Christmas Nativity Reliefs

I came up with this idea as a gift for the school's teachers at the PTO luncheon.  It's a simple nativity scene on board with gilding.  

Very sweet and simple...can be hung or just to stand alone.

We used them to decorate the dining tables and the teachers took them with them when finished!

Finally Finished with My Own St. Nick!

I have a collection of Santas that I keep on display during the Christmas season at my front door and needed a Christmas themed piece of art to hang over it.  I thought about it for years and toyed with either painting a canvas or a banner.  I decided on a banner because it's easier to store, so I started painting this banner two years ago and got as far as the red checkered boarder with green trim.  Last year I painted a Santa on that I wasn't thrilled about, so again, it sat in my craft armoire for another 11 months. 

 

After teaching my Craft Night for Moms and painting traditional Santas, I decided that I wanted him on this banner, so I painted over the original one and finally finished! 

Yippee for me!!

Mamas' Night to Craft and Get Crazy!

This was so much fun...7 moms carefully crafted an heirloom traditional style Santa Banner for their families.  It's funny to hear them start out stating they are not artists and can't imagine that what they will create will be anything they will want to display in their house...

but give them instructions, guide them along (and help them remove their paint brush from their wine glass every now and again!) they have created a charming Christmas Decoration!  The brush in the wine glass thing happens every now and again...I am guilty of putting my in my cup of coffee!

I decided to paint the canvases black to give it an old world feel and the Santa design reflects St. Nicholas with a basket of simple gifts and a tree design I found a few years ago on the internet.  You can see him hanging in the mirror below!

Ta da!  My friend Jacqueline is a whiz at making bows and made these huge ones for all!

Here's a close up...

This was lots of fun and everyone was so impressed with how theirs turned out!  Great job, ladies!

The Grinch

I guess Mr. Mean Green is very popular this year...I have painted a couple of these this year!

Cookie Cutter Christmas Trees!

This was so much fun!  The kids picked their colors and traced their cutter shapes in the shape of a tree, then got busy with the painting.  

It's always fun to see what color schemes they come up with and after making a few suggestions to them, how they apply those techniques to their artwork. 

Some went for all kinds of color...

and some went for a specific palette. 

 This project took longer than we all thought, so a few of the girls took theirs home to finish and outline...

We all agree that outlining them makes a big difference!  Aren't they wonderful??!!

Santa Stockings and Trees!

My little buddies (and best friends) Peyton and Austin came today to craft these Santa Stockings and wood Christmas trees. They can use the stockings as a door hanger or to hang somewhere else in their house.   

They did a great job, didn't they?!

The next thing we made were Christmas trees from thin strips of wood.  They decided how they wanted to paint them and got straight to work.  

 If a kid with a broken wrist can be this crafty, imagine what you can do!

Here they are!  Look how adorable they look!

Christmas Door Hangers!

I love painting at this time of the year...so whimsical and happy!  We painted them for a Mom's Craft night and I have shipped some of these out...

 and these as well!

Crafting With Ballerinas!

I was asked to lead a craft session for 60 lovely ballerinas at their annual Sugar Plum Fairy Christmas Tea Party.  60!  Thankfully, there mothers were troopers and ready to pitch in with elbow grease!

Together they helped cut boards, sand, drill holes, paint and trace on basic shapes one chilly morning.

 This would have taken me hours on end...we were done by lunch!

Here's the prototype I gave to the committee...just have the girls paint like a coloring book...

in their best party dresses!  Yikes...that was scary!  

They pushed up their sleeves and got down to business.  These girls are used to hard work and will soon perform The Nutcracker the weekend of Dec. 11-14.  We broke the group down to two groups of 30...a little more manageable!

 It was a lot of fun and I really want to thank them for asking me along...as a mom of boys, it's so much fun to see a girls only party!  Thanks to all the moms and dancers that helped with this!

We set them out on the walkway to dry and the girls had fun looking at all of their work!  Good luck with the performance!

'Tis the Season for Crafting Treasures and Heirlooms!

Oh what fun it is to craft at this time of the year!!  I have put together some great projects for kids and adults that I am really excited about.  Many are due to be treasured by you and your family for years.   to come.

A Very Special Room for a Fantastic Teen Ager!

He's a great kid, was turning 13 and needs his space!  Mom decided that the living room would be ideal and told me he's a huge Hogs fan.  He was outgrowing his child size furniture and toys, so I cleared it all out except for one dresser.  Mom had several file cabinets in the garage, so they got a makeover with a coat of charcoal paint.  With no closet in the room, I bought an old armoire and painted that to match.  

I installed this room on his actual birthday as a big surprise at the end of his day doing fun guy things with his buddy and could not have done it without his big sister!  She was extremely helpful and even made me lunch!!  

   

I don't have before pictures, but here's the armoire before and after!  A wonderful family friend came over to install privacy doors.  

 Mom's gift was a new futon sofa to hang out, game and study on. 

 I replicated a Pinterest idea of an old ticket stub for a classic Hog victory game for wall art and will soon install a black headboard below.

 Hogs details throughout...

Privacy doors, curtains and lots of space to hang out with hid friends will make him a very happy teenager!

 The big reveal...we'll just say he was thrilled!  

Already in slacker motion ready for X-Box!  Life is good!