Thursday, December 23, 2010

Clay Pot Nativity Tutorial: Last Minute Gift


What you'll need to get started for 1 Nativity

2- Mini Clay Pots (Packs of 6 for 99 cents)
1- 1 11/16" x 5/8" Wooden "Boy Pieces" ($1.47 for 5)
2- 1/4" x 1 3/16" Wooden Ball Knobs ($1.47 for 4)
Skin Tone Acrylic Paint
Black Acrylic Paint for eyes
Various Acrylic Paint Colors depending on you preferances
3- 5" circles of fabric again depending on your preferances ( I buy 1/4 yard of each color= 32 or more fabric circles)
Spanish Moss or staw
1- Mini Clay Pot Saucer
Total Cost for 1 Nativity Under a dollar if you get your supplies 1/2 off at your crafting center


Begin by painting your pieces skin tone
Next Paint your pots their base color: I chose a tan color for Mary and only painted the rim a rust color for Joseph
I paint "Mary's" body like so
and Joseph's like this
Next: attach your heads to their bodies using hot glue
Mary's Headdress: Fold 1/3 of the fabric down
Attach to the top of her head with hot glue making sure the back of the circle of fabric is even with the bottom of the pot
Press the fabric forward like so
Add a dab of hot glue to her neck and press the fabric forward
Repeat with other side of fabric, tie a bow with twine or hemp
Josheph's Headdress: Fold 1/3 of the fabric circle down
Hot glue the fabric to his head
Push the back sides of the fabric forward around his neck and glue to the inside of neck
Next push the sides of the headdress down to create a fold, glue the undersides down
Tie a circlet of twine around his forehead and knot it in the back
secure the knot to the nape of his neck with hot glue
Swaddling Baby Jesus: First fold 1/3 of the fabric circle down
Fold the bottom half of the fabric up over the baby
Fold the right side straight down to create a triangle
Repeat on the left side
Loosely fold the right side over and glue in place, repeat on the left
For the eyes: Dip the end of a small paint brush in black paint
Make sure to reload the end for each eye to get EVEN eyes
For Baby Jesus' eyes I loaded the end and then tapped it off once on the plate for a smaller circle
Isn't it sweet?
Option: to finish the nativity you can add a bed of straw or spanish moss to a mini clay saucer (I was unable to find any at the local HL recently) for a manger. Have fun making these and I'd love to see them if you use this tutorial. Have a great day!
Misty

Monday, December 20, 2010

Oh, Christmas Tree

Aaron and Tessa were asked to decorate Christmas trees for "Snowy Tree Lane" at their school. Since Daddy is super talented with electronics...each of their trees were adorned with actual lights...which meant that they were each glued to a piece of MDF and cut out on a band saw...to be preserved for all eternity or until the lights go out.
Aaron loves that his tree has a bunny looking right at it!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Tessa Loves Being a Big Sister

Here's Tess with baby brother Jonah. They're tight.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Baroque Copper Button: Special order for Ms. Nancy

Shimmery copper flowers and an old jean button along with some fabric remnants...sure makes a pretty headband!
$12.00
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Monday, December 13, 2010

Ready, set, load!

A simple lo of my family's time spend cutting and loading wood to heat our home during the winters. Stampin' Up woodgrain background stamp.
Have a great day.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Traaaansfomation, Traaaansformaation

Have you ever seen the movie "A Bug's Life"? Whenever I do a remake project like this I always think of the moth in the Chinese take out box..."Traaansformaation" but I digress. I saw these sweet looking dears (play on words). Pair of deer and I thought they had potential...They're pretty tacky no?...I guess many people wouldn't think so but I'm not into shiny gold deer with holly.
Got out my can of trustycan of Rustoleum Heirloom White and sprayed those puppies down.
I then added some jute type trip and some fabric rosettes. Also added in some cranberry red beads for holly berries.
Finished it off with a hemp twin bow and I think they look pretty amazing. They're welcome at my buffet anytime. Have a great day. Linking up to TEA ROSE HOME and the SHABBY CHIC COTTAGE

Friday, December 03, 2010

Olive you Polka Dots: Special Order Ms. Amanda

$12.00
Who wouldn't be GREEN with envy over this band??!?! Mostly greens with touches of aqua and turquoise. It's a stunner.
Hope Ms. Amanda is just as happy with it as Tessa was when she saw it!
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Tray Makeover

I found this adorable footed tray at the Salvation Army the other day for about 50 cents (it's a solid piece). It was really tarnished but there was no silver or silver plate stamps anywhere and I couldn't get it to come all the way clean. I took out the trusty Rustoleum Heirloom White and went to town (after I polished and cleaned it. Lookin' good!
I love the details on it.
And the super cute handles!
Linking up to TEA ROSE HOME