Day 359-Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas friends and fans! 

I can't believe the year is nearly over! 

Just 6 short days to go to reach the 365 days of craft goal.

I have to say it has certainly been a challenging year! I feel I have learnt alot (I wouldn't do it again)

 but I do feel very proud to have almost made it! This certainly won't be the end of my crafty journey, you will definitely hear and see more from me in the year/years to come, but a well deserved break from the daily slog is very very much anticipated! With my wedding just 4 weeks away I will be super busy organising table decorations, music, dresses, shoes...no rest for the crafty just yet 

("Bring on the honeymoon I say!")

Today's craft...

Handmade christmas name tags

Craft out

xxoo

Day 356-polish craft

Hello crafters and blog followers!

Tonight my craft is dedicated to the Polish fans and family (Andee my fiancee is Polish hence the connection) my lovely mother and law suggested I whip up some Polish base craft before the end of the year, so here goes...

-first of all I printed out a little map off the internet with the polish eagle on it,

then I cut one out and traced around the map shape onto some MDF

 next I tested out my electric jigsaw skills!!

 and lightly sanded the edges

 to give the decoration an older feel I have used an oil based wood varnish on the top (this slightly stains the paper and makes it look older)

 it is still wet at the moment, tomorrow I will drill a hole thru the top so that I can hang it up

voila! personalised, one off, polish christmas ornament.

sending love to my mother in law, I am looking forward to the Polish feast on christmas eve (Wigilia)

Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia!

xxoo

craft out

P.S. 10 DAYS TO GO!!!

Day 355-handmade decorations

Tonight I have made another handmade christmas decoration

first I cut the shape out of chipboard with the electric jigsaw

 cut out some pictures from a magazine

 next I glued these pictures on and painted a few extra layers of PVA over the top as a varnish

 final step drill a hole in the centre so there is somewhere to hang the decorations by

I think these looks great!

 Its lovely to have something like this handmade rather than the millions of made in china christmas baubles available at the shops!

Craft out

xxoo

Day 345-sticks a kimbo

What to do with a pile of sticks?

 use a hand saw and start to cut...

 more....

 and more....

 liquid nails and some clamps....

the rustic chrissy tree is on its way... 

its drying now, but i will add more pics soon

craft out

xxoo

Day 342- bah hum BUG?

Another day, another card...

I started by printing "bah hum bug" from my computer and glueing it to some bright green card

 I found a fake bug and made him a christmas hat (attaching it with the glue gun)

 then attaching it to the card

 done!

 these are my type of christmas cards!!

happy craftmas!

xxoo

Day 341-Total "Ho Ho Ho!"

Tonight I am bringing my humour to christmas...

Starting with a print out of something I put together on the computer...

 then stitching on a little felt boot with the sewing machine

 insert candy cane

 voila! card and gift in one

happy craftmas!!

xxoo

Day 339-retro christmas

Hello crafty folk,
tonight is a little chilly here in Melbourne brrrr, its supposed to be the 5th day of summer!
I have pulled out my box of old magazines, a big tub of PVA glue and put my "decopaging" skills to work!

I started with some plain brown cardboard stars (which you can buy at most craft shops)

 and started flicking thru this 1959 womans weekly

 I traced the star shape and got glueing 

 I love how she now looks a little cross eyed!

 next, marilyn, a star for the star

 and then I cut to shape some stripey paper to finish the edges

 cute hay!

craft out

xxoo

Day 338-Christmas wrap and gift cards

My handprinted christmas wrap from yesterday is all dry and ready for wrapping

 I am also making some little handmade gift name tags from scraps of cardboard

simply cut out circles (glue the smaller ones to the centre of the bigger ones)

 hole punch at the top

 cut the letters of the name of the person out of magazines and thread some ribbon or wool thru the hole punches at the top (I found using 2 hole punches in each helps to hold the circles flat to the present, just showing the side with the letter on it)

 These gift tags would be fun and easy for kids to make too...

 for this one I actually used the dried piece of lace that I used as the template for the print, as well as a variety of pieces of string, raffia and lace

 I used one of the printed bells as a gift tag for this one

 COMPLETE!!! 

(such a shame i didn't actually have any presents ready to wrap and that these are actually empty boxes.....)

craft out

xxoo

Day 337-Christmas wrap

Today we are preparing for a big family bbq at our house, so amid the meat marinating and salad making I have managed to sneak some craft creating in the mix.

I decided to have a crack at printing some of my own wrapping paper,

forget spending heaps of money on bought gift wrap! 

all you need is a roll of brown paper from the $2 shop, a few different colours of acrylic paint $6, a mini paint roller set $2 and away you go.... 

 I tested out a few techniques first on some scrap

 and then got to work creating my own design

 this one is ready to hang up to dry

next i tried using a piece of lace strip as the template

 I used the roller over the top

 and then lifted the strips to reveal the pattern

from this one roll of brown paper I will have more than enough wrapping paper for all the presents i need to wrap. This is definitely a craft that kids would love to get involved with. Don't worry if you drip some paint or your pattern is not symmetrical, the more rustic the better!

Tomorrow night I will wrap up a few pressies  and add some gift cards to show you how the paper turned out once it has dried...

craft out

xxoo