Easy Acorn Christmas ornament

Looking for a cute ornament that you can make quick and easy to dress up the Christmas tree, then this easy acorn ornament is for you.

You only need a Styrofoam egg, some twine, glitter and glue so it couldn’t be more inexpensive!  And kid’s can do this too.  It would make a great gift for a teacher or anyone you want to just give a little something.  Handmade makes it special. 

Supplies:

·      Styrofoam egg

·      Jute twine

·      Pencil or bamboo skewer

·      Tacky craft glue

·      Glitter

·      Paper or foam plates

·      Small paintbrush

·      Optional: If you want to vary the color of the acorn you can substitute light colored yarn on the bottom portion if desired.

Instructions:

1.     Roll the pointed end on a table or other hard surface and pressing lightly to round it out slightly. 

2.     Cut a 6-inch piece of jute and tie the ends in a knot.  Use a pencil or bamboo skewer to make a hole in the top of the egg.  Fill the hole with some tacky glue and insert the knot end of the jute loop pushing it inside with the pencil or skewer.  Let dry.

3.     Starting at the top of the acorn begin adding glue to the top and wrapping jute around in a circular direction and downward.  Continue adding glue and jute until you have reached about 1/3 of the way down.  Now, work your way back up over the previously wrapped jute.  Do this one more time and cut off. 

4.     Add glue and wrap around jute as you did on the upper portion of the acorn except you will only be adding one layer. (You may substitute light colored yarn here if desired)  Let dry.

5.     Thin some glue with water on a paper plate and using a small paintbrush brush the entire bottom area with the thinned glue.  On another paper plate sprinkle an ample amount of glitter on the glue area.  Let dry. 

6.     Hang on the tree or anywhere you want a cute country style decoration.

Christmas painted Canning jar Luminary

I like to keep a decorative light on a table in my foyer and this cute Christmas painted canning jar luminary is a perfect addition to my holiday décor.  Since my foyer is dark unless I turn on the overhead chandelier light it’s nice to have a pretty nightlight.  The LED light string I use works with three AAA batteries and has a switch that turns it on at the same time every night for six hours and then turns itself off.  Since the lights are LED the batteries last over a month! 

It’s so simple to paint on glass using gloss acrylic paint for glass that is readily available in all the craft stores.  Follow the step-by-step instructions with photos to paint your own luminary.  They make great Christmas gifts too.  Just so you know, the photo doesn't do it justice, it is so beautiful with the little lights looking like stars.

Supplies:

·      Acrylic gloss paint for use on glass in lt. blue, brown, green, and white

·      Small flat paint brush

·      Small piece of sponge

·      LED battery powered light string with on/off/timer switch

·      Alcohol

·      Paper plate to use as a palette

·      Medium sized wide mouth canning jar

Instructions:

1.     Wipe down the canning jar with alcohol to remove all dirt and oils.

2.     Put some lt. blue paint on the paper plate and use the tap the sponge into the paint.  Apply to the top 2/3 of the jar with a patting motion all around.  Let dry.

3.     Using a paintbrush apply white paint liberally on the bottom third of the jar overlapping hills. (See photo)  Continue to add paint all around the jar and let dry.  When it is dry turn it over and paint the bottom of the jar white.  Let dry.

4.     Add the pine trees.  Load a flat brush with brown paint and working with the flat brush on its side, make a line up from the snow for the trunk.  Rinse the brush and load it with green paint.  Working from the bottom of the trunk add dabs of paint from side to side, going up the trunk getting narrower as you go.  (See photo)

5.     Continue to add trees in this manner.  If you have less paint on the brush the tree will look somewhat faded giving it a far off appearance. 

6.     When the paint has dried add some white touches on the branches of the trees to resemble snow. 

7.     Add the LED light string in the jar and set it to turn on and off as desired.

Ham and Swiss Quiche Recipe

Right before the holidays all the stores run sales on spiral hams. Since spiral hams are pre-cooked and all you do is stick it in the oven to heat, I usually pick up one for quick meals during the busy weeks preceding Christmas.

Spiral hams are pre-cooked and sliced and are great for Sunday dinners, sandwiches and so much more. The only drawback is that even small half hams are a bit large for the average family and there will be leftovers. So one of my favorite ways to use up leftover ham is in a quiche.

What is quiche you may ask? It’s a custardy dish that is great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Or you can make them snack size for canapés or change the savory ingredients to sweet and make them for dessert. There are literally hundreds of ways to make quiche. Don’t like ham, substitute turkey or chopped, cooked chicken.

Click to learn more about the history of Quiche.

Making a Quiche is pretty easy too! Use the store bought piecrusts you simply roll into a pan, or easier yet use frozen piecrusts. Before you know it you will be savoring a tasty Quiche.

Ham and Swiss Quiche

Ingredients:

• Two large eggs
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup half and half
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/3-cup sweet onions finely diced
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1/8 tsp. white pepper
• Pie shell unbaked

Instructions:

In a blender or food processor add the eggs, mayonnaise, half and half, cornstarch and white pepper. Blend till all the ingredients are well mixed.

In a bowl combine the ham, cheese and onions together. Spread the ham mixture in the pie shell, spreading it out to fill the entire pie shell. Pour the wet ingredients in the pie shell on top of the ham mixture.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the quiche to cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Cut in equal wedges and serve with a colorful garnish of cherry tomatoes if desired.

Now that you have the basic quiche recipe, you can play around with the cheeses and filling ingredients.

Cork Elf on the shelf or tree tutorial

Do you have an elf on the shelf?  If not you can make one from a discarded champagne cork and some craft supplies you may already have on hand.  You can bend his arms and legs any way you choose to sit him on a shelf.  You can even sit him cross-legged on a table or hang him on the tree.  He is quick and easy to create and makes a great package decoration or small gift.

Supplies:

·      Champagne cork

·      20 gauge red wire

·      Wire cutters

·      Red chenille stems (pipe cleaners)

·      Red felt scraps

·      White felt scraps

·      Acrylic paint- flesh, red, brown, blue, white and black

·      Small paintbrush

·      Tacky craft glue

·      Clothespin to hold the felt while drying

·      Awl or nail for making holes in the cork

Patterns for download

Instructions:

1.     Use the awl or a pointed nail to make a hole in the top of the cork.  Cut a 3 “ piece of red 20 gauge wire with wire cutters.  Bend in half to make a loop.  Add some tacky glue to the wire ends and insert into the hole you made in the cork.  (See photo)

2.     Paint a face and ears (As shown in the photo) with the small paintbrush loaded with flesh colored acrylic paint.  Rinse the brush and paint the hair all around the top, back and sides.  (See photo)

3.     Paint the body (The bottom of the cork) red.  Let the paint dry. 

4.     Paint the facial features, eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, etc.  Use the photo as a guide.

5.     Cut two red chenille stems 2 inches long (arms), and two red chenille stems 3 inches long (legs).

6.     To make the cuffs on the arms cut a small ½” piece of white felt and use some tacky glue to attach to the ends of each arm.  Hold in place with a clothespin till dry.

7.     Cut the collar from the pattern.  Apply a generous amount of tacky glue around the neck and attach the collar.

8.     To make the hat, cut the hat pieces from the pattern.  Attach the white edge around the hat piece and let dry.   Fold the hat around and glue both sides together.  Use a clothespin to hold it together while it dries.

9.     Use the nail or awl to drill holes in the sides of the body.  Apply some tacky glue to the arm pieces and using a twisting motion attach to the body.  Repeat this step with the legs, drilling holes in the bottom of the cork.  Glue the hat onto the head allowing the wire loop to come out the top a bit for hanging if desired.

Minion hair bows tutorial

Check out my newest tutorial for a Minion hair bows.  It's quick, easy and you even use recycled denim to create them.  These little minions make great gifts for your favorite little girl.  You can also attach the minion on gift packages for a fun little addition.

Since the supplies are so inexpensive to make these little guys they would be fantastic for a church group, girl scout troop school craft and more.

Hop on over to Bowdabra blog for the full tutorial!

Free printable Christmas coloring page for kids

It's almost Christmas.  Well not exactly almost but the way the stores are discounting all the Christmas items one would think it's the week after!  Anyway I figured it was time for another free printable coloring page.

This page has all the things that remind me of everything I love about Christmas.  And there is plenty of evidence that coloring receives stress and the holidays always bring about a little extra stress.  So let the kids have fun or even be a kid for a day and grab some colored pencils and destress away.

Click on the photo for the free printable.  Want to learn more about the benefits of coloring for kids?

click here