Cosmo Cricket

How to Fold Christmas Trees from Half Circles

I have been seeing these cute trees hung as ornaments, strung together on garlands and decorating handmade tags and cards. But, how does one fold them? I'm sure there are tutorials out there, but I couldn't find one. So, after a bit of trial and error I have it figured out for us all!

You can see the wrong fold lines in my first attempt, but I think it just adds character!

Use this pattern to make yours quick and easy.... or if you're like me, just wing it, refold if necessary and trim off any overhanging paper!

  Download Folded Christmas Tree Pattern | Cosmo Cricket

There are a few tricks that may help you out too.

1. I used our 8" mini deck and cut my circles 8". This makes the perfectly sized tree to fill a standard card base.

2. Our mini deck papers are single sided so I cut two half circles for each tree. This was nice because I could pick the patterns I wanted to go together. If you use our 12" papers, they are all double-sided so if you cut your tree slightly smaller at 6" you would get 8 trees from one sheet.

3.  If you like dimension, put a couple pop dots under each layer and don't crease the folds as tightly. I like this look when they are used as ornaments!
 
4. Have fun! 

Cinnamon Stick Christmas Tree Ornaments

I got some huge cinnamon sticks that smell absolutely wonderful. They were very pretty just placed in a vase, but they are fun for crafting too.

Tie them with strips of fabric to make festive trees that will have your whole house smelling like Christmas! I think these would be really cute tied onto gifts as well and it's a great way to use up scraps.

 

Cookie Cutter Christmas Ornaments

I do make cut cookies every now and then, but until Friday afternoon, I didn't own a single cookie cutter. This is partly because I hate the accumulation of stuff. (I like that I have empty cupboards in my kitchen... they're so much easier to clean.) But, it's also partly because I am practical to a fault. When I make my cookies, I use a glass to roll out the dough and then flip it on it's end to cut the cookies. I think circles make the best cookies anyway, they can be pumpkins, ornaments, faces, sunshines, etc.

BUT.... when I came across an entire box of cookie cutters at a tag sale on Friday, I couldn't resist. Not because I planned on baking anything, but because I new they would be darling as ornaments. And they are, don't ya think?!

This brings the Comstock family a tiny bit closer to our goal of a handmade Christmas tree this year! YEAH... only a bizillion more ornaments to go. I hope we are ready to decorate, as tradition holds, on the day after Thanksgiving! 

We love Sketches with Hexas

I posted this sketch a while back on our facebook page, but I don't think it ever made it to the blog. It's a great one though... especially if you love hexagons, multiple photos and double page  layouts!

Please enjoy!

And, congratulations go to Nicole Doiron who said, "Aww... these are great! I would so love to win! I would use them as middle of flowers! Really, the possibilities are endless. Thanks for the chance to win! :)" Nicole, please send your info to me, julie at cosmocricket dot com and I'll make sure you get your prize. Please put Button and Brad Winner in the title of your email. Thanks!

Here's one more project idea for Nicole's prize. I've shown it before, with instructions, but it's still one of my favorites.



Now go, create, make something beautiful... it's almost friday! :)

 

A Winner and Another Chance to Win!

Good morning everyone.

Before we get to winners and prizes, please check out this link from Moda fabrics and if you can, donate blankets and quilts for Superstorm Sandy victims!

Thanks for all the LOVE-ly comments on my block yesterday. I'm so glad everyone liked the coasters. I hope you all do make them to give your friends because they turn out so fun.

Please congratulate Mary Ellen Adams who said, "I voted this morning and now I'm having fun looking at all the blocks on the 100 Blocks tour. Hope I win. Love your LOVE block!" Mary Ellen, please send your information to me, julie at cosmocricket dot com, and I'll see to it that you get your book!

For those of you that didn't win, we have another prize to give away today... one set of each of our wooden buttons and canvas brads and they are darling!







Here are some of the ways we've used these cute embellishments, and if you tell us how you would use them we'll enter you into a drawing for the set. Our random winner will be announced tomorrow morning.

Donna Budzynski made these cute little pillow ornaments.

I made the following projects. What would you make?











 

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks = LOVE

Happy 100 Block Day, USA Election Day and Thanksgiving Month! I think we should combine these events and be really grateful that we won't have to watch 100's of blocks of election advertising anymore.

Instead, let's get a peek at a super cute and easy block that has nothing to do with politics.

I am not one of those really talented, corner-matching quilters and so I was sure to make my block nearly fool proof. (I say nearly because whenever I'm involved all bets are off!) If you are a beginning quilter or seamstress, this is a great project to start with.

As you can see, it's actually four smaller blocks made into one larger block. This means you can have tons of fun rearranging the individual units. Instead of a square, you could arrange the letters in a row for a cute table runner or wall hanging. Here's what I plan to do with the pattern and our new 2WENTY-THR3E fabrics. 

For neighborhood holiday gifts, I let the individual units stand all alone. I am making them into these cute coaster sets out of our Dear Mr. Claus fabrics.

I think when they are bundled up and paired with some home-made chai latte mix they will be well appreciated!

If you would like to get your hands on the pattern and instructions for this block, leave us a comment. We'll choose a random winner to receive a free issue of the 100 Blocks Magazine. Our winner will be announced Wednesday morning. Best of luck everyone.

Now I must run. I have something to do today and if you change one of the letters in my block, you'll know just what it is.




 

Stray Dogs and Handmade Ornaments

Yesterday, my girls and I were making these fun paper ornaments with our Jolly Days collection  when Eric yelled, "What are these dogs doing in our kitchen?" 

We had just come home and were bringing groceries from our garage into the kitchen. Jack finished up the last items and forgot to close the back door. We don't actually know how long they were in our kitchen when we found them, but if you should find lost dogs in your kitchen, don't start yelling because in a matter of minutes all calm turned into a chaotic rush of kids and fur running through my house.

The dogs had no collars or tags and I couldn't find anyone in the neighborhood that recognized them, so they spent the night on my back deck. This morning, I was on my way to see if they were microchipped when I spotted a sign for two lost dogs. All is well now... except the present one of them left for us on our deck just outside the back door!
So, we didn't get as many ornaments made as we hoped, but we are on our way to this year's Christmas idea... to decorate our tree with entirely handmade ornaments. I'll keep you posted on how that goes!

 

Tutorials: Split Leaf Flower & Ruffled Leaf Flower

Sometimes I'm asked why I make things. Why I spend so much time making a card, a tag, a garland, a scrapbook especially when it's probably cheaper to just buy it already done.

All I can say is this.... Making things makes me happy. It gives me a reason to get out of bed and clean up my house. It gives me satisfaction as an accomplishment that my children won't undo. It gets my brain working and my creative juices flowing. And that my friends is the real point when it's all said and done. We joke that crafting is cheaper than therapy, but it's not really a joke, is it?

Besides, a handmade card or tag, a gift designed specifically for the recipient or a scrapbook containing my voice and personality can't be bought at the store... 

(Used in the above project: Art Angel Mini Deck, Art Angel Stamps, Wooden Buttons in Natural and 2" Gluber.)

On that note I had some leaves left over from my garland and I am not one to let a good scrap go to waste! I made the above flower with my paper leftovers and was so happy that I decided to teach you all how to make your own. 

You can easily follow the picture tutorial, but in a nutshell here's what I did.

1. Cut petals in half, then make a cut to split them open stopping 1/4-1/2 inch from the tip.
2. Fold the right side of the lower half over the left side to make the petal cup.
3. Fold a pleat in the center of the petal.
4. Stick to Gluber.
5. Repeat until all the Gluber is covered.
6. Peel and stick to your awesome project.


For my fabric leftovers, I created this "ruffled leaf flower" by overlapping the leaves slightly as I gathered them through the center making a chain. When they were all strung together and ruffly, I folded them in half and brought the ends together, pulling my thread tight. A canvas brad in the center is perfect with these coffee dyed fabrics! 

Have a happy Friday, a wonderful weekend and a great autumn season..... and, make something beautiful today!

Coffee Stained Paper & Fabric Garland

Before I get to anything more than a few handmade Christmas gifts and cards, I do have to decorate for Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays. Not because of the food, but because of family, togetherness, movies and PUZZLES! (I secretly love puzzles even though everyone I know hates them. I think it's because of the brand Ravensburger and my Aunt Carol sending them to us, the Ravenberg family.)

I want my home to be cozy for the holiday and so yesterday I decided to jump aboard the garland/bunting bandwagon and make something festive. I have a huge box of fabric scraps from 2WENTY-THR3E and so I started with those, but I also had some of the fun Art Angel tags that remind me of my blessing that I wanted to include.

When I got the colors together, they weren't exactly as coordinating as I thought they might be. Never fear, a little dying with coffee mutes everything down making a warm and welcoming vintage effect.

To coffee stain your paper and fabric, put it in a dish (not metal) and pour your coffee over the top. I just re-used the grounds from my morning cup to make the dye. The paper will soak up the liquid quickly, so pull each piece out, crumple it a little and set is aside. Once all the paper has been crumpled, do the same with the fabric as soon as it's dark enough for your taste.

Then, take all your materials, put them back in your dish and pop them in the microwave for a speed drying session. I microwaved mine for 5 minutes turning and testing for dryness after each minute.

After they are dried, they will be AWESOME!

All you have to do now is stitch everything together. For those of you that have yet to try this, can I suggest using a zig-zag stitch over a heavy weight thread for added strength between your garland cuties. 

It only takes a few minutes to put these together and they are popular for a reason..... they are super cute!

Congratulations go to Margie Visnick who said, "Thanks for the freebie!! Love CC!" Margie send your info to me, julie at cosmocricket dot com and I'll make sure you get your goodies. Thanks for playing everyone... we're almost to Friday! YEAH!!!!