old fashioned santa ornament tutorial

My tree is mostly filled with red decorations. Of course, I welcome the non red, but I prefer my favorite color - red. So, I wanted to make an ornament with red and to top it off, I wanted Santa. Well, clothespins are fun to work with, so I came up with an old fashioned Santa. He's easy, but I think it's best to make an entire league of Santas at once if you are going to go to all the trouble - plus, more is always better when it comes to ornaments! So, let's get started.

Here's what you need:

*wooden clothes pin with flat end (I bought my pack at Hobby Lobby)

*wooden ball knob 3/4" with one flat side (also from Hobby Lobby)

*Cranberry color felt (or dark red) - 3 pieces (1 - 3"x4" for his coat, 1 - 2"x4 1/2" for his arm sleeves, and one in a semi circle for his hood and I will show you how to make the pattern for this.)

*1 piece of warm and natural batting - 3"x4"

*mini liberty bell (Hobby Lobby)

*jute - 7"

*black paint

*cream color wool yarn (I used the extra soft kind)

*tan color pipe cleaner - 6"

*glue gun and lots of glue

*red embroidery floss - 6"

1 - First, paint the bottom of the clothes pin black. You just need to go about an inch up since that's all that will show when he is done. Make sure you get in between the feet really well

2 - With the glue gun, glue the wooden ball knob on top of the clothes pin.

3 - Paint two eyes on the wooden ball. I used a stylist for paper embossing to do this.

4 - Cut 4 pieces of yarn about 3" long and separate them to make them look full like a beard.

5 - Glue the beard on to his face pressing all the yarn in to the glue to make sure it all gets attached.  

6 - Cut 2- 1" long pieces of yarn to go across his head (in the front only for bangs!) and the other to go across the top of the beard to kind of look like a mustache.   Separate to make them fuzzy. Attach one piece to go a top his head with the glue gun bringing it forward right above his eyes. Then, attach another piece over the top of his beard to look like a mustache.  I don't have a photo of that step until later on, but you will see it in the finished product.  

7 - Take your 3"x4" piece of felt and your 3"x4" piece of warm and natural and wrap around Santa's body going right under the bead head.  The warm and natural will be on the inside and the felt on the outside.  Glue as you go and make sure to end the opening in the front.  You might have to trim up the warm and natural since it kind of gets larger as you wrap it around! Wild!

8 - This is the best time to tie the jute around this waist.  Lift up his beard and tie it in a knot in the front. 

9 - Take your piece of 2"x4 1/2" piece of felt and your pipe cleaner.  Run a line of hot glue along the top of the felt and pull it down approx. 1/2" covering the pipe cleaner.  Then, run a line of hot glue on that seam and pull the bottom of the felt to meet it.  Look at the photo if that isn't too clear. 

10 - Wrap these arms around Santa bending the pipe cleaner.  Glue in place in the back.  

11 - Now it's time for his cape.  To make the pattern just draw a 5" line on a piece of paper.  Then out from the center measure 2 1/2" and make a dot.  Take a plate and use the round arch to meet the middle dot at 2 1/2" from one end of the 5" line.  Then do it from the other end.  

12 - Run a line of hot glue along the straight part of the cape starting 1/2" in and ending 1/2" from the end.  Place the brim of the cape on Santa's head making sure there is just a little of his hair (bangs!) sticking out and pressing the rest of the cape along his head and ending on his arms. Then, glue the under side on the back of the cape, pinching as you go to look like the photo above.

13 - Take your liberty bell and slide it on one of the pipe cleaner (his hand) and roll the end of the pipe cleaner up so the bell doesn't slide off.   

14 - Take a 6" piece of embroidery floss, run it through the top of his cape and tie at the top. You are done and he can now hang on your tree.

12 days of handmade christmas ornaments

Kristin at wRIte iT DOwN is hosting 12 Day of Handmade Christmas Ornaments where she has asked 12 different bloggers to make a handmade ornament on their particular day and post a tutorial over on her blog. I am on day 11 which will give me time to figure out what ornament I am going to make. It starts today, December 1st, so head over to her blog and check out the first ornament made by http://craftrookie.blogspot.com/.

really good snickerdoodles

This is our go to cookie on Sunday night when we want treats. I am surprised I haven't shared this recipe until now. Truth be told, I think this cookie recipe is what sealed the deal with my husband when we were dating. I am serious. When I was 16 years old, I was asked to make these for all the men in our congregation for Father's Day. That was a ton of baking, but worth it. I found this recipe when I was really young in the PTA cookbook for our elementary school and changed it quite a bit. So, I guess it's my own. I am not creative enough when it comes to baking to come up with much more, so snickerdoodles it is.

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream margarine, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt. Roll into balls and roll in 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 400 degrees. Yield: 3 dozen.

just thinking of christmas gift ideas

The weird thing about having a blog in which your friends and family read is that you can't post anything that you are working on. So, really it looks like I could be twiddling my thumbs around this place. And, perhaps, at times I am, but really I have been working on some fun things that I cannot show at all. So, that got me thinking that I might want to share some things that I am not working on, but think you all might want to. Last year my mom sent the grand kids these wonderful Christmas pillow cases for them to open on Christmas Eve and put on their pillows to have magical dreams. She also wrote a great poem to go with them and sent two books - Snowmen at Night and another one along those lines. I thought this would be a great gift for families. This year we are picking family names instead of individuals on my husband's side of the family and it would be great to make these for each child in the family we pick. Here is a tutorial for a fancy pillow case from Kirsten Can. In the mean time you can decide who you are giving these to and print up this cute poem.

Each Christmas Eve I lay in bed
I cannot fall asleep
'Cuz Santa and his elves will bring
some toys and games that beep!

My brain is in a thinking mode
I wiggle and I giggle
Then I get my MAGIC CASE
And slip it on my pillow.

I close my eyes and start to dream
Of gifts and sugar plums.
Then all at once my mother's voice
Tells me that Santa's come.

When you can't sleep on
Christmas Eve
You toss and turn and wiggle
Just slip this MAGIC PILLOW case
Over your soft pillow.

i'm a little slower at these things

There is a great thing that I am getting myself in to and I didn't even mention it over here until now. Sometimes I am a bit slow at things. When Melissa (of The Polkadot Chair) called on Friday and said, "I'm pushing Publish Post now about our new shop, are you ready?" I thought, "Yep, go ahead. Pretty cool." But, then I didn't even mention anything here. I could tell you all of the things that are keeping me busy and slighty insane, but that would bore you (two birthdays and parties, hair cutting incident of a 2 year old, Primary Program, etc.).



So, what I mean to tell you is that my friend and I are opening an esty shop called May and Mae very soon. Her new logo for all the amazing things that she makes is called
I love this logo and my little old stuff will have the amazing mae tag on it. So, together we are May and Mae. I am sending you over to her blog to read more about it since she wrote about it so nicely. I will be putting just a few things here and there since I can't stay on one project long enough to make more than a few. And, although I am a bit slow at mentioning it, I am so happy to have a friend that inspires me and gets me motivated to create!

Clementine Purse Giveaway

photo from pick up some creativity

Christine over at Pickup Some Creativity is having her first giveaway tomorrow, Friday the 20th. She has come up with a clever purse for her niece that can be used as a dolly diaper bag.  This giveaway has two chances for winning.  Not only is she giving away a Clementine purse, she is also giving away a PDF pattern for the purse.  Awesome.  She will be selling these patterns soon, so head over to her blog tomorrow and enter.  I know my name is going down on those comments!!

for bug's baby boy

My little sister, Caitlin (I call her Bug) , is pregnant with her first baby.  She is expecting a boy and today her husband's family is throwing a baby shower for her. I wish I could be there, but since it's in San Diego and I am in Louisville, it's not going to work out.  I hope she likes the gift we sent along for the shower. 

a few ornamanets to work on

Each year I enjoy making a few ornaments to add to the top of gifts and to our tree as well. I found a few that I am going to get started on.
photo from martha stewart living
These cute elves were in December's Living and you can find instructions here.

photo from martha stewart living
I saved these directions last year and didn't get around to them, but really want to try again. This idea is also from Martha Stewart. I have tons of buttons and now I just need to get them sorted for these cute guys.

This cute gingerbread man is from elsie marley and I made just one last year. Now, I need an entire league of half eaten gingerbread men on my tree.

new apron for a friend

Hi. Remember me? I used to write blog posts for this blog. I used to get a lot more done and life didn't seem as chaotic as it does right now. But, I think I am ready for some changes and ready to dive in to some Christmas projects. I did manage to get this apron made for friend for her birthday. I got the pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing that I picked up Half Price Books (one of my favorites) for $10. I like how this apron fits and it's reversible. I just beefed up the width of the straps and lengthened them so that they would be long enough to tie in a bow around the front. No pockets. I can't decide if pockets are necessary on an apron or just cute. Are they worth the extra effort? I don't think I use my pockets on the aprons I wear. Just me thinking out loud. Oh, does any one have a Christmas project that they are excited about this year? Just trying to get the wheels moving.

last minute halloween project

I am helping out with the Halloween party at the preschool and saw a few games I thought would work out great for these little guys. But, then I had to go and see this online at parents.com 2 nights ago and changed my direction. I thought it might take a little more time than I wanted to spend, but knew it would be worth the effort because I can use it in the future. What I didn't count on was how much paint the canvas fabric soaked up. It took forever to get enough layers to make it look black enough and that was a bit hard with the tiny lines of the skeleton and between the letters. Would gesso have helped? I am no expert, but maybe. I sewed a pocket up top for a dowel rod and today made some bowties out of ribbon. So, we are ready to get this party started.

we just got back from

the happiest place on earth. We spent 8 days there and now we are recovering from all the fun. I am originally from California and grew up going to Disneyland 4 or 5 times a year. I didn't think we were DisneyWorld people since I have a love for Disneyland, but it turns out that we are. And, since I have issues with big crowds, this was the perfect time of the year to go. Plus, it didn't hurt that my kids had a week off of school for Fall Break and the weather was amazing. I think we are hooked. We spent time over lunch today talking about when we thought we would go again. Yeah, we are definitely hooked. So, this week I need to figure out costumes, plan for a preschool Halloween party, and get back in the groove. Exciting!

a new print

I am still getting my photo wall put together. I will post a picture of it when I fill in the last few frames. As I was deciding what else I wanted for the wall, the one thing I did know was that I really wanted a personalized print with our family name on it. I found some amazing ones on etsy, but the designer that stood out to me the most was grace hester designs because her prints had great colors, a modern style, and were also a fantastic price. I am so grateful for talented designers and for etsy. Grace was able to make us a personalized print in one of my favorite colors, light aqua blue, and put all of our names under the sweet little birds. Don't you love it? I do. Her other prints in her etsy shop are awesome and I will be saving my pretty pennies to add a few more to our home soon.

two more pendants

Each soldered pendant I make, I see slight improvement. Here are two more pendants I made this week, each with vintage Halloween postcard images. They are two sided - one postcard on each side. I have been wearing the one on the left for the last few days and since I rarely keep anything i make, it feels good to be wearing this.

add this to the all time pumpkin recipe list

i always have to have a photo - this is the pumpkin my 2 year old picked out at the pumpkin patch last week. love the bumps.

I have had a few people mention that they have great pumpkin recipes too when I posted my pumpkin cookie recipe. Sandra over at Crazy Mom Tats was kind enough to email me her favorite pumpkin bread recipe. I made some last weekend while my husband and kids were out and I was glad they came home when they did. Let's just say, I was about to eat an entire loaf by myself if they hadn't come to help me eat all the rest of this lovely bread. It makes 3 loaves and I am not quite sure what makes it different than other pumpkin breads, but it just is. I can taste more of the pumpkin spices without tasting all the sugary fluff. Although it is dang sweet. I also made cream cheese frosting to go with it. Can you say "sugar high?" Head over to her blog and check out the recipe. Well worth the time. Thanks Sandra.

folksy pumpkin wall hanging tutorial

This is the pumpkin from my giveaway a few weeks ago. I originally a saw similar project at an art festival several years ago and then two years ago attempted my version of it to give to my friends for Halloween. My photos didn't turn out the best for this tutorial and I can't seem to find time to do them again, so hopefully you can look past the blur to see what you need to see!
What you will need:
1/2 yard orange burlap fabric
1/2 yard black cotton fabric
1 piece of black felt
1 piece of sage green felt
1 piece of mustard yellow felt
thick craft wire or bailing wire
short stick for stump of pumpkin
black embroidery floss
patterns for pumpkin, eyes, nose, mouth, and leaves available to print here. very roughly drawn!
oh, and hot glue gun and glue

1. Cut out all the pattern pieces. You will need one pumpkin body out of orange burlap, one pumpkin body out of black cotton, two pieces of each eye part (one color for each), one nose, one mouth, and two leaves.

*At this point you can paint a taupe color paint on the orange burlap using a dry brush method to give it a more primitive look. This is what I did because my burlap was too bright of an orange, but just an option. Let dry before continuing on to step 2.
2. Using the sewing machine straight stitch the mouth and nose on to the front of the orange burlap pumpkin body. I sew as close to the edge of the black felt as possible - like a 1/8"seam.

3. Layer the circles on top of each other with the largest on the bottom, medium sized in the middle and the small one on the top. Using a running stitch, stitch 1/8"in from the edge of the smallest circle all the way around attaching it to the burlap. Using a blanket stitch (great tutorial via future girl - check half way down the tutorial and there is one specifically for circles), stitch around the middle and largest circle attaching it to the burlap. *I set the eyes off center and one a bit higher than the other. The funkier, the better.

4. Now put the burlap pumpkin piece and the black cotton pumpkin piece together right sides together. The burlap is a little stretchy so don't be surprised if it is a little bigger than the black fabric. Starting at the top, stitch all the way around using a 1/2" seam and leaving a 4"opening at the top for turning.

5. Before turning right side in, cut notches out of the the bottom curves and upper curves of the pumpkin.

6. Turn the pumpkin right side in.

7. Take the stick for the stump of the pumpkin and put it in the opening at the top, folding in the opening to match the seam.

8. Using a hot glue gun, glue all around the stick where the fabric touches it and press the fabric around it to close up the seam. If there is any open space on each side of the stick, glue that together as well with the seams folded in so it is nice and clean.

9. It should look like this now.

10. Take the two leave and pinch in half. Sew 1/4" seam starting and the base and getting narrower until you get about 3/4 way down and it should reach the edge. Like a long triangle. Like in the photo.

11. With the hot glue gun, glue the leaves on - one in the front touch the stick and one in the back. You can also do both in the front or whatever looks best to you.

12. Cut a 10-12 inch piece of wire and starting at the base of the stick, wrap it around several times tightly. Then, take the ends and curl them by wrapping them around a pencil several times as well.

13. Take another piece of wire about 16-18 inches long and stick one end through the burlap and black fabric about 5-6"to the left of the stick. Curl the end of the wire on the back side so it won't come back through. Twist a loop at the top and then go back through on the right hand side and curl the wire on the back.

14. You are finished!