Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Shadow Box Nativity

Hello!
This new craft is a very special one, and will take some time to complete. It is a Shadow Box Nativity Set! I thought it made sense because in the barn where Jesus was born, it was night so it must've been dark. So to start off on your project, you will need...
You will need a soda box, markers, scissors, cardboard (the lighter the color of the cardboard, the better), and a hot glue gun. (You can use regular glue, but it doesn't work nearly as well.) No, you don't need a cat, my little kitty, Smokey, just wanted to be in the picture. :D
Step One: Cut the soda box in half, starting at the hole made for carrying it. (Again, ignore the cat. :D )
Step Two: Cut a small square in the back of the soda box.

Step Three: Draw Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, the Three Wise Kings, an Angel, and the Star. Then cut them out.
Step Four: Using the hot glue gun, glue the characters in the soda box so that their faces are facing the square you cut out.
Step Five: Your finished project should look something like this. (The picture wasn't great since it was pretty dark in the shadow box.








Happy Holidays!
~Jess

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Adorable Little Angel

Hello Everyone!

This is an adorable Christmas decoration which you and your little 'angel' will love to see. You only need several items to make it, which are very cheap to get.

What You Need

You will need white and yellow paper,
Scissors,
A square piece of cardboard,
Tape,
Glue (I forgot to put it in the picture. ),
A paperclip,
And a picture of someone special (their head only)

Step One: Cut a complete circle from the white paper.

Step Two: Cut a straight line until you reach the center of the circle. Next start overlapping the two sides until it creates a cone. Tape it so that it stays.

This is what your finished cone should look like.

Step Three: Now it's time to make the wings of the angel. Remember, you need to keep the wings in proportion with the angel. Luckily I have a little trick in keeping it all in proportion. Simply place the finished cone on the piece of folded yellow paper, and trace over the top of the circle. That will be the top curve of the wing.

Step Four: Try to make your wing look something like this. As you can see, I messed up a little bit, but this can easily be fixed. Make sure that you leave the tab on the right on the wing, as that is needed to attach the wing to the angel. Now cut the wings out and proceed to the next step.

Step Five: Cut a small slit in the back of the angel so that you can stick the tabs, on the wings, to fit snugly in the angel. If you're worried that the wings may fall out of the angel, simply tape them to the back while still in the angel.
Step Six: This is what the angel should look like with it's wings in. Now, glue the angel to the piece of cardboard, and make sure that she dries securely onto the cardboard.

Step Seven: Now, take the paperclip and your picture and either tape or glue the paperclip to the back of the picture. Make sure that the paperclip is glued on in a way, so that it is able to clip onto something.

Step Eight: Now, when everything is dry, clip the paper clip onto the back of the angel's neck and write on the cardboard, "So-and-so is my Little Angel." Now you can decorate your home with all your 'Little Angel's'.


Tips and Suggestions
If your angel's picture is of someone elder than you, you can put, "So-and-so is my Guardian Angel." or , "So-and-so is my Angel from Heaven." or anything that you want!
These can make great ornaments as well, just attach a string to the back and don't glue it to the cardboard.
With some imagination, you can use these for anything! Maybe make a dozen of them, hang them above your baby's cradle. I'm sure you can think of something. :)

Happy Holidays!
~Jessica

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Cute Christmas Gift Bag ~ Very easy and cheap to make!

Hi Everyone!

Okay, so the first craft that I am going to teach you is one of my personal favorite, a Christmas Gift Bag. This craft is extremely cute, and very easy and cheap to make! All you need is a paper lunch bag, scissors, and tape. Now the first step is to mark where you're going to cut the bag. You want to mark it higher on the bag if it's a large gift you're putting in the bag, but these gift bags are mostly made for smaller gifts, so I usually cut just about a half inch above the bottom crease.

 Step 2: Cut the bag where you marked it and save both pieces, you'll need them later.
 Step 3: Take the bottom half of the bag and put a small gift inside it. Simply fold the top down and seal it with a piece of tape. By the way, my little brother was very happy to have me show you his lego creation. :)
 Step 4: Now for the top half. You'll use the top for a cute little decoration on the bag. Stick your hand through the top half and try to open it as much as you can.
 Step 5: Firmly squeeze the middle section of the bag with your thumb and pointer finger.
 Step 6: Now try to open up the ends even more, while still squeezing the middle. You should now have something that looks like the bow shown below.
 Step 7: Take a long piece of tape and wrap it around the area that you squeezed, but make sure to leave a bit left so that you can fold the tape to stick to itself. Now you can just pop the bow on. Your finished project should look something like this.

Tips and Suggestions

To make the bag look more festive, decorate it before hand with stickers, markers, or whatever your mind can imagine!
Instead of saving the top half of the bag, try using tissue paper to make the bow. I personally don't like wasting the top part, but if you want it more colorful it makes a nice gift when using tissue paper. :D

Hope you like it! I'll post another craft tomorrow.
~Jessica

Welcome to my new Blog! ~Crafts 4 Fun~

Hello Everyone!

I am very excited to have this new blog to share my craft ideas with you! I'm always open to new ideas, suggestions, questions, and feedback so if there's anything you need or if you want me to post something in particular I'll be more than happy to! To start us off I'm going to start posting on how to create some marvelous Christmas gifts and crafts. I hope you like my ideas! Don't forget to post your feedback!

Happy Holidays Everyone!
~Jessica