Monday, December 10, 2012

Christmas Crafting 2012

This year's Christmas Crafting party was a hoot!  Last year I had the party the very day that I returned home from China and while that had certain advantages, like getting to see all my nearest and dearest all at the same time and getting to eat a REALLY bitchin' ham sandwich, it was also crazy.  This year much more chill and wonderful:
 
My friend Catherine really brought her A-game when it came to crafting this year.  Here she is, plotting with the lovely Mallory:
Working over some foam balls which shortly turned into this:
 
The cutest penguin ornament on the planet!  I think she followed this tutorial at the Craftberry Bush:
http://www.craftberrybush.com/2012/11/the-homemade-treefelt-penguin-ornament.html

Highly recommended for adorableness.  Catherine also taught us how to make these fabulous creations:
It's a snowglobe AND an ornament!  Whoa!  They're so easy.  Here's what you do:
1.) Find some clear ornaments that are plastic instead of glass.  (This might be the hard part.)
2.) Cut off the bottom of the plastic globe with an exacto knife.
3.) Trace the open circle you just cut onto a piece of cardboard or cardstock.
4.) Affix a figurine (or glitter tree, in my case) onto the center of the circle.  For extra pizazz, paint the figurine with mod podge and get your glitter on!
5.) Put the globe over the figurine and its base.  Hot glue the edge of the cardstock and the bulb together.
6.) Pull the ornament hanger end of the ornament out.  Using a funnel, fill through the hole with epsom salts until the level looks snowily appropriate.  Top with a little glitter for extra sparklitude.

Love it!  I opted for a gold glittery tree, but Catherine also suggested an Eiffel Tower might be nice, which I'm dying to try next!

I did a paper poinsettia in a hipster chevron print which turned out pretty cute:
And Kate made this super awesome gold holly but with jingle bells as the berries?  Love it!

As always, the social aspect of the party was just as fun as the actual crafting.  Check out the festive outfit my friend Laurel put together!
The holly corsage she wore is a little dark in this pic, but the red plaid tie is vintage, of course!

There was a lot of hardcore crafting this year.  Check out Robyn and Catherine at work:
When Catherine's not busy teaching us to make felt penguins, she's a SURGEON.  Eat your heart out Martha.

The party even spread out to the other side of the house (where you can see Megan crocheting a baby headband that she made in under an hour.  Gotta get the tutorial on that!)  Not sure what James is raising the roof about, but clearly some sort of paper craft is thrilling!
This year we had a couple of very wee guests.  Miss Magnolia Estelle was a hit in her hat with ears.
She looks a little nervous about her crafting prowess.  Not to fear, her lovely mama, Miss Anna is a long-time pro!

And in that amazing way that sometimes happens, THIS (pic from last year's crafting party, the DAY before she went into labor!):
Turned into THESE:

Whoa.  That happened!  Of course, Dana didn't get any less charming by becoming a mother:
Quite possibly the cutest chapeau that has ever been crafted at Christmas crafting!

That was one heck of a crafting party! Thanks to all my ladies for coming and crafting!

I'm posting this as my DIY Deck the Halls (cause boy did we deck some halls!), check out the other entrants here at NewlyWoodwards!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Ah Hello, Mrs. Cleaver!

I may be a 50's housewife trapped in a career girl's body.  I love to bake Bundts and play hostess.  Both of which are much more doable with some semblance of elegance if you embrace a critical piece of apparel; the apron.  The apron is totally under appreciated.  Get dressed up in your favorite outfit, then put on another accessory, then get as dirty as you want, then remove the accessory and go back to your favorite outfit??  Yes please!  Brilliant!

Aprons are so easy to make as gifts.  You cut the apron shape, trim the edges, sew on some ties, add a little decor and you have a perfectly adorable Christmas present.  Don't tell anyone, but I can usually turn out an apron in an hour or two.  So good for the hostesses (or hosts!) in your life.

I had a request this year for a brown apron, so off to Joann Fabrics I went.  You need a yard of canvas or heavy cloth, I use indoor decorating fabric which is heavy enough to be food-resistant, but not as stiff as some.  Then you need a couple packets of extra wide double-fold bias tape like this:
In whatever your trim color will be!  Super fun.  You need 4 yards of whatever you want to make the ties from.  In this example, I use an awesome brown grosgrain ribbon.

First, cut the apron shape.  I used a previous apron to pencil out this one, but you can freehand it.  This one is going to a very petite person so the top isn't too big, but there's a fun scallopy bit at the bottom:
Then pin on your bias tape as the trim all the way around:
Then sew it on.  Cut two matching lengths of ribbon for the neck and two for the waist and sew those on.  You can leave them long and trim them when you put it on for the first time.  
Ta da!!  I added a ribbon bow as the decor on this one because it was just oh-so Mrs. Cleaver.  But it might be too campy?  (Is there such a thing??)  If I get ambitious I may add a pocket?  We'll see.  But for now, I think Mrs. Cleaver would approve.
Happy DIY Monday!  See the other entries here at Newly Woodwards.