Tutorial: Beaded Ornament Hooks

I'm super excited about this Beaded Ornament Hook tutorial!!  They're functional and gorgeous too, not to mention super quick and easy to make!!

Step 1: GATHER SUPPLIES

8"+ length of 20g wire

Round & needle nose pliers

Assorted beads

Bic or Sharpie marker

Step 2: FORM HOOK

At one end of your wire make a loop with your round nose pliers.

Wrap the wire around the marker's cap once.

Bend the wire downward as shown above.

Step 3: ADD BEADS

Add approximately 1" of beads.

Step 4: FORM BOTTOM SPIRAL

 Bend the wire at a 90-degree angle.

 Wrap the wire around the marker cap 2 or more times.

Using your round nose pliers form into a spiral.

Trim off any excess wire.

FINISHED!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Tutorial: Block Print Burlap Ornaments

This tutorial is going to show you how to make these really neat Block Print Burlap Ornaments!!  I love the block printing technique in this project and will be using it a lot more now that I've learned how to do it!!  Enjoy...

Step 1: GATHER SUPPLIES

Tracing paper

Craft foam

Acrylic paint

Burlap

Fabric

Wood slats or sticks

1/8" Ribbon

Glue

Pencil

Scissors

Step 2: MAKE STAMP

Trace Image

Print an image from your computer.

Heavily trace the image onto tracing paper with your pencil.

Transfer Image

Place the traced image face down on the craft foam.

Hold in place and rub over the image with your finger tip to transfer it to the foam

Cut out Stamp

Carefully cut out your image.

Step 4: STAMP ON BURLAP

Stick Foam on Block

Attach your cut out foam shape to an acrylic block, piece of wood, or other "block".

Add Paint

Coat the foam with a heavy coat of acrylic paint.

Stamp on Burlap

Stamp image onto burlap.

Step 5: MAKE FRAME

Cut Wood Pieces

Cut wooden slats or sticks into 3"-4" pieces.

Paint Wood Pieces

If using wooden slats, you'll need to paint them a dark, natural shade of brown.

Make Frame

Glue wood pieces into a square frame shape.

Step 7: ATTACH FABRIC & BURLAP

Cut out Fabric

Trace frame onto fabric.

Cut out.

Attach Burlap to Fabric

Glue burlap image onto fabric.

Attach Fabric to Frame

Glue the edges of the fabric to the frame.

Step 8: ADD HANGER

Glue a ribbon loop to the top as a hanger.

FINISHED!!

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I just wanted to include a little note today to apologize for my absence.  I've been dealing with a flare up of my medical conditions and haven't been on the computer hardly at all.  Obviously there is no way I can make up the tutorials by today, but I'll post as many Christmas craft project tutorials as possible before Christmas!!  I have a couple more almost ready right now.  Thanks for understanding and for sticking around anyway!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Tutorial: Quick Christmas Tassel

This Christmas Tassel takes just a matter of minutes to make!!  Plus, there are so many variations you could come up with, just by using different materials!!

Step 1: GATHER SUPPLIES

- Fabric

- Ribbon

- Hemp/jute cord

- Cheesecloth

- Wire

- Scissors

Step 2: TEAR FABRIC

Cut

Cut 1/2" notches into your fabric 1" apart.

Tear

Rip the fabric into 7"-8" long strips.

Fray edges.

Repeat with 2-3 other coordinating fabrics.

Step 3: CUT OTHER MATERIALS

Cut 7"-8" pieces of coordinating ribbon, hemp, jute, etc.

Note: I also added in strips of cheesecloth and it worked out well!

Step 4: LAY OUT STRIPS

Cut a 6"-7" length of 1/8" ribbon and lay it flat on your work surface.

Neatly lay all of your strips in the opposite direction with the right sides facing up.

Step 5: TIE HANGER

Tie a knot in the single ribbon as shown above.

Step 6: WRAP TASSEL

Fold

Fold your strips around the knot in the ribbon with the right sides facing out.

Temp Knot

Tie a temporary knot about 2" below the fold with a piece of scrap material.

Wrap Wire

Wrap your wire very tightly around the strips just below the fold.

Tuck the end of your wire down behind the rest of the wire and clip.

FINISHED!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Tutorial: Puzzle Piece Ornaments

This quick tutorial will show you how to use pieces from a 1000-piece puzzle to make adorable little Christmas ornaments!

Step 1: GATHER SUPPLIES

- Grey-board (cereal box cardboard)

- Glue

- Pieces from a 1000-piece puzzle

- White Gesso or other primer.

- Acrylic paints

- Glitter glue

- 1/8" ribbon

- Sponge paint brush

Step 2: MAKE BASE

Cut a rough Christmas Tree shape out of grey-board.

Step 3: ADD PUZZLE PIECES

Glue down your first layer of puzzle pieces and allow to dry completely.

Paint the puzzle pieces and the base with Gesso.

Note: I used a sponge brush and stippled the Gesso onto the tree to give it some texture.

Repeat this process until you're happy with the appearance of your tree.

Note: I had a total of 3 layers on my tree.

Paint a final coat of Gesso over the entire tree.

Step 4: PAINT

Paint the tree green and the trunk brown.

Add a thick layer of matching glitter glue.

Step 5: ADD HANGER

Glue a ribbon hanger to the back of the ornament.

FINISHED!!

SNOWFLAKE VERSION

For this snowflake version, I glued 3 puzzle pieces evenly spaced from one another onto a grey-board circle.

On top, I added another 3 puzzle pieces centered between them, which formed the perfect snowflake!

I painted the snowflake with Gesso and added glitter glue.

Then I attached the ribbon hanger and was finished!! 

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...

A Personal Note & Fact Friday

A Personal Note

For those that are checking in each day for the new Christmas craft tutorial during the "marathon", I'm sure you noticed that I missed yesterday.  I promise to make it up before the end of the Christmas Craft Marathon and will continue posting the daily tutorials today.  However, I want to explain why I missed yesterday.

I have a myriad of medical conditions that cause me to be legally disabled.  When these conditions flare up, it can cause all kind of problems for me, from pain to exhaustion, and all kinds of strange symptoms too.  For the past 3-4 days, I've been dealing with severe exhaustion, but I think I'm finally coming around.

Things like this can happen at anytime and I have no control over it.  I just really appreciate everyone understanding my situation.  

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Grand Re-Launch & Giveaway Fact Friday

Here’s this week’s new information about the Grand Re-Launch & Giveaway... 

1. New Blog Feature: One of the new post schedule items coming next year is my annual ”Birthday Bash”, where I’ll celebrate my birthday with an extended linky party and other various ways throughout the month of August!

2. Extra Entry Option: Feature me, my blog, or one of my projects on your blog and then you'll need to use the super easy Rafflecopter gadget I post to claim your 2 entries in the contest. There will be one other way to gain 2 entries announced next week. 

3. Prizes: There will be multiple items included in each prize package!!  These items will include a few handmade (by me) items and a bunch craft supplies from a wide range of craft genres!!  How fun is that?!?  The list of contents for each prize package is coming soon!!

The next “Grand Re-Launch Fact Friday” will be December 9th so be sure to check back then for more details!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...