Going to a Craft night with friends tomorrow!

Image via WikipediaSince I seem to be in a place where I just can't get myself started, I have been trying to arrange a monthly Craft Night with friends from work.  Well, I finally got everything arranged and we will be meeting for our first crafting experience tomorrow.  I am so excited.  We will be making some Christmas Tree Ornaments with crepe paper and beads.  I will take my camera and hopefully get a tutorial out of the process.  If not, I will at least have some fun pics to post!  I will put those up tomorrow when I get home!

Related articles

• Christmas Ornamentation Ideas For Kids (rock-kool-dadie.blogspot.com)
• Let's Make Christmas - with Jo-Ann (eon.businesswire.com)
• Fun Paper Crafts for Kids: Making a Christmas Poinsettia (brighthub.com)

Ribbon Tree Holiday Cards

here's another quick idea for some last minute, hand-made Christmas cards.  I might leave out the quilling if I was going to be mailing them, otherwise, these are really beautiful and quite easy.  Even the kids could have a go at making these cards!

If you do try them, let me know how it goes and what you think, won't you?


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By Ann Martin
Are you planning to make cards to send this holiday season, but running out of time? Or perhaps you've been toying with the idea of giving paper quilling a try, but have hesitated because you think it must be too complicated? Worry not ... these retro ribbon trees go together quite quickly. The 3D quilled scrolls add a bit of extra dimension, but if really pressed for time, you could omit them and still have a pretty card.

Materials:

Cardstock: green, ivory, white, and glossy red
Velvet paper, dark green
Ribbon, 14" long, metallic, 3/8" wide
Printer and tree template
Quilling paper, white, 1/8" or use computer paper and cut 1/8" strips with a paper cutter
Quilling tool, slotted
Paper cutter with scoring blade
Double stick tape or glue stick for mounting layers
Glue, clear drying, suitable for paper
Plastic lid
Ruler
Scissors
Tweezers


Download and print the tree template.

Directions for the Red Card:

Step 1: Prepare a green card blank by cutting cardstock to make a 5½"×8½" rectangle. Score and fold the 8½" length at the midpoint to make a card that measures 4¼"×5½".
Step 2: Cut a 3"×5" rectangle of glossy red cardstock. Center and glue it on the card.

Step 3: Print out the tree template. Adjust the size to make a tree that measures 2¼"×4¼". Cut out the tree, trace around it on white cardstock, and cut out.
Glue strips of ribbon diagonally across the tree, allowing a little extra at each end. It's easiest (and you'll get the cleanest cut) if you wait until the glue has fully dried before trimming. Then turn the tree over and trim the excess ribbon. Glue the tree on the card, allowing room below it for the quilled stand.


Step 4: Insert one end of a 4" quilling strip into the slot of a quilling tool. Turn the tool with one hand and guide the paper with the other to make a rolled coil. Stop rolling at the halfway point and slip the coil off the tool.

Repeat with the other end of strip, rolling it toward the midpoint to form a C. Make 2.
Step 5: Glue a 1" strip of quilling paper on top of another 1" strip, creating a double thickness.
Step 6: Make a glue palette by spreading a thin puddle of glue in a plastic lid. Pick up a C coil with tweezers, touch its underside to the glue, and place it on the card. Repeat with the second C scroll, turning it over so it faces the opposite direction. Glue the 1" strip at the bottom of the 2 C scrolls as the base.

Directions for the Green Card:

The ivory/green card is nearly identical to the green/red one, except for using a 3¾"×5" rectangle of dark green velvet paper on an ivory card and a slightly larger tree template (2½"×4¾").

The quilling gives just the suggestion of a tree stand. Make an asymmetric C scroll by rolling one end slightly past the midpoint of a 4" strip, so that one coiled end is larger than the other. Make 2.
Mailing Tip: Is it possible to send a quilled card through the mail without the quilling getting crushed? Yes! Cut a square of bubble wrap and place it over the quilling before sliding the card into a regular envelope or use a bubble wrap mailer. You might also want to include a piece of cardboard behind the card to prevent bending. And if you're really daring, considering how busy the post office is at this time of year, take the cards there and ask to have them hand cancelled.
About the Author:

Ann Martin of all things paper is a quilling enthusiast who loves introducing the craft to others. She teaches, designs projects for books and magazines, and is especially hooked on making paper filigree jewelry.

Christmas Shopping Advice for Men

Here is an article I found that is quite humorous.  You might want to print it out and "accidentally" leave it lying for your man to find.  It really gives some good advice on how to buy a present for a woman, and even if it was published in the UK, it has universal information.
I hope you find this as interesting as I did and I hope it helps you get what you "really" want for Christmas this year!

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Author: Carrie Spacey

Published: 11th November 2009 12:37

It's a well-worn cliche that many men put this task off until Christmas Eve - but have you ever wondered why that is? It won't necessarily be because he's lazy or disorganized, no, it's far more likely he just hasn't got a clue and has that "can't do right for doing wrong" mental block.

We're here to help, so all you worried men out there, read on....

Christmas shopping for the woman in your life can be daunting, but knowing a few basics about the noble art of buying gifts for women can help you on the way to a harmonious festive season:

It's About Her, Not You
This has to be the cardinal rule: Do not, under any circumstances, buy her something that's on your own wishlist. So, nothing from the DIY shop, no sports DVDs, no gardening implements. Most women will not have "52" LCD TV so I can watch Liverpool v Utd next Saturday" at the top of their must-haves.

No Household Appliances
You might think you're being helpful by getting her a chop-o-matic or one of those nifty new hoovers with a ball instead of wheels, but believe me, go that route and it's highly likely you'll be spending Christmas night in Arrowe Park A&E. Christmas is a time for gifts she wants, not stuff she needs.

Apply the Mother-in-Law test

Each idea you have must be put through this rigorous testing procedure. If you think your Mother would like it, forget it. Move on. Quickly.

Big Pants or Black Lace? Neither!
It's entirely possible that your loved one could do with some new knickers or a nightie. But, you must strike the right note - half-way between granny pants and your wildest fantasies should be about right.

Don't Attempt to "Do" Fashion
Clothing may seem to be an ideal gift, especially if your partner loooooves clothes. However, the point is, if she does love clothes, she probably has a very strong idea of what she does and doesn't like, honed over several thousand hours of window/online/real-life shopping. How can you hope to compete with that level of experience?

A far better idea is to figure out her favourite shop, buy an extravagantly generous voucher and then wrap it up beautifully - layers and layers of silk, ribbon, little notes in between each layer. Anything to disguise the fact you wimped out and got her a voucher, basically.

Listen and Learn
Once upon a time I had a craving for a particular, really funky, leather jacket. I went on, and on, and on about it in the presence of my then boyfriend. In fact, no-one in a 10 mile radius could have been in any doubt of what I wanted for Christmas. He, however, bought me an "ornamental" painted wooden frog. Called Bladder. I kid you not.

OK, I appreciate this is an extreme example, but it does serve the purpose of pointing out that you could do well to actually listen to the hints she is dropping. Sometimes these may be subtle, but most likely they will be like bricks landing in a duck-pond. They'll probably have started around late October. Listen and act on them. Definitely.

Love Conquers All
There's probably very little chance you will ever get it 100% right, because we women are a capricious bunch. But, if she can tell you've at least thought about it, and curbed your urges towards the mundane, the easiest option or the downright lazy, the chances are you will avoid the spectacle of your Christmas dinner ending up on the dining room wall.

Just show her you care enough to follow the above rules, and I'm prepared to bet my wooden frog Bladder that you'll see her smiling at you over the sprouts this Christmas.

Find the original article here