crafts – Page 11 – Gracious Rain

November 28, 2009October 16, 2022

Matchbox Advent Calendar

This has to be the cutest little advent calendar that ever walked the earth!

ahhhh….ok, so…you know what I mean.

Teeny, tiny drawers filled with teeny, tiny prizes. Absolutely adorable and better still–it cost well under $5 to make. You could actually make one of these for each of your children and spend less than you would buying them a Happy Meal. And this was just soooo fun.

The main purchase is the little match boxes. I found them at the grocery store and get this–packs of ten were 93 cents! You’ll need 3- 10 packs.

Empty the matches into a large Ziplock bag and put them in your storage.

Be on the lookout for tiny prizes…

You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find once you start looking.

Tape the boxes together in groups that will be stacked up in columns of 8 boxes.

I did a 3 stack and a 5 stack. Then I did the rest in groups of 4.

Now group them together and make sure they are all level with each other.

First I taped two columns together and then all three. Don’t worry about how ugly the tape is–it’s not going to show.

Find some skinny, Christmasy ribbon and cut into 24 pieces about 3 inches long.

I used wide packaging tape to stick them in loops to the bottom of each box. It’s more sticky and sturdy–and we want the pull loops to stay put. I experimented with big loops and shorter loops–the shorter ones worked much better.

Number the boxes as you go along–that is much easier than going back and working around all the ribbon.

Now cover the back and sides with your favorite Christmas wrapping scraps.

Now, have fun finding tiny little prizes…

and flat-ish candy…

to fill the drawers.

Now in just a couple of days—let the merry countdown BEGIN!

November 23, 2009November 2, 2020

Turkey Cake Pops

Couldn’t resist the cake pops again–only this time we’re making turkeys…a pack of them.

Or is it a gaggle?

Who knows…

You will need:

cake mix

tub of frosting

colored mini chips

red Starbursts (2 should do it)

peanut m&ms (red, orange and yellow)

food color markers

sucker sticks

candy corn

Start with the cake pop recipe from a few months back–this time we used chocolate cake and frosting. Dip them in Chocolate melts, and insert the sucker sticks. Now take them to the freezer to chill up a bit.

Sort out some yellow and orange mini chips–these will be your beaks.

You will use the markers to draw on the eyes.

Stick the mini chip beaks onto the M&Ms with the candy melts. We took tiny pinches of red Starbursts and shaped them into little waddles–and stuck them on the same way.

Then draw on the eyes with the edible markers.

Aren’t they just dang cute?

Stick the candy corn “feathers” on with the chocolate melts. It worked best to lay the turkey down like this to hold the feathers on while they dry. The candy melts set up quickly–so while they are setting you can add the cute little turkey heads–stick them on with the chocolate as well.

Now they are ready to grace your Thanksgiving table or—if you’re like us–they will make the perfect little neighbor treats.

Or you could just eat them all by yourself…

Hmmmm….splendid idea…

gobble-gobble.

November 18, 2009November 17, 2022

Personal Pilgrim Placecards

Awwww….Wouldn’t you just love some cute little pilgrims–like this, on your own Thanksgiving table?

Or maybe you’d prefer–a handsome devil like this? Trust me…it’s simple. All you have to do is:

Print out the pattern–at the bottom of the page and cut out the pieces.

Using the pattern, cut out enough pilgrim pieces for each member of your family.

Roll the black rectangle and staple it in place.

Wrap the white collar around the black tube–and staple.

Using embroidery scissors–cut along the line on the pilgrims bonnet.

Print out pictures of your family–I made them all about 2-1/2 inches tall. Cut them out.

Glue the pilgrim hat on the boy pilgrim’s head. Slide the girl photos into the white caps.

Now you’re ready to put your pilgrim together. Oh, and for the babies bodies, I trimmed the black body pieces about 1-1/2 inches–so they were shorter.

Slide the heads between the black piece and the white collar and glue lightly in place. Let them dry for about 30 minutes and they’ll be set for your feasting table.

No need to write anyone’s name on these guys because the kids will love finding themselves on the plate!

For the Personal Pilgrim Place Card Pattern–simply click on the link below.

Happy Harvesting!

Pilgrim Placecards

Turkey Placecards

Indian Placecards

November 16, 2009November 8, 2022

Indian Corn Napkin Holders

Now, you may not believe this–but today is National Button Day. No, I swear. It is. You can Google it.

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So, in honor of this fabulous, unforgettable holiday I present to you this sweet napkin holder. Doesn’t it just look like a cob of Indian corn? It was actually really fun to make by myself, but it would be a wonderful project for the kids too. So if you find yourself up to your neck in pie dough and you need to keep your sweeties occupied, this could very well be just the activity you are looking for.

All you need is a bag of craft sticks–like popsicle sticks, paper tubes, random corn colored buttons and craft clue.

You simply put a stripe of glue on the stick…

and glue the buttons on—in any order that suites you. You can use red, brown, yellow, black, white, cream and orange.

I even used dark blue and purple ones here and there.

While the button sticks are drying–if you want to–you can paint the tube yellow or orange. It’s fine left the way it is–but I wondered if it would look better painted, so I gave mine a coat of orange acrylic.

Once you’ve glued the buttons to the sticks–then glue the sticks to the paper tubes.

Once they are dry and set–they are ready to pretty-up your Thanksgiving table.

And a very happy National Button Day–to you!

November 12, 2009November 1, 2020

Indian Corn Thingy

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Many moons ago…

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…those three little crack pots on the right (Daney boy, cousin Tim and the Bald kid) were truly, madly deeply in love with Cub Scouts and…Pony Beads.

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Every time I turned around, someone had left another Pony Bead Gekko in some unsuspected place as a surprise gift from the little boy heart. Seriously, I could have made a skirt—a very heavy, beaded gecko skirt, but you get my point.

glitter pony beads

Well, the other day, while the Bald Kid and I were cleaning closets and sorting boxes we came across the coveted “Box O Beads.”

I said, “Hey. You should make me a Pony Bead Gecko–for old time’s sake.”

He said, “I don’t think so.”

So I snagged those beads and messed with them for a while. They were surprisingly fun to play with.

Look what happened…

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I call it the “Indian Corn Pony Bead Thing.” I was going to put a pin on the back and wear it around but I was afraid people would ask me if I was supporting some kind of “save the corn” cause. Plus it made me feel old…er. So I’ve decided to put a cord on it and hang it from my car mirror.

It’s cute. It’s easy to make. It’s Thanksgiving-y.

And just think…if I get really good at these–I can make you a skirt!

BAhahaha!