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Make: Christmas Tree Ornaments

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When the year is ending, I really get into the mood to DIY some Christmas projects and ornaments to decorate my house and Christmas Tree. Though my current home it is not as perfect as I want it to be but I am sure next year will be better when I am at my new home. Just can’t wait to get over the renovation, I want to move in now!

Last year, I bought a new Christmas tree, a 7′ Royal Douglas Fir, it is huge and bushy, so big until it looks empty without adding more ornaments on it. This year, I made a few mini Christmas tree to hang on it. Hopefully I will be able to add more DIY ornaments every year until I can replace all the store bought ones from the past years and proclaim the tree to be Tree Of DIY Ornaments…. dreamer syndrome attack again but I surely hope that this wish will come true one day.

The concept of making these little Christmas tree ornaments is similar to my popular tutorials – Pencil Holder and the Candy Cone Memo Holder, that is by wrapping yarn or twine around the form, follow by embellishment. Younger kids can do it with some supervisions and helps from adults and older kids should be able to handle it without fuss.

I hope you enjoy making your own Christmas ornaments to decorate you tree as much as I do.

Merry Christmas!

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DIY Faux Brick Wall

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Some times, in order to make my photos more impressive, I will bring my handmad to other places for photography, such as beach, restaurant, park, jetty etc… That’s why you may notice that I need more time to prepare my tutorial which is normally 1 or 2 weeks of lagging. But, if I have a choice, I prefer to do the photography in the comfort of my home. With that in practice, that means I need some portable backdrops… fabrics and wooden backdrops came easily, but real brick is impossible to be “portable” due to it’s weight.

I have put off the idea of having brick wall in my home till I renovated my new condominium to purposely make a painted old brick wall at one of the corners…. until… I shop in my local Ace Hardware Store…… I was searching for some aerosol paints for repainting my old wicker basket when I saw the “make it stone!” texture paint on the shelf. I was so impressed with the effect shown on the cap of the aerosol can. I bought it back and thinking of “stoning” my old plastic wall-hung planter. That night on my bed, just before I fell asleep, I suddenly came out with the idea of making a faux brick wall with this paint after recalling that I saw a video using polystyrene foam panel to make similar backdrops for the stage. Guess what? I was insomnia that night because the processes of making this faux brick wall kept me awake, I was very excited and can’t wait till the next morning!!!!

I am glad that I had a sudden inspiration of making it and see how I did it after the jump….. There after, you will see it appears in my photos more often too.

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Make a Snowman ornament from polyfoam balls

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10 days to go… I am counting down for the Christmas and singing this all day long ~~ ♥ I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, Just like the ones I….. ♥ ~~~ The Christmas spirit is getting higher each and everyday and I am still making Christmas Craft to add into my Christmas decorations. This time it is a snowman where I was inspired by this one which I saw in Singapore.

There is no white Christmas in Malaysia, in reality, I can’t build snowman provided I travel few thousand miles northbound. Well, to quench my thirst for having snow for Christmas, I made a polyfoam snowman instead.

This is a quick craft and it is suitable for kids with a little help and guidance from adult. Let’s get the how-to after this jump….

Finished dimension: Approx. 3 1/4″ (H) x 2″ (W)

Materials:
1. Polyfoam or polystyrene or Styrofoam ball – approx dia. 1″
2. Polyfoam or polystyrene or Styrofoam ball – approx dia. 2″
3. Red felt
4. White yarn
5. Beads, sequins and/or button for embellishment
6. Pearl white glitters

Tools:
1. Scissor
2. Craft Knife
3. Craft glue
4. Hot glue gun
5. Small brush
6. Floral wire
7. Pencil or pen
8. Clothes clip (optional) if you want to bend the hat.
9. Pointy tweezers.

Pre-heat your hot glue gun so that it is ready when you need to use it.
To make the snowman stand-able, cut a small portion from the 2″ polyfoam with craft knife to create a flat base.
If your kids are too small to handle the cutting, please help them to do it.
Place the small polyfoam ball on the top of the base ball, find the correct position so that they are straight, mark.
With help from adult, apply a dot of hot glue on the marking and quickly attach the small ball onto it, hold a few second till the glue is set.
Insert a floral wire into the polyfoam ball assembly, preferably into the head of the snowman.
Brush a layer of craft glue and sprinkle the pearl white glitter to all over snowman except the base.
Set aside for the glue to dry.
While waiting for the glue to dry and glitter to set, prepare the red felt for scarf and hat.
Cut half circle of 3″ diameter for hat and 6″ x 1/2″ for scarf.
I also glittered a 1/4″ bead for the hat.

When the snowman is about half dry (best is to wait till it is completely dry, time needed depends on the viscosity of the craft glue you use), carefully roll the 1/2 circle (with curve side down) onto the head of the snowman, measure the hat size. Mark on the felt.
Apply glue on the overlapping area.

Overlap the 1/2 circle to make a cone hat for the snowman. Set a side for it to dry or at least until it gets tacky.
Apply glue on the internal edge of the hat and glue the hat to the snowman’s head.

Next, glue the white yarn on the edge of the hat.
If you want to bend the hat, apply glue at the back of the hat, around the center of the height. Bend the hat and secure it’s position with a clothes clip (as shown in the next picture).
Glue all the facial features and embellishments to the snowman with craft glue.
Glue the glittered 1/4″ bead to the tip of the hat with hot glue.
Tweezers are handy when handling all these small parts, but be careful when kids are involving.
Carefully roll the scarf onto the neck of the snowman. Twist the scarf a little so that it fits better on the snowman.
Apply glue to secure it.
Set aside overnight to let it dry completely.
~~DONE~~~