Painting of Fall Leaves

As a Christmas gift for my husband, I did a painting of fall leaves.

If you want to see photos of our family's christmas, just pop on over to my sewing blog.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas, Everyone, from our home to yours. I hope you have a blessed day as we celebrate the birth of our wonderful, risen Saviour!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Decorating Tote Bags With Apples - Great Idea for Gifts

At Wal*Mart, we picked up a couple of packages of canvas tote bags, three in a pack, for $6.00, $2.00 per bag, in the craft section, and decorated them. We sliced apples in half, painted them with acrylic paint and first practiced stamping on paper and then stamped them on the bags. We placed cardboard inside to keep the paint from bleeding through to the other side. After stamping the apples, we painted stems and leaves with a paint brush. On one of the bags, stamps were used to depict lady bugs crawling out to the garden. After the paint on the bags dried, they were heat set by placing a press cloth over them and pressed with the iron. These make great, quick and easy, Christmas or birthday gifts. We are keeping some for ourselves to use as library and shopping bags. This was so much fun and a perfect project for kids and adults alike.

Pretty Pony Tail Holders

The children and I made these pretty ponytail holders. They are so easy. You can use ribbon, tulle, or strips of fabric. We used a little of everything. With the strips of fabric we used pinking shears to cut out the strips to help prevent the raveling of the fabric. Cut the strips 12 to 14 inches long and 1/2 an inch wide for thicker matierals and you can go up to an inch wide for thin materials, like tulle and ribbon. Use anywhere from five to seven strips per pony. Tie them on, spread them about a 1/8th to a 1/4 of an apart, and you're done. You can make one to coordinate with every one of your little girl's outfits. Moms can wear them, too.

Red Felt Christmas Tree Ornaments

Here is the second ornament that we made. We got the idea from Kristy who got the idea from Zakka LIfe.

They were so easy and fun to make. We made them from 3-inch and 4-inch felt circles. Cut out six circles from whichever size you choose. Then stack the circles one on top of the other, fold a 3-inch strip of ribbon in half and place it between the layers at the top. Sew a straight line through the center of the layers, and it will catch the ribbon and hold it in place. Then pull two semicircles together and sew a stitch in the center. Pull up another one and put in a stitch, one on each side, stitching it to the last semicircle that you had completed. Then pull up another and stitch in the center, Continue with this pattern (one center stitch, two top and bottom stitches) until you've created a sphere and every circle flap is attached to each other. It's that simple. You could add beads with each stitch. We did that for one, but we actually preferred the look of them without the beads. In the last picture, we put both the Twinkle Pom ornaments and the red felt ornaments on the tree together. I Love them. They look so pretty in our living room. What do you think? Do you think you'll be making some ornaments this year? I'd love to know what things you are making for Christmas.

Twinkle Poms Christmas Tree Ornaments and How To

We made these super fun, quick and easy Twinkle Pom ornaments for our tree. All you need is a package of Twinkle Poms, straight pins, styrofoam balls and 3-inch ribbon. You can substitute other poms that are not sparkly if you would like. You need approximately 50 to 55 Twinkle Poms for the 2-inch in diameter balls and probably 30 to 40 for the smaller size. We used the smaller size, because once you add the poms, they are a pretty good size. Then just stick the straight pin through the pom and then through the ball. It's that simple. When adding the ribbon, fold in half, put a pom on top of it at the bottom and put the pin through all of the layers and into the ball. One little suggestion. You don't have to do this, but you may want to consider adding a little tad of Elmer's glue directly to the styrofoam ball and before adding the poms just for extra stickability and assurance that the pins don't slip out at some point. We didn't do this. We haven't had any problems.

We went outside and gathered some twigs, spray painted them white, put them in a vase and added our new ornaments. You can also put them directly on your Christmas tree or give them as gifts. You still have time to make these because it doesn't take a lot of time. It's a great project for kids. Have fun, and let me know if you make some.

Reminder: Just wanted to remind everyone that my 9 year old daughter and I both have our own sewing blogs. Mine is Sewing With Trudy and Emily's is Super Stitches. I hope you'll go look around. The top post is the same as this one; so you'll have to scroll down to see what else we've been up to.

I'll be posting another tutorial on Wednesday on how to make a different fun and easy Christmas Tree decoration. And in the next few days, Emily will be posting a tute on how to make a Christmas tree skirt on her blog.

We've recently made lots of other great things that we'll be posting over the next few weeks. So be sure and check back.

Multiple Projects in the Works

The children and I are in the middle of several projects right now. We are spending this entire week working on them. I'll have the finished products to show you real soon. You might even get to see one tomorrow.

Soldering and Altered Book Tutorials

Shona over at An Artful Life has a couple of awesome tutorials, one on soldering and one on altered books.

And The Winner Is .........

Congratulations to the beautiful and elegant Lady Queenie! She seems like such a gracious lady. I hope you will check out her blog.

I would like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway contest. It's been a lot of fun.

GIVEAWAY DAY, DECEMBER 2ND - THE MORNING OF THE 7TH

I am doing a giveaway in conjunction with Sew Mama Sew. I am giving away art supplies. I will purchase the art supplies based on the artistic interest of the winner.

This is open to everyone. I will ship internationally. My giveaway starts tomorrow, December 2nd, and runs through December 6th. You may leave your comments all through the night of December 6th and up until noon Central time on December 7th. The winner will be chosen by random drawing.

To be eligible, you must sign up as a follower and add my blog to your blog list. Let me know you have done this in the comment section. If you are already a follower and have already added me to your blog list, just let me know this in the comment section.

I am also having a giveaway on my sewing blog. And my daughter is having one on her sewing blog. So be sure and enter those as well to increase your chances of being a winner.

ALSO WANTED TO MENTION that my artist friend, Shona, of An Artful Life, is also doing a giveaway on her blog. She has written a book that is being published by North Light Publications. It comes out in March of 2010. It's called The Artistic Mother - A Practical Guide To Fitting Creativity Into Your Busy Day. It is an awesome book; so I encourage you to make a note of it on your calendar so you can get one when it comes out. Just to give you a few of Shona's credentials. She has been published in several publications including Somerset Studio's magazines, and she is an artist on call for Stampington & Company. She has an awesome blog; so be sure and take a look around while you are there. She is giving away a handmade tote and matching altered journal.

Here is a picture of her giveaway gift below: