IC 48: Wreaths!

Iron Craft Challenge 48 is to create a wreath.

I decided to make an ornament.

Take a sheet of green felt.  Cut it into 4ths lengthwise so that you have 4 long strips.  Then, cut those strips into squares.  Mine were about and inch or so, not perfect, but that's ok.  Take each square and  cut it into a circle.  Just free hand it, if the circles are uneven, it will look better in the end.

If you held several pieces of felt together when you were cutting, separate them and out into a pile, so they get mixed up.

Then with a needle and thread, string the circles by inserting the needle half way between the center of the circle and the edge (If you do it in the center, you'll need more circles to have enough to make a wreath, doing it offset, allows for the center to be bigger with this amount of circles).  Once all of them are strung, tie them in to a circle.  I sewed around one more time just to make sure it was secure.

Then, I sewed a bow of red ribbon on the front and then I sewed a loop of ribbon between two of the green circles to hang it from.

I considered adding some beads or fabric paint ornaments, but decided not to.

Advent Calendar

I was hoping to do this last year, but never got around to it. I saw this muffin tin idea on a number of other websites and the first time I saw it, I knew it was a great idea for us since most premade advent calendars have chocolate in them and my oldest doesn't like chocolate.

You take a muffin pan (or several) and create covers for the cups (I used sheets of magnets and then glued scrap book paper and embelishments on them). This way I can choose what goes in AND the holes are big enough that I can put two (or more) things in each one so that both kids get something (since I used a regular size muffin tin, you could use a mini one though if you want). And that's what I was originally planning on doing, adding trinkets for each day (I'd rather not encourage my kids to eat candy every day). But then, I got a better idea, a Puzzle!

First, I put the puzzle together:

Then I carefully took it apart, starting with the edge

and putting connecting pieces into each cup of the muffin pan (most cups had 4 pieces, some had more since there are 100 pieces in the puzzle and only 24 cups).

Once all of the cups were filled I placed the magnets over the holes and hung them up on the wall.  Since the muffin cups were strategically filled, the pieces will always fit in somewhere, the kids just need to figure out where.

The only problem I ran into was that the magnets (which were ones I was recycling, not actual magnet sheets I'd bought) weren't quite strong enough in some cases so the pieces fell out while I was trying to hang it.  Now that it's up and we're not fiddling with it, there isn't a problem.

The nice things about this is that it was cheap (the puzzle was $1 at the dollar store), we don't have a lot of cheap trinkets floating around, the girls are working together on it and we can re-use the puzzle.

This is definitely working for us! Even my youngest is working on the puzzle.  For more great ideas head over to the WFMW post at We Are That Family.

Crafty Christmas Decor

Where did November go? If anyone's seen it, please let me know, I blinked and missed it! So, over at Blue Eyed Blessings, Heidi is doing the December craft challenge, and the theme is Christmas decor.



Since I missed November and I'm now trying to get everything ready for Christmas, I didn't have time to make anything new, but do have a number of older crafts to show you.

Gingerbread Boy Garland
This first one, I need to appologize for the quality of the picture, due to the lighting, I had some issues getting a good picture. It's a garland I made to hang on the wall.

To make it, I cut 6 Gingerbread boy shapes out of a brown paper bag, sewed 3 sets of two of them together with white thread and a little stuffing inside. Then, I used a black marker to draw on faces and buttons. Then, I took some brown paper twist (raffia would work too) and cut it into narrow strips. I tied the gingerbread boys on in the middle (I ran some thread through their backs) and added a bow at each end.

Nativity Scene

This next craft is a nativity scene. This particular one was made by my Mom, but I've made them too.

To make this, you need:

three small clay pots (one is a little smaller than the other two)
paint
scraps of fabric
yarn scraps
two large wooden balls (these particular ones have a flat side, which makes it easier to fasten to the pot but a regular one works if you're using hot glue)
one smaller wooden ball
glue (hot glue is easiest)
straw
a pipe cleaner

Paint the pots the colors you'd like them, paint the wooden balls a flesh color and then add a face (either with paint or markers). Glue the two big balls to the bottoms of the larger flower pots, add a little yarn for hair, and then the scraps of fabric for the head coverings (I think these were squares folded in half diagonally). Joseph's has a little scrap of yarn in a circle as the band to hold his head covering on. Mom glued the sides of the head covering to the pots to help them stay in place. Take the pipe cleaner and bend it for the shepard's hook and glue it to the side of the pot. Then, for Jesus, put some hay in the smaller pot, filling it to the top. Then, glue the little wooden bead to the hay. If you want, you can add a little circle of yarn or pipe cleaner for a halo.

Lighted Snowman Jar
This is a lighted jar that I made a few years ago.

For it, I used:
1 glass jar (quart size, I used an old mayo jar) white, black and orange paint ( I can't remember but I think I used paint that's designed to go on glass like Perm Enamel)
Two large black buttons
An old sock with a cuff
Small amt of thread
glue
a light bulb on a cord (like you would use for a Christmas village house) - I think I got mine at the dollar store or Walmart, with the holiday houses.

Paint the jar white and paint the nose and mouth of hte snow man. Glue the buttons on or eyes. Then, take the sock, cut off the end (you might need to experiment with this a bit, I think I used from the heel up) and use the thread to tie or sew it shut about 3 inches from where you cut. Then take scissors and cut the three inches into fringe. Put the light in the jar, leaving the cord hanging out and then put the sock "hat" over the openning of the jar. I had to use some tape initially to get the sock to stay on and the light to stay in, but now that it's been that way a few years it's not needed anymore.


Santa Candle Cup

This next one is an idea I saw somewhere on the internet a long time ago.

For it you need:

1 wooden candle cup
a red candle (this works best if the candle fits snugly in the cup)
paint
a cotton ball
glue

Paint a Santa face on the candle cup, the back is all white. unwind the cotton ball, trim it and glue around the top edge of the candle cup. Put the candle in. I wouldn't recommend actually burning the candle (especially mine since the candle doesn't fit tight, so it's prone to tipping over), but they're pretty cute to look at.

For more great craft ideas, go check out Heidi's site!