Plum Tuckered TastyLinks!

Madge is plum tuckered. Seriously folks. My Ho has lost it's Ho Ho.

If you see it, please direct it to the Smoky Mountains.

Did you know that I have a huge collection of Christmas Crafts you can access from this little ol' blog 'o mine? Well I do...and you can! I've shared one of them above from last year's Retrofabulous Craftabration! Follow the link for instructions!

Here's what the crafty bloggers have whipped up for your craftertainment:

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make recycled sweater and zipper Christmas trees (or hats)

Mixed Media Artist
The Bead Journal Project is starting up again for its fourth year! Registration ends soon...

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Madge shares a Pink Ribbon Necklace project she created live on Jewel School at Jewelry Television!

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Calling clay and gourd crafters: do you have any suggestions to help Kathy with a cracking problem on her wonderful her clay Santas?

Crafty Princess Diaries
Ta da! The 10 inch squares crocheted baby afghan is done!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to make a pop up gift card holding greeting card, a Steampunk style mixed media bracelet, tips on creating art everyday, and a bunch of cute pastry decorating ideas.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi downloads a cute Christmas graphic to make this fabric ornament.

Aileen's Musings
Check out part 2 of Aileen's Pomegranate Liquor and download a freebie background while your at it.

About Family Crafts
If you are in search of a special gift for a crafter or a wannabe crafter, check this collection of ideas and resources.

Let the Holiday Festivities Begin! Madge Crafts from the Couch...

I have been sick as a d o double g since Saturday. Avalon got this first and it's just hitting Drew. We got our dang flu shots, but I swear this was the flu. It's settled into my chest, but I'm hoping I'm on the mend now. I have to get back to work! I hate being sick because I get so restless. So, yesterday I worked on the final details of this stocking project. Jewelry Television is presenting these stuffed with gifts to vets at a local VA hospital. I was so pleased to be able to do something to say, "Thank you" to those who have fought for our freedom. I'm also pleased as punch with how this turned out! I have to make one for our mantle now.

I used a scanned and sized Victorian era postcard from my ephemera collection (the card had some damage which I fixed in Photoshop) and printed it on a sticky back fabric sheet. I added glittered accents using Ranger Stickles. Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue worked like a charm on the rick rack, ribbon, vintage button and repurposed metal elements. It's amazing what a little creativity can do for a dollar store Christmas stocking!

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves!

Cheers,
Madge

Final Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration Project for 2009! Tinsel Kicking Vintage Ornament Wreath

Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration with Madge! Final Project 2009!

Tinsel Kicking Vintage Ornament Wreath
Copyright Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter™ 2009

I hope to start this retrofabulosity earlier next year. There are just far too many good ideas in these magazines to waste! Until then...here’s my final Retrofabulous holiday idea for 2009.

I collect vintage mercury glass ornaments and kitschy holiday decorations and I love the elaborate wreaths people make by hot gluing a ton of them on a Styrofoam or wire wreath base. They go for big bucks on eBay. (Check out this fabulous vintage ornament packed wreath from Junkhound Sally!) I personally don’t want to trap vintage goodies into a wreath forever. They’ve survived this long unscathed! I scored four tinsel garlands on super clearance after last Christmas with this project in mind. Flash forward a year...a trip to the craft store for a Styrofoam wreath and some Styrofoam balls and a gathering of pretty pink ornaments...and SHAZAM!

This wreath kicks some serious tinsel!

I could have added a lot more ornaments, but I like the simple and uncluttered look of this wreath with lots of tinsel poking through and the felty good pop art flowers. (Plus those resin and tinsel beads I scored in NYC worked perfectly!) I remembered this project concept when I saw the tin wreath from McCall’s Christmas Make-it Ideas Volume XI above. This is another 60s craft mag without a date...but based on the preponderance of thick fuzzy yarn pom-poms and the hairstyles I’m guessing late 60s. Frankly, I’d really prefer not to have a razor sharp wreath...so this soft and squishy tinsel garland does the trick! (Oh and note that I’ve worked Floam into another holiday craft project! Hee.)

Oh and...two vintage mercury glass ornaments met an untimely death while working on this project. So show me some love people!

Materials
Styrofoam wreath form
4 12 foot long tinsel garland swags
8”x10” sheet hot pink craft felt
8 vintage pink mercury glass ornaments (you can buy these on eBay, but pink is pricey so go for mixed lots and collect the pink as you go, I’m a big fan of Shiny Brites)
9 2” Styrofoam balls
5 20mm and 5 15mm pink plastic beads
Hot pink Floam
18 gauge Beadalon Artistic Wire
2.5” wide silver with holographic glitter wired craft ribbon
6”x7.5” Colorbok chipboard ornament
Ranger paint dabber fuchsia
Ranger paint dabber silver
Floral vine background stamp
2” thick satin ribbon with looped edges
Sparkly pink rick rack trim (mine is vintage, but you can find similar new)
Sizzix Hello Kitty Daisies Die
Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue

Tools
Sizzix Big Shot
Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Wire cutters
Straight edge item (I used a flat thin plastic ruler)
Non-stick craft sheet

1. Paint the chipboard ornament pink. Allow to dry.



2. Stamp with layers of floral vines in silver. Allow to dry.

3. Glue a stripe of black satin ribbon across center front of ornament. Glue a rick rack trim stripe in the center of the black satin stripe.

4. Cover small foam balls with a thin layer of Floam and quickly remove various segments creating a textured effect. Allow balls to dry overnight on a non-stick craft sheet.



5. Use Big Shot to cut out felt flowers.

6. Use a u-shaped wire to attach one end of a tinsel garland swag to the back of your wreath. (This is kind of like a staple that holds the garland down.)

7. Wrap tinsel around wreath, securing ends with 2-shaped wire segments as you work your way around. Wrap so there are no foam gaps. When you reach the final wrap, tuck that under with another u-shaped wire segment and clip off excess garland.

8. Use looped end 5" wires to slide in 9 Floam balls leaving about 4 inches between each and alternating placement so some are higher and some lower as you work around your wreath. (The chain nose pliers can help you slide the wires in if you get stuck.)

9. Use looped end 5" wires to slide in your beads and flowers; they should be at the same spot as your foam balls but on the opposite side of the width of the wreath.



10. Use u-shaped wires to attach the ornaments to the wreath, in between the foam balls. Leave one area open for your ribbon.

11. Cut off a long section of ribbon and wrap around wreath in open area. Tie into a bow. Cut off any excess ribbon.

12. Hang your chipboard ornament on wired tinsel from the top center of the wreath so it hangs inside.

Check out more retrofabulous vintage ornament wreaths:

Georgia Peachez Flickr

Georgia Peachez Flickr

Georgia Peachez Flicker

Vintage Squirrel

1800 Flowers Blog

Jennifer Perkins

(The adhesive, paints, wire and tools were all donated for use in my work)

Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration Project #2! Perky Pixie Ornament!

Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration Project #2: Perky Pixie Ornament
Copyright Margot Potter 2009

Copyright McCall's Magazine circa 1960s
Copyright Margot Potter 2009

(Click on images to view close up)

Today’s retrofabulosity is courtesy of McCall’s Christmas Make-It Ideas Vol. VIII which is curiously lacking a publishing date. Based on the hair styles and the kitschy crafty deliciousness inside, it appears to be sometime in the late 1960s. There is so much good stuff in this one magazine; I could mine it for inspiration for years to come. Yay! Today’s retrofabulous project is a jaunty little elf made from beads, buttons and tinsel pipe cleaners. Their charming versions are made from lovely felt, pipe cleaners and Styrofoam balls covered with nylon stockings...love them. I’m particularly smitten with the tiny antennae...

I decided to try using beads and bits from my studio. I do love felt so, but I wanted to give it a new spin. I scored these painted wooden face beads in Manhattan, but I’m quite sure you can find similar beads online or at your local craft chains. If not, paint a plain wooden bead yourself, this is a fairly simple series of circles and lines! I would totally sport this as a necklace...seriously. It's that cute! So it falls into the 'ornapendant' category I created last year for sure!

Retrofabulous Perky Pixie Ornament
Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

Materials
30mm wooden face bead (or plain wooden bead you decorate)
1.5” white plastic button
25mm white plastic bead
10mm frosted red Lucite bead (Plaid Fresh)
2 10mm olivine moonglow vintage Lucite beads
7 9mm red moonglow vintage side drilled button Lucite beads
2 19mm olivine Lucite leaves
1 30mm dark olive 3 petal Lucite flower (40mm widest side to side of petals)
2 20mm red vintage (or new) buttons
26 gauge Beadalon German style wire
18 gauge Beadalon Artistic Wire Tinned Copper

Silver tinsel wire

1. Thread a 10” 26 gauge wire over bent in half over the center of a tinsel pipe cleaner.

2. Thread 26 gauge wire into a Lucite flower bead, a white plastic bead, a face bead and into a big button and a final bead. Wrap wire flush to the back and around the bottom of the final bead using pliers to twist and secure. Cut off excess and tuck wire tail into itself.

3. Thread a wire with a red bead and two Lucite leaves. Wrap around the neck area of base. Twist ends, cut off excess and tuck wire into itself.

4. Cut off a 5” segment of tinsel pipe cleaner. Thread a bead on each end and loop wire end with round nose pliers to secure bead. Wrap center of beaded pipe cleaners around neck of base, these are your arms.

5. Thread 6 8mm beads on a 4” section of 26 gauge wire. Wrap wire around waist of base. Use pliers to twist wire, cut off excess and tuck tail under.

6. Thread ends of bottom tinsel into buttons, use pliers to pull wire. Wrap tinsel around itself. These are your legs.

7. Add a wire hook to the top of your ornament and enjoy! (These make fabulous package toppers!)


NOTE:
The vintage Lucite beads were given to me by The Beadin’ Path for use in my design work, the other materials were purchased by me.

Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration Project #1! Tiny Tinsel Wreath Pin!

Image Copyright 1967 Family Circle Christmas Helps Magazine
Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

I have been devouring the stash of 1960s vintage Christmas mags I scored on eBay recently. There are so many fabulous ideas and so many hilariously kitschy concepts I can’t stop staring at them and making my poor husband look too. OH MY GOD! Look at this one! Hahahah! Wait...look at this one! No, no...this one! Hahahaha! Insert husband eye roll here...

Here’s an ab fab project from a Family Circle publication called Christmas Helps circa 1967. There are a ton of great ideas on this two page mixed media jewelry spread and I promise to share them here soon. This delightful concoction is whipped up with pipe cleaners wrapped with yarn to make some marvelously mod jewelry. I did a more traditional Christmas themed take on the concept with a wired tinsel yarn, a vintage miniature wooden accent and some sparkly CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski Elements. You can find tiny holiday themed items at your local craft store and any beads or buttons or sequins will work here. Liquid Fusion helps secure things together.

(I have a huge yarn stash with some wildly fun fibers. Think of all of the funky things you could make with a wire base wrapped with yarn! I’d love to do a big bib style necklace of connected yarn circles...which is exactly the sort of kooky thing I’d make and never be able to sell for publication. Am I the only gal who likes oversized kitschy jewelry?!)

Tiny Tinsel Wreath Pin
Free Retro Holiday Craft Project
Copyright Margot Potter the The Impatient Crafter™

Materials
Wired tinsel
Miniature holiday accent item (vintage or new)
Crystals, sequins, buttons or other tiny trim
26 gauge Beadalon German Style Wire
Small metal pin back
Liquid Fusion Glue

1. Create a 1.5” circle with your wired tinsel, wrapping one wire end around the end of the circle and continuing to wrap tinsel around the base until you’ve wrapped the entire base. Tuck the wire under after cutting off any excess.

2. Use 26 gauge German style wire to wrap crystals around the tinsel wreath, don’t overdo it or you lose the dimension of your tinsel. When you get to the bottom left side add some Liquid Fusion Glue and wire on your tiny accent element. Finish wrapping crystals and tuck wire into the base after clipping off excess.

3. Use tinsel wire to attach a pin back to the upper back of the wreath after adding some Liquid Fusion glue to secure it.

4. You can make several of these wreaths without the pin backs and do a jaunty necklace or add these to a barrette for a holiday hair accent...

A Retrofabulous Christmas Crafabration with Madge!

Holiday Fun with the Potters 2008!

(Congrats to Pippirose for winning the prize package!)

I am not afraid to admit that I love Christmas....so there! Take that, holly haters! I love it because it is for those of us who miss the light this time of year, a way to bring the light inside of our homes, deck our halls, celebrate the joy of giving, sharing, laughing and loving. It's a magical time, if we allow it to be. It is like all things in life all about perspective. It isn't about the race for the cheapest DVD Player or the newest gadgets or games, it's about family and friends. Honestly I've been chomping at the bit here this year. I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! Bring on the glitter, break out the glue guns, tinsel me up, baby!

I had a few not so fabulous Christmas experiences way back when and for many years it tainted things for me. I felt the holidays approaching and immediately started feeling stressed out and sad and disappointed in advance. We put a lot of pressure on these few days to make us happy. It's rather silly really. Happiness isn't an involuntary response to external stimuli, happiness is a conscious choice.

I dreaded Christmas for years and then I had a kid and she reminded me that it was about being in the moment so fully and completely that we couldn't help but choose joy...and that we could be sad too, but we didn't have to get stuck there. She helped me rediscover the wonder of the season. She helped me rediscover the magic of believing. She showed me the Zen of Christmas.

I choose not to get caught up in the buying of crap that people don't need. I choose not to feel pressured. I choose not to be sad about the disappointments of Christmas past. I choose to focus on the joy. The best gifts don't come in packages, they come from the heart.


I have recently acquired 16 sensational 1960s craft magazines. I am going to share with you over the next few weeks my version of some of the projects and remind you that a handmade gift can be ten times cooler than some random obligatory thing picked up on sale at the mall. It's a Retrofabulous Christmas Craftabration with Madge! Game on!

xoxo
Madge