Christmas Spool

Old Spool - Grandma's sewing basket (haha) Michael's
Assorted Christmas Paper - Green Tangerine
Holly - Hobby Lobby
Crayola Air Dry Clay - Hobby Lobby
Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) - Hobby Lobby or Michael's
Beads - Michael's
Martha Stewart Clear Coarse Glitter - Michael's
Mod Podge - Hobby Lobby
Copper Colored Wire 18 Gauge - Hobby Lobby
"J O Y" and other individual Stamp Letters - Michael's or just print up on computer
Tea Bag Dying - Dollar Store

Step 1: Cut out paper. I used 3 different holiday papers. Cut one strip for each spool(1.5" x 4" and trim to fit). Trace the top of the spool and cut out a top and bottom piece of paper for each spool.
Step 2: Using the Distress Ink, antique the outer edge of the spool as well as the top. Antique all sides of the paper as well. Once dry, using Mod Podge, apply the paper to the spools. DO NOT put a circul on the bottom of the spool yet. (To keep this looking vintage, I DID NOT Mod Podge on the top of the paper. That would make it too shiny)
Step 3: Create your hooks. I drew out my hook design on a piece of paper and then set the copper colored wire on it and formed it to my drawing. (4" , 5", &5.5" tall AFTER making the hook shape)
Step 4: Assemble your beads into fun combos. I used a Finding (it is in the jewelry section and it looks like a very skinny, long, tiny nail). Twist the top of the finding through the loop on the hook and then around itself to hold in place.
Step 5: Stick clay into the bottom of the spool. This will hold your wire hook in place.
Step 6: Flatten the clay to make flush with the bottom of the spool. Next Mod Podge a paper circle to the bottom to hold the clay in place. Poke a hole in the top paper of the spool and slide the hook into the clay. Once it is in DO NOT TOUCH IT - too much moving of the hook will loosen its hold on the clay and your hook will be wobbly. Set aside for the day to dry.
Step 7: Make a "J O Y" sign (or any other saying) by stamping letters onto a piece of card stock cut into a long rectangle and let dry for a bit, then apply tea to age the paper. Once dry, if desired, apply a small amount of Mod Podge and Martha Stewart Clear Coarse Glitter to the sign. Fold rectangle in half and glue around Hook stem.

Ornaments

Crystal Button Star Ornaments

Wooden Lazier Cut Stars (4 in a pack) - Michael's - Optional....make stars from Chipboard

Tea Bag Dying - Dollar Store

Vintage Buttons - Antique Trove

Martha Stewart Clear Coarse Glitter - Michael's

Lace 1 yard - Hobby Lobby

Crystals - Michael's or Hobby Lobby

Mod Podge - Hobby Lobby

Silver Wire (floral section) - Michael's

Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) - Hobby Lobby

"J O Y" and other individual Stamp Letters - Michael's or just print up on computer

Holiday Scrap Book Paper - Green Tangerine or Hobby Lobby Step 1: Trace stars onto Holiday scrap paper of choice. Step 2: Mod Podge paper to stars, trim the excess paper off and antique with distress ink. Let dry a few minutes and then cover with Mod Podge for a clean gloss finish. Optional.....Paint the back of the stars a dark brown to match the distress ink.

Step 3: Drill a hole at the top of the star and at the base. Because the stars are so thin, place the star on a block of wood and then drill the hole. This will keep the star from breaking or splitting. Step 4: Stamp the letters onto white card stock and let the ink dry a bit and then tea stain the paper. Let dry and then cut out letters into individual little squares. Don't make every square the same. Variation is good. Edge each letter square with distress ink.

Step 5: Cut lace into pieces and hot glue to star. Once all the lace is glued down, hot glue the letters. Step 6: Using a Clear Gloss spay, coat the star and quickly sprinkle Martha Stewart Clear Coarse Glitter on star. Set aside to dry. Step 7: Using about 8" of wire, thread through the top hole of the star and thread the button. Step 8: Wrap the wire around itself under the button. It does not need to be pretty, the more loopy big, the better. Step 9: Above the button make a loop and start to twist the wire. Cut more wire and again, sloppily twist the wire down to the button. Step 10: Attach the crystal to the bottom of the star and hang on the tree. Clear Music Ornament Balls

Clear Ornament Balls - Wal Mart or Michael's
Music Paper - Hobby Lobby, Thrift Stores, or Graphics Fairy
Tea Bag Dying - Dollar Store
Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) - Hobby Lobby or Michael's

Step 1: Cut music into strips and tear the ends. Make the strips different lengths and if desired, a few different widths.

Step 2: Tea Stain the BACK of the music paper so that it isn't so dang bright white. Set a side to dry or if you are in a hurry, place on a baking sheet and put in the oven at 250 for a few minutes.

Step 3: Once dry, antique the front and back of paper with the distress ink. Step 4: Now you are ready to twist and shove the paper into the ornament. Just twist with your fingers into a spiral and thread it into the top of the ball and it just stays all twisted inside! I used the sponge brush to manipulate the paper inside. This ornament was so quick and simple to make. I just used tule to hand it from the tree.

Holiday Craft Table

Crystal Button Star Ornaments Blog - 11/28/2011
Clear Music Ornament Balls Blog - 11/28/2011


This Teach the Children Box is full of the symbols of Christmas with a story that explains the meaning and importance of each symbol.
Christmas Spools Blog - 11/30/2011
Fun Shadow Box Ideas filled with fun holiday objects. Try bells, bottle brush trees, snowflakes, or ornaments. Shadow Boxes can be found at any craft store. The best place to find vinyl is at iasign.com
Fun vintage Santa ornaments that could also be used for gift tags (measures 1 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
This was our quirky creation for this season. Hand made and hand painted Snowman adorn with unique antique holiday decorations. No two are alike.
The candles were such a treat! They are the fake ones from Sams Club. One of them has antique sheet music Mod Podged on with a hint of Martha Stewart Clear Coarse Glitter. The other candle has sheet music printed onto tissue paper and then melted on to the candle using a blow dryer. Who would have thought! Love it Gayle!
More Christmas Spools, but not as vintage looking as the Holly ones. (My future kitchen will be a Winter Wonderland theme with bright colors) Winter Wonderland Tree and Santa Blog - 12/4/2011
Holiday Book Boards Blog - 12/2/2011
Every body at the craft class tea stained a book. Gayle took it to the next level by finding a great Father Christmas picture, sheet music, and fresh greens from her yard.
We also had fun decorating paper mache boxes with cute Holiday pictures from the Graphics Fairy. Gayle shared a great tradition of her family. Each person gets 3 presents: a want, a need, and a treasure. Each present was decorated so cute and she made everyone special tags with an inital onit. Gift Tags Blog - 12/9/2011
The big hit of the table was the Santa Key. These are for the families that don't have fireplaces. On Christmas Eve the children get to put this special key on their front door so that Santa can come in. We also made some fun Christmas Stars. There are 3 different glittered stars: red, gold, and silver. Each one has a different Santa and they are perched on a floral frog atop a small candlestick.
"Frosty" and "Let it Snow" ornaments were from the creative mind of Maureen. They are made out of paint stur sticks, antiqued, and then the fun words were Mod Podged on. Finish it off with unique hangers from Hobby Lobby.
Feather Wreath Blog - 12/7/2011
Simple idea, so many ways to decorate. And no hot glue needed!!!!! You could just take everything off after Christmas and get it ready for Spring.
Our brains are still going 100 and the tables are filled with crafting supplies. Hope you got some fun ideas for your home this season!

Holiday Treats Blog - 12/11/2011

Christmas Craft Class

It has been a year now since Linda and I started our crafting class and I must say we have come a long way. It has been such a fun year trying to figure out how to smoothly run our joyous crafting time! I think we are finally finding what works best. There was such a great turn out for our Christmas class and a lot of ladies participated in "Bring and Brag" (great holiday ideas). Crafting is of course all about sharing and feeding off one another (in a positive way). For this class we offered the three Santas, a Birthday board (don't know why I don't have a picture), learned to antique books, etched Pyrex pans, and learned to make chocolate dipped spoons.

Linda, Gayle, and I also set up a table with other holiday do-it-yourself decoration ideas. (close ups will be posted in a few days). It was such a busy month leading up to this, but it was so much fun to see the looks on all the lady's faces and to hear their excitement as they saw the display for the first time.

Pyrex dish fun!

Our super little crafter!

Making chocolate dipped spoons, then covering them with crushed pepermint. These spoons are to go in your Chistmas hot coco. So yummy! and quite simple.

Every once in a while Gayle would do a "commercial" where she would share a great idea, as well as other ladies. It is so funny to hear the collective "oh wows" when a brilliant idea is let loose.

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Behind the Santa Strawberry hats are fun gift ideas to give to neighbors or the ladies you visit teach. There is a big jug of cider with a Santa picture on front with a spice bag attached to the ribbon. The Strock ladies brought mason jars filled with chocolate covered cookies, it was so colorful and fun! There were also cute ideas with quotes: Whisks filled with chocolate kisses with a tag saying "we whisk you a merry kissmas".
Recipes for Christmas goodies will be posted later in the month of December