SHOTGUN SHELL ORNAMENTS

Shotgun Shell Christmas Tree Ornaments

I was in the mood for some different ornaments this year, so I thought I'd make my own.

 I'd been saving our spent shell casings for a lil bit of time now and I had these on hand.

Here's what you'll need:

-Some spent shell casings:

 12 gauge, 410, about anything this type will work fine. 

-Hot glue gun

-Ornament Hooks

Super simple.  All you need to do is give the ornament hooks a quick twist at the bottom.  This way more of them will adhere to the hot glue for a better hold.

Then just dab you in some hot glue, inside the casing, towards the tip, insert hook and let cool.

That's it!

And now I have a cool, different theme for our tree this year.

It's awesome because we have a lot of hunters in our family.

I am going to top off the tree with some type of unique topper as soon as I think of one.

But for now, here's the tree all decked out in 

Shotgun Shell Ornaments.

PS.

I already have some shotgun shell light strands made too.

Using the same method, I just inserted the side of the light, not touching the bulb, into the hot glue, inside the empty casing. Let dry and that was that!

They are very easy to do on those battery operated light strands you find everywhere this time of year.

Happy Crafting ya'll,

See ya next time,

Lisa

SNOWMAN LID ORNAMENTS

Hey Ya'll, Morning!  

And warning, photo overload of snowmen!

I was lagging yesterday in the craft making department.  That is until I saw this craft made from metal jar lids and I immediately wanted to make some. So I got started and ended up making around 60. Yep, I'm tired of painting snowmen faces for a few days now. ;-)

Here's how I made them in case you want to give it a go.

I started out with a bunch of plain ole, metal Mason Jar lids in two sizes of

Regular: 2 2/4"

Wide Mouth: 3 3/4"

Some were new and shiny, some old and rusty. It doesn't matter to me.

And I spray painted them a base color in various shades of green and maroon that I had on hand.

The white was used for speckling (snow) only because it's a cheaper can and doesn't cover good.

Here are the Rustoleum and Valspar that cover great in one coat:

After they dry, they are a flat, softer color. Then we're ready to get started painting with craft paint.

My favorite brand is Folk Art but I do have a lot of Apple Barrel on hand too.

Just start by making various circles for the basic face shape of the snowman. 

I use Antique White as the color.

Sometimes I dab my brush, sometimes swirl.

Then just on to the dots for the eyes, and carrots for the noses.

When you think of them all as dots and such, it's easier for me to paint, rather than thinking, "oh I have to paint a face." Dots and carrots come easier. ;-)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY HELP PAGE on DRAWING SNOWMAN FACES

Dot by Dot

Oh and a I wanted to make a few in the cute blue that I had first found online, so I used a craft paint blue, in the closest color and just brushed it on for a few:

Here's a few more pics of the various ones I hand painted in whatever type of face came to mind at the time. 

And after what felt like a million snowman faces later,

a few candy canes,

 gingerbread men,

I decided to start adding the wire hangers.

I happened to have a metal punch on hand, but you can easily use a hammer and a nail to punch a hole in each side for a wire.

Two good hits, on a sturdy wood back is all it takes to get a good hole.

Here's the back. Oh yea, for some, I painted the backs a variety of colors, just to add a different, unique touch.

I used regular, thin gauge craft wire for the hangers. 

At first the wire was bright silver, 

but I didn't like it much, so after I cut it in strips, I spray painted them black.

I like the black much better.

And then after putting all the wires in and twirling the tips with a pencil so they wouldn't slip back through, I got out the homespun and pieces of Christmas garland.

And here is how they ended up turning out:

These are my absolute favorite of them all. The old blue looking ones.

These are now for sale in my local co-op craft booth and my ebay shop.

Happy Crating ya'll,

-Lisa

Update:  And here's the set of Halloween themed if you're interested.