All about CHRISTMAS!

[Lynn49]

Very cute, Chantel! I've made wax candles in the past, but never heard of using shortening! How much easier that would be!!

[HartMovies]

This I did found a video of easy yarn hat to make. It is really simple thing to do with your kids.

[web3]

~Pool Noodle Mesh Wreath~

-Cut a pool noodle to desired length and duck tape ends together to form a circle

-Cut many peices of wire approximately 5 inches long

-Gather both ends of deco mesh if using 2 colours and twist a wire around the combined end to keep them together. I used a 9 foot roll of mesh of each colour and had some left over.

-Use another piece of wire to twist around the end so you have 2 prongs long enough to poke into the noodle. Try to hide it more to the back.

-Gather 1 colour and at about 12 inches, take another wire and wrap it around where you have gathered it, again leaving enough wire to make 2 prongs to peirce the noodle. You will need to play with it and decide how full you want the mesh.

-Follow with the second colour filling in empty spots

-Continue alternating both colours and following a wavy pattern throughout the wreath (youtube "mesh wreath" to watch the technique)

-Use ribbon to fill in spots and create more detail. Using the same technique of twisting the wire to create 2 prongs and poke.

-Take ornaments fill the spots that don't look as full or where you have directed/poked the ribbon

-Use a good amount of wire and double it over to twist around the pool noodle completely to make a spot to hang it

-Done! Hang it on your door and smile





I am in love with this mesh stuff. I am going to buy another 9 foot roll of the blue and cut it length wise in half. So I have 18 feet and use it as garland on my tree!

[Natalka]

web, that's really pretty, and great that it is lightweight!

[Lynn49]

VERY nice wreath, Web3! And as Natalka said, very light-weight, too! Hm. How to steal a pool noodle from our DD's back yard....

[coyote00]

Homemade Playdough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
• 5 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups salt
• 3 Tablespoons cream of tartar
• 10 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• Food coloring

Instructions:

Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring regularly until mixture is hot. Add oil. Stir in flour a cup at a time, stirring in between each addition. Mix until playdough pulls away from pan and is no longer sticky (pinch it between your fingers to test). Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead.



Add Glitz and Glamour to Your Homemade Playdough

To make the candy cane playdough, we made two batches of the play clay, one red and one white. After the dough cooled down a bit, we kneaded in some glitter for holiday glitziness and some peppermint essential oil (about 10 drops each batch) for the yummy candy cane smell.



Help Your Playdough do the Candy Cane Twist

Next we gathered our playdough (cut up into individual portions - I think we divided each batch into 12 or so) and our packaging materials (pint canning jars, holiday fabric squares, yarn, color copies of Maia's Christmas "cards", and some labels I made in Word).



We rolled the playdough into snakes...


then twisted one red and one white one together like a candy cane.



Each playdough twist was put into a jar and we added the fabric, lids, and labels.


Et voila! Candy cane playdough. Gifts Maia helped make that she can give to her friends.

[Lynn49]

VERY cute!!! Wow. That would be enough play-do for our grandson for eons!!
I love that you made them smell minty!

[Natalka]

[Natalka]

interesting 'gift in a jar' ideas: Pampering, Energy, Refreshment



http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/10/...ade-gifts.html

[Samantha MacGregor]

coyote, those are so cute! I have an ornament that my brother made when he was in kindergarten (he's 30 now). it's a little sleeping mouse. it's made from a hollowed out walnut, the mouse is a little almond sticking up and a piece of felt glued on top to make it look like a blanket, and a cut rubber band sticks out as the 'tail'. can you imagine doing a craft that involved a walnut and an almond now a days?

I made one of these as well about 20 years ago. My mom and grandma still hang theirs on their trees!

[Patty Smyth]

PM's xmas card this year. Charlie the chinchilla made it into the final pose

[Samantha MacGregor]

http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/12/ice-wreaths.html

Definitely doing this tomorrow!

[Samantha MacGregor]

This gingerbread house took 30 hours to make and was made for charity. 190.00 was raised on this house alone!

[Lynn49]

PM's xmas card this year. Charlie the chinchilla made it into the final pose

LOL!!! Dave would have love this one...sort-of!

[thriftygranny]

PM's xmas card this year. Charlie the chinchilla made it into the final pose

Yikes is it just me, what a horrendous Christmas photo. I hope they didn't pay someone to decorate that banister, someone needs a lesson in wrapping mesh ribbon.Maybe the chinchilla did it.