Belznickles With Glittery Coats

        These small Belznickles are dressed in glittery coats of bubblegum pink, yellowware gold, and a dusky blue shade. They stand approximately six to seven inches tall and each one carries a tiny bottle brush tree. Each figure is entirely handsculpted with CelluClay; there are no two exactly alike.

A Triquetra Knot Chrismon, Cut From A Scherenscnitte

Cut a Triquetra Knot with a scherenscnitte center for your Chrismon collection.

      This Trinity Knot is designed using both the classic trinity symbol and the ancient fish motifs of early Christians. You will need to print two copies of the pattern below in order to cut and paste the version that I have photographed in color in this post. Cut one of the scherenscnitte patterns entirely from fine white linen paper.

      Then cut out the center of your second pattern to use the classic trinity symbol as a template. Trace and cut two versions of this knot from a glittery, gold paper. You will need both a front and a  back side; this Chrismon is designed to be viewed from either of it's sides.

Scherenscnitte Pattern of a Trinity Fish Knot by Kathy Grimm

More About The Holy Trinity in Art:

• Many more Holy Trinity related Chrismon patterns here

"A clip from RAPTURE an original oratorio written and produced by Darren Thomas and performed by Symphonic Art's MPAC which stands for Music & Performing Arts Chorale. Full project is available on DVD at www.rebirthtoday.org in our R-Store."

Belznickles In White

    I sculpted some of my 2012, limited edition Belznickles in snowy white Winter cloaks. Each elderly figure carries a gold tinsel feather tree and stands approximately fourteen inches tall.

    Their features were painting with acrylics and varnished with a durable, long lasting transparent enamel finish and every Belznickle's base is lined with wool felt to protect  surfaces from scratching.

More links to Belznickles:

• More Belznickles by Kathy Grimm - ornaments included
• My Belznickle Pinboard - "The Best Guide to Belznickels or Old-Fashioned Santa Caricatures
• Learn about the history behind Belznickles

These friendly Belznickles by Kathy Grimm were painted for a 2012 limited edition.

Sculpt a Belznickle Head Candy Cone

This candy cone measure approximately
 12 inches in length.

       This the first candy cone that I made from CelluClay. I fashioned it on top of a prefabricated cone purchased from a hobby store. Although I could have made the cone myself, I thought perhaps it more important that the cone be made of a much heavier paper mache form. CelluClay dries light weight but is quite heavy when first applied. I didn't want the thickness of the medium to alter the shape of the cone before it dried. It took several weeks for the CelluClay to dry naturally because I did not make my earliest ornaments from this series in the summer. Through trail and error I would conclude to sculpt with CelluClay during the hot summer months only.

      I shaped the ridges of the Belznickle's beard with a toothpick. His features were painted with acrylic paints and then I varnished the surface of my candy cone with a wood floor varnish. I also finished the inside of the cone with CelluClay and painted it a bright red. (not shown) The cone itself is relatively light weight but it often contains heavier candies over the holidays. This is the reason for the thick wire handle.

More ornaments made with CelluClay:

• CelluClay Snowmen
• Talavera Bird
• A Communion Cup for The Chrismon Tree
• Papier Mache Christmas Cone Tutorial
• My Grinch Tree if finished and I just love it

A Manger Scherenscnitte Pattern by Kathy Grimm

A hand cut scherenscnitte of a manger scene.

        I have designed a brand new scherenscnitte pattern that our visitors may use for their personal crafts and for those crafts dedicated to the decorating of Chrismon trees! I cut my Chrismon of the baby Jesus in a manger from fine white drawing paper and then mounted the scherenscnitte onto heavy card stock covered with gold glitter.

       Teachers, parishioners and or pastors may wish to make heavy cardboard stencils from the pattern below so that little ones may trace, cut and paste their own contributions to your church's Chrismon tree. Or the stencil may be traced lightly onto a sheet of fine linen paper with the aid of a window or light table. Then adults can use either an x-acto knife or use 3-1/2" sharp pointed scissors to cut out the image of the baby Jesus cradled in a manger under the Star of David.

Scherenscnitte Pattern by Kathy Grimm © 2013

Visit My Big Chrismon Pinboard Here
The Only Possible Legitimate Messiah
The Genealogy of Christ Jesus
How can Jesus be the Son of David?

"Kid's Music video from the Kiddie Viddie series. - Song #4 from "Christmas Joy". Download this song for free at http://nubeat.org/ABCHscjT.html"

The Queen and King of Hearts Candy Cone

The raised parts of the candy cones are made using Sculpey and candy molds.

       In order to craft your own candy cone creation, you will need some very basic supplies. I have listed these below but, remember, that your candy cone creation will not be exactly like this one. The molds, design and additional decorative elements will give your cone it's own unique appearance.

• A candy cone form, this may be either purchased or made by hand. If you are planning to layer molded clay parts onto the form as I have done in the example below, I recommend that you purchase a very sturdy cone.
• Paper mâché pulp, like CelluClay to shape in a thin layer around the pasted objects. This reinforces the cone and also gives it's surface a texture like snow.
• Paperclay or Sculpey for the making of decorative 3D applied figures - If you use Sculpey it must be oven baked while draped on top of the cone. This will ensure that it has the subtle curvature necessary in order to be glued to the cone's rounded shape. If you are unsure of how to accomplish this, it takes a bit of skill, only use the paperclay. Paperclay may be left for hours on the cone while it dries into the correct shape. You may use colored clay or choose to paint the clay later.
• A variety of small half molds. For my particular candy cone project, I chose to mold the King and Queen of Hearts characters from molds produced for Hearth Song. These molds were originally produced for a bee's wax ornament kit produced in 1990 something. I purchased the kit for my oldest child and used it for this purpose many years ago. The molds were so cute that I decided to make something more elaborate with them for my younger daughter.
• Tinsel to line the interior of the cone
• Beads and wire to craft the fancy handle
• White glue to adhere the decorative clay pieces to the surface of the cone.
• A kind of enamel or acrylic varnish to finish the candy cone's surface 
• Acrylic paints to color the surface of your cone as you wish

Process:

1. To begin this process, choose small molded elements that relate to a specific design theme. These may be purchased in a local hobby store or be handmade by pressing a variety of small objects into Sculpey clay that are then carefully removed to leave a three dimensional impression. Bake the clay half mold in the oven as directed. Cool. You may press and unmold a variety of paperclay objects from this Sculpey press mold for future use in the candy cone project.
2. Because you will be gluing these small molded objects to a cylindrical cone, you will need to make sure that they dry hard with a slight curvature. I dry my molded element directly on top of the surface of the cone along with a generous amount of white glue, while the clay piece is still yet pliable. Neither paperclay or Sculpey shrink enough during the drying or baking process for me to worry about them not shaping themselves properly to the finished surface. If I where using a high fire clay, I might need to worry about this process a bit and make allowances for it. However, with these two products, the fear is unnecessary.
3. Sometimes the small molded pieces pop off of the cone during drying or baking. Do not trouble yourself over this, just apply more glue to the surface and reattach the element.
4. Mix together a small amount of CelluClay as directed and apply this around your molded pieces to fill in the gaps on your cone. Let the entire piece dry. Depending upon the time of year, this could take one night or a week. If you are mass producing candy cones to sell in a little shop, this is the point in the project in which you may wish to set aside the cones until you have time to finish them at a later stage. I often do this part of my crafting in the early summer for a couple of weeks. Then I store the cones for painting later. This is because the summer heat helps to dry the CelluClay harder, faster, and also prevents mold from growing on the surface.
5. Before painting the cone, take a sharp object and punch a whole at the top of the cone on either of it's sides for the handle. 
6. Add an assortment of beads to a wire and twist this in place through the holes to shape a handle. Make sure their are no sharp ends left that may cause injury. 
7. Using white glue, adhere a generous amount of tinsel to the interior of the cone or you may choose to simple paint it and add tissue before putting small gifts/candy inside of it.
8. Paint the surface design of your cone to compliment a design and or color palette of your own choice.
9. Varnish the outside surface with enamel or acrylic sealer in order to ensure the candy cone's life long use.
10. Remember to always wrap the candies you give into the cone. I hang the same candy cones on my Christmas tree every year and fill these with all kinds of special sweets.

Candy Cone Forms and Templates:

• 12 Paper Mache Cardboard Cones
• paper conees 10.5" from saveoncrafts
• free cone templates by www.zitzmanfam.blogspot.com small and large

The hanger for this candy cone is beaded with seed beads, bugle beads, pearl beads etc...

More Queen of Hearts Ornament Ideas:

• queen of hearts valentine ornament
• Queen of Hearts ornament by Catherine Darling Hostetter
• Alice in Wonderland Tea Cup Ornament by Disney
• The "Queen of Hearts" by Lunel Haysmer
• Illustrator John Tenniel
• "The Queen of Hearts" by Randolph Caldecott
• Follow My Candy Cones & Candy Box Pinboard

How To Organize Christmas Parties

Organize a wintery sleigh ride.

       A house party at Christmas affords the young people of the family a chance to be entertained and cheery for a weekend or more. The charm of a house party is in the bringing together of congenial guests who spend several days with their hosts. When the girls or boys return from college or boarding school for the holidays they often bring with them as guests classmates whose homes are too remote to make it worth whole for them to take a long and expensive journey for the recess. The girl and the boy who hail from the west and attend an eastern school of learning, may be forced to spend a homesick holiday if no comrade tenders an invitation to join a family group.

       Outdoor sports, skating, coasting, tobogganing and sleigh riding are the pastimes of the country, while the city offers sight-seeing, music and the other diversions. Storytelling around a bonfire in Southern states is sure to be a favorite feature of the festivity and ice skating parties are certainly typical of those folks who live up North. Daily excursions such as these are thankfully hosted and organized by others: all you really need to think about is how and when to provide transportation. However, hosting house parties will take a bit of personal planning in advance.

       The long evenings at home, the little parties invited to meet the visitors, and the whole merry and swiftly passing time make a Christmas house-party one of the gala seasons of the year. The housekeeper finds that her provision for the table must be ample. Her pies and cakes disappear like magic, for young people are noted for good appetites. I will links to ideas and helpful ways to organize these home parties below.

       Tableaux, charades and conundrums are among the amusements appropriate to such a parties and I keep an updated listing of ideas for these entertainments here. 

Traditional Outdoor Christmas Parties:

• Christmas bonfires keep Mississippi River Glowing
• A Winter Ice Skating Party
• Horse-Drawn Sleigh Rides in Cedarburg
• How to Plan a Winter Sledding Party 
• A birthday sledding party
  

Traditional Christmas Ideas for A House Party:

• Jesse Tree Ornament Exchange Party
• Christmas party ideas and holiday entertaining tips
• 5 Ideas for an open-house Christmas party
• How-To: Host a cookie themed open house
• A Holiday Open-House Party Checklist
• Christmas Party Ideas
• Fun and Easy Christmas Party Ideas
• Ornament/Gift Exchange Game
• Holiday wrap 'n yap
• Delightfully Sweet Gingerbread House Decorating Party

"GHRI Food Director Susan Westmoreland shares her favorite cookie recipes and shows you how to host a cookie swap."