Since I have some extra time on my hands now after losing my job this past summer, I challenged myself to see how many crafts I could create before my baking schedule filled up. Here are a few of them. If anyone is interested in the directions, I'm glad to oblige. Please send an email with your request.
Firstly, about 4 years ago I broke a large red wine glass. I immediately threw all the pieces away and then after a few seconds of thought, went back in and grabbed the bowl. I didn't know what yet, but I knew it would come in handy some day. This year I finally used it as a cloche. I picked up a candle dish at a yard sale over the summer and this "cloche" fit perfectly inside of it. Some bottle brush trees - my favorite, figures from snow village scenes, a cut out of a house in the background, a jar of snow, assorted ephemera, and of course lots of glitter - voila!
Side note: I've used broken stemware where a big part of the stem and the entire bowl were intact; mostly missing the foot, and stuck it outside in a flower pot and poured water in it for the birds, butterflies, etc.
This craft was inspired by something I saw in a store while waiting in a long line to pay. Theirs was very simple - 2 green trees and silver glitter. The wheels began turning and this is what I came up with, again with my bottle brush addiction.
Basically I took a 10" foam wreath and a 6" foam circle. I cut 1/3 from the top of the circle and attached it inside the wreath to act as a platform for all the pieces I was about to stuff in it. I added bottle brush trees of varying types, a tree cookie cutter (peeking out behind the large white tree on the right), a blue tree ornament and a fancy snowman ornament purchased from the Dollar Store. I also included a figure from a Snow Village (center), some sparkly colored balls, metal snowflakes, GLITTER and a light. The cord from the light is held in place with floral pins. You will need to fashion a hanger for the back that sticks out beyond all the trees and the light socket. I use 20-gauge wire.
The above photo was taken without the light turned on and with a flash. Below are other photos with different settings. Still not able to really capture what you see in person.
Since I've acquired a fondness for owls over the last year, I made this Mixed Media piece over stretched canvas. I used Christmas-themed scrapbooking paper, stickers, mylar owl, silver tinsel, glass starts and glitter! The owl is clear in person. It's 2 layers and the flash caused it to shadow. I used self-adhesive spacers when I attached the cutouts to give more dimension.
Last is a rustic tree with star cutouts made from a 14" styrofoam cone. First I cut the cone down the middle, then I thinned each side out with a spoon (hard work, but ....). Once I had them to about 1/4" thick, I carved out stars on one half, taking care to leave the star pieces totally in tact as I would be using them later. I then painted the tree Black Cherry, inside and out, using acrylic paint, and each star I cut out in Gold. When all pieces were completely dry, I glued the stars against the cutouts in an offset pattern, not directly in line with the cutout. Once dry, I glued the two sides of the tree back together. With 20-gauge copper wire I formed a star and attached it to the top.
Have a wonderful, blessed holiday season!
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