MORE PRIMITIVE SNOWMEN CLOTHESPIN MAGNETS

SNOWMEN CLOTHESPIN MAGNETS

It's headed into that time of year again! I know it is still months ahead for most shoppers, but for us makers of the holiday crafts, we have to start early.

Here is a fresh new batch of my Snowmen Clothespin Magnets.

In case you missed the others:

Here's some and here's some more.

I started off with these plain, wooden clothespins from the Dollar Tree for $1.00.

First, I spray painted some of them them all Almond in the Rustoleum brand from Walmart, the rest a regular white.

 I found laying them on chicken wire really helped make the spraying go faster. More air could get in and out too to dry better. Waited for that to dry, flipped them over, sprayed the backs.

And then sometimes I just stick them on my clothesline and spray them there too.

 Then I just lay them all out in lines and I start to do about three of them in the same facial designs at once.

That way I don't get too bored repeating the same thing over and over. And it makes for a great way to make the batches a little bit different each time!

Then I start throwing in some random words like Faith, Family, Friends, Joy, Hope or such.

And then more and more. Just whatever really pops into my head at the time.

And when I get tired of the same ole' again, I started trying new faces kinda like some I saw on some spindles on Pinterest.

oh, have to add her a nose....

The main key to making so many of these Snowmen Clothespin Magnets, I think, is to do a few at a time in steps. Like say do three sets with the same eyes, then go on and do three different ones. Then come back and do three sets of noses or so on. And that way it doesn't really feel like tons of the same at once.

And then I had to start thinking about what to use as a scarf. I always keep leftover material on hand. So I have plenty. I like to cut a start of a line, then tear it the rest of the way off to give it a more worn, primitive look.

Just tie it on and it instantly dresses them up quite a bit!

There's some above, in some blue scarves I changed up.

I love these colors the most though. Just that they remind me of Christmas more or something!

And here's some more pics so you can get some ideas of more faces if you need them.

And some Faith, Family and Friends styles again.

And then just use some E-6000 glue and glue on some magnets. I buy the stronger, button round ones from Walmart in the packs of 52 for around $3.00. It's best to never try to use the strips with stick and go for these. Those aren't quite strong enough for anything.

If they don't have the small enough round ones, you can still get the 3/4" and cut them in half with strong scissors and you get double for your money. And they look fine!

And now, if you are still with me after the tons of photos! (sorry I just can't get enough snowmen!)

I was ready to package these up for sale in packs of 10 this year. Because that is how I am selling them in my online store.

So I just grabbed the closest size, clear bag I had, (which was a little too big, but I can make due.)

And some crafting paper in a pretty brown.

And my reindeer scissors which really get me in the mood! lol

Just cut the crafting paper about as tall as the Snowmen Clothespin Magnets and as wide as your bag is. Insert it as the backdrop and then just line up your magnets.  I've learned magnets are usually hard to package because they will tend to flip and stick to each other.  But if you put them in close enough and tight enough to each other, they stand very good and firm for packaging!

I try to keep them in color coordinated packs because on ebay people tend to want them all in one color theme. Or they usually buy two sets, one of each color.

And then I take one of my printed out cards, 

that I made from using AVERY online, print them on cardstock, and sometimes stick them in the end to take up space. Just bend over the sides and it will stand. 

Or sometimes I just roll the sides of the bag back and tape it and stick my bag toppers, that I also make with Avery online, and staple them to the top.

And here's the back of the topper I made in Avery online:

And sorry again about the tons of pics, but I just love them all!

Here's some all packaged up now and ready to go!

They are all packaged up, just waiting for some new Winter Homes!

;-)

Hope ya'll liked these batches of my new Snowmen Clothespin Magnets!

I sure had fun making them. And I will probably make a few more batches if I have time tomorrow.

Happy crafting until I see ya'll next time,

~Lisa

BURLAP PUMPKIN BAGS with LIGHTS

Here is my latest Fall creation. A burlap "Punkin" bag with lights and Punkin' Spoons.

I started out with some plain, burlap bags approximately 12"x8" like this:

 

Then I got out my PUMPKIN stencil I bought from eBay and some cinnamonish orange paint and burnt umber (not shown) and black. I also used a makeup sponge, not shown, to dab the paint into the stencils.

Make sure to get the excess paint off your sponge before you start dabbing.

The burlap really takes the paint great!

Way better than I first thought it would.

Notice I lifted my stencil and rearranged the letters to get the "N" instead of going on with the "M."

That is because I wanted to spell out "PUNKINS" instead of "PUMPKINS."  It's just what we call'em round' here.  

If you do this too, just try to realign your stencil best you can to finish off the word.

Next, I also stenciled on a star in the right hand top.

And then the lower left hand corner I free handed a punkin'.

I also wrote 5cents inside the punkin'. Sorry it's hard to see with that twig of grapevine in my way.

And now to I started to think what I could put inside it to hold it good upright. I know chicken wire would do great, but I don't have any left.  So I thought about sitting a large Mason Jar inside it. And it'd also act like a vase.

Yep, working.

Now I just need to add some more cuteness to it.

I had some plastic gourds and such from last years decorating.

And then I thought I'd throw in some of my 

Pumpkin Wooden Spoons too.

They stick up great thanks to the jar inside!

Okay, so now I think they are ready to get some lights.

And here is a shot of it with the flash off. Sorry, it doesn't show up too good.

But here you can see it pretty good, even with the flash on.

I just love it.

I also stuck a fall themed sprig of pip berry in it.

*NOTE: I had to remove my jar because my strand of lights was too big.

But if you don't plan on using lights, you can still use the Mason Jar as a good holder inside.

~*~

Still in the burlap bag mode, I went ahead and did another one below:

 ~*~ 

With this next cute burlap bag, I must say I cheated a little. 

I ordered a few pre-stamped bags, with the HOLBERTS HOG and some others, (previous post) size 12"x8", to see how they were going to turn out as bags. They already had the designs on the front but the ones above, in PUNKIN theme, I did myself.

Here  are the pre-stamped, HOLBERTS HOG burlap bags flat when I got them:

They were open ended on one end. All I had to do was 

-stuff them. Hum, but with what this time? Last time I used papers.  But this time I wanted to use lights to make them more interesting! 

 Just stuff a strand in. I used a white strand left over from Christmas decorating.

Just kinda push it in so that it'll look like a bag of something sitting there.

Here it is again,

And here is my all time favorite view of it with the flash off on the camera.

See, I just threw the lights in, kinda in a wad, and let them fall where they will.

And I left the plug in hanging out the top back. You can see it over to the right of this pic, where I have a plug in strip behind it.

Okay, so that's all I better post today, as I don't want to bore you with my burlap love too much!

I have about 10 different designs listed in my eBay shop. If you are interested, stop in and look around.

See ya'll next time!

~Lisa