Glamour Christmas balls

A Christmas tree covered in handmade ornaments is always so darling. Each and every little ornament is made with so much love and care.

I was thinking of some new ideas to decorate our tree this year and found so many of them online. I'd like to share one of these, the Glamour Christmas balls* made mostly with recycled materials. The idea came from Yulia ( bysiki shop on Etsy) who was making these for years for her holiday tree. Julia lives and works in Moscow, Russia and her shop is full of great products for a baby.

 

So to make these you will need:

a plastic grocery store bag for each ball (a great way to give them a second life!)

1" wide lace ribbon or lace fabric, cut into 1" wide stripes

sequins and beads

thread

fabric glue

needle

 

Form an even shaped ball from the plastic bag and secure it with the threads. Add some glue to the surface to make sure it will stay in place. Let it dry.

Wrap the lace ribbon around your ball. Now it's time to decorate! Sew the sequins and beads on top of your ball, while securing your lace from unwrapping with coordinating threads. Use your imagination to get the best result!

 

Make a loop for hanging and here it is! Your new glamorous Christmas ball is ready!

*Published with permission from Yulia bysiki

December surprises

Who does not like to get gifts! I certainly do and this December I've received several lovely surprises.

First of all, I won a giveaway, a wonderful necklace made of a recycled computer part from the ReComputing shop on Etsy. 

 

 This necklace became one of my favorites, it is light weighted, pretty and suits to many of my outfits. Thank you Natalka, for this. I received a lot of compliments on this lovely unusual jewelry!

 The second gift was a complete surprise. I received the cutest little ornament for my Christmas tree with my name stitched on. A little lavender sack was added to the package so as soon as I opened the envelope I could smell the wonderful aroma! 

 All my stress is gone with the lavender aroma! Thank you, Lana (bellecoccinelle), for this wonderful hand made gift! It is hanging on my tree right now and it is just glowing with the reflections of the Christmas lights!

  

The third gift was a part of our Christmas gifts team exchange. Love, love, love it!

 All of my favorites are gathered together: a dark chocolate, a bag of coffee, little perfumes and very attractive turquoise beaded bracelet. 

 This is a very thoughtful gift. Thank you, Lena (sfbeads), for getting all these lovely things for me. I am really enjoying the card, too - it's like a little reminder to forget all your worries. 

Thank you so much to all of my Etsy friends, I am really happy that we have met, in person or in virtual reality. Merry Christmas to all!   

Potpourri ball, the Holidays gift idea

I bought the clear plastic glass ball at our local craft shop another day with great intentions to crochet around it. When I came home I start to look at this ball from another angle. The clear glass ball is a perfect way to preserve the summer and have it all year around!



So my idea is simple: gather your favorite botanicals, dry them, add 1 drop of your favorite essential oil per 1 cup of dried mix or leave it unscented, it is up to you.


Take the cap off the ball and carefully place your dried botanicals inside.


Put the cap back on and tie a pretty ribbon on top. Add another ribbon to hang the ball. That's it! Your one of a kind small but thoughtful gift is ready!

A plastic clear ball will work fine for this idea but I would use a clear glass one for this purpose. It is more friendly to the Earth and also the scent will stay brighter. The botanical mix, the ribbons and the scent are your choice, there is plenty of choices, just look around!


This idea is also great for the party favors.

Holiday surprises

There is something magical about receiving mail at this time of year. Besides bills it is full of surprises! Greeting cards from friends and relatives, special treats from merchants and the best part, unexpected little packages from your online friends.

This package was a total surprise! I am not very patient person when it is about cute brown packages... so I ripped the envelope off right there, by the mail box.

So here it is, my wonderful new holidays ornament from Lana at FineEmbroidery!It is totally great. Lana is making great personalized items and she made this pillow just for me - look, it says: www.socksandmittens.etsy.com !Perfect colors, festive mood, it seems that 2011 might be a fun year when you have an ornament like this!Thank you so much, Lana, it was a very, very nice surprise!