I love it when it comes out better than you hoped for!!! I am in LOVE with his hat,it makes me giggle with happiness. A crazy emotion for some wire but I really like it!This first came about from a Jo-Anns ad. Tucked up on a branch in a picture selling something else was a little snowman head made from a ball of yarn-wanted to try it.Then while blog surfing Thanksgiving night I came across this wonderful series of posts at Under The Table and DreamingOne of her guest bloggers had done an entire snowman made from styrofoam balls wrapped in yarn. So thee it was, that’s what I wanted to try.Mine is a bit different, I omitted the styrofoam and just made 3 balls of yarn {about a 4”, 3”, and 2” diameter}.Hot glued them all together so they made a snowman body.I used black furniture tacks for the buttons-just glued in as well, and burlap ribbon that I found at Wal-martfor the scarf.Then I twisted some black 20 gauge wire together to make the arms. I made one arm then threaded the wire through the body and shaped the other. Just bend, pinch, and twist. A little glue at the base to keep it from twisting.And then that awesome hat! I found two of my kids blocks that I liked the size of. I wrapped the wire several times around the larger block and then switched blocks and continued wrapping up the smaller one.I found the end of the wire on the big loops and twisted it around the big loops only to keep them together.Next I took the pile of smaller loops and pushed them back through the big loops so they were now on the opposite side of where they started, this helped to sturdy them up a bit.Then I took a separate piece of wire about 4 inches long and pinched it in half. Slid it over the smaller loops with the pinch at the top of the hat. I pulled it down on the loops until I got the height I wanted on my hat and then gave it a twist to hold them there. I snipped off one tail and slid the other down into the snowman’s head.
Materials (for 1 ghost):
1 large clear plastic christmas ornament (I found this at Michael’s Arts & Crafts for $1)
1 to 3 glow sticks (or glow necklaces) that are small enough to fit inside the ornament
Round black felt stickers, or black felt cut into cricles
6 feet of cheese cloth (most grocery stores sell this in the baking section)
Remove the metal top from the ornament. Place the glow sticks inside (but wait until dark to break the glow stick). I found that two or three work better once its dark.
Replace the metal top.
Add the black felt stickers (or cut out circles and glue them) to the ornament to resemble eyes.
Cut the cheese cloth into 2 foot strips. You can also cut it into various lengths to add a bit of dimension.
Layer the cloth over the ornament and push the metal ring through the cloth.
DONE!
That’s it, takes about 5 minutes.
Here is day time creepy ghost:
And night time creepy ghost.
What you’ll need:
- HI-FLOAT (US shoppers click here)
- 11-inch clear latex balloons
- Small rubber spiders
Instructions
- Inject a little less than the usual amount of Hi-float into an clear balloon and rub it around to coat the inside.
- Put a small rubber spider inside the balloon.
- Inflate the balloon to about 75% of the full-size with air.
- Seal the balloon with a plastic disk or clip. Let it dry overnight. Place the balloon out in the open where there is good air circulation. It must be very dry in order to form the spider web.
- The next day remove the clip and deflate the balloon.
- Hold the balloon by the stem and the top as shown to the right below, and stretch it a few times to separate the dry film from the wall of the balloon.
- Slowly inflate the balloon with Helium or air.
- When the balloon is almost full-size the Hi-Float film will separate from the wall in several places and hang inside the balloon to form a spider web.
-If the coating does not separate, deflate the balloon, stretch it a couple of more times and reinflate it.
The lanterns are monochromatic, but you can play with the design by creating an ombre pattern (gradations of the same color) or stripes. You can even use green disks at the tops of the lanterns so that they resemble berries with leafy stems.
Tools and Materials
- Tissue-paper disks in assorted colors
- Double-sided tape
- 14-, 16-, or 18-inch-diameter paper lanterns
1. Starting at the bottom of the lantern, use small squares of tape to begin attaching tissue-paper disks around the hole, overlapping them.
2. Working toward the top, continue sticking and overlapping disks to cover the lantern.
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Step 1: Take all the “hanger” pieces off the ornaments. Then, I glued the biggest ornaments on first in an even pattern around the Styrofoam wreath.
Step 2: Glue the next size down ornaments on.
Step 3: It’s starting to fill in now. I just continued gluing on the smaller ones.
Step 4: This is the finishing stage where you fill in all the extra space with the smallest ornaments you have. Not all the balls are connected to the wreath either. You just glue them all on to one another. You just fill in anywhere you can still see the wreath.
Materials:
- 1/2” diameter jingle bell
- 2 colorful felt balls, 3/4” (2 cm) in diameter (my fave places to buy felt balls are Ornamentea and Feltorama.)
- 2 1/4” circle of tan or brown felt, cut with pinking shears
- Embroidery floss
- 16” length of 1/8” wide ribbon
- Crafts glue
- Needle and thread
- Straight pin
1) Thread needle with 3 strands of embroidery floss and sew a running stitch around the perimeter of the felt circle, 1/8” from the edge. Tie off end of floss with a knot and trim excess.
2) Roll circle into a cone shape (keeping knots from your stitching on the inside of the cone) with a point at one end and about a 3/4” diameter opening at the other end. Apply glue between the overlap and hold with a pin until dry.
3) Thread a 10” length of ribbon through the metal bell loop and knot to create the ornament hanger. With needle and thread sew one felt ball on top of the other by stitching up through the center of each ball. Sew the jingle bell on top of the stacked felt balls. Stitch through balls and bell several times to secure.
4) Apply glue around the inside opening of the top of the cone. Place felt ball “scoops” inside the opening of the cone, press into the glue.
5) Tie a 6” length of ribbon into a tiny bow and trim excess. Glue to the center front of the cone at the top of the overlap.
Before you start:
Be sure to evenly distribute the sizes of tubes. This will make all the difference.
Take measurements if necessary to ensure that the wreath remains about the same size all the way around.
A table saw or box saw are important here as they will help to maintain a level edge.
If one end of the tube gets messed up during cutting place it bad end up in your arrangement. It won’t be seen in the finished product.
Don’t skip any joints if possible. Each bond makes the wreath a little stronger overall.
Apply adhesive liberally.
Make sure you use the adhesive in a well-ventilated area.
The materials:
- PVC pipes in a variety of diameters – the example is made of 5 foot lengths right from the hardware store shelf.
- PVC cement (16 oz can)
- Spray paint
- Sandpaper
The steps:
- Cut the pipes into 5 inch pieces with a table saw or a box saw.
- Peel off any stickers, lightly sand edges as needed, and wipe off dirt with a damp cloth.
- On a flat surface, lay the pipe pieces out in a pattern with the sizes evenly distributed around the wreath. Use a round object in the center as your guide such as a mixing bowl.
- When you are satisfied with your layout gently move all but the innermost circle back just a few inches.
- Apply PVC cement to the both sides of two of the tubes where they are to be joined. Hold together for 30 seconds. Release.
- Repeat this process all the way around the circle.
- Begin adding the remaining pieces by applying adhesive to both surfaces where any and every joint will be made.
- Allow proper drying time (about 2 hours) before continuing.
- Turn wreath over and clean the front of your wreath before painting.
- Spray paint the wreath following the paint manufacturer’s instructions.
Materials
• 12” piece floral wire
• 16” double rail wreath ring ($2.50; MaineWreathCo.com)
• 25–30 small (2”–8” wide) gift boxes
• Scrap wrapping paper
• Tape
• Scissors
• Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
• Scrap ribbon
Directions
1. Fold floral wire in half, wrap around form and tie in a knot, leaving a loop to hang the wreath.
2. Wrap all boxes with paper (without ribbon for now).
3. On a flat surface, arrange 8 to 10 of the largest boxes on wreath form to cover most of the wire of the form. Glue onto form.
4. Wrap ribbon around remaining boxes. Arrange on top of largest boxes, alternating colors and angles. Glue into place. Allow to fully dry before hanging.
Supplies Needed:
A mix of round Christmas ornaments in 4 different sizes –for one tree you will need about 20 balls. At least 4 of each size.
Knitting Needle – 14 inches long (tall tree) Spray paint the needles if needed to match your ornaments.
Optional: Christmas tree peak topper or a star ornament, ribbon spool, spray paint, scrapbook paper, glue, spray paint, paper cutter
To make the ribbon spool tree stand: Spray the spool with spray paint to coordinate with your ornaments. Cut scrapbook paper the width of the spool. You could use ribbon, but I like the more finished look of the paper on the spool.
Attach the paper with glue. I used Aleene’s Tacky Line Roll Adhesive.
Attach to the spool.
Thread the knitting needle up through the bottom of the spool.
If the spool has a large hole – you can stuff it with pieces of STYROFOAM to make sure the needle stays straight.
String four large Christmas ball ornaments (about 4” diameter) onto the needle, slipping the metal loops on the balls over the point of the needle. These four balls will form the base of the tree. If you do not want to use the spool tree stand and want to make the basic tree – the four balls when placed squarely on a table will hold the needle upright.
Next string onto the needle four balls of a slightly smaller size. Each one will fit between two of the larger ones. Then string on another four, slightly smaller, and finally four more again, slightly smaller, so that your tree has sixteen Christmas ball ornaments in all. You can add more or less depending on the size of your balls.
The tip will look like this.
On top of the needle place a Christmas star ornament. I found this one at Michaels. It had a “spring” style attachment that I removed. I used that existing hole to place the star on the top of the knitting needle. I used an awl to make the hole a bit larger so it fit over the tip of the needle.
