What I’ve Been Up To (Christmas Crafts)

Hello friends! I just cannot believe that Christmas is just days away! It completely blows my mind! Where has December gone? 

We had a handmade auction last week at Stamp Club. All proceeds went to the Ronald McDonald House. With just a handful of us we raised over one-hundred dollars! There were no limits or restrictions to the items we brought for the auction except that they had to be handmade. I just wanted to quickly share with you the items I made. I do not have the full tutorials, but I will do my best to explain how I created them.

This project started with the angel image. I found about 5 or 6 of them in a small baggie at the thrift store for fifty cents. I think someone just printed them off on cardstock to be honest, but I thought they were pretty. I tore the corners just a little bit and used sandpaper around the edges of the image to make it look more worn. Then I used my distress ink pad around the edges. This is the first time I’ve tried distressing paper with sandpaper and I was really pleased with the way it looked after I brushed it with the ink. The ink really soaked into the paper since it had been thinned from sanding.

Next I used my sewing machine to stitch the lace and burlap to the image. I also used two-way glue to adhere the image, but because burlap is so rough I thought sewing it would help keep it in tact. Plus, I like the look of stitching. I attached the burlap to the designer scrapbook paper with hot glue. After this, I was stumped. I didn’t really know what else to add. Then the song Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” popped into my head!

Luckily I had some old hymnals that I found at Goodwill a while back. I flipped through one and knew this would be perfect! I tore just below the first phrase, distressed it with the ink and attached it with double-sided adhesive.

I found a piece of scrap wood in the garage, hubby cut it to size, drilled holes in it, I inked it {of course} and I added some jute rope to make it hang. I love this piece! 

For this piece, I adhered iron on pellon interfacing {basically iron-on adhesive for fabric} to the back of my fabric and used my Silhouette to cut the ornaments. Be sure to apply the interfacing before cutting! It makes the fabric nice and stiff for smooth cuts. Then I peeled the liner away and ironed the ornaments on to the black and white damask fabric. I then used fabric glue to attache the ribbons. Each ribbon is two separate pieces. One short piece for the vertical “hanging” ribbon and a longer piece for the bow. I find it is easier to tie the bow and then cut the ribbon so you know it is long enough.