Elf Yourself Puppets Free Templates Patterns and Printable

One more post before Christmas. I did not plan this one but I wanted to do some "Elf Yourselves" with my grand kids. I looked for some free patterns but I did not find any really good ones, so I decided to make my own. I had so much fun making memories with my grandbabies! The three year old did need a little more help but he still had a blast! It is almost Christmas so tell your friends so they don't miss out of this fun activity with there little ones.

 

Aren't they cute!

I did not want to just print them to save on ink, these have so much color! I think the card stock looks better anyway. However we did print the hands, ears and faces. 

There are three full sheets to this set. The finished elf is about 20 inches tall. One sheet is the printable hands and ears and they should be printed on card stock. Then you will need to take a picture of your child and that should be printed on card stock as well. 

Then there are two sheets of patterns. Just print these on standard copy paper and use repositional glue to adhere them to colored card stock. Cut them out and peel off the patterns. To do the stockings, I just cut strips of red with my paper cutter, glued them across both legs and then trimmed the stripes off to the edge of the legs. We then added glitter glue to jazz them up! 

Feel free to pin the picture of the boys above but Get the pattern at my little etsy store! 

Enjoy!

DIY Book Page Poinsettias Pattern And Tutorial

I have been making some Christmas crafts myself too! along with being busy making some new ornaments, I needed something for the top of the tree. I decided I wanted to make some book page poinsettias to match the new book page honeycomb ornaments but every pattern that I found had perfect little petals and natural poinsettias just don't look like that...so I just made one.

Even though a natural poinsettia doesn't have book page print on them I still wanted them to have a natural shape :))

Once it was completed I sprayed it with alcohol ink to give it an aged look. I liked it so well that I am doing some not just for the top but for the whole tree. I also tried one in red but I think I like the first one the best. I still have to get some beads to go in the centers. I will put them on a wire so they can just be stuck in the center. That way they can be removed so that they can be folded flat for storage. They are fast and easy and will keep from year to year... so go ahead and make a bunch! 

Pattern and Instructions are available in my little etsy store

Punch & Judy Free Printable

I do have a free printable for you but first let me show you what I have been working on. As much as I wanted to get my nutcracker theater done this year, I needed to make sure this was done for Christmas. The two main puppets were from an early 1800's magazine and were so poorly printed it literately took me weeks to complete them.

Someone very special to me, who happens to be a big Punch & Judy fan, is going to get a kit for this for Christmas. I have had the theater printed larger than my printer will print but I am going to print the puppets large myself. Then I will put it in a special box I am working on with the chip board, brads, glue and so on so that she can make it herself. The graphic's for this are now available in my little etsy store.

As you know... I usually try to make my free image go along with whatever I am working on so I have a cute little Punch and Judy free printable for you. I thought it would make a great invitation to your show or Punch & Judy birthday party, or as I have used it to create a box lid for the little theater to go into.

If you check it out in its larger version, I think you will be able to tell how clear I can make these vintage images :)

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads.

 

I also would like to post a little history on Punch and Judy:

 

May 9, 1662 is the day that is credited as Punch's birthday as that was the first recorded day his show was preformed in Britain. The British show developed into "Punch and Judy" with its first published script in 1827.  However the show was preformed in the 1700 in Italy only the puppets had a different names, Pulcinella and his wife Joan. 

 He speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, assisted by a "Bottler", who encouraged to participate and collecting money. The Bottler also played accompanying music or sound effects usually on a drum. Today it is preformed often in private parties and is fun for all ages.

The Count's Castle

I have been working on this for some time now. I actually started the graphic's for it last year. I had wanted to do it for Halloween but time flew by and I knew I was not going to make it. So I started a Nutcracker theater, thinking I would have time to get that done before the Christmas season. Well that did not happen...lol
 

So off season or no I tend to work on my holiday projects year round because as you know by now, if I don't then it doesn't get done :)) I am calling this one "The Counts Castle" but I do intend to make some completer sheets for it in the future. Then it can be dressed for "The princess and the pea, Sleeping Beauty (a friends idea) and yes of course Haunted Halloween! It also might be a fun place for Marie Antoinette and her court to live.For those of you who have purchased the digital kit from my little etsy store, I also wanted to do a quick rundown on how I made it. I started with an old jewelry box from the local thrift shop. Then I cut a hole in the top. I left this kinda big so that it would be easy for little hands to maneuver the puppets.
 

Then I covered the box with the brick paper also in the kit. My box measured 7 inches high and 10 wide so the background paper was longer than the interior wall. Instead of wallpapering it to the back and bending it around the corners, I bowed it and just glued it in along the sides. I loved how it gave it a real theater feel.
 

I did the puppets, facade and the towers as I always do. I printed them on brochure paper but you can also use a light weight photo paper. Then I used spray glue to attach it to a medium weight matte board. You can purchase medium weight matt board at your local office supply store or just use the light weight gift boxes you get at the dollar store. Cut all the pieces out and sand the edges with a emery board..the heavy ones for artificial nails.
 

I curled the towers up and attached them to the sides. You can make them more pliable by pressing it against the corner edge of a table, in a sawing motion move the tower from side to side and it will start to curl, then go ahead and roll it into a tube. This way you will not get any wrinkles or bends in the matt board. Be sure to use a marker on the edges of all you pieces too. That way no one will see cut cardboard on the edges. If you do it right, it will be hard to tell it from a die cut image.

I have used some little wire puppet stands for display I used the picture from My Gotcher theater so you can see what the stands look like. Wands for "The show" and stands for display :) Don't forget to put a tab on the back of your doll to hook your wand to.

 

Just me and my art, tutorials and free printable

 

Well I guess it is back to "All about me" :)) and things around this house has been just crazy. I did get this frame done and I am also adding a tutorial on how to make authentic looking cab cards below and a free printable to start you off.

The about me part, I have had company for the past couple of weeks and the last of them went home on the 3rd. Whew I thought! My son called me the next morning and told me my beautiful little grandson was sick. It did not look to serious but he was taking him to a doctors appointment. I told him to call me and let me know how he was. Shortly later my son called again and said that the little guy had Fifth disease, a virus that most children get. Between the time he had called me and the time he got him to the doctor he had broken out in the most awful red rash and even some blisters. So he had it to a more severe degree than most. It is not a virus that will really harm him as it will run it's course but if his momma who is 4 months pregnant contracted it there was a risk of significant harm to the unborn baby : / The doctor said it would be best if our little guy and his momma stayed in separate houses... sooo I have a sick little guy for the next week and his momma is in tears too since she can't be there for her sick little one. My son has been running back and forth between the two houses but each time he goes home he has to shower so our little momma doesn't catch it. I just keep saying "Gosh what next!" ... lol

How about how to make authentic looking cab cards! 

First you will need to print your image (and you can use the one below) on semi gloss brochure paper. Then you need some light weight matt board, like the white gift boxes you can get from the dollar store. Oh yes, you will also need a can of craft spray glue.

Cut out the image you are going to use for the front of the cab card and spray glue the backside. Stick it to the light weight matt board and let that dry. Cut out the image you are going to use for the backside leaving about a 14 inch extra around the edges. Spray the backside of your image with glue. Then lay the image already on the matt board onto a light box or hold it against a window so you can see where the edges of the card will be. Align the front image with the back image. Once dry using your already cut out image, cut the matt board and the backside image to match the front.

Use a heavy emery board to sand the edges and round the corners.

Use an ink that matches the print all around the edges also touching it here and there direct to the paper on both the front and the back. Then blend it all with a blending solution or a blending pen. Since I had used a laser printer, I could just use alcohol.

 

I also bend it here and there and bang the corners to give them the look of having been handled through the years.

I placed mine in the frame above with some originals and as you can see it is difficult to tell the difference.

 

 

Now for the printable :)

Feel free to pin the thumbs below but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Enjoy!

Inka

Wedded Bliss for Something Blue

This is the last week of the wedding theme sayings over at Mixed Media Monday and since I have done nothing with a wedding theme I did this little wedding card. I also did this one because I wanted to share a technique I have been playing with. Crackle paint can be so expensive but this is a Fun inexpensive alternative to crackle paint and glaze.

This easy technique is done with cheap Elmer's school glue ...really any cheap white glue works, I even tried the stuff from the dollar store. I discovered glue crackle on the internet but found the explanations very limited. I not only wanted to crackle paint for backgrounds but I also wanted to crackle clear glaze to use on my images. As hard as I searched I found nothing on crackling clear glaze.... sooo I did a lot of experimenting with different glues and glazes and found that the cheep white school glue works best for this technique. There is no difference if you use the clear or white. Most any water based glue will work however Mod Podge doesn’t work at all

To crackle paint:
Step1.
Using acrylic paint, choose the color you would like your cracks to be and paint the surface of your project. Let it dry completely. This works on wood metal paper and even cloth. If your doing this on paper you can just use unpainted card stock in the color of choice so just skip this first step.

Step 2.
Cover the painted surface with glue. The thickness of the glue will determine the size of your cracks. A thin glue layer will result in a fine crack, the thicker the glue the larger and wider the crack. For a very fine crack it is best to thin the glue a bit. I found using my hands worked better than a brush for spreading on the glue. You have to work fast... I got a more even coverage and I was able to control the thickness of the glue much easier. It also eliminated brush marks.

Step 3.
Do not let the glue dry completely. It must still be tacky if you want it to crack. For thin glue let it dry about 3 minutes and for the thicker glue about 5 to 8 minutes. Once tacky cover the surface with Acrylic paint. Again I found using my hands worked best. The cracking starts pretty quickly and it is really fun to watch.

For a clear crackle over an image
Step1.
It is done much the same, cover the printed surface with glue. I used a lazer print. I think the ink would run with an ink jet image. Again, the thickness of the glue will determine the size of your cracks. A thin glue layer will result in a fine crack, the thicker the glue the larger and wider the crack.

Step 2
Once the glue is tacky, paint on a clear water base varnish. I used the Delta Ceramcoat satin interior varnish. I also tried several others and they all worked well.

I enhanced the cracks for my example because they did not show up great in a photo. However on a small image with a face your cracks may not look so great enhanced. I had to do the image above several times before I had an image where the bride did not look like she was crying ...lol. In real life the cracks are really visible without any enhancement.

Dustin off my ATC's

Recently a friend told me I needed to get my ATC's out of the binder I kept them in and out where I could see them everyday and be inspired. So I had this little wire thing sitting on the shelf for years holding little baubles I had received and made. I had hubby mount it on the wall and hung some of my favorite ATC's on it. The little curlies on the bottom use to be the stand but now I can hang more stuff on them. I think I am going to make one more and dedicate it just to ATC's

 

Still that was just not enough display space so I wound wire around a paint bottle then flattened it and stretched it out. The I attached some wire leafs that I had received as a bow on a Christmas gift to the top.

It just makes me feel so good to sit at my desk and see them. Do you see one you made? :) This really makes me want to get into trading some ATC's again ... Want to do a One for One just email me :)

Artistic Souls Scarf

I am a member of two local art clubs and yesterday was the meeting of the souls ..... Artistic Souls that is :)) The wonderful Judy Johnson hosted and she presented this fabulous project. We started with a plain white silk scarf then we put texture sheets under it and then used a stippling brush to lightly brush across the surface with Fabrico ink. I used two textures and two colors. Once the background was done we stamped them. I use a stamp from hero arts and again the Fabrico ink. I just love it!

Here is a close up so you can see how the background looks

Peek A Boo Easter Eggs

What is old is new again :) These are the little eggs I made last year but because of several requests the instructions to make them are now in my free online workshops. Just click on the link in the left hand sidebar. You can also click on the picture above to get a better view of all 4 eggs!

 

 

 

Yes these are just plastic Easter eggs!

To begin you need to glue the seams of your eggs with E6000 so they don't open. Once that is dry make an oval template and using a dremel tool, cut an oval on one side of each egg. If you don't have a dremel you can make one with out the peek :)) see the picture of the purple egg.

 

Once that is done mix a little white glue with water so it is really runny. Then tear the cut edge from some printers paper and tear that into strips. Soak each strip in the water and smooth onto the egg. Now you have to wait again :) but you can cut out the images your going to use while you wait. When that is dry use a heavy coat of Gel medium and yes, wait again!

When dry sand your egg as smooth as you like. I used a sanding barrel on the end of my dremel to speed that up. I also did not smooth it out totally because I wanted that hand made artistic look. Then I painted them with white Gesso, once dry I dry brushed them with a little color, whew ... the drying is done! and now it is time to decorate! 

I just stamped the outside of the egg according to the style I chose for each one. I used the inner circle of a canning jar lid to hot glue a little nest of moss and then glued my egg to that but you could use all kinds of things to stand your egg on. A few ideas are candle holders, little box bottoms or even a napkin ring. For the peek-a-boo eggs I used images cut from Altered Artifacts collage sheets available at my Etsy store, floral elements and colored tissue paper that I had sewn and made mini garlands out of. These are simple to make, Sew lines down several layers of tissue. I use it straight from the package and I just leave it folded as it comes. The lines you sew do not have to be perfect nor does it matter if the tissue tucks a bit as you sew it because it really will not show when your garland is finished. Then trim the tissue about 1/4 of an inch from each side of the stitching. Whala your sewing lines are straight! The without cutting through the stitching clip the tissue about every 1/8 and inch and this doesn't have to be exact either. Once you have the entire strip clipped on both sides of the stitching, hold both end in one hand and twist it up. Without letting it untwist gather it into a ball and roll it in your hands to form as small a ball as you can. Unroll it and fluff. This can be repeated until you are happy with the look. The more you twist roll and fluff the softer it gets.

 

Now for the whole Victorian egg I wet the back of my image. This made it pliable so that it would contour to the egg easily without wrinkling. This only works with laser images because the ink might run for inkjet images. Once it was soft, I applied a little glue and glued it to the egg. Then I masked off my image and sprayed the egg with Elmer's craft bond glue and rolled it in glass glitter, removed the mask and glued it to a little tissue paper nest that I had also glued onto a caning jar inner lid 

 

Flower Fever :o

Literally! I think I mentioned that I had been a little under the weather ...yep I think it was flower fever. I am better now but I felt so bad I did not feel like doing anything but sitting in bed and watching TV....well that got old real quick! so I sat in bed, watched TV and made flowers.... Now I have a pile of fabric flowers that I have to figure out what to do with : / but aren't they pretty!

 

I put pin backs on some and sent them to friends. I think I might decorate some tee shirts and jeans with them too. They are so easy and I thought you might like to make some too!

 

I just folded a square of fabric in quarters, folded the top square section back to form a point, folded the bottom square section the same way so the whole thing was folded to a point. Then cut the top into a petal shape, unfold and you have a flower shape. Scrunch it in the center and tack it in place by hand. Do this in several sizes and layer them up. I did the same with a nylon sheer fabric and alternated the layers. I think it really made a difference.

 

My Little Monster Man

The other day I was visiting Totally Tutorials Blog and they had the cutest tutorial for making monster valentine cards by Art, Adventures, and Toddler. My grandbaby was visiting and when the little monster saw the monsters on the computer he of coarse wanted some. So I had the idea to make the little monsters more toddler friendly.

I just cut out two and added a little batting and a magnet. He played with them for hours! Luckily our coffee table is metal. I am not really an accomplished monster seamstress so they don't look quite as precise as the tutorial but our little monster was happy! He had on some little cargo paints that day and it was not long before he had one stuffed in each pant pocket :)

The little monster and his monsters

Tinsel Ornaments *<} :o } >>>

Have yourself a vintage little Christmas
.·::·.·:*:·.·::·..·::·.·:*:·.·::·..·::·.·:*:·.·::·..·::·.·:*:·.·::·.

 

 These really are easier than they look, they are just dressed up ornaments from the dollar store. The instructions for the styles I have done are below but you really could just let your imagination run wild. Each ornament has the same image on the backside but I used my mirrored images available at my little etsy store.. it so that it would look the same no matter what side you were looking at. I will also be recommending some products that I have used but I am in no way connected with these companies, I just like there products.

First decide what images you are going to use and cut them out. I love to do intricate cutting by if your not great with cutting things out you can just leave a quarter inch margin around the edge. If you do this however it will look better if you take a gold paint pen and run it around the edges.

 

The simplest ones were the last three you see on the bottom. To make these just crisscross a couple of shiny pipe cleaners and give them a couple of twists in the center as you see in picture 1. Then weave some tinsel back and forth around them as you see in picture 2. Curl the ends of the pipe cleaners and glue your images on. One on the front and the other on the back. If you want something a little more durable you can buy the flat wire ornaments. I found the star I used on the last one also at the dollar store.

For the birdcage I used five silver pipe cleaners and then twisted them together with a gold one. Then I wrapped one end of the gold pipe cleaner to form a ring as you see in the picture 3 and left the other half long. Once that was done I attached the other half of the gold pipe cleaner to the hanger on a Christmas bulb leaving only about two thirds the length of the silver ones. This will keep the “cage wires” from pulling straight when hung. Then glue another pipe cleaner around the circumference of the bulb and attach the silver pipe cleaners to that and curl the ends up. Wrap some tinsel around the center gold pipe cleaner and embellish to your hearts content.

 

I have recently discovered a glue called Zip Dry paper glue and I use it for just about everything. It sets quickly so your not holding things forever while they dry. It is the type of glue you find on the backside of a sticker so if you glue something where you don’t want it you can use another product called Un-Du scrappers solution to remove it and place it in the right spot without ruining the image or item you removed. As you can imagine, doing this kind of project your going to get glue all over your hands and enviably on the project where you don’t want it. However you can use the Un-Du to clean up your project too.                          

For the hot air balloon I used string tinsel. It may look like pipe cleaners but it is not. Cut a length of it long enough to go around the top section of the bulb and attach four lengths to it evenly spaced as you see in picture 6.Glue that around the top section of the bulb as in picture 7. Wrap a wooden block in foil paper and attach the tinsel strands to the sides of the block and embellish as you like. 

The others are just old fashion glass ornaments and a tree topper that I glued embellishments onto. I used Tinsel garlands, foil pipe cleaners, bead trim, fabric trims and I love Dresden foil. It is hard to find so if you don’t happen to have any Dresden foils try going to your party store and picking up some gold foil doilies from the wedding section. The edges of these can be cut off to form paper lace and sometimes you can find lacy medallions in the center that can be cut away and used too.

A Kaleidoscope for my sister Judy

Kaleidoscope made from wrapping paper rolls for my sister’s Birthday. As you turn the base around the clown in the diamond shaped window changes. 

 To make this you will need to find two cardboard tubes, one slightly smaller than the other. I used a wrapping paper tube and then a ribbon tube. You will also need a plastic bead container the size of the tube with the larger diameter (Pic.2). I found several sizes at my local bead store. Decide how long you want your kaleidoscope and cut the tube with the smaller diameter that length. Then cut the larger diameter tube about 1/3 the length of the smaller diameter tube. You will also need to cut 3 strips of mirror all the same length as the smaller diameter tube but one needs to be slightly narrower in width. They also need to be able to fit in the smaller tube when taped together as you see in picture 3. You can make a pattern out of cardboard until you come up with the right sizes. These strips also need to be of thin mirror, as you would find in those mirror tiles that you stick to walls. If you feel you can’t do this part you can always go to your local glass shop and have them cut. Once you have your pieces assembled, slightly tape the mirror strips together enough to hold the shape (pic. 3) and insert them into the tube. Use a bamboo skewer with E600 or Liquid Nails along the length to reach inside the tube and glue the mirror strips in place.

 

 

Place some broken glass, beads, glitter or whatever you like inside your bead container. Cover the entire rim with liquid nails and close the two pieces together. Run a bead of liquid nails around the diameter of the sides of the bead container. Wet your finger and smooth it out being careful not to get glue on the top or the bottom. If you do, wipe it off with alcohol or Goo Gone right away. Set the bead container aside to dry. Once it is completely dry, drill a hole in the side with a dremel (pic. 5). Use a craft syringe to fill it with Mineral Oil (Pic. 6). Make sure it is completely full and there is no air inside. Prop it up on each side so that it will sit on a table unaided. Clean any oil that may be around the hole off with alcohol not Goo Gone as Goo Gone is oily. Once dry cut a small square of acetate large enough to cover the hole. Cover one side of the acetate with Liquid Nails and carefully place over the hole. Once that has dried cover the top of the acetate and completely to the sides of the bead container with Liquid Nails to make a tight seal. 

 

Cut a strip of scrap paper to fit around the larger diameter tube. It will also need to be a little longer than the tube so that it will cover the bead container also when it has been glued to the end of the larger diameter tube. This will be the pattern you use to decide where you will place your window when you stamp your cardstock that will cover the larger diameter tube. Fold the pattern in half then in half again. Use the fold lines to mark out the pattern you will be using (Pic. 7). Stamp the cardstock for both tubes and glue onto the tubes and cut the window out. Choose a piece of braiding that will easily fold in half. Glue this around the end of the larger diameter tube with one half of the braiding off the edge of the tube. Run a bead of glue on the inside edge of the braiding that is hanging off the edge as you see in picture 9. 

Once the glue has dried slightly, fold to the inside of the tube and let dry (Pic.11). This will form a rim that will hold the larger tube in place later. Place a ring of foam mounting tape at the bottom of the smaller diameter tube and again on the smaller diameter tube where the top of the larger diameter tube will cover (Pic. 12). Do not remove the top tape cover (green plaid) but do tape the ends of the foam tape cover together with standard tape. This will create a surface for the larger tube to ride on and also create a stop for the braided rim. Once the braiding is dry, slide the larger tube over the smaller diameter tube from the top so that the braided rim you just made hits against the foam mounting tape stop.

 

 Once the bead container has once again dried, glue it in place on the end of larger diameter tube (Pic. 13). Glue some pretty braiding around the bottom end also (Pic. 14). As you turn the larger diameter tube decide where you would like your images I used collage sheets available at my etsy store and place them accordingly. This way as you turn the base the image in the window will change.

 Cut a circle of cardstock the diameter of the smaller tube, cutting a peep hole in the center of that. Decorate as you like and glue on the open end. Cover the edge with braiding add some bling and your finished. Peek through the peep hole and enjoy!