Soft and Jolly Apparently, I will not be satisfied until I have one of these yarn-wrapped wreaths for every single season and holiday! I particularly love the soft plushness of the red background on this Christmas wreath. I used a yarn called Starbella Arctic, which has one lacy/net-like edge and one fuzzy/plush edge. When I […]

Candy Cane Stick Horses These ornaments remind me of childhood in so many ways! First, they conjure up images of kids romping around riding stick horses, pretending to be knights or Mounties or cowgirls. They also inspire me to reminisce about my own girlhood, when my mom would do crafts with us. The pattern for these […]

Pretty Snowflakes with no Scissors or Scraps If you are bored on a snow day, here’s an activity that can keep you (and/or the kiddos) busy for hours — go to the Make-A-Flake web site and design your own snowflakes. You can save the results as JPEG files, in case you want to use them […]

Enclose a Gift Card in a Snow Globe! This year, I gave someone a gift card that had a snow globe design. I decided it would be a neat trick to present the card actually enclosed in a faux snow globe! I started with one of those globe-shaped Coke bottles that appear around the holidays. […]

Cozy Winter Wreath Featuring Wool Roses Doesn’t it always seem a little barren in the house, when the Christmas decorations come down? Here is a special wintertime wreath, meant to be hung when the Christmas décor is packed away. I have seen a lot of these wreaths on the Internet lately, so I’m not sure […]

Cupcake Ornament Made from Recycled Sweaters We had an ornament exchange this year at work, and I wanted my contribution to be handmade. I found directions at the Better Homes and Gardens web site, telling how to make a cute cupcake ornament from recycled wool sweaters. Although I did not follow the directions exactly (I […]

Turn your cookie cutters upside down! As the holiday season approaches, my thoughts always turn to cookies. I have very fond memories of baking and decorating dozens of cookies with my sister, Cindy. (If Cindy reads this, I expect she will astutely point out that she did most of the baking… I mainly did the fun decorating […]

Shared at Our Family Table I think it must be true of all families, that some of the warmest memories involve cooking (and eating!) Special dinners, birthday cakes, holiday cookies… And perhaps most of all, heartfelt conversations around the kitchen table.  At a bookstore several years ago, I remember seeing the book Kitchen Table Wisdom, and […]

Cute pyramid-shaped felt coin purse This ingenious little coin purse makes a great gift, stocking stuffer, or favor-box for a wedding. It is incredibly inexpensive and easy-to-make — so also a great craft for youth groups. I am calling the shape a “pyramid”, but the mathematically-correct term is actually “tetrahedron”. Here’s what you need: Felt Embroidery thread Needle […]

Beaded tree I first saw a beaded tree many years ago  in Phyllis Fiarotta’s Nostalgia Crafts Book, and it immediately captured my imagination. What a great idea! While I’m sure it was intended to be a Christmas tree, I thought you could easily adapt it for a variety of holidays: A beaded Easter tree made with […]

How to make a customized letter opener The other day, my teenage son (who is at an age where he is getting lots of mail from different universities who sincerely want our money) was asking for a letter opener. We looked around the house (I know that there is one around here, somewhere…) to no avail. […]

Design and make your own write-on wipe-off board Message boards are so useful, and yet most of them are so…. well, let’s face it — UGLY. Wouldn’t it be great to have one that actually coordinated with your decor? One that made a statement (even when there was no message written on it?) Well, here you […]

How to make unique cookie shapes I really, REALLY like to decorate cookies. It combines art and dessert, both of which I adore! Fairly early in my cookie-decorating career, I began to want cookie cutter shapes that were not readily available at shops in my town. Then I discovered some wonderful Internet sources like Foose […]

Here is a great Valentine card with a pop-up message (LOVE). I’ll show you how to do the basic technique, and then you can easily adapt the card to express your own message. You can use the card for a variety of different holidays and occasions by changing the one-word message: Christmas (NOEL), Halloween (BOO), New Year (the […]

Need place card holders for a wedding? Or maybe signs for a bake sale? Here is a quick and inexpensive solution: tea light card holders. All you need are tea lights/votive candles, wire (I used 18 gauge), wire cutters, and needle nose pliers. First, measure and cut some lengths of wire. Mine were 4.5 inches […]

When I was in junior high school, I worked in the school’s library. I think it was actually an elective course I took, to get out of taking a foreign language. While I now regret that I do not speak foreign languages, working in the library had its own rewards. Re-shelving required me to focus my […]

I made this advent calendar for my nieces, based on instructions from Chica and Jo. Theirs depicted the Grinch; for mine I used my favorite childhood Christmas special, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. The pockets are great for inserting small gifts. I used a red felt backing, and trimmed it with fun fur to make […]