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 […]

DIY Fall Décor Just a quick post to share another yarn-wrapped wreath like the ones I made for Halloween, Easter, and Winter. I made it using the same yarn I used for the Halloween wreath, but brown instead of black. I’m not sure I am crazy about the yarn on this one. It looked great […]

A Swag of Flags This colorful swag of fabric flags makes a great decoration for parties… or for no reason at all. By the way, what is the right name for this thing? A garland? No, that is supposed to be flowers or leaves or something. Banner? No, that is supposed to be one long strip. […]

Rabbit Wreath from Recycled Sweaters As you may know, I recently made a wool felt bunny. I couldn’t decide what to do with him, so I decided to make him a home — a springtime wreath. These wreaths are so much fun to make and decorate that I cannot stop churning them out. I guess […]

Spooky Wreath For at least a year, I had been yearning for Martha Stewart’s Mambo yarn. It has such a sketchy, Edward Gorey-esque appeal! But I couldn’t figure out exactly what I would do with it, so I resisted. Then  I started making yarn-wrapped wreaths (see previous posts), and when the Mambo yarn went on sale a […]

Tone-on-Tone Winter Wreath This year, I made some yarn-wrapped winter themed wreaths for some of my relatives. But deep down, I really wanted one of my own. So I made two more — one for my office and one for home. The first one was this multi-tonal ivory and tan assemblage. It is made of […]

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 […]

Build-your-own flower adornments    Is it a hair clip? …a pin? …a headband or purse decoration? Surprise! It’s all of these, and more. This year, my little neices are getting these felt-and-fleece adornents, that feature interchangable multicolored flowers and leaves. The girls can stack the little flowers however they like.  All of the flowers start out as […]

This black-draped pumpkin is reminiscent of the peculiar artistic stylings of Edward Gorey… or maybe Charles Addams. You’ll need: A pumpkin, preferably one with a long, twisty stem Black stretch fabric with a lacy design (about 3/8 of a yard) Black glittered bird (I got mine on sale at my local Michael’s) Black artificial roses (again a […]

Pull-string surprise egg This is a fun way to bestow Easter treats. When the recipient pulls the embedded ribbon, it breaks the paper mache egg in half to spill its hidden treasures. What you will need: An oval balloon Several yards of ribbon Tissue paper Your favorite papier mache glue (I use wallpaper paste) Glass jar […]

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 […]

A stack of yummy butter cookies, decorated with frosting and topped with hard candy, make a quaint setting for fondant bluebirds.