I think these miniature bottle brush type wreathes are so charming. They remind me of the vintage ornaments my grandmother would have had. This little project is part of my Countdown to Christmas project in my 12 Days of Christmas Workshop. Lots of creative fun has been going on in there. We will be creating Monsieur Hiver this week. Oh how I love this project.

So if you have a little tin or box and want to put a sentiment inside as a little surprise to who ever opens it, this is super easy and cute... give it a try. And the best part is these are cheap and add such simple charm to any project.

My newest addiction... felt. I created this card using my friend Wendy's Studio 490 Art of Making it Merry stamp set. I just inked the stamps, stamped the image onto some cream felt, then used that as my embroidery pattern for the flourishes. Then I stamped the flower image three times onto some red felt, cut them out, layered them, put some french knots in the center and accented the edges using Platinum Stickles. I think this came out pretty cute. Adding the Platinum Stickles gives it the cheesy vintage look which I love so much right now too.

Supplies Used: Studion 490 Stamp Set by Stampers Anonymous, Cream and Red Felt, Green and Cream Emboidery Floss, Archival Ink Jet Black, Platinum Stickles, Making Memories Tiny Alphas, DCWV Card

Here is an easy way to take a fairly simple embellishment and turn it into something over the top gorgeous with very little effort.

Supplies Needed:
Cream Felt
Cream Embroidery Floss
Mother of Pearl Button
Pearl Bead
Tulle
Adhesive

Tools Needed:
Sizzix Die Flower Layers #3 (or cut three different sized flowers using scissors)
Needle
Scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut flowers from felt
2. Hand stitch a simple back stitch onto flower petals
3. Cut tulle and place between 2nd and 3rd flower
4. Adhere flowers together by either sewing or using adhesive (Fabri Tac works great)
5. Adhere Mother of Pearl button to center of flower
6. Accent center of button using a pearl bead

There ya go... it is that simple. Now you have a beautiful embellishment for a card, layout or any crafting project.

Here is a new tutorial to create gift tags or enclosure cards to include with your holiday gifts. This was so fun to create and I love the way the tree looks all glittered up. These two stamp sets are certainly a favorite of mine. I think you can tell this though without me telling you. I also love the shimmer the Pebbles Inc. Pearlescent Chalks have... they add the perfect amount of shimmer. I hope you give this tutorial a try. If you do make sure you let me know... I would love to see it.

Supplies Used:
Little Yellow Bicycle Christmas Magic Collection - Red Floral
Book Page
Pink Persimmon Little Red Wagon
Pink Persimmon Carnival Alpha (Small)
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink
Pebbles Inc. Pearlescent Chalk Set
Cream Embroidery Floss
Stickles (Platinum, Diamond, Yellow)
American Crafts Memory Marker Chestnut
Brown & White Twine
Silver Glass Glitter

Tools Needed:
Paper Trimmer
Acrylic Block
Decorative Scissors (Pinking)
Clear Drying Adhesive
Hole punch
Needle
Scissors

Instructions:
1. Cut book page to 3.5” x 3.5” using decorative scissors
2. Stamp tree using Pink Persimmon Little Red Wagon stamp set
3. Stamp words using Pink Persimmon Carnival Alpha Small stamp set
4. Ink edges using Creamy Brown ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink
5. Accent words using Platinum Stickles and Star using Yellow Stickles

6. Highlight trees trunk and branches using American Crafts Memory Marker Chestnut and Diamond Stickles
7. Accent trees branches using Green Pearlescent Chalk
8. Apply small dots of clear drying glue onto tree, cover with glitter, shake of excess, let dry
9. Lightly draw a heart and three stars onto card, using a needle and embroidery floss back stich along outlines of heart and stars, accent inside each one using Diamond Stickles
10. Cut Red Floral patterned paper to 3.75” x 6.5”, fold in half to form card
11. Adhere stamped book page to front of card
12. Punch hole in upper left hand corner
13. Thread twine through to form hanger

The 12 Days of Christmas is a month long online workshop of holiday creating. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the month of November I will post new projects that will include a supply list, tools needed and step by step instructions to complete each project. There will be a total of at least 15 tutorials. Some projects will come with a template to make the creative process a bit easier and each featured project has close up color photos. All the projects are designed so you can use items you already have on hand or create them exactly like the sample.

The cost for this online workshop is $19.95 and will be available from November 1^st – December 15^th. Once payment is received you will be sent a password to enter this private forum starting November 1st. Then it’s time to get out the glitter, trims, papers and embellishments.

Since this will be a place that is all about the holidays I will include downloadable images from my stash of favorite vintage holiday sheet music and postcards. I will share with you some of my favorite family recipes, holiday quotes and photos of some of my favorite holiday decorations over the years. I hope you too will share cookie recipes, holiday traditions and decorations as I love to see how others celebrate and decorate during the holiday season.

I hope to see you there.

Hugs,

LP