Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself…
~Norman Wesley Brooks, “Let Every Day Be Christmas,” 1976

I was inspired by a little wall hanging at work made from felt and sequins.

It looks a lot like mine, but longer with more sequins and curly crocheted candy canes.

I’ve been looking at it for 5 years now thinking about how much I wanted to make one for a friend.

I finally did.

I had some friends over the other night and needed something festive for my table.  Of course, all I had to do was look to Pinterest for holiday inspiration and I found what I needed.

The tree (I used a paper bag) didn’t get made until the next morning because I ran out of time.  But I had the candle and painted table runner.

I also made these amazing Spices White Wine Sangrias…TO-DIE-FOR!!!  And I made this roasted veggie dish too.

It was a great time.

Click HERE to see winners for Indygo Junction Patterns.

All I have to say is…

it was a glittery blizzard over here

and I LOVE them.

Happy Friday!!

Today, a little paper clay play.

Tomorrow, some paint and a whole lotta glitter.

]]> http://blog.creativekismet.com/2011/12/15/paper-clay-ornaments-part-1/feed/ 1 http://blog.creativekismet.com/2011/12/07/snow-globe-ornaments/ http://blog.creativekismet.com/2011/12/07/snow-globe-ornaments/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:26:34 +0000 Creative Kismet http://blog.creativekismet.com/?p=5392 Continue reading →]]>

I’ve been seeing the cutest little snow globes all over the web and thought I’d try my hand at it.  I wanted to make them as gifts for a few of my friends at work.

It was so much more frustrating that I thought it would be, mostly because of the glue and the jars I picked. Once I got it all figured out, I thought that they turned out very sweet.

My first problem was the jars.  They are from the wedding dept at the craft store and they have sides–front, back and one slanted side. This made it difficult to properly place the little figurines. I had to fix several because they weren’t looking out the ‘front’ window. They are small enough to make into ornaments, which is why I bought them.  Those mini jelly jars would have been better, but where do you get those?

Then there was the glue.  At first I had tried E-6000.  Only one stayed glued together in the water, and it was the one that I put together right away without allowing the glue to set overnight.  Who knew? Should have been impatient with all of them!

I then moved on to Gorilla glue and 2 part epoxy.  Both worked well, but the gorilla glue foams up so you can only use a very small amount. The foam doesn’t bother me much, it looks like snow! All of the glues stink and they gave me a pretty good headache.  Ventilation is key!! I’ve also seen that aquarium glue works well too.

I glued the figurines (mini ornaments) onto glass stones, which helped them to be more visible in the globe, versus being so deep into the lid.  The problem with this, is holding the figurines on the stones until the glue sets enough for them to stand alone.  VERY time consuming.

Once I got the glue figured out, everything came together very easily.  You can find instructions HERE and HERE.  Basically you need distilled water, glycerine and glitter.  Once the jars are all filled, then the lids need to be glued on.  I glued painted wood discs and buttons to the tops. Some have strings to hang, the others can just sit on a shelf. They are still a little on the heavy side, but would hang nicely on a strong branch.

I was inspired by my cup of coffee today.

Yes, I am back on the coffee wagon.

It’s December and it’s cold, demanding a hot cup of coffee, right?

And it’s a Peppermint Cafe Mocha.

How could I resist that!

1 spoon full cocoa powder or syrup mixed with agave nectar (or sweetener of choice) and a splash of hot coffee and mix thoroughly.

Add your coffee and creamer.  Stir.

Add 1-2 peppermint candies ( I LOVE Bob’s Sweet Stripes) and stir until dissolved.

It’s really good without the cocoa too!

Enjoy!

“Winter Barn“

The Christmas tree is up, lights twinkling and garlands hung.  It has also been really cold around here, inspiring me to make wintery art.

Hope you had a beautiful Sunday!

p.s.  Thanks for all the great feedback on my craft fair table.  I knew I could count on you for some good advise!

Whoa!  Can you believe it is December 1st already?  When did that happen? I didn’t realize it was approaching us so quickly until late Tuesday night.  Then I remembered that I needed to get started on an advent calendar, so that is what I did until about 1130 last night.

I can’t find the advent calendar that I made two years ago AND I had tons of tp rolls that I thought I’d use up.  I cut a bunch of tp rolls in half and wrapped them in holiday scrapbook paper. Then I wrapped the  ends with tissue paper so the boys could poke their fingers in to grab the little paper inside.

This will be there “activity” advent calender. It’s filled with things we will be doing this month, like:

*getting the Christmas tree
*decorating the house
*making hot chocolate
*finding little gifts hidden in the house
*making play dough, ornaments, paper snowflakes, origami things, and treats for the birds
*watching holiday movies
*reading holiday books
*going to Butterfly Magic at the botanical garden
*baking cookies
*going to see the Christmas lights.
*coupons for staying up late and extra computer time
*plus lots of opportunities to give to others.

It will be so much fun! This is one of my favorite things about December!

Happy December Everyone!!

“Winter”

I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I’m thinking about doing a small craft fair in December and have been tossing around ideas in my head on what to make.  I thought I’d do some holiday art and ornaments. Not sure. But I spent the day playing with my paints and a few different ideas.

These three Santas will be small wall hangings. They’re not done yet.  They still need a bit more paint, i think, and some wire for hanging.

I think it will be Santa’s workshop around here for a while.