On the Third Day of Christmas...

Many years ago, before I fell in love with paper crafting, my main hobby was making wood crafts including small dolls made from wood and flower pots. I did a little tole painting for their faces and accessories then dressed them up with fabric, ribbon and buttons. One of my favorite holiday dolls to create each year for craft shows was an angel. So today, I thought I'd share with you an updated version of a flower pot angel, named Noel, that I crafted using Bo Bunny's St. Nick collection of papers and embellishments.

I started by painting a wooden knob doll head with acrylic paint. I applied a basecoat and once this was dry added the eyes, nose and mouth with a fine tip brush. I set it aside to dry and went on to cover the outside of the flower pot with patterned paper. To hide the curve near the rim, I added an accordion folded strip of paper and topped it off with a piece of black cord to cover the edge. Following this, I used 2" circle punches to create the cone shaped arms and used cream colored buttons for hands. The collar is another accordion folded strip except with this piece I shaped it into a circle and glued it to the flower pot surface. I glued the doll head on top of this. Her angelic curls are simply curled paper strips glued in place with hot glue. To finish the front of the doll I cut out holly images to decorate her hair and added a button and some bling to the front of her dress.

To complete the angel, she needed a set of wings. Again, I wanted to keep the focus on paper so Noel's wings are made with several layers of butterfly wings cut from patterned paper and then attached in the back just below the accordion collar with a button and gems added to finish the look.

So while you're crafting this holiday season, try revisiting something you've created before. You might be surprised that by giving an old idea a fresh look and a little sparkle you can make your new project one to be cherished once again.

Designer: Patti Milazzo

Supply List: Bo Bunny St. Nick patterned papers- Holly Berry, Toyland, St. Nick, Noel; St. Nick Buttons & Bling; Holly Berry iCandy Jewels


Oh how sweet is this craft from Patti!! And to really sweeten the day...we're on the Third Day of Christmas...time for another giveaway! Hmm...what shall it be?

On the Third Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me
A Retractable Knife, Bo Bunny Pink Cutting Mat and Tools!

How sweet a gift would this be under your tree? Leave a comment here today to be entered into today's Third Day of Christmas giveaway. Yesterday's giveaway is now closed! We'll announce all this week's winners next Monday!

See you tomorrow!!

Grapevine Christmas Wreath

Hello and Happy December 1st to you!

This is Kristen today and I wanted to share my easy grapevine Christmas wreath with you today.

This is a pretty quick, easy project, and I would say inexpensive as well.

To make the wreath, I used a simple grapevine wreath, I think mine is about 13-14 inches around, and you can see, it's imperfect- which makes me smile. You can chose a more perfect wreath for yourself if you'd like.

To make the central part of the wreath, I used a Journal Spot from St. Nick cutouts. First I glued it to a stiff piece of scrap chipboard- this is where those pieces from used up note pads come in. Then I cut it out along the border.

Next I layered in another piece cut from the St. Nick cutouts, a circle matted with red scallops, some holly leaves, buttons with gems, and a rubon Santa that I fussy cut and popdotted. The greeting is also a rubon.

I punched a hole in the center, and strung the piece with some black twine, tying it to the center of my wreath.

For the holly and berries, the berries are a craft store find that I cut into smaller bits, evenly spaced them around the wreath and glued them on. The leaves I handcut out- with out a pattern, so they were imperfect as well. This would be even easier using diecut or punched holly leaves. I also glued these leaves on, interspersing them between the berries and leaving spaces to show off the grapevine.

To finish the wreath, I looped my ribbon three times, and knotted it with black twine, adding a large and 2 medium flowers then topping with a button.

Bobunny supplies used- St. Nick and Tis the Season Flowers, St. Nick Buttons and Bling, Christmas Wishes Rubon, Anastasia Rubon, Wild Berry Double Dot ribbon, Sweet Pear Double Dot Cardstock, St. Nick Cutouts, St. Nick patterned paper.

Santa Dear!

Today I wanted to share with you how you can take one stamp and by stamping it on different materials or using various coloring techniques you can achieve a variety of different looks. I choose the St. Nick Santa Dear stamp to work with simply because I love all things Santa and it is the perfect time to start working on your Christmas and holiday cards! Plus, I believe that hand stamping really adds a wonderful handmade feel to any card you create.

On one card, I stamped with black ink on kraft paper. I colored in the design using colored pencils and then I gave it a more smooth, finished look by coloring over each area with a blender pencil.

On another card, I stamped with black ink on vellum. I colored on the back side of the stamped image with colored pencils and again used the blender pencil. I mounted the finished stamped image on off white paper so that the image would be more visible. It is hard to see online, but the vellum gives the image a pleasantly soft effect.
On the last card, I simply stamped with black ink on white cardstock. This time, instead of using the colored pencils, I used colored chalk.
So there you have it! 3 different, but similar cards created using the same stamp with 3 different coloring options. Each technique gives the image a slightly different look and yet they are easy to create. Some other options you could try include using colored markers, such as Copic markers, or even water color pencils.

I hope you enjoyed these stamping tips and happy stamping!

Juliana