Just a little set of gifts...for my Blogger Readers!

   This CHRISTmas went past as quickly as all the other years, and I can once again actually see the floor of my Craft Room, after two months of hiding everything in there. It's almost time to let go of the gatherings for the Holiday Season, and just relax a bit until the hustle and bustle of the new 2020 year begins. But it was all nice while it lasted, and 2019 can finally draw to a close all on its own.
  I can't exactly say I had some extra time to do these last 2 items for the year, but I made the time because I had picked up these two oh-so-cute little faux books at a Tuesday Morning during a last shopping stop for stocking stuffers. They were way too cute to just skip over, and an idea formed inside my head on the drive home. 
     While the fun of fantasizing a jolly St Nick leaving all the presents magically underneath the tree for everyone to open (I even made all the tags this year say "From Santa" for even the adult kids as well as all the Grandbabies), we get so caught up in all the goings on, that we tend to forget the entire reason WHY we have Christmas in the first place: the birth of the Christ Child who was literally born to die for our souls to be pure enough for Heaven's eternity. So, this is what I did...

The faux book on the left is about the size of a 4x6 photo on the inside.

The smaller faux book is actually a gift card holder.

Both came entirely finished inside and out- but with nothing to fill the insides.

We'll start with the Secular...

It took a LOT of sanding down the TH IdeaOlogy Snowman, but it was worth the effort!

The TH Woodlands got a coat of TH Distress Oxide Pine Needles and I 

ended up only fitting in the baby deer- painted brown with white-tailed baby spots, too.

Frontside of Santa faux book.

The gift is for EVERYONE!

A closeup of the wreath shows some real mistletoe...

… and up in front of the moon: Santa flying over!

Yes, it's still fun for the kids- and the kid in all of us at all ages.

Backside of Santa faux book.

The second faux book tells the REAL reason we have CHRISTmas...

I searched online until I found the desired clip art, and saved the files, then printed

each twice- once for practice fitting, and once for actual use.

After hand cutting, came sanding with several sized sanders, then inking a bit 

so the core was also black.

The light sets come in many different sizes and for only a few dollars.

Buying them after Christmas is even cheaper.

I absolutely could see what was going inside this- and loved the background here!

This is what I ended up with:

        I indulged myself in the fun making these, and sharing them with you is a blessing!
I am so humbled to have so many folks checking in on my crafting and allowing me to share with
them throughout the year. I plan to participate in The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog,
and perhaps I'll take the plunge to add my makes in another Challenge as well. We'll see
     In the meantime, THANKS for joining me this year, and enjoy the last days of 2019,
and may your New Year 2020 be ever bright and blessed!
                                                 
                                                                            As always:

                                           Stay safe, and 
                                  HAPPY BLOGGING!!              

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #26; It's Holidays... A second take on the Besties' Gifts!

   The snow is coming down now, here in Indiana as well as the rest of the Northern US and Midwest US areas, and Christmastime gives visions of little, old, peeling-white-paint churches set back in woods of tall green pines. The windows lit with warmth to be had on the inside and faint music wafting out strains of "Silent Night" or "Away In A Manger". (I have to see my music CC now, but I do remember the sound before I started going deaf at age 11 from Rheumatic Fever. The songs all still play in my head.) 

   This is why we adore all those Tim Holtz Alterations Dies: they can be used in so many ways to make so many different things! This second set of gifts were actually thought of after another original make for my PreK Sunday School kids. I had the chance to make a first set as 'practice' makes and then figure out a better way for assembly with this set. All the gluey mess, cranking out die cuts, folding each piece (double-layered business heavy white cardstock), and hand cutting windows drawn out in pencil... was worth the effort when I hit the button for the tea light inside!
I'll get right down to the details on this one....

I started with the Tiny Houses TH Alterations Die that I had been wanting since it came out!

A generous ChiefHubby let me order the die along with 

the TH Alterations Die Village House Additions, for my birthday back in October.

I came up with an idea for our Sunday School young kids...

I put 8 of these together for the kids to add their own photos inside fussy-cut doors,

along with a printed out invitation of our Christmas week Services.

This one's my Grandbaby Princess...

The kids enjoyed coloring the churches (whatever floats their little artistic boats is fine)!

First was Modpodge between 2 sheets of plain heavy white cardstock (found in WalMart and used as a base for almost all my projects with huge staying firm power!). Then embossing all of it in one direction so it all meets the same way- using Tim Holtz's 3D Impresslits Lumber Folder.

Yeah, it's a LOT of cranking on the Big Shot, and I should have used my Vagabond,

but most of the cutting and embossing was done while we were away CAMPING in October.

That's how early I got these going because there were 15 in the makes.

Cutting the windows,

WHY doesn't anyone have a SMALL RECTANGLE HAND PUNCH

that can fit anywhere on the page no matter how large or small you're using?!?!

I simply put the smaller of the 2 Tiny Houses on top of the larger, and drew the edge where to cut. 

And here's that other TH Alterations Die, Village Additions.

I could have gone with the TH Alterations Die Brownstone House

(which I still want to add to my already-owned TH Village House),

but I'd used the Village House last year to make the Nativity sets

(click here if you missed that),

and wanted a church to look larger than the little 'stable' if they were set side by side.

This front entry way gave these churches a bit more 'pizzaz' than the ones made for my PreK Class.

Beginning the put together phase...

… and cutting off the tips of the tea lights so they fit into the 'steeple'.

I found that my floral wire cutters cut those tips off very easily- just hold the 

tea light up to a kitchen or studio light in order to see where the bulb is and

snip off the excess plastic 'flame' tips.

Here, you can see the cut tip in the lower left corner.

the tea light now fits nicely, and is a good strong kind that lets out a lot more light.

The new TH Layered Pine Die- using TH Coordinations Corestock paperie-

and no inking...actually made it look simple and realistic up against the old church.

You can find the fencing in the "fairy garden" section of craft stores.

This is from Hobby Lobby. I also picked up the smaller wooden white fence as well.

Coloring a bit onto the rooftops.

And here's what came out of it all...

And...that's a wrap for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog for year 2019!

HUGE THANKS to The Funkie Junkie Boutique for SPONSORING all the FUN!

And especially to the TFJBChallenge Blog Design Team for coming up

with some awesomely talented inspiration for us all; you gals ROCK!!!

Very special THANKS to all of you who took the time to check in 

and see the new makes, read the stories, and share in a laugh with me throughout

this year. I look forward to 2020 and hope you'll ride along with me again.

I have a couple more crafty surprises to add to my blog that I came up with

myself- just for the fun of this Christmas.

So, I hope you'll check back in over the Holidays and see what's posted

as I get the two projects finished. They're simple and easy, and CUTE!

Until then;

Be Safe, &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #26; It's Holiday Time.....Ornament Gifts for the Chickstas!

     Christmas time is here! While it's not exactly a favorite holiday of mine, I do enjoy all the gathering together and the fun involved. It's the SNOW I can do without, yet somehow; it's not really Christmas without snow. Catch up to me when I finally figure that one out. In any case, it's a very busy time of year- especially if you're a Crafter and you like making your gifts! I like to make many of our gifts, but I also like shopping for things our grown Kids- and now our Grandkids- like. I absolutely love it when you can get something for someone when you know they've been wanting that item for a long time. It just feels so good to make others smile! And that is a big part of the holiday; not the gift giving itself, but the happiness you can bring to anyone. This also involves ministries and outreach in our Church Family: CHRISTmas should be celebrated every day of the year when it comes to sharing nice things. Making sure that everyone has what they NEED is an every day thing, but going that extra mile to also passing along to others the things we all WANT comes at this holiday season. "It's always nice to have something new, no matter who you are or what your circumstances are," is what my late MiLaw always said.. But when we can MAKE something- be it cookies, candy, paper items, sewn, crocheted, knit, molded, painted, drawn, or whatever your 'art' is... is a special kind of gift.
      I looked all over for a type of snow globe our young "Peanut" Grandson could have. I took him shopping with me one day this fall and he absolutely LOVED Hobby Lobby and all the fun gadgets/home décor they have. He fell in love with a little box that looked like a TV set and was a winter scene with a mini train running in circles inside. It also played music and he loved that! He has this 'thing' for trains right now, and his fancy is fulfilled every time his Grammy Fasha (Peanut's Mommy's Mom) takes him to the miniature train land up near them in Northern Indiana. She sent him home with a little train alarm clock and I wanted to get the TV from Hobby Lobby for him to have here. But alas; when I went back to get it while gift shopping- you guessed it; only one left and it was broken. I hope to still find one, but in the meantime... what about a SNOWGLOBE a 2 year old can have?? Our Younger Son adored snow globes and his Grandma Larimore gifted him one Christmas with a really nice thick glass musical globe. And that's fine for an older boy, but a toddler?? 

        And then, there was the annual "Saucer Sisters" (a smaller group of my Besties- the ones who all go camping together throughout the year). Christmas Party coming up FAST. I'd already gotten started on the first gifts, but needed to round out a second smaller item. I'd picked up these little stiff  felt ornaments from Hobby Lobby a few months ago, without any real plan for them. An idea hit me when I got a new Tim Holtz Alterations Die (Snow Globe #1) and got to thinking how I could make that die cut into a Tag since Tags are usually one of the gifts I make for them every year. I ended up holding the felt cuts and thinking about my Spellbinder Stacked Circles Set would work even better as it fit almost perfectly! So I messaged them all for a fave photo from anytime they chose that was family. 

                              Here's what I came up with...

                    

What I started with...

plain white cardstock and a bit of light blue from my stack of colors.

Trash Plastic was HARD to find this year!

So I came up with an idea that I could use the same clear Contact Paper that

was covering the die cut photos (to allow the glitter to run smoothly over the photo)

and just fold a cut portion of it sticky side to sticky side and cut it as usual in the machine.

I then got an idea to emboss the cut 'plastics' and it worked so nicely!

Add some Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter in Rock Candy,

and presto: A SAFE SNOW GLOBE!

You can tell which ornament is Memaw Larimore's!  :)

     
        I think the Besties enjoyed theirs (Sue will get hers when they return from Florida!), and 
I really think Wittle Peanut will enjoy his also! The younger two Grandbabies got their First Christmas photo ornaments just like Peanut did for his, so I don't leave any of my Babies out.

            There's a second entry to this The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog coming up hot on the heels of this post; the main gift to the Chickstas, so I hope you'll stick around for it! And don't forget that while this is the last Challenge for this year on TFJBCB, 2020 is just around the corner and you can jump in at any point! Your entry will join the others in the same even chance of a random drawing for a nice Gift Certificate from TFJBCB's Sponsor, The Funkie Junkie Boutique !!

                                 See you at the next post, and till then...

                                               Be Safe, &
                                    HAPPY BLOGGING!