Custom Family Ornaments

Here are two recently finished custom family ornaments:

Three More Custom House Ornaments

Here are some more of my recently completed orders:

(P.S. notice the tiny yellow lab on the front porch!)

Polymer Clay Pumpkin Pie: Tutorial

What you need:

• bottle cap
• Unused and flattened type is the best.  You can find them at craft stores, Amazon, or on Etsy.  You can also look at stores that cater to home brewing.
• beige/crust colored polymer clay
• orange/pie colored polymer clay
• I mixed orange, brown, and gold to get a color I liked.  I have also seen people mix in real pumpkin pie spices to make it look more realistic!
• white for the whipped cream
• needle tool or something to crimp the edges of the crust
• liquid polymer clay to strengthen bond between clay pieces

As I mentioned before, I added some brown to my orange to get a more realistic pumpkin color.

I still wasn't happy with the color, so I added some gold too.

 I flattened the clay, then used a 1 1/4 inch circle cutter to cut a piece of beige and orange.  I used a tiny, about 1/4 inch, circle cutter to cut a piece of white to use for the whipped cream.

 Center and place the piece of beige/crust colored clay in the bottle cap.  I added some liquid polymer clay between the two to secure the bond.

 Roll the orange/pumpkin colored clay in a ball.

 Place the orange ball in the center of the beige piece of clay.

 Press and flatten the orange clay ball.

 Press the side of the needle tool in increments around the pie to crimp the edges of the crust. 

  Try not to indent the orange portion of the pie.

 Roll the white clay into a ball.

 Pinch the top of the white ball to form a teardrop shape.

 Add a drop of liquid polymer clay to the center of the pie.

 Place the white clay in the center of the pie with the pointed side up and squishing it down a tiny bit.

 Bake according to clay directions.

 And...your pies are finished!

You can use them as festive hair bow centers, to decorate napkin rings, as magnets, or even glue on a bail to create a pendant!

My 6 year old daughter helped me make the pies and made two of her own.  She likes to use them to feed her Lalaloopsy doll!

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Custom House Ornament

Another recently completed ornament:

Such a cute home!

More Ornaments

Here are a bunch of custom ornaments I just finished...

Aren't they cute?!

Love all of the different personalities represented!

Another Custom House Ornament

Yes, I'm still working on custom house ornament orders;)

PINspiration: Pink Peacock Feather Earrings

I pinned this photo on Pinterest:

Source: bohemiadesign.tumblr.com via Marjorie on Pinterest

...and it inspired me to make my beaded peacock feather earring pattern in pink!:

P.S.  You can get the pattern for these earrings in my kindle book.

Friendship Bracelet: Tutorial

Here is a really easy friendship bracelet tutorial!

They are easy enough for kids to make too!

Getting started...

#1. You will need:

•  a long piece of t-shirt yarn in any color (you can also make by cutting a long strip of t-shirt about an inch wide and pulling the ends to stretch and lengthen)
• embroidery floss/thread in as many colors as you choose
• a safety pin

#2. Tie a loop at one end of the t-shirt yarn with an overhand knot

             

The Knots...

#3. Safety pin the looped piece of t-shirt yarn to your knee

Cut the embroidery floss in long pieces (around 40 inches in length of each color, depending on wrist size and the amount of different colors used)

Tie (with a double knot) the group of embroidery threads to the top of the piece of t-shirt yarn as close to the knot of the loop as possible, leaving a couple inches of length on one end and the bulk of length on the other

#4. Hold down the long portion of the t-shirt yarn and all pieces of embroidery thread, including the short ends, except for length of embroidery thread in the color you want to show up

Take the chosen color and cross over everything else, making a 4 shape

Wrap around everything else and come up through the loop created by the chosen color of embroidery thread and pull the thread up towards the safety pin/ top loop to tighten the knot

Repeat this way of knotting (a forward knot) until you want to change colors

The entire bracelet is made of forward knots in alternating colors

Knotting Continued...

#5. Continue knotting, alternating colors as desired

#6. Once you have knotted about an inch or two down in length, you are free to cut off the short ends of the embroidery floss

Do not cut the long pieces of thread or t-shirt yarn off!

Finishing Up...

#7. After you have reached the desired length of your knotting, you split the amount of embroidery threads in two and tie a triple knot around the t-shirt yarn

Trim the ends of the embroidery thread

#8. To tie onto your wrist, slip the left over length of t-shirt yarn through the top loop and knot

Cut off excess length of t-shirt yarn on both ends (near the top loop and the end piece)

And...you are...FINISHED!

The good thing about using the t-shirt yarn is that it has a bit of stretch to it, so the bracelets are easy to slip on and off....making them easier to share and give to friends!

These look so cute worn in bunches!

Have fun and feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

Custom House Ornament

Here's another custom house ornament I've recently completed:

The Midas Ring

Hi everyone!

Guess what....

I have a fun, new beading pattern for you!

I have been loving glittering gold lately...

so I decided to create this crown ring.  

There are two versions of the pattern.

This pattern is completed using a ladder and brick stitch.  
You will need a beading needle, beading thread, and seed beads.  
I used 11/0, round, silver-lined, topaz seed beads to get the glittering, gold look:)  
I also used 8/0, round, transparent, rose-colored seed beads
 on the tips of the second pattern to get a different look.  
You are free to experiment with different colors and sizes of beads!

You can get the PDF download for this pattern HERE.

Hope everyone enjoys the new pattern!

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Custom House Ornament

Another recently completed custom house ornament:

Ornaments, Ornaments, and More Ornaments!

You guys have been keeping me busy!

Thank You!

Custom House Ornaments

Recently completed:

Halloween 2012

Hi!  Hope everyone had a fun Halloween yesterday!

Here are a few pictures of my kids in their finished Halloween costumes.

A Dia de los Muertos bride, Dobby from Harry Potter, and a Lalaloopsy doll:

 The Dobby mask ended up being super uncomfortable, so we cut out the ears and attached them to elastic...much better!