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Last updated by Cathy Ratcliffe at December 18, 2012.

How to Make a Pretty Christmas Wreath from Yarn

Cathy Ratcliffe on December 18, 2012 · 2 Comments

yarn wreath

I didn’t come up with this idea. I originally found it in “All You” magazine.But I did mine a little differently. Instead of just regular yarn, I used the fuzzy, wavy kind.

What you will need:

wreath aupplies

A Styrofoam wreath (I used the 16 inch size)
A ruler
Yarn in two colors
clear tape
marker
scissors
straight pins
A pre-made bow (not shown) You can also make your own bow if you prefer.

On the back of your wreath, measure off and mark with a marker where you want your colors to start and stop.
Start at your first line and tape the yarn. Then start wrapping the yarn around the wreath until you get to the next line. Cut and tape or use a straight pin to secure the yarn to the back of the wreath.
Use your next color and wrap til you get to the next line. Cut and secure the yarn to the back. Continue until the entire wreath is completed.
Attach the bow with straight pins and hang! Since the wreath has a Styrofoam base, it’s easy to just push it on a nail back or hook.

yarn wreath

Cute and easy!
Cathy

Article by Cathy Ratcliffe

Vase Crafts

Cathy Ratcliffe on September 11, 2012 · 4 Comments

How to Pretty Up Cheap Glass Vases

Vases
Can you believe these vases were once just plain Dollar Store glass vases? Yep, they were. And they were so easy to change them. Even kids (older school aged) could do this with ease. They’d make a great gift for your child to make for their teacher or grandmother or whatever. Or you could make them for yourself to reflect your home decor.

Ready for the directions? Okay, here we go:

Here’s what you need:

supplies for vases

You can do one or both of these vases. What you need for both of these vases:

Flat back marbles in your color choices (these are often used in flower arrangements). You can find them most anywhere, Walmart, craft stores, even Dollar stores.
Assorted buttons in various sizes and colors. I have a large collection of these but if you need to buy some, Amazon has them pretty cheap here.
2 glass vases
Craft Glue (make sure it will work for glass). Here’s the link for glass glue on Amazon if you need it:Amazon

Button Vase Directions

Decide on your color scheme and sort the buttons you want to use by color.

Sort buttons by color

Go ahead and work out the design you want on your work surface first. This is to make sure you have enough of a particular style or color for your design before you actually do it on the glass.

Decide on design

Now glue on your buttons. Hold the bigger buttons to the glass for the count of 20 to make sure it adheres to the glass. For curved glass vases, it’s best to use small buttons.

Glue Buttons

After you are done, check all around the vase to make sure everything is sticking where it should be. Sometimes they may slide. After the glue is completely dry, you can peel off the dried glue on the glass if you tend to be a messy crafter like me.

Flower vase

And there you have it. A cute whimsical button vase that was easy and quick to make.

Glass Marble Vase Directions

This one is a little harder to do only because the marbles are heavier and take longer to stick to the glass. Once the glue is dry, they are stuck on there really well but until then, they tend to slide around a lot.

Glue marbles onto glass

Start at the bottom and work your way up. You will need to recheck your work every so often to be sure everything is still sticking. When you are done, go over it again and push the marbles in to make sure they are secure.

Marble vase

This one turned out so beautiful and elegant. It has a very “designer” feel to it. Hard to believe it was just a few bucks and 20 minutes to make!

So there you have it. Wasn’t that easy? I told you it was. Please let me know if you try this project!

Cathy

Make a Cute Cup Planter

Cathy Ratcliffe on July 24, 2012 · Leave a Comment

planters I saw a picture of a cute little cup planter on the cover of a friend’s magazine and thought what a great gift idea it would make. I didn’t read the article but just by looking at the picture, I could easily figure out how to make it.

So since I knew I was going to be visiting my sister in a few days, and I wanted to bring her a little something, I decided to try my hand at these adorable little planters.

This would be a great craft project for kids or adults.

Fortunately, I had most of the supplies. I did buy a few things but you will probably have most everything you need for this project right in your house. The picture below shows a lot of things I had on hand (all the marbles and buttons for example) but I didn’t use a fraction of them for the 4 planters I made.

planter supplies

Supplies Needed

Rubbing Alcohol
Paper Towel
Craft Glue such as E600, Crafters Goop, or Super Glue Gel
Paint Markers in your choice of colors
Small Rocks or Pebbles (you can use marbles if you don’t have any rocks)
Marbles
Buttons of Your Choice
Dirt
Cup and Saucer or Terra Cotta Pot and Saucer
Small Plant

Step 1 Clean

clean cup

Pour a little of the rubbing alcohol onto a paper towel and clean all the surfaces of the cup and saucer that you will be painting on. Let it dry for a few minutes before painting.

Step 2 Decorate

decorate cup

Now the fun begins! Using your paint markers, decorate your cups however you want. Draw flowers, squiggles, stars, dots, hearts or whatever you want. I found it best to do one color at a time and let it dry for a moment before switching to a different color.

After the paint has dried, you can glue your buttons on. I have a large button collection so I was able to find everything I wanted to use but if you need to buy some buttons, check out the ones I glued to the side of the terra cotta plant. They are little bugs and flowers. I got these at Walmart but I saw some at AC Moore too. Any craft or sewing store would probably have them. I just used some wire cutters to cut off the loop part of the button to make it more flat for gluing.

terra cotta planter

When gluing buttons to the side of a pot or cup, glue it on and then hold in place for a minute or two so it won’t slide down the side.

Glue buttons onto your saucer too.

Let everything dry for an hour or so before going on to the next step.

Step 3 The Dirty Work

Now it’s time to assemble the whole thing.

First put some small rocks or pebbles or marbles into the bottom of your cup for drainage. Don’t skip this step, specially if you are using cups and not pots as you won’t have a hole in the bottom for good drainage.

add rocks

Add your dirt. Fill it up to about 3/4 of the way to the top.

add dirt

Plant your little plant into the middle of the cup or pot. I used jade plant cuttings (they root very easily) I got from my friend Irene.

plant the plant

The next step is to add some marbles around the plant. I already had plenty of marbles but I found some really cute ones at Walmart that had some flower shapes mixed in so I bought a bag and added them to 3 of the planters. Here’s what they look like:

plsnter marbles

The last step is to water your plant so it can settle in and grow in it’s new home.

water plant

Now you have a cute little plant to give as a gift or put on your window sill.

Below are the photos of the finished planters I made:

cup Planter

This one I didn’t have a saucer for.

cup and saucer planter

terra cotta planter

cup and saucer

This is the one I gave to my sister and she loved it!

Happy planting!

Cathy

I’m also linking to:

Dress up Your Pumpkin

Cathy Ratcliffe on October 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Pretty pumpkin centerpiece

I know it’s getting a little late for Halloween crafts. But,you can use this pretty pumpkin centerpiece through Thanksgiving. If you do make one of these and plan to keep it out that long, I suggest using a fake pumpkin.

I’m a life long crafter and even have a business making personalized Christmas ornaments. But I have found that the last few years, I go for easy and simple crafts. This pumpkin is about as easy as it can be but I often get comments on how pretty it is.

Supplies You Will Need:

Fake or real pumpkin
scissors (use ones that aren’t real important to you as you will be cutting through things that have a little wire in them)
Wire edged Ribbon
Sparkly Fall Garland

*Note* This stuff is really cheap right now at craft stores. They are clearing the Fall stuff out to make way for Christmas stuff so you can get these supplies for just a few dollars.

Ribbon on pumpkin Measure a length of ribbon to wrap around the pumpkin with about 6 extra inches. Cut and tie at the top. Repeat again on the opposite side. Curl the edges under (this is why you use wire edged ribbon).