Christmas Crafts (present and past)
Dec. 21st, 2023 05:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseCraft photos! I did quite a bit of crafting towards Christmas - needle felt, knitting, baking, and a whole host of mini crafts using walnut shells, cardboard tubes, and wire in various projects.
Needle felted penguin
A kit I got in sale at start of the year. I featured this at a post for lands-of-magic so some of you have seen this one.
There's a show called "Kirstie's Handmade Christmas" which I've only watched the last few years and it always features some great crafting ideas and tips. This is where I first saw needle felting mentioned.
This year I tried out some of the fun crafts I'd seen in the past, some with more success than others!
Gnomes/Gonks
Very simple and customisable. Strands of wool are looped and tied off around a small circle of cardboard such as from a wrapping paper tube. That's the time consuming part but the better you tie them the neater the finished hat looks. The ends are pushed through the circle and tied off. Long strands are tied around the middle and glued inside the circle for a beard. Then you can add a nose, decorate the hat, tie a loop of string through the hat to hang them up, or otherwise personalise them.
I made two to give it a go. I know they can look a bit weird without eyes but these are so tiny I didn't want to try and glue eyes so just went for buttons as noses. However Lochlan, my younger nephew decided the purple one is a one-eyed gonk (he likes the Purple People Eater song he's heard on holiday camps). My older nephew Elliot chose the slightly messier orange one (first I made, still getting hand of the tying off) so Lochlan got the purple one for the mini tree in his room :)
You could probably easily scale these up (or down if you're feeling dexterous) and maybe sew somehow instead of using a glue gun.
The photos didn't come out great but I think you can get the idea.
Wire Bauble
You scrunch up newspaper and wind craft/floristry wire around to make a ball. Then burn in fire bucket or bbq. The paper is burnt leaving behind a wire frame. You can then decorate by adding anything you like inside for example pine cones.
I added bells from craft box, kept from old chair back covers that had worn out. I needed stronger craft wire so this will be rcycled after Christmas with the bells going back into the craft box!
Walnut dioramas and salt dough
These are such a fun idea, but the more dexterous you are the better! Open walnut shells without damaging them ( a knife down seam rather than nutcracker might be called for). Paint the inside and then decorate, add twine or other hanger and you have mini decorations. I ended up painting front and back, and made some salt dough decorations to go inside, tiny snowmen and a penguin, though one I glued in a glow in the dark star :)
I made some larger salt dough decorations when making the tiny pieces for the walnut scenes, some trees and star which I painted and glue back to back with thread between them, and a larger star which I added a tree and holly leaves to. I added glitter and a sequin star to one tree.
Please excuse photo quality I snapped these with my phone in low light conditions and close ups especially have come out a bit fuzy.
Also I got some little charms online, one each for my new godmothers, and one for my mum and one for my sister. I added keyrings to them. Godmothers got theirs in Christmas cards, but mum and sister are going to have a suprise as I sealed theirs in more walnut shells glued shut with the hot glue gun!
Baking
I made some sand tarts again this year, various sizes and shapes. I had to cook in several batches.
And from a cookie mix set that was worth price for the snowflake cookie cutter alone, made these with my nephews. Photo shows Lochlan concentrating on decorating them
Last year's efforts of basic cookie mix and roll-out green icing with Lochlan helping decorate them. I accidentally knocked over the sprinkle pot though and we were finding little stars and balls for days!
Knitting
Years ago I knitted a cusion cover for my sister. At some point it disintegrated! I made her a shawl a couple of years back, I knitted two tiny toy hats for my nephews' favourite toys this year, and I decided I'd try a cushion cover again. Size 10 needles with chunky wool one side, and with two strands of thinner wool kitted together for the other for interesting effect. I never add zips, and on this occasion not even a button and loop to hold it, but a flap you can fold in over the cushion inside.
I also knitted some tiny decorative mittens from a magazine - they're done on straight needles and sewn up after so need for 4 needles/circular needle. I made plain blue to try them out but you're supposed to use different colours for the ribbed section and/or use mixed colour wool for the mitten or stitch on patterns e.g. snowflake to make them more festive to hang on the tree.
I had to use a Youtube video to learn how to rib because I kept adding stitches when swapping between knit and purl in the same row! I'm toying with the idea of scaling up and knitting mittens for Lochlan because he likes mittens and you tend to get them only for younger children and then adults, everyone has to wear gloves inbetween; he also keeps losing mittens and is currently wearing one red and one green mitten!
Lastly from the same magazine I knitted a baby Jesus a few years back. I used bigger needles than specified so resulting baby is bigger. Last year I tried to knit Virgin Mary (the pattern also included Joseph, with wise men etc to follow in other issues). It didn't go well...my dad said she looked more like something from creepy TV "From"!
Here's a screencap from the title sequence which I think he was reminded of with my refused-to-sit-up creepy knit
I kept the cape:
but got rid of the creepy Mary :P T
his year I found a nice basket to put baby Jesus in and he gained a halo from an earlier failed wire bauble experiment.
In the second photo he's next to a robin I knitted around the same time, my first attempt at changing colour mid-knit - the hat came off an old decoration but it fits him nicely!
Cross stitch and embroidery
Finally a craft from a long time ago; I haven't cross stitched for years and still wonder how I managed this Tigger cross stitch:
And I haven't yet tackled true embroidery but a few years ago based on a pic I found on Pinterest - link and original pic:
I made this for my sister to keep craft bits in, a felt bag with the pic of a cat skeleton underneath but with added flap featuring black cat (single stitch not cross stitch on plastic canvas). I didn't manage the level of detail I wanted on the skeleton but it's still not too bad
There are so many crafts that I love to dabble in, so many I haven't yet tried, things to revisit and things to practice more. I hope everyone has at least one thing, be it scrapbooking, crochet, metalwork, or watercolour painting, that gives them some creative joy :)
Needle felted penguin
A kit I got in sale at start of the year. I featured this at a post for lands-of-magic so some of you have seen this one.
There's a show called "Kirstie's Handmade Christmas" which I've only watched the last few years and it always features some great crafting ideas and tips. This is where I first saw needle felting mentioned.
This year I tried out some of the fun crafts I'd seen in the past, some with more success than others!
Gnomes/Gonks
Very simple and customisable. Strands of wool are looped and tied off around a small circle of cardboard such as from a wrapping paper tube. That's the time consuming part but the better you tie them the neater the finished hat looks. The ends are pushed through the circle and tied off. Long strands are tied around the middle and glued inside the circle for a beard. Then you can add a nose, decorate the hat, tie a loop of string through the hat to hang them up, or otherwise personalise them.
I made two to give it a go. I know they can look a bit weird without eyes but these are so tiny I didn't want to try and glue eyes so just went for buttons as noses. However Lochlan, my younger nephew decided the purple one is a one-eyed gonk (he likes the Purple People Eater song he's heard on holiday camps). My older nephew Elliot chose the slightly messier orange one (first I made, still getting hand of the tying off) so Lochlan got the purple one for the mini tree in his room :)
You could probably easily scale these up (or down if you're feeling dexterous) and maybe sew somehow instead of using a glue gun.
The photos didn't come out great but I think you can get the idea.
Wire Bauble
You scrunch up newspaper and wind craft/floristry wire around to make a ball. Then burn in fire bucket or bbq. The paper is burnt leaving behind a wire frame. You can then decorate by adding anything you like inside for example pine cones.
I added bells from craft box, kept from old chair back covers that had worn out. I needed stronger craft wire so this will be rcycled after Christmas with the bells going back into the craft box!
Walnut dioramas and salt dough
These are such a fun idea, but the more dexterous you are the better! Open walnut shells without damaging them ( a knife down seam rather than nutcracker might be called for). Paint the inside and then decorate, add twine or other hanger and you have mini decorations. I ended up painting front and back, and made some salt dough decorations to go inside, tiny snowmen and a penguin, though one I glued in a glow in the dark star :)
I made some larger salt dough decorations when making the tiny pieces for the walnut scenes, some trees and star which I painted and glue back to back with thread between them, and a larger star which I added a tree and holly leaves to. I added glitter and a sequin star to one tree.
Please excuse photo quality I snapped these with my phone in low light conditions and close ups especially have come out a bit fuzy.
Also I got some little charms online, one each for my new godmothers, and one for my mum and one for my sister. I added keyrings to them. Godmothers got theirs in Christmas cards, but mum and sister are going to have a suprise as I sealed theirs in more walnut shells glued shut with the hot glue gun!
Baking
I made some sand tarts again this year, various sizes and shapes. I had to cook in several batches.
And from a cookie mix set that was worth price for the snowflake cookie cutter alone, made these with my nephews. Photo shows Lochlan concentrating on decorating them
Last year's efforts of basic cookie mix and roll-out green icing with Lochlan helping decorate them. I accidentally knocked over the sprinkle pot though and we were finding little stars and balls for days!
Knitting
Years ago I knitted a cusion cover for my sister. At some point it disintegrated! I made her a shawl a couple of years back, I knitted two tiny toy hats for my nephews' favourite toys this year, and I decided I'd try a cushion cover again. Size 10 needles with chunky wool one side, and with two strands of thinner wool kitted together for the other for interesting effect. I never add zips, and on this occasion not even a button and loop to hold it, but a flap you can fold in over the cushion inside.
I also knitted some tiny decorative mittens from a magazine - they're done on straight needles and sewn up after so need for 4 needles/circular needle. I made plain blue to try them out but you're supposed to use different colours for the ribbed section and/or use mixed colour wool for the mitten or stitch on patterns e.g. snowflake to make them more festive to hang on the tree.
I had to use a Youtube video to learn how to rib because I kept adding stitches when swapping between knit and purl in the same row! I'm toying with the idea of scaling up and knitting mittens for Lochlan because he likes mittens and you tend to get them only for younger children and then adults, everyone has to wear gloves inbetween; he also keeps losing mittens and is currently wearing one red and one green mitten!
Lastly from the same magazine I knitted a baby Jesus a few years back. I used bigger needles than specified so resulting baby is bigger. Last year I tried to knit Virgin Mary (the pattern also included Joseph, with wise men etc to follow in other issues). It didn't go well...my dad said she looked more like something from creepy TV "From"!
Here's a screencap from the title sequence which I think he was reminded of with my refused-to-sit-up creepy knit
I kept the cape:
but got rid of the creepy Mary :P T
his year I found a nice basket to put baby Jesus in and he gained a halo from an earlier failed wire bauble experiment.
In the second photo he's next to a robin I knitted around the same time, my first attempt at changing colour mid-knit - the hat came off an old decoration but it fits him nicely!
Cross stitch and embroidery
Finally a craft from a long time ago; I haven't cross stitched for years and still wonder how I managed this Tigger cross stitch:
And I haven't yet tackled true embroidery but a few years ago based on a pic I found on Pinterest - link and original pic:
I made this for my sister to keep craft bits in, a felt bag with the pic of a cat skeleton underneath but with added flap featuring black cat (single stitch not cross stitch on plastic canvas). I didn't manage the level of detail I wanted on the skeleton but it's still not too bad
There are so many crafts that I love to dabble in, so many I haven't yet tried, things to revisit and things to practice more. I hope everyone has at least one thing, be it scrapbooking, crochet, metalwork, or watercolour painting, that gives them some creative joy :)
no subject
Date: 2023-12-21 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-05 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-21 08:25 pm (UTC)Lots of lovely things! :o)
no subject
Date: 2024-01-05 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-21 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-05 05:36 pm (UTC)I'm glad you like the embroidered skeletal cat! Very much your style :)
no subject
Date: 2023-12-29 12:49 am (UTC)I did have to laugh at the From thing - the theme tune's been stuck in my head all day with all this about fallen trees from Storm Gerrit and I can't even make the reference because most people I know don't watch it and wouldn't know what I was talking about.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-05 05:37 pm (UTC)From is such a niche show, I understand the frustration at not having more people to share the fandom reference with!
no subject
Date: 2024-01-29 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-30 08:27 am (UTC)