Tag : crafts

27 posts

On Wednesday I was on a mission to get all of my errands complete before the snow then wicked cold snap was to hit. I went 11 places in just under 4 hours. Shockingly I didn’t spend a bunch of money either. I was hitting all the loss leader deals at various stores while still getting the essentials to last into next week. I wasn’t even planning on going to Michael’s but since I was just down the street from it I decided to check out the 80% off all Christmas deals.  I picked up the needed supplies to make a couple of wreaths.

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

Since we are putting away all of our Christmas decor today, it was now or never next year for wreath making. So I gathered my supplies and set to work.

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

I also had to find a video tutorial on the process of creating a deco mesh wreath.

This one worked for me.

What I didn’t comprehend was just how huge this was going to be!

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

It became painfully obvious that the scale of the elements I had purchased would be completely wrong.

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

I added some ribbon…and what appears to be a nice bow in the photo. Nope…just shoved the rest of the ribbon in there for storage until I can find someone to help me with the bow. Did I mention how much I suck at making bows!?! I called my crafty neighbor for help and evidently she lacks that skill as well. I’m thinking with the addition of a proper bow and perhaps some plastic Christmas balls this would work for an outdoor wreath.

Next I set to work on a winter themed wreath. Something to take you through until Easter.

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

Did you notice the price sticker on the deco mesh…? Goodwill $2.99 and I used a 25% off coupon so it was really $2.24, sweet! The wreath base was purchased previously when I made my burlap wreath. I started out and realized that the green wire base was showing through in a very unflattering way. First I doubled the number of pipe cleaners on the base but the green still showed through. It needed to be white.

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

Lucky for me, the temps were hovering around freezing yesterday so I was able to give the base a quick shot of paint in the garage.  Honestly, I’m surprised at how quickly it dried. I was really worried since the can said not to use below 55°F.

Isn’t it pretty!?!

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

I was making it for a gift but it looks so good on my front door that I think I’m keeping it. Shhh…

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

I love the iridescent shimmer in the mesh. Perfect match to a cold winter day.

Do you decorate for “winter” to carry through until St. Patrick’s Day or perhaps Easter?

A good friend of mine commissioned me to make a wreath as a Christmas gift.

wire wreath | Halle's Hobbies

I think it turned out quite nice.

Over the past few years I’ve started collecting Christmas trees. Mostly because I keep making a new kind each year but I’m not opposed to buying one at a thrift store or garage sale if it really speaks to me.

This year I was inspired by Mini-me. She had to film a tutorial for her technology class. Her group of three girls each picked a different Christmas craft and bought enough material for the three of them to each create their own.  She was inspired by this tree.

inspiration tree | Halle's Hobbies

Her version used smaller pieces of cardstock. It got very tedious for her towards the end of both punching all the scallops and hot gluing them to the paper cone. It was her punching all those pieces that had Mr. G prompting me to try my Silhouette machine again.

Speaking of paper cones…I made the cones from poster board after first seeing the price of a craft store foam version and then realizing that the foam would melt with hot glue. Glad I thought that one through before starting!!

lace wrapped tree materials | Halle's Hobbies

This tree came together really quickly.

vintage lace trim for lace wrapped tree | Halle's Hobbies

This vintage trim was in the bottom of my sewing box likely bought for some project my mom had intended to make in the 1970’s. At least it’s getting used now! lace wrapped Christmas tree| Halle's Hobbies

Isn’t it sweet. I had the tiny glass ornaments in my stash as well. All it needed was a topper. I auditioned several ideas but finally decided a star was in order.handmade star for lace wrapped tree| Halle's Hobbies

I drew a star on a piece of paper so I’d have a guide to do my bending. I used a twisted piece of 22 gauge wire. I had to “tie” the star at the crossover points “barbwire style” for stability.

The second tree (well technically it was the first one) was yarn wrapped.

yarn wrapped tree| Halle's Hobbies

I used a leftover partial skein of acrylic yarn for this one. Again I had some tiny trims in my stash to give the tree a finished look.

Nothing I love more than to use stash items! No cost…no trip to the store…AWESOME!

Tree collection | Halle's Hobbies

My humble little collection in our game area of the family room. You may be able to see both my Suess tree and cork tree. Additionally you also may be able to see the recycled Christmas card balls I made last year and the 12 days of Christmas swap book from several years ago adorning the table.

Secondlook

This month for Second on the 2nd, I’m sharing a post from February 2012 that still makes me laugh at how all over the place my creativity takes me. Sometimes even in the course of a day. Right now I’m just wishing that creativity would kick back into gear…I’m in a bit of a dry patch on the creativity front.

Join me for a look back…

eyes

I’ve been all over the place lately when it comes to creativity.
I think I may have Art ADD (attention deficit disorder).
Ok…some might argue that I have ADD in other areas of my life as well but the Art ADD is self-diagnosed.
I blame the other on Motherhood. Children steal you’re ability to keep a clear running thought in your head. :) But I wouldn’t change a thing.
Anyway…these are the things I’ve done in the past week.
I papered our recycling cabinet to match the fridge.
Knit another dishcloth on the loom

Knit a cowl on the loom…

Miniature terrain on a recycled CD…
Another terrain piece…
And last night I started another twirly crochet scarf because my elbow was hurting from the repetitive motion of the knitting.
Crochet seems to work my wrist more and doesn’t bother me.

In addition I’ve been washing and ironing my way through a large box of old linens. Deciding what is decent enough to save and use and what I can use in my artwork. Vintage linens and fabric are part of my idea for the Postcard Challenge book.

So, yeah…definitely Art ADD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was a crazy amount of creativity in a short amount of time. It would have been really great to bottle a bit of that enthusiasm for a later date such as now!

On a side note…what do you think of my blog makeover? I was feeling the need for a change. I’m still tweaking things here and there.  Please let me know if anything is weird or not functional for you. Thanks!!

Welcome to another edition of T stands for TuesdayT stands for Tuesday_200

Last week you may remember amidst celebrating our hostess Elizabeth’s birthday, I mentioned I had a busy week coming up. The reason was J and I were heading to Mother/Daughter camp for the third year in a row.

After a chilly rainy start the weather turned absolutely beautiful!! Mid 50’s and sunshine!! We were busy from dawn to dark. It was exhausting but fun. Before we even left for home I heard “next year when we come…”

We did lots of crafts….

journal and pen

journal and fiber wrapped pen with pompom

leather stamping

leather stamping…I plan to attach this to an upcoming journal

chalkboard

wooden chalkboard…I plan to do something more with this to make it a bit more pretty.

There was also a locker size magnetic white board decorated with fancy duck tape but that must have went to school already.

In addition there was horseback riding…horse barn after ride

and the highropes course that included a zipline.

I wanted to embed a video here but it’s not working out…so you’ll have to imagine J zinging along a wire over a ravine.  :)

We had a wonderful time!

This morning I sat with my coffee signing paperwork for my boy’s second day of driver’s training classroom instruction.IMG_0354

Time passes oh so quickly!!

I’ve got more paperwork to take care of today as well as a small mountain of laundry.

What are you doing today?

Another year behind us…

It’s been a busy one.  So many projects using a wide variety of media.  These are a few of my favorites.

year in review

Have a happy and safe New Year! Best to you in 2015.

I figured I’d post a bit early since tomorrow I’ll be busy with my final craft sale before Christmas. My mom says that the people in her complex are really excited about it, so I’m very optimistic for a good turn out.

Over the weekend I decided to make another new crafty item just perfect to share on T Tuesday.

20141206_7329 20141206_7330 20141206_7332 20141206_7334

Aren’t they cute!?!  This last one I assume would have been a votive candle holder. I’m in love with the pink velvet on it. I’m going to have to make a tea cup one with the pink velvet for myself. I just need to find the right cup.

I put a bit of steel wool inside the batting so the pins get sharpened with use.  I used E6000 to glue the cup to saucer; those babies aren’t going anywhere.

I’m off to load up my van to be ready for the morning.

What are you doing today?

PAGE TOP

© 2007-2024 Halle's Hobbies All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright