Christmas in May...Elegant Feather Ornament

Better late than never!  (It's still the 25th for just a little while longer!)  In keeping with my tradition, here is this month's ornament.  This wonderful idea came from Breezy's Mom, Lisa! = )  It's easy, elegant and meaningful.  (This was shared as the favor for their December Women's Prayer Breakfast.) 

Take a glass ball ornament, fill it with a single white feather.  (Lisa says these can be found by the bag at Hobby Lobby).  Simply draw on sprigs and berries with white and silver markers (found at any craft store) and add a sheer ribbon for hanging. 

Lisa wrote this beautiful poem which she typed onto a card with a pretty little angel.  Simply punch a hole and thread it over the ribbon for gift-giving.  (I haven't yet figured out how to make this an attachment to the blog post, but I do have it as a PDF file.  If you'd like me to send it to you, simply e-mail me at tcklensch@gmail.com.) 

Isn't that a great little ornament?  Special thanks to Lisa for sharing such a wonderful idea! 

Christmas in April...Handprint Snowmen!

If you're a regular reader, you know I feature a Christmas ornament idea on the 25th of every month.  I know, I know...it looks a bit strange to see "Christmas" in April.  My goal however, is to help you prepare in small ways all throughout the year, so that when the season arrives, you'll have some breathing room admidst the chaos.  If you're one who cannot bring themselves to think of Christmas until after Thanksgiving, that's fine too.  By then, there will be quite an archive of ideas for you to choose from! 

I'm especially excited about this month's ornament.  It's one of the cutest I have ever seen!  I found it originally at Confessions of a Homeschooler, and saw other versions at Home Grown Hearts and My Family My Forever, as well.  I already had all the necessary materials...well, almost everything, that is.  The one thing I needed most were some tiny hands!  As I began to think of who I might recruit to help, a light bulb went off! 

Meet my friend Stephanie and her adorable kids Rheya and Zander. 

She and I work together at the law firm.  She is a computer whiz and absolute sweetheart. We became Facebook buddies a while back, and I soon discovered she was also a busy and very devoted wife and Mom.  Her love for her family just beams and she loves doing things with them.  I wondered if she might like to make these ornaments with her kids, and guess what?  She was all for it!  I gave her the materials and printed the tutorial found at Confessions of a Homeschooler, and she took it from there.  With two of her three kids, they created these...

Rheya's...

...can't forget her little thumb snowman...

Then Zander's...

and his thumb snowman...

Aren't they ADORABLE!?!?  Those sweet and priceless handprints get me every time!  This is truly one of the sweetest ornaments, ever!  Can you imagine what a terrific gift this would be a for Grandparent?! Add some filler inside (snow, tinsel, paper shred, cotton batting, etc.) and you're good to go! 

There is even a poem you can print and attach to your ornament: 

These aren't just five snowmen

As anyone can see.

I made them with my hand

Which is a part of me.

Now each year when you trim the tree

You'll look back and recall

Christmas of 2010

When my hand was just this small!

I got even more excited that in the process of all this, I learned Stephanie had always wanted to start a blog.  Well?  Now she has!  Please stop by her place, Adventures in Mommyland 101 and give her a warm welcome to blogworld. 

Christmas in March...Mittens!

Greetings friends! In my efforts to help you prepare for Christmas all year long, here is this month's ornament (just a shade late...usually the 25th of each month).  Not too long ago, I found a WONDERFUL site, "Childmade...an Idea Place."  I found scores of great ideas...one of which I chose to do for this month's ornament selection...(hold onto your hats...these are ADORABLE!) 

http://childmadetutorials.blogspot.com/2010/01/mini-mittens.html

Normally, I show you step-by-step instructions, but her tutorial in this link is sooooo well done, I'm going to instead suggest you follow her instructions.  That's exactly what I did and I had no trouble whatsoever (although mine are nowhere near as darling as hers!)  You can make them in sets... 

or make them in singles...

I'm just getting started, but I've discovered these are so much fun to make!  As you can see from the examples in her tutorial, the possibilities for decorating the mittens are endless!  Not only that, you can make a set for Christmas, and then another set to keep up all winter long!  Have fun & let me know if you give them a try.

Christmas in February...Clay Pot Snowman!

You will remember, I promised to post a Christmas ornament idea every month on the 25th.  With just a little pre-planning throughout the year, think how well prepared you can be for Christmas!  This month's ornament...a snowman! 

Start with a tiny clay pot.  There was no size increment on the package, but I can tell you it was similar in size to a medication cup. You will also need:  acrylic paint (white and other colors of your choosing), ribbon or thread for hanging, small scraps of fleece or felt, tiny pom-poms (optional), needle and thread, tiny rubber bands and glitter or Epsom Salt (optional).

Start by painting your clay pot white.  It took two coats.  Take a felt or fleece scrap approximately 3 x 6 inches in size (it needs to be large enough to wrap around your clay pot toward the top (actually the bottom) with room for stitching.  There will be lots of excess over the top of the clay pot. 

(Sorry for the change in colors...) Fold your fabric in half and stitch along the short side as shown. 

Trim the excess close to the seam and turn inside out.  It should look like this.  Set aside.

Back to your clay pot.  Paint the rim as desired (this is the scarf of the snowman).  Once dry, you'll want to prepare it for hanging.  You'll need approximately 7" of ribbon.  Fold in half as shown and feed the ribbon through the bottom hole.  I used a washer to keep it from going through.  It just occurred to me you could use a little jingle bell...how cute would that be?

Place your clay pot face down with the ribbon through the top. (Don't worry that your washer is resting on the table.) 

Slide your felt or fleece tube over the ribbon onto your clay pot. Fold up the lower edge and rubber-band or tie tightly the upper-most portion of the tube. Pull up on your hanging ribbon. It should now be secure. Take a sharp pair of scissors and trim little notches in the gathered felt on top as shown.

I used pom-poms for the nose (you could also use paint or tiny buttons or beads).  Paint the eyes and mouth (or use a fine point Sharpie). 

Decide one of your snowmen looks like he could use some ear muffs (larger pom-pom, cut in half) = ) 

If you choose to glitter or cover your snowman with "snow" (Epsom salt), you'll want to do so before adhering the pom-poms (or you'll need to take them off and move the hats slightly off the clay pot before coating with glue).  Sprinkle with snow or glitter.  Replace hat & pom-poms. Enjoy!

(This would also make a fun tie-on to a Christmas gift!)

Want to see more crafty, creative ideas?

Christmas in January...Sweet Pasta Angel!

Can you believe Christmas was a month ago?!  Wow, that seemed to fly.  I don't know about you, but I seemed to find all sorts of wonderful and creative craft ideas in blogworld in the month of December!  In fact, it seemed the closer we got to Christmas, the more creative ideas I found.  There were sooooo many things I wanted to try...just simply not enough time.  Well, I may have come up with a plan...
I'm going to take some of those ideas I saw in December and create them all throughout the year.  My plan is to feature one every month on the 25th.  So while it might look a little strange to see ornaments in April, July or September, think of how many things you could have finished by Christmas!  What do you think?   
I want to start with a simple pasta angel.  I've seen many variations, but it's always the same basic idea.  Here are the materials I used:

In addition, you will need tacky glue and your embellishments of choice (hot glue helps, too).
Start with one of the wooden beads (I used 3/4").  Take your ribbon (I used narrow, wired silver).  Cut a piece approximately 5 inches lin length and fold it half.  Feed through the holes in the bead.  Tie a knot.  (This is your loop for hanging the ornament.)   

Feed the lower part of the knot down through a rigatoni noodle.  Run a bead of glue around one end and attach where head comes to rest. 

Now it's time for the bow tie pasta, oops...I mean wings!  Glue them onto the rigatoni, up near the angel's head.

Your angel needs some arms! You will need 2 pieces of macaroni.  Run a bead of glue along one side of each piece and affix them as indicated. 

Now, she'll need some hair.  I found this tiny little star pasta.  You could use rice, grits, cous-cous or any other very small pasta.  Pour a small amount into a shallow container.

Spread a layer of glue on the angel's head, in the approximate shape of her hairline (avoiding the hole on top of the bead where the loop will come through).  Affix pasta. 

By now, your angel should look something like this.  From here, there are all sorts of variations.  I've seen them painted gold, silver, soft white or not painted at all.  I've seen them with faces and without.  I've seen them holding stars, tiny silk rosebuds, tiny songbooks, and even an upside-down tack to simulate a candle! 

When trying to decide what to use for my angel, I ran across these in my button tin.  I thought...perfect!

Glue the embellishment of your choice in between the macaroni.

Oh, and one last thing...her halo!  (Found in the wedding section of the craft store.)   

There you have it!  This would be a really wonderful craft to do with older children. I'd love to hear if you give it a try.  Watch for the next ornament on February 25th! 

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