Simple Snowman Gift Tags

Christmas has come and gone for 2013,

but we are still snowed in!

I made a super simple gift tag, and

it turned out so cute, I made dozens more

and thought I'd share:

Supplies:
Kraft cardstock and XL punch
1" sponge dauber
Acrylic paint: white, black
Dimensional paint: orange
Pink Powder Blush and cotton swab

 Punch out your tags ...
Dip your sponge dauber into white paint
and pounce ... either in the center,
or over to the side (I wasn't sure whether
I might want to add a name or a message, so
I pounced on the far side of the tag!)

Dip a stylus into black paint
to add the eyes.

 Use the cotton swab to
apply blushed cheeks to each
snowman head.

Add the carrot nose with the
orange dimensional paint.
To see a tutorial on how to make
these dimensional noses,
as well as the dots ...
click here.

Use the stylus dipped in black paint
to add the mouth.  Dipping the stylus before
each dot will give you same-sized dots.
To get dots decreasing in size,
dip once and dot two or three times
before redipping.  Experiment
on scratch paper first so you'll be happy
with your little black dots!

~ Peace and Happy Snowman Tags ~

Mini Canvas Ornament

Wordless Wednesday

~ Peace Out ~

A Sled Make-Over

I saw this cute painted sled

on my girlfriend's front doorstep ...

... and it wasn't the first time I'd

admired it, because she puts it out every

year.  Thing is ... it's been, what,

like seven years since it was just the

three of them?

So I asked her whether she would

let me add a couple of

snowmen to her sled.

I believe her exact words were,

"If you have time!

I know you've said YES to

every project that has come your

way and you're completely overbooked

and overextended and you're

thoroughly stressed about getting all

the projects you've taken on

completed on time,

but I would LOVE for you to repaint

this sled and add my other

two children to the picture!"

Or something like that.

Heh heh.

But, in all seriousness, sometimes I really

need a quick and inspiring project to

complete for instant gratification;

especially when I'm completely overbooked

and overextended and

thoroughly stressed.  It relaxes me.

I know.

I'm weird.

It really didn't occur to me that

maybe she didn't want it repainted?

That maybe she wanted it

just the way it was when she bought

it??  But, I'm sure she

would have just said No Thank You.

Right??

Anyway, here's the part where I notice

that the thirty-two sketches

I drew before I finally found a design

idea that I really liked

had somehow just never made it

into my camera.

In other words, when it takes me

that many sketches to get something

right, I start to get really anxious
that maybe I won't
be painting anytime soon,
which sort of triggers this chain-
reaction of anxious thoughts
like, if I'm not painting soon,
then I'm not finishing painting soon,
and if I'm not finishing painting soon,
then clearly I'm not completing
my project, which is most definitely a
prerequisite to getting that
feeling of instant gratification.

In my state of anxiety,
I clearly forgot to take step by step
photographs.  I am so annoyed
with myself!  On the bright side,
however, I did remember to take at
least a few photos.
So I will make this blog post
work with the few photos I took.

And lots of text.
Ha.

Pic of sled I miraculously remembered
to take before I started to
change it completely.

Pic of sled I took after forgetting
to take pics of the base-coated sled,
the sanded sled, the "I've just
transferred my main pattern lines" to sled;
but before I shaded my snowmen.

Pic of sled after some light shading
and highlighting ~ but before I added
the final details.

 
Pic of sled after all shading, highlighting,
outlining, snow-spattering,
personalizing,
and detail-adding were complete.
I also sanded the edges of the sled
and applied a coat of oil-based stain
to protect the painted surface.

I wanted to have a photo that
showed the sled's runners and rope
handle - too cute!

And finally, a little close-up shot.
I love these snowmen
with their all their points and angles!
Fun, fun to paint!

Now everyone in the family is
represented by a snowman!
I asked the daddio if he knew which
snowman was him ...
he pointed to the smallest one.
He is SO MUCH like my hubster.

~ Merry Christmas! ~

Can't wait till next year when she
puts her sled out on her porch!  I'm going
to stop by and take a pic so
you can all see it looks much better
on her porch than it does propped
up against my studio wall.
;)

Peace and a Family of Snowmen

Snowman Pocket Tin

 All the Christmas decorations

are 30% off at Hobby Lobby this week!!

(Or is it 40%?!?)

So I picked up a few of

these pre-painted tin pocket pails.

Pre-painted, to me, means "already

base coated and ready for the fun part!"

I used one of my patterns from

last year.  You can upload it here.

(But please, if for some reason it doesn't

work, let me know)!!  I'm learning

to upload my patterns and it's been a

rough ride.  I'm technically challenged,

you know.  (At least, now you know). 

Moving on ...

I sanded the surface of the tin

pocket to give it some "tooth".

(Paint just doesn't want to stick to

a slick surface.  It sort of floats

there and it doesn't dry evenly and

overall it's just plain unsatisfactory.

I don't like it, is what I'm saying).

So to avoid all that nonsense,

I use a sanding block to rough up

the finish a little.  You can

always go back once you've completed

your project and add a coat

of varnish if you want a shiny look.

Use tracing paper to make a pattern

of the snowman, and apply

it to the pail using transfer paper

and a stylus.

Once I had painted the snowman

head with a brush, I realized that

it would look a lot more interesting if I

used a sea sponge to apply the

base coat.  See??

Next I painted the earmuffs with

a bright lime green paint.

I LOVE a lime green and a real red

at Christmas!!  Fun colors.

Then I shaded the earmuffs and added

the head piece with a kelly green.

I used a paintbrush handle dipped in

black paint to make the eyes and the mouth.

I pounced three or four times in the

same area so that I could achieve a

rough "coal" look, as opposed to the perfect

circle dots.  I've done those too,

you just get a completely different look

for your finished project.

I painted the carrot nose with orange.

I used a damp toothbrush dipped

in white paint to lightly spatter the

surface of the tin pocket,

and I brushed on a Multi-Purpose sealer.

Once your sealer, or varnish, has

dried completely, you can take a permanent

black marking pen and outline the 

details.  I like to give my guys a little

eyebrow/attitude.  Kind of a surprised look.

 

Fill with tiny Christmas sprigs

or Christmas candies and give these

as gifts!  Cute and simple!!

Peace and Little Tin Pockets

 

Beaded Snowmen

* Beaded Snowmen *

also previously referred to as the

particular ornament 

"specifically requested ... by my 11-year-old,

which would be difficult and time-consuming

to make for his 14 classmates"

Above photo is the beaded ornament

I made several years ago;

here is this year's Beaded Snowmen ornament:

 

 Here are the supplies you'll need for

each ornament:

three 5/8" wooden beads,

six buttons (3 red, 3 white)

tiny wreath ornament,

pink powder blush and a cotton swab,

acrylic paint in white and black,

Tulip Dimensional Paint in orange,

and an 18" length of craft wire.

An 1/8" dowel and a paint roller

to make painting the beads easier,

and a paintbrush and stylus

for touch-up painting and dip dots.

In order to paint these beads more

efficiently, I threaded them

onto a 1/8" dowel

and used a paint roller dipped in

white acrylic paint.

After I rolled several coats of paint

onto each bead, I used a paintbrush dipped

in white paint for the touch-ups

(the paint roller didn't reach the area of 

the bead nearest the holes)

Use the cotton swab to apply pink powder

blush to the cheeks of each

snowman bead.

Tape the dowels securely to the table

to make painting the details easier.

Dip the stylus into black paint

and dot the eyes and the mouths on

each of the snowman beads.

Use the Tulip Slick Dimensional Paint

in orange to apply the carrot noses.

To see step-by-step photos

of blushing the cheeks,

dotting the eyes and mouths, and

creating the dimensional noses,

click here.

Fold the 18" length of craft wire

in half around a paintbrush handle to create

a loop (do not twist to close ... yet)

Put the loop over the bottom

of the mini wreath ornament and twist the

ends to secure the wreath.

This will be your hanger.

Thread your beads and buttons

in the following order:

snowman bead, two buttons, snowman bead ...

alternating until you have an ornament

with three (or more) snowman beads

and a red and a white button

on the bottom.

Twist the ends of the wire to secure

the buttons and beads;

use the paintbrush handle to curl

each end of the wire into

a spiral curly cue.

Hang ... and Enjoy!!!

(NOTE: I used a small dot of

hot glue to attach each red button to

the snowman bead so the

heads wouldn't spin around).

On my old ornament, I painted a face

on both sides of the bead so

the extra glue wasn't necessary.

Peace and Beaded Snowmen!!!

Snowman * Pail

 * Snowman Pail *

This little ornament is quick and easy

to make, with just a few supplies.

Here's what you'll need:

Really!  Just a 2" wooden pail,

and three or four jumbo craft sticks,

and some paintbrushes and acrylic paints:

light blue, white, black, orange

and a hot glue gun with glue sticks.

Those are the basics.

To add some extra detail, you'll want to use

these supplies, as well:

a scruffy toothbrush and an extra

jumbo craft stick for spattering,

a snowflake stencil for pail details, and

pink powder blush and a cotton swab

to blush the cheeks.

Base coat the pail with light blue paint.

Use the scruffy toothbrush and a craft stick

to spatter the pail with white paint.

Paint each jumbo craft stick white.

Cut the craft sticks in half,

make them varying heights such as:

2.5", 2.75", 3", and 3.25"

Blush cheeks with pink powder blush.

Eyes and mouths are dip dots of black paint.

Use a liner brush and a small amount

of orange paint to add a carrot nose to each

of your craft stick snowmen.

Notice I decided to paint a black hat onto

on of the snowmen ... just to shake things up.

Here's a pic showing how I've added

earmuffs and a stocking cap to two of the 

snowmen.  Sometimes, I just can't make up my mind!

Here's how to make the earmuffs:
I found these little holly berry embellishments
in the Christmas craft section of Hobby Lobby.

The stem is a bendable wire, so it was
super quick and easy to bend
it into an earmuff shape and attach it
to a snowman's head.

Stencil some snowflakes onto the pail,

hang with a bit of ribbon,

and ... enjoy!

*** Peace and Snowflakes ***