Christmas 2013 DIY Crafts #4

  Last Christmas, I made stockings for me and Jackey.  This year, I also wanted to make stocking but these ones are actually very small- a bit bigger than my thumb.  These stockings are cute, simple to make and versatile as well.  They can be used as ornaments for your tree and magnets for your fridge!  You can even stuff them with small sized candy canes and give them away as little treats!

FINISHED PRODUCTS:

MATERIALS USED:
- felt pieces bought from Michaels (can also be found at Wal-Mart and Dollarama)
- ribbon from Michaels
- magnet sheet from Michaels

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Step 1)
- select a piece of felt in the color of your choice
- use a pencil to draw out the shape of a stocking to the size you like (draw a slightly wider silhouette than the desired size because after you sew it, the stocking will be smaller)
- cut out the stocking outline and use that to trace and cut out a second piece of the same size

Step 2):

- using a needle and similar colored thread, sew the 2 pieces together but leave the top separated

- try to sew evenly on all the sides (once again, do not sew the top opening)

- when you are done, flip the stocking inside out so that all the stitches are facing the inside

Step 3):

- select a ribbon of your choice 

- cut off a piece that fit exactly around the mouth of the stocking with a bit overlap

- use a hot glue gun to glue the ribbon in place

Step 4):
- select another ribbon of your choice and cut off a piece for the handle of the stocking (this will depend on how long you want the handle to be)
- glue or sew the ribbon on the inside of the stocking and make sure the handle is secure


Step 5):
- from your magnet sheet, cut out two small pieces of magnets and glue it to the back of your stocking using a hot glue gun

IT'S DONE!!

Christmas 2013 DIY crafts #3

When I first bought these materials, I wasn't sure what to do with them but I think that's the best part about crafting- endless possibilities.  I just sat there the other night and started playing around with my materials and actually ended up making something that I liked. 

FINISHED PRODUCT:

MATERIALS USED:

- a pack of ornaments ( from Dollarama- xs sized)

- ribbons (bought from Michaels)

- Alphabet Stickers (bought from Michaels)

- plain cards (bought from Wal-Mart)

HOW TO MAKE:

Step 1:

- measure out enough ribbon so that it forms a border that is exactly 1 cm from the sides (make sure that the ribbons form an even border before gluing anything down)
- only glue down 3 sides, leaving the top piece of ribbon for Step 3

Step 2:
- select two ornaments from the pack
- cut out 4 cm of ribbon and cut straight down the middle vertically so that you have two thinner pieces of ribbon that are 4 cm in length
- string each of the ribbon through the top of the ornament, respectively
- decide where you want to place them on the card and glue them down

Step 3:
- take the outstanding piece of ribbon from Step 1 and glue it across the top
- make sure that the ribbon from the ornaments are tucked in

Step 4:

- decide what holiday message you like across the front of your card and write it out with the alphabet stickers

- IT'S DONE!

Favorite Christmas DIY pieces from 2012- Center pieces

These are centerpieces that I created from last year.  It was my first time making floral arrangements and centerpieces.  I was quite satisfied with the finished product and ended up using them when I had my friends and family over for dinner.  Check put the tab under December 2012 for details on how to make this piece!

Christmas 2013 DIY Crafts- Part 2

This project is actually one of my favorite DIY cards because I find cards that are made with ribbon are very pretty!

Final Product:

MATERIALS USED:

- ribbon from Michaels

- blank cards (I bought mine from Wal-Mart and they are Martha Stewart)

- alphabet stickers from Wal-Mart

- white tissue paper from the Dollar Store

- overhead sheets/projection paper from Wal-Mart

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Step 1:

- take a blank card (any color of your choice) and punch 3 holes on the top of the front side

- outline a rectangle exactly 1.5 centimeters from all the sides and it out to leave the card with 1.5 cm frame

- take an overhead sheet and cut out a rectangle slightly wider and longer than  the rectangle that was cut out from the card

- glue the clear rectangle onto the back of the front side (without covering the 3 holes on the top) 

Step 2:

- take a piece of tissue paper and cut out a small piece that 3 cm in length and will fit across the card

- on one of the longer sides, cut semi-circles of different sizes across the sheet

- glue the tissue onto the inside of the card and trim off any ends that hang out on the sides and edges

 Step 3:
- take the alphabet letters and write a holiday message of your choice
- use a white-out pen and draw various dots across the card to look like snowfall

 Step 4:
- select your choice of ribbon and cut out roughly 15 cm in length
- string it the holes from the inside and back out to the front and tie a ribbon with the ends

Finished Product:

Christmas 2013 DIY Crafts- Part 1

It's been a long while since my last post but Christmas is always the time for DIY crafts! For the next couple of weeks, I am hoping to post at least one DIY project everyday.  Today's craft is a 3-D Christmas tree card.

This is the end product:

MATERIALS USED:

1) Christmas sticker pack from Winners (or other sheets of stickers with a design)

2) Pre-cut felt Christmas trees from Wal-Mart

3) Red ribbon from Michaels

4) A stack of plain white cards ( can be bought from Michaels, Walmart, Winners, etc)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Step 1: 

- take two felt trees and fold them in half

- take one side of each of the trees and glue them together (you should have three pointy ends and one flat side)

-glue the flat side down on the front of a white card

Step 2:

- cut about seven inches of the red ribbon and fold it into a small bow

- trim the ends to even the bow out

-

- glue the red ribbon directly above the tree on the card

Step 3: 

- select a sheet of patterned stickers and cut out a pentagon shape with the longest end measured at one inch (this is to form the pot for the tree) 

- glue the pentagon directly under the tree on the card, with the longer end facing upwards 

Two-min Decoration Idea

This year, I bought new ornaments for me tree but I was only enable to keep a few of my old ones that actually matched my new set.  I thought it would be too wasteful to throw them out so I used them to make another decoration piece.  This piece only took two mins to "make."  The materials consist of a vase, ornaments and ribbon.

Instructions:

- rearrange ornaments in the vase 

*TIP: I think that purposely rearranging it to look "random" is nicer than trying to follow a pattern

- Glue/tape ribbon around the vase and tie the ends into a bow

DIY Centerpieces- My favorite DIY project so far

This year, I decided to make my own centerpieces and it turns out that it's actually very easy and inexpensive to make ones that look very nice.  I made two different pieces for my dining table.  Each of them cost roughly around $6 in materials.

Materials bought from:
- Dollarama (square vase, ribbon, plastic flowers and a foam brick)

INSTRUCTIONS (to make the one on the bottom)
STEP 1:
- Use a knife and cut out a small piece (about 2 inches thick) from your foam brick and trim the sides so it fits perfectly at the bottom of your vase (if needed)

STEP 2: 

- Using pliers, snip the flowers and leaves so that the stem of each flower is a bit longer than the height of your vase 

STEP 3: 

- Start arranging your flowers by placing them in the vase and use the foam at the bottom to make sure your flower stands upright 

*tip- start with the bigger and more eye-catching flowers that you would like to use as the center of your piece so that it'll be easier to decide where to place the other pieces

- For the main red flowers, I used 5 of them- one sticking out from each side of the vase and one in the center (for a layer effect, the one in the center sticks out higher than the rest)

STEP 4:

- Add the other flowers and plants that you have chosen

- For this piece, I used three stems of gold leaves to surround the red flower in the middle, and two gold pine cones, placed at opposite corners of the vase

STEP 5:

- Measure your ribbon around the vase and cut out two separate pieces that are long enough to wrap all the way around the vase

- Next, glue/tape the ribbon strategically so that it covers the foam brick at the bottom

- Finally, tie a nice bow and tape/glue it to the front

*TIP:

- If you used tape like I did and realized that some of the tape is sticking out, then you can try placing another decoration (i.e. a piece of leaf) in middle of the bow (see below)

- If you like the design of the arrangement beneath, just follow the steps above but select different accompanying pieces