Tree decorating tip

Okay, so today i wanted to post an easy tree decorating tip that helps bring volume and oomph to your tree.

it's quite simple!

you need some pipe cleaners and glass balls.

1) take a pipe cleaner and feed it through 1 glass ball. twist it so it is secure. do this 2 more times, so that you end up with 3 glass balls twisted with pipe cleaner. (you can feed one pipe cleaner through all 3 balls, but i found that the balls don't stay tight like that, so to make them stay tight once you've twisted them onto a branch, i would do one pipe cleaner per ball.)

2) then twist the 3 balls together so that you are forming a "ball bunch"

3) then twist your little bunch onto a section of your tree.

** you can tie them so that they hang under the branch OR i like to tie them so that they are sitting on top of the branch.

that's it!

what this does is that it fills up spaces in the tree that you wouldn't achieve by simply hanging one glass ball at a time.

tomorrow i will post some pictures of my beautiful tree!

------------------------

also a reminder that the top hat blog hop deadline is fast approaching. we are posting on Friday Dec. 3rd, which is coming up, so don't forget! you can read the original post here, if you need to be caught up on what i am talking about!

Holiday decor

here's a really easy project that was fun and inexpensive to do:

supplies needed:

paper mache star wands - i found mine at JoAnne's ($1 each)
vintage text pages
glitter
white paint
modge podge glue
small glass Christmas balls - mine are vintage, but use what you have
glass container- mine is actually plastic from the $1 store, it's shaped like a Sundae glass
ribbon
paintbrush
water cup

-----------------------------------------------

*first i collaged the front of the stars with text, let dry.
*next i painted the back of the stars and wand white.
*on the front sides of the stars, also line in white.
*then i hit the front of the stars with more modge podge (slightly watered down) and glittered.
*stick wands in the glass. i cut a couple of them to vary the height.
*add colorful glass balls
*tie ribbon around base
Viola! you are done and you now have a very pretty decoration!

come back tomorrow and i'll share another great tree decorating tip!

Happy belated Thansgiving!

I hope you all had a very nice Thanksgiving - we had a nice and quiet day. We all ate too much and then relaxed all day. The boys got out my tree for me and today we have been doing a little bit of decorating.

My holiday decorating style is mostly vintage treasures found throughout my years of flea marketing.

these are some lovely mercury glass beads and a wreath that i bartered with my friend, Cheryl for. it has a Charlotte doll on it and while i have plenty of those dolls, this doll is very pretty! (don't mind Gracie's tennis ball in the picture!)

-----------------------------------------------------

this is a manzanita branch that i cemented inside this green pot. i put it on my table and then hung a variety of vintage items from it. it is very hodepodey, but yet, looks simple and charming. it was hard to photograph in front of the window, but i think you get the gist. You could do something similar with a branch from the yard. It's great for areas that need something.....

tomorrow i will post another easy holiday decorating project

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

this is my Al-Turn-A-Tree (think alternative....) - She's a cute doll that i rescued from the flea market (well, i think she's cute!) and i assembled her into a tomato cage which i decorated with all vintage items. I know some people find these dolls creepy, but she really looks very pretty all lit up in her glory! i have her in my studio.

I'm still working on my big tree, so i'll post pics of that later!

_________________________

and this is strictly promo, just an fyi that i have actually updated my etsy shoppe (gasp!) i have a few holiday headbands left and am slowly adding some of the many things that should have been added while ago!

update: "Life" necklace - SOLD

----------------------------------------------------

impromptu soldering class

Yesterday i took a drive to Pelman Manor, New York to teach a soldering class to 3 young girls (daughters of someone who admired my work). They were very polite, sweet and well mannered girls (always a plus in my book!) they worked hard and picked up on the technique pretty quickly. we worked non stop for 4 hours so that they could finish their projects and i'm happy to say they all did. Here's two of the girls proudly wearing their necklaces.

helping out a friend

The member's of the O&E design team are holding a little auction of some of our designed pieces for one of our own. She is going through a life change and we are hoping to raise a few dollars for her to begin again. If you go to the O&E blog, you can see what is for sale (great holiday gifts!) I donated one of my pieces using O&E products for their blog auction and then decided to also to sell one of my own Lemoncholy's pieces here on my blog as well. (fyi, shipping is FREE!) here is the blog post about our friend:

There are times in all of our lives when we have needed a helping hand to get through a rough place we might be. Sadly one of our fellow Design Team Members has been faced with a tremendously difficult situation. As many of you know we here at O&E are much more than a group of Artist's creating jewelry and art - we are friends; friends who support, cheer on and help one another no matter what the situation might be.

That said we have decided to provide you, our readers and cheerleaders the opportunity to purchase your very own exclusive O&E Design Team Piece. All funds will go to our fellow designer in need.

To purchase an item simply click on the Buy It Now Button and you will be directed to Paypal where the transaction will be finalized and your item will be shipped.

It is our hope that you will understand the desire to keep our Designer's name private as the circumstances of the situation are not only extremely personal but very difficult. We thank you all for your support in this and wish you happy creative days

this piece is about 16" long (not including the length of the heart). The heart was sculpted, distressed, stamped, hand painted, embellished with vintage costume jewelry and then soldered. Finally, ICE Resin® was added on the top of the heart. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me at : keeshagirl4@aol.com

$110 -

don't forget to take a peek at the other items also up as part of the auction. Yesterday someone asked me if they could make a private donation instead of purchasing something and yes, that is a wonderful idea, so if that's something you would prefer to do, you may contact me about that as well. any help is much appreciated.

Baubles and Bling/NYC recap

Wednesday I went into NYC to meet up with Stephanie Rubanio and Pamela Huntington. Stephanie was showing at The One of a Kind Show and we were going to help her set up and then go play. When i finally arrived, they had a good part of the work done, so i didn't really help out too much (I was late due to the clerk not returning my credit card after a purchase made in Grand Central Station so i had to turn around to go back and get it)

We went out for a bite to eat, hit a fun clothing store, called Desigual (i got a super fun skirt there!) and then headed over to Tinsel Trading.

-----------------------------------------------------------

after parting ways at Tinsel Trading, I was "lost in NYC" for a bit. I couldn't for the life of me get a cab and of course i had no clue where i was or any clue about the location of Grand Central Station. (you know, you just hop in a cab and say "Grand Central Station" - the cabbie knows how to get there!) It was getting pretty dark and cold AND my cell phone was dying, so i had to turn it off (i needed enough juice to call Sallianne when i arrived at the train station in Scarsdale). Finally i wandered upon a vintage clothing store and went inside for refuge and to try and figure out what in the heck i was going to do. The young clerks had no clue how to direct me, but then a gentlemen came in and he told me exactly where i needed to go (i had made the executive decision that i would be walking to GST). So that was fun! (well, not really!) I was so happy to finally arrive at the train station, got a glass of wine and caught my train back to Scarsdale. I took these 2 pics on my walk to the station.

this is a church that i thought looked so lovely with the clouds behind the steeple.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at Sal's we had some dinner and started getting some things organized for Baubles and Bling. Sal told me a funny story of how the wind had kicked up something awful during the day and ripped all the plastic lining they had put up around the outside porch area and how she and the mailman were chasing the plastic down the street. (i actually would have enjoyed watching that!)

Thursday miss Sal, Roseanne and I worked our tails off unpacking, organizing and merchandising all the various artists that were participating.

this is a funny pic as we were making fun of ourselves for playing with our phones and talking to each other on facebook.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

our project for Pam's theater class - fun time!

Miss Queen Bee is dressed for the theater enjoying her tea and crumpets.

progress of my theater