It's never too soon to start getting ready for the holidays. If you start your holiday crafting soon, then there's no rush down the road to get it all done in a few short weeks. As the days get colder, I'm finding it easier and easier to spend more and more time tucked away in my craft room making pretty things.
Today's design came together in a couple different ways. A couple months ago I ordered some Cosmo Cricket Gallery Blocks to create with. I was actually thinking I could use the solid reverse sides to begin experimenting with a new art medium, encaustic. It turns out that I should take more time to read the product description and not just jump to conclusions about what I'm getting as these sweet little blocks have a nice hanger on the back-side. I had been planning on flipping them but that was no longer an option.
It turns out they are actually little blocks that can be covered with fabric for easy DIY home dec projects. Super sweet and what a great concept. And yes, had I read the product details it was very clear in the wording. Ellen Hutson LLC does a great job at this, so if you're in doubt, please check out the product info or contact customer service. They are always happy to help!
As I knew I'd be able to find a wonderful use for these blocks, I set them aside to think about it. It turns out they make fabulous little shadow boxes. You can stack them or use them separately. Each side has some GREAT sticky adhesive on the sides. This is perfect if you cover them with fabric or whatever else you with to use.
To start off my project I was inspired to make a little holiday decor accent using some new holiday goodies, the Basic Grey Juniper 6x6 paper pad, some darling Boxwood Twine and Trophy Antlers from Tim Holtz. To create the wreath, I just snipped off a length of the boxwood trim and then twisted it into a wreath. It's a double wrap and the wire in the trim holds it nicely into shape.
The Basic Grey Juniper paper is a gorgeous new paper pad. I used it on a few elements of this design. The first use it to cut 4 strips of paper that are 1" x 4" in size. Remove the adhesive backing along the sides of the wood frame and cover with the patterned paper strips.
Glass glitter is the epitome of glitter in my opinion. It's so beautiful and shiny and has a wonderful heavy texture. Be careful with it though, as it IS glass. This is the Prima Sterling Glass Glitter and it's perfect for the holidays.
To apply the glass glitter to the front of my wood shadow box I liberally coated the edge with Glossy Accents. Sprinkle with glitter and allow to dry before shaking off the excess. A Tidy Tray works great for keeping this glitter in one place as you definitely don't want it on the floor.
The sweet Tim Holtz Trophy Antlers are so much fun and play off the big trend of the past couple years. It's a resin embellishment and I wanted to give it a frosty feel. Some more Glossy Accents to the rescue, along with some Rock Candy Distress Glitter and he looks properly festive.
Since creating this project, the store is now sold out of the sweet little Antlers. To get a similar look, why not try die cutting a dear image from chipboard and then cover it with white glitter? The Essentials by Ellen Prize Stag die would be amazing as a substitute or simply just have the wreath with a lovely sentiment banner.
To put it all together, a 3" square piece of patterned paper from the Juniper paper pad lines the inside of the wood frame. The antlers needed to pop out a little more so that they wouldn't hit the frame so I created a little extra layer from some patterned paper and a piece of Craft-a-Board. It was cut 2" square and then covered with the paper.
To finish it all off, some sweet twine and jingle bells accent the wreath and a little hanger is formed on the back of the wood frame from some tape measure trim.
Have fun getting in the festive mood for crafting this year!
Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom and have a fabulous and creative weekend!
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