Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm off to Idaho!  Happy Thanksgiving all!

Shining Star

This one is super easy! And I even have a template this time!

1. Print out the template onto cardstock, making sure to size it to your liking.

2. Cut out the outer edge of the template, leaving the inner parts alone for now. Use this to trace your three pieces. The first star will be in black, the second star will be in pretty shiny paper, and the third in a pretty colored cardstock for the back.

3. Now, using a straight edge, cut out the inner pieces of the template and trace them onto the black piece of paper. Cut those pieces out.

4. Glue it all together, sandwiching a pretty piece of ribbon in between the back cardstock and the shiny paper. Voila, a shiny star for your tree!

What's Thanksgiving?

Yes, Thanksgiving has not yet come. And yes, I have been thinking about Christmas for a while now... I love Christmas, and the earlier I think about it, the easier it is to enjoy. Imagine having all of your Christmas shopping finished, your meals already planned and your plans taken care of... you can then actually enjoy the week or so before Christmas instead of running around like a maniac getting that last present or can of fried onions - sending hate waves to anyone whose shopping cart gets in your way. So anyway, I'm thinking about Christmas. And as a crafty kind of person, I really have to plan things out because my holidays take a bit longer to produce. So I have some Christmassy things to share. I'm making paper ornaments this year, I am absolutely in love with a certain scrapbook co's new Christmas line and I must use it. So my first, of what hopefully becomes a few many, ornament is this lovely birdy.

I'd share the template, but as it comes from a copyrighted craft book, Treasury of Christmas Crafts & Foods, I think I'll leave it up to you to find a nifty picture to use.

First, I printed the bird off onto cardstock and cut it out. I then lightly traced it, using a very sharp pencil, onto scrapbook paper, this one is called "Wish." Then, using a coordinating color of separated embroidery floss, 2 stands, and a very fine needle, I started stitching. The thing about embroidering on paper is that your mistakes will show up, so you always want to poke your next hole on the top, where you can line it up with your traced design, and then find the hole on the bottom to pull through. This of course is if you are using back stitch as I have.

After the stitching is finished, I used a small metal brad to make the eye. Then glue it to cardstock and let it dry between two pages of a book before cutting it out. Back the ornament with a pretty piece of paper attaching a loop of ribbon between the two pieces of paper at the same time, glue and set between pages of a book. Cut it out one more time and there you have it, a beautiful Christmas birdy for your tree.

Knit This

All I have to say is that I am continually amazed by knitters.

knit by Theresa Honeywell