“Snow Day” Acrylic Bead Christmas Ornaments

Here’s a (certified by Miss SmArty) kid-friendly craft to get you and the kids through one of the upcoming snow days with smiles on your faces and Christmas Cheer in your heart. The endless variety of possible options in shape and complexity make this project suitable for kids of all ages.

These ornaments made using large-hole acrylic beads are quick and easy to make. They can be done in a variety of shapes from simple candy canes and icicles to the bird cage shown above.

Three variations are provided in this tutorial.

Supplies:

• 1 Package acrylic multi-colored faceted beads (with holes large enough to string on chenille “pipe cleaner” stems)
• Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue
• Wire cutters

Plus for:
• Ornament #1
1. 4 chenille stems (pipe cleaners) any color
2. 1 Black chenille stem
3. 1 Small craft bird
4. Heavy duty thread or 2 strands of embroidery floss any color

• Ornament #2 – 4 chenille stems any color


• Ornament #3 – 1 chenille stem any color

Instructions:

Ornament #1 - String 3 chenille stems with beads in desired pattern leaving 1 ¼ inch of stem open on each end.

Gather all 6 ends together to form the top of the ornament. Take one end and wrap it around all the others to secure. Tie heavy thread or 2 strands of embroidery floss around all three layers of beading at the bottom and knot to secure. Place a small dab of glue on the knot.

Place the tied bottom of the ornament in the palm of your hand and slightly push down on the top to open it up forming a ball shape.

To form the hanger, insert the 4th chenille stem through the middle at the top leaving a 3-inch tail on one side. Bring the 3-inch end up close to the gathered ends.

Wrap the long end around all the others …

… until only two pieces are not wrapped.

Squeeze the two visible tails together and form into a hook.

Cut the black chenille stem to fit from one side to the other inside the ball and form the bird’s perch. Glue in place.

Put the little bird into his cage and glue him to the perch so he doesn’t fly away!

Come back tomorrow for acrylic bead ornament variations #2 and 3.

Tags: kids craft, holiday craft, snow day craft project, craft tutorial, Christmas tree ornaments, craft ideas, Christmas craft

I’ve been Elf-ed!

My crafty blogging friend, June Crawford at A Creative Dream elf-ed me the other day. I thought “What a clever way to spread some Christmas cheer” and went right to work on my own elfin gift.

I printed out the darling “You’ve been Elf-ed!” card which June so kindly has posted on her blog for people to copy. Since I’m wintering in a poor area of Mexico, I decided to give my elf-ing a little twist to suit the circumstances.

Not wanting to obligate some poor local to buy a gift for a perfect stranger, I wrote on the back of the card in my best Spanish.

“Congratulations! This Christmas elf hid this little gift for you. The only thing you need to do is give a piece of the candy to someone you love and tell them so. Happy Christmas!”

My Spanish is not the best so I hope the recipient can figure out what I’m trying to say. I didn’t have time to handcraft a gift, so I thought I’d pick up something in the supermarket.

I hoped for a child to find the gift, or perhaps parents who would then have an extra Christmas present for one of their niños. So I selected this cute little plushy guy in the shape of a boot, wearing a Santa hat and filled with chocolates.

After the candy is gone, the child will have a little zipper pouch that can be played with, used as a purse, pencil case or … whatever.

It was by sheer coincidence (and I didn’t even realize it until I looked at these photos!) that my little gift is pretty much the spitting image of the elf on the card. Just look: elfin figure wearing Santa hat stuffed into a boot/stocking with candy. How cool is that?!

I left for church Sunday a little early so I would have time to hide the gift somewhere in plain sight. Do you realize how hard that is to do? After some thought, I decided to set it outside this little neighborhood “mini-super” grocery store.

I put it on the ground beside a telephone pole sporting an overflowing garbage can on the opposite side. If the garbage men came before someone found it, they might try to pick it up but surely would recognize that it wasn’t garbage.

Casual passers-by would walk past without a second glance, thinking it was some garbage that had fallen out of the can or been left by someone who had pretty bad aim.

It kind of blends in with the paper scraps, rocks and weeds in the gutter. Until you look closer …

When I came back from church an hour later, my little elf-ing was already gone, but the garbage hadn’t been picked up. Yes! I hope it brought smiles to some faces and now has a good home.

If you want to join in the joy, go to A Creative Dream, where June is still recruiting elves. The world needs more reasons to smile.

¡Feliz Navidad!

Tags: Christmas spirit, elf-ed, random acts of kindness, Christmas elf, give anonymously, make someone smile, Feliz Navidad

Wrapping Paper Floral Foam Trees Directions

[Find the list of materials in Friday’s post.]

Cover the tree with one thick coat of Mod Podge. This will make for a smoother surface. Let dry. In the meantime, use the paper punch to cut out about 100 circles from the wrapping paper.

[Tip: Using wrapping paper with a lot of background color and a small amount of detail comes out really cute. Just cut out more of the background and some of the detail and use the detailed circles sporadically around the tree.]

Starting at the bottom of the tree, decoupage overlapping circles all around. You don’t need to worry about spacing them evenly around the tree as this will not change the appearance when done.

Continue doing layers of the circles around the tree starting each new row between two circles in the row below. You do not want to have any of the cone showing; so overlapping as you build up and around will cover it nicely.

When you get to the top, the last row will have some overhang. Decoupage the overhanging pieces together and let dry. When dry, fold the excess paper down over the top.

Coat the entire tree one more time with a coat of Mod Podge. When dry, use a glue gun (or Tacky Glue) to glue the strung beading in a spiral starting from the top of the tree. You could also drape swags of beading as you would a garland on a tree.

Glue a wood ball on top. The 1-inch ball goes on the 9-inch cone and the smaller ones on the smaller cones.

Paint two coats of silver paint on each ball. Paint a second coat and immediately sprinkle on the white glitter while the paint is still wet. Glue strung beading around the bottom of each ball.

Glue the trim to the bottom of each tree. To add sparkle to the trim you can add glitter accents with Elmer’s Glue-All and some blue glitter.

Tags: kids craft, holiday craft, , décor crafts, Christmas tree mantlepiece, craft ideas, craft tutorial, winter-theme craft

Artsy Bloggers Roundup

Christmas and Winter Crafts
Cathie Filian
Whip up a vintage style wreath for the holidays!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
Die cut, stamped and shrunk deer Christmas necklace made with inspiration from the book Beyond the Bead.

The Artful Crafter
Just look at the darling ornaments you can make from mini clay flower pots!

Aileen's Musings
Aileen's found a great use for those left over cards you have! Check out her Recycled Christmas Card project.

The Impatient Crafter
It's Project #2 from Madge's Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration! Perky Pixie Ornament!

Fabric and Fiber Crafts
Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style
Another project from the past--a quick and easy baby quilt.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy is thrilled about a new set of bamboo crochet hooks she finally purchased from an Etsy seller.

Cross Stitch at About.com
Having a hard time finding time to stitch during the holiday season? Read Connie's time-saving tips and share your own.

The Crafting Life and Free Stuff
About Family Crafts
Do you make your own Christmas cards? If you do, please take a moment and share your designs and then browse through the pictures of other peoples' creations.

Craftside – A Behind-the-Scenes Peek at a Crafty World
The 19 Days of Holiday Goodness Giveaways is week 2, leave your answer to the day's question and you are entered to win a free book and while you're there check out how to make pockets from coffee filters, crochet a 4 color spiral, some cool fashion insights, a whole bunch of recycled clothing ideas and a bit of architecture.

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi is giving away a copy of Chain Style by Jane Dickerson! Come leave a comment and you'll be entered for the drawing.

Tags: art blogs, craft blogs, Christmas craft ideas, craft tips, beading projects, craft tutorials, fabric crafts, holiday decor, craft ideas, holiday paper crafts

Saturday Craft Link Love Swap

::: Craft ::: Link ::: Love :::

On Saturdays, a group of my crafting friends and I are gathering up our best links to share with each other. The idea is to send our readers to other crafters and artists whose work we admire.

So join in the fun and make the rounds. And if you see something you like, please leave some love (comments) behind – especially on links which don’t have much yet. We all could use a little love :-D

::: Craft ::: Link ::: Love :::

This week we have free stuff for the winning and holiday crafts mixed with a bit of seed beading fun. Plus some holiday inspiration. Clues: It is better to give than to receive; and A child shall lead them. Enjoy!

Creative Dreamer
Creative Dreamer is issuing a dare to help spread random acts of holiday cheer. ... Come see what it is. ... I dare ya ...

Gadabout Media DIY
Make a cute little snowman softy using a vintage knitter, knitting loom or even a spool knitter.

Hankering for Yarn
Last weekend, Noreen met the most amazing child who dazzled her with her insight and wisdom ...

Beading Arts
Cyndi is giving away a copy of Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith! Come leave a comment and you'll be entered for the drawing.

The Artful Crafter
A bead spinner is not required, but certainly recommended, to make a beautiful seed bead Christmas tree like this one created by Shaaron.

Tags: art blogs, craft blogs, craft ideas, craft inspiration, patterns, craft tutorials, fiber crafts, weaving, craft ideas, craft magazine

Floral Foam Cones put Old Wrapping Paper to Good Use in a Kid-friendly Craft Project

Here’s a pretty holiday craft project to do with the kids. If you’re like me, you have lots of old wrapping paper scraps that could be put to good use.

Avoid one of those “oh no – now what?!” snow days by laying in the other supplies before the storm. Then surprise the kids with some creative fun on your “found day” together!

Depending on your/their choice of wrapping paper, these decorative trees would be suitable for Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa or just plain winter.

Supplies:

• Oasis floral foam cones (the green type – not white Styrofoam) – examples are two 6-inch and one 9-inch green oasis cones. If you buy the pointed ones cut off about ¾” to make a flat area before you decoupage them.
• Wrapping paper – your choice of design and color
• 1-inch circle paper punch
• Two ¾-inch wood balls
• One 1-inch wood ball
• 1 yard of silver plastic strung beads – or other color of your choice
• ½ yard of decorative white trim
• Hot glue gun – or Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue for the kid-friendly version
• Ceramcoat Metallic Silver acrylic paint
• Paint brush
• Mod Podge Decoupage Medium
• Iridescent white glitter
• Blue (or color of your choice) glitter – optional for the trim
• Elmer’s Glue-All – optional

Come back Monday for the directions.

Tags: kids craft, holiday craft, snow day craft project, décor crafts, Christmas tree mantlepiece, craft ideas, craft tutorial, winter-theme craft

Artist Profile – Vicki Holdwick

[Continued from yesterday .]

Is there a tool or material that you can't imagine living without?

Word Girl

Photoshop, Perfect Paper Adhesive, Pitt Art Pens.

What inspires you to create?

The challenge to go beyond where I ever thought I could in my personal development. I think I have always been a person who loves a challenge. When I went to college in my mid-30s I chose to major in math and science because I knew they would be difficult and I wouldn't be tempted to goof off.

Sing

I've always wished I could draw and remember quite well when my children would ask me to draw for them. The most vivid memory is of a day they asked me to draw a cow. I took a piece of paper and drew an animal with a head, a tail and four legs. They were happy and went on their way. A few minutes later they returned and asked me to draw them a horse. I drew an animal with a head, four legs, a tail and a mane. They both looked at me with the strangest look on their faces and said in unison, "That's not a horse, that’s a cow."

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?

Art Rage

Push away the voice that tells you that you are not an artist, that you are not good enough. Find pleasure in what you do and do it for yourself. If it makes you happy, that is all that matters.

What takes up the majority of your time besides your art?

Reading and working crossword puzzles.

See more of Vicki’s work and get to know her better at Faint Heart Art.

Tags: artist profile, mixed media artist Vicki Holdwick, Photoshop art, word art, collage art, art training, creative process, digital art