A Christmas craft with the kids!

In case you haven't paid attention, Martha Stewart makes these adorable little felt mice for candy canes... they really are cute.  Unfortunately I don't have an abundance of felts, especially not in Christmas colors. And I wasn't about to buy some just for our homeschool.  But I do happen to have a lot of scrapbook paper.  (Imagine that!)  So we improvised.

Martha also gives a pattern.  And we didn't use it.  Just free handed a mouse body and cut it out.  And then cut out a piece for the ears that was sort of an elongated peanut shape.  Then cut slits in the body to stick the candy cane in and put a piece of scotch tape over it to hold it.  And then cut slits in the head part for the ear piece to slide in.  The nose is just a little shiny sticker.. but you could draw one just like we did the beady eyes.. or even make one out of paper. 

Fun Fun!  They were such a quick craft.  And they hang on the tree upside down like a possum afterwards, lol!!!

Some Christmas Gifts

I've been busy making gifts as of late and haven't really taken the time to post pictures.  These are some altered art necklaces that I made for people.  I made a lot more but don't want to post them all yet.  The three on the left are made from washers that I decorated and then glazed over with Crystal Effects which works as a sort of epoxy.  Then I put bails on the back and put them on chains.  The one on the right is actually a watch face.  They are available to buy, or you could find an old one to recycle I suppose but this one is nice and small.  (one inch)  They can be filled/decorated in any way, put a picture in, or whatever.

These are glass domino pendants.  I used the same technique as I described above. 

This Winnie the Pooh necklace was one that I made for my SS secret santa this year.  She seemed to like it, I'm so glad!

In case you were wondering about my materials, Crystal Effects is a Stampin' Up product.  If you don't have a rep to order from, and want to try it, I can refer you to mine.  The designs on the pendants vary between scrapbook papers that I had on hand, printed graphics that I downloaded from etsy artists, and others include free clipart.  Not so much on these, but others I ended up sketching and chalking myself.

The hardware all came from etsy.  I was able to order the glass tiles, bails and necklaces from different etsy stores and get pretty good deals because of buying in bulk.