Holiday Crafts

[pineapple]

I love to sew and I've been making slippers out of leftover material (and trust me, I have tons!!)

femme fatale, fabric bags are definitely great too. They're more durable than the paper bags.

[M_shelll]

I make really cute Christmas outdoor candle holders out of ice with cranberries, acorns and bits of pine tree. They will last all winter if the temp stays down.

You just need an empty gallon pail and a smaller container, the taller yogurt ones work really well, but you really could use anything (its works best if the container tapers down though).
-Fill the gallon pain with a couple inches of water and arrange some of the cranberries, acorns and pine bits (you could really add anything) inside the water so that you have a nice mix
-Put it in the freezer (or outside) until its solid
-Place the smaller container in the centre and weight it down with something
-Add a couple more inches of water and some more bits of stuff around the small container and freeze
-Keep doing this until your container is almost full (doing a lot of water at once will cause stuff to float up to the top and will end up looking layered)
-Pop the ice out of the containers, put in a candle and you've got a cute candle holder for your porch!

I've made them for lots of friends and family and they all really liked them. Its pretty simple but when the candle is glowing through everything it looks really pretty.

[bbnbama]

M_shell..those sound really pretty! Unfortunately that wouldn't work here in Alabama...never gets (and stays) cold enough!

I'd love to see pictures of everyone's great crafts!

[doxie]

I am so not creative or crafty. I pulled out the decorations and put them up this morning, so will that count?

I haven't even gotten our decorations out yet!

I admire you crafty people. I can cross-stitch, but that is about it. I make ornaments for our friends' kids and I have talked Mr. Doxie into assembling them because I HATE the hot glue gun. I always wind up burned and in a web of sticky glue strings! I also managed to glue my arm to a table in my attempt at scrapbooking last year.

BB - I'm in Bama too. Maybe we could make those cute frozen candle holders and just put floating candles in them since they would melt so fast!

[SR5Rfan]

We'll all meet at Bunny's house and doxie can make us some wonderful alcoholic beverages while we glue ribbons and beads on ornaments!!

Sounds like a good plan to me!

[Margaritaville]

Can you make an awesome alcoholic beverage Margaritaville? If you make them, we will come!!

Yes, decorating counts as crafty no matter where they came from!

I make a really awesome margarita who would have thought?

[SR5Rfan]

Mmm, margaritas are probably my favorite alcoholic beverage. Wonder how well I'd knit after a couple?

[Bunny555]

Originally Posted by buglover
We'll all meet at Bunny's house and doxie can make us some wonderful alcoholic beverages while we glue ribbons and beads on ornaments!!

Sounds like a good plan to me!

See what happens when I'm not here? I wish you would come craft with me! If we have enough drinks, it won't matter what we make or what we glue beads on. (Note to self: Hide the pets)

[SR5Rfan]

Bunny, you crack me up!

[Critical]

M_shell..those sound really pretty! Unfortunately that wouldn't work here in Alabama...never gets (and stays) cold enough!

I'd love to see pictures of everyone's great crafts!

Yep, not cold enough in Cali either. The ice would melt in no time and I'd have a mess of cranberries and acorns on my front porch!

I've been making jewelry for people this year. I did a pendant for a friend of my mother and a bracelet for another of her friends. If I have enough time, I'll do a bracelet for my mom, but since she wants chain and that takes longer to make, it might end up being a birthday present.

I keep meaning to do more handmade gifts, but I can hardly find the time. I thought I'd be making lots of cookies this year, but I don't even know if that will get done.