Christmas Grinch Hands

 This past Halloween I shared a craft called spooky skeleton hands.  Instead of taking them down, I had an idea that would allow me to keep them through the Christmas season as well.  

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I really like the Grinch and Grinch decor, and they hands kind of reminded me of Grinch hands.   I found all of the supplies I needed at that Dollar Tree except for green gloves.  Walmart had some, but when I started looking for them they were already sold out in my area and online.  I ordered a pair of adult Grinch gloves from Amazon.

I placed the gloves on the skeleton hands. I used my glue gun and glue the white fabric to the read fabric to look like Santa suit sleeves.  I then wrapped the fabric around the base attached to the wall.  Since my skeleton hands were palm up, it did not look right to have the hands holding a hanging ornament.  Instead I placed a red Dollar Tree ornament in the palm of his hands. I loved how this turned out and it was very easy to put together.  

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Countdown to Christmas - Easy Ball Ornament DIYs

When we got some of my Christmas boxes out of storage the other day, I found some of my items I have not seen in awhile. I did not have space to use them in my apartment, but I was not ready to get rid of them either. It has literally been just like Christmas (LOL!!)  opening the boxes and finding the treasures that are inside them. 

The Christmas before moving from my house to an apartment, I did a craft show. In the boxes from storage, I found several ornaments that I had made for the show. When I was looking through them, I thought they would make a great Christmas countdown DIY post.  They are easy to make, and would make great gifts.

Buddy was very happy I found his favorite elf inspired ornaments again.  It's been awhile since he had seen them. You can see them in this post, Elf on the Shelf Ideas and Dollar Tree accessories.

It is a dreary, overcast day here in Ohio, so it was hard to get good photos.  I tried to use different types of lights, but since these ornaments are glass, I kept getting weird reflections.  

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If you would try to make these ornaments yourself, the Dollar Tree has clear plastic ornaments in a 2 pack of smaller ornaments, a 4 inch, and a larger 5 inch ball.

The first thing I did with this ornament was fill it half way with faux snow. I then took a thin paintbrush, and painted on white birch trees and a few cardinals.  I also added a red ribbon to hang it on the tree.  I now have them on my Woodland themed Christmas tree.

This melted snowman ornament is very easy to make.  I pulled up my original photo from 2012, because you could see it better than the ones I took today. In my original ornament, I used craft foam for the nose, eyes, and buttons.  In the updated version, I used a little bit of orange air dry clay to make the carrot nose. I then used peppercorns for the rest, because they look more like tiny pieces of coal.  In both, I used a small piece of red felt fringed on the ends for the scarf. Fill the half full with faux snow before added the snowman pieces.  

All you need to make the elf inspired ornaments are some red ball ornaments like these currently available at Dollar Tree in small quantities, and a wooden or paper mache stocking.  Paint them red, and add white felt. 

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When we had the craft show, the movie Frozen was still very popular.  At the show we sold a lot of snow wands, a few tulle skirts in Anna and Elsa colors, and these hand painted Olaf ornaments  I filled the ornament completely full with faux snow and then painted Olaf's face. If you prefer not to paint it, you might be able to make an Olaf face using a Cricut machine. 

I also sold hand painted Christmas Tree ornaments.  If you would like to see how to paint one of your own, here is my step by step tutorial from a post in 2013.  It is easier to do than you think! 

I recently had someone email me asking me about this  ornament.  I looked through the entire blog (11 years worth) looking for it.  I could not find a post, nor did I remember making it. Fast forward to a week later, I find the box of forgotten ornaments.  Now I understand why I could not remember it, they have been in storage since 2015. 😀 This Santa themed ornament is very easy to make.  I filled the ornament with red metallic basket filler. The belt is make from a strip of faux leather, which you can now find in the Crafters Square aisle of Dollar Tree. Santa's belt buckle is a rhinestone that had been glued on with hot glue. 

While looking for older pictures, I found a BONUS ornament. 

This ornament is probably still packed away with some Christmas decorations we did not get out yet.  I added blue glitter to the faux snow and painted on some snow paint on top that looked like real snow when it dried.  It turned out so pretty.  

Happy Crafting! 

 

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Countdown to Christmas - Christmas Treat Jars

 

As you know I moved recently.  I had been living in an apartment so I had several boxes in storage that I had not seen in awhile.  One positive side of moving is that you find things you forgot you had because you have not seen them in awhile.  

One of those things are these fun Christmas treat jars that I made.  They are an easy DIY, and can be used for many things.  

They can fill these with treats and give as gifts.  Add a battery powered tea light, and use as decor.  Another option is to use them in the kitchen or at a party and an utensil holder.  

I found these jars at Michaels a few years ago.  I am not sure if the glass version is still available, but I did find a plastic green version, and also a red version on their website online.

I had my elf Buddy pose with the elf jar. It would be a fun gift from your elf filled with treats to be eaten while watching Elf.  

I made the Santa jar, but adding a notched felt collar.  The belt is made with a strip of faux leather and two rhinestones. 

Mrs. Claus's felt collar is more rounded, and she has two white buttons. 

The elf jar has a yellow felt collar, and two yellow buttons.  

How would you use these jars? Let me know in the comments.  

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Do you have more than on elf? For several years, we only had Buddy. Then one day I found some cute elves on sale, and Joy joined our family.  I am seriously thinking of adding an elf baby or two.  It would be a lot of fun having the entire elf family involved in their Christmas fun.  I found these Elf baby twins that are currently on sale for under $10.  If you have been thinking of adding to your elf family, go check them out   

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