I love making paper snowflakes. I grew up making the kind where you fold paper, cut out different shapes along the edges and then unfold it to reveal a unique and beautiful snowflake creation. This year, I learned a new way to make a giant paper snowflake using paper lunch bags! The first one I tried was with some brown paper lunch bags I had in a a kitchen cabinet. Then I stumbled upon white lunch bags at Walmart, so I tried another using those.

To make the snowflake you need 9 paper lunch bags, a hot glue gun (a glue stick or wet glue might work, but you’d have to let it dry before cutting and unfolding), scissors, a hole punch and some string or ribbon to hang it.

Squeeze glue in a line along bottom edge of lunch bag and the up the center to form a T.

Place a lunch bag on top being careful to have them lined up and the bottom folded edge facing the same way. Continue making a glue T and placing a bag on top until you have a stack of 9 lunch bags glued together.

Draw shapes along both side edges that you want to cut out. I stayed above the area where the bottom of the bag folded up for the brown one, and tried cutting shapes all the way down the sides for the white one.

Once all the shapes are cut out, pull the two outside layers around to open the snowflake and glue them together.

 

You can then punch a hole in it, loop some string or ribbon through, and hang it up!

Every year I make my own cards to send to family and friends during the holidays. This year, I spent Christmas with my mom in Florida and didn’t have access to all my craft supplies, so I had to improvise. I dug through the old toy drawers in “the kids’ room” where my children slept every time we came down to visit when they were growing up. Amongst the legos and puzzles and Polly Pocket dolls, I found some craft supplies. There was an old Crayola watercolor paint set, drawing paper, crayons, Sharpie markers, glue sticks, and several coloring books. I knew I could use some of these things to create something! I was also able to dig up some card stock in my mom’s desk and an old paper grocery bag in the recycle bin. I was all set.

Now I just needed an idea. After some thought, I remembered something I had seen on Instagram…a woman painted these cute snow globes, and I decided they would make cute cards! I gathered all my supplies and went to work.

 

First, I traced a small funnel to create the snow globe circle shape, and traced along one side to create an arc that I could turn into the snow globe base.

Next, I painted the circles with water and then went over them with the blue color in the Crayola paint set. While they dried, I painted wide red arc shapes that would become the bases.

Once the blue dried, I used green to create a pine tree on one side of each circle. I went over them several times with the different greens in the paint set to add detail.

Now for the snowmen. It took many layers of white watercolor paint to get them to stand out. Because I was using watercolors, there was a cool effect where the snowmen got a watery blue shadow around them. Since the snowmen were supposed to be in snow globes, I kind of like it. It was also fun because no two were the same.

Once the snowmen were dry, I used the orange and red paints along with a Sharpie to decorate each snowman with eyes, nose, buttons and a scarf.

To finish them off, I decided to spatter the white paint over each circle to look like the snow in the snow globe. Slight problem…the white water color paint didn’t really show up and only made little water spots that didn’t look at all like snow. I dug through drawers again hoping for white craft paint, but no luck. Determined to be resourceful, I continued searching until I came upon a bottle of White Out. I needed to add water to it to make it a bit thinner, but it worked perfectly.

I let everything dry and then I cut out all the circles and bases. I decided to glue them onto rectangles cut out of the brown paper bag. Finally, I glued them onto pieces of card stock folded in half.

Voila…perfect holiday thank you cards!

I decided to learn a new craft…needle felting. It’s where you take plain un-spun wool and poke it with these special needles to form it into a shape. The needles are VERY sharp and have fine, little barbs on them that catch and basically tangle up the wool fibers. The more you poke the needle into the pile of wool, the tighter the fibers get tangled together and a dense, firm shape takes form. You can layer different color wool, merge different shaped pieces into one, add eyes and other features and lots of different things to create whatever you want.

The tools you need are the special felting needles, a foam block to lay the wool on while you are poking it with the needles, different color wool fibers, and finger protectors. The finger protectors are little finger covers made out of leather which prevent the needles from poking your skin. This happens a lot and it hurts! Other things like beads, wood sticks, jewelry or keychain fittings can be used to create your vision.

Since I had never done this before, I bought a kit that had all the basic tools, wool AND instructions for my first project. It was a little animal holding a present, and I turned it into an ornament for our Christmas tree.

Next, I decided to make up my own animal, and chose to make little birds. I gathered some different color wool fibers, needles, my foam block, and my finger covers. First, I balled up some green fibers and began poking to tangle and tighten them up into the shape of a bird.

Once I had a nice solid green body, I poked some white wool fibers into the front for the belly. I decided to add a little red for its throat.

Next, I poked a small bit of yellow wool fibers into a triangle for it’s beak and poked the edge of the beak into the bird’s body. And finally, I added two black pushpins for its eyes.

Last, I needed to make a stand. I decided to use a piece of bamboo skewer and a small wood disc I had. I poked a hole in the bird’s body and pushed it onto the skewer. Then I drilled a small hole in the wood disc and glued the other end of the skewer into it. Ta da!

I thought my little green bird needed a friend, so I made a little blue bird to keep it company!

Growing up in a house with dogs was something I did, my children did and my son Jack’s wife did. Our dogs are not just pets, they are members of the family and are included in most everything we do. MOST everything. Jack and Mackenzie got there first puppy during the COVID lockdown and named him Mowgli.

Mowgli is a part of most everything they do, including hiking and camping. Because he is a member of the family, they really wanted him to be a part of their wedding, but weren’t sure how. He’s a bit nervous around new people and tends to bark and carry on in a way that would not really work at a wedding. Mackenzie saw a picture of a wedding cake with a dog statue on it and wondered if there was a way to find a statue that looked like Mowgli. That’s where I came in!

First, I looked online for a dog statue that was about the size and shape of Mowgli, and that had an expression or posture that reminded me of him. I decided a Dalmation was the closest and found one on Ebay that seemed to fit him perfectly.

Next, I needed to gather lots of pictures of the real Mowgli. Some were easy to get and others more difficult as he was a moving target.

Statue, pictures, pencils, paint and brushes ready, I set to work. First, I coated the whole statue in white paint. then, I sketched on his face markings with pencil, trying to get it to match as best I could.

I then began to paint on spots and markings. I checked and double checked the photos constantly to get everything just right! When the paint was dry, I sprayed the statue with a clear sealer to protect it from cake icing and handling. I was really happy with the way he turned out.

I made a simple two-tiered cake for the wedding and the florist helped me decorate it with flowers. The final touch was adding Mowgli to the top. Jack and Mackenzie were thrilled that Mowgli was able to be a part of their wedding after all!

I’m big into handwritten thank you notes. Growing up, my mom was always making us sit down and write thank you notes to family and friends who gave us gifts or did extra special things for us. To help make it feel more fun and special, she would let me create my own cards on which to write my notes. I followed in her footsteps and encouraged my kids to always write personal notes to people after Christmas and other holidays. In this new digital age, it was also a great way to teach them how to organize a letter and address an envelope! And I often modeled this for them by writing my own notes, often making my own cards to do so just like when I was a kid.

To this day, I enjoy creating cards to send. This winter, I decided to use a snowflake theme for my holiday thank you cards. So one day over winter break, I dug out some blank notecards and gathered old grocery paper bags, white printer paper, scissors, glue, white paint with little brush, glitter and spray acrylic sealer.

First, I used the technique we have been using in class to fold paper squares and cut out sections to make unique snowflakes.

I cut rectangles out of the brown paper bags that were a little smaller than the notecards. I glued them onto blank notecards and then glued one or two snowflakes onto the brown paper.

After leaving them pressed under a couple heavy books to keep flat, I laid them outside and used the paint brush to lightly splatter them white paint. I then sprinkled them with a little bit of glitter before lightly spraying with the clear acrylic spray.

Once dry, they were ready for my handwritten notes to family and friends for all the wonderful surprises they sent my way over the holidays!

 

Inspired by my fall gnome, I decided to make some holiday gnomes for Christmas!

First, I made two large ones similar to my fall gnome to sit outside our house. I took two tomato cages and wrapped them with lighted garland. I then sewed to hats using 20″ square pieces of fleece in holiday colors and positioned those over the top. I made two noses using sections of old stockings stuffed with batting and tied them onto the garland at the edge of the hats.

All I needed next was a couple extension cords to get them set up outside!

Next, I thought I’d bring some gnomes inside. To make them, I needed some old fuzzy socks, an old athletic sock, rice, faux fur, rubber bands, scissors, blush and a glue gun.

First, I cut the top half off of the athletic sock and filled it with rice. Folding it over the rim of a cup helped get the rice in more neatly.

Once I had it the size I wanted, I closed the top of the sock using a rubber band. This would be the gnome’s body. I then cut the top off of an old fuzzy sock and slipped the foot piece over the gnome’s body so he’d have clothes.

I gave him a nose by pinching some of the rice into a section of the white sock near the top and securing it with another rubber band. I brushed on a little blush to give it some color.

I then cut a different fuzzy sock in half (I chose a festive looking one) and stuffed it with scraps from the athletic sock to make it stand up a bit and slipped it over the top of the body to become his hat. I balled up the toe and secured it with a rubber band so it would look like a pom pom at the tip of the hat.

Next, I cut a beard shape from a rectangle piece of faux fur and used my glue gun to secure it onto the body and up under his nose.

I pulled and twisted some sections of the fur to make it look like a mustache and ta da…cute holiday gnome!

 

I saw the instructions to make this little guy somewhere a while ago, and decided I needed to try it for my front porch for Halloween. To make him, you need a tomato cage, fake fall leaf vines (I used 12 6′ vines), additional fall leaf stems (local craft stores were sold out so I didn’t use them), pipe cleaners or floral wire cut in 2 inch lengths, fabric and decorations or ribbons for the hat,  an old pair of stockings and some fiberfill for the nose, and a hot glue gun.

First, I bent the three tips of the tomato cage together. This will support the point of the hat. Next, I wrapped the leaf vines around the bottom 2/3 of the cage (the hat will cover the top), securing it to the cage with pieces of pipe cleaner/wire. The 12 vines I had covered it pretty well, but I wish I had been able to find leaf stems to fill it in more so it looked fuller. Oh well!

Next, I went to work on the hat. I cut a 20″x 20″ piece from some green polartec material I had. I folded it in half diagonally and sewed up the side (you could also use a hot glue gun for this). I cut the bottom edge in a curved shape and then turned it right-side out.

I added some burlap ribbon and a wooden pumpkin stem I had for decoration.

I then made his nose by stuffing a section of the stockings with the fiberfill and secured it with a rubber band. I attached it to the tomato cage with a piece of pipe cleaner/wire. I put the hat over the top of the cage and arranged it down over the top leaves and up over the nose.

I moved him to our front porch where he’s ready to greet visitors or watch any passers-by!

Happy fall and Happy Halloween!

This is one from my days at camp. I went to a summer camp in Maine for 9 weeks every summer from age 10 to age 18 when I became a counselor. My favorite activities were swimming, sailing, canoeing, campcraft (camping and outdoor skills), and of course crafts. When I wasn’t swimming, sailing, or hiking, I was in the art hut making all sorts of things. Friendship bracelets, painted rocks, clay pots, and god’s eyes were some of my favorites.

Basically, a god’s eye is just sticks with yarn wrapped around them. But by using different sticks and different color yarn, you could create all different sizes and patterns. They were fun to hang from our bunks, in the windows, and one year we even decorated a tree with them for Christmas in July!

First, you need two sticks of equal length. Popsicle sticks, small branches or even strips of heavy cardboard will work.

You will need some kind of glue to hold them together. I like using a hot glue gun because it “dries” fast and holds well.

Lastly, you will need yarn.

 

Once you glue the sticks together, it’s time to wrap and wrap and wrap with yarn. Once you get the technique down, it’s easy. You cross the yarn over TWO sticks and then wrap behind the second stick. Cross over TWO sticks and wrap behind the second stick. Don’t wrap over the top of previous rounds, but lay the yarn next to the previous one. Your wrapping pattern will grow in a square shape toward the ends of the sticks. Then you’ll cut the yarn, tie it off in a loop, and you’re done! Click on the link to watch my video to get the idea.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10ehhM_bvgLjfQ7Z86OuJMYHwk7Udm5tH/view?usp=sharing

 

This is an oldie, but a goodie! I made these a LONG time ago when my boys were little, and we had a blast. We watched them sprout and grow grass hair for days and days. When it got really long, the boys played barber shop and trimmed it short, only to watch it grow long again. They sat on our window sill for weeks and weeks until their decorations began to fall off and their “hair” began to turn brown. It was a sad day when we had to throw them out, but since they are easy to make, we just made more!

I decided to round up some supplies and make some of my own while stuck at home. Here is what I came up with (I got a little carried away).

I can’t wait for them to start growing their “hair”! Watch my how-to video if you want to make a grass head of your own. If you do, be sure to take a picture and share it. I’d love to see your creations!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yhz09XAjqY3huEUFDEQIWEvtfA9d2BNl/view?usp=sharing

I’m trying to think of fun little crafts that are easy to do at home and don’t require lots of fancy, unusual materials. One craft that I loved to do as a kid was make pom moms! My mom is an incredible knitter, so we always had tons of leftover yarn laying about. When I was about 9, she showed me how to make a pom pom (she was making a set of golf club covers for my uncle that had big pom poms on top – kind of like a winter snow hat for a golf club 😆). It was easy and fun and I went on a pom pom making frenzy. My brother and I made up games catching  them, hiding them, throwing them at each other… you name it. Because they’re so soft and light, we didn’t get hurt and rarely damaged anything.

So now that we are all stuck at home, I thought maybe I’d pass on a little of my pom pom making knowledge. Here you go…