HARRY POTTER AND TWILIGHT INSPIRED

Been working on some new things this last 2 weeks and 2 of those are apple and the sorting hat .I relay enjoyed making the hat and it was a challenge but  I am very pleased with how it came out. Now all I have to do is make more lol.These were turned into ornaments for a Christmas tree and I think they look good with the sparkling lights.Both are made out of clay then I used printed color paper with phrases from the books on them.Ripped the paper then burned the edges.I used Mod  Podge  to glue paper on let dry completely.To hang then I fixed a wire loop on top of each and voila  one of a kind Christmas ornaments!

Remember

Love What You Are Doing

and

Do What You Love

Cotton plant Christmas ornament tutorial .

SNOW BURST

   As   promised here is the tut on making a Christmas ornament out of a cotton plant.This is a easy craft to do but it is very pretty when the lights from the tree hit the glitter.Oh how they sparkle! I live in the south and cotton plants are not hard to find here,but I do not know if you can purchase cotton online .

cotton in the field

Materials
cotton plant ( I got mine from local farmer)

 hot glue gun and glue sticks

glitter ( your choice but I like the fine iridescent glitter)
white craft paint (again your choice)
paintbrushes (not big ones ,use what you need to paint the snow burst)
ribbon(I like all kind but like anything else its what you like)
bowl (to catch the glitter for reuse.just pour back in glitter battle )

image 1

First you need to cut the cotton bulb off the stem. What you want is the husk or open bulb see image 1 . Then you need to remove the cotton from the bulb.This is easy to do just gently pull cotton out. See image 2 and 3.

image 2

image 3

Now take the husk apart by gently moving them back and forth while holding one side

hull broken apart 

drop of glue on torn end

Now using your glue gun place a drop of glue on the end of the hull.This is the end your broke from the other hulls not the pointy tip.Now add another hull to the one with glue on it. Hold a few seconds so it will cool and stay on. You want to alternation the hull position meaning the wider side and the sides with the indention should not always face each other.Neither should they always be facing away from  each other.see the image 4.

put another hull on the tip of the glued one 

hull position  image 4




Now take another hull and place it at the top and one at the bottom,. Making a star figure.see image 5 

image 5

this is the shape you want  for the bass

Now place a hull in center of star ( image 6) and another hull on the other side in the middle  of the star 

image 6

 Now keep adding hulls in between  to form a star burst like shape
See the images below .There is no wrong way to add the hulls .Keep adding
till you get the look that you want.

keep adding hulls

add hulls till you get the shape you want

finishes snow burst

 These are my finished snow burst.Remember each will be different.

Add caption

 Now take your white pant and cover the snow burst completely.This will need to be painted 2 times because the cotton hull soaks up the paint.Make sure to get in all the corners and hiding places .

paint snow burst

While the paint is still wet take your glitter and hold your snow burst over a bowl(to catch the excess glitter.you can reuse this ) Sprinkle glitter all over the snow burst making sure to get all sides and the insides.

 Now after it has completely dried take your ribbon and glue it in one of the hulls in the center of the burst. You can take a small bristle paint brush and paint the glue white if you wish ,being careful not to paint the ribbon where it shows

Ribbon added to dry snow burst 

 That's it! Now you can create an heirloom that you can hand down to your children and so forth.It's using nature to create and repurposed at its best. i enjoyed making these and my best friend already wants to make some for next year christmas gift! Below are some images of them on my tree.See how they sparkle? my camera could not do them justice.I hope you enjoyed this tut and if you have any questions please ask away!

 Remember 
Have fun doing what you love
and 
Love what you are doing!

Cotton plant Christmas ornament tutorial coming soon!

Next post I will show you  how to make this sparkling ornament from a cotton plant! check back soon!

cotton plant

Christmas ornament

Remember 
Have fun doing what you love
and Love what you are doing!

CHRISTMAS DECORATING TUTIORALS

Christmas is a special time of the year and I like to decorate the house in the spirit of the year. Here I will share some simple and cheap things you can do to add some cheer to your home without breaking the bank. And in most cases not cost you a penny (even better!)

By simply taking paper in bright Christmassy color and wrapping it around a pencil or crochet needle you can add a great looking garnish to a simple bowl or figure.

Curlies (as I call them)

materials

scrapbook paper (or any paper that will not tear easy in any color you want)

pencil or chrochet needle (i used different size knitting needles)

scissors

optional 

Christmas movie ( to keep me in the mood)

a basket or bowl( to hold all those curlies you will make )

WARNING!!!

This is a very addictive habit!I am not responsible for any lost persons or pets.Please do this craft responsibly.

Froggy one of my babies

Cut your paper in different sizes (length wise for good curls)

The smaller the width the curlier the curl .

1

Curl one end on to the knitting needle (or whatever you are using) Wrap the strip all the way around then slide it off the needle (figure 1and 2)

2

Take the beginning center and the end and gently pull to get this curl. 

 Don't pull to hard or you will pull the curl out.

 the more you pull the less curl you have.
Now for something extra get a snowflake punch and punch you some snowflakes to add to the curls .see how nice it looks below?

Here I put the curls in my Halloween glass jars and created a center piece for the table by my front door.i placed some old glass balls in the center and put more curls and flakes around. 

3

some tips for keeping those glass balls from rolling .Take one of the Curlies and  pull it .Making it  less curly.See image here (3)

Place the curly on table and set glass ball on top of them and no more rolling ! Something so simple it's scary!!

 Another thing you can do with the glass jars is add balls inside them as you see in this image(5)And the smaller jar has fake sugar fruit that has fallen off of the ornaments my mother in law made for me years ago. I wanted to keep them so I just repurposed them .

5

This is an image of the glass balls and the Curlies with a bowl full of mini clay stockings stuffed with gifts. This is the actual centerpiece I have set up this year.

The stockings and gifts are made from my homemade cp  clay (You can find it here in pdf format http://www.scribd.com/doc/52976927/Cold-Porcelain-Recipe-Instructions-With-Pictures)

I placed them in a bowl arranged them till I was happy and sat them on the table.Added Curlies and there was my finished center display.Am lovin it!

This is a box wrapped with curling ribbon on top.I made this when my first daughter was only 3 (she is 20 now) inside the box is an old music box that the figure it was in had broke I taped (grey tape) the music box inside and slipped the twist knob  through a hole in the side of the box.then taped it closed ,wrapped it .Put a bow on top and there I had a Christmas presant music box.I don;t remember where I got the idea for this but I am sure if you surf you can find more in detail on how to create this box.

next thing I have is a old bell door wreath that has seen better days.as you can see in the images below ,the paint is worn off of some of them.I actually  love the look so I unstrung them from the wires and placed them in a bowl the holly shaped tin I hung in between my stockings on the  fire place .simple and I loved it!

Remember 
Have fun doing what you love
and Love what you are doing!