Jack-in-the-Box Snowman

Do you like to recycle?  I have a hard time throwing things in the trash sometimes.  Even into the recycle bin! For example; the little K-cups after they are used.  I know there has got to be a really cool craft project lurking there, but don't take the time to figure one out.  The box was another story.  I used the 2.0 carafe k-cup box to complete this project.  It could be another box with a flap; but this one was deep enough and worked nicely.  Following is the supply list for this project.  Hope you enjoy it!

Supplies:

Smoothfoam:  3" ball
Cardstock papers:  Snowhaven papers and Complements by Close To My Heart  To order:  www.marilyngossettdesigns.ctmh.com/retail
Acrylic paints:  Americana Decor Chalky Finish: Whisper; Americana Acrylics:  Lamp (Ebony) Black, Spiced Pumpkin, Warm White by DecoArt
Americana Decou-Page for paper by DecoArt
Felt:  Vintage White; 2 sheets
Paper Punch:  1-1/2" Scallop
Chenille Stems:  one silver metallic, one red metallic, one pine
Jingle Bell: one 1/2"
Fiber Fill
Diamond Glitter
Wire cutters (for cutting chenille stems)
Powder Blush
Scissors
Paintbrushes
Stylus
Wood Chop Stick with pointed end
Glue gun
other adhesives
*Pattern for the Body/Snow Suit

Instructions:

1.  Box:  Measure the height of the box.  Cut out 12" paper to fit the box and lid.  Adhere papers to the box & lid using the Decou-Page.

2.  Snowman (Jack-in-the-Box):  Using the wooden skewer for a handle, poke the pointed end into the Smoothfoam ball.  Paint entire ball with Whisper Chalky Paint.  Let dry.
Face:  Apply black dip dots for the eyes and mouth.  Blush the cheeks with powder blush.  Rub in with your finger.  Highlight the eyes and mouth with tiny White dip dots.  Allow to dry.

3.  Nose:  Remove the skewer.  Paint the pointed end orange.  Cut 2" from the pointed end.  Insert and glue into the face as shown.  Replace the remaining skewer into the pilot hole in the head.  This will secure the head in the body portion of the snowman.

4.  Body/Snow Suit:  Fold one rectangle of felt in two along the long edge.  Use the pattern given and cut out one.  Repeat with the remaining sheet of felt.  Glue all the edges together; leaving an opening for the head.  Turn the suit right side out, hiding the seams. Lightly stuff  from the bottom with fiber-fill.  Lightly stuff the sleeves with the arms extended.

5.  For a rosette:  Cut three 2" x 12" pieces of paper.  Accordion fold every half inch for each piece. It works best to score them before folding. Adhere the edges, making into one piece.  Gather the folded papers into a circle, securing by holding it down, in place.  Adhere a scalloped paper circle to cover the hole in the middle to secure the rosette.  Repeat on the opposite side.  Make one rosette for the front of the box and one for the snowman's collar. The glue gun works best for this step.

6.  Assemble:  Make a pilot hole in one rosette (collar).  Poke skewer through the rosette and neck opening  into the body suit.  Apply glitter to the head, rosette collar and snow suit.  Shake off excess.  Place in the box with the arms extended as shown in the photo given. Crank Handle:  Bend the silver metallic stem in two.  Shape into a handle and glue the jingle bell onto the bent end.  Make a pilot hole in the middle of a 1" circle.  Push the ends of the stem 1/2" to the back side of the circle and bend out like a brad.  Adhere to the side of the box.

7. Finish: Halo:  Loosely twist the red metallic stem around the pine stem.   Make a circle to fit around the head and twist the pine ends together to secure.  Adhere to the head.  Glue a piece of pine stem to the collar for added decoration.  Use the Close To My Heart Snowhaven Complements www.marilyngossettdesigns.ctmh.com/retail to embellish the snowman with mittens, buttons on front, and signs.  *Designer tip:  Use Cricut machine or paper punches to cut embellishments if you don't have access to the die-cut Complements. Rubber stamps will work for the sayings. Glue the second rosette to the front of the box and embellish with die-cut sayings.  

Now enjoy an adorable Christmas decoration that can stay out through January!

Enjoy every ambiance of the Holidays and

Live Life with a Flourish!

Marilyn

SHARING SOME HOLIDAY DECORATING!

Happy December!  Are you up to your armpits in Christmas decorations?  I know I should be, but we relaxed over the long Thanksgiving week-end, so next week-end will be our traditional trek to the tree farm.  In the meantime, I have been playing with some decorating ideas.  I wanted to see what I could come up with using papers and my die-cutting machine.  This snowflake themed garland and snowmen were one of the creations I came up with.  I thought it might spark some creative ideas in you, as it can be created in traditional colors and different shapes! 

I used boa garland, bead trim, cardstock and my die-cutting machine with a winter themed cartridge.  The snowflakes and snowmen are embellished with flat metallic beads.  I know you can find some of these at the Robin's Nest because I featured some in the previous blog post.  Check it out!

Now I need to tell you about the clever and handy way that I got these decorations hung up without showing a nail or big shiny plastic hook!  I used a fairly new product called CraZy TACKz.  Yes, I am shameless when it comes to promoting them!  I have many posts on here showing  fun crafty projects with them IN it!  But, first and foremost, they are a great piece of hardware that you can use to hang-up lights, garlands, ornaments, etc.!  They have a hook that will hold up to two lbs. in drywall and soft wood.  

I have a Christmas tree that I decorate every year with boa feather garland.  I call it my floofy tree and I will post a picture of it set up in my dining room at the end of this blog.  It isn't up yet this year, but it looks pretty much the same every season.  I use boa feather garland and it gives the effect of snow!  I love this tree because I can put all the girly ornaments on it in keeping with the romantic country decor that I love!

The photos here are to show the projects, I didn't leave them this way.  The Happy Holidays banner on the mantle wasn't finished here.  I embellished it with small silver ornaments and some ribbons.  Again, hopefully these will inspire some new ideas for your home decorating this Holiday season!

Below is a close-up of a CraZy TACK(z) in action!  They are great for hanging up jewelry and such too!

Ok, last but now least, is a picture of my "floofy" tree!  It is fake, but my other two trees will be fresh off the tree farm.  We don't buy into the commercialism of Christmas very much, but we do love to decorate the house with lots of lights and Christmas cheer!  

From my family to you and yours, I send warm wishes and hope that you experience all the joys that this Season brings!  I say, take time to smell the pine trees and take in the beauty that surrounds us!  Cheers!

This is the first Monday of the month DCC Blog Hop!  Click on the blue button to go forward or backwards to check out the other designers blogs!

Live Life with a Flourish!

Marilyn

CraZy TACKz are presently available on Amazon, at JoAnn's stores, Container Stores and various retailers.

Homemade Thank You Gift

This one is always worth a re-run!  Great for the Holidays!

Happy November!

Every year I like to have home-made gifts to give out to friends for the Holidays.  This recipe for Stove-Top Potpourri is always a favorite and so easy to put together.  Packaging is up to you; I have used cello bags with pretty ribbons, decorated paper mache' boxes and kraft bags.  I like to put the cloves and cinnamon sticks in separate tiny plastic bags so they can be measured out without getting all over everything else.  Hope you enjoy making some!  I include the recipe with the gift, and thus the picture with the recipe on it that is shown here.  Yes, those lemons and spices went into someone's gift bag. You can change the recipe up a little depending on what you have on hand.  This recipe gives us most of the options; a lemon works nicely along with the orange!

Ingredients

• 2 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves or 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 orange peel, quartered (fresh cranberries are also great to add as well)
• 1 whole nutmeg or 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups water

Directions

1. Place water into a small saucepan. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves, vanilla bean, nutmeg and orange peels. Turn heat to medium until water starts to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer as long as desired. Check water level every 1/2 hour that you have simmering. Water needs to be added as needed. Do not let water evaporate. Use potpourri for 2 days (adding additional water as necessary) then discard and make a new batch.

Makes 2 cups potpourri

This is a perfect Thank-You gift for a hostess!   The little snowman is perfect for hiding away some mulling spices or chocolates!  I cut the box on my Cricut machine and punched out circles for the head and hat.  Easy and cute!

 So, let the Holidays begin!  Click on the blue DCC button to check out great thank-you gifts from more designers.

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Live Life with a Flourish,

Marilyn

Designer Craft Connection Monday!

HAPPY OCTOBER!

This is the month to celebrate pumpkins, falling leaves, the bounty of the local farms and the little trick-or-treaters' who will be parading their costumes for some treats!  This was always an exciting time of year when I was growing up.  There is a crisp cool feel to the air that brings the anticipation of the season.  We are getting some of that now, even though the days are getting up in the 80's.

I have been inspired to get out my paints and create some decorations for the season.  I am showcasing a candy bowl today, all made from lightweight Smoothfoam.  We had a little challenge between a few of us to find a use for a small Smoothfoam doll head.  As you hop through today, you should see several spooky creations!

Click on the blue DCC button to hop forward or go backward.  Enjoy!

\

Happy Halloween!

Enjoy the little blessings along the way &

Live Life with a Flourish!

Marilyn

Home Decor Designer Crafts Connection Challenge

Welcome to the latest challenge!  We are featuring three wonderful products today.  Kunin Felt, Beacon Adhesives (Fabri-Tac and Felt Glue) and Buttons Galore & More.  I enjoyed using these basic crafting elements to create some fun and easy home decor'.  I hope you enjoy the projects and maybe go away with some inspiration!

I got some fun Fanci-Felt in my product package.  I love Damask and was very happy to get some to work with.  The designs I am featuring today were created using Fanci-Felt (which also comes in different colors and designs than just shown here), and Classicfelt in Black and White.  Fabri-Tac adhesion has been a favorite of mine for years.  It has an almost instant bond, but will need to be used with supervision if you are crafting with kids.  The Felt Glue is a better choice for kids and the adhesion takes a little bit longer.  I would recommend having some spring clothespins on hand to hold edges together for complete adhesion.
Buttons Galore & More have many, many colors, styles and sizes of buttons.  I used buttons from the package I rec'd and found enough white and red to complement my project nicely.

 I started with a plain black wooden box and an inexpensive 5 x 7 wooden frame from Michael's Crafts.
The mirror you see in the lid is another little project that I will show later.  I etched it and adhered it to the inside of the box lid.  I love the way it looks!

 Would you like to know how I made them?  Here's how!

For the Box:

Box Lid:  Gather a piece of poster board and a pencil.  Lay the box top (upside down) on the poster board and trace around the outside of the box lid.  Cut out the poster board.  Center the Fancifelt over the poster board. This is an important step.  You need to get it exact.  Cut the felt, leaving at least a 1" border around the cardboard square. Wrap and adhere all of the edges around the square.Clip with spring clothespins until adhesion dries.  Center and adhere to to the top of the box lid.

Box feet:  I used four 1-3/8" wooden crab apples by Lara's Crafts.  You can substitute wooden ball knobs, or anything that appeals to you that has a flat side that will adhere to the bottom of the box.  Paint each wooden apple White using a chopstick or something similar for a handle.  Evenly place the wooden "feet" on the box and adhere, using Fabri-Craft.

Felt Trim:  Cut pieces from the damask pattern and adhere to the front of the box above and below the clasp.  Adhere a large red button to the trim as shown.  Adhere a smaller white button to the top of the red one.  I used the same technique across the top of the frame shown below.  Keep on scrolling for more instructions!

For the Frame:

Remove the cardboard center from the frame.  Set aside.

Paint the wooden frame Black.  Allow to dry.  Lay the frame face down on the black Classicfelt and trace around the frame onto the felt with chalk or a white pencil (for writing on fabric).  

Cut out the felt frame along the traced lines. Center and adhere to the face of the frame. Smooth and allow to dry thoroughly. Next is the FUN step!

 Applique:  

Do you have some big scraps left from the felt?  I would purchase the felt just for the purpose of making these applique's.  They are so fun!  I looked the patterns over and picked out pieces that I thought would be good for wings, head, skirt, etc.  I cut the pieces out and used the Fabri-Tac to adhere the pieces together. Once I got my design put together, I adhered it to a larger piece of contrasting Classicfelt.  White in this case; and cut it out leaving about 1/4" border.  This reinforces the applique and finishes off the back.  I cut pieces from the design and adhered them across the top of the frame as shown. A well-placed red button on each felt piece finished it off nicely!

Below is an appliqued Sachet Pillow that I made using one of my angel appliques.  I cut out other small design elements and applied them to the corners of the sachet pillow.  The ribbon is adhered to the top corners for hanging.  

Embellish:  In the photo below, I used buttons to embellish the angel.  There are some great sparkle adhesions at the craft store that would look great on these angels.  I have some clear rhinestones and 3/4" flourish sparkle that I am going to apply to another angel I have made.  Feathers might also look pretty for a little extra bling!

Remember the mirror that I attached to the inside of the box lid?  Well, here is what I did to make it REALLY pretty!  I used Etchall, the best etching cream in the industry, and beautified the mirror for the inside of my box.  What a lovely surprise!

Open the box, and see the etching!  There is another product I would like to apply to this box to make it even more useful!  I will save that for another blog post!

Hope you enjoyed the projects.  Come back soon!

Live Life with a Flourish,

Marilyn

But don't leave yet!

Click on one of the following 2 links below to enter a great

 give-away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

https://www.facebook.com/DesignerCraftsConnection/app_228910107186452

Thank you to the following sponsors!

Kunin

http://kuningroup.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kunin-Felt-Products/259966984033282

https://twitter.com/KuninFeltFC

http://www.pinterest.com/kuningroupgeorg/

Beacon

http://www.beaconadhesives.com/chaven.html

https://www.facebook.com/beaconadhesives

https://twitter.com/BeaconAdhesives

http://www.pinterest.com/beaconadhesives/

BGM

http://buttonsgaloreandmore.net

https://www.facebook.com/buttonsgalore

https://twitter.com/ButtonsGalore

http://www.pinterest.com/buttonsgalore

Crafting some Memories! Make a memory album block!

I have a pictorial tutorial to share today.  This is a fun little project

that I created using a 3" block of a foam product called "Smoothfoam".  You can't see much of the actual product in this project, but it is very lightweight and a perfect surface for adhering the papers, as I did here.

With the Holidays upon us, we will be taking lots of pictures and capturing many happy moments.  We may even gather some tickets or little paper mementos from Holiday events.  This little memory cube is perfect for gathering those little mementos and pictures in a compact place. It will be a pleasant surprise to the person that receives one as a gift too!

 Here is the outside of the memory cube, all tied up with a ribbon.  Tiny magnets, like you would find in the jewelry department of your craft store would probably make nice closures for the pages.  I haven't tried it yet, but I will be making a trip to the craft store to buy some and make sure it works!

Above is the top view of the cube.  It is embellished with corners, a round scallop and flowers that I punched out with coordinating memory papers.
A little ink chalking around the edges always adds dimension.

 Here is where the magic starts to happen as it unfolds........

"Voila'!"  Here is the memory cube with all of it's secrets exposed!  3" x 12" rectangles were cut and scored at 3" intervals.  Each 3" section was embellished with a contrasting paper (3" square), or slightly smaller to allow the paper border to show.  Paper punches of flowers, mini envelopes, etc. were used to embellish each section.  This is where you can add your photos, themed shapes, mementos, etc.

The project shown above is the same idea, only these blocks are more for decoration.  I used a 12" square pad of themed memory cardstock papers and matching themed die-cuts.  If you look real close, you will see a key hanging from the side.  I used a CraZy TACKz to hang the key.  I poked it into the foam block, secured it with a tiny bit of glue...and now I have a safe place to hang that key.  This works great to hang anything you want to make it more 3-D.

That is it for today.  I hope you got inspired.  Think of the different themes you could lend to this design.  I am going to make one with Fall papers.  If you have any questions, drop me a line!

Live Life with a Flourish!

Marilyn

www.crazytackz.com

Clearsnap + Smoothfoam Blog Hop

Easy Mixed Media Wall Art with Clearsnap and Smoothfoam

Materials:

Clearsnap:  ColorBox Spritzers Dye Ink Spray:  Mermaid, Lemon Drop, Pinkolicious
 ColorBox Pigment Stamp Pad:  Brown

Smoothfoam:  12" Square Scrapbook Mount; 2

DecoArt Americana Decou-Page:  Matte, Paper glue sealer
Paintbrushes:  Large Flat (or sponge), medium Round, 1/4" and 1/2" Shaders
Tissue Paper:  white (several sheets)
Watercolor crayons:  (I used 24 ct. Lyra Aquacolor)
*For Kids:  Use regular Watercolor paints
Old book or stayfast printed material
Primo euroblend Charcoal pencil
Craft glue
Scissors
Hotwire Foam Cutter by Marvy Uchida

Instructions:

For the paper art; owl & flowers:

1.  Draw or trace pattern for line drawing on printed page. I used a        blending Charcoal pencil.  Choose watercolor crayon and color        in around the inside edges using the darkest shade of desired            color. Color in the inside portion of the pattern with lighter                colored crayons and highlight with White.

2.  Dip a paintbrush in water, apply to colored lines, blending all of        the colors together.  This is fairly forgiving, so have fun with it.       You will improve as you get the hang of it.

3.  After watercolor is dry, cut out all of the shapes leaving a 1/8"          border around each one.

*Prepare Smoothfoam surfaces:

4. Wad up a couple of pieces of the tissue paper. Apply Decou-Page to the entire surface of the Smoothfoam.  Smooth out the tissue paper and press it into the prepared surface of the Smoothfoam.     Clouds & Grass: Follow directions given for Foam Cutter and cut out.  Spray the grass with Lemon Drop and Mermaid to make green. Lightly mist the bottom edges of the clouds with Mermaid.  Spritz the top of the clouds with Lemon Drop. Blot. Use this technique on the main surface and on each piece of Smoothfoam you have cut for the design. This will  add the textured paper surface you will need to apply the Ink Dye.  Allow to dry thoroughly.

5. Spritz the prepared Smoothfoam surface with Mermaid,         Pinkolicious and Lemon drop.  Blot surface to blend as desired. Allow to dry thoroughly.  Position and adhere the clouds and grassy hills to the Smoothfoam board as shown below.

6.  Adhere the owl and flowers to the Smoothfoam.  Smooth and allow to dry thoroughly. Shade the edges with Brown ink using the wedge sponge to finish.

* Close-up view:

*Finished project shown below: 

 *Note:  Further embellish the project by adding Glitter to the clouds and rhinestones, buttons or other small adhesion's to the flowers.  To hang on a wall; adhere a ribbon hanger or piece of appropriate hardware to the back of the finished board.  Enjoy!

I hope you have discovered how easy a few of the right products can make your art.  With a little adult supervision, this is a totally do-able project for a young person.  Magazine art or other ephemera can also be applied to the tissue covered surface.  Please leave comments and/or questions.  I would love to hear from you!

A variation shown below:

Owl in Moonlight

Thank you for stopping by!  

Life Life with a Flourish,

Marilyn

PS.  I am aware that the spacing is messed up in this blog post.  It looked fine in editing, but when I published it, there was a problem!  I need to find out if I can fix it.  Please excuse the way it looks.  I hope to get to the bottom of it!

Here are the links to continue on this blog tour!

Hop List:

Smoothfoam Blog

Clearsnap Blog

Suzanne Austin – What’s in a Lousyananut

Julie McGuffee – Life in the Craft Lane

Jennifer Priest – Hydrangea Hippo 

Lisa Fulmer –  Lisa Liza Lou 

Meihsia Liu – Simply Paper Crafts

Anita Scroggins – The Flamingo Chronicals  

Steph Ackerman – Live Laugh Scrap

Carmen Flores Tanis –  Flores Tanis Studio

Tami Sanders – tami sanders * paper crafter

Beth Watson – Beth Watson

Sabrina Alery – The Honor Roll

Marilyn Gossett – Marilyn Gossett Designs

Denise Hahn – In My Blue Room

 

ENDS IN

06days

:

12hours

29total entries

0/18entries earned

• 

  2 Clearsnap Ink + Smoothfoam Assortment!

• ENTER TO WIN
• HI, MARILYN

• +1 Follow on Google+
• +2 Tweet about the Giveaway
• +3 Follow clearsnap on Pinterest
• +5 Like Clearsnap on Facebook
• +5 Like Smoothfoam on Facebook
• +2 Follow plasteel/smoothfoam on Pinterest

Terms and Conditions

powered by Rafflecopter