craft of the day

It's handy, it's cute, it's a homemade iPod case! Woot.

I Love Christmas Trees

I owe my love affair with Christmas trees to my mom. She has boxes and boxes of ornaments in the garage rafters, each for a different themed tree. I love her macaroni angels and clothes-pin toy soldiers. My very favorite tree theme is all silver - silver bows, silver balls, snowflakes, glass raindrops, silver beads, and most importantly, the set of silver bells my Grandpa Craig sent one by one over the course of many years.

I am still working on building my first themed tree, and I like to add a few homemade elements each year. Last year, I made the silver bows using wire ribbon - they are so easy to make and really fill out a tree. I also swapped out the metal hooks on all my ornaments for some pretty silver and white ribbon.


This year, I decorated a few of the ornament balls, but was a burned out from my hot glue gun and paint pens after making my mom's set. Hopefully I'll make more for myself next year.





I did make a set pine cone ornaments. I bought the pine cones at my favorite local arts and crafts store. The pine cones conveniently had holes drilled in the tops - perfect for the hooks. Make a small loop with flexible wire, leaving some length on one end to twist into a tail. Insert the tail into the hole at the top of the pine cone and fill with hot glue to seal. Thread ribbon through the wire hoop and tie. The pine cones look great plain, but I chose to cover mine with silvery glitter for some extra sparkle.

Finally, I bought a plain star from the craft store and covered it with the same silver glitter.


That should do it for this year's decorations, and I am really pleased with my tree. Buns is a little bewildered by it though.


Next year's project - a homemade tree skirt!

Little Hopper

The animal hats continue ...

This hat is for a friend's upcoming baby shower. I am making a blanket in the same colors.

Hopefully this little frog will keep the wee one's head warm and cozy this winter. :)

Family Tree

I was struck with a perfect home-made Christmas present idea recently - a set of Family Tree ornaments for my parents. Seeking inspiration, I came across some ornament articles on BHG.com. They have some great ideas for homemade ornaments as well as repairing damaged ornaments. I also tried to imitate some of the hand painted Waterford Holiday Heirloom ornaments.

Here is what I came up with:












Hopefully they love it!

Cuddley Caps

I am crocheting animal hats for each of my nieces and nephews this year for Christmas. I first saw them in a Lion Brand Yarn newsletter. I also found a bunch of designs at yellbaby.com.

Knowing I could make these cute hats myself, I asked each of my nieces and nephews what their favorite animal is. The oddest requests are a hippopotamus and a blue and black tiger (his school's mascot). I almost wish I hadn't asked, because my favorite designs were of the lamb, the lion, and the dinosaur, none of which were picked. I guess I'll just have to make them for another occasion.

Here is my test-hat:



Update: I had a friend over for Thanksgiving, and it turns out these hats are a hit with adults as well as children. She was gracious enough to model it for your viewing pleasure.