Bakers Twine Doily

Jazz up paper doilies for a special event with a few quick stitches and some fun and colorful baker’s twine!

Things you’ll need:
Paper doilies
Baker’s Twine
Large Embroidery Needle
Scissors

Things to do:
1. Cut a length of twine a few inches longer than your doily is around.
2. Thread your needle and weave in and out of the doily holes, pulling the twine along with you.

3. Once you have gone all the way around the doily, flip it over and tie securely, but not too tightly, underneath. Trim the tails closely.

Cupcake Liner PomPoms

These pompoms are a great addition to your holiday decor and can be personalized to any color scheme. Perfect for hanging up with the mistletoe or perched on a shelf, they make a simple afternoon craft.

Things you’ll need:
Styrofoam balls – various sizes
Cupcake liners
Pencil
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Ribbon

Things to do:
1. Cut a length of ribbon twice as long as you want the hanger to be and glue into a loop.

2. Attach the loop to the ball with a generous dot of glue and press firmly until it is dry.
3. Separate the liners and gather one around the eraser end of the pencil.
4. Dot the end with glue and use the pencil to press it onto the ball.

5. Continue this process, packing the liners in densely, until the entire ball is covered.

DIY Cake Buckles

I developed this buckle for a wedding in June of 2007 for a bride that wanted a little glitz, but was on a tight budget, as most of them are. She was very pleased with them! I used clear or diamond like rhinestones and silver glitter, but you could us colored on both if you prefer.

I was looking for this shape in chip boards but could not find it is why I used the slides, lightweight also. The picture slides in case some of you don’t know are what they put the negative in to see a picture through a projector. It opens up and is connected in the center by perforations, which then will be a rectangle. They have glue on the inside, so that once you put the negative in, can be sealed shut to hold it there. You could use chipboard or light wood in other shapes, like hearts, diamonds, etc. that have the center cut out to achieve this in those shapes. I got the slides in a camera shop.

Things you need:
Rhinestones
Toothpicks
Glitter
Tacky glue
Ribbon
Empty picture slides

Things to do:
1. I took a toothpick broke off to fit to the size of the slide, lay inside on the sticky in the center of your opening and close the slide casing and seal.
2. Lay your rhinestones on it to see what pattern you want. You can either use all one size or various sizes.
3. Cover front of slide with glue (I used Tacky glue), take the rhinestones that you want to use and place them on the glued side. Now you may notice there are gaps where your stones aren’t covering, that is ok.
4. Take your glitter of choice and sprinkle all over it to cover up gaps and/or you could even use tiny tiny seed beads.
5. Let dry thoroughly.
6. Now you are ready to run your ribbon or what have you thru the buckle over the toothpick (my ribbon was the size of the opening so toothpick would not show).
7. Now I used them on a cake. We took toothpicks on the top inside corners of the buckles to hold them on the cake. (Did not show at all)

Guest blogger:
Sandy Collier
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Washi Tape Banner

Sometimes you just need a little hooray in your life, something pretty and perky to brighten up the day, which makes this a happy little project. With a length of twine, some decorative tape and a pair of scissors, you can turn any old day into a party day!

Things you’ll need:
Twine
Washi tape
Scissors
Skewers or chopsticks

Things to do:
1. Cut 6-10 three inch pieces of tape of various patterns.

2. At the center of your piece of twine (12-14 inches is a good length) fold one piece of tape over the string so that the edges line up.

3. Add more tape every inch or so along the twine, folding each over smoothly on itself.

4. Trim the end of one piece of tape into a reverse “V” and then use it as a template for the remaining flags.

5. Tie the ends of the string to the chop sticks and enjoy your mini banner!

Heart Scrap Garland

If you use scrapbook paper with any sort of regularity, then you have scraps. Probably lots of scraps. This project makes a great use of those scraps and turns them into a unique and beautiful alternative to gift wrap garland.

Things you’ll need:
Scrapbook paper
Heart (or other shape) punch
Sewing machine and thread
Cardstock or cardboard

Things you’ll do:
1. Set your sewing machine to a medium stitch length with matching thread in both the bobbin and on the spool.

2. Pull a little excess thread out the back and start stitching. Feed a paper heart into the feed dogs and stitch across. Allow the needle to stitch a few stitches and then add another heart. Continue this until you have used up all of your hearts.

3. Trim the thread to a few inches and wrap the “ribbon” onto the cardboard for storage.

Ribbon Paper Plate Prettiness

I love to bake and gift holiday cookies, but when it comes time to deliver them, I always seem to have forgotten to pick up cute little gift boxes and tins and end up passing out my goodies on plain old paper plates. Well not any more! This project turns those plain plates into pretty little packages.

Things you’ll need:
Paper plates
Hole punch
½ inch ribbon

Things to do:
1. With the hole punch, make twelve evenly spaces holes around the rim of the plate, about ½ inch in from the edge.

2. Thread the ribbon in and out of the hole until both tails meet on the top side of the plate.

3. Tie the tails into a bow and load up with goodies!

Easy DIY Mint Tree

Perfect for the holidays and beyond, this little mint tree is a great way to perk up your winter décor with a holiday staple. Be sure to let your family know that, once the mints have been exposed to the glue they are no longer edible!

Things you need:
Striped mints
Fiberboard doll cone
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Things to do:
1. Start out by unwrapping the mints and disposing of the wrappings.
2. Run a bead of hot glue about two inches long, half and inch up from the bottom edge of the tree form.
3. Press the two to three mints in a row into the glue. Repeat the process until you have covered the bottom edge of the tree, making sure that the tree will sit flatly on a table.

4. Start on the next layer of mints, settling the mints on this row in between those on the bottom for a better fit.
5. Continue with this process until you have covered the entire tree. Finish with a mint on the very top.

Upcycling: Snowman Tags

This is a perfect, simple and slightly silly way to gift some of those holiday cookies you’ve been busy making. Attach to a small bag that holds a single special treat or use it to close up the wrapping on a whole plateful!

Things you’ll need:
White bread tags
Orange, black, red and brown permanent markers

Things to do:
1. On the unprinted side of each tag, draw in coal eyes, a carrot nose and buttons for a mouth to create a snowman. Larger tags can also include a pipe.

2. Allow the ink to dry completely before attaching it to a treat bag.

Cupcake Liner Flowers

These pretty flowers are just the thing to top off that perfect gift and are made entirely out of cupcake liners! Use different sized liners to create a variety of sizes then group them together or attaching a single flower instead of a bow.

Things you’ll need:
Cupcake liners
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Things to do:
1. Choose one liner to act as a base for the flower.
2. Open up several liners and fold them in half, bringing the rounded edges together.

3. Glue the folded liners into the base, overlapping them to create a denser frill.

4. Repeat this process, folding the liners next into thirds and then quarters and layering them into the flower until a small space remains.
5. Roll several liners together to create a core and then press into the center with a generous dot of glue

Frilled Holiday Lights with Cupcake Liners

I love holiday lights, they are so pretty, twinkling away, even just hanging over a window or door. But the addition on one simple thing takes holiday lights to a whole new level. Cupcake liners! Look for small liners and choose LED lights for safety.

Things you’ll need:
String of holiday lights
Cupcake liners
Craft knife

Things to do:
1. On a protected work surface, cut a small “X” in the center of the flat side of the cupcake liners.


2. Press the light through the “X” and pull through so that it sits securely on the plastic base of the light. Repeat with the remaining lights.

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