Projects From Christmas Past and Our Poor Tucker, A Warning About Puppies And Decorations

It's been a while since I last posted, I thought I'd re-post ideas from last year, some are very quick and easy.



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A while back I made cinnamon stick Santas. This time it's Snowmen! You can use them as ornaments, or use them to stir hot tea or cocoa. All I did was paint them white near the top of the stick, then I added the fingers cut from an old glove for his hat.( I got that idea from Garden Junk but I forget who mentioned it) I tied black thread around the hat to make it look more like a top hat and to hold it on better. Then I pulled some pieces from some pine garland and glued them on, along with a small red seed bead. The glue is still wet in the photo :D I used a pink colored pencil, or use some blush on a cotton swab, for the cheeks, and I used a paint pen to dot on eyes and a mouth. The nose is an orange glitter glue pen. Cute! Really inexpensive,too, I buy cinnamon sticks at the dollar stores, these are about 6".

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_12_05_archive.html#ixzz0aWP9MsJC

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I'm Such A Klutz

As my grandson and I sat down to make old time-y paper chains and lanterns from construction paper, I found out the stapler (don't kids love a stapler!) was out of staples. I filled it up, and closed the top...right on my index finger. Oh,yeah, it HURT. I was doing that little thing you do with your feet when you're sitting in a chair and staple your finger; that little stapled-your-finger-shuffle. My grandson says" oh, MeMe!!....are you okay?????". and I said "ack".....then I said "get it out,get it out!" :D Oh,my poor baby-man. I don't know how this happened, but the second he pulled it out, my finger started bleeding like crazy. It was pumping out, and what sort of thoughts did I have right then? dumb thoughts! like.....the conversation HossFly and I had just a few days ago while watching one of the CSI's about arterial spray! Then I thought "wait, there's no artery in my finger, what's this?" And then what do you think happens?? I suddenly feel faint and dizzy and my grandson is running around,bringing me Puffs Plus tissues,blood is pouring down my left hand and arm(lol, I don't know if the lotion helped or not,lol) saying he had to get help, and he runs to the window and looks to see if my truck is here. Nope, his Mom has my truck, and his PawPaw has my sister's truck, and we're here all alone. Then that angel baby says "MeMe, they're gone, we're gonna have to take the tractor!" and he grabs my hand and starts to pull me out of my chair toward the door :D Well, I felt dizzy and I didn't like that, so I walked to the sofa and sat on the floor ( same rule you use when you have babies applied here...you can't fall off the floor!) and had him bring me the phone to call Hoss. Gah!!......I get voicemail! What to do? Leave a message! He called back in about 10 minutes but by then I was feeling better and the bleeding had stopped once I sat on the floor and held my hand above my heart. ( I learned THAT on Hill Street Blues years ago when they chopped Dennis Franz pinkie off :D ) So Hoss finally walks in and helps me up, and when he does he sees the entire front of my shirt covered in blood, along with my left hand because I held my right hand in it, small sprays of blood across my face and neck I was unaware of, and he goes a shade paler, and gets me to the dining chair so he can look at me. He's saying " you said it was a tiny staple!" " I said, but it WAS a tiny staple", and show it to him! Yeah, we'd saved it for a souvenir, maybe altered art? lol, so anyway, he goes and finds me a clean t-shirt..one of his OWN prized shirts, his navy blue Corona t-shirt!..and takes over most of the baby-sitting duties. Looks like my lavender t-shirt is now a cleaning rag! I need more lavender and purple tops to go with my purple Crocs now :D

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_12_06_archive.html#ixzz0aWPriKKJ

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Here is my make-do Advent Wreath, I can't find mine....yet.....wait til after Advent and I will :D I got the magnolias on, but not the rest of the decorations on it. Yesterday we started putting up some things on the porch, got a few more done today, and maybe by Memorial Day, we'll have the rest put up!


So what crafty-licious-ness is going on around my shack? Snowman jars :D I was inspired by the ones PerpetualPlum made over on her blog. I happened to have everything I needed, but did want some of that tinsel-y wire garland. You know the ones, with snowflakes, or stars, or hearts or....I had HossFly take me to the local dollar store...OMG..they were OUT! But I just saw boxes of it the other day, when I didn't want any! Yes, Ma' am, we sold it all! Bleh..so I thought I could find some other ornamentation with some tinsel-y snowflakes on it, but nah. Not even those annoying icicles I swore we'd never allow back in our home, I thought I could just fill the jars with that. (you know the ones you vacuum up til Easter,then you're vacuuming up Easter grass til Christmas??) Well, a crafty girl is gonna make do and use what she already has....so I cut up some pieces of tulle and brushed it lightly with glue, and sprinkled glitter on them. Here are a few. My grandson made the smallest one, he added a necklace to his, a gift for his teacher. He used a long oval pearl for the nose. That one and the aqua one I made are antique medicine bottles that were dug up at my grandparents old house in town. The tallest one I made is a Starbucks frap. bottle. I made it a Snow Angel jar by adding white feathers. Guess what I used for eyes,nose, and mouth this time......LOL....those gold or silver studs you decorate leather or jeans with! I got a few of them stuck under my fingernails, but sometimes crafty goodness hurts. I had tons of them. So I stuck them in foil,painted them white, and sprinkled glitter on them. The pink cheeks were pieces of gold plastic trim I cut into small pieces and painted white and sprinkled with pink glitter.

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_12_08_archive.html#ixzz0aWQPFRBo

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Coffee Filter Roses

I finally got floral tape and made these last night. I think they look very realistic. I also made 3 pink ones, but I haven't finished them yet. Later, I'm going to work on some more, probably red ones. I'd like to find some silk leaves that look nice to go with them.
Here they are on top of one of the hat boxes I made. I found these on Martha Stewart, made by a lady named Cassie. The link to her site,Mommy Makes Roses is here.



I'm happy with how they turned out.

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_12_10_archive.html#ixzz0aWRDlONo


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Another Snowman Nodder-made from old rusty bedspring.

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Ribbon Poinsettias

Aren't these just the sweetest little poinsettias? Here's the link from Wrights Ribbon with directions and photos. This was SO EASY,even though it looks like it would be difficult. I followed the directions on the first one, then I "Kudzu'd" it :D As I sewed it, I thought " why wouldn't floral wire work?" So, the 2nd one is wired, and was easier and faster. Make them any size you want, I don't see why it wouldn't work. I wish I'd had some green ribbon to make leaves.
It says 3 yards ribbon, and I had 2 spools of wire-edged ribbon I got for $1 each, that makes this very inexpensive. I tried wiring the gold beads on with the ribbon, but then I just wired it, and then glued a pile of beads in the center.



Here's how to fold. Don't worry about making them all the same size, they look prettier with different sized petals.




Here's a close-up of how to wire or sew the inside edges. If you want to add beads as you go, you'd have to insert a bead in between each fold of ribbon.


Here's another look at how it's wired.



Mine came out a little uneven when I sewed it, but it's still a pretty poinsettia.



This is how it came out when I wired it. I glued the pile of gold beads in the center, the glue is still wet :D LOLLLLLLLL... I left the wire tails on in case I need to wire it to a gift, but if you don't need to worry about that, cut them off after you twist them tightly.

Now go make some poinsettias or some snowflakes!

It's going to be a tight budget Christmas, we'll have to put more effort into wrapping the gift beautifully this year!


You know, this might make a sweet little corsage for the kids to make Mom or Grandma this year :D OH! Or, a sweet little hair bow! Just wire it to a barrette :D Use different types of ribbon and make different sizes.

Kudzu

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_11_23_archive.html#ixzz0aWTjwmSm

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Handprint Mitten craft and Handprint Santa craft

Easy easy.....everything's good, just quickly wash their hands! lol, yeah, I have some bright green paint on my recliner :D
This was quick. I usually use styrofoam plates, this time I had a clear plastic lid from a disposable lasagna pan. Real handy, deep ,and I could throw it away.
For the mitten deciding the colors is the hard part. I let my grandson make a green handprint on red paper( oh, we used construction paper) Then I cut it out in a free-hand mitten shape and let him glue it to yellow, and free-hand cut a cuff from blue for the mitten. We folded the yellow sheet in half to make it into a card for his Daddy in Iraq, so he wrote his name and 2008 on the cuff.




For the Santa, he made a white handprint on blue paper, and I cut a free-hand red cap, and tore a cotton ball into pieces. A small piece for the tip of the cap, and stretched a longer piece for the edge of the cap. He used paint pens for the eyes, nose and mouth.



Here's the link for these crafts.....

Handprint Mitten
Santa Handprint

I just noticed this morning(Saturday) that I forgot to post the handprint crafts he made. Here they are now :D

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_11_28_archive.html#ixzz0aWUMkUQ3

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It's Oh-No-Chocolate-Covered-Cherries Time!

Around our home we can tell when the Christmas season has kicked in. It doesn't have anything to do with the Christmas music piped through the stores, or all the Salvation Army bell-ringers, or any of the other obvious signs; it's the day someone brings out a box of chocolate covered cherries. When we were growing up, and I think me and twin were about 9 years old, everyone still having a stocking hanging up for Santa to fill, Jolly Old St. Nick gave everyone a box of chocolate covered cherries. Well, that was nice, I loved chocolate covered cherries. However, they must have had them on clearance for like a nickel a box, because every time my mother said "there's a few more presents Santa forgot to put out" ,which was every year, because she'd buy stuff and forget about it til the kidlings were ripping wrapping paper off their gifts and out would come some little something wrapped in a wadded up,wrinkled old paper bag. But that year, what was she thinking, giving a house full of children all that candy,before church, because each of us...6 kids and 2 adults...got half a dozen boxes of chocolate covered cherries. Each. Did I say each? Oh my God, after the second time we EACH got a box, and had no rational adult to tell us to STOP EATING THE CANDY,and we weren't able to decide that on our own, we began groaning and muttering "oh-no-chocolate-covered-cherries". The boxes still kept coming! And don't forget, there's TWELVE days of Christmas, so how many boxes of O-N-C-C-C'S did we EACH wind up with? We couldn't eat them for a few years after that, but slowly, years and years later, a box would begin to show up and we still call them oh-no-chocolate-covered-cherries.
Twin brought a box of them over Friday. She didn't eat any. I ate one. It's Christmas Time.





*WARNING TO MY SISTERS AND BROTHER: DO NOT STARE DIRECTLY AT THE
O-N-C-C-C'S*

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008_11_04_archive.html#ixzz0aWVEkVMk
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Every Diva Needs A Crown-Even Snow Divas!

AllFreeCrafts.com has this ornament/decoration and tutorial! I'd always wanted to at least try this little cutie since I always have the supplies on hand to make it.( I just have a hard time finding stuff!) Yesterday I finally found the cotton cosmetic rounds. I know I must have put them in the cast iron skillet for safe keeping. So I'd remember where they were if I ever needed them. In the kitchen. On top of the dryer... *sigh* surely one of these days I'll be called to intervene on some cotton cosmetic round emergency...in the kitchen... and I'll be prepared. Somebody remind me to put them back where I found them after I'm finished...oh,and can you tell me which safe place I put the colored toothpicks?? I just need the orange ones :D
Ok,ya'll *blush* I can't be the only unorganized person in Crafty Goodness Land! Just wait, I'll get a lot worse in the future, and you'll feel bad for laughing at me! I noticed symptoms rapidly accelerating the day after I started this blog, so obviously it's caused by blogging and ya'll are doomed to suffer along with me...and now I forgot what I was talking about......

Gather up your supplies

white cotton cosmetic rounds
white school glue or tacky glue
* I just use cheap old school glue for everything!
small bottle of black dimensional paint
small bottle of orange dimensional paint
*I still haven't found my ginormous box of paints(no,really!) so I improvised and used whole cloves*cut the tops off and use them for eyes and mouth, and use one stem if desired for nose
and colored sequins..I chose silver and pink
and was GONNA use the orange toothpicks for a nose..but I lost them,too! if you have some, just cut the tip off the length you want your snowman nose to be
your favorite method of aging white fabrics(use Char's method over at The Pickled Pepper Patch...the recipe is in the No Sew Icicles post)
very fine glitter
*I used a lavender/white pearly and also a green/white pearly for mine
baby sock to make a stocking cap
*I cut out pieces of lace that resembled crowns for my Divas to strut around in and after dipping them in the fabric stiffener( cheap school glue!) I sprinkled gold glitter on some and silver on others
a silver pipe cleaner

The directions say use waxed paper, but I chose aluminum foil(uhh,because I'm out of waxed paper :D ) Lay out your sheet of waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Use a small container and squeeze about 2 tablespoons of white glue into it. Add about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of water and mix well. If you choose to age the cotton round, use the aging recipe instead of water. Drop a cotton round in and make sure it's saturated, and then squeeze the excess out. Smooth it out and lay on waxed paper, and reshape it. After you've finished and they're all laid out waiting to dry, this is a good time to add blush to the cheeks. Use a cotton swab, or your finger. I use my finger myself because I can never find the cotton swabs! Dip finger in blush-use the cheap brand of blush! Gently pat where you want the blush to be. If you put too much blush, just rinse it off and dip it back in glue and start over. Now sprinkle your magic pixie dust(glitter) all over the damp cotton rounds!!Heat your oven to low..I put mine on 200*F, and place cookie sheet in oven. Check in about 5 minutes to see if they've started drying. Don't forget to shut the oven off (this time) Once they've dried, then you're ready to make a face. I mean, give the Snowman a face!*blush* For the Prim version that I've tea stained, I used whole cloves and clipped the tops off for eyes and mouth, or use black paint to make 2 round eyes. Save one of the stems to use as a nose if you can't find your orange toothpicks, or use the paint to make a carrot shaped nose. Use 5 dots of paint for the mouth use 5 cloves. Glue down what needs to be glued :D Now, find a little baby sock, you know you have some because you can't throw ANYTHING away and you have a box full of single socks your 32 year old son used to wear when he was a newborn :D (I'm kidding! Don't use those..they're SPECIAL" ,lol!) Find some at a yard sale, people usually give them away :D Cut the top of the sock off by the heel, to make a stocking cap for your snowman. Here you could add a little pompom in the top of the cap. Add a string for hanging and there ya go! Oh, except maybe a little tiny decoration on the cap like a teensy snowflake or teensy tiny holly...



Here's what mine looked like after I put them in the glue-water mixture. The prim/grungy ones had a little of Char's Aging Mixture used on it



This is a prim/grungy one with a baby-sock cap. There's something too "clean" about it, so I thought maybe it needed flannel. I asked HossFly if he'd let me have one of his old shirts and he said he didn't have any. "ok, ya gonna give me a new one?" hehe...but no he says..."I don't have any flannel shirts anymore" what??? *sigh* I guess I won't be singing the Lumberjack song to him anymore. They never let me have any fun. Oh wait a minute!......we'll ask Santa to bring him flannel! Lots and Lots of Flannel...what? Hoss says I've gone off track again..



This is my Snow Diva. She has a few of the Diva requirements...Glitter,Sequins,a Tiara, and Pink.
And now she has a nose!( sorry about that, I just couldn't put my finger on WHAT I'd forgotten! But now she has an orange sequin nose :D I glued a silver pipe cleaner around her before adding the pink tulle scarf. It's just the right length to fold in half, glue on the edges, and twist together at the top for a hanger. Or attach a piece of fishing line or thread to hang from the tree or as a package decoration. I think it would make a great hang tag for a gift, you can write on the back with a paint pen or a permanent marker.

Read more: http://kudzukween.blogspot.com/2008/11/every-diva-needs-crown-even-snow-divas.html#ixzz0aWVibkPJ


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Our poor little 6 month old puppy took a grapevine ball ornament off our tree the other day and chewed it up. It killed him. I want to tell everyone be careful, you never know what children or puppies or kittens will put in their mouths.