Print a frosty little Gibson snowball for the mantel.

        This nostalgic print would look charming on a fireplace mantel or hanging on a tree. You could also tuck it inside of a Christmas card for a special family member or friend. Apply a bit of glue and transparent glitter to it's surface to make the snowy surface come to life...

Gibson's Movie Post Cards "An all around Merry Christmas'' restored for fun and merry making.

How to make a knitter's Christmas bauble!

        To make the knitter's bauble, for hanging on a Christmas tree, you will need the following supplies: a Styrofoam ball, enough yarn to cover the ball, white school glue, two skewers, two beads to fit perfectly on the ends of each skewer and wire for the hanger.
      Apply white school in modest amount to the surface of the Styrofoam ball while you wrap it to cover with the yarn. Too much glue makes a mess that will ruin this project if you are not cautious.
       While you are waiting for parts of the wrap to dry a bit, cut the skewers down to 5 1/2 inches if you are making a medium sized bauble. Cut these pretend knitting needles longer or shorter depending upon the scale and size of the ball you are wrapping for the ornament. 
      Glue small beads to each flat end of your knitting needles. 
      Wrap the knitting needles in a cross position while working the yarn around these, just as they would appear if doing it with real needles inside of a ball of yarn. 
      Shape a hanger from wire, dab the end of it with glue and then push it deep inside the Styrofoam ball to hang.

Left, see the yarn covered bauble hanging. Right, here to see the hook detail.

        The key to making these knitting balls for the tree is to limit the amount of yarn used to cover the bauble's surface so that the ornament won't get to heavy for the branches of a Christmas tree. And also, if you are a frugal knitter, you may only want to use the amount of yarn necessary for these festive trims so that there will be enough left-over for the next textile project!

Turn Popsicle sticks and wooden skewers into winter skis...

       To make winter skies like ours for your Christmas tree you will need the following craft supplies: metal snaps (sewing notions), twine, masking tape, white school glue, hot glue gun and glue, acrylic paints, figurative tissue paper, wooden skewers, fine sandpaper and large Popsicle sticks or tongue depressors.

Above, see two different methods for decorating your skis and ski poles.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut the skewers to 4 1/4 inch lengths.
2. Clip off the curved ends of the Popsicle sticks at the bottom of each ski only. With white school glue stick one on top of the other in an 'X' shape. Let dry.
   
3. Cross the two ski poles, one on top of the other. Glue these together securing them in an 'X' formation with a bit of twine or masking tape. This shape will follow the shape of the crossed Popsicle stick skies.
4. You can twist the twine at the top of each ski pole to make the handles and/or use folded masking tape for handles to later paint.
5. Glue silver sewing snaps to the bottom of each ski pole using the hot glue gun and hot glue.
6. Either paint or decoupage the skis in the colors of your choice. Above the photograph shows both possibilities.
7. Once the skis have been decorated, hot glue the ski poles on top of the Popsicle skis. 
8. Tape a wire hanger to the backside of your wooden skis and cover this with paint or additional decoupaged tissue.
   

Make a Flexible Flyer for The Tree

Left, is the sled from underneath. 
Right is the sled from above.

        This Flexible Flyer is a child's sled intended for recreation only. But, when it is only six inches long like these, you can only hang it on a tree... 

       Samuel Allen patented his Flexible Flyer in 1889. While his factory normally produced farm equipment, the sleds gave his workers something to build during slower times of the year, during the winter months.

• I have clipart here of a couple of old Flexible Flyer sled types...

Supply List:

• tacky white glue
• 8 Popsicle sticks - medium ones
• red acrylic paint
• utility scissors or handsaw
• masking tape (optional)
• fine sandpaper

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Make sure the wooden Popsicle sticks are clean and freshly sanded. This will insure that the tacky glue will adhere the pieces.
2. You will need masking tape to hold the sticks in place as these dry. Stick the first two Popsicle sticks in the center of a length of tape very close together with just a slight bit of separation. Then stick two more, one on either side of the center two, after the tips have been sliced off at an angle using a hack saw or utility scissors.
3. Now turn the group over and cut down the sticks for the underside of the sled to fit. These will be glued down on their edges. Use more masking tape to hold these in place while they dry.
4. Once the sleds are dry and firmly glued in place, remove the masking tape.
5. Paint the sled a traditional red or green for the Christmas tree.
6. Tie on a piece of twine for hanging the ornament.
7. If this sled is too simple for your tastes, hot glue a few Christmas garnishes and presents to the top of the sled.

Craft yarn covered mountains for the tree!

This yarn mountain has yarn snow too.

       For some of our visitors, snow topped mountains, lodges and skying are all apart of winter fun. This year I will be posting more ornaments with sports themes. The first few being related to the mountains: the people who live there, the sports they practice and the landscapes in winter. 

Supply List:

• heavy paper or thin flexible cardboard
• decorative yarn (colorful for the mountain)
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• white school glue or tacky white glue
• masking tape
• thin flexible wire for the hanger
• five or six cotton balls
• white or cream yarn (for the snow toped mountain)
• felt to compliment the color of the yarn for the bottom of the mountain.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut out the circle from cardboard that has at least a five inch diameter across it's center.
2. Cut this circle exactly in half.
3. Bent the half circle shape around it's self to form a cone. Tape the cone in place.
4. Cut off the tip of the cone to thread a fine wire up and through. On the inside of the cone bunch up the wire just a bit to sink it into a bit of hot glue. This will hold the wire in place.
5. Wrap the outside of the cone first, starting from the bottom, with the colorful yarn. Squeeze the tacky craft glue around the cone as you do this. Try to keep the wrap as clean as possible.
6. Stop a 1/2 inch from the top, peak of the cone mountain.
7. Continue on using white or cream yarn to represent the snow-caped mountain.
8. Wrap the remaining wire with cotton batting and shape this into a fancy hook.
9. After the yarn applications have dried, stuff the interior with cotton balls to help the mountain ornaments keep their shape.
10. Next using the tacky white glue, spread some generously onto a scrap piece of cardboard and press the mountain's bottom opening on top. Let dry before trimming off the excess cardboard.
11. Cover the bottom of the mountain using scrap felt and glue to finish the ornament.

Left, cut and wrap a cone from cardboard. Center wrap the yarn mountain.
Right, a cotton batting snow cap in this version of the ornament.