Cardboard Tube Snowflake

There are so many things you can do to recycle cardboard tubes!

I seen this idea on the internet and thought it would be fun to give it a try.

Here is where I got the idea, a google search will bring you endless ideas.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pxu_finland/4171438560/

I gathered my supplies and got to work.

First I took the rolls and pushed them flat(mine are both toilet paper and paper towel rolls)
The I took a ruler and marked where how big I wanted my "loops" to be.

Then I just cut all on the lines making all the loops.

I rearranged the loops how I wanted them and started glueing.

I first started out using ELMERS CRAFT BOND GLUE PEN. Which I got

as a test product for being a Bzz Agent.

It worked great. It held them together very well and calling it a "bond" is no lie.

The problem I ran into is I was having to hold the loops together until they dried.

Which it doesn't take long to dry but with all those loops I could see this quick project was going to become time consumming.

So after glueing about half the snowflake together with the Bond Glue, I decided to speed things up and break out the glue gun.

Once I got it all glued together I spray painted it white.
The cardboard absorbed the paint alot so I had to do several coats.
If you have any spray on Kilz that would work perfect for this project.

Here is the finished project. I just pinned it to the wall so you could see it. I think I will end up putting it on a string and hanging it from a window or something tho.
I like how it turned out, but I can most certainly see room for improvement.
Just for a snowflakey effect I added sparkly glitter to it.
This project was quick, fun and simple and the ideas of various snowflakes are endless.
I am going to make more. They would be so pretty hanging a bunch in different lengths and sizes from a window or sliding glass door.

Christmas Jewelry..

For Christmas this year I made lots of jewelry.

I admit I am not a pro at this...but I'm pretty proud of myself

at how far I've come with making them look so much better then

a string of beads! (Who knew crimping beads were so awesome??!!)

This first necklace set is made for a friend of mine.

This is one of my favorite ones that I made.

It has lots of crystal beads, and the charm is a unique one.

When Dan and I were in Mount Pleasant I picked it up at an Indian

museum and all the beads there were made by the Indians that lived on the reservation

that ran this particular museum.

This set here I made for an older teen.

I'm not sure of her style so I'm hoping

she likes this.

If you look closely the "wild" design beads are actually

made from magazine pages. Yep paper beads baby!!

I use a really strong glue when I make these, so when

they dry they are rock hard.

(I'll be making a tutorial for those of you who don't

know how to make paper beads)

This set here is made for my sister in law.

She wears a lot of Harley clothes so I figured if

I went with black/white/clear she'd have some

sort of shirt to match it.

I had to get the wire to shape so now it lays flat

not all curved like the photo shows.

And look there is some more of those paper beads!

This set was made for my little cousin

who is also an older teen, but a HUGE

University of Michigan fan.

I'm sure she'll wear these with pride!

(Go Notre Dame!)

Here is a set I made for another friend of mine.

Her favorite color is purple so I'm really

hoping that she likes this set.

This photo shows more of the true color of the

beads. (wow jewelry is hard to photograph!)

She also is not a person that I've noticed wears

various earrings so instead of earrings I made her a

bracelet.

And lastly, this set is made for my Auntie.

It was very hard to get the real colors of this set.

The colors are more like turquoise stones.

This was just some of the necklaces I made

this year. I gave 4 away without photographing them.

I told ya I been busy :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope your Christmas was a great one and that Santa

brought YOU lots of good things!

Our Christmas Count Down

For the past couple years I've been trying to figure out how to make

a Christmas Countdown that would be simple but possiably reused...

FINALLY!!!

I don't know where I seen this idea...(Sorry I can't give credit where credit is due!!)

I thought this was a neat idea!! It's recycling, simple, cutesie/old fashioned "feel" to it...

WHo woulda ever thought to use toilet paper rolls!!

Isn't that a nifty idea!!

Now that I did a simple one, I'm thinking...hmm this could be done up really cool if you have any spare time on your hands to add great whimsy to them!! For me...well maybe another time..but for this year, these are perfect! :)

So does that mean I have officially "altered" toilet paper rolls??? LOL..

Don't it look cute!!!

All I did was tuck fold the bottoms of each end.

I stuffed candy and other goodies

in it, along with a small activity!

I was able to stuff 2 packs of funsize m&m packs into them!!

**** COUNT DOWN/HALLOWEEN TIP HERE!!! ****

On Halloween when you take your kids trick or treating,

once it's all over give them a freezer bag with their name on it.

Ask for 25 pieces of candy. When they are done seal them up and throw them in the

freezer!!

You now have your Christmas Countdown candies. They still get to eat "their"

candy...just not all at once!!! :)

Thanks Suzanne for this tip you shared with me years ago!!

P.S. Don't always expect your kids will be pleased to "hand it over" lol..

I've been wanting to find a website

that has the story of Mary and Joseph and the

birth of Jesus, where you would read a section of the

story each night but I've yet to find a website for that.

So next year I will just break the story down myself, plus have

family activites in there.

I had a hard time tho coming up with something everyday..so incase you need some ideas too I'm including our list.

Have a Merry Christmas..time is counting down..ha ha..

1 decorate the tree
2 watch rudolph
3 curl up with hot coco and read a christmas book
4 send postcards to your friends
5 say a prayer for the troops
6 Set your shoe by your bedroom door for tonite is the nite St Nick comes!
7 work on gifts you're making for family members
8 listen to christmas music and sing along
9 read a christmas book
10 watch a special christmas movie in mom's bed! (I bought the movie "8 crazy nights" and included 2 fun size m&m's)
11 have a cup of warm coco and tell us about your day!
12 say a special prayer for everyone
13 enjoy your treat (put suckers in this one)
14 make cookies
15 read a christmas book
16 say a prayer for the troops
17 read a story about Jesus
18 Take goodies to the neighbors
19 have fun at the school party today!
20 enjoy your treat while we read a christmas book (put a piece of candy inside)
21 play a game of "trouble"
22 help open and hang the christmas cards
23 have coco popcorn and watch and christmas movie
24 Hang your stockings. Read a book about Jesus and verse
25 Happy Birthday Jesus! Be sure to thank him for all he's done for you! Enjoy your day!

A Hartfelt Christmas Blog Party!!!

Everyone is invited! Would you like to join the celebration? Read on...

How to join:

Make a post in your blog with the big announcement to let people know you're attending! Big catches people's attention. *winks*

Post the button in your sidebar with a link back to this blog for those who missed your grand announcement! (Plus it will help you not to forget too!)

Have your post ready to go on the 12th.

Post a comment here after you have made the announcement, and leave a link to your blog so Kelly can add you to the guest list.

Once your post is up, make sure you make a comment on http://hartfeltchristmas.blogspot.com/ and link back to it from yours that day so everyone knows you have made your post and can also find the rest of the party posts.

*************************************************************************************

Not sure what to post? Here are some suggestions:

Your holiday decorations

A story about your favorite present of all time

Your family traditions

Recipes

Crafts

And don't forget to include some pictures that incorporate your work if you are an artist, everyone loves to see that!

You're only limited by your imagination!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFaiKMmOpLuSObAk7kMZhFdq6IMRBSVY63i1dwkjglUi9clgQf_WrCzH_w3SqeBWCwdADX5mVFXXINIZK-7lXZjRDarhdd4fVmZsqDsuhQk0H90xyefN6qfVVuK0oehxR7_7f5-52xceE/s1600/Blog+party+flyer.png

A few more cards.....

Well...I'm getting there..

slowly but surely adding to my

many Christmas cards that need to be made.

I got very lucky. When I was at a thrift store I found this

old tattered hymn book. Of course I had to snatch it up!

It was even already aged for me ...and I'm talking to the

point that the pages are so old that the page are brittle!!

I totally love it :)

I love this barn image stamp!

I tried to make it wintery by adding the blue sky and glitter.

I'm not crazy about the ribbon, i think it's too wide and I might add

some snowflake die cuts to this card. will make it again so I'm calling

this one a "rough draft" lol..

Bummer the embossed Christmas trees didn't show up on the green paper!


This card is growing on me. I do love that image tho!!

A couple Christmas Card Shares.

Well it's that time again...

You know, when you swore that you would have all your cards made and ready to be sent out December 1st?!!!! But that didn't happen so now it's Crunch Time in November lol..

I did actually get a few cards made but then I didn't keep on keepin on with making them..so here I am getting back into the swing of things!

Here are two of the cards I made this weekend.

Both from sketches, that I didn't save links to (sorry)