Snowman Snowball Christmas Tree Ornament.

Two more hanging ornaments today, made using part of the weird and wonderful potpourri I bought for £1.50 a few weeks back from my favourite Evesham charity shop? 

The snowman snowball used the largest of the seed pods (I wouldn’t mind finding a few more of these to be honest) and the rabbit, the last of the middle sized ones.

I started by giving the pods two coats, inside and out, of a Wilko white emulsion test pot.

When everything was thoroughly dry I  used my electric hobby drill to make a hole for a screw eye hook in the top of the pods.

I then used Hobbycraft white, Superlight Air Drying Clay in the bottom of the shell/pod for the snow.

Adding the bristle brush Christmas tree was a right fiddle fart trying to get it to sit at the right height and angle to fit just behind the snowman so that it showed, but I got there in the end.  The tree was held in place with good dollop of E-7000 just in case the clay shrinks over time.

The snowman came in packs of two from Hobbycraft several years ago now (I bought them in bulk as they were so cute and a really usable size), this one, I see, needs a spot of orange paint to the side of his nose where the original paint has chipped slightly.

The finishing touches came by adding several layers of DecoArt Snow Writer round the edges for added dimension and texture  ……

……… followed by a generous sprinkling of ultra fine, translucent glitter to add the Christmas magic.

The little Victorian rabbit, goodness knows where she came from, was made in exactly the same way ……..

…… again secured with a good measure of E-7000.

Like I said in my last “snowball” post I am now on the charity shop prowl for other tiny, wintery/Christmas figures to put in other similar receptacles as I’ve really loved making these one of a kind pieces.  Happy days

Wooden Reindeer Tags

Christmas Stash Busting ………

I’ve finally used up all the small MDF antlers I found on eBay last year but which didn’t work with the idea I originally had in mind.  I put them together with some small (35mm x 55mm) basic wooden tags (The Works, a couple of years ago now) and 35mm MDF discs also from eBay.

I started by gluing the MDF discs and antlers together using E-7000.

I coloured the face and antlers with two different shades of brown pen on the front and just the darker pen on the back, before giving the front a generous coat of Ranger Glossy Accents.

When everything had dried thoroughly I could then add the face, two googly eyes, a large, red, flat back pearl nose, two ears (Kraft paper) and a fringe (brown paper).  I can’t tell you what a nightmare cutting the ears to the right size and shape was, it took one morning when I had to walk away from them in the end, followed by another morning when I finally got them right! Aghhhhhh

While everything was drying once again, I simply covered the wooden tags with small scraps of gingham paper on both sides.

I used a couple of adhesive foam pads, plus a little E7000 for good measure so that the reindeer head stood slightly proud of the tag before edging the back and front with tiny faux stitching using a black fine liner pen.

The final touches came from some tiny, nail art snowflakes with an equally tiny flat back silver gem in the middle to help fill in some of the empty space and then a small red bow (The Works) under the chins! All that was needed then was a short length of thin, silver cord to tie or hang the tag.

I have never been so glad to get a project finished, the ears, I can’t tell you!

Guest Crafters Iris and Bertie With Their Personalised Shopping Bags

As I often say, Bertie isn’t as keen or free as an artist/crafter as Iris, as he tends to like everything he makes to have a purpose, so when he found that I had some plain cotton shopping bags (Hobbycraft £1.80 each) in my top drawer he and Iris were both away!

Putting a piece of cardboard in each bag to stop any ink bleeding into the back and then holding everything flat and in place with four small pegs they set to work, Iris her usual flamboyant self making a bag for Nanny Marcia and Bertie just keeping things to the point for Auntie Lulu using Zencolor Fabric Markers (Amazon).

Iris also used some adhesive letters as stencils for her wording, while Bert’s preferred to free wheel with his.

Then, Bertie found the iron-on flower patches I also had, well that was it, he was totally enthralled with how the flowers stuck to the back of his bag using an iron ……..

He put them exactly where he wanted them to go while I did the “dangerous” work! 

Once happy with his design, he then added a butterfly and stems and leaves using two shades of green with the pens…….

……. but this is where I failed to take any more photos, we were all so in the moment that having Nanny hovering over the table to get all the right shots wasn’t really on the agenda, however, as there are still more bags to be made and put away for Christmas, hopefully there will be a repeat performance!  Happy Days!

Little Wooden Woodland Fairy Tree Ornaments.

Christmas Stash Busting ……..

This idea follows on from the more traditional peg doll tree ornaments from a week or so ago using the taller ??? cm dolls in the packs that I found in The Range (8 assorted sized dolls for £1).

There were two dolls of this size in each pack that I thought looked more willowy than the others (??) and made me think of tree fairies ……..

…….. so  I started out by seeing if I had any dried acorn caps, foraged last year, that would fit their heads and the of the rest sprang from that.

After varnishing the peg doll heads to stop any ink bleeding into the wood, I gave the bodies one coat of Wilko leaf green emulsion.

…….. and while they dried overnight I coloured the wings (4cm MDF butterflies from eBay) on both sides using a gold chrome effect pen (Amazon), putting a small bail on the reverse and then threading a thin, gold cord through it, before gluing the wings to the fairy as it was a lot less fiddly to do it that way around.

The fairies were then given a rough bob, using a brown Sharpie pen and their acorn hats applied with a good dollop of E-7000 and then simply given two tiny, black, flat back eyes to make life easy.

The fairies were then ready to get their wings, again using E-7000.

I then wanted to give the fairies something to hold, and came up with the idea of using the smaller acorn cups and filling  them with small, red, wooden beads that looked a bit like berries or apples.

I also add a little foliage to the cups, using a few of the autumnal leaf sprinkles I got from The Range), but, this is where I got a little anal, the leaves had a hole at the top which grated on me (????), so I glued over it with a scarp of tissue and when dry, coloured over it with a brown Sharpie ……. I know, I know, but I that hole was the first thing I saw when I looked at the “baskets”!

I sanded what would be the back of the cup ,making a flat surface that would then adhere to the fairies body, putting two small, flesh coloured Das Smart balls either side for hands. 

The fairies were on the very cusp of being finished, with just a a tiny, punched holly sprig and three red, flat back pearls to be added to their ”hats”  …….

…… then I got all fiddle farty and wondered what their “dresses” would look like if I added a few strokes of two shades of green Sharpie pen along the bottom and around the neck ……..

It worked and they suddenly took on a whole new magical forestry/natural look ……

……..and the clusters of three gold dots, well, why not!  Do the wings need a little something down the middle, or is that overkill?

I love them, they are something a bit different  ………

Now, what to do with the smallest of the peg people, I am currently thinking “nativity”, I just need to have a play and see if I can make a simple stable using a small, wooden, picket fence panel for a stable roof? We shall see………