Thanksgiving Roundup

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving!  We're going to be having friends over to celebrate.  Today I'm going to attempt a pecan pie.  In case you need a last minute Thanksgiving treat, here are some fun Thanksgiving finds.

First, one of mine.  Last year we got crazy and made a cake pop turkey.  If you are feeling crazy, this is the project for you:

Next, some gorgeous fabric leaves.  If you are a fabric hoarder and are looking for some adorable table decorations, this is a great project for you.  The tutorial can be found at Dot Girl Blog here.

If you are looking for an adorable turkey decoration, go no further than this tutorial for an embroidery hoop turkey from Gwenny Penny.  Could he be any cuter?  Even as I'm typing this I'm wondering if I have the materials to make one now...

If you are looking for a cute way to share things that you are thankful for, here's a cute display option from It Happened Like This.  You could easily set something up for all of your guest to add their thanks to.

Hope you found a great project to help you celebrate.  Have a fantastic day tomorrow!  Thanks for reading!!

IC#13- Red White and Blue Brooch

Our Iron Craft Challenge this week was "Red, White, and Blue."  I chose to make a felted star brooch.  Here's my step by step.

I started by felting each star.  I started by slowly felting all around a small bunch of roving to create a ball.

I then flattened the ball by felting on each side.  I started forming the star shape by turning the piece on its side and working in five points along the edge.

I slowly worked on this to form the star shape.  Some of the points ended up too small so I added a bit of extra roving.

Once I had three stars, I attached them to a piece of felt to help secure them together.  I added a bit of extra roving on the back to secure it.

Finally, I sewed a pin back onto the back of my piece.  That is it!

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Last Minute Craft: Easter Egg Characters

Hey!  Did you realize that Easter is this Sunday?  If you didn't, then don't worry.  I have got a great last minute craft for you.  With only a few materials, you can whip up these fun little egg characters in no time flat.  Let's get started!

Materials:
-plastic eggs
-Sharpies
-hot glue
-scissors
-anything else your creative mind wants to add

Carrot:
 
To make the carrot, glue half of a green egg onto the top of an orange egg.  Then add details with an orange sharpie and a green sharpie.

Chick:

Take a yellow egg and draw a beak with orange.  Then add eyes, feathers, and wings with black.

Bunny:

Take the top half of an egg and cut it in half.  Then cut down middle to form two ears.  Glue them on and then attach a bow if you like (particularly if you made a huge glue mess like I did on one).  Draw on a face with sharpies.  I used purple for the nose and black for the rest.

That's it!  Mine are perched in a basket with a bunch of other eggs, but I could see them on a wreath or propped on a mantle or something.  Where will you put yours?  

 

St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Door Decoration Tutorial

Whew.  That was a mouthful.  With St. Patrick's Day only a few days away, here's an easy project to create to add a touch of green to your home (you wouldn't want your front door getting pinched after all).

Start with three wooden heart cut-outs and a rectangular piece of wood.  You should be able to find these at most craft stores; I found mine at Michaels.  Start by giving everything a coat of green spray paint.

Next, screw a small eye screw into one end of your wooden rectangle.  This will give you a place to hang up your piece later.

Lay out your pieces into the appropriate shamrock shape.  Now, hot glue the hearts onto the rectangle.

Cover everything with a nice coat of glitter.  I used the green glitter paint shown below. 

Next, you will need some wooden letter to spell the word "Lucky."  Start by painting these with a coat of yellow-gold paint.  Then brush on a coat of Mod Podge and cover with gold glitter.

Once dry, attach the letters to your shamrock using hot glue.  You're almost done!

The final step is to tie a piece of twine through your eye screw in order to have something to hang your shamrock up with.  The length will be determined by how low you want the shamrock to hang on your door.

Done!  Now hang up your wreath and get ready for St. Patrick's Day.  Corned beef and cabbage, anyone?

A "Lovely" Felt Garland

I was inspired by a heart garland I saw recently and decided to try making my own.  I got it up a little bit after Valentine's Day, but it's still fun to have up.

I used different colors and didn't add the felt balls, but otherwise I pretty much followed the tutorial.  I felt like my hearts didn't retain their shape quite as well as I hoped, but it still made a fun, swirly garland.

I created this piece for a team challenge for a team I am on, The Blogging Business Artisans.  Each month we have a challenge and this month was to create something to do with love.  What's more love than hearts?

IC#2- Heart Wreath Take 2- The Felt Edition

Last time on Iron Craft, I created a paper wreath.  Sadly, this wreath was not up to the job.  Cute as it was, it began to bend in ways that a heart should not.  Rather than cry over a broken heart, I chose to make a new wreath for this week's Iron Craft theme, hearts and flowers.

I kept it simple and bought a pack of felt hearts from the craft store.  They are made of the stiff felt and came in several Valentinesy shades.

I practiced a few layouts and decided to go for a layered look with a central heart, almost like a flower.  I then started hot gluing the whole thing together. 

Once assembled, I hot glued two lengths of red ribbon to the back and tied them together in a bow.  This created a hanger, similar to the one from my last wreath (actually, exactly like it.  I took the ribbon from that project and reused it)

That's it!  I hope this wreath is up to the challenge.  I'll keep you posted on any problems it encounters :)

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Conversation Heart Brooch Tutorial

If you are anything like me, then you find conversation hearts adorable.  I felt it was time to create a Valentine's day projects inspired by these sweet little hearts.  So here it is, my conversation heart brooch tutorial.

Start by mixing some polymer clay to get the color you wanted. Then roll it out to get a flat sheet of clay.  I used a pasta machine for this (only do this if you have one specifically for clay) but you can also use anything round to roll it out.

Next, cut out your heart shapes.  I used a small heart cookie cutter.  Again, if you don't have the cookie cutter you could cut this out by hand with a craft knife, it just might take a bit more work.

Now is the fun part where you can pick your phrases and stamp them in.  To do this, I used some metal stamps I had, but rubber stamps work just as well.

Next, bake the clay as directed on the package.  Make sure you use a designated clay pan or cover your normal bake-ware with foil.

Once baked and cool, give the edges a light sanding.  Mine tended to get little rough edge pieces from when I cut them out.

Now, cover your letters with red acrylic paint.  Just blob it on.  Once all the letters are covered, quickly wipe off the excess with a paper towel.  Since the letters are indented, you should be able to wipe off the excess and leave the paint only in the letters.  This was a little tricky.  I had a hard time getting all the paint off between the letters.  But in the end I decided it looked more realistic if it was a bit imperfect; the real candy hearts always have imperfections.

Finally, spray your hearts with a clear acrylic sealer to protect the paint.  Once dry, glue a pin back on the back.  Now you are done!

These are a really fun project to make for yourself or your friends.  You can really personalize the message (I told my husband the "Hot Stuff" was for him although he would never actually wear it :)

I have some of these listed in the Valentine's Day section of my etsy shop if you would rather buy one than make one.  Enjoy!!