Coffee Lid Shadow Boxes

   Here's a fun way to recycle disposable plastic coffee cup lids. Make little Shadow Box Ornaments! Kids love working with miniatures and will want to make more than one, so make sure you have enough lids. These make great teacher gifts, too as they provide an idea they can borrow next year! If you open up the whole where you sip, you can hang it near a light on the tree for a nice effect.
   Here are two ideas: a Deer Scene and a Manger Scene.

MATERIALS:

Great way to recycle all those coffee lids.

  For the Deer Scene:
  White lid
  Blue Paint
  Fiberfill for Snow or Spanish Moss for Hay
  Tiny figures such as trees, wildlife, children, Santas
  Coordinating Ribbon
  Plastic or Foil Star
  Optional: Seam Binding and/or Rick Rack
  Hot Glue or Elmer's Glue

 For the Manger Scene:
 Black Lid
 Baby figure
 Spanish Moss
 Hot Glue
 Coordinating Ribbon

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Wash and dry the lid thoroughly.
  2. With Hot glue or Elmer's glue, attach Seam Binding to outer edge of lid (red for Deer Scene; Blue for Manger Scene). When dry or cool, attach metallic rick rack to the inside of the lid.
  3. Open the sipping hole in the lid and thread ribbon through and tie into a bow at the top.
  4. Attach star, as shown, a little lower on the Manger Scene.
  5. Add Fiberfill or Moss, then figures.

Other ideas: Santa Scene, Scene From Storybooks - like Alice in Wonderland, etc.
 

Make sure you get those high lids so you
have more room to put little things in it.

Hang the ornament so that one of the lights shines
through the hole above the star.

Mushroom Forest Angels & Santas

This one reminds me of a Fairy Princess.
She is made from 2 fungi specimens -
one for the body and one for the wings.
Head is purchased bead; hair is
sisal basket fill.

These are the types of fungi used on these projects.
For a natural look, avoid the paint. 

At the risk of being redundant, here are more Shelf Fungi Craft ideas! Check out the Mushroom Turkey Craft post for more details on these fun natural specimens which I collected here in the southwestern PA woods where I live. But in a word, just collect them from dead trees and branches, dry them naturally, or bake them at 225 degrees for a few minutes. Seal them with a coat of clear sealant and then you are ready to begin! (You can also purchase these from craft suppliers online).

   You may need to study your collection for awhile before you begin to see what you can make from them. Many use only one piece of fungi, or for a more 3-D look, you can fashion tiny sculptures.
   Paint as desired. Coat with white paint first if you plan to paint the whole thing. Sometimes, you may want to leave them natural. Add glitter or not. For hair you can use green moss as is or you can paint the moss (!!) for blondes or brunettes or white for Santa's beard. It is messy to do this and will take several coats. Make sure your moss is dry!
   Add facial features or other details as desired. Possibilities are only limited by your mind!
   Here are some photos to get you started. Mine are Christmas ornaments, but you can paint them in spring colors for fairies or guardian angels to hang on your car mirror or kitchen window….
   Enjoy!

This little girl is made from a single specimen
and has a halo of gold cord.
I used a doll head and her hair is sisal basket fill.

Santa with painted moss beard.

Also made from a single fungus, she has.
moss hair and painted wood bead head.

Father Christmas!

Another old-time Santa with painted face.

St. Nicholas with fiberfill beard and wooden
bead head.

Tiny Bottles - 2 Ideas for you

   Ideas for Tiny Bottles

   My mother saved me some of those little bottles from the maple syrup you get at Cracker Barrel with your pancakes. They are so cute, I couldn't toss them out, so I removed the labels and started thinking.

   Keep an eye out for tiny bottles. Sometimes vanilla flavoring comes in one. Also, vintage bottles are still very plentiful and cheap at flea markets and thrift stores, some 50 cents or $1 and they are so quaint!

   I got a whole box at our local flea market for $5. There were something like 40 bottles in there. Some were not very clean. I found that a small paint brush works pretty well at cleaning them, along with vinegar and baking soda.

   Removing labels is easier if you score them with a sharp paring knife and then soak in hot soapy water. "Goo Gone" takes off stubborn adhesive. It won't matter whether the bottles have lids or not.

   This could become an annual tradition! Make new ones each year.

   Anyhow, here are two ideas for your Tiny Bottles.

 Christmas Wish Bottle

   This would be fun to do with kids. They will have to write very small or of course can dictate. Try not to say anything about what they should wish for. The idea is to create a sort of Time Capsule which they can look at next year to see that they probably don't even care about what they wanted so badly last year! One the other hand, if they do wish for something more meaningful, they will feel very proud.

Materials:

Small, clean bottles, labels removed.
Ribbon
White or colored printer paper
Hole punch
2 Reinforcements to strengthen the punched hole in the paper
White glue
Glitter, optional
Fabric Scrap
Tinsel pipe cleaner

Instructions:

1.  First make the label. If desired print out what you want on the label, "Cindy's Wish List 2013," or have your child write their own.2. Cut out the paper for the label.

3. Paint the edges of the paper with glue and then dip in glitter (or sprinkle glitter on it).

4. Let it dry for a few minutes.

5. Meanwhile, start on the list. Cut a piece of paper to fit in your bottle. It will need to be rolled into a very skinny tube to fit.
6. This is the fun part. Let the kids write down their wishes. Or you could just have them pick one thing they want the most. Don't talk much, just listen.
7. Roll the paper tightly.
8. Punch a hole in the top corner and add reinforcements on each side.
9. Thread a long piece of ribbon through the hole and tie loosely,
10. Push the list into the bottle leaving the ribbon tails hanging out. Tie the tails to make a loop for hanging.
11. If you have a lid, put it on now, keeping the ribbon tails out.
12. Whether you have a lid or not, cut out a fabric circle with pinking shears.
13. Place it on the top of the bottle and secure with a small rubber band.
14. Twist a section of the pipe cleaner on to hide the rubber band.
15. Make sure to open them up next year when you're decorating the tree!
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Fancy Bottle Ornaments

   These are similar to the ones above, only without a list, and with a little more detail.

Materials:

Small bottles, especially vintage ones
Copies of illustrations and/or text from old storybooks
Glitter, ribbon, vintage jewelry parts, wire, other trims, as desired
Fabric scrap, if desired

Instructions:

1. Look through vintage Christmas storybooks for illustrations and text that appeals to you.
2. Copy, print, and cut to fit your bottle (I can't bring myself to cut up the actual books, no matter how dilapidated!)
3. Paint the edges with glue and add glitter.
4. Add other trims and ribbon as desired. You made need to attach the loop for hanging with hot glue.
5. If desired, add fabric circles to the top, secure with rubber band, and add tinsel pipe cleaner to hide the rubber band.

   If you make some, please share photos with me!


Also, STOP BY AND CATCH YOUR BREATH on my Cindy's Wind blog - inspirational slices from my life - CindysWind.blogspot.com


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Mushroom Turkeys

'Mushroom' Turkeys

Turkeytail Shelf  Fungus

By Cindy Bailey, Waynesburg, PA
cindy@greenespeak.com 

   These "Mushroom" Turkeys are actually made from fungi that grows on dead limbs and trees, especially tree stumps. They are a "shelf" fungus appropriately known as "Turkeytail," because of their remarkable resemblance to the real things. 

   This is a craft for older kids and adults. Pick them in the woods with gloves on in case of hidden thorns, but this time of year there shouldn't be any spiders or anything. If you have a sharp knife you can cut around them still attached to the bark, which makes a nice setting, especially if it has moss on it. You can also order dried fungi from craft. suppliers. Type in "shelf fungus" and you will get some places that sell it.

    Allow fungus to dry for a few days. Or, if you're worried about bringing bugs into the house, you can carefully bake the fungi in the oven on the lowest setting for 10-15 minutes, but watch them closely!. You can also seal in the dust and pollen with spray varnish. 

'Primitive' Mushroom Turkey

   For a primitive look, keep it all natural, you know like the pioneer women did -- no wiggle eyes or pipe cleaners or glitter! These would be very cute added to fall floral arrangements or among the table scatter in the center, although not if there are young children at the table. These are not poisonous but still....

MATERIALS:
Turkeytail Fungus
Brown and white striped Fungus, for beak
Tiny Pine Cones (I had to buy these as my pine trees aren't the right kind).
Piece of Bark
Moss
Glitter, optional
Hot Glue
White Glue

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Trim off bottom of prepared fungi to neaten it.
2. Add moss to tree bark.

Mushroom Turkey with Glitter

3. Attach fungi on the bark to resemble tail feathers, using hot glue
4. Add pine cone body.
5. Cut the top off a very small pine cone and discard this top section.
6. Attach the remaining portion of the pine cone as the head.
7. With small, sharp scissors (adults only!), cut a tiny elongated triangle from the brown and white striped fungus for the beak, so that the the stripes are horizontal, as shown. This is attached easier with white glue.

8. Add glitter and other details as desired.

   Here's hoping you will be with the ones you love on Thanksgiving. If your kids or others are coming back home, you might relate to my latest "Cindy's Wind" column, naturally called "Home for the holidays." See it on my other blog:  CindysWind. blogspot.com.

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Handmade Ornaments on the Cheap

   I love making, giving, and receiving handmade Christmas Ornaments. Each year when you pull them out of the tissue paper, you get a free story with it. My kids and I made TONS of these things for family, friends, and entire groups of people. We always ooh and ahh over the ones they made when they were small, like Santa flying an airplane which Julie and I made together for her whole kindergarten class.

   They really are the perfect gift for everyone, especially people who already have everything! 

   For one thing, they're affordable, usually adorable, and always relevant, often use recycled items, need no batteries, and they don't take up much space. Plus you only visit them once a year, which makes them even more endearing.

   I've been making ornaments with my kids and groups of kids and also for friends and family for several decades, and they're sort of piling up in my head, which is why I'm sharing them now with you.  

   I hope to put several old favorites, as well as recent designs, on this blog before Christmas 2013 is over and will continue posting through the year for all the serious crafters who are always looking for ideas.

   These are my own designs or my own spin (think easier or cheaper) on something I've seen somewhere.

   It would be greatly appreciated if you would choose to become a Christmas Ornament Queen follower and also if you'd share, share, share my blog address on Facebook and elsewhere. 

Many thanks!

The Christmas Ornament Queen (actually Cindy Bailey, Waynesburg, PA).

[You might also enjoy my "Cindy's Wind" blog in which I share some slices from my life with you, at which you may laugh and/or cry or maybe both at the same time! cindyswind.blogspot.com]

Spike poses on some fungi-covered branches.
Don't ask how she got her name….

   

Anyhow here is my first ornament collection for you:

'MUSHROOM' FOREST ANGELS

By Cindy Bailey, Waynesburg, PA

   I recently discovered crafting with shelf fungus, which is what the angels below are made from. Shelf Fungus   grows on dead or dying trees, but does not attack trees and CAUSE them to die.

    In my southwestern PA woods, there are TONS of colors and sizes of these things. I've included a couple of photos for you to see what I mean. "Spike" the formerly stray cat is examining some at right.

I discovered these huge shelf fungi which I have
 left for another time. These are highly valued by artists
who sometimes paint scenes on them.

   

   

   Collect them on your hike (or order from a craft supply place) and let them dry out for several days. You can still collect them is this area right now, but I think they will turn black after too much cold and snow. So hurry and get lots so you have many to choose from! 

   These a very budget friendly and suitable for older children and adults. If you are concerned about bugs/germs, you can carefully bake them on the oven's lowest setting for like 10 minutes but watch them closely! Also, you may want to seal the dust and pollen on the fungus in matte varnish before you begin. They are not poisonous but wash your hands to be on the safe side.

SUPPLIES FOR MUSHROOM FOREST ANGELS:

Assorted Shelf Fungus Specimens

Moss

Sprigs of Wheat

Twigs

 String for hanging
Hot Glue
Elmers Glue

Painted Mushroom Forest Angel

Fine Glitter
Acrylic Paints


Instructions for Pink Angel:

1. Select a specimen that looks like a butterfly, and paint as shown. I used gray for the wings.
2. When dry, paint glue on edges and sprinkle with glitter as desired.
3. Attach string with hot glue.
 

Flat Mushroom Forest Angel

Instructions for Flat Angel:
1. Find a larger specimen that looks like an angel's dress. (Mine was brown and white stripes).
2. Attach bits of moss to bead, and then attach bead to the fungus.
3. Paint glue on edges and sprinkle on glitter.
4. Add raffia bow, if desired.
5. Attach a wheat section for crown.
6. Attach string for hanging with hot glue.

Primitive 3-D Mushroom Angel

Instructions for large 3-D Angel:
(This one is more involved, It's sort of a sculpture so you will need to look over you fungus specimens to see what fits together well).
1. Hot Glue several fungus sections together to form skirt.
2. Find two matching specimens and cut to look like wings. Find a tiny specimen shaped like a head and paint with flesh-toned paint.
3. Attachhead to bit of a twig with hot glue.
4. Hot glue moss to head.
5. Attach head to skirt
6. Add twig arms if desired.
7. Attach string.
8. You can leave it plain for a more natural look or add green glitter.

Glitter 3-D Mushroom Angel

See you soon with more ideas!