Crafty Christmas Countdown: 9

 Several years ago, I used to upcycle promotional buttons with wire, sequins, and the like for craft fairs. After I ran out of buttons, I got out of the practice. I rediscovered it this week, though, when I found a random button and some Christmas fabric.

The first step is to spread glue all over the front and around the perimeter of the back of the button. Stretch your fabric tight over the glue and leave it to dry. I usually put a weight on top of it to hold the fabric in place. Once the glue is dry, trim any excess fabric and glue down any loose places. Then add your embellishments. For this button I added a couple of custom cut sequins. I prefer to use a stronger glue, either E6000 or hot glue, for this step. Once the glue is set, seal coat the button.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 10

 I never really got the fascination with nutcrackers, but I have to admit they present a real opportunity for personalization. I purchased this nutcracker painting kit, struck by the fact that he has cymbals instead of a sword or staff.

Wanting to do something a little different with the decoration, I decided on an ice king theme for the paint, focusing on light blue, silver, and white.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 11

 Have you ever bought those little paintable, plaster figures? They usually come six in a pack and are fairly cheap, cute, and easy to decorate. They're a favorite in our house. This year we bought a set with Santa and five reindeer and split them between the two of us. I'm fairly happy with how mine came out.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 12

Today, I tackled my annual tradition of a Christmas farm display. This year I added some new figures and built a cardboard structure so that our little farm can put on a living nativity.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 13

 I make no secret of my fondness for puppets. Especially for sock puppets. Every time I think I've run out of unique ideas, I come up with a new one. I'll admit, I found it a challenge this year to come up with a new Christmas themed puppet. Then, while looking for inspiration for another project, I came across this image.

Wilfred (occasional companion on Doctor Who if you're unfamiliar) was the perfect subject for a sock puppet. I was so excited for this build that I completely forgot to take any process photos.

This particular sock puppet required two socks. One serves as a base with a layer of quilt batting to add some softness to Wilfred's face. I cut the leg off of the outer sock, building the body instead from some green fabric.

 

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 14

 Peg dolls are one of my favorite forms of crafting these days. At Christmas, I especially enjoy painting peg versions of my favorite characters. This year, I went with Emmet from "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas". He works quite well in the peg doll form.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 15

 Today's craft was another kit. This was a small canvas bag with a design printed on it. The bag came with a couple of washable markers but I used some fabric markers and a little bit of fabric paint instead, to give it a more complex look.

Then, while I was waiting for the paint to dry, I was messing around with some dough we had leftover from something else. On a whim, I cut out some dinosaur shapes and decided to see if they would air dry. They dried quite nicely and I turned the into ornaments with a decorative bead.

the stegosaurus makes me think of an iced animal cookie