-A-Seam 1024 (Google Affiliate Ad)) (cut out to the same size of each piece).  

 I followed the directions to iron it onto the fabric, peel and then iron it onto the shirt.  I will hold on the shirt, though after washings you may have to iron it back down if the edges lift, or you can run thread along the edges to hold it into place.

Penguin Tic Tac To

I saw a little board like this at a craft store last year.  My pal Regan loves penguins, so I decided to give it a go....super easy, and a fun little travel-able tic-tac-to board.  I bought some little wooden eggs at Hobby Lobby and painted five up to look like penguins.  

 I sanded off the bottom so they would sit flat.

 My friend, Terry, gave me a little piece of scrap wood cut in a curvy pattern to look like a pond.  I sanded it and painted in white, then added a tic tac to symbol before adding some glue and glitter.

I found some little ice cubes in the craft section for the 'other' persons symbol.  

 They all fit nicely into a little pencil pouch