Creative Dawn

When is comes to this time of year, my mind goes into creative overdrive.  I realize my posting is much less now that my original goal has been met, but believe me, I am still making stuff.  There are about ten Christmas gifts in the works as well as my calender drawings.  Current projects involve sewing, crafting, drawing and crocheting.  I am proud to say that a good chunk of gifts are already done or close to being done, yeah!  Working in a fabric store has definitely boosted my creativity and some days too many ideas are crowding my mind.  Because funds are still low for us, I have been buying things bit by bit every payday.  It helps to not have to blow an entire paycheck all at once.  This also is good because with my discount on top of sale price, I have gotten some incredible deals. Add caption Today, my post will be the first of my calender pages.  There are two finished so only ten to go!

Sorry, had to do it!  Actually when you are a creative person and make many Christmas gifts you need to start early.  I went to Joann Fabrics the other day and they had some letters on clearance.  The popular ones are always gone leaving you with Q, W, Z, X, I, O, etc.  I decided to buy a few of these orphan letters and figure out a project for them.  The first letter was the O, it's round so I figured it would make a good wreath.  After a dark green base coat, other shades were added using a Van Gogh like brush stroke to mimic pine needles.  It really didn't need much to make it look good so I just used a small gold wreath to the middle.  It is simple and it has a modern feel to it.

Merry Christmas to all!  Very little money this year and no budget for stamps.  I am posting this on FB and emailing to friends and family this year.  I know it's not as personal as a hand signed and addressed card, but that's how it has to be.  To anyone reading this, if anyone is actually reading this, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and much love from Creative Dawn!

This unfinished tree was purchased at Joann Fabrics for .90, it was a brown fall tree, but now, it is a Christmas decoration.  It was originally 6.99 and after Halloween, it went on clearance.  There are actually two, but the second one might end up being used for a spring holiday.  Just because it is labelled for a specific holiday or season doesn't mean it has to be used for it.  That is part of being creative, finding a use or making something out of odd and ends. The burlap on the base was replaced with holiday fabric.  The red metallic curling ribbon was a dollar and the starlight mints were 1.99 for a good sized package.  The leftovers are now in a candy dish.  The tree was kind of mushed so after fluffing it out, the ribbon was attached to one end of the wrapped candies and then tied to the branches and then the ribbon was curled using a butter knife.  Something like this would probably be at least 20.00 if purchased already fin...

  I have two young nieces, Kyra and Jessica around the nine and ten age group.  They can be difficult to buy for.  This year, I painted small name plaques for each of them.  I posted Kyra's a while ago, now here is Jessica's.  This one cost .97 at Walmart.  Besides the name plaques, I will probably buy them each a gift card of some sort to wrap with it and also a small candy treat.  Simple and pocketbook friendly and also a little more than just a gift card.

I used to bowl in a couples league with my husband and some friends.  Every year we did Christmas gift exchanges, but for a couple of years we did a white elephant exchange.  Basically you wrap up an item you no longer want and give it away.  Some of the items were old vinyl records with Hawaiian music, a very old bowling ball, paint by number artwork, you get the picture.  Well, one year my friend got an old coffee mug tree and of coarse had no use for it, but it sparked an idea in my head.  She gave it to me and I painted it and hung all kinds of different objects on it, like a hanging display.  It was very cool and she loved it when I returned it to her in it's new form.  Recently on a trip to the thrift store, I found another one and with the holidays approaching I thought it would be a great ornament display.  I painted it dark green and added some decorative flair to it.  Here it is on my dining room table as a great centerpiece....

This was probably an assembly line painted tray with a patriotic theme.  Nice, but it could be improved upon. I purchased it at the Goodwill for a few dollars.  I painted it in a bright green, one of my favorite colors and after digging out my Christmas decorations realized that I have quite a few items in this color.  Maybe I like it because it isn't the standard Christmas green.  Well, anyways, after painting the base coat I cut out a few stencils in ornament shapes and in varying sizes and then painted them onto the tray.  The sides I did in a darker green.  The tray is fun and festive.  Now as with everything I make, I need to decide to keep it or give it as a gift . 

At this time of year, paper mache reindeer are usually in abundance at the craft stores.  They are in different shapes and sizes and either standing or sitting.  I have quite a few deer decorations for my tree and home, but this one that I made is one of my favorites.  It started with an unpainted deer, this one is a small size.  I cut a hole in the side and then painted the inside and outside a mixture of gold and pearl paint.  I hot glued in a few bits of felt snow and some plastic holly.  The hard part was finding a Santa ornament that was the correct size to fit in the deer.  I took off the ornament hook and then hot glued him inside.  The last part was adding on the ribbon to the front of the reindeer.  It would make a great gift, but I liked this too much to part with it.  Sometimes that happens!  Happy Holiday crafting, more ideas to come !

  This little trio of trees came in a bundle from the thrift store for a total of 1.19.  They were so cute, I had to get them.  I decided to paint them to look like Christmas cookies.  It was a quick project and they will look adorable on the kitchen counter.  What next?  My staff loves it when I bake and lately, I have been getting requests for cookies at least once a week.  An awesome cook asked me to please bring him cookies any kind, so I got some white chips and made chocolate cookies.  The chips make them look like polka dots so that's why I called them Polka Dot Cookies.  The recipe is from the white chips bag, but I added a little something extra this time, just a touch of cayenne pepper.  They are not spicy at all, but you do get a hint of the flavor and chocolate and spice are a great combo!  Lastly, since I had to make cookies anyways, I set a few aside for my mother in law.  Friday, she had to put her beloved...

 So, today is black Friday and I didn't go shopping.  I actually never have.  To me it is crazy to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to get something you probably don't need or something that your kids will forget about in a few months.  This is why I make so much stuff.  I enjoy the giving and when it is something you know they will love and treasure for years to come, that is more important than standing in a line with others and fighting over a toy or electronic product.  There, that is my rant for today, sorry! Today we have a cute snowman ornament/decoration.  This did have a very pretty design to begin with, but I needed to make it into something else.  I painted it a beautiful blue and added a cute snowman.  It is a bit large for most trees, but it would also look nice on a door knob.  Get ready for plenty of holiday ideas soon.  My brain is full of projects.  Keep creating and using your imagination.  You will...

The holiday season is upon us and my project list seems to grow everyday.  I am extra strapped for money this year and although I love making things and being creative, sometimes it is out of necessity.  I wish I was like Oprah and could give away what she does, but, I live in the real world and so I make gifts and bargain shop.                                               When you make your gifts, you can also personalize what you give.  There is one here with a golf theme for my step-dad and Snoopy for my niece.  Just think about what the people in your life like and it makes your gift even better. I made tin can gift containers this year and guess what!  They were free!  My job that pays the bills, is in a restaurant and all I h...

  I am tired!  A lot of work lately and little creative time is wearing me down.  My mind is overflowing with ideas, but I do need to sleep at some point.  Hm...if I could just be creative to pay the bills, I wouldn't need a full time job! :)  I have three small projects for today.  I bought some walnuts and got inspired by some ideas from my youth.  These are all simple and make great gifts or decorations in addition to ribbons The first one is a whole walnut painted red.  Add a few white dots and a green ribbon stem/hanger and you have a cute strawberry ornament. Next use a whole walnut again and paint it black.  Hot glue it to a medium sized yellow button.  Paint a white oval on it and add a nose and a beak.  Adorable penguin decoration! The final idea is with halved walnuts.  This one is trickier because you need to split it in two and keep them intact.  DON'T USE A NUT CRACKER!  I used the small metal pick t...

Here is another cutting board that I found at a thrift store for a few bucks.  I used bright red and then cut out a tree stencil for the design.  I painted the tree in white and then made quilt-like shapes in shades of green.  Outlined them in white and made different patterns in each block.  A splash of green dots and gold swirls around the tree and you have a simple holiday wall/door hanging.  With the addition of a candy cane striped ribbon to finish it off.

As a creative person and crafter, you need to start planning projects early.  I usually buy presents throughout the year and set them aside.  It is not as stressful the holidays come around if you already have a good portion of your presents bought or made.  This is my first Christmas entry for my blog, well if you don't count my calender pages.  I got this at the Goodwill for .99.  I removed the ribbon and rope from it and redid it in my style.  I didn't use a stencil for the lettering, it is all freehand.  I used to hate doing lettering, but now I have a lot of different styles that I can decorate with and I find it fun to embellish them.  I'm still not sure if this will be a gift or an addition to my collection of decorations, but either way, it is a cute wall hanging.  It measures about 12 inches wide and about 8 inches tall.