what kind of crafts do you make ??

[bethene]

what kind of crafts does every one make, if any?? I make old fashioned Santa's, angel tree toppers, and different kinds of ornaments, , the ribbon pine cone ones, paint on glass ones, some time plaster of paris ones, and I take large pine cones and decorate with small greenery, flowers, birds, etc. They actually are cuter than they sound. I'd love to here what every one does, maybe share how to make them,

[Mummy deer-est]

I already showed the cards I make on another thread...I also make decorations to put on my gifts. Most times, I take an ornatment -- glass ball, wood, or metal -- and add to it so that it is a personalized gift tag. Always seems a big hit. I also hope to make some blankets this year. And a simple popcorn or chain garland, or both. And dime store games. And what ever comes to my head!

[EnlightenedGrinch]

I like to make the large "Light Balls" out of the clear plastic cups glued together. Then a string of mini lights illuminates the whole thing from the inside.
I'll post some pics soon.

[Sickie Ickie]

I love the idea of the clear light balls. My wife and I are experimenting making ornaments out of hot glue.

[Mistress Muffy]

I make wreaths, real ones out of evergreen branches that I cut. I also going picking berries & pinecones and add those to my wreaths. I also make yards & yards of fresh garland for the outside of my house.

Inside I have done swags that go around a large mirror we have in the foyer
here is the one I made for Halloween:
http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL530/4335553/13497682/287259880.jpg

Will post a picture of the Xmas ones as soon as I get them up.

Mistress Muffy

[bethene]

What a cool halloween swag, I love wreaths made out of real materials, I can't wait to see pictures of you christmas wreaths and swags!

[Mummy deer-est]

I would love to know how to make real swags.....
:D

[lyssa-anne]

I also make real wreaths and swags, ornaments, tomato cage w/evergreen trees, i like to make decorations for the gifts, last year I made a couple xmas towel cakes (they were a hit) and a good idea for a twist on the gift baskets - they turned out great! I like to make unique gifts for people every year, this yr I was thinking of making fleece blankets (the no-sew ones -they are tied) just for those little extra gifts - you never know when you need them. I usually make little favors and centerpieces for xmas dinner.

[Santa's Little Helper]

Last year I made knitted angels that used a 2 liter pop bottle as their base/form. They turned out really cute. I think I made 5 of them. This year I'm planning on snowmen made from paper mache and made to look like they are antique.

[Mummy deer-est]

lyssa-anne....those are the kind of blankets I hope to make too. Do you have instructions, or are you gonna wing it?

[bethene]

I make the blankets also, and picked up a free instruction sheet at my fabric store, so here goes, I asked about how much and seeing as I am making a throw, not a bed blanket, they told be 2 yds of each color, 2 1/2 if for a very tall person. Place wrong sides together, neatly cut off selveges. Cut out a 4" square out of each corner, while the two pieces are together, cut 4" long fringe, about 1"wide, all the way around(continuing to keep the 2 pieces together back to back)Tie each piece of fringe to form a double knot. Continue until all the fringe has been knotted.And thats it! Of course, as a bed blanket, you'd need more fabric, you could ask at the Fabric store to find out for sure how much.

[Mummy deer-est]

Sounds relatively straight forward -- are you going w/ christmas colors? I was thinking of adding cut outs of my familys hands and saying (maybe) "from our hearts and hands."

[bethene]

No, not christmas colors, more for all year. Although I would like a Christmas one for me at some point. I haven't found all the material yet, except for my sons girl friend. She is a tiny, girly girl type. I found a beautiful print, white with a reddish pink, and baby girl pink rosebuds. And am using the baby girl pink for the back. It really is beautiful.. I have to find one yet that seems like something my son and daughter would like. I also am mak ng one for my daughter's dog, he loves to snuggle in blankets, as he gets cold so easy, . I will make it with paw prints on it or something.

[bethene]

That's a great idea, with the hand prints on it. If you make it, post a pic!

[Mummy deer-est]

I like your dog one too! Okay, time for a trip to the fabric store! :D

[Sickie Ickie]

They are super easy to make. They look nice and if you use flannel/fleece, extremely comfy. :)

[Secret Santa]

My christmas "thing" is making and painting wooden christmas tree and wall decorations, door hangers, etc. Some are the pre-made wooden ornaments that craft stores sell, others are my design. I also used to make christmas crackers as they were not much available here in the states, but this year they seem to be in some of the stores, so I may just go for ready made ones this year (I am running low on the snaps that you put in the crackers). This year though I am hoping to do some yard decorations .. would love to do a 6 foot gingerbread house :)

[Sickie Ickie]

I'd love to see a how-to on crackers.

[Secret Santa]

Here is a link that has an excellent how to on cracker making :D http://www.oldenglishcrackers.com/make-your-own-crackers.htm

[Mummy deer-est]

I've never used one of those, but saw them in my grocery store -- what is the deal with the "cracker snaps"?

[Secret Santa]

Crackers are pulled to open them. You would normally have someone pull it with you. On pulling the cracker it will tear in two and the addition of the cracker snap makes it so that you get a loud(ish) snap when its pulled.

The contents of the Crackers normally contain : Paper Hat, joke or motto, and a small gift. The cheaper ones in the UK (retailing up to $10) would contain a plastic toy... and as the price increases the gifts inside get better quality. Harrods of London do a box of 8 crackers which retail for 100 pounds (GBP) - or $200 ... which include A photo frame, a luggage tag and a cigar cutter amongst the gifts inside :D

[Sickie Ickie]

What neat information! Thanks! :)

[Mummy deer-est]

That sounds like a neat way to introduce other traditions to my girls....will do it if I don't forget! I'll post a pic if I do! thanks.

[Thecandyman]

I'd love to see some pics. of the lighted plastic cup/ball mentioned earlier.
I gave that a try a few times awhile back and it did'nt quite turn into a ball shape. lol
As for me, I do Nut Cracker figures from clay pots glued together.
They look more like soldiers though. But I call them Nut Crackers.
Just the name seems to fit them.:)

[Mummy deer-est]

Speaking of pics....show us your nut crackers! um...i mean...uh, you know what I mean! :o

[Thecandyman]

Speaking of pics....show us your nut crackers! um...i mean...uh, you know what I mean! :o

lol, Surrrrrre I do. Just let me learn the in's... I mean out's. of the new forum 1st. O.K.
And I'll find some pics of those bad boyz to post for you.

Also, my gf doe's some nice wreath work on her side too, so I think she would be very happy if I brought her deco's to the table also.
They are really fab!;)

[Mummy deer-est]

Ok...I'll try to be patient. :)

[Sickie Ickie]

I wanna see, I wanna see! :)

[Brightside]

Pic's, pic's....Doin't forget to post to the decorations and homade props threads.

[Thecandyman]

Pic's, pic's....Doin't forget to post to the decorations and homade props threads.

I'm marching on over there right now.
;)

[HollyDaze]

I always make my own cards and gift tags. This year I'm all about ornaments and indoor decor. And lots and lots and lots of edibles for gift-giving and parties.

[lyssa-anne]

Mummy deer-est - sorry about not answering your question (I had to get a new modem for my computer so I havent been on for a few days)..but I see your question was answered, which is good. I was planning on making some of the blankets in christmas patterns, but the fabric store that I go to, doesn't sell much in the lines of christmas print in the fleece. But I did noticed that Oriental trading (or fun express if you have a resale tax permit)
has christmas fleece blanets to make in the craft section. (the fabric is already precut you just have to tie them, but they are small size blankets)

[putrid]

Cool thread Bethene.

I do a lot of things with cardboard cones as a base. So much so that I ended up making solid cones out of plaster of paris to use as armatures. Helped to make the cardboard cones smoother. Will be digging all this stuff out soon. Hopefully over the weekend. I'll posts some pics or set up a small web site and give a link.

I've also tried some experiments with toilet paper roles. Trying for a antique candy container look. I'll take some shots of what I've done even though there not finished.

Made a pinecone tree. Finished it up yesterday. I made it so I could reuse the styrofoam cone. ( ya'll know me, it's got to be cheap! LOL)

I've also made a fake feather tree and base. Use it to display antique ornaments, strands of antique beads and the paper and tinsel ones I made. ( the REAL victorian look. not that lacy underwear looking stuff LOL)

I've also hand carved some folk art ornaments. Basically sticks with bit of carving and colored with water colors. I can no longer safely hold onto a knife but do have a Dremal set ( still in the box from last Christmas ) that I hope to be using soon.

Looks like I need to get busy!

[Mr. Parker]

If I've ever made something crafty for Christmas, it's always been an ornament, however, this year I'd like to try some other things. My wife and I love the 'country-esque' type of decor - lots of Earthy colors/tones, wood, natural materials - if there's a Santa Clause figure/decoration in our house, he'd look like a normal fat guy dressed in winter clothes, etc, etc.

I could really care less for the clashy, tacky stuff. I like simple, clean - but not modern, decor. I may try to make some tins or metal decorations. I bought a 2ft sled in North Carolina last year made of metal and wood that I really liked. I want to utilize that and maybe have a small 'theme' of items - skis, snow shoes, etc out of wood and metal.

[putrid]

as promist I threw togeather a simple site and took a few pics.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jazzfusion/

more to come...

[Mistress Muffy]

Oh nice looking stuff Putrid....are gonna add it to the projects section & teach us how to make those........love those cornacopia's!

Muf

[putrid]

Cornacopia!??? So that's how to spell it. LOL Thanks for the compliment Mistress Muffy. I'll add a how to ASAP on the projects section for ya. And hope to get added to the Monster list of Christmas crafts folks on the forum are putting together as well. Well as soon as I get a real web site up with all the how-to's.

[Sickie Ickie]

All you have to do is submit them after you have your how-to and finished pic. I'd love to add them. :)

[putrid]

I'll need to make a permanent site so the links I give you will be there. The site i have now is just a small free bee from Earthlink. Like my Halloween sites. Those sites always exceed there limits. Usually about half the month of Sep. and most of Oct. If I gave you links to a site like that it would be a pain in the backside for ya. You'd get emails for dead links or people thinking your site has faults and is unreliable. Not something you need as a start up. ( Really sounds like i have a big head thinking my site would be that popular. LOL But to be honest I didn't think I'd get up to 900 hits a day on the Halloween sites either. )

[bethene]

Great crafts Putrid! Can't wait to see the how to's on everything. I love antique ornaments. I have a few that were my mom's. I would love to see yours!

[Mummy deer-est]

That looks great, putrid! I love how those toilet paper ones are coming along -- would love to see it done. Great stuff!

[Sickie Ickie]

Great stuff is for other props. :p

[Mummy deer-est]

Oh, did I get turned around again?!
sorry....
:)

[Sickie Ickie]

LOL yes, look north instead of south.

[Mummy deer-est]

no wonder I was burning up...

[putrid]

Thanks for the compliments folks! Great Stuff? I love the stuff! Wonder what I could make for Christmas with the stuff...........

Got more pics to the site today. Took a few of the fake feather tree. Some of the tinsel and scrap ornaments. Major malfunction with the main tree ( poll broke ) but I took a few pics of it anyway. And a couple on the other stuff page. Sorry no Great Stuff on the other stuff page. LOL

[Ice Princess]

Good job Putrid!!!!

I will start making my Christmas cards to be sent out and I am going to attempt to paint ornaments to give out to friends and co-workers. My sister-in-law had a class on one-stroke painting so I'm gonna give it a shot.

[CandyCane]

Wow putrid! I love all your crafts.

[bethene]

Ice Princess- I havve painted ornaments for gifts too. I have some one stroke painting books, but have never taken a class- I have always thought about it- but have never gotten around to it. Would love to see pictrues of both you cars and ornaments!

[Sickie Ickie]

Good job Putrid!!!!

I will start making my Christmas cards to be sent out and I am going to attempt to paint ornaments to give out to friends and co-workers. My sister-in-law had a class on one-stroke painting so I'm gonna give it a shot.


Takes me back to when I was interning downtown for my two masters in working with the blind. Another intern used puff paint and put braille on ornaments she passed out that said, "Merry Christmas" A bit awkward to read, but the sentiment was there and well appreciated.