I Wish You A Blingy Christmas

Last weekend I went to an open house craft show. I wanted to bring something a little different. While browsing through the craft aisles, it hit me: BLING. Yup. Bling. So rhinestones, sequins and beads galore resulted in a very blingy group.

So fab!

Ornamented

It's that time of year again. Deck the halls and decorate the trees!

Ty's Choo Choo

rainMy nephew Ty was about 18 months old at Christmas this year. Last year I made him his first ornament and I decided to continue to make one for him each year. Being a little boy, he probably wont ever care, but I hope his mommy and daddy enjoy them. This year he is very fond of choo choo's so that was the inspiration.

The funny back story to this, is that this ornament was my third attempt. The first one nearly burned the house down. I am not exaggerating... I made it from oven-hardening clay and the ornament burst into flames in the oven and plumes of thick black smoke filled the house. It was pretty scary. I thought it was my method for creating it- turns out, the oven was broken. It would only broil. After try one, I made another and moved it to the dedicated craft oven and sure enough, this one got roasted too. No fires this time, but it was a little worse for wear. I made it from colored clay and I tried to salvage it through sanding with no avail, so I ended up painting it. In the end, I think the result was pretty nice but it was a bit of a challenge getting there: