Recycled Wrapping Paper Christmas/Winter Garland

     Have some leftover wrapping paper scraps from last year kicking around?  Make yourself a fun, seasonal garland.  If you don't have some already, you can wait until after you've opened your presents and either get a head start on next year's holiday crafting or use winter themed paper instead of Christmas specific paper.

Materials:
*Patterned or character wrapping paper
*Large and small circle templates (I traced around a large and small drinking glass)
*Cereal box or similar cardboard
*Holographic self-adhesive laminate (or holographic wrapping paper)
*Scissors
*Ribbon
*Glue
*Pen
*Circular hole punch

Directions:
*Trace the small circle onto the patterned or character wrapping paper such that you end up with 12 circles and then cut out the circles.
*Trace the medium circle template onto the cereal boxes, making 12 circles in total, and cut out the circles.
*Trace the medium circle template onto the holographic laminate or paper to make 12 circles and cut them out.
*Adhere holographic paper to one side of each of the cardboard circles.
*Glue a piece of patterned wrapping paper to the center of each of the cardboard circles over the holographic paper.
*Punch a hole in the top of each circle.
*Align the circles, spacing them out as far apart as you would like them to be for the garland.
*Cut a length of ribbon several inches longer than the span of the aligned circles.
*Slide one end of the ribbon an inch or so through the hole in the last circle in the line and tie it in place.
*Slide on the second to last circle, spacing it the desired distance from the last one, and tie in place.  Repeat with the remaining circles.

Felt Heart Name Ornaments

Material:
*Felt
*Chalk or marker
*Fabric paint
*Heart template
*Needle and thread
*Stuffing
*Scissors
*Ribbon
*Fabric scraps and other embellishments (optional)

Directions:
*Using the chalk or marker, trace the heart template onto the felt twice and cut out the two hearts.
*Write the name in the center of one of the hearts using fabric paint and then decorate the ornament however you would like using fabric paint, scrap fabric, or other embellishments.  Set aside to dry.
*Cut off about 2 1/2" of ribbon and fold in half to create a loop.  Sew to the undecorated heart.
*Using a blanket stitch, sew together the hearts, leaving an opening large enough for you to add the stuffing.  Insert stuffing into your heart until it reaches the desired fullness, then sew closed.

P.s. wondering why I have Christmas ornaments with bats on them?  I was trying to come up with a way to symbolically represent myself in the ornament and Brian suggested I make a "crest" with different animals to represent different facets of myself.  He suggested an owl (because I'm smart), a bat (because I love writing, reading, and watching horror), and a cat (because I'm curious, but mostly because I adore cats).  He drew up an on ornament with these animals (see the bottom right ornament).  I then decided to try to replicate his idea, but with fabric scraps.  The only cat fabric I had featured Halloween cats, but I love Halloween, so it just added to the significance of the ornament.  If you're trying to make an ornament that's meaningful, perhaps you could ask the intended recipient (whether it's you or someone else) to brainstorm a crest.  This could be especially nice if you're making ornaments for a child, since they would probably love to see their artistic insights turned into an ornament.

Clay Owl Earrings

Materials:
*Oven bake clay in white, orange, black, and a color of your choice (I used green)
*2 ear wires
*2 head pins
*Wire cutters
*Round nosed pliers

Directions:
*Shape the clay in the color of your choice into two owl shapes.
*Make 4 small circles of white clay for the eyes and add smaller black circles for the pupils.
*Make two small orange triangles for a beak.
*Poke a head pin through each clay owl.
*Bake in the oven according to the directions on the clay packaging.
*Snip off part of each head pin with wire cutters, leaving enough excess to create a small loop.
*Use round nosed pliers to create a loop at the top of each head pin.
*Attach the ear wire to the loop.

Thanksgiving/Fall Perler Fuse Bead Magnets

     Last week's craft centered around what is most important to me about Thanksgiving: family.  This week's craft focuses largely on the second most important thing: pie.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate pudding pie topped with whipped cream . . . so many delicious choices.

Basically I am Pusheen.  I also like seeing the leaves change color this season, so I made a fall leaf magnet for good measure.

Materials:
*Fuse bead kit (e.g. Perler beads kit)
*Iron
*Magnetic backing
*Glue (if your magnetic backing is not self-adhesive)
*Scissors

Directions:
*Design your fuse bead creations by arranging beads in the desired pattern on a large square peg board.
*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 a small section of magnetic backing about 1" in length and about 1/4" to 1/2" inches in width
*Adhere magnetic strip to the fuse bead craft.  If using glue, let dry before placing on the refrigerator.

Family is Love Fall Leaves Journal

     To me, Thanksgiving is all about family.  When I was brainstorming ideas for Thanksgiving crafts, I wanted to find some way to incorporate this notion.  I had seen someone make glitter edged book print leaves and had some issues of the Bangor Daily News kicking around.  I had helped my sister and the student group she's a member of, Maine Business School Corps, put on a march against domestic violence and I had needed a couple copies of the paper to scrapbook the story they did on the event.  The red edged leaf actually has text from the story, which I thought would go along well with the family theme.  Anyway, this is what I came up with.

Materials:
*Glitter in 3 different fall colors
*Spiral bound notebook
*Glue
*Newspaper
*Small black and white family photos
*Silver gel pen
*3 different leaf templates
*Pencil or ballpoint pen
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cover your workstation in newspaper.
*Trace the leaf templates onto the newspaper and cut out.
*Add glue around the edge of one of the newspaper leaves and then cover it with glitter.  Set aside to dry.
*Repeat with the other two leaves.  Once the leaves are dry, shake off excess glitter and pour it back into the container.
*Print out small, completely desaturated photos of your family, however you choose to define family.
*Arrange the photos and the leaves on the notebook cover and glue down.
*Brainstorm a list of what family means to you.  Using the silver gel pen, write out that list, starting with "Family is . . ." followed by the various items.  Mine says, "Family is . . . hugs . . . hope . . . togetherness . . . memories . . . past . . . future . . . joy . . . sharing . . . acceptance . . . transcendence . . . respect . . . chaos . . . friendship . . . trust . . . compassion . . . guidance . . . silliness . . . support . . . messy . .  . wisdom . . . strength . . . a helping hand . . . good times . . . hardships . . . remembrance . . . a choice . . . celebration . . . holidays . . . traditions . . . always changing . . . home . . . stories."
*Toward the center of the journal, write "Family is love."

Hair Chalking

     Rather than buy a wig for to be Daphne Blake for Halloween (see this blog post for Mystery Inc. costume ideas), I decided to try hair chalking,  All you need to do this are chalk pastels and a hair straightener.  It's a great way to change up your hair color for a day and should wash out completely after a couple of shampoos.  Check out my video below for step by step instructions.

Last Minute Costume: Mystery Inc.

     Halloween is right around the corner.  Still looking for a costume?  Why not go as a member of Mystery Inc.?  Also, check out these other easy and inexpensive last minute Halloween costume ideas.
     Brian and I happened upon this costume idea by accident.  Brian wore brown pants and a green shirt to our Halloween party.  When he mentioned that he was not dressed up, someone pointed out that he looked like Shaggy.  We had not yet settled on a Halloween costume idea, so this gave us the inspiration we had been needing.
     Basically all you need for Shaggy is brown pants, a green shirt, and a scruffy appearance.  For Daphne, you'll want to wear all purple.  I went with a purple sweater and purple pants and I also have a pair of purple heeled boots (not pictured).  I bought a green chiffon scarf from Amazon.  You can't really tell from the picture, but I have a headband on.  I went over to my parents' house and dug around, looking for the old plastic headbands my sister and I used to thing were the most fashionable accessories.  I couldn't find a purple one, so I had to alter one a little.

Daphne Headband

Materials:

*Headband

*Mod Podge

*Paintbrush

*Purple glitter

Directions:

*Cover your workstation in newspaper.

*Coat the outer part of the headband in a layer of Mod Podge.

*Pour glitter over the Mod Podge and then set aside to dry.

*Once dry, add another coat of Mod Podge and another layer of glitter.  Set aside to dry.

Here's a slightly better picture, although the headband still is not completely visible:

     The last thing to consider for Daphne is her hair.  In these photos, my hair looks a bit redder than it is in reality, so for Halloween I'm going to have to do something to get Daphne's color.  There are of course always wigs and temporary dyes, but I'm planning on chalking my hair instead.  I didn't have enough orange chalk pastels to try this out beforehand, but on Halloween morning I'll try to give an update on how it went in case you're interested in trying it (Update: here's my hair chalking tutorial).  Chalking your hair Daphne's color will probably work best if you have light hair.

     You should be able to devise costumes for the other members of Mystery Inc. using similar ideas.  For Velma you'll need red pants or skirt, an orange top, some plastic black glasses frames, red shoes, and orange socks.  If you don't already have hair like hers, you will also need some way to replicate it.  For Fred you'll need blue jeans, a blue collared shirt, a white sweater, a red ascot, and tan loafers.  If you don't already have blonde hair, you will probably need a wig unless you want to bleach your hair. 

     Also, here's one more costume idea I stumbled across when I was on YouTube yesterday: Disney Princess Belle.  I'm not a huge fan of the Disney princesses, but I have to admit that I love this Belle costume.