Starting Out White

White is a fresh, new beginning for a new year. It has so many hues and tints, that it is hard to find a real white.  If you use white in your home, it picks up other colors around it.  If you have too much junk, you can either get rid of it or paint it all white and give it a new look.

White Paper For Any Occasion

 Its a Wonderful Life

Painting by Eleanor Polen

This white paper fan can be easily made with any white paper, a pair of scissors, a whole punch, and some curling ribbon.

Cut on the folded line, and fold in half several times until you cannot fold it anymore and it looks like this:

 Hold it together tightly and

cut little hearts and squares on both folds.

Cut out shapes free-hand on both the folded edges,

or use the pattern and draw the outlines, on the folds,

with a pencil. Cut out the pieces, and unfold the

paper. Punch a hole at the very end of the folded fan, and string a ribbon through it. This can also be glitterized, if you like.

Here is another interesting card or ornament. It can be a window, or a door if you add a round door knob.

You can give the door a bit of dimension by making two pieces. Cut out the windows and trace around then on another piece the same size. Paint glitter glue on the windows, and add extra glitter. I used prisma glitter here.  On the wrong side of the cut-out window piece, roll tape . Set that side onto the glittered square.

 

The bird is just cut out and painted with glitter glue in various areas. To make the candle, copy the pattern and roll the piece around and tape it in the back. With a tube of glitter glue, draw some dripping wax, and paint the flame. Add extra prisma if you like. Golds and other metallics might look great.

It even fits in this old candle holder, and twinkles in the light, which is great for day time candle light.

In the previous post I tried to demonstrate a way to make the garland paper dolls. Try this in other shapes, like tea pots, houses, sheep, cupcakes, trees, or anything you like.

Here is the pattern. If it will not respond to your print button, highlight it then cut and paste (ctrl plus c) and bring up a blank page and click ctrl plus v.

The glove has a straight edge and can be placed on the fold of cardstock, to be used as a card.  I sprinkled it with mica flakes after painting the cuff with clear glitter glue and dotted glue down the center of each finger. The bird and the door can be used as cards if you place one edge on the fold.

These simple white paper things can be used for napkin rings, if you make a circle of paper to attach them to.  The candle would work as a napkin ring too, and would be especially dramatic and pretty if the napkin was a bold colour.

Click on any picture for a clearer view.

Here is that glittered bird in a tree.

In the works:  slide show, sewing tutorials, home education, the social unit of the family, and more.

White Paper

Moonlight

by Helene Coriveau (Quebec, Canada)

An easy white paper ornament,  suitable for any occasion, and a delight for children: a spiral or icicle.

Just wind a long strip of white paper tightly around a pencil. Hold it firmly while you paint it with glitter glue or glue. Then sprinkle with, or roll in prisma glitter (crystal or white fairy dust). Prisma tends to have more brightness. Try this in other colours of paper or glitter.

Before it dries, slip the pencil out.  A collection of these in a dish might be a nice centerpiece for January.

Print this pattern and instructions. The strip at the lower edge is for the spiral.

Cut out the pattern and place the hand on the edge of the paper. Then, draw a pencil line on the other edge. Use that line for your folding line. Fold the entire paper, accordian style. On that stack of folded paper, place the shape, trace around it with pencil, and cut through all layers. Be sure not to cut through the fold, where the hand, or the skirt is. 

Open it up and it should look like this. Rmember that the girl doll is joined at the fold in two places: the hand and the skirt.  Make several sheets of these and tape the hands together  in the back, to make a long garland.

Here are some white paper ornaments together: paper doll garlands, skates, icicle, snow ball, snow flake, and paper dolls.  The mitten pattern will also look great in white.

Pretty Paper Snowballs

Winter Sunset

by Dubravko Raos

This artist is from Yugoslavia and now lives in Canada. He paints beautiful houses of the Victorian Farmhouse style, in all seasons.  I have started a series of house paintings on Lovely Whatevers

Today after I caught up on a few things around the house and then did some cutting and pasting,  trying to invent something with paper, and I came up with this snowball.  If you square off a sheet of printer paper, you can follow along and make this. It might be a bit messy, so you can use tongs to handle the snowball.

Scrunch the paper into a ball  with your hand, making edges smooth, if you can.

Paint clear glitter glue all around the balls of paper. This little cardboard box keeps the mess contained.

Then, pour glitter over the glitter glue and roll the ball around a bit in the excess glitter in the box.  This is a prisma glitter from Joann Fabric store called Fairy Dust, and it sparkles the best.

Try using different colours of glitter for different effects.

I had mentioned that I was going to do some sewing tutorials. I still plan on doing that in the future.

Look how you can decorate with paper. These ornaments do not take up much storage space, and they can be eventually tossed out.  I once did an entire tree with white paper and glitter, with shapes like snowflakes, hats, fans, doves, paper doll garlands, and white paper roses. 

Sparkle Cards and Tags

Evening Snow

by David Doss

This is an easy activity for a child (or for some of the rest of us). You can also use it for a card, if you place the outside of the mitten on the folded edge.  Just use the pattern I have provided, and paint the cuff with glitter glue, and then sprinkle some glitter on it. I used pink, here, but you can use whatever colour cardstock you wish, and add your choice of glitter colour, or use mica flakes for a special effect.

Cut these snowflakes from regular paper and paint with glitter glue, adding extra glitter if you like. This is crystal glitter, but it would look great in other colours. One is plain, and another is plain with glitter; the third one is a lacy snowflake.

Fold your paper into fourths, and cut out one of the fourths. Then square it, and fold into triangles three times.

This is how you make a square (above) by folding the point of the paper up to the edge and cutting off the excess.

You can see the 4 steps to make your snowflake here, folding the triangle smaller each time. Lay the pattern on the smallest triangle and trace it. Cut along the lines you drew and open up your pretty snowflake.  One pattern is for a plain snowflake, and another one has the holes cut out so it will have a lace effect.

I have included a few other patterns to fill up the paper. One is a hat box gift tag or ornament or card. Just leave off the fold-down portion of the lid if you do not want a card.  Decorate and glitter, as you wish.  Another is a gift shaped card or ornament, and can be coloured or painted or used with glitter paints, such as polymer.

Those smaller pieces are the snowflake patterns, which have to be placed on the folded edges of your triangles. The one on the right is the plain one, with no holes.

As usual, some people say they have trouble getting my patterns to print. If this does not respond to "print", try highlighting and pasting, as I explained in the previous post.

Greetings to you all and blessings abundant!

Merry Christmas

Winter Memories

by Randy Van Beek

 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.



 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.


 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end... Isaiah 9:2, 6,7
 
 

Those who obey the gospel keep the teachings of Christ uppermost in their minds and whose lives reflect his glory, will experience the peace of knowing they are within his will.

Randy Van Beek is one of the few artists today who paints the kind of Victorian houses I like. I will be showing  some of these houses in future posts, with a link where you can get prints of these.

In the meantime, I discovered I had a "Randy Van Beek" in my home.  A print of his winter scene was on a gift bag I got at the Dollar Tree. This came in a package of two bags for a dollar, so I got the print for fifty cents.  Here you see it displayed on a table-top easel.  The ribbons could be tied in a neat bow, to hide the holes at the top of the bag. I have seen people frame these gift-bag pictures, and, to hide the holes, they just glue a decal or a fabric embroidered rose on them.  You can find a lot of good art on these gift bags if you will look. The bottem of the bag will tell you who the artist is, and then you can go home and look it up on the web.

                                                    

Here is a closer view of this wonderful painting. The horse and carriage are mounted on the bag to give it a dimensional look. You cannot really see it here.

So far, I have been enjoying a "pink Christmas" , but today I have been puttering around my house, changing it to white. Here is a glittered candle, which is very easy to make. I showed the step-by step directions a few years ago.

This is the same silver bowl in a previous post. I wanted to share what you could do without buying special decorations for different seasons. Just use a bowl and insert a glass jar, even a used jelly jar, and put one of those led-lights in it, surrounding it with a garland or ring of some kind, and laying it on an antique doily.

I had seen pictures of round ornaments in candle holders, but discovered icicle ornaments look more like candles, when turned upside down and inserted in the

candle holder.  Someone gave me this wrought iron candleabra, but I could not

burn candles, even in the little votive jars, because it was too close to the wall, and it got the wall so hot.  These icicle ornaments are perfect, and they came in a package of 8 for a dollar at the dollar store, a few years ago.

This room looks light and white today, but it could be red or blue tomorrow. For today, I am enjoying the calmness of the lighter decor. I use a clear shiny plastic on my table cloths to protect them.  In fact, I use it on every end table and every dresser top and every fireplace mantel, if I am using laces and doilies that I want to protect from damage. It does not detract from the warmth of the home, at all. It makes it more functional.

A lighted greeting from outside the front window,

and the little skates I made in the previous post, hanging up.

Please have a cup of tea and be at peace in the knowledge that as a homemaker, you have something very precious: freedom, and the blessings of the Lord, who makes it possible.

(Tea to follow, along with a craft for the children)

Decorating and Gift Ideas

If you ever acquire a candle holder and want to do something




different with it , try putting the icicle ornaments in it--the kind



you get in a package of 8 at the dollar stores. This is a candle holder



someone gave me, and I finally found a way to display it. Wall



space is a problem, with big objects, and they have to be put out



of the way so no one will brush against them. I had seen round



ornaments in candle holders, but did not care for them as much



as the icicle type, which actually looks more like taper candles.

Decorating and Gift Ideas

If you ever acquire a candle holder and want to do something

different with it , try putting the icicle ornaments in it--the kind

you get in a package of 8 at the dollar stores. This is a candle holder

someone gave me, and I finally found a way to display it. Wall

space is a problem, with big objects, and they have to be put out

of the way so no one will brush against them. I had seen round

ornaments in candle holders, but did not care for them as much

as the icicle type, which actually looks more like taper candles.

If you have gotten way behind in house keeping, and things have really

piled up, I would like to suggest a very effective way to motivate you. Make

before and after photographs of small areas of your house, and exchange

them over email with a friend, or put them in a slideshow.  It really does

work much better when you know you are preparing that corner, or that

piled up area, for a photo-shoot. 

If you give gifts, there are still a few ideas that might help:-

-Keep a box of things you are tired of or do not care for.  Someone else might enjoy what

you cast off.  They can be make special by packing them with glittered tissue wrapping paper, or put in a basket or box.

-Find things to make, such as snowflakes (I can include a pattern later). Once, a girl

made me a dozen glittered  paper snowflakes, which I kept in a tin for a long time, getting

them out to hang up in winter.  It makes a nice gift, when packaged in a special way

-Give away a bowl with a home made mix. People love scone mixes and other kinds of mixes

in zip-lock bags with recipe instructions

-Have someone over for a cup of tea and a snack, and give them a tea bag inside a

hand made card.  Most people absolutely love a cup of hot tea and the chance to sit in

someone else's home.

 An old fashioned centrepiece using an old silver bowl,, a glass jar, and ringed with a wired branch, set on an antique doily.
Most people have enough things around their homes to make interesting vignettes and centrepieces.

Gift Tag or Ornament

Cardstock ornament or tag, displayed on a piece of silver-flecked fleece fabric that I got from the fabric store.

If you like, you can enlarge this drawing and make a bigger ornament.

Here are the instructions for this tag or ornament. You can also enlarge it and use it as a card.

1. Print the pattern on cardstock, or, print it on regular paper and glue the paper to cardboard from a cereal box, for a template.

2. Cut out the pattern from the cardboard, and trace around it on the desired paper.  The various types of heavy scrapbook papers work well with this. I used a cardboard insert from a package of socks, because it was white. There is a use for everything.

3.  After tracing around the shape on the kind of cardstock you like, draw in the lines at the sole and the blade of the skate. Use a hole-punch for the eyelets to lace through.

4.  Paint the shoe area  only, with a glitter glue of some kind, or a glitter paint, or just plain glue. The glue in the stick does not work on this. It has to be more of a liquid. 
5. Lay the piece on a page torn from a magazine and sprinkle white glitter on the shoe area. I used crystal glitter that is characterised by the round flakes, made in USA, from Walmart, but you may be able to find it elsewhere. Other white glitters might work just fine.  If you want a pair of pink skates, just use pink glitter.
6. Shake off the glitter on to the paper and make a funnel by folding the paper and pouring it back into the bottle.
7.Now paint the blade area with glitter glue or plain glue, and shake silver glitter all over it and shake off the glitter onto the paper. Then pour it back into the bottle.

8. With Polymer glitter paint, outline the eyelets where you will lace the shoe, and outline the sole of the shoe and the heel. I used  bright-silver -glitter for the eyelets, and pink (with glitter in it) for the sole.
9. Place both pieces on cardboard and lay in front of a heater for awhile until it is dry and clear.
10. Wind narrow silver wired ribbon through the holes and around to the next shoe.

When you hang the skates, position them so that one is slightly lower than the other.  That is the way a pair of skates look when you hang them up.

Use your creative ideas and find other things to make this craft with: curly ribbon, children's glitter paints, (the kind that has silver stars in it is fun), or sparkly eyelash yarn for the laces. Try using pink shiny paper and adding the white glitter, or just cut the whole thing out in glitter-paper.

Sometimes there is a problem in getting these patterns to print. It might work if you darken or highlight the skate pattern, and then push your ctrl button at the same time as the "c" and then go to a blank page and click ctrl and "v" at the same time.  For most computers, you should be able to right click on the skate and then click "print."

Delights of the Season

For those who do not care to have a tree in the house this time of year, you might enjoy just filling a silver bowl, perhaps one inherited or bought at a second-hand store, with ornaments of your favorite colour, and adding some of the soft sparkly snowflakes from Dollar Tree. It gives a delightful bright spot on a table in your home.  I do not keep many seasonal things in my home. I like all my things to be useful all the time, so if I want things to be more up-beat and bright, I just add lights or something glittery.

You can see where the trim has been torn away from the entry way to the dining room, and the floor has been installed up to this carpeting. I tried to work around it when cleaning up the house for company the other day. The walls will be painted, also, but in the meantime, I wanted to cover an especially unattractive scratch on the wall, so I hid it with this little box, and topped it with an electric candle from the dollar store, which has a candy-light pink bulb in it. You can get these silicone dipped scented, colored bulbs from several shops online.

An ice-scape, from a table-top birdbath. In water, I placed green branches, a few silver plastic bells, a large plastic ornament, nd soft flexible snowflakes, all from from the dollar store.

Another part of the floor, so far. The walls will be wallpapered or painted.

Here is that pre-lit tree, without the lights,( the lights are already wired around the branches,and it can come apart and be packed in a narrow box, easily stored) showing  the styrofoam ornaments from the dollar store.