Playing with Fairies--again

I have had time to play with various ideas and materials while waiting for the snowstorm to fade away. I have had so much fun revisiting the idea of fairies and searching out vintage children's pictures. Meet some of my newest creations. They were spurred by a friend and co-worker offering to buy several fairies if I made some more. (Ugh, if anyone has advice on pricing feel free to email or comment. I've never sold anything before and it is really hard to think about putting a price on them.)

These are a bit more playful than my earlier ones with print wings.  I have decided I like both styles!

              

They are just so much fun and take on so much personality as I try different wings and think about how to decorate their jars.  Each one I make generates additional ideas.

Who knew you could capture fairies in the middle of a snowstorm?!

Merry Christmas Blizzard

Mother Nature is exerting her power this Christmas!  But she does it with beauty and grace.  My husband and I have had a quiet Christmas at home with the animals as Interstate 29 is closed so no traveling to gather with family.  (Although my most awesome husband did take me out to the barn to ride horse early Christmas Eve while we were waiting for the worst of the storm to start.  He knew that if I couldn't be with my two footed family, my four footed family would partially fill the need.  And it is always a major treat when he is willing to come and hang out at the barn as that is NOT his favorite thing to do.)

We are supposed to have another 24 hours of snow and wind so this is starting to look like the storms I remember from childhood.  Storms just have more influence on your day to day life when you live out in the country! No putting the truck in four wheel drive and seeing what is going on like we usually did while living in town.

Wanna come visit?  But don't use our front door!!

We (okay, really Jonathan did all the shoveling) went out to dig our way into the Morton building to feed and water the kittens.  Their kitty door was a bit buried.  The large white and grey cat was still visiting.  We can't quite figure out whether a neighbor's cat spends a lot of time in our kitten's luxurious accomodations or whether we have a new cat....

Max and Ginger had to check things out also!

Thick fur is great for winter storms!

Christmas Joy

'Tis the season for Joy, and I often feel blessed that I experience moments of joy most days. Or maybe I just have a low threshhold for experiencing joy! LOL!

Anyway, here is a little shabby chic Joy to share with you...

I printed out the sheet music from Graphic Fairy and tore it into triangle shapes.  I printed out JOY in a large french script font and cut the letters out to glue on the traingles.  I used a paper punch and string to tie the banner triangles to some gold garland and duct taped it to the window frame above my kitchen sink.       (Just keeping it real!)

I am joining the Make it for Monday party at cottage instincts for those last before Christmas projects.

I snuck into the Shabby Chic Transformation Thursday party late.  ssshhh

Feathered Nest Fairy

Dawn, author of The Feathered Nest blog is a wonderful artist.  I so enjoy viewing her projects.  I signed up for an online artists class this fall and included with the class was a tutorial on making Fairies in a Jar.  Dawn is currently offering her individual tutorials for sale at her website.  Below is my first attempt at capturing a small fairy, and more are in the works.

I wanted to try something a bit different for Christmas so made a fairy ornament.  I am still looking for the right trim to put around the edge of the opening.  If you have any great ideas let me know.  It is a frigid -6 degrees here so I stayed home and will go searching over lunch one day this week.

Can you tell what I made the ornament from?  A smoked oyster tin!  (Yes, I enjoyed the smoked oysters first....  I am pretty sure that has got some of you saying eeww. )  I outlined the bottom of the tin on a peice of construction paper and cut it out.  I used spray adhesive and glitter to give it some sparkle then glued on some small individual foil stars I had saved from something I had been mailed.  Then glue to glittered paper into the back of the tin.  Punch 2 holes in the front top edge of the tin and run a ribbon through to hang it up.  I used a bit of moss ribbon cut into a thin strip and glued it at the bottom of the opening.  The Fairy instructions came from Dawn at the Feathered Nest.

I think I will need to find someone else that eats smoked oysters so I can gather some more tins!  I want to make some more of these!

Hope you had a great weekend and are enjoying the Christmas season!

Little Nothings

Sometimes I spend my time completing seemingly meaningless activities. This might be one of those projects. But the outcome gives me a lot more satisfaction than playing computer solitaire. There are little vignettes all over my house that make me smile and feel good. So what exactly am I talking about? Wrapping empty boxes in odds and ends of paper, printing out vintage pictures provided by the The Graphics Fairy, and tying them up with cord and old trims.

This is the entry into my guest bedroom--which my husband calls the antique girly room.  Click on the picture for a larger view if you want to see the packages more clearly.  I found some old glittery pine trim  in the bottom of one of my Christmas tubs and it added the perfect touch.

Then I liked that vignette so much, I decided to do something similar for the dining room table. 


Who knew Tassimo boxes, smoked oyster boxes, and odd bits of cardboard could make such great Christmas decorations.




Have I told you how much I like being surrounded by large pine trees and being able to run out into the yard and gather greens as needed?! It sure makes Christmas decorating easier.



So this is how I wasted an hour or so on this fine cold Saturday.



There are lots of projects and blogs to check out at Funky Junk Interiors for the Saturday Nite Special.  I am linking to that party, as well as the impromptu link party at Living with Lindsay, Romantic Home,  Finding Fabulous, and poppies at play.

Kitten's Mittens

Remember to head over to Funky Junk Interiors for Donna's Saturday Nite Special and see what everyone has been creating in blogland!  I am linking to her party!

So this woman with two cats met this man with two cats and they got married. Now they have 6 cats, 2 dogs, and 5 horses. The house kittens have their Christmas mittens hung and are waiting for Santa to come fill them. (And thanks to the joys of Petromalt the kittens have been very very good.)

These were so much fun to make and so very simple. Felt, glue, and some simple sewing make the perfect kitten mitten. I think the dogs will just get socks.

Its beginning to look like Christmas

It is begining to look like my version of Christmas anyway. One of the great things about our new place in the country is trees, lots of trees. I can find branches, gather greens, and enjoy inspiration all around me.

Several years ago I bought some geat ribbon/garland that consisted of small bits of glass and mirror on a glittered cord. Then the spools sat in my basket of ribbon waiting for the right time and place to use it.

Not sure where the idea came from, but I decided I needed some dead branches in my sunroom... Glitter garland and small metal stars finally found a match.

And since I also have a "thing" for nests, this seemed the perfect accessory for my branches.

As usual, I will continue primping and fluffing the room but here are the branches as they fit into the rest of the room.  The garland catches the light and shines and glints like crazy but my camera just won't capture it.  (Yep, Max is still enoying the newly slipcovered chaise. He and Ginger will be getting new Christmas collars later this week as soon as I pick up some more velcro.)



I am linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday.

What do PB and LaVyrle Spencer have in common?

What do you suppose Pottery Barn and LaVyrle Spencer have in common? Hmmm??

I just got my PB catalog yesterday and as I was paging through it I saw these wreaths that I liked.



I went through the masses of books my husband and I have and found one that I really didn't value and would never look at again. (Sorry, romance novels don't hold a lot of interest for me.) So I started ripping out pages and rolling cones. I cut out a cardboard circle and used my hot glue gun to make a wreath.



I think it will hang in one of my kitchen windows. I hung it against a wall so you could see it better. I am thinking about using spray adhesive and glitter to add a little bling, but haven't decided yet. What do you think, glitter or no glitter?



Ssshhhh, don't tell anyone. It almost makes me want snow...

Check out these other great blogs for fun ideas:

The Inspired Room

The Shabby Nest

The DIY Show Off

A Soft Place to Land