Homemade Handmade Whimsical Christmas Tree Ornaments!

Being I'm on a shoestring budget, I'm going to make my Christmas tree ornaments this year. So, I decide to go with a whimsical look. I am making whimsical Christmas tree ornaments using whatever I have in my craft stash, along with other things.

I use chipboard from cereal boxes, frozen foods, etc... to make the whimsical ornaments. I glue the Christmas pattern paper to the front and back of each ornament. The glue, once dry, helps make the ornaments more sturdy.

I Google images for whimsical Christmas tree ornaments, whimsical tree ornaments and whimsical Christmas presents. I freehand the images on the chipboard and then trace on the pattern paper. I will decorate with ribbons, sequins, glitter, glitter glue, buttons, etc...

It's a little time consuming but I know in the end it will be worth it. I will post pics of my finished tree but in the meantime, here's some pics of what I've done so far.

Whimsical Ornament Christmas Templates

and here's pics of my tree before decorating!

Thanks for reading and HAPPY CRAFTING!!!

XOXOXO Dawn

Altered CD Swap...

Being I'm a member of the Facebook group, Girls, Giggles, Glitter, and Glue, I occasionally participate in swaps. I signed up for the altered CD swap.

I had a hard time trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I searched Pinterest and decided to do a monochromatic altered CD in pink because that was the only preference my swap partner requested. My swap partner wanted it pink and to be pretty.

However, I didn't go that route because once I started, I had a light bulb  moment and my monochromatic idea went out the window. As you see in the pictures, I went a completely different route.

Although, I got the pink...The pretty? Well, let's just hope my swap partner likes it. :) I did spend a lot of time working on it. I always give my best work as I expect the same in return. By looking at her work, I know I won't be disappointed. She does gorgeous crafts.

I also made a card that coordinates with the CD. I used flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. I altered two white boxes with matching paper from the DCWV paper collection, Vintage Collector. I cut strips of matching 12x12 paper and made crinkle paper for the boxes. I used all different kinds of things from my stash. I put a magnet on the back of the CD.

I'm sending it out later today so I'm hoping my swap partner will not see my blog until she receives her box. I had a lot of fun with this swap and maybe this will inspire you to make an altered CD.

Thanks so much for reading my blog. Happy Crafting!

XOXOXO

Dawn

Hurricane Vase Centerpiece Ideas...

My project for today is an altered  hurricane vase I can use for the next three major holidays. I wanted something I could use for my table centerpiece by just switching out a few elements and be able to use it for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I scowled the Internet looking for hurricane vase ideas, hurricane vase centerpieces, and hurricane vase decoration ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

So, I brushed on white glue diluted with water on the all sides of the hurricane vase. I then sprinkle gold glitter all over it. I sprayed hairspray on the vase to help set the glitter.

For the center of the vase, I used pine cones I already have in my stash. I used plain ones and the ones glittered in gold and silver.

So, for the diy Halloween vase I wrapped black lace around the vase and made bow in front. I attached two small purple ornaments to the bow. I then place a few purple ornaments on top of the pine cones. I used glue dots to attach the bats to the vase. Viola, you have a gold glitter Halloween hurricane vase for your table centerpiece.

For Thanksgiving, I wrapped a 1 inch orange ribbon around the vase and knotted it in the front. I then made a bow with some brown silk wire ribbon. I took a vintage orange flower brooch and pinned it to the bow. I used thick double sided tape to attach the bow to the knot on the vase. Viola, you now have a gold glitter Thanksgiving hurricane vase for your table centerpiece.

Finally, for Christmas, I wanted some glamorous. I wanted something in red and gold. So, I took a set of red and gold beads and wrapped around the vase in an angle. Attached it to the vase with double sided tape. On top I put some large jingle bells in red and gold. I attached a bouquet sprig of pine cones and red berries in the beads. Attached a K & Company Christmas Tag with red ribbon and dangled it from the beads. Viola, finally you have a gold glitter Christmas hurricane vase for your table centerpiece.

You have what I call a 3 in 1 holiday vase. By switching out a few elements, you can make decorating for the holidays easy peasy. It doesn't have to be complicated, nor perfect. Just have fun and remember Bob Ross's famous saying "there's no mistakes just happy accidents".

XOXOXO

Dawn

Halloween DIY Paper Bag Cards...

I'm still going strong working on my Halloween projects. I still got a lot of stuff I want to complete by October 31. Halloween is my favorite holiday and try and go all out every year.

So, I found two packs of Halloween bags from a yard sale for 0.50$ each. The two packs are the same but the 12 bags each have different designs. I knew as soon as spotted them, I was going to make Halloween diy paper bag cards. It's not a new idea but it's something I wanted to do for Halloween. They appear to have come from one of my favorite stores, The Dollar Tree. Yay!!!

They're really easy and inexpensive to make for Halloween which is totally my cup of tea. Most of the papers and embellishments came from online and the rest from my craft stash.

The papers and embellishments I use are "Spookalicious" by Mye De Leon and Design by Dani, "It's Scary Complete Kit". Also, I use printables from cutedaisy.com, halegrafx.com, and printabelle.com.
Along with sequins, glitter glue, black ink, washi tape and my diy washi tape (here's the link http://impossiblecreations.blogspot.com/2016/09/diy-washi-tape.html) to decorate, I use glue, double sided tape and dimensional tape to bind it together.

The inserts in the front pockets are some of the cut outs from the online printables and the designer paper either folded or just a single sheet. I inked the edges. They can be used for photos, journaling or both. I used color pencils on the Frankenstein.

I'm only showing four completed Halloween diy paper bag cards. I'm showing group pic, front and insert of each card, the back of each card and the ones I haven't finished.

Hope this inspires you to make paper bag cards for Halloween, if not maybe for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Have a blessed day!

XOXOXO Dawn

Diy Halloween Keyboard and Laptop For Sab's Spooky Space Challenge

Another one of my Sab's Spooky Space challenge decorating ideas was to decorate my laptop for Halloween. I scoured the internet for ideas. I saw washi tape ideas and certain apps you can download on your phone to decorate the keys on the keyboard but nothing that spiked my interest.

So, I decided to go another route. I Googled an image of my keyboard and saved it to my computer. I opened it in Paint and enlarged it to the size of my keyboard. I painted the keys in orange, green, purple and black. I then labeled the keys. All this too approximately three hours to complete.

Then I spent an hour and a half fussy cutting the keys and inking all the edges in black to cover up any imperfections in my cutting. I spent another hour taping the images to the keys.

After which I spent another two or three hours fussy cutting Halloween embellishments, trimming papers, inking edges of the embellishments and papers in black ink. I glitter glued some of the embellishments and taped rhinestones around the mouse area. I also included some owl stickers which I had in my stash.

The embellishments I used are from Design by Dani the Its Scary complete kit which you can find at http://www.snapclicksupply.com/its-scary-complete-kit/. I also used some embellishments from Cute Daisy which you can find at cutedaisy.com. The papers I used can be found at  http://halegrafx.com. The owl stickers are EK Success and the some of the candy corn embellishments are K & Company. I used a couple of googly eyes, Tim Holtz glitter glue and rhinestones.

Finally, I have my laptop all "TRICKED OUT" for Halloween. I just love it. It's really "Halloweenie!" Also, nothing is permanent. It's taped so it will clean up easy after the holidays. Here's the pics.

I hope this project inspires you to craft something if not for the holidays, anything is fine. Crafting is relaxing. Remember to just have fun with it. There's no right or wrong. My letters on my keyboard are not cut to perfection but they're cut to perfection for me and that's all that matters.

So I wish you "Happy Crafting!"

XOXOXO

Eek! My October Calendar Layout...

I just love October and everything that comes along with this time of the year. Today I enjoyed Watching Sandra Lee's Halloween specials old and new episodes. I also purchased (Yay!) a Design by Dani Halloween digital paper collection which is what I use in my October calendar layout.

The paper collection is called "It's Scary"and it's the complete kit. Can be found here, http://www.snapclicksupply.com/its-scary-complete-kit/.  I love it being it's affordable and it includes papers and the embellishments and easy to resize in Microsoft Word.

Along with using the paper from the collection, I also used the embellishments, Tim Holtz glitter glue in Xmas Red, Clear Rock Candy, Gold, and Lime Green. I also inked around the edges of the embellishments with Tim Holtz Black Soot.

Here's some pics.

As I have a Brothers printer, I printed the calendar from the Brother Creative Center which came with the printer because it was just easier for me.

I had fun creating my October calendar layout. Hope you try something new today.

Happy Crafting!

XOXOXO

Mischief and Mayhem! Day 2 of Countdown to Halloween...

Lol! Almost successful in finishing day 2 of countdown to Halloween project but not quite. There's mischief and mayhem abound in our household. I, being grandma, thought it a great idea that we all make bat hands. It's simple and quick. I print, cut out the pieces and all that's left is to glue them together and trace our hands so we can glue them on for the bat wings.

I downloaded a few of the countdown to Halloween activities and found one that's perfect for a 20 month old and a three year old. It's called "handprint bat craft." I found it at http://www.dltk-kids.com/p.asp?p=http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/phandprintbat.asp. You can either print in color or black and write and comes with printed instructions. I printed the ones in color and cut them out ahead of time. I inked the edges with Tim Holtz Black Soot.

Here's a pic of the bat pieces.

However, that didn't go as smooth as I had envisioned. I put some Halloween music on from the Pandora app to get us in the mood. Had us all sitting at the table but Avah, my granddaughter, had other plans. She kept getting up and trying to take every ones bat pieces and trying to get the glue. Tray, my grandson, kept wanting to mess with the glue.

After a few minutes of trying to round them up, we were able to get Avah's and Tray's bats glued together except the hands. Well, almost, because Tray decided to get up and try and flush his bat feet down the toilet because he said coming out of the bathroom wiping his hands together, "Now, my bat doesn't have any feet, there." So comical but I was a little flustered because I wanted everything to be perfect but that was so unrealistic. I know, I know, I know...

Finally, we round them up again and I was able to help Tray trace his hands and his mama and I got ours done. Avah, not so because by that time Tray didn't want to participate anymore. He took his blue Playdoh and rubbed it on my bat in the glue and Avah just couldn't sit still.

We knew it was time to call a halt to all the activities. But here's the pics of our bats.

Tray's bat with no feet!

Avah's bat with no feet or wings!

Ashley's bat!

My bat with blue playdoh!

 So what came to be, of a perfect envisioned countdown to Halloween project, a not perfect but memorable, one of a kind, family time well spent and I know we'll look back on this and laugh. Life isn't perfect, things don't always go as plan and that's what makes life's moments so wonderful and great.

So today I learn there's no mistakes in crafting, just "Happy Accidents." as Bob Ross calls them.

Happy Crafting!

XOXOXO