Miniature Spun Cotton House Ornaments

 Hello Friends!!  Hope you all are well! Today I am sharing some houses that I have made for my bird tree.  The inspiration for the little houses came from a Pinterest post from Rosanna at Sweethavensanctuary.org.  This is my first time ever trying to work with cotton covered treasures.  In fact, I had never even seen the technique.  But I have had so much fun learning and making these little ornaments for my tree and decided to share what I've been making with you!

I began with the Sparrow Post house that is my replica of the one that Rosanna Shares in her YouTube videos.  She also has a link to the house template.  I actually made two houses using the template then I branched out and made other sizes.  You can find Part One of her Sparrow Post HERE.

To make them appropriate for my bird themed Christmas tree, I decided they all needed shop or business names that are bird themed.  Easy enough!  I have made six so far and I am not done!  These are so fun to make.  The hardest part is the drying time after gluing the cotton down.  

I began by using my favorite chipboard and cutting out and wood gluing the houses together.

Then covered them with masking tape as the glue mix while gluing the cotton down would just sog the poor houses to death.  The glue mix is simply one part school glue to four parts water.  Most of the time I would squirt a thin layer of school glue to the house and lay the cotton on top, then use the glue mix and a paint brush to dampen and press down the cotton.

I just used cotton balls, unrolled them and pulled pieces apart.

It is a learning process and I am sure professionals would say 

I'm not doing it right, but it worked for me!

It has been so hot the last couple weeks here in Tennessee that I decided just to sit them outside in the sun to dry while I went and did something else for the afternoon.

These are the only pictures that I took when making the Do Duck Inn.  I simply made the duck head out of aluminum foil and hot glued it to the top of my round house.  Then covered it with masking tape and glued the cotton to it.

These are the two made from Rosanna's template for the Sparrow Post.  I found it easier to make one just like hers for my first house.  I am so appreciative for her teaching and style.   It's never too late to learn to make something different and learn new techniques!

I really hope you enjoyed this post and will visit Rosanna's blog HERE and also her YouTube Channel called RosannaMakes HERE.  She is a delight to listen to and follow along and is so very talented.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XOXO ~Laurie

paper houses

I like when my days are full of crafting.  Sometimes this directly involves the children at my day care and sometimes it doesn't but it is usually "for" them either visually or to play with.  I do love my job.

 

I recently purchased a copy of Taproot magazine, Issue 16 Shelter, and was very pleased the second I opened it.  Not only is there good reading throughout the magazine along with recipes and such, there was also a template to make two different tiny paper houses.  I knew I would want more than two and possibly more and more for the kids to make too.  So I took my scanner to the day care (where it should have been for a long time) and scanned the two pages housing houses.  I printed copies onto white cardstock and the kids here today and I colored away using markers and crayons... depending on age.  While they were working I cut out the houses, folded and glued them together one by one.  They were all tickled to see their little houses take shape.

 

Well... somehow this exercise wasn't enough for me.  I made the houses a bit bigger on my computer and printed them out.  During naptime I colored, cut and pasted again but you know me... I didn't stop there.  I broke out the Mod Podge and fine glitter and painted roofs, windows and sides of the houses.  That felt better.  Then I decided, since I have been craving a centerpiece for our table ever since I put the fall leaves up, that I would make a tray of some sort and glue the houses to it.  I cut out an oval from cardboard, painted it white, hot glues some small silver tinsel around the edge and painted a dusting or white glitter glue over the surface.  It is a very colorful and quaint little village that can be moved all at once when need be.  I may even leave it out through winter since it is not necessarily Christmas.  I did punch a hole and ran a piece of yarn through the ones the kids made so they can hang theirs. 

 

 

I love volunteers to help clean up.

 

 

I don't feel like I can share the house template from Taproot.  I don't feel like it's mine to give.  But I did do a search on Pinterest for paper house villages that showed some good templates too.  Then you can make them how ever you wish.  So easy and fun to do.  I just never know what craftiness I will break into each day.

 

 

Now... you didn't think I'd leave the Barbies out did ya??

Barbie girl that I am once again.

This is also the Barbie that I gave a perm to... later post... when I find my other camera.

 

I obviously used my glitter gel pens.  Fantastico!!

 

 



image inspiration

One of my Mom's friends always asks her how her daughter (me) who lives the simple life is doing.  I really didn't feel that I lived a simple life until a recent step out of my life.  I realize that I am satisfied with simpler things and truly don't have the desire for bigger and better.  Repurposing a card board box, as seen in this post, just tickles me.  While the finer things are fantastic for some folks it is just not my style.  I do admit that I wish I made more money.  This little day care doesn't exactly make you a millionaire or even a thousandaire, but when I walk into this door on Monday morning it's like walking in to my second home.  Everything is just the way I like it.  Speaking of tickling... here are a few images that have inspired me just by looking at them. 

 

 

 

Light Up Houses

How simple and fun.  Of course I want to make them today but it may be fun to save this project for another month when Christmas and lights and Santa villages are upon us.  I think the kids will love them!  I can already see a few set up on my mantle underneath alpine trees.

 

 

Found on mothersmessymadness.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Whipped Bronzing Body Butter

 

I recently made a QVC purchase of body butter with argon oil that I am so excited about getting.  Had I not made that purchase I would be all over making this all natural body butter asap.  I am sure I will get around to it because I already have eighty percent of the ingredients so why not!

 

Found on blog.freepeople.com

Advent Calendar

At my Mom's growing up we always enjoying our advent calendar.  Our was made of felt and the ornaments had ting pieces of Velcro and we loved getting up in the morning an plucking the ornament of the day and placing it on the Christmas tree.  At least I did.  I was usually the first one up.  Since then I have wanted a similar advent calendar but have never purchased one.  I won't be buying this one either because they are sold out already but it does give me some inspiration on possibly making my own.  I have some drop cloth for the backing and lighter fabrics for the ornaments and goodness knows I've got buttons I could use.  I am slowly talking myself into this project.  You can see more pictures by following the link in the title.  This one is my Rachel Ashwell and I found it on her blog. Did I mention it was $329??  Good Lord! 

 

 

 

gingerbread houses 2014

As a follow up post to my Gingerbread House Plans for this year... here are the results.

I don't have pictures of everyone's houses but I am including a video of a few that I am not real sure how my camera or me did it.  But it is kinda of funny and you get to hear me sing a tid bit of a Beatles song.  How embarrassing is that?  Hey.. if you can't laugh at yourself... who can you laugh at?

And this one is mine.  Looks like my log cabin plan turned out OK huh?

My secret weapon of a using a sifter and powdered sugar to top it all off was a hit!

This video sounds a bit like Santa's workshop.  I hear Shaun talking about me, saying my name in the background a couple of times :)

And HERE is my post about the plans for this year's house.