Beaded Wire Christmas Ornaments

I know it's a little late for this but still had to post it because Valentine's day is around the corner and these would make beautiful hearts!  Happy New Year everyone!  I swear I'm going to try to blog a bit more this year. It's been hectic moving into this new house but I'm almost ready to show it.

A little wire and some leftover beads (from John Bead of course) and you can make the most amazing ornaments, or hearts!  Love you all!  

MAKE YOUR MARK!

Aluminum wire is one of my favorite things to work with!

        Watch how to make them here OR watch how to make them on you YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9NgQKJwyc
Here's everything I used to make them with links:
Czech Glass Beads: https://bit.ly/3n1axNG
John Bead Aluminum Wire: https://amzn.to/36kZXuF
Large Czech Bead Mixes: https://bit.ly/2WRRH09
MY AMAZON STORE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/markmontano

So easy! Just create your shape with large wire and then add beads to thinner wire and wrap!

Love the way they catch the lights on the tree, too!

Sending you all the love today!

Lacy Paper Hearts - Upcycled Magazines!

My first craft as a kid was quilling...I liked it, but I got bored quickly and moved on.  Many years later I started playing with magazine paper because there was always so much of it.  These hearts look like they might be made of quilling paper, but in fact, it's rolled up magazine pages.  Yup, the gossip rags I devour weekly are now beautiful Valentines!  Take them apart and you'll find out that Jen might be back with Brad and Scarlett was spotted with another man.  This upcycling project is a great way to help save the planet and show someone how much you love them!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Sprinkled with glitter and gems!

Light blue ribbon makes everything look fancy! 

 Watch how to make them here!

Spread the LOVE!

Mermaid Seashell Ornaments

My mom loves seashells.  Seashells are quite exotic to us folks who grew up on the plains in southern Colorado!  On my first trip to the coast I bought her a seashell windchime and countless years later, it still hangs in her bathroom with her collection of other seashell stuff.  While I made these ornaments I thought alot about my mom.  Crafting often gives us the chance to calm our minds and think about the people who mean the most to us.  It's a bit like church, but much more fun (for me)!  Enjoy your creative time, my friends, and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

My mermaid Christmas tree!

You could add even more rhinestones!

Watch how to make them here!

I love the shimmer of Unicorn SPiT Sparkling!

Merry Christmas Ariel!

Christmas Jars

I have a hundred jars in my cabinets.  If you follow me, you know that I love a good jar makeover, so I save every one!  You might also know that I'm kind of a hoarder.  It's a trait I share with many of my crafty friends.  This year I went a little Christmas crazy and turned some of my instant coffee jars into stained glass, sparkly vases and lanterns.  Yup, you can either put a candle in them OR a pretty Christmas flower arrangement.  My favorite part of this project was frosting the top and bottom of each jar using simple white spray paint.  Have fun and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

Filled with Christmas foliage!

Filled with candles!

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

Glass jars

Unicorn Spit

Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint

Rust-o-leum Lacquer 

Krylon White spray paint

Pinecones and ribbon

White glue

 HERE'S HOW

1.  Lightly spray the top and bottom of each jar

2. Draw your leaves and berries with the black Allure

3. Create Evergreen sprigs with Green Allure

4.  Mix Dragon's Belly Unicorn SPiT with a small amount of white glue

5. Fill in the leave design

6. Mix Molly Red Unicorn SPiT with white glue and fill in the berries

7. Use Allure Glitter in green & red to accent the Evergreen sprigs, leaves & berries

8.  Coat your jars with lacquer and let dry

9.  Tie a ribbon around the mouth of the jar and glue pinecones over the knot

11. & 12.  Fill with either candles or Christmas flowers

Merry Christmas!

Cardboard Christmas Balls DIY!

Do you have some cardboard boxes hanging around that need a little overhaul?  Of course you do!  Trace out some circles and grab your craft stash and let's get started making some Christmas Balls.  

Blue and gold is my favorite holiday color combination.  My mom was always trying to stay away from traditional colors in our holiday decorating with the exception of one year she lost her mind and decided  EVERY color would have to do. 

Here's the how-to video 

You'll need:

Scissors

Straight pins

Cardboard 

Large cup

Thin ribbon

2" thick ribbon

Gold spray paint

Glitter

Elmer's glue 

Trace 6 circles per ornament 

 Cut 5 of them exactly in half

 Glue one half to the center of the full circle using hot glue

 Glue two more 1/2 circles on each side of the 1st half

 So it looks like this

Repeat on the other side 

Spray paint the entire ball with the gold spray paint 

 When dry, glue along the edges and dip in glitter

 Let dry for about 25 minutes

 Tie a bow with the large ribbon and a loop with the small ribbon and secure it to the ornament with a long straight pin

Here you go!

A whole ornament chapter in THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2!

Lacy Recycled Holiday Ornaments (from magazine pages)

It's that time of year that we start decorating for the holidays.  It's also that time of year when we all get super crafty!  These recycled ornaments are a blast to make with friends.  They look great on top of a gift or on the tree.  Warm up some hot chocolate, gather a few friends and get crafting!  I'll bet you already have everything you need to make these, too!

Happy Holidays everyone and stay tuned for another ornament DIY next week.

 Beautiful, lacy, recycled holiday ornaments!

Here's the how to video! 

From my book PULP FICTION PERFECT PAPER PROJECTS 2ND EDITION

 You'll need:

Glue

Scissors

Wax paper

Magazine pages

Ribbon

Pencil

Glitter

Spray paint (optional)

Roll your magazine pages around a pencil to create a tube 

Secure the edge with glue and let dry.  You'll need about 5 tubes per ornament 

Cut in 1/2" sections 

 Lay down some wax paper and dab the pieces in glue and start creating your ornament

After your ornament dries for about 30 minutes, spray it with silver metallic spray paint and let dry for another 15 minutes. 

 Paint the edges with more glue

 Sprinkle with glitter

Hang from a ribbon