Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.  Enjoy your Christmas with family and friends, take time out for yourself and I look forward to sharing new crafts and adventures with you in 2015

The above clip art is the nice vintage Santa, now the next photo is the handmade Santa lounging on the church pew on the front verandah of my family home..  every day I see him, someone has changed his position.  

Judy

Felt Elf Wine Bottle Topper

Make a elf wine bottle topper, completely removable

A rectangle of felt, wrapped around the top of the bottle and then hand sewn into place.  Sew a piece of fake fur to the inside of the hat for his bead, and then glue on a wooden ball for the nose.  Simple

This idea was found on Pinterest, what an amazing site that is?

Judy

Swedish Woven Heart Decoration

These felt woven hearts were made, after watching a video by the Missouri Star Quilt Co.   They used wool, but for my first attempt I just used some felt pieces.

Very simple to make, with good instructions.  I put a little eyelet in the top of each side so that a ribbon could be threaded through for ease of opening.  

They are very roomy inside and you can make them whatever size you like

Not sure what I will be filling them with, but I like the idea of using this red and white one as a bag on a Santa.  Filled with greenery, pipberry and a couple of toys.  Slung over his shoulder, I think it would work?

They could be hung on the Christmas Tree, filled with Candy Canes etc, or even just given as a gift with a gift card inside, many ideas for uses

Another one in a soft green and cream

While I have the felt out, I will be trying another Pinterest idea, stay tuned

Judy

Pine Cone Angels

Well, I think this will be my last pine cone craft for this year, Pine Cone Angels.  They will look so cute hanging on the Christmas Tree.  I originally saw this idea on Pinterest.

Silver Angel

Gold Angel

All you need to do, is thread a chenille stick around the body for a little colour, wind another one around the head, making a loop for a hanger/halo.  Ribbon bow for wings, done! Lovely!

What next?

Judy

Gumnut elves

Another little handmade ornament for the Christmas tree, my little gumnut elves.

Gumnuts from the garden, with a little wooden ball glued on top for the face.  Felt cap, and that is it!

I hope to get my Christmas tree out of storage next weekend, and display all these new little ornaments.

When do you put up your Christmas tree?

Judy

Rusty Bed-Spring Snowman

I love how this snowman turned out.

Using only a rusty bed-spring, a polystyrene ball, clay nose, scrap of fabric and three little buttons, this snowman was created.  Even though our Christmas is celebrated at the hottest time of the year, I still love snowmen.  They have such a personality.  So this is another one to add to my collection.

Judy

Wooden Bead Bookmarks

For a quick and easy gift you can make with your children, try these Wooden Bead Bookmarks.

Requirements:
Wooden Bead with hole
Leather thong - cord would work just as well
Wool for hair
Glue
Paint for face

Just cut the leather thong to the desired length, remembering to keep it doubled.

Thread the doubled leather thong through the wooden bead

Wind some wool around your fingers, till nice and full and then thread it through the looped end of the thong, pull tight.  At this stage you may like to put a little glue underneath the hair to hold in place.

Paint a face on the wooden ball, anything you desire

Now all you need to do, is pop them between the pages of your book

The little wooden head pops up above the top of the book and the thonging is inserted between the pages

These make a great gift for teachers, family and friends

Enjoy your weekend, I may just relax on the lounge and finish reading this book.

Judy

Pine cone Gnomes

Last Monday night we continued on with the pine cone crafts and made some really cute gnomes.

Firstly using the Better Homes & Garden site as inspiration - we made three different sized hanging gnomes.

1. Largest

2. Middle

3. Smallest

Each one different from the next.

Our next little gnome was inspired from "We Bloom Here" instructions.  Admittedly our pine cones were much larger, but the progress was the same.   This one is so sweet.

Such a simple craft with great results.  The pine cone was not flat enough to stand alone, so I glued an old bolt to the bottom, now nice and sturdy.

We still have some pine cones left, so there may be some more crafts coming in the next few weeks.

Are you Christmas crafting, what are you making?

Judy

What a Hoot!

Last night I got together with a couple of friends and we decided to make the owls that were featured in the current Better Homes & Gardens magazine.  Well sorta!  We had to bring our own twist on it, and compromise on materials, but I LOVED how they turned out.

Mine -

Lorraine -

Sue -

We used an old pine cone for the body and made a wool pom pom for the head.  Eyes and beak were cut from felt and glued on, with a small black bead for the pupil.

We broke apart another old pine cone, different colour, and used these pieces for the eyebrows and wings.  We glued the wing pieces onto another piece of felt, so that it added some dimension.

Grapevine wire was used for the feet, which you can see best in the last photo.

I was really pleased with how these all turned out, something different.

We are meeting again next week, and have more ideas for the pine cones, so that will be interesting.

My owl has taken up residence on the window pelmet, and looks great perched up high, looking down.  Could not get a photo of him up there, but take my word for it.

Until next time

Judy

Banana Dolphins

My niece and I made some Banana Dolphins for a mid morning "healthy" snack.  Well they would have been healthy if we had not put ice cream on the bottom of the dish

Half a banana and grapes, yummy.  Only a photo of one we made, as the others left the table very quickly.  This idea was found on the internet, but I am not sure of the source.

My family all like fruit, so this was just a new way of presenting it, fun for all ages

Judy

Crafty Afternoon

It has been awhile, since I have posted anything on my blog, apologies.

My nieces and nephew are home for a quick visit this weekend, so of course we had to do some craft.  My craft studio is an absolute shambles, so we sat outside to make some little items.

First on the list was a beaded dragonfly, using the instructions from "I heart crafty things" - then we made some little Christmas tree ornaments.

The photos are not great, but you can see what the kids made.

Dragonfly and then a cute little Christmas tree ornament with a piece of left over chenille stick.

Two dragonflies, a couple of jingle bell reindeers, and a bottle cap reindeer.  We also tried writing our name on a piece of bark with the glue gun.  I think once painted this will look great.

Dragonfly, jingle bell reindeer, bottle cap reindeer and a stick reindeer.  All very cute.

Quick and easy fun

Until next time

Judy

Rowdy

OK, when you saw the heading did you think I was being "rowdy"?

No,  this is the name of the latest reindeers I have made from a pattern by  Old Road Primitives

The painted faces make them look so cute!  The instructions on how to paint the faces was very easy to follow.

Would you believe that these two reindeer have been stuffed and just waiting to have the faces painted for over 12 months, shame!

Oh well, at least they are finished now, and ready for the "Red Carpet Market Day" which is only 4 weeks away.

Until next time, from your non-rowdy blogger

Judy

Felt Santa and Reindeer

This is the second Lizzie and Co pattern I  have completed this week.  They are so quick and easy, I think that has become my motto for my projects lately. I love getting fast results.

 

Again, made entirely from felt.  I even used felt buttons for his coat front, star on hat, and star on bottom of hat.  I used a "mid brown" felt for the reindeer this time, darker than the previous one and also added a little bit of fake fur between the ears.

Closeup of both the Santa & Reindeer

 

 

The sun is shining today, so I will be out in the garden, it is a pleasant change after all the cold weather.  What are you doing today?

 

Felt, felt buttons, chenille sticks, tiny black buttons (for eyes), rusty bells, and Santa's beard are all available from my online store

Judy

Quirky Reindeer

I LOVE this pattern from Lizzie and Co. - made entirely from felt, it is fun and quirky

You can fill the boot full with nuts or chocolates, it would look fantastic on your Christmas table.

Only 4 pieces of felt are required, 2 for reindeers and 2 for boot, 2 chenille sticks for the antlers, so very economical to make.

Here is a closeup of the bigger reindeer on the left hand side.

Don't you love the look on his face? 

I love Christmas crafting and I have another Lizzie & Company pattern already cut out, this time a reindeer and Santa, again made in felt.

Till then

Judy

Hanging Soldier Ornaments

After stripping some fabric together, these soldier ornaments were quickly completed.

 

Something different to hang on the tree this year

 

The idea for these little soldier ornaments were found on the Creativ Company website.

Agh, I wonder what next?

Judy

Christmas Elf

The Christmas Elf has been finished.  He has his hands full with lots of items that need to be painted?

 

I love the bright colours of his hat and pants, which is offset with the more muted green shade of his shirt.

 

The pattern is available for purchase from my online store - Cat 'n Cart Crafts - see here

I think I will make some small hanging christmas ornaments next

Have a good weekend, and fingers crossed we get the rain that is forecast, we really need it

Judy