Baby Sock Snowmen

Today I am guest posting over at Paisley Roots.  Karly has a really fun series going called A Giving Christmas.  It is all about teaching kids about giving and getting them in the giving spirit for the holidays.  I was so excited when I got the chance to join in the fun.  My little ones and I made some cute little snowmen out of their baby socks to share. 

All you need to make these ornaments are some old mismatched or outgrown socks and some craft supplies you may already have lying around!

 

Make sure you head over to Paisley Roots to read all about our snowmen and get the details on how to make them.  And then poke around a bit, there are some really fun ideas in the series and Karly's blog is full of great stuff!

 

Harry Potter peg people ornaments

Remember the bird ornament I made last year?  It is still the most popular post on my blog. I did a craft ornament exchange again this year.  I enjoy doing the exchange, it really challenges me to be creative.

This year I wanted to make something to do with Harry Potter.  My original plan was to make a snitch (for those of you who are not Harry Potter fan, 1) read the books, they are great! and 2) a snitch is a small gold ball with wings that they try to catch in the wizard game of Quidditch).  I was in the craft store looking for something to use fir the gold ball when I found these little wooden peg people.  I totally changed gears and ditched the snitch idea when I thought about how cute these things would be painted to look the the three main characters of Harry Potter.

To make these little guys I simply drew out my design in pencil right on my pegs.  Once I had something I liked I painted it with acrylic paints.  Then they got a couple coats of glossy spray lacquer.  And to make them hang on the tree they each got an eye screwed in their head to tie a ribbon too.

I love how they turned out!  Here is Harry complete with glasses and lightning bolt scar:

And my favorite, Ron:

And Hermione, I had a hard time deciding how to do her hair, I considered having it pulled back but I am glad I didn't:

These pictures make them look bigger than they really are, they are only 2" tall.  Aren't they adorable?

  

Felt Bird Ornaments with Tutorial and pattern

I did a handmade ornament exchange this year.  It was a lot of fun.  The person I got to make an ornament for had just adopted a son this year so I wanted to do something family related for her.  I decided on this little family of felt birds, one for each member of her family.

I had a lot of fun adding little details, ties and bow ties for the boys, pearls and flowers for the girls.

Then I put them all together on a little branch and painted a clothes pin for the bottom so it can clip on the tree.



I am going to share my pattern for a basic bird with you.  These little guys are pretty simple to make.  The one I made today is going to my sister for her new Christmas tree.  You could get really creative with these birds, I think they would be beautiful with some hand embroidery on them!



I made the pattern and then used my printer to scale it down to the different sizes you see in the family of birds.  The pattern full size makes a bird about 3" tall, that is the size I use in this tutorial.  The biggest bird in the family is about 2" and the babies are about 1", they all had to be smaller because I had to fit a lot of birds on that branch!