Friday, November 15, 2013

Candlestick Pilgrims- Sassy Sanctuary

Hello WYLTC readers!  Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary here today.  Hasn't this week been fun?!  I've loved all the turkeys so much and totally want one of each!  But I'm here to actually break the mold and share a set of pilgrims to go with all those turkeys. :)

So, do you guys remember the candlestick rabbits we all made waaaaay back in the beginning of WYLTC?  Well, I've really loved my rabbits so I decided to take a spin on those and make some candlestick pilgrims.  They turned out pretty cute and were SO easy!  (Easy is a requirement for me lately.)


All the supplies were purchased at Micheals.  From the wood section you will need two candle sticks, two doll heads, a round disk, and a napkin ring.  Then grab some paint and a sheet of white craft foam.


First thing you need to do is get rid of the gold thing that holds the candle.  I just used a butter knife and bent it all down inside the candlestick.


Then you can hot glue all the pieces together.  In hind sight, I would have painted everything and then glued it all together, but you can do it either way.


Once they are all painted you can cut and glue on little collars and a brim for the bonnet out of the craft foam.  They look something like this.


And that's it.  I think I had them both done in under an hour.


They sure make a cute addition to my Thanksgiving display!


I sure hope you all enjoyed this weeks crafty inspriation and I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving holiday!!

Thanks for reading!


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Crafty Sisters Turkey

 Hello from Crafty Sisters!
We were so glad for this month's Thanksgiving/Turkey theme!
I've had this turkey mostly cut out for about 4 years now, just laying in my shed, begging to be put together.
Isn't he cute!
 About 5 years ago I saw his doppelganger over at my friends house, a purchase from a bazaar some 10 years before, and I knew I needed one too.
This turkey is just shy of 3 feet tall.  The original had boots with socks but I tend to love those silly big feet instead.  Everything is cut from 1" pine except for his hat brim and beak which are 1/4" MDF and the feet are from 2" pine.  I used 5/16" size dowel for the legs because the little 1" balls from Hobby Lobby fit perfect on them for "knees".:)

I cut the back feathers in slimmer pieces because the wood is cheaper that way and I knew the seam would be covered.
After locating all my parts and cutting out new "missing" parts I ran all the edges down my table sander for a fun chunky look.  You can do this with a dremel but it takes way longer.  If you really love woodworking or are ready to get serious about having fun with it I completely recommend getting a table top sander.  They are about $100 but once you figure how much time you waste with little hand held sanders....you'll realize it is the best money you've ever spent!
First you'll need to give everything a good coat of paint.  I always water my paint down so it gives it more of a "stain" appearance then thick goopy paint.  You can always add more layers of paint~it's really hard to take it away.
The body I painted Americana Light Buttermilk.
The back leaves were Americana Napa Red, with a second coat of the Napa Red mixed with a bit of Burnt Umber till I go the effect I liked.
The hat was Ebony Black and the feet were Burnt Orange~which is probably my favorite orange paint color ever!
Using a toothbrush and some watered down black paint, I speckled all the pieces.
The original bird had lots of little leaves for feathers but guess what~due to over commercialization in the market place of Christmas, you can't find any small leaves....anywhere.  The gal at Hobby Lobby suggested I but a $99 swag to rip apart for the leaves.  Yes, fantastic solution was all I could think.  They did have 2 sets of these giant leaves that worked fine.  Yes, I'm a bit sarcastic this morning.....

Once you're paint is dry, go over all the edges with a hand sander to distress them a bit.
I follow the sanding with a bit of watered down Burnt Umber paint on an old wash rag.  Light enough to distress, easy with the rag to control how much goes on.  
Remember.....a little goes a long way.  You want it distressed, not grungy.  If you go grungy~next year you'll want to through that dirty turkey away.
While you wait for the paint to dry get working on the bloomers.
These are what made me fall for this turkey in the first place, they are so fun!
First attach the dowels to the feet~don't connect to the body or else you can't get the bloomers on.
Cut 2 of the same huge rectangles of desired height and width then snip up the middle to create some legs.
I used my glue gun to put these together~no sewing!
 Then with a needle and thread I did a very loose stitch around the waist and legs to gather them up.
Using your glue gun you can adhere them in place around the waist.
Don't forget to stuff them!  I used plastic grocery store bags.  Why you ask?
I have tons, they stay puffed and why not?

Using other scraps of fabric you can add ties to his waist, legs and a little collar with a bow for his next and hat.  I had a few buckles left over from my witch shoes that I used for his hat.

Now you can attach the the back feathers with a little glue and a few screws to hold them all tight.
Here is my plea.....make sure you do a quick coat of paint on the back.  Nobody likes an unfinished bird.  He will be destined for a life up against a wall.  Just like the Geico girls....
"Don't do it Kimber......don't forget to paint the back of your bird!"  All that hair....and you know they left the back flat and lifeless.
These obviously are my favorite commercials right now~thanks Geico!
Pretty simple project and he's so cute!  Now to make the matching Pilgrims....
Happy Thanksgiving from Crafty Sisters!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Under My Umbrella Turkey Fun!

Hooray for Thanksgiving decor!  I'm always a fan of a holiday where eating is the big event.  My main thought this month was making a turkey something type of craft.  The other thought in my mind was I have all those coffee filters from last month's Halloween craft and what great turkey feathers they could make.  All those thoughts combined formed my craft idea for this month....A coffee filter Turkey!



I grabbed some scrap MDF and cut out a turkey body shape, beak and feet. I used the pattern I made a while back.  You can find it HERE.  I then hot glued coffee filers onto my turkey's body.  Easy but time consuming!


Then grab a bunch of burlap, lace and extra fabric.  Whatever I happened to have at the time in my stash was used :)   I hot glued them the strips on a board I cut shaped like a rainbow for his tail feathers.  Again...easy but time consuming.  My kids decided to go and get the flu this weekend so I was home bound.  Nothing better to do when at home than craft an adorable little turkey!  My kids love to play with his feet hanging down!  


The family just put in their vote for his sign to say "eat ham" instead of "Happy Thanksgiving".   Everyone is a crafting expert here and love to voice opinions!  They also feel he should have eyes.  I like him just the way he is!


Happy Turkey Day!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Turkey Time from Craft Goodies!

Hi there happy crafters! And happy November to you all.
Can you believe we're already half way through the month, where does the time go? Life has been super crazy busy here at the Craft Goodies household but that doesn't mean we can't find a little time for a fun WYLTC project.
I got to pick the theme this month so as an avid lover of all things holiday, I went with "Thanksgiving Décor". And this little cutie is what came from it...
Sorry for the phone picture...once again, the camera is missing!
I wanted a fun turkey to add to my entry table. I found a great piece of clipart and went from there. I drew out the pattern for the turkey. Cut the body and feet from 3/4 inch MDF, the feathers, head and beak from 1/4 inch MDF. His skinny little legs are 3/4 inch dowels.
I painted each piece and then beveled the edges with the band saw. I love this look--kind of chippy and layered.
He looked great on his own, but the pumpkins put me over the moon!
 
They too are 3/4 inch MDF so they are good and sturdy. I followed the same process, drew out the patterns, painted, and then hit the band saw. {I did run a piece of sand paper over the edges to remove a few stubborn pieces of sawdust.} Then just glued them together, added a little raffia and BOOM! My little pumpkin patch was done.


My entry way is so much more fun and festive now. And most important, my kiddos think it's pretty cool--it's always nice when my toughest critics are well pleased!
And speaking of pleased, I'm pleased to remind you that the other WYLTC ladies will be sharing their Thanksgiving Décor pieces with you through out the rest of the week so stay tuned for some sure to be inspiring ideas cause these ladies are AWESOME!

Until then, happy Crafting to you all-