Wine Cork Ornaments

Last week,  I started making new Christmas ornaments.  These cute little snowmen are made from wine corks. It is not my  original idea, I want to credit Shade Tree Carvings on Etsy, her idea  inspired me to make these. 

  

 I painted the corks with a light coat of white paint.  The hats are made from paper and I attached the heads to the bodies with a toothpick, leaving space to tie on a scarf.  

To hang them on the tree I glued a small clothespin to the back of the body. 

 

This is how they started.  I have been saving corks for a few years now and I have my friends saving  them for me as well.  There are a lot of creative ideas out there for using corks.  I really like this one.

 

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Veterans Day 2011

Veterans Day  November 11, 2011

 Thank you to all the veterans who served our country. 

God bless you!

Thumbprint Art

Last year my daughter introduced me to the art of thumb prints.  Why hadn't I heard of this before?  I think it is a kids craft,  but I really like it!   The ideas are endless!  I stumbled across this cute idea on Sunday.
  

Oh, I found it Pinterest. It was  originally posted on flicka by Cathy Gauburt. I always like to give credit!

I thought I would put  it in my "must make for Christmas" file.  But after I made a few  thumb prints I knew I had to make something.  This is my something,  a Christmas gift tag.  I will be making more  gift cards later  this week.

Just for fun I came up with this zany owl.   He needs some work, but that's alright, my daughter thought he was cute.

 Try this with your kids and grand kids it is fun!

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Christmas Tags

 I felt like crafting yesterday!  It all started with this and that. I really need to find more sheet music. 

 I ended up making eight Christmas tags.  

All I need are the gifts!  I bought  paper after Christmas last year, I have enough for the next two years.
 I want to have all my Christmas crafts finished  by December 1st. Let's see if that happens.

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Ornament

  A wedding invitation  made into a Christmas ornament, a very neat idea! 

I knew when I saw the idea on Pinterest (www.ChristyRobbins.blogspot.com) I had to make one.  Fortunately, we are invited to a wedding in November so I had an invitation!  
I love how it turned out. 

 I would probably save the invitation for a few months and then throw it away.  This is a better idea.

I hope they like it.

Cut the invitation into strips and then roll them around a pen so they curl.  Put the strips into a glass ball and you have a cute ornament. 

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Serving Tray

 I made/refurbished  this serving tray  a few weeks ago, actually I made two.  I am thinking that I might give them away for Christmas presents.  I could fill the tray with napkins, plates and all sorts of things.

 I found a crate at a local antique store and painted it my new favorite color gray,  with a little white over it to distress it a bit.  I sewed a white piece of fabric to fit on the bottom.
  

 I also sewed a small piece of fabric to go over the top of that.  There is no real reason for it, I just liked the way it looks.

This is how the crate looked before I painted it.  All the brown spots are actually  bleach spots.  I cleaned the box  with bleach, then cleaned it with bleach and cleaned it again!  I bought the crate for $2.00 and had all the fabric leftover from other projects.   I like the way it went from trash to treasure.  Now, I just need to find a few more.  

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Fall, I could like it.

This morning, I was sitting down having my first cup of coffee, when I looked out the window I saw this image.    I love the shadows and  warm glow that a fall morning sun can bring to everything. I am a summer weather girl, but you won't find this kind of look in the summer.  

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Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanksgiving Preparations

I think I have mentioned before that I am not known for my cooking.  That is why I like to set a pretty table, or at least  I try to set a nice table.  I bought a new table cloth and it is going to be nice for Thanksgiving. It's a rainy day and I thought I would take out my Thanksgiving linens, see if I need anything. 

I have green place mats (also good for Christmas), white Martha Stewart dinner plates, rooster salad plates and napkins!  I am thinking about using mason jars for water glasses.  Mason jars are so popular!   

I went to a bridal shower a few weeks ago, they used brown paper as a table runner.  I love the idea.  It looks pretty and it would be great if you have kids at the table!  Give them a few crayons and let them start coloring! It could work for adults as well!

I decided to line the table with  fake fall leaves.  I hope I can find more, all the Christmas decorations are out already. I guess I could use real ones.  I should go outside and get them now, press them and be ready.  That won't happen, I know I will be outside Thanksgiving morning looking for leaves!  I also hope the pumpkins stay fresh until then as well.

 Well, I put everything away.  I think I have almost  everything I need. I am decided to go with the mason jars,  I will need to go and get a few of them this week.

 

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 I  put  away the ghost and pumpkin candle jars that I made for Halloween. I was thinking about how I could make a few for Christmas when I came up with this idea. I used beige tissue paper for the base and cut a star out of green and gold tissue paper.  Again it is all mod podged in place, very easy.   I wanted to see how the jar  would look when it was lit. It blends nicely with my fall centerpiece,  I guess it will stay here for the rest of the year.

I made a heart shaped jar as well.  Please remember if you make any of these that you should only burn tea light candles in the jars.   Or better yet as a friend suggested use flame less tea lights. I am using them and at night you can not even tell the difference.  

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Green Crafting plus a liitle bit more

 I made these little boxes a few weeks ago  to give to two little girls, who love owls.  Do all girls love owls?  My daughters do and so do alot of their friends.   

 I know I like making paper  owls. 

  This is what the box looked like before I covered it with paper.  It holds four bottles of sparkling green tea.



Once I get started papering sometimes it is hard to stop.  I made two notebooks to put in the  boxes.  I  found some old sheet music at a local antique store. The paper is worn and tattered, perfect for me! 

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Mason Jar Match Holder

 I saw  this cute idea the other day and knew I just had to have one.  

Thanks to Craftaholicsanonymous.

 

 I had everything I needed to make one, so I did!

 I traced a circle on the back of the sandpaper and cut it out, easy!  Next I taped the sandpaper to the metal circle and put it back on the jar.  I cut out a few extra circles of sandpaper and put them underneath the sandpaper that shows.  That way when the paper starts to wear down you have a new one ready to go.

 It is such a cute idea.  I am inspired everyday by all the creative people who blog!  

Now, I must go do some creative cleaning! 

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Happy Halloween

 Last Friday I put together a few little treats for a two of my favorite  little trick or treaters. 

  I eat oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast and  I have saved quite a few boxes.   They are  fun to cover with paper and perfect for this project!

 I made two gift card holders. I am heading to Barnes and Noble later to pick up two  cards.

 I added a few of their favorite candies and two cute,  I mean scary toys.

All stuffed and ready to go!  

Happy Halloween!

  

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Fall Bark

Here are the ingredients that I use to make bark. 

1 Package of  white candy melts ( I like Wiltons) 

Candy corn (I cut the candy corn in 1/2)

 M & M's plain and peanut

 Snowcaps

Fall colored sprinkles (optional)

 Parchment paper 

I melt the chocolate in the microwave  for 30 seconds  then stir, repeat until the melts are smooth.

 I like to melt 1/2 the package.  You never know, melting candy can sometimes get tricky.  If there is the smallest drop of water in the dish or on the spoon  the candy will get hard and that is not good. 

Pour the candy onto the parchment paper.  That  is a dinner plate underneath, so the candy is about the size of a large salad plate.  It should be about 1/2 inch  thick. You can always melt more chocolate at this time and pour it right on top of the first layer if you want it thicker.   



 Next drop the candies onto the melted chocolate. You can lightly press the candies into the  white chocolate.  

Microwave  about a handful of  candy melts to drizzle over the top of the candies.  I just dip a  spoon into the chocolate and just start drizzling.  This helps the candy to stay in place. If you have sprinkles now is the time to pour them on top.  Place the dish into the refrigerator for about 15 to 20 minutes until the candy is hard.

Now break the candy!  I usually start by breaking it in half first.  I like bite size pieces!  Large bite size pieces are the best!

 I had  extra melted chocolate so I covered a few Oreos.  I hate to waste chocolate!

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Fall is in the house

 This is a little area in our kitchen that I decorated for fall.  

 I made the bats for another project, but once I clipped them onto the white (faux) flowers I knew that these three had to stay  right here!

I just cut out a basic bat, nothing fancy.  I gave it two button eyes and then glued it onto a clothespin, covered with paper of course.  Now, I  have to make a few more bats for the original project. That's okay,  it is a rainy day and I am in a crafting mood!  

 

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