Valentine Zombie (and Non-Zombie) Pom Pom Creatures

Zombie Pom Pom Creatures

Materials:
*Large pink and red pom poms
*Small pink and red pom poms (twice as many as the number of large ones)
*Red and black fabric paint
*Red and pink foam
*Heart stencil or template
*All purpose adhesive
*Scissors
*Pen
*Optional: written or printed zombie valentine saying

Directions:
*Trace heart stencil or template onto the foam, then cut out the heart shape.  This heart will serve as the feet for your pom pom zombie, so size accordingly.
*Glue large pom pom onto the heart shape.
*Glue small pom poms onto the large pom pom to make ears.
*Draw x-shaped dead eyes using the black fabric paint.  If zombie is pink, add a bloodstained mouth using red fabric paint.  Set aside to dry.
*Glue a zombie valentine message to the bottom of your zombie's feet, if desired.

Googly Eyed Pom Pom Creatures

Materials:
*Either a kit for glittery pom pom critters (which is what I used)

OR:

*Large red and pink pom poms
*Googly eyes
*Red and pink foam
*Large heart template
*Small heart template
*Pipe cleaners
*Scissors
*Pen
*All purpose adhesive

Directions (if not using a kit):
*Trace one large heart and two small hearts onto the foam, then cut out the hearts.
*Glue a pom pom to the large heart.
*Cut off two sections of pipe cleaner slightly longer than the length you would like your critter's antennae to be.  Glue a small heart to each length of pipe cleaner.
*Glue googly eyes to the pom pom, then add the antennae.

I came across this song when looking for zombie Valentine's Day ideas and thought I would share it.  It's a fun song for a zombie themed Valentine's Day: The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey

Fuse Bead Adorned Silverware

Materials:
*Silverware
*Fuse beads
*Cooking spray
*Aluminum foil
*Cookie sheet
*X-acto knife
*Sandpaper

Directions:
*Cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then spray the aluminum foil with a generous amount of cooking spray.
*Spray the handles of the silverware with cooking spray, then place the silverware on the cookie sheet.
*Arrange fuse beads on top of the handles of the silverware like this:

*As you begin working on the last piece of silverware, turn the oven on to 400 degrees F.
*Once you have finished covering the handles in fuse beads, slide the cookie sheet into the oven.  Cook for about 8 minutes or until the fuse beads have sufficiently melted.
*Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
*Once cool, peel the silverware off of the aluminum foil.  Rinse off oil residue using dish soap and water.
*Some of your fuse beads may have melted over the side of the silverware.  If this is the case, carefully cut off the excess plastic with an X-acto knife.
*Use sandpaper to smooth out any rough edges.

Make your own colorful fuse bead dinnerware set by adding some fuse bead napkin rings and incorporate a fuse bead bowl into your centerpiece.

Fuse Bead Napkin Rings

Materials:
*Fuse beads
*Cooking spray
*Narrow drinking glass or wide shot glass (preferably one that is not tapered)
*Aluminum foil
*Waxed paper
*X-acto knife
*Cookie sheet

Directions:
*Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
*Spray the inside of the glass with a generous amount of cooking spray.
*Wad up some aluminum foil so that it fits in the center of the glass you have chosen with enough space around the foil for the beads.  Cover the foil in waxed paper, then place in the center of the glass.
*Carefully pour in beads around the waxed paper wrapped aluminum foil, making sure that the beads are sticking to the wall of the glass in a single layer, like this:

*Place the glass on a cookie sheet.
*Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes.
*Take out of the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes.  I found with these napkin rings that it was easiest to pry them out when the beads were still a little warm.  However, this can be dangerous since the glass was still very hot, so if you choose to remove the napkin rings before they have fully cooled, proceed with caution.
*The napkin rings may stick to the glass a bit.  If this happens, use a butter knife to peel away from the sides of the glass.
*The waxed paper covered aluminum foil should have mostly prevented beads from reaching the bottom of the glass, but you may end up with some beads that do so anyway.  If this is the case, carefully cut away excess plastic at the bottom with an X-acto knife.
*If made wide enough, these napkin rings should be suitable for any size cloth napkins.  However, the beads may be a little rough in places, particularly in spots where they were cut with the X-acto knife.  Pull them over napkins carefully so as to avoid damaging your napkins. 

If you enjoyed this craft, you may also like my Fuse Bead Decorative Bowls.

Fuse Bead Snowflake Magnets

Materials:
*Fuse beads kit
*Magnetic backing
*Adhesive (if your magnetic backing does not have an adhesive or has a weak adhesive)
*Scissors
*Iron

Directions:
*Select the appropriate peg board for the snowflake you would like to make.  Choose a color scheme for your snowflake, then arrange the beads on the peg board in the pattern shown below:

*If you would like a stronger magnet, you may want to fill in the empty pegs with a neural color so that you will be able to add a larger piece of magnet to the back of the snowflake.
*Cover your beaded project with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side, then remove from the peg board, flip over, put waxed paper on top and iron the second side.  You can find more detailed directions here.
*Cut off strips of magnetic backing and adhere them to the back of the snowflake.  If using glue to adhere the magnetic backing, let dry before placing the magnet on the refrigerator. 

If you are looking forward to spring, check out my fuse bead spring magnets.

Simple Snowflake Garland

Materials:
*White paper
*Scissors
*Ribbon
*White thread
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*To make the snowflakes, take an object with a circular base such as a glass and trace around the base to make circles.  Create as many circles as the number of snowflakes you would like to have on your garland.
*Cut out a circle.  Fold the circle in half, then fold the resulting semicircle in half.  Finally fold the quarter circle in half so that the original circle is now folded into eighths.
*Cut designs into the folded paper to create your snowflake.
*Once you have cut out all of the snowflakes, take a length of ribbon as long as you would like your garland to be and lay it on your work space, with the back side of the ribbon facing up (if the ribbon has a back side). 
*Align snowflakes along the ribbon until you find an arrangement that you find pleasing.
*Cut out pieces of white thread and glue one end of the thread to the snowflake and the other to the ribbon so that the snowflakes will hang down from the ribbon.  If planning on hanging the gralnad over an entryway, cut a length of ribbon the same length as the first and glue the ribbon pieces together so that the garland will look polished from either side of the entryway.

Winter Themed Decorated Journal

Materials:
*12 Andes Peppermint Crunch wrappers (or other wrappers to use as a background)
*6 Andes Creme de Menthe wrappers (or other green wrappers)
*Silver duct tape (or silver candy wrappers)
*Small scrap of brown paper (or brown candy wrapper)
*White scrap paper
*Hole punch
*Glitter glue
*Notebook
*Glue
*Tape
*Scissors

Directions:
*Arrange the Andes Peppermint Crunch (or other background) wrappers across the cover of the journal and glue down.  It's okay if the wrappers don't cover the very bottom of the notebook because the silver duct tape will take care of that.
*Take the green wrappers and flip them over so that the green side faces down.  Tape the wrappers together in a rectangular formation and tape them together, then cut out a tree shape from the green rectangle.
*Cut out a trunk for the tree from the brown paper (or brown candy wrapper) and glue to the tree.
*Position the tree near the bottom of the journal and glue down.
*Cut a strip of silver duct tape long enough to cover the bottom of the notebook.  Trim the top of the strip to make it look like uneven ground.
*Adhere the duct tape to the bottom of the notebook.
*Punch out a number of white circles, then arrange them along the cover and glue down.
*Add a dot of glitter to each of the circles.

Another Decorative Tree

Materials:
*Yarn
*White paper
*Glitter glue
*Scissors
*Foam tree
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:
*Wrap yarn around the foam tree, gluing it down as you go.
*Cut quarter sized circles from a sheet of white paper, fold into fourths or eighths, and cut out small shapes to create snowflakes.  Alternately, if you have a die cutting machine you could create paper snowflakes that way.
*Arrange the snowflakes on your tree in a pattern that you like, then glue them down.
*Add dabs of glitter glue to make your tree sparkle.

Like this idea?  Check out my decorative tree from last year if you haven't yet.  Also, here are some links to my handmade stocking, hand towel advent calendar, and ornament posts from last year in case you are interested.