Tulle Wreath Ornament

Mela Kalikeemaka my fellow Potluckers! Yes, that is "Merry Christmas" in Hawaiian. And yes, that is how you spell it if you have eaten too many cookies. So before I proceed I just want to admit that while this wreath ornament did look adorable in my head when I made it, it turned out a little grandma in real life. However, I know in my heart of hearts that in your capable, crafty hands it could still turn out cute. If that didn't make you close this page and go back to your email, then read on.

To start with, find a ring of some sort, the smaller the better. I looked all over town ( JoAnn and The Dollar Store) to find a tiny ring but they only had medium to large sized rings. I'm not making a festival of trees monstrosity so I needed something small. Eventually this canning lid showed up so that's what I'm using.

Once you have your ring get a spool of bridal tulle from the fabric store and cut strips of fabric roughly 4" x 6". Also, start a good movie that will be fun to watch while you do this. You deserve it.

Once you have a good number of strips cut, double them up and tie them to the ring. Make sure you squish them tightly together so they look neat and no gold shines through.

When you're done you should have a ring that looks like this. If you see any shaggy pieces or edges that are longer than the rest, trim those up.

Now for the fun part. Decorate your mini wreath any way you like. I though it would be cute to wind a ribbon around it so it would look like a candy cane. It didn't. Oh well. I also thought it would be cute to glue a small red bow on the bottom, or if you have some red and green buttons, that might be sweet in a little cluster to the side.

When you're finished decorating, make a loop with your ribbon and glue it to the wreath. Once the glue has dried, place it in a prominent place on your tree and proudly admire it when you have visitors over. They'll be too nice to give anything but compliments about your wonderful homemade ornament! Feleez Navidaude!

~Maren

Clay Stamped Christmas Ornaments, Charms, and Gift Tags

 My fingers love making things. When I was a little girl I loved play dough. These days I love to create with fondant. I've recently started exploring with clay and polymer clay. It is seriously fun!

I saw some clay stamped pendants on Then She Made several months ago, and I've been itching to make something "clay stamped"


Anyone can do this! My kids LOVED it and so did I! This is a great project for teens, scouts, adults, whoever. 

 Here are a few of our creations:

Ornaments:

 

Charms:

This is one of my very favorites that my 8 year old designed and created:

And here she is showing it off :)...

Gift Tags:

and a bunch of kiddo creations:

(There were lots of these, and I could only capture a few!! My five year old is addicted!)

These make fun necklaces, bracelets, magnets, key chains, or even good luck charms...


If you want to make your own, here's how:
 materials you'll need:Polymer clay (Sculpey works great), wax paper or freezer paper, rubber stamps or something to imprint, paint such as acrylic, a stylus or toothpick, a paintbrush,  Aluminum foil, Mod Podge, the oven, a baking sheet; jewelry hooks, hemp or ribbon.

My kids are shown in parts of this tutorial because they were all about doing it :).

First, put some wax paper or freezer paper on your work surface. The clay leaves a residue, and it's tons easier to clean up this way!

Get some polymer clay out of the package.

Knead it for a while to get it flexible.

Roll it into a ball.

Press it with your fingers to get as flat as possible. Or put the clay between two pieces of protective paper and roll if you want it perfectly flat.

Choose a stamp or imprint. Stamp it. Press hard enough to get the whole stamp, but not hard enough to get the edges. If you mess up, just roll the clay back up and start over. No biggie.

Then cut it out with a cutter... round, square, whatever for the outer shape. You could do this before the previous step, but doing it in this order helps with the centering and placement.

Using a stylus or toothpick make a hole in the top to hang the ornament or add the chain.

Add words if desired.  Either free hand words with her stylus or stamp them on.


Add any other clay accents if desired (such as the ornaments on the Christmas tree, the buttons on the gingerbread man, or the polka dots on the present, pictured above).  To connect different colors make little hashes in each piece before joining them together. This will help them adhere.

Put  a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet, and bake at 275 for 15 minutes per 1/4 and inch. These ornaments will bake for 15-18 minutes.

Let them cool completely.


With paint, brush over the whole surface. Then wipe off quick with a damp cloth or paper towel!!  Brown works best on light colored polymer clay. Use white or a light color on dark polymer clay. Just play around. See what you like.

cover it with paint

wipe it off!

I suggest though, that you do this part after the kids are in bed, or else splattering paint may make some naughty words come out of your mouth. Don't ask how I know this.

Let them dry.

 Paint some accents if you desire. (Such as the star in one of the Christmas trees pictured above).

Brush on some Mod Podge. Let it dry completely.

Put on accessories or bows.

That's it!

 Now get some clay and have fun! 

These are fun for any time of year, just change the stamps and colors.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy