WOOL DRIER BALL HEADS

If you've got some wool drier balls hanging around and you don't want to use them to dry your clothes, make them into snowmen heads!

First thing I do is color their cheeks with a little make-up, then poke a hole between their cheeks for a nose.

Next, using either embroidery thread or crochet cotton, I sew their faces on and glue on their noses and eyes.

Finally, I make a hat from a sock or other fabric I have hanging around, glue that on their heads and add a jute hanger.

Just look at those happy faces! I think these will be great sellers at my Christmas crafts shows. 

Easter Gnomes

I didn't take everything off the Valentine tree. I kept a couple angels, some pink flowers and gnomes. Had to keep the gnomes.

Add some pink ears to an ordinary gnome and you've got an Easter gnome!

Easter Tree Topper

Every tree needs a topper, so I made the Easter tree topper with a little wooden birdhouse and fluffy yellow chick!

Easter Tree

Valentine's Day is over, so now it's time to make Easter ornaments! I started with these tiny little bunnies from DollarTree.

These cute little bunnies are actually erasers! 

At first I thought I would try to glue a loop to the top of their heads. But then I remembered these wire bead eyepins and thought they might work. 

I snipped a little off so they wouldn't be so long, then shoved them into the top of their heads!

The pink Bakers Twine I found works perfectly for the hangars

And they look pretty cute hanging on the tree.

Mod Podge Napkin Hearts

I had a couple wooden hearts hanging around that needed some decorating. So I found a pretty napkin and some Mod Podge and decorated them!

First I painted a layer of Mod Podge onto the hearts.

Then I pulled apart the two layers of the napkin, cut a piece a little larger than the heart, and placed it over the Mod Podge.

Once that was in place, I trimmed the edges so they would wrap over the edge a little and painted on another layer of Mod Podge.

After the front was dry, I did the same thing to the back and let that dry.

After the hearts were totally dry, I glued a string of pearls around the edges, added a loops and put them on the tree.

Laser Cut Heart Ornaments

I'm sure you've figured out by now how much I like shopping at the various dollar stores.

I picked up a package of laser cut hearts at the Dollar Tree that made beautiful ornaments for my holiday tree.

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them, but knew I wanted to paint them.

So I pulled out my brushes and a variety of acrylic paint, then decided on simply pink!

Not one shade of pink, but three! I started with a medium dark mauve, painted two hearts, added a little bit of cream colored paint to get a lighter shade, painted two more hearts then added more cream color and painted the last three hearts. That's a fun way to create an ombre effect.

The hearts were very pretty on their own, but I wanted to bling them up a little. So I pulled out my beads and added a small dangle to the bottom of each heart. The hardest part of that was seeing the clear fish line I used!

I think they add a soft, romantic touch to the tree.

Heart Garland

I found some great things at Dollar General the other day, including this burlap and felt heart garland. I was going to make hearts similar to these, so I decided to skip that step and disassemble the garland then make over the hearts. 

I pulled the long jute string out and pulled off the bows, then straightened some of the center hearts a bit. Then pretty much designed each heart as I went along!

I originally thought I would just cover the center heart with buttons, but I got a little carried away and covered the entire thing! I have ALOT of old buttons, so this was the perfect thing to do with them. Hot glue worked best for this project.

Simple, single buttons in the centers were quick and easy!

Of course I had to make a buffalo plaid heart! The beads on the loops, and the striped bow came off a string of beads I got at Walmart (50% off Christmas decor!).

Naturally this one is my favorite.

This was a really fun project. It's especially fun when something you've been thinking about comes together and actually works!

Scrabble letters ornaments

 I picked up a package of Scrabble tiles at Dollar General the other day to make some ornaments for my Valentine's Day tree.

My mother and I used to play Scrabble all the time, so these little tiles reminded me of those sweet, spirited games.

I've seen LOVE spelled out with Scrabble tiles before, so I decided to make my own.

I used Tombow multipurpose glue to stick the tiles together, and to stick them onto a piece of red cardstock. I usually use hot glue on craft projects, but it doesn't work well on wood. This multipurpose glue dries fast and clear, so it would work well.

The red and white Baker's Twine I used for the loops is from Hobby Lobby. 
 

Fabric Heart Ornaments

 It's time to take off the Christmas ornaments from my little rustic "holiday tree" and start thinking about what I will replace them with.

Valentines Day is next, so hearts it is!

Everything I used to make these pretty ornaments was found in my various supply stashes. Like I always say, don't throw anything away!

I gathered up a handful of fabric that went well together then cut them into strips of different widths. There's no right or wrong with this project!

Then I sewed them onto the batting and background using the quilt as you go technique and trimmed up the edges to make a nice, strippy square.

To make the hearts, originally I used a metal die and traced around it, then cut that out with pinking scissors. Then I realized it was easier just to fold the mat in half and cut a half heart up to the fold.

I stitched around the edges to hold everything together.

I decorated each heart a little differently. This simple heart has three buttons glued down the center,

this little guy has a big button and bow in the center,

and the largest of them all has three little satin flower buds and leaves glued to the edge.

All have satin ribbon loops on the back.