Design Mouse

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: The 12 Days Begin - 12 Crafty Links

1. Dear Santa Stationery: http://designeditor.typepad.com/files/desantastationery.pdf
2. Glitter Ornaments: http://www.erinvaledesign.com/leo_on_the_loose/2011/12/holiday-glitter-ornament-tutorial.html
3. Polymer Clay Gift Tags: http://www.etsy.com/listing/85620945/merry-merry-custom-large-round-white
4. Draw Your Own Gift Wrap: http://www.minieco.co.uk/hand-drawn-giftwrap/
5. Illustrated Characters to Use for Cards or Scrapbooks: http://www.welovetoillustrate.com/2011/11/free-printable-holiday-scrapbooking.html
6. DIY Felt Ornament Kits: http://rosylittlethings.com/snowdaykit.html
7. Recycled Paper Wreath: http://bkids.typepad.com/bookhoucraftprojects/2011/11/project-98-paperbag-wreath.html  (I'm going to try it with ribbon scraps.)
8. Milk and Cookie Snowmen: http://celebrationsathomeblog.com/2009/01/perfect-little-milk-bottles.html
9. Pop-top Treat Cans: http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/2009/07/christmas-in-july-freecycle-friday.html
10. Printable Holiday Kit: http://www.ellinee.com/freebie-friday-wood-type-holiday-printable-kit/
11. Stamp Your Own Wrapping Paper: http://www.mygirlthursday.com/2011/12/creative-holiday-wrapping-with-cassie.html
12. 12 Days of Christmas Tags:http://todaysmama.com/2011/12/printable-12-days-of-christmas-tags/

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: Polymer Clay Tree Topper

A few years ago I bought a small live tree for my house. None of the tree toppers I had for my miniature trees were big enough, so I made this angel. 

Materials:

• Gold polymer clay
• White polymer clay
• Flesh polymer clay
• Ribbon
• Star aspic cutter
• Lotion (for smoothing)

Steps:

1. Cut large triangle a little taller than you want the body to be. 
2. Cut off the top of the triangle to make the neck. 
3. Wrap triangle until edges meet in the back. Mine only meet at the top half, the back is slightly open. 
4. Roll two balls for the hands. 
5. Cut two smaller triangles for the sleeves. 
6. Wrap sleeves around hands. 
7. Connect arms to body. 
8. Roll ball for head. 
9. Connect head to body. 
10. Roll a thin snake of gold clay for the halo. 
11. Wrap around head. 
12. Cut wings to the size you want. 
13. Attach on the back. 
14. Cut star with aspic cutter. 
15. Stick star to hands. 
16. Smooth all clay with lotion to remove fingerpringts and soften the connections. 
17. Bake as directed. Don't overbake or the white will discolor!
18. Let angel cool.
19. Glue ribbon around the waist. 
20. Put the angel on your tree and admire your handiwork!

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: Advent Calendar Cards

An advent calendar has been part of our Christmas tradition for as far back as I can remember. One year, I created a twist on this for my parents, who lived 13 hours away. I made 25 cards using family Christmas photos for the front of the card. Then I wrote my journalling on the inside of the card. I used foam stamps to decorate and number 25 envelopes. 

I sealed the cards inside and sent two bundles, tied in ribbon, to my parents with the instructions that they should open one each day - according to the number on the envelope. Sending them in two batches meant that I only had to do 12 cards before December, then I had about a week to get the other 13 cards done. 

For Christmas I gave my parents and album that had pages the size of the cards so they could put them all in one place. This was a fun way to use some of our many family Christmas pictures and capture some of my thoughts.

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: Photo Christmas Cards

If you are a crafter & a photographer (or have one in the family) here is a great way to combine those two hobbies. And it's a quick way to make lots of Christmas cards. Not feeling crafty? You use the same concept by uploading your pictures to photo sites like Shutterfly and using their card templates. 

Search back through your pictures and find ones that remind you of Christmas - they don't specifically have to be Christmas pictures. The pictures in these cards came from: a hunting trip with my dad, Christmas decorations in Sun City, AZ and a snow day when I first moved to Seattle. The snowman is actually made in the bed of my truck in a hotel parking lot. If you know you want to do this - plan ahead. Take pictures of details this Christmas and use them next year. I found the best pictures had a single focal point and some "blank" space. I printed off some pictures that were too busy and didn't end up using them. 

Order a batch of 4x6 prints.  How many you order depends on how many cards you want to make. I think I got these for free with one of the Shutterfly specials. 

Cut your photos so that they are the main part of your card. You could do all cards the same size and shape if you want this to go even faster. I don't know why exactly, but I don't follow patterns well - I have to make each card a little different. 

Embellish away. I used ribbon, stickers, rub-ons (these are great directly on the photo), vellum quotes and my own handwriting. This is the crafty part - so have fun with it. 

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: Beaded Miniature Ornaments

Small Christmas trees have been a holiday tradition in my family. We often traveled during Christmas and it is easier to decorate many small trees than to do a large tree that we will only see for a couple weeks. My mom used to be able to find me cute miniature ornaments, which I got each day in my advent calendar. Now it is harder and harder to find good quality small ornaments. Some of the trees I found were also too small to support standard "miniature" ornaments. So I created my own. If you don't have small trees, these would also make great Christmas jewelry. 

Here are a few of the ornaments I made for my 10" and 7" tall trees:

Supplies: Wire (small gage, but not too flimsy, different colors are fun), headpins (use the cheap ones unless you are making earrings), beads the right size for your tree and wire (I used a variety - some are glass, some are super cheap fake pearls, some are metal), pliers, wire cutters, fine-tip paint pens. 

Instructions:

Swirl Glass Ornaments: 

1. Bend the end of your wire into a loop. 
2. Thread swirl bead onto wire. 
3. Add silver spacer bead.
4. Cut wire with enough remaining to bend a loop on the top. 
5. Create hook with a separate piece of wire. 
6. Connect hook to top loop. 

Vintage Heart Ornament:

1. Bend the end of your wire into a loop. 
2. Thread heart bead onto wire. 
3. Add large green seed bead.
4. Cut wire with enough remaining to bend a loop on the top. 
5. Create hook with a separate piece of wire. 
6. Connect hook to top loop. 

Pearl Ornaments:

1. Thread pearl bead onto a headpin. 
2. Add seed bead on top of pearl. 
3. Cut wire with enough remaining to bend a loop on the top. 
4. Create hook with a separate piece of wire. 
5. Connect hook to top loop. 
6. Decorate with fine-tip paint pens. (I drew hearts, stars, snowflakes, holly, wreaths & dots).

10 Days of Holiday Crafts: Let it Snow!

I wanted to hang snowflakes above the entryway but I didn't want to put a bunch of holes in our wall. Since we have a lofted ceiling above the door, hanging from the ceiling was out of the question. First I considered using a piece of fat ribbon as a border to hide the top of the threads, which I think would work well if you have the right ribbon handy. I did not, so I turned to my Cricut. 

Here is what I ended up with: 

Each snowflake is tied with silver thread. The end of the thread is attached to the trees with blue tape. Then more blue tape is used to stick the trees to the wall. The only real trick is to keep the threads short where people will walk and around the vents. 

Wedding Decor: Invitations

I love all the coordinated wedding invitations I see online, but I didn't want to pay for custom invitations. Besides, I wanted the fun of designing my own.

I loved the poster-inspired invitation from The Spark Machine. So I borrowed that idea. For the main focus of the invitation I copied a stylized postcard from The Century Ballroom's New Year's party. Ryan and I took a lot of dance classes there, so it felt appropriate since it was an element of our relationship. Here is what we ended up with:

For the smaller graphic elements I downloaded some fonts from ScrapNFonts.

I created the whole thing using Adobe InDesign. I printed all the invitation components using coupons and rewards points at Staples. The gal working the print center let me come back and help her get all the color adjustments just the way I wanted them.

Ryan then helped me cut, round corners and score about 100 invitations.

He then helped me stamp the seals and matching envelopes. I glued matching labels in the bottom left corner of each envelope, covering up that rough edge on the lower stamp. 

As you can see from the pictures it was pretty dark while we were doing this. We don't get much light after 5pm in the winter around here. 

Our Wedding: Theme & Planning

I designed and (with the help of friends) made all the decorations for our wedding last year. We wanted to save our money for the honeymoon and I love to craft things. I'll post details on all the handmade decorations over the next little while. 

The first step for me was to determine the theme and how we wanted the wedding to feel. Since this was a celebration that centered around the two of us I focused on showcasing our relationship. Ryan and I both wanted the wedding to be fun, joyous and to focus on the celebration.

With those things in mind I set a timeline. We chose a wedding date that would be best for our honeymoon and that would line up with Spring Break for some of the family. I knew the planning process would not be fun if I worked on it for the whole six months leading up to our wedding. And I didn't want to miss my favorite time for celebration, Thanksgiving-New Year's.

Prior to Thanksgiving I focused on finding a venue and creating/sending the invitations. I selected colors by combining things in my craft room until I found something I liked. In the end, my favorite paper ended up being the guide to my color choice. I created the color card below in Adobe InDesign and modeled it after the Inspired Bride, which has wonderful color combinations. 

The only other thing I did was gather ideas for decor. Emails about the wedding cease between November 18 and January 2. By the time I started up again I was re-energized and all the separate ideas I gathered had time to blend together and become my own. 

Next post: My Inspiration Board

 

 

Wire Beading Technique

I tried my hand at a different kind of beading during craft day today. I used wire to make all the loops and even the clasp for this necklace. It looks tedious but it is the perfect craft for meditating or talking with friends as you do it. I will definitely be making more! 

You can see the individual beads at the top of the picture. I threaded them on wire and created the loops. In the middle are the double-loop links. At the bottom I connected beads with the double loops. I know this will also look good with fewer beads and more wire, especially if the beads are bigger or brighter. 

I like the extra contrast the colored wire adds without having the extra weight & density from more beads. 

Materials:

• Amethyst Beads
• Garnet Beads
• Colored Beading Wire

Handmade Glass Pendants

Now that I am done with school and have a little free time on my hands, I got busy making things again. My most recent discovery was these fun glass pendants. I actually bought the supplies close to a year ago (from this etsy shop). It was even easier than I expected when I finally got down to it. There are five basic supplies you need:

1. Glass
2. Paper
3. Glaze
4. Bail
5. Glue

The paper is where it gets fun. You can just find pretty papers (like most of the examples in my first picture) or you can get artistic and decorate your own. Since they are only about 1 inch wide, you don't have to be too artistic. I used watercolor pens to create the background on the tree silhouette then stamped over the top with black ink. Easy peasy. I love being able to capture bits of my favorite paper, too. I feel this will help me let go of some I've been hoarding...

The steps for creating a pendant are as follows:

1. Select/decorate paper
2. Cut to size (too big is better than too small, you can always trim later)
3. Put glaze on rough side of glass
4. Press glass lightly on paper, aligning your image
5. Push down so glaze covers the whole image (do this after you are sure the image is where you want it)
6. Be patient while glaze dries
7. Trim any excess paper and use nail polish or sandpaper to clean up excess glaze
8. (Optional) Brush the back with glaze to seal then be patient again
9. Glue bail on back
10. Hang around neck 

Here are the first examples with the bail:

And here is another batch that I made today. I am currently at step 6 - Be patient.