Thursday, December 24, 2020

Christmas Dome

I made this fun little Ideaology Display Dome with a cold winter vibe to it. This project was a fun mix of new and existing Idea-ology products.
I added a Curio Knob to the top of the dome. I thought the glass one went best with this little winter scene. Color two medium and two small Woodland Trees. I usedBundled Sage Distress Spray stain. When they are completely dry,  use your finger to tap some Distress Collage Medium onto the ends is the needles, then roll the tree lightly in Mica Flakes. Let dry. 

Paint the Decorative Deer and Salvaged Doll with Distress Paints. I aged them with a little Mushroom Alcohol Ink, which sometimes takes off some of the paint, built I move how that gives it a distressed look. Then I cut the new Velvet Ribbon into two little round ear muffs. I put some red Craft Thread across the top of her head with Collage Medium, and then attached the ear muffs with Collage Medium too. The Scarf is a bit of the Christmas Fabric Tape. I cut it to be a thin piece, fringed it and used a little powder to try snd not make the whole thing do sticky. Adhere the deer and doll in the snow in front of the trees. It makes them look like they are having a moment is surprise and delight. 
Paint the cork on the dome white, smear some Grit Paste on it and sprinkle some Distress Rock Candy Glitter on it. Poke holes in the cork for three of the trees, remove their wooden bases and stick the wire into the holes. Put one tree in a Grave Relic (urn) and add that in the center back. 


Finish with a round tag from the Ephemera pack. Don’t cut the bottom off like I did. Add a Vignette Base to the bottom of the cork so it sits off the ground and allows the bottom of the tag to hang below the bottom of the cork. 

Add the dome over all the trees and  adhere fabric tape and Christmas Label tape around the bottom of the dome. 

 

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

North Pole Paper Village

It's crazy busy up in the North Pole! Lights are burning 24/7 to get ready for the big flight. 

I've had this project in mind for a couple of months but didn't have time to finish it up until recently. I was imagining the paper village houses as different workshops uncharge of various holiday necessities, ornaments, trees, hats, cookies, stockings, cocoa, and so on. So I paired the Paper Village dies with an older die called Mini Christmas Things, but you could you so many others you might have. Let's get started! This is easier than it may look.
The idea started when I saw this package of retired Christmas Deco Sheets advertised from Ranger Ink. I couldn't believe they had them in stock, so I purchased them for this project. These sheets are adhesive backed and are very thin, so I adhered them to a piece of plain white cardstock before cutting the various Paper Village Houses.
Once I had the houses assembled, with vellum inside to cover the windows, I started to make them cold and North Pole worthy. I added Distress Collage Medium and Rock Candy Distress Glitter to the white cardstock roofs. Then I used my fine tip glue gun and made some icicles as best I could. I had imagined this would go a little better than it did, but I like the final result anyway. I was going to use my Drippy Candle method, but with nothing to attach the hot glue to, it just ends up being more difficult than you think it will be so be patient when you do this!
The hot glue isn't sparkly, so I did two steps here and I only showed one in my photos, so bear with me. First I quickly brushed on some Collage Medium and then dusted them with Rock Candy Distress Glitter in a Distress Glitter Duster. When they were dry, I put a tiny bit of Grit Pasteon my finger, and pounced teeny tiny bits of it here and there on the roof and the icicles to give it even more of an icy look.
To make the North Pole and some supports for a few of the porches, I adhered the striped deco paper to a straw and some toothpicks. 
Then I cut them to size and adhered them under the porch overhangs with Collage Medium and a bit of Distress Grit paste around the bottoms.
Next I needed a base for all the North Pole snow, so I covered the sides of a Vignette Divided Drawer with Distress Woodgrain Paper. Then I also cut some Holly 3D Impresslits and adhered them to the sides. When that was dry, I covered the top of the box with a layer of Distress Grit paste and some Distress Rock Candy Glitter.
I placed the houses where I wanted them and then pushed them into the Grit Paste to make a template. Once the Grit paste was dry, then I drilled into the center of each house area for some Tiny Lights.
I put about three Tiny Lights through each of the different house areas. then I adhered each house back in its place with Distress Collage Medium.
To make the signs for each workshop, I cut a bunch of Mini Christmas Things from Alcohol Ink Sparkle Cardstock. Then I colored each piece with Alcohol Ink and Blending Solution.
I also cut a wreath and some trees from the Festive Things dies set and trimmed some of the trees a bit shorter to go behind the workshops. When everything was colored, I sprayed them all with Distress Resist Spray and dusted them with Distress Glitter.
When they were dry, I added some grit paste on all of them to make it seem cooler, snowier and frostier.
As you can see, I added the shapes to the top front of the houses.
I added a bit of the dot deco paper, with a Christmas Adornment Quote Chip on the from of the drawer.
Another thing I added was the North Pole that I made earlier. It needed to go in the center with the wreath on it. 
I considered adding a sign that said North Pole on the wreath, but changed my mind in the end.
To make the ball on top of the straw pole, I rolled an Idea-ology Bauble in Grit Paste and then rolled it in Distress Glitter and let it dry before I adhered it to the top of the pole. I adhered it to the top with Collage Medium and added a Grit Paste snow drift around it.
This is the ornament workshop where they make ornaments.
This is the Christmas tree workshop with a little courtyard out in front.
Then the hat workshop.
The cookie workshop (also where the elves can take a break and have a cookie!)
The stocking workshop.
The cocoa workshop where they develop new flavors of cocoa and where the elves can get a cup to go with their cookies on their union regulated breaks.

There you have it, I hope you enjoyed the little portion of the North Pole workshops. This was such a fun make and it's one of those projects that I'm glad to have finally finished.

Merry Christmas!
Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to youThis helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!


Sunday, December 13, 2020

2020 Twelve Projects of Christmas Projects

 Every year I like to highlight twelve of my favorite projects from the past and include a couple from the current year, since my Christmas makes start in April. LOL!  I’ll be adding links to them on this page. So be sure to check back!

Project 1:

Mr. Snowman Decks the Halls

 
Project 2:


Project 3

Holiday Alpine Village Vignette


Project 4 (even though it's two!)

Milk Cap Tree - Version 1 2018

Milk Cap Tree - Version 2 2020

Project 5

Christmas Treats/Gift Cards 

Winter Critters Curio Boxes

Winter Critters Gift Tags

Thin Ice Curio Box Stocking Stuffers

Project 6
North Pole Paper Village

Project 7

Project 8

Project 9
Project 10

Project 11
Christmas on Main Street


Saturday, December 12, 2020

Idea-ology Christmas Mini Tiered Tray

I have seen people decorating tiered trays for quite awhile now and I love the idea. I don't have one, but so many of Tim Holtz Idea-ology products would be perfect to fit in a tiered tray.  Decorative domes, Vignette Frames with some of the festive Christmas Layers in them, Woodland Trees, Vignette Boxes with the Christmas Vignette Box Tops on them.....once I got to planning a tiered tray, I couldn't stop with the ideas. 

One problem. I was designing samples for a Facebook Live reveal, and buying, decorating, and shipping a tiered tray that wouldn't show well on a live was out of the question, So I worked on other things, but just could not get the tiered tray idea out of my mind.  Then I thought, what about a mini tiered tray? It just sounded like so much fun to make and display a bunch of delightful little goodies, and you know I love miniatures, so I set to work making it happen.

The first step was to actually build the mini tray. I used two Vignette Panels, some Etcetera Trims, and a package of Vignette Finials. All of these things are linked below, so don't worry.
I've done this particular alteration before, and as I said then, if you or someone in your home has a little saw, this would be much safer and easier, but I tend to be creating when my husband is unavailable and I am too impatient to wait. Cut the large finial top off and sand it down to make it as flat as possible on top.
This step is here to tell you not to do this. I thought using my dremmel and Vignette Hardware to attach these pieces would be a fantastic idea, but it wasn't. It was an absolute mess! Just use Distress Collage Medium and attach things in sections, then let it dry several hours or over night. Work on the fun little filler bits while it's drying.
Here is how you want to build your mini tray. Vignette Base on the bottom, large Vignette Panel, large Vignette Final base attached to large Vignette Finial top (that you cut the top off), then a smaller Vignette Panel, and both small Vignette Finials.
It is important before you start, to find the center of the panels. Then you can attach the base and finials in the correct spot to keep the panels level.Once it is put together and dry, then attach the Etcetera Trims. I used my Tonic Scissors to cut them to the correct length.
As you can see, my finials are off a little bit, but don't worry, you will have so much stuff packed into this little cutie that no one will ever notice! I painted the entire piece with Picket Fence Distress Paint. I didn't worry about it being perfect because I wanted it to look old and shabby.
 
Then I covered the trims and parrs of the Finials in Distress Crackle Paste. I intentionally sanded off loose bits and the edges. Then I rubbed some Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon into the cracks and on the edges. Lastly, I rubbed some Picket Fence Distress Paint onto an Idea-ology Word Band and some Hardware Heads and attached them to the front with Distress Collage Medium.

Throughout the various drying processes it took to make the tray, I got to work making all the goodies to go inside it. I ordered these little mini mugs (I think they are shot glasses, but we have a glass one that my sister used for some of her medication and then later she gave it to her bird, so we inherited it with Peep. I couldn't bring myself to use that one so I ordered some online.) These are cheap plastic, so I painted them with Candied Apple Distress Paint and sprayed them twice with Distress Resist Spray to make them shine. Then I used the Christmas Remnant Rubs Tiny Text to decorate the top rim with the dots and sayings. I ended up only using one, so I attached a little tag from the Christmas Snippets pack to make it a little more festive.
There are some Christmas Baseboard Frames and the punch outs are included in the package. This cute shape is a punch out for one of the frames and a Christmas Bottle Cap perfectly fits on it with a bow tied out of the luscious Velvet Trims.
Don't forget to include some things from the everyday line in your Christmas makes! I used the 2 and 5 from the Number Blocks. I painted the letters in Candied Apple and then trimmed down some of the plaid Fabric Tape to cover the sides and make bows on top so they resembled little packages.
These are two of the Corked Vials. I didn't do anything really special to them other than add a sticker on each from the Christmas Sticker Book. I filled one with some Lollipop Sticks I had left over from the Idea-ology Candy Shop I made. I just cut them into little bits to mimic marshmallows, and I colored some Distress Glitter with brown Alcohol Ink to make it look like cocoa mix.
These were the kinds of things I was thinking would look super cute in a full size tiered tray, but using the larger Vignette Frames and the larger Christmas Layers. For these I used the two smallest Vignette Frames and one of the Christmas Layers in the Black Soot frame, and one of the Christmas Ephemera in the small Candied Apple frame. I decorated both with Adornments from the Snowflake and Festive packs.
I had this snowman painted from last year and he fit in perfectly. I painted him with Distress Paints and then rubbed some Mushroom Alcohol Ink over him. As I rubbed off the excess alcohol ink, some of the paint rubbed off, aging him to perfection.
I decorated a Woodland Tree with some Adornment Snowflakes and Festive Pinecones, as well as Mica Flakes.
I put the tree in a Grave Relic painted Candied Apple Red.
This was attached in the back of the top tier with a couple of Christmas Flair in front of it.
In the back top corner I added the smallest red Vignette Frame. To make sure it looked finished, I covered the outside edge of the frame with some Christmas Trim Tape.

To make sure it looked finished, I covered the outside edge of the frame with some Christmas Trim Tape, and I adhered some Christmas Paper on the back. To help the frame stay upright and to fill the gap, I put a tiny Woodland Tree in the corner behind it.

In the very front of the top tier I added the numbers.

I put the black Vignette frame in the bottom back corner. You can see I cut some of the Fabric Tape to edge the frame and give it a finished look. I added a little tree and the snowman in front of the frame.
Then I popped the cocoa and marshmallow vials in the front corner with a set of Silverware tied with the Velvet Trim.
It was a great place for another tiny Woodland Tree and one of the little mugs.

You can see I changed my mind on the mug with the candy in it. I pulled the candy out and suffed a styrofoam ball in it. Then I covere it with brown felt and glued some of the lollipo stick marshmallows on top. The candy couldn't go to waste, so I put it in a Thimble  with some Grit Paste and Mica Flakes and let them dry. 

To make the candy I adhered the plaid Trim Tape to some large floral wire with Distress Collage Medium. Once it was dry and securely adhered to the wire, I twisted it in on itself to make the lollopop shape. Then I used a tiny Dremmel drill and made a hole in the bottom to fit a tooth pick in. Before I tied a bow, I sprayed them with Distress Resist Spray to make them shiny.

You can see I left some spaces here and there so things could be seen. You can see I put the little Baseboard Frame pop out in the back corner.

I wanted to show the back of this project so you could see that I added another Woodland tree back behind the pop out, and I decorated the backs of all the frames and the pop out. I just thought it was important to do that incase this was displayed somewhere that any of the back was visible.

I know there is a LOT to this project, but seriously, once you start making cute little things to go in it, you can't stop!

I'm hoping to find a "regulation size" tiered tray soon to decorate too, but until then this little cutie does the trick!

Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to youThis helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!