PINE CONE SNOWMAN ORNAMENTS

I had an assortment of craft items laying in front of me and I had an "Ah-Ha" moment.  There was a bowl full of snowman heads laying beside a stack of pine cones.  I wandered what the heads would look like on top of the pine cones as ornaments?  And here is how my thought turned out.

I had these basic pre-painted snowman heads from a previous craft lot I bought at the Dollar Mart, the bag was only $1.19.  I added the long noses and eyes and such.  But if you don't have them, don't worry, you can use those little bags of unfinished beads from Wal-Mart in the craft section. They are the exact same thing.

And then just gather you up some pine cones.  These in the photo came from an auction lot and appear to have been on a real tree at once.  But at the Dollar Mart right now, in the fall/flowers section, you can find the bag of fake pine cones of approximately 10 or so, for only $1.19.

And all you really do is take some E6000 glue (also from WalMart- it's awesome stuff) and glue the snowman head to the top of the pine cone.

Then just let it dry and add a strip of torn homespun around it's neck to look like a scarf.  Then to be able to some of them hang as ornaments, I tied another piece of homespun around the neck, but left it longer as a hanger.

 For the ones I am taking to my Booth #555 at the Peddlers Mall, I put them inside a clear baggie (from the baking section) and tied the top with homespun.

 By putting them in a clear bag, it makes for a great way to give as a gift if someone prefers.

Super Simple!

Happy Crafting,

See ya'll next time!

~Lisa

SNOWMAN JARS

My focus lately has been to turn vintage items into something primitive.

And today that something is these Primitive Snowmen made from vintage creamer jars.

I love them and love to make them out of just about everything.

Today I have been on a roll. I think this is the third craft I have kicked in the butt. Here's how I did it.

I won a big ole' aluminum bowl full of these, approx. 30 of them,  for only $2.00 at a local auction:

I think there were about 30 or more of them when I first started crafts with them.

Well, anyways I think you will find it way more interesting than the simple "Milk 5 cents."

I took a tiny bit of white spray paint and sprayed them inside. Let dry.

These heads (although I repainted the noses) came out of a bag of Christmas crafts from the Dollar Mart. The bag had a label on it from Oriental Trading Post. There were approx. 40 or more snowmen heads in that bag for only $1.19!  They had felt bodies that were to be assembled, but I didn't like that at all.

Then I grabbed a bag of "snowman heads" that are actually just wooden beads and had an idea to glue them onto the top.

 

And tied on some homespun around the top. And simply dabbed on three little dots for the "coal." A couple of them I replaced the dots of coal with a simple free handed star that I'm not too great at.

Yep, I was liking how these were taking shape! So far so good.

I put them in individual baggies so the paint wouldn't be chipped for whoever takes these little fellers home from my Peddlers Mall Booth #555. And also, so that it may be already pre-packed in case it is a gift.

I may also have some left for sale in my eBay shop if you are interested.

CraftBooth555

But they were still missing something..... So I untied the homespun from the bag tops and looked around my craft room...

I know! I want to add some type of falling snow around them! I thought that would be kinda cute. Since they are inside a bag and they are snowmen. lol. Silly yes, but I think it's a good idea.

But what to use as snow? OOOOOooo, I had a craft fail a while back while making snowballs out of epson salt and white paint. That would be great. Why? Because all the "SNOW" falls off when it's barely moved. I guess the elmers glue for it wasn't strong enough. Here was the snowball craft fail:

So I took my hand and rubbed some off in each open bag, and added a dash of silver glitter.

And wa~la:

Doesn't really look that great in the pics, but it looks better in person. Trust me.

And then I re-tied them back up and got them ready again.

And I thought they were in need of some sort of tag to tie on the homespun. I didn't have time to make a new batch of Grungy Hang Ties, so I found some pre-made ones in my drawer that came from the Dollar Mart.

Here's a side view, in the box, because I already had them boxed when thinking of this, lol.

And they are off! I did keep one of them though.... Had too, they were too cute! And it helps me next year to remember what all types of things I've previously made in case I want to make more.

Oh, I priced these little cuties for $3.99 each.... I am hoping that is not too much. I first thought $2.49 but since they are old jars and then the packaging....I added a little bit more.I have no idea though, but we'll see if they sell soon in my Peddlers Mall Booth #555.

If you would like to purchase them online here, you now can with the help of ebay,

 if you are interested,

CraftBooth555 

Vintage Creamer Snowman Jars item #002 only $3.99

 

Hope you enjoyed this and that it maybe gave you some sort of idea for a snowman craft!

Happy Crafting ya'll!

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Similar Post You may be interested in. Here's what I did with them on my first go around in a previous post:

I made these in early March of 2014

  Here's the link to that one if you're interested: http://www.booth555.com/2014/03/old-glass-creamers-reused.html

Primitive Wooden Spoon Magnets

I recently posted about how to make primitive, wooden spoons here: PRIMITIVE WOODEN SPOONS with step by step detail. It was a great project! And got lots of interest from many of you.

I have since revisited this idea and turned the crafting up just a notch by making them more interesting.

Here's how I did it:

I started off with plain, simple wood spoons found at Walmart in packs of 4 for around a dollar in the kitchen supply section.

I use a few of the same photos from previous posts when it is plain wood spoons so I don't have to take them for each craft post. lol. Just in case you are tired of seeing this same pic I use in my spoon posts.

Very cheap!

I bout about 10 packs of these. And then I paint them in a variety of colors. Here's a group of mine being painted in ivory white. I used spray paint this time because it was faster.

Just mix and match sizes and paint them in groups. Let dry for a few hours. Don't forget to paint the backs!

Sometimes though, for certain colors, you will need to hand paint on some craft paint for the base coats. This takes more time, but you have many great colors to choose from. I tend to stick to basic black, navy blue, wine red, okra yellow and sage green as base colors.

And then after you have a ton of all these colors ready, you're set for the next step.

You will need to paint over them with a second coat in another totally different color. Yes, I know sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, IT IS WORTH IT. It makes them look so much better.

And after that second coat, you will be ready to start some light to medium sanding. I use a light sand paper, nothing real heavy.

LOOK CLOSE at the REDish color one in the middle. Do you see how the black is the second coat? See when I took sandpaper and brushed off some of the second coat, it allowed the red underneath to show. And it makes it look older. I love it!

When I ran out of black spray paint, I brushed on some of that in the can too. I was worried it wouldn't sand off easy, but it did.

And after the sanding, I was ready to start hand painting some detail. I just looked around in magazines and online clipart for ideas in the primitive them and free handed them below.

Some I did a willow tree on, and old crow that I tried to paint, sitting on a crock. A simple bowl with a star and a window scene with shutters. And oh, a cute plate sitting on a shelf with a star in it. These took some time, about an hour to just do this part and lots of patience.

And then I was ready to add the magnet. I got the round ones from Walmart craft section cause they are stronger to hold notes and papers.

Just simply hot glue them on. The hold is super strong! And it dries fast!

And here's some that I have all finished and in my Peddlers Mall Booth #555:

I priced these for $2.49 each. I'm not sure if that is good or bad because I have none to compare them to. So far, I'm the only one that has made them in my area for sale. With such a strong magnet, I think it is worth it.

What do you think?


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Note: In case you don't want to do magnets on these: For the previous Primitive Style Wooden Spoons that I made and didn't turn into magnets, I grouped them in groups of 3 for sale, like this:

SNOWMAN MAGNETS from FREE Paint Stir Sticks : Primitive Snowmen

 Super Simple and CHEAP Snowmen Magnets!

Need a really cheap way to make some magnets? How about using the free paint sticks from the paint department?

That's just what I had on hand after winning a auction lot of crafty wood supplies for $2.00. In the assortment of hundreds of items was a zip lock baggie of paint stir sticks. Mid sized ones that are approximately 6 inches long.

As soon as I saw them I knew they would be cute as primitive snowmen. Then I thought MAGNETS!

And here's how I done it. Super Simple and CHEAP!

Above, here you see them in the original, plain wood. I laid them outside on wax paper, on top a box and sprayed them with Rust-oleum spray paint in gloss white.

 I let them sit and dry in the sun about 2 hours or so. One coat was enough for me.

Then I brought them inside and used a roll of magnetic tape that I had on hand from Wal-Mart. It was only about $3.00 a roll I think, and it goes a long way.  If you've ever tried them, you knw the single, round magnets are best and my favorite for almost all other magnet projects with a stronger hold, but for these lightweight sticks, these are fine.

They already have a strong tape on one side that you just peel and stick, after cutting to your desired length.

They held great on the unfinished wood. That's why I didn't paint the backs. Seems to be a better hold on these type of magnetic tape magnets.

For some reason next, I started working backwards. lol. I usually paint all the faces, then bodies, then add homespun. But for some reason, probably being it was around 3am, I just mixed and matched and jumped back and forth when I got bored from noses,to bodies and homespun. lol.

Above, I used stencils to do little stars and other designs down the body. Just to take up room. I now wish I'd left them blank for just buttons...

Oh well, next time!

They were really starting to come along!

And I started to add some rosey cheeks to make some different. And different eyebrows.

You really can't go wrong as you see. I just experimented with different everythings. lol

And if you look close, I took a sponge with a touch of barely any black paint on it, and roughed up the white a little bit. To make it look a bit more aged.

My next batch, I am definitely going to take more time on them. As you can see, I was just hurry stenciling on the bodies and it shows big time. But the faces I did free-handed.

And then when done, I put them in little plastic baggies. You can buy many different sizes of baggies in the wedding section in WalMart.  But I had about 10 of these bags from a previous order of thermometers, that I'd saved. lol. Yes, I save lots of stuff! lol

I still have to add a topper price tag. I use the Avery labels to print them off on handmade crafts such as these. It just makes them cuter. And I also staple a little piece of homespun beside the price tag. I just gives it a more country look. But I haven't done that yet, so I don't have a pic.

But here's another few pics of how they ended up. Really cute snowmen magnets on free paint sticks if you ask me! lol.

The snowman wooden spoons inside the pitcher above, you can find the post on how to make them HERE: HOLIDAY WOODEN SPOONS. 

And many thanks to Eyeballs by Day, Crafts by Night, for that great craft idea. I went on to make some of them into spoon refrigerator magnets also. It turned out great! But just use the round, stronger magnets for the spoons if you try it!

And one last pic:

I priced these for $1.99 each for sale in my Peddlers Mall Booth #555 and Etsy.

If I put them in my Etsy store, I probably will have to raise the price and allow for shipping though.

Are you going to try making these cute Snowmen Magnets from free Paint Sticks?