Santa's Cookie Tray

Santa Cookie Tray

The other day I found an old frame I had purchased at a thrift store with the intention of making it into some sort of serving tray. With Christmas fast approaching, I thought the perfect idea would be a fun tray to leave Santa's cookies and milk on. (I apologize for the glare on some of these. Rotten time of day to get a good picture.) Supplies needed: 1 thrifted frame (with the glass still in) big enough to hold a small plate of cookies and glass of milk Paint-acrylic or spray Scrap paper in Christmas colors/themes Letter stickers, die cuts, or computer to make title Adhesive Trim, stamps, embellishments as desired First rough up your frame for easier painting. I lucked out that the gold trim on this one was just painted gold. :) Next paint your desired color. I used Ebony from Americana paints (which you can find at Hobby Lobby, Roberts Arts and Crafts, etc.) While that's drying, take the cardboard backing and start piecing together your paper. It was easier for me to think of this part as making one giant Christmas card. When you're doing this, remember to leave yourself a slight margin all the way around to prevent your work from being covered up by the frame. I used only supplies I had on hand and got to revisit a favorite technique-embossing. I didn't have any sparkly ribbon so I found a snowflake stamp in my collection. First stamp the image with Versa Mark ink (a clear pigment ink) then sprinkle with silver embossing powder. Gently tap the board over a scrap paper to remove excess powder and melt the powder with a heat gun. Repeat the process for the stars on top of the Christmas trees. When you're satisfied with the way it looks, pop it into your dried frame. When I was finished, I discovered a pleasant surprise. Not only will this make a darling tray to hold Santa's goodies, but will be a fun decoration to use the other 24 days of December! (I bet you could come up with something fun for a cute Thanksgiving tray, too!)

Happy Anniversary to Us

It seems impossible to believe, but...

It's been an entire year since we started Twiddle-Thumbs. What a fun adventure it has been for us! We often joke that the blog helps us finish so many cute things for our homes and children than we never would have without it.

Thanks again for reading Twiddle-Thumbs and making fun crafts with us. We hope to keep you around and hope to hear from you more (COMMENTS PLEASE!!!).

Craft Workshop in St. George, UT

I am adding a craft class in St. George for the christmas crafts.

Date: Tuesday, Nov. 24th

Time: 6-9 p.m.

Place: My mom's house

(it's actually in Santa Clara, but I will give you the details when you contact me)

Click here for the classes offered and prices.

-Anisa

anisascholes@gmail.com

Texturize your Fabric

In continuing with our Countdown to Crafts, I would like to talk about local Quilt Shops/Fabric Stores... not your national chains. I tend to like the fun designer stuff. For instance, this Thanksgiving Table Runner is made from the Pumpkins Gone Wild line by Moda. I can not find this fabric at any of my chain stores. I purchased this fabric last year at Pine Needles in Gardner Village. The local Quilt Stores don't have a 40% off coupon like many of the chains. However, what I have discovered is that many of them having mailing or emailing lists. Get on Those!!! That is where they will advertise their sales and often times email out coupons. Now, let's talk about texturizing your fabric. Fabric is fun... especially all of the bright cotton prints, but they don't have a lot of texture to them. I bought this fabric to make a table runner. I didn't want to quilt it because it was going to be on my table, but I wanted to give it a little texture and make it a little more fun. So, the first thing I did was to put it together using ric rac as the trim. Then I did a little hand stitching with embroidery floss down the pumpkins that had a stripe pattern. On the pumpkins with dots and flowers, I sewed buttons. Then on one of the leaves, I cut out a piece of felt to put over the leaf that was printed on the fabric and machine sewed on that. It was really fun to add texture to the fabric this way. You could do this with almost any print... what doesn't have dots, flowers or stripes?

If you would like to purchase a table runner like this, check out my etsy shop here.

-Anisa

Seedlings Craft Boutique

We are all participating in the Seedlings Craft Boutique today!!! Come and check out our stuff.

Countdown to Crafts- Easy Throw Pillow

We have started something new and fun!!! We are doing a Countdown with Crafts to help you get ready for the Holidays. For my first project, I bring to you and fun and easy throw pillow. If you go to Joann Fabric and Craft Stores this week, they have their Soft n' Crafty pillow forms on sale for 40% off. I made this pillow by taking basic white fabric. I pinned the ribbon on to the fabric, then sewed it on.... make sure you sew down both sides of the ribbon. I used ribbon from my stash, but scrapbook ribbon is also on sale at Hobby Lobby this week. After I made this pillow, I saw this post on Ucreate from the guest blogger Polka Dot Chair for a skirt just like my pillow!!! Weird Deja Vu. Check out her tutorial, she does it a little differently.

This pillow is also for sale at my SEEDLINGS boutique this FRIDAY at my home. Check out the blog for details!!!

Christmas Wood Craft Workshops

I just finished up the Thanksgiving Crafts and wanted to get started on the Christmas crafts before life gets too busy and crazy.

Dates:

Thursday, Nov. 12th 6-9pm

Tuesday, Nov. 17th 6-9pm

Wed. Nov. 18th 1-3pm and 6-9pm

***Tuesday, Nov. 24th in St. George, UT from 6-9 pm***

For the St. George class, I need to know what you would like to make by Wed. Nov. 18th.

Wreath- $25 (just in case you didn't get to make one last month. makes a great christmas gift. Can be personalized with last name.) Elf- $18 (He can be a yard stake or will look great sitting on a shelf... I just make a base for him and a smaller sign) Nativity- $17 Angels- $10 (if you need the stands, I've raised the price to $5 for 3 stands)

Please try to let me know by Friday, Nov. 6th what you would like to make.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me. anisascholes@gmail.com Anisa

The Start of Something Big: Countdown with Crafts

With the holidays just 'round the corner and tight budgets everywhere, we thought we'd do something that will help you fill your Christmas gift list with fun crafting ideas.

Each week on Tuesday, we will feature a craft with products featured in the ads of various chain craft stores. We realized that using the ads isn't going to be helpful for everyone, but the inspiring craft ideas will! As a kick-off, I offer the following:

Wooden-framed magnet boards often go on sale (or you can always use your large percent discount coupon). I used an inexpensive red spray paint (after removing the steel insert).

I am using this in my craft/inspiration room as a home for all my Magnetic Poetry. I love the stuff, but haven't had a place for it, especially since I've been raising little ones.

I wanted to use rub-ons in poetic flourishes as an embellishment. Not only were there no rub-ons on sale, I couldn't find any I liked well enough anyway.

However, the acrylic stamps were on sale at Michael's and they had a great selection of said flourishes.

I was a little doubtful as to how they'd turn out because the only black ink I had was StazOn, but as you can see it turned out well! The clear stamps are Inque Boutique brand. The nice thing about stamps like these is not only can you see when you stamp with them, but you can place them where you think you might want them before you stamp.

Here's a stamping detail.And the finished piece (sorry about the bad lighting) and I'm really pleased with it.

Remember to check us out on Tuesdays for our Countdown with Crafts posts, all the way till Christmas after we get a chance to check the ads. Look for our other posts as well.

--C