Upcycled Christmas Card Ornaments

Instead of throwing away all those glittery Christmas cards you have sitting pretty over the mantle, why not create something beautiful and eco-friendly with them?  I made these pretty sphere ornaments using all the cards I received over Christmas using this cool and easy tutorial I found here.

In the tutorial use your Christmas cards instead of scrapping paper and she has you use a big paper punch but since I don't have one I just traced the bottom of a mug for the bigger one and a tea light candle for the two little ones and just cut them out.  Even if you can't cut perfectly along the lines (I certainly can't) they should still turn out just fine.  If not, say your kid made them!  I also just used the blade of my scissors to score the lines instead of a fancy scoring tool.  You may have seen the Martha Stewart version of this tutorial but Martha doesn't know how to take step by step pictures and being a visually oriented person I found that immensely frustrating.  I also just plain old don't like Martha.  But enough about my opinion, they turned out lovely (and cuter than Martha's)!  Enjoy the tutorial and have fun!

EEK! A Mouse!

Aww isn't he cute?

So I discovered the most disturbing sight when I opened up my cabinet full of corning ware today....  mouse crap EVERYWHERE!  Now I didn't find the actual mouse but the little stowaway has been sneaking into my bottom kitchen cabinets probably from where the plumbing comes in and making himself right at home by raiding my garbage can and leaving what he doesn't like in my baking dishes along with making them into his personal toilet.  How nice.  To top it off Kaylie wants to keep it if she finds it.  Let me think about that... no.  Pet store mouse is one thing, wild dirty mouse who craps everywhere is another!

However I am grateful that I discovered this today and was able to take the time to bleach and wash everything in the cabinets tonight instead of scrambling tomorrow to clean and bake and being late to the in-laws on account of a mouse poop emergency!  Now I know why Zoe has been obsessing with trying to get into that cabinet for the past week.  And does that little mouse ever have a plan in store for him tonight!  The cabinet will be left open so the kitties can go to work and if he does manage to evade certain death (I almost kind of hope he does) there is an empty coffee can with peanut butter in it and a paint stick ramp so he can get in but not out.  Hopefully by morning my house will be mouseless!   

Christmas Crafts

I've been keeping myself busy with DIY crafts for the holidays as you know if you've been following my blog!  I've made stepping stones and painted pine cones with my daughter and these past weeks I've scoured Pintrest for some awesome DIY projects to add to my own boards on my profile!  I also love Etsy's How Tuesday blogs for cool DIY projects as well!  I'd love to do them all but there's only so many hours in the day so I settled on making Ribbon Trees and Pyramid Gift Boxes!  They turned out so cute!

For the trees all you need are ribbon, hot glue, and paper mache or a rigid cone.  I'm having a woodland theme for Christmas this year and green and brown are some of my favorite colors anyway so I chose those colors for my trees.  I experimented with alternating 3/4" ribbon for the taller tree and 1" ribbon for the smaller one.  The only thing not listed in the ribbon tree tutorial (click the link to go see it) I found on how to make them is how to make paper mache which turns out to be super easy. 

Paper Mache Cone:

• All you need are equal parts Elmer's glue and water or equal parts of flour and water and about 2 tablespoons of salt per cup of flour used to keep your flour mache from getting moldy.  
• I made a cone shaped "mold" out of heavy card stock so the paper mache had something to support it while it dried.  Unless you want to reuse your mold there's no need to wrap it in plastic cling wrap.  
• I cut 1/2" wide strips about 5" long or so from a paper grocery bag to dip in the goo and I rubbed the mache on them till they were thoroughly wet on both sides but not dripping.  
• Make sure to overlap when you wrap the cone and no more than 3 layers at a time.  
• Make sure it dries completely before applying any additional layers.  If you use a paper grocery bag 3 layers ought to do you just fine, that's what I did for mine.
• Once dry I painted my cones dark brown to match my ribbon but paint yours to match the color ribbon you'd like.
• Then follow the tutorial for ribbon trees, it's easy!

I really loved how mine turned out!  I'll probably make more next year or to give out as gifts ;)

My next craft project was to make Pyramid Gift Boxes as shown on Etsy's How Tuesday Blog.  The directions are all on the link I just provided and there's also a template to use too.  I enlarged the provided template up on my scanner to the size I needed to be able to fit the painted pine cones Kaylie made to give out as gifts.  I was just going to tie them to gift bags but the pyramid boxes are a much cuter alternative!  You can also use the little boxes to hang on your tree as ornaments too!

Meet the New Set - Moss!

Now that craft shows are over I have more time to get around to listing several new pieces that have been floating around for some time now.  I'm also pretty stoked that my sales in my shop have been picking up for the holidays!  I just shipped out four orders yesterday all over the US!  Yay!

Anyway onward to some fresh pretty things!  I made this beautiful series out of Russian Serpentine, one of my favorite stones.  I love the rich earthy green and the dark matrix running throughout which almost resembles reptilian skin.  The Moss Necklace features an array of textures and shapes with rich and warm copper and the perfect combination of the green Russian serpentine.  I really enjoy completely hand forging jewelry and it's just amazing to me that it came from a bit of wire and stone beads!  The chain features copper links, wrapped bar links and some hammered s-links for added texture.  The pendant has a lovely Russian serpentine bead suspended in the middle of the swirly frame that has been wrapped with little copper seed beads.  The necklace is finished off with a hammered hook and eye clasp.  I really enjoyed making this and I do hope it finds a loving home someday!

Next is the matching Moss Bracelet made with five 14mm Russian serpentine coin beads hugged with little copper coils and joined together with hammered s-links that have been oxidized and polished to give a lovely rustic finish.  The serpentine beads are various shades of light and dark green which gives this piece a little added pop of color.  It closes with a simple hook clasp.  This one was pretty tempting to keep for myself!


Last up are the Moss Earrings.  Lightweight and delicate, the 8mm round beads are capped and wrapped with swirly copper wire for a unique and decorative touch.  These lovely baubles dangle from my very own hand forged French hooks.

Each of these is available separately in my Etsy Shop and I hope they all find happy homes!  Before I forget I also wanted to mention that I will be participating in Free Shipping Day for US customers coming up on December 16th!  Tons and tons of online merchants are participating as well, check it out!  However in addition to free shipping day, I'm offering free first class shipping in the US for this entire month!  No code is needed to get your free shipping either.  Just don't forget the Christmas order deadline for shipping in the US is the 19th!

Lastly, here's two awesome treasuries you can check out!

My Christmas Finds!

Curious little Zoe, isn't she festive with her jingle collar?

Obviously I love handmade, there's no beating around the bush on that issue!  I wanted to share with you two items I recently purchased for Christmas gifts!  There's no worry either that any surprised will be spoiled since these gifts are for ME!  I fully take responsibility for the fact that I am IMPOSSIBLE to shop for so to spare my husband waiting in the long lines at the return counter I usually get my own gifts and tell him he bought them for me.  I use his money after all so it's not entirely untrue, right?  If you're thinking it's no fun that I spoil my own surprises it's not.  Not that I don't like being surprised on Christmas day, I just hem and haw over what I want and it takes me forever to pick out something and regardless I still razor blade the tape on packages to peek just like I did when I was 6 so there's no surprising me anyway :)  Tisk tisk, I know.  My ma was smart when I was little and used to pack the special items in bigger boxes packed tight with bags of rice so I had no way of guessing!  I will remember that when my own little one starts sneaking peeks!

I love the detail!

Anyway this year picking gifts for myself was pretty easy as I already had an idea of what I wanted!  I collect little vintage metal trinket boxes at flea markets and I have them all over the house.  I love them but they all share one flaw, they're small and I can't put much in them other than a few rings or so.  I have a cute piano shaped one on my bedside table that I have crammed full of necklaces that are my favorites and I wear too often to stash in my jewelry chest.  The hinge is a little busted but I still love it, it's just overflowing now!  So I'd seen some super awesome handmade glass jewelry boxes made by Kelly at Galeaz Glass in some treasuries I was also featured in in the past and I quickly bookmarked her shop!  I had this one here custom made just the way I liked and it turned out GORGEOUS!!!  I love the jewel like peridot color and it's soldered with copper foil, YES!  Now I can fit everything I need in it!  She does amazing work and does more than just boxes too.  I may snag one of her sun-catchers for my mom's birthday later on!

Next up I'm getting a new phone at the end of the month when my upgrade is due.  Thank GOD because my BlackBerry drives me CRAZY!  It's falling apart and I can hardly use it anymore!  Knowing that and also knowing that I want a new Droid 3 (I'd actually LOVE the Razr but a bit out of my budget, ok a lot out of my budget) I will need a new case for it as my Golla pouch I have now won't fit.  Instead of settling for some overpriced case I don't really like I thought I'd scour Etsy for that perfect phone case that I can also stash my license and credit cards in when I don't feel like lugging around my purse that somehow now weighs 10 pounds.  Oh wait, I have a kid, THAT'S why!  I wanted to find one with owls or some kind of cute birdie print on it and lone behold I found the PERFECT one for the perfect price!  Is it not SUPER CUTE?  I got this adorable pouch from Mariella at Juici Bags on Etsy!  It's nice and roomy and well padded too.  The cute matching button is actually a velcro closure so your cards are still secure but a cinch to get to.  The little handy clip is great for keys or attaching to your purse so it never gets lost.  As in I won't have to dump out the contents of my purse all over the sales counter to find it when I hear my phone ring or I need to get my Visa!  Ok I'm not quite that disorganized, but you get the picture.  She also makes more than just phone pouches; she makes iPad covers and a slew of iPod cases for various sized models.  All are really cute!

 

I just love all the wonderful things you can find on Etsy without having to wait in line at the stores and you're helping out another crafter every time you buy something!  Can't beat that!  Between Etsy and Amazon, I don't think I've stepped foot in a department store this year for gifts.  Sorry Wal-Mart but I just don't need you!  I hope you all have found wonderful treasures on Etsy as well, support handmade! ;)  As for the rest of my family I've made scrapbooks of Kaylie from Picaboo for the grandparents and I've made my own handmade goodies that I've shown in a past blog post (Kaylie made some too) and custom jewelry to give to friends and family along with cookies, lots and lots and lots of cookies!

Craft Show Success!

Scrabble display, I just LOVED the new oak and hemp trays!

Last Saturday marked my last craft show of this season and I'm so happy it went over well!  I was at the American Legion in Rapid River as part of the Christmas in Rapid River celebration held all throughout the town.  I'm usually mildly skeptical about smaller shows since I've had my share of total busts but this one was just as good as I was told by the other vendors!  I met a lot of great people there along with some familiar faces and although the weather was a bit questionable the turnout was pretty good for there being four craft shows in the same town at the same time!  Maybe I can get that Amazon Kindle Fire I've been drooling over for my birthday next month after all :)  I will for sure be back for the next show in May!

New hemp and leatherette busts

I also was super happy that I got to use my new displays I purchased with funds made at the Eskymo Christmas Craft Show at the Escanaba High School two weekends ago.  They were a little pricey compared to the old displays but they looked awesome and really showed off my jewelry soooo much better!  No longer will I spend forever picking off each and every fuzz stuck to black velvet displays!  That drove me crazy!

Got lots of compliments on my handmade ladies :)

I think for next year I'll do a spring show at the Legion in May and then I'll definitely be back for the Eskymo and Christmas in Rapid River shows again.  I'm still pondering over doing the Waterfront Art Festival in August or not.  The cost is a little steep for my budget not to mention having to rent or purchase a canopy large enough fill up a huge 15'x15' booth.  I do know it's a huge show but we'll see!

For now I'll be busy getting back to the usual grind and cranking out new items to list in my shop, custom orders, and a few new items I had at the shows but haven't listed yet!  Not to mention juggling Christmas dinners and get togethers, fighting people for that perfect ham at the grocery store, and wondering why oh why did I not buy that nice snowblower on clearance last year!  Let the fun begin!

Here's a few awesome treasuries for ya!  Take a peek!