Simple Cinnamon Stick Ornaments

Posted on December 19, 2012 by CraftyStaci

Well, this isn’t something I can say often, but this project was inspired by a trip to Costco. On a recent trip down the baking and spice aisle, I discovered the warehouse-store-sized container of cinnamon sticks. Despite the sangria recipe on the side, my first thought was how I could use them to keep my house smelling like cinnamon.

To make these, all you need is a cinnamon stick, a jingle bell and some wire. I used both 18 and 20 gauge craft wire and both worked well. Anything thicker would be difficult to work with.

Cut the wire 36 inches long. My cinnamon sticks are about 6 inches long, so if yours are different you may want to adjust that measurement. String a jingle bell onto the wire, about 2 inches from the end. Bend the wire and twist it above the bell.

Push the other end of the wire up through the center of the cinnamon stick. Leave about 1/2 of an inch between the bottom of the stick and the top of the bell. Make a loop at the top. I bent it around an old film canister.

Twist the wire around the bottom of the loop.

One thing I’d like to point out is, try to choose sticks with thicker sides so you can avoid this problem.

After twisting around the bottom of the loop, bend the wire to the outside of the stick, spiraling it toward the bottom.

When you reach the bottom, twist the end of the wire around the top of the jingle bell.

Ready to hang.

A fun side effect of making these ornaments was that my hands smelled like cinnamon all day. Yum.

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Friday Favorites–Christmas

Posted on December 14, 2012 by CraftyStaci

I have the Christmas decorations up. My son braved the roof to string the outdoor lights. The tree is in place. I’ve spent some time listening to holiday music. But even with all the traditions up and rolling, it just hasn’t completely felt like Christmas to me yet. I’m pretty sure it won’t until my husband is back. Lucky for me, I’m on my way to start the process of bringing him home. I’m waving to you from Virginia right now.

I know that may sound a little bah-humbug, but I’m still spending plenty of time gawking at cute Christmas stuff. One of the most adorable things I’ve seen this year is Emma’s Advent Calendar from Confessions of a Sewing Addict.

My husband’s large family is of German descent, so we all have the required Christmas Pickle ornament, or Weihnachtsgurke, complete with tag telling the legend on our trees. Of course, it turns out it’s probably not a legend, but an American marketing ploy to sell more ornaments, but who cares when the pickle is as sweet as this one from Abby Glassenberg Design?

These Icicle Ornaments from Plastic Bottles by Cut Out and Keep are a great way to reuse some of those empties, and they look a lot like some glass icicles we put on our tree every year.

I love the nail beak on this Hummingbird Felt Ornament from Mostly Photos.

You may have seen these Faux Taxidermy Deer heads around. I have, but I really like the fact that Know and Tell Crafts scaled this one down so it prints out on just a couple of pieces of cardstock.

This duct tape road from Miss P may not seem like a Christmas project, but as soon as I saw it I thought of my Lego Christmas village and how much it needs this road running in front of it.

This transformation of Easter dresses into Christmas dresses by Thrive is so clever.

I have so many fabrics that would be perfect for these Fussy-Cut Polaroid Ornaments from Sew, Mama, Sew. If you’re not familiar with the term, fussy cut just means you cut around a specific part in the fabric, like a little picture.

When I was a brand-new wife, I had a thing for cookie cutters. I don’t know what that was about, because it’s not like I was making lots of cut-out cookies, but I still have a pretty good sized tin full of them. These Cookie Cutter Ornaments from A Spoonful of Sugar would help me cut down my collection a bit.

The house we live in has a fireplace, but our last one only had a woodstove. We hung the stockings near it, but it just wasn’t the same. This Build Your Own Fireplace project from Over the Big Moon is a fantastic solution to that problem.

Ready or not…Christmas is coming!

Stained Glass Cookie Ornaments

Posted on December 12, 2012 by CraftyStaci

This project has been on my mind since before last Christmas. In fact, that’s when I bought the supplies. But time ran short and I didn’t get a chance to make them. That sounds better than admitting I was disorganized and let that one slip through the cracks, doesn’t it?

Stained glass cookies are basically cut out cookies with hard candy melted in the center so it looks like colored glass. Simply Recipes has a recipe for them.

I won’t be hanging any actual cookies on my tree, if for no other reason than I don’t want to come home to find the tree in shambles and the dog licking his guilty face. But I can’t wait to hang up my felt version.

To make these, you’ll need this pattern (or just trace around your favorite cookie cutter), brown felt, ribbon, white embroidery floss and sheer, colorful fabric like organza or tulle.

Cut two of the cookie shapes from the brown felt, carefully cutting out the center shape as well. Cut 2 or 3 layers of the sheer fabric, smaller than the entire ornament, but larger than the center cut-out. Cut a piece of ribbon 6 inches long.

Run a skinny string of hot glue around one circle in the center. Lay the sheer fabric over the top.

Repeat the glue as above and add the second ornament circle. Fold the ribbon in half. Pull back the top of the ornament, add a bit of glue, and place the ends of the ribbon in it. Press the top back down over the glue.

They’re actually pretty cute just like this, but I wanted a little stitching, to represent frosting. Use the stitch of your choice and white embroidery floss.

I really like these hung in the window all together so you can see through the centers.

But I also like them each on their own.

They look good enough to eat.

Thread Spool and Button Garland

Posted on December 5, 2012 by CraftyStaci

I’ve mentioned here before, my husband is in law enforcement. The first Christmas after he became a police officer, I bought a little police car ornament. I’ve bought nearly every police-themed ornament I’ve seen since, so we have quite a collection. We also have a nutcracker police force. Our Christmas village is full of cops. I love all of it, but a couple of years ago I started to realize I didn’t have much to represent my own interests among all our holiday décor. That was the year I bought my sewing nutcracker.

I’ve been saving my empty thread spools this year, which are now part of the perfect garland to hang over the window in my sewing room and compliment this stitching soldier.

To make this garland, you’ll need empty thread spools, felt, large buttons (1” or more), beads and about 200 inches of jute or other string to hand it all on.

I used Gütermann 500m spools and cut the felt into pieces 1 3/4 by 6 inches. If you’re using a different spool you may need to adjust that size – make it as wide enough to cover the part of the spool where the thread was and long enough to overlap a bit.

Glue one end to the spool using a hot glue gun.

Wrap the felt around the spool and glue the other end.

Repeat to make as many as you need for the length of garland you’d like. I ended up making 22 of them and used 20 on my garland.

Feed the jute through the two holes on a button, about 14 inches from one end.

Wrap the other end of the jute with a piece of masking tape. That will keep the end stiff while you feed it through each item.

This is a very long piece to work with, so I found it helpful to tape the end nearest the first button to my worktable to keep it from getting tangled. String a bead onto the opposite end. Push it until it’s about one inch from the button. Bring the end of the jute around and feed it back through the bead so it wraps around it as shown.

String a thread spool on, pushing it up next to the bead. Repeat with a bead on the other end of the spool.

Add another button, then repeat the bead-spool-bead process until you’ve reached the end.

I had a couple of spools left over, so I made ornaments from those. If you only have a couple of empties or are looking for a quick gift, this is your project. Attach the felt to the spools the same way as for the garland. Cut a piece of jute 20 inches long. You’ll also need two beads.

Fold the jute in half. Feed the folded end up through the spool. String a bead onto that end and tie a knot above it.

String a bead onto the bottom and tie a knot below it.

Trim the ends shorter if you’d like and untwist them to create a tassel.

You know what you’re going to have to save this year? That’s right, empty thread spools.

Melted Snowman Ornament

Posted on December 3, 2012 by CraftyStaci

When I’m inspired by something, especially when I want to re-pin it or talk about it here, I make a huge effort to find the original source of the project. It’s often not as obvious as it seems. Greta Gluegun makes a project and happens to take a better picture than the original, and suddenly that idea is attributed to Greta. There’s nothing wrong with sharing that great photo, but I like to make sure the person who first had the light bulb go on over their head gets credit.

The cleverness and simplicity of this ornament is what caught my eye. After some research, I believe the originator of this idea is a blog called Living Life in PA. This is her adorable ornament.

As most popular crafts go, many people have created their own take on this little guy, including using salt for the snow and peppercorns for the eyes, nose and buttons. I haven’t seen one yet I didn’t like. Of course, I had to try it myself, with my own tweaks to the materials.

I used regular shimmery white glitter for the snow. I liked the peppercorns so I stuck with that for most of them, although I also used some tiny black buttons for some. I went with yarn for the scarf and a little different shape than the usual round bulb to hold it all. The copper wire is for the carrot nose, which I’ll show you in a minute. I also used a little bit of green felt. I guess the jingle bells are there to look pretty, because I didn’t use those at all.

I started by making the scarf. I pictured a cute little crocheted version in my head, but given my lack of skills in that area, I braided it instead. I used six strands, each 10 inches long, and knotted each end, leaving a little for fringe.

My carrot nose is a little unconventional, but I like it. To make it, I cut 6 inches of copper wire and cut a tiny green leaf shape from felt. Bend the wire around the center of the leaf, then twist it tight.

Start twisting the wire around a pencil or pointy stick.

Keep twisting to the tip.

Pull out the stick and bend the leaves up.

Now it’s just a matter of filling the ornament. Start with the glitter or salt. Don’t curse at the glitter like I did…it’s not very festive.

I found after putting in the first one, the scarf worked better if I twisted it up before I pushed it into the ornament. I just dropped everything else in. I also busted up a little stick someone had tracked into the house and threw it in there for arms.

I left these hanging in my office, and at least three people looked at them and declared how cute they were. When I asked them what they were, they had no idea.

When I told my son it was a melted snowman, he said “You mean you made ornaments out of dead snowmen?!?! Wow mom.” Ah, nothing like teenage boy humor.

I’d try not to shake these up too much, because everything sinks. The good news is, with some tapping, it floats back to the top.

My thanks again to Living Life in PA for the great idea!

Friday Favorites–Christmas

Posted on December 16, 2011 by CraftyStaci

Are you ready? I’m not. Too much left too do, not enough hours to do it in. I might have to give up sleeping. Still, I wouldn’t trade all the holiday chaos for the world.

There are so many great Christmas crafts out there. I always have a huge list of them I want to try, and once in a while I actually cross one off. Here’s a few that have caught my eye.

I always thought it would be funny to put something in my kids’ stockings that they would think was actually coal. This Carbón Dulce (or Sweet Coal) from Diamonds for Dessert would be so fun to sit back and watch. Wow, that sounded evil – I might find coal in my stocking. I hope it’s edible.

Our house was built in the early 70’s, so we’re constantly working to update different areas. Therefore, we have lots of leftover tiles, perfect for these Glass Tile Christmas Ornaments from Our Crafty Home.

Part of the reason I love this Angel Bunny from Joey’s Dream Garden is that it’s made from felt. It also has lots of great embroidery, also a plus. But, my favorite thing about it is just that it’s a bunny, which you don’t often see at Christmas.

This Sn”oap”ball from Greenbean’s Crafterole is much easier than it looks, and makes such a cute gift.

This Santa Hat from Fleece Fun is easy and can be downloaded in infant, child or adult sizes.

So many houses don’t have fireplaces these days, and I’ve often wondered how Santa gets in. This Magic Santa Key from East Coast Mommy almost makes me wish I didn’t have one either.

I love how these Simple Christmas Ornaments from Cards by Paula combine a little felt and a little fabric. Great way to use up some scraps.

My kids cannot see these Expandable Christmas Stockings from Instructables user scoochmaroo. I’d never hear the end of it.

I love cake pops. I also love Starbucks. Needless to say, I have sampled the peppermint cake pops at Starbucks. More than once. With these Candy Cane Cake Pops from Hostess with the Mostess, I can make my own at home. Dangerous.

I’ve never once, in my whole life, wanted a beard. Until this Easy Santa Beard from Snazzle Craft.

I hope your holiday plans are going smoothly!

Ribbon Candy Ornaments

Posted on December 14, 2011 by CraftyStaci

I remember trying to eat ribbon candy at Christmastime when I was a kid. It was always a little too big for my mouth and didn’t really taste that great. But I ate it anyway, because it was one of those things that was only available this time of the year, which made it special.

As the years passed, I got over the need to actually eat the stuff, but I still think it’s pretty. When my kids were small, we found kits to make ribbon candy ornaments from actual ribbon, thread and beads. This is my take on those, using wire instead of thread. I’m sure they taste just like the original.

To make these you’ll need: Ten inches of 20 gauge craft wire, ten 8-millimeter beads (give or take a few millimeters), and two pieces of 1 1/2” wide and 17 1/2” long grosgrain ribbon. Grosgrain is the kind that isn’t shiny and has bumped-up rows on it.

Melt the ends of the ribbon carefully with a lighter so they won’t fray. Using a fine-tip pen, make small dots, starting 3/4” from one end, then every 2”.

Using needle-nose pliers, make a hook using 1” from one end of the wire. Thread on a bead. Lay the two pieces of ribbon together, making sure the ends and edges are even, with the dots on top. Stick the wire through both pieces at the first dot.

If you have trouble pushing the wire through, you can use a large needle to make a pilot hole. It also helps to cut the wire at an angle so it’s pointy.

Thread on another bead. Push the wire through the next dot.

Continue threading on beads and pushing the wire through the next dot as shown until you reach the last dot.

Add one last bead to the bottom. Push all the beads up to the top. Bend the wire 1” below the bottom bead.

Twist the remaining wire around a pencil to make a curl.

Push the beads back down and you’re done.

These are so easy and fun, I went a little crazy making them. This set is in my boy’s favorite color: camo, with a little Christmas thrown in.

These would be cute gift toppers too.

And you still have a little time to make them!

Friday Favorites–Christmas

Posted on December 17, 2010 by CraftyStaci

This is my first Christmas as a crafty blogger. I knew there would be a lot of great holiday ideas out there, but wow. I couldn’t keep up with all of it if I had my own team of elves. I can’t even find enough time to make and write about my OWN ideas.

Today, I’d like to share a few things that have caught my eye. I’m saving them for July.

Remember my candy shadow box from Halloween? Here’s a Jingle All the Way frame from Blue Eyed Blessings that it should be in it’s next life.

I think this might be a Christmas craft I could get my son on board with. You can learn how to make this duct tape stocking and package from the JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores blog.

This Felted Wool Mistletoe from A Foothill Home Companion just makes me want to kiss somebody!

This Poinsettia Headband from Livvy Loo Who is so sweet. Click through to the other photos on her blog. I didn’t think it could be cuter until I saw it on her little model.

I actually made a bunch of these Modern Paper Ornaments from Design Sponge to hang around my house for a party my kids had a couple of weeks ago. We liked them so much they’re still up.

I have teenagers. These Texting Balls from HomeWorkshop just crack me up.

QuiltSoup is offering a free download of the pattern for these Gifted gift card wallets and the Hip Holidays quilt. So fun!

This is such a great idea. You could make these Silhouette Christmas Stockings for the entire family and Simply Silhouettes shows you how.

There’s nothing more I can say. This Elf Entrance from Family Fun has left me speechless.

I’ve really been into felt lately. I think that makes this DIY Handmade Wool Felt Looped Holiday Wreath from Hello, Good Gravy a must-do.

My next Friday Favorites will actually be next Thursday. It’s all about Christmas food!

Felt and Wire Angel

Posted on December 6, 2010 by CraftyStaci

So it’s December, Christmas is coming, and I just realized I haven’t posted an original Christmas project of my own yet! How did that happen?

I love felt. It comes in so many colors, it doesn’t fray and it’s fun to play with. Kinda sounds like Playdough. Anyway, here’s what I did with it last week.

To make this angel, you’ll need three small pieces of felt and a piece of wire that’s about 14 inches long.

Print this pattern. Cut out two of each piece. Sew like pieces together using a running stitch, about 1/4” or slightly less from the edge, and contrasting embroidery thread. Tie small knots for her eyes, hiding the ends of the thread inside her head.

Fold the wire in half, then twist it a few times so you have a 1” loop.

Slide the head onto the wire so it’s between two stitches at the top of the head and the ends are on either side of a stitch at the bottom of the head. Push it all the way to the top, where the twist starts.

Slide the body on the same way, pushing it up next to the head.

Using a pair of needle-nosed pliers, curl the feet up, using about an inch of wire at the bottom of each leg.

Attach the wings using hot glue, making sure they are glued to both the head and body.

I think these would make cute gift tags. If you’re a talented embroideress, you could stitch the recipient’s name onto the dress!

Friday Favorites–Christmas Ornaments

Posted on December 3, 2010 by CraftyStaci

We’re getting our tree this weekend, so I have ornaments on the brain. I try to add a new one or two each year, but I can never bring myself to get rid of any. I’m either going to need a bigger tree or a taller ceiling.

When my kids were small, AOL was at it’s peak. They were sending us a CD once a week, trying to get us to sign up for their service. I could never bring myself to throw them away, thinking they would be perfect for a future craft project. We used a few of them over the years, but I really wish I would have seen Helenismos’ Quilted CD Ornaments before I tossed the rest.

I already made one of these Yarn Stocking Hat ornaments by Craft Elf. They’re really cute and would be a great kid project. Just make sure you read all of the directions, instead of trying to finish it without completing all the steps. I don’t know who would do something like that.

I. Have. To. Make. This. We have ornaments representing the interests of everyone in my family, but I don’t think I have any sewing-related ornaments. I love this Cute as a Button Ornament from Zakka Life. I need a whole tree of them, in every color of felt I can find.

This Royal Icing ornament from Food Mayhem looks so delicate, which is kinda what I like about it. This is a top-of-the-tree ornament, so the kids won’t break it and the dog won’t eat it.

This is actually a pattern that’s available for purchase from Rosie Little Things. I can’t even tell you how much I love the red coat. In fact, I wish it came in my size, complete with the mittens.

I just like how these Paper Mache ornaments from Blue Cricket Design look. That simple. This would be a great way to repurpose old, scratched up ornaments.

I try not to include something from Martha Stewart in every one of these things, but there’s a reason she became a bajillionaire by making stuff. This Button Wreath ornament would be another good one to make with the kids and the color options are just about endless.

I had to include these Mason Jar Lid Ornaments from Fun on a Dime because I remember having something like this on our tree growing up. I think ours had photos of us in the middle, but I like the idea of using old Christmas cards.

Anyone who sews has fabric scraps. Unless you’re making big rectangles. A few of those scraps and a foam ball and you have this cute fabric ornament from Jody on WhipUp.

Argyle was popular for a while in the 80’s. I don’t think I ever let it, or plaid, go. No, I’m not sitting here in my neon tank, off-one-shoulder Flashdance shirt, zipper-ankle jeans and legwarmers. You can’t see me, right? Like everything I just listed, I think argyle is back and I couldn’t be happier. This Argyle Applique ornament from So September is both current and nostalgic, making it a perfect fit on my tree.