Holiday Crafting: Winter Wonderland Stars

 

I mentioned in this post that I'm doing a Winter Wonderland tree for which I'm making ornaments. These stars were my last (😢sniff) purchase from JoAnn (😢sniff) in their last week. 

Supplies:

• Paper Mache Stars
• White Acrylic Paint (I used Waverly No Prep Paint)
• Embellishments (Creatology Gems)
• Glue (I used Elmers Clear)

I started by painting my stars using a sponge spouncer.

I had these mini snowflake ornaments in my stash, which worked perfectly for my idea. I glued one to each of the stars. 

Now comes the fun part! Grab your glue and your embellishments and let your imagination be your guide! 

I also had these large faceted gems in my stash from RIP JoAnn. Can you tell I'm bitter?! I glued one down in the center of each snowflake ornament. Then I started playing with my Creatology Gems. I started by embellishing the snowflakes then worked my way out and around. 

Getting closer to putting up my tree! 

Holiday Crafting: Winter Wonderland Icy Ornaments

 

When you're in Five Below and you see a tree for $4, and you already have four trees you decorate...of course you buy it! I haven't put it up yet, but the other trees all have dedicated ornaments, and I happened to have a surplus of ornaments from a spontaneous online purchase I didn't read carefully, and ended up with 100 when I misread it as 10. Yeah, I don't know how either. Blaming smudged glasses.

But this tree made me want to do an icy Winter Wonderland theme, so I did!

Supplies:

• Clear Acrylic Ornaments (I think these were from a TEMU moment)
• Seasonal Mini Gingerbread (Michaels)
• Rhinestones and Gems (Rhinestones may have also been from a TEMU moment; Gems, Creatology, Michaels)
• Strong Glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Clear Gel)

These are the things I used. I had these mini-gingerbread pieces from last year, but they have similar this year (they may be the same ones) at Michaels. 

You can find acrylic ornaments like this wherever craft supplies are sold, or online.

These ornaments come with protective covers on both sides to prevent scratching, etc. Peel them off. 

The process is up to you and your imagination. I started by gluing a mini to the center of the acrylic ornament. Then, using Creatology Gems and rhinestones, started placing them around the mini. Doesn't get much simpler than that! 

I had some of these mini snowflakes in my stash, so I used them too! As shown, I added some rhinestones to the minis too. 

Found some of these marquis-shaped gems in my stash. Used them too! 

Or, you can cover the whole surface of your acrylic ornament. This was a happy accident because I goofed on placement and "things took a turn". But we rally and turn a fail to fabulous, right? 

These are four more I made, for a total of eight, which, no, won't be all that go on my tree. Have another set that I did using papier-mache and may have been inspired by Insta to do yet another set. I'll fill in the tree with some glittered white and silver ornaments I picked up at Dollar Tree...stay tuned! 

Sharing At:

Our Hopeful Home

BFF Open House

 

Happy November, Creative Peeps, or as I call it, "Christmas and Hanukkah Prep Month". Especially because Hanukkah comes early in December this year, starting on December 4th. I know many of us are busy in our workshops like busy elves. Self included. We'll start December with another visit to The House of Mouse, which is not only the "happiest place on earth" but the most magical wonderland. 

To prepare, I blinged a pair of my ears from a previous visit! 

Bedazzled Disney Ears 

Before we go full on, it's still the season of thanks and Fall, so let's take a look at some wonderful features from last week's party that fit that theme! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's holiday creations in the coming weeks. My workshop is open! 

Amy's Creative Pursuits shared how to go Beyond The Pumpkin with Fall decorating. If you're not leaping straight into Christmas decor, she's got you covered. 

Petticoat Junktion shared how to transform Reclaimed Wood into Festive Pumpkins! 

Fresh Vintage by Lisa S. shared how to use Turmeric to make Fall Sunprint Cards. Who knew?! What fun to make a set as a gift. 

Finally, Fall into Winter soup season and Walking on Sunshine has a wonderful way to Packge and Share Soup Mix as a gift.

Thanks to everyone who linked up and you know what I'm going to say...can't wait to see what you've been up to this week! 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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'Tis The Season for Holiday Crafting: Bedazzled Disney Ears

 

First, I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloweeekend. Ours was quiet and rainy, but we enjoyed ourselves watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas," which will be what I call my house in a couple of weeks. In recent years, I've broken with my long-held tradition of not putting any Christmas stuff up before Thanksgiving, but when you're a person who loves making and collecting things, time is NOT on your side if you wait, so...

It also speeds up when you have another Disney trip in early December, which we do! I'm sometimes late to try things, but I recently started playing with bedazzling things (OK, I've rediscovered it because I had a Bedazzler in HS...originally introduced as the Ronco Rhinestone and Stud Setter). Yeah, telling my age. Mr. Chocolate and the dog don't stand still very long around me lately. 

I was scrolling Insta and saw a post where someone did their Disney ears and, that was that! Yes, I wear the Minnie ears because when you're at Disneyland, why not?! 

Supplies:

• Disney Ears 
• Rhinestones and/or Rhinestone Kit
• B-7000 or Other Strong Glue 
• Rhinestone Picker

NOTE:

If you buy a kit (I've bought two on Amazon and one at Five Below), they generally come with the glue, picker, and tray you will need. You can also stock up on these separately. 

I got these ears on a previous Disney trip and love them. Mr. Chocolate was freaking out that I was going to "do things to them". But you know us Creatives...more is better! 

Trial and error. You want enough glue that your rhinestones are secure but not too much so it bleeds outside the area you're bedazzling. I like putting dots of glue vs the fill a space method. 

As I mentioned, most of the kits come with everything you need but I did order a separate set of trays so I can use multiple colors. Lightly shaking / tapping them w/the rhinestones in them settles them (mostly) flat side down. Then it's easy to pick them up and place them on your surface using the rhinestone picker tool that comes in the kit, or wax crayons you can also buy separately. 

The fun begins with your imagination and style! Some people bedazzle the whole surface which looks amazing. May do that sometime. For these, I went with accents. And what's Minnie without lashes?! I choose a coordinating iridescent red for the cheeks, a dark brown for the eyes, a golden brown for the nose, and clear for the lashes. You can also play with mixing different sizes in the same space. 

I went with clear for the "icing," and now I'm thinking I may go ahead and finish the outlines of the heads with white. That's the thing. The more you bling, THE MORE YOU BLING, so I understand how some people come to cover the entire surface! 

For example, I didn't think I was going to bedazzle Minnie's bow...until I did! 

And guess what? I found something at Dollar Tree that's going to be PERFECT with these. Coming soon. 

Happy November, or as I'm calling it "Christmas Prep Month". 

BFF Open House

 

Happy Halloweekend, Creative Peeps! Busy weekend ahead for many between Halloween activities, turning back the clocks, and Dia de los Muertos festivities. As for Mr. Chocolate and me, the weather's supposed to be stormy (BOO!...I feel bad for trick-or-treaters), so we'll be laying low with some special treats, then trying to remember what the time difference is between here and the rest of the country because we don't change. 

There were too many fun food ideas shared at last week's party that I'm doing an all-foods feature this week. If you're looking for some fun things there's still time to whip up, these are perfect. 

I did manage one last Halloween project this week before I put away my Halloween crafting supplies and brought out my Christmas ones. 

Halloween Ornament Wreath:

OK, let's take a look at some of the yummy for a Mummy features from last week's party! 

Recipes Simple shared these fun and fabulous Spider Donuts. You can use store-bought or make your own, and then just a few decorations totally transform them. 

The Kitchen Is My Playground shared Halloween Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies (that also work for Oreos), which are also fun and festive. 

With lots of pumpkin carving going on, don't forget about the seeds! Crazy Little Love Birds has a great way to Roast Pumpkin Seeds. 

Finally, Halloween just screams for pizza. I don't make the rules. Rose Bakes has you covered with these Mummy Flatbread Pizzas. 

Thanks to all who linked up, and I wish you all a SAFE and happy weekend! 

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Halloween Crafting: Ornament Wreath

 

This week's link party continues here through tomorrow. 

I swapped out some ornaments on my Halloween tree this year, which meant I had some left over, so I used them to make a wreath! 

Supplies: (All supplies are from Dollar Tree)

• Wire Wreath Form
• Standard Size Ornaments
• Small Ornaments
• Zip Ties
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

I first thought I was going to wrap the wire form but ended up changing my mind. So that's back in the stash for something else. Instead, after watching a couple of You Tube videos, I went with zip ties to secure the first layer of ornaments. 

I attached the ornaments to the wire frame by threading the zip tie through the ornament cap on the innermost part of the frame. Once tightly secured, trim.  After that, I used hot glue to attach the next layer of ornaments in what I call the "Mickey Mouse Head Formation," which you can see below. 

After those were all on, I filled in the gaps with the remaining standard-size ornaments, also hot gluing into place. 

Good thing that Dollar Tree often repeats colors year to year. I'd already picked up a couple of packs of these smaller ornaments, thinking I was going to use them for something else and didn't, so I grabbed them to fill in the remaining gaps. 

Mwaaaahhhh the plan is coming together! I also had some coordinating spiders I didn't use on my tree this year, so they were perfect to complete the remaining gaps where the wire frame still showed. 

I found this very cool bat Wreath Hanger at Dollar Tree that was perfect for my style, and now I have a new wreath! It's hanging on the inside of our front door because outside we can't see it. Even this time of year, the sun is still harsh on things, and I was so happy with my wreath that I didn't want it to fade!