12 Weeks of Christmas Tutorial #5!

This week's tutorial would be great for the kids! I wanted my boys to be able to make ornaments for their grandparents, and together we decided we wanted to decorate Christmas trees. Here's what we came up with.

Christmas Tree Felt Ornaments
(tutorial makes 3 ornaments)

What you'll need:
Christmas Tree Templates (or draw your own shapes!)
Sharpie
3-9x12 sheets of craft felt, in three different colors
Felt glue
Ribbon
Thread
Various embellishments - we used silver star sequins
Various colors of glitter glue

Step 1
Print and cut out the Christmas tree templates. Use the Sharpie to trace the templates onto the felt. One of each size on each piece of felt.

Step 2
Cut out the shapes. You should end up with 9 felt pieces.

Step 3
Layer your pieces, and set them aside in three groups.







Step 4
Take you largest tree (this will be your bottom piece), and dab some glue at the top. Cut your ribbon to your desired length, and fold it in half to make a loop for hanging. Place the two raw ends into the glue.

Step 5
Take your middle tree, turn it over and cover the backside with glue. Flip and position on top of the largest tree. Press down to secure.

Step 6
Take your spool of thread, and wind around your smallest tree like tinsel. Add a couple of inches to the length, and cut.

Step 7
Hold about one inch of one end of the thread to the back of the smallest tree. Add some glue to the top of the tree, and a dab for the extra inch of thread.





Step 8
Start winding the "tinsel" around the tree, and add your sequins as you go. Add glue to the backside as you finish each section of "tinsel" to adhere to the rest of the tree. Leave an inch at the other end of the thread to go to the backside of the bottom of the tree. Secure it with glue, and gently press all around to make sure your smallest tree is secured to the rest of the ornament.


Step 9
At this point, go to town adding a splash of color with your glitter glue! Let the ornaments dry overnight so that the glue sets. Hang on your tree, and enjoy! Or wrap up and give as a wonderful handmade gift from the heart!

Happy Crafting! Amy

12 Weeks of Christmas Giveaway #5!

This week's giveaway is brought to you by...


Cindy Wimmer has been drawn to creating jewelry for four years. She is a Mom of four busy, highly imaginative boys. When she can sneak a spare moment, she's off creating jewelry. She joined the Etsy community this year, and enjoys updating her blog, www.sweetbeadstudio.com. She absolutely loves working with wire, especially sterling silver and copper. Handcrafted art beads and vintage pieces also find their way into her jewelry. Several of her wirework tutorials can be found in the current issue of Easy Wire , including the stamped metal bracelet on the cover.


Up for giveaway this week is a $15 gift certificate from Sweet Bead Studio!

Leave a comment below about your favorite Sweet Bead Studio item (don't forget to leave your email address in your first comment!). And of course, you can earn more entries by leaving a link to places you've made a shout out about this giveaway - Twitter, Facebook, blog, networking sites, etc. The more shout outs, the more entries!



This giveaway will be open from today through 11:59pm Saturday, 10/31/09. The winner will be announced here on the blog on Sunday, 11/1/09.

Good luck! Amy

12 Weeks of Christmas Deal of the Week 5

Good morning! Stopping by to tell you about this week's SewArtsy Deal of the Week!


This week I'm having a Buy Two Get One Free on all of my Hair Clippy Caddies - in my Etsy shop, 10/26 - 11/1. Just use the coupon code 12WOC5 in the comment section at checkout, and I will refund you the cost of your third HCC to your Paypal account. Hope this helps with your holiday shopping!

Come back again on Thursday for this week's tutorial!

Happy Monday! Amy

Week 4 Giveaway Winner!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the winner of this past week's giveaway, from Sapphire Child Orchid, is Meredith of Maggie Sue Designs - congratulations!

Check in tomorrow for this week's Deal of the Week and Giveaway! Amy

Have you started your holiday shopping?
I have, and I'd like to share with you some of those shops with you!

Today I'd like to share with you Loveable Creations Boutique - perfect bows and lovely clothes. In this shop you will find headbands, bows, floral hair clips, hair puffs, and cute hats for kids and babies. I chose to buy a couple of sets because I loved the idea of a "starter set" and interchangeable adornments. My daughter, at almost a year old, already has a full head of thick curly hair, and I love the way she looks when I can do something cute and fun with it. However, at her age, she rarely sits still for longer than a nanosecond. To the rescue: stretchy headbands with a bazzilion choices of colored flower clips!

And look at this adorable spider headband that Charis will be sporting for our Halloween activities this year! So be sure to check out Loveable Creations Boutique if you've got little ones on your list this year!

Happy Friday! Amy

12 Weeks of Christmas Tutorial #4!

This week I'm offering some practical help, but with a purpose. As a family we support the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. As an option families can wrap their shoe boxes in wrapping paper, but I've not done this before because I thought it would just take too much time figuring out how to make them look really nice. This year I challenged myself to figure this out, and grabbed my most sturdy wrapping paper, my shoe boxes, tape and scissors, and set out to tackle the project!

1. Lay the box lid on rolled out paper. (a) Cut it wide enough to completely cover the inside edges. (b) cut slits in the paper, width-wise at ends. This eliminates the tearing that can come with box edges. (c) Secure paper to sides with tape.

2. (a) On one end fold the paper sides in, just like you would wrapping a gift box. (b) Secure loose ends with tape inside the box. (c) Fold up the triangle and secure inside with tape. Repeat on other end. And repeat the same process on the box bottom.


One of my shoe boxes had a hinged lid, instead of one that comes completely off. Below are photos of how I measured the paper, and worked the paper around the box, folding and taping as I went. (Click the photos to see the images in a larger, more detailed size)



Once the box was completely covered with paper, before closing, I snipped the paper at the hinge, and secured it well with tape to make sure it had both a nice fit and a nice look.


This tutorial will come in handy whether you are participating in this year's OCC campaign, or whether you'd just like to wrap a lidded box for the gift-giving season.

It's so easy to bring a smile and a heart full of joy to a child on this enormous planet of ours who otherwise will not receive anything for Christmas this year. If you feel called to participate - get out and do it! National Collection Week is November 16-23! Click here for ideas on how to pack a shoe box, and here for drop-off locations near you.

Happy Crafting! Amy

12 Weeks of Christmas Giveaway #4!

This week's giveaway is brought to you by


Here's what Julia, owner of Sapphire Child Orchids, has to tell us about her business and the plants she loves.

"I am a grower and breeder of orchids, working with Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, and Dendrobium species and hybrids, although I grow a variety of other orchids and interesting non-orchid plants as well. On my blog you can follow plants in bloom as well as read how-to articles on growing orchids. Like any good geek, I love to share my enjoyment of plants and am happy to answer questions. I'd like people to know that orchids aren't as difficult as people say - just a little different. And with 30,000 species worldwide and untold numbers of hybrids, I'm sure we can find the plant that's right for your window!


Some key articles to get you started:
An Introduction to Orchids as Houseplants


How to:
Basic Phalaenopsis Culture


How to:
Repotting
(note: this article uses a Paph as example. The basic idea is the same for most orchids, though most others will have smooth and silvery or green roots or with green or burgundy tips)

My breeding efforts are still relatively new, and tend toward the unusual, striving for characteristics such as compact size, fragrance, unusual foliage or interesting color patterns in the flowers."

Up for giveaway this week is a $10 gift certificate towards a purchase at Sapphire Child - use it for yourself, or gift it to a friend!

Leave a comment below about your favorite Sapphire Child Orchids product (don't forget to leave your email address in your first comment!). And of course, you can earn more entries by leaving a link to places you've made a shout out about this giveaway - Twitter, Facebook, blog, networking sites, etc. The more shout outs, the more entries!

This giveaway will be open from today through 11:59pm Saturday, 10/24/09. The winner will be announced here on the blog on Sunday, 10/25/09.

Good luck! Amy

12 Weeks of Christmas Deal of the Week 4

Good morning! Dropping in to tell you about this week's SewArtsy Deal of the Week!

This week I'm having a Buy One Get One Free Zip Top Pouch and Coin Purse Sale at SewArtsy 10/19-25 - in my Etsy shop. Just use the coupon code 12WOC4 in the comment section at checkout, and I will refund you the cost of your second pouch (of equal or lesser cost) to your Paypal account. Hope this helps with your holiday shopping!

Come back again on Thursday for this week's tutorial!

Happy Monday! Amy