Hearts Completed

I was playing around with my sewing stash and some paint a couple of weeks ago and I've finally finished some fabric hearts. They're a little wonky, and a little squishy, and a lot of lovely love. Yup, that's how I would describe them.

Luckily, my mom came over this week. She helped me stuff the hearts and she sewed the outside edges with an invisible stitch (my attempt was not invisible at all). She also gave me a bunch of sewing tips for the next time I decide to take on a sewing project.

Hearts in Progess

Wooden Ornaments

I incorporated what I've been doing in my classes and my art journal (acrylic paint, markers, papers, matt medium, doodles and collage) into these simple wooden ornaments.  They were so much fun to make!

Wooden ornaments bough at Michaels. 

I painted them with white acrylic paint and then used TOMBO markers to add some grey.

Printed paper cut-outs.

I pasted the cut-outs with Golden Matte Medium.

I originally removed the rope string they were meant to hang on before painting the ornaments.
I used this pretty red ribbon instead. I also used silver, 3-D fabric paint to embellish just a little bit.

So simple and so pretty!

Crafty Christmas Gift

Just a fun, crafty gift for my nieces and nephew...

Purchased at AC Moore

Small pads of printed paper $2.99 each.

Wooden cut outs $0.29 each.

3-D Glitter Glue in red, green, silver, and gold, $1.00 each.

Ribbon from my secret stash of crafty stuff. 

Now they can make there own paper ornaments. :)

Paper Ornaments

I love Christmastime and crafting! So, I dug out a pad of printed holiday papers and some ribbon I bought at Michael's a few years ago and decided to put them to use. These paper ornaments take some time to trace and cut out, but once you have all of your materials ready they are quite easy to assemble. I used printed card stock, but you can use construction paper, lighter weight printed papers and even wrapping paper to make these. 

3D Paper Ornament

Trace your ornament. I used a wooden ornament I bought at Michael's for $1.49.

Cut them out. I used four cut-outs for this ornament. 

Fold each one in half and then glue the backs together.

Before you glue the last one in place,
insert the ribbon at the center where they all meet.

Trim off any excess paper.

Hang on your tree.

I also tried 2D ornaments using holiday cookie cutters as stencils.
Just add ribbon to the center and glue the two shapes together.

These are quite simple but you can embellish with
glitter, 3D paint, stitching, buttons, ... if you wish.

This batch is for my nephew and his second grade classmates :)

A New Sketch and Some Embroidery

This is supposed to be an onion. Not my favorite sketch...

but I like it like this as a spread.

Last year, I thought I would embroider two holiday hand towels for the bathroom. I only managed to finish one. So, I'm getting started a bit earlier this year in the hopes that the two can hang together :)

Last year's towel completed.

This needs a little ironing.

Work in progress. 

I  used an embroidery transfer pen (which is water erasable) and a stencil (you can also use cookie cutters) to trace the mittens.

Dia de los Muertos: Niche/Shrine

How to make a Day of the Dead shrine.

You will need: patterned papers, craft paint, 3D paint, 
shadow box, and plastic flowers bought at the dollar store.

I experimented with papers first, cutting them to fit the interior of the box.

I used cardboard to cut out a banner for the top of my niche.
Then I painted it in linen white along with the box. 

I added doodles with paints and markers.

I glued down all the pieces with matte medium.

I literally stapled these plastic flowers to make sure they would stay put. 
Then I decided it need something extra, so...

I added some 3D fabric paint.

I've been wanting to try this ever since I started teaching third grade,
 and I'm quite pleased at how it turned out :)

Skulls, paper flowers and shrine.