New snowman sculpture

 This little guy is now available available to purchase in my Little Lolas shop! Listing him this close to Christmas I am not sure if he is going to sell, but he is so cute that I am totally okay if he doesn't.

Our tree this year

This year we took our origami advent and hung it all over the tree. Inside are four candies for each of us ,except the baby, to eat as we countdown to Christmas. I think next year I will put scriptures and service projects in each box for a more spiritual Christmas advent. 

The snow on the tree is just one of those"snow blankets" you get in the Christmas section. We ripped it up and I put a little piece on each branch. You might notice that the snow looks worse at the bottom, that is my almost-one year old's doing. :)

My all time favorite ornaments are the scrolls with scriptures on them.  I made these seven years ago for our first Christmas after we got married, when we had no money. Seriously, all we had on the tree that year was a home made popcorn garland, one box of dollar store candy canes, because you get like ten for a dollar, and these scripture scrolls.

All I did was roll some parchment paper and wrote some scriptures in fancy handwriting. Super cheap! It's not even the affordability that makes these my favorite, it is the message they share and the spirit they bring.

Merry Christmas!

Tutorilal: How to make christmas salt dough "cookie" ornaments

Hello and Happy Friday! With all my other projects going on with blogging, home school, Christmas presents, and sculptures I am so happy to have this tutorial checked off and done!  It is such a great craft because it costs next to nothing and is so classic and pretty.  I am a firm believer that one can never have too many ornaments. And that is probably why I have three Christmas trees up in my house. Not counting any trees smaller than three feet. If I count those then I have seven trees in my house. But we're getting off the subject, so on to the tutorial. :)

  These ornament "cookies" are super easy to make.

_____________________________________

You need:

• salt
• flour
• water
• cookie cutters
• rolling pin
• oven
• parchment paper
• clear glitter
• puff paint

___________________________________

Combine 

1 cup salt

1 cup flour
(Seriously, that's it! Super easy to remember, too.) 
_____________________________________
Add Water

Just enough water to get the consistency of play dough; too much water makes it really difficult to roll and cut into shapes.

(I chilled my dough in the fridge to get it to roll better, but I probably could have added more flour and salt)
_____________________________________
Color
Add food coloring to get a gingerbread look.
I experimented till it turned a nice golden brown, but here is a guideline.
 10 drops of yellow
8 drops of red 
3 drops of green

(Optional: I added cinnamon & ginger mainly for smell, but the cinnamon does add a bit of color, too...I added at least a tablespoon of each, but the ornaments don't smell anymore, so I'll try adding more next time).

I added a lot of color to mine but they ended up darker after baking.  I think mine look a little more like chocolate cookies than gingerbread, but that also could be because I added blue and a little too much red...so, try out the recipe above, and change as you see fit.

_____________________________________

Roll Dough...

1/4 - 3/8 inches thick and cut out shapes on a well-floured surface.

(I rolled a few of mine too thin, and those cookies ended up pretty fragile.)

_______________________________________

Make the hole...

 in the top of each ornament using a straw.
(I found this surprisingly entertaining. The kids loved helping with this as well.)

_______________________________________

Bake

Preheat oven to 250

Place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies for three hours. Or till cookies are super hard, poke with a fork really hard and if they give they're not done.

(I know it is a long time but if they aren't fully cooked they end up fragile and crumbly. Some of my fave salt dough ornaments are lost due to under-cooking.)

__________________________________________

Cool

These babies are HOT so let them cool before decorating.

__________________________________________

Decorate

Frost each "cookie" using puff paint.

(I used white because I made snowflakes, but you can get creative. I used Tulip brand just fyi)

 ________________________________________

Sprinkle...

 generously with glitter.

(I used a rough cut glitter that looked as much like sugar as I could find.)

Shake off any excess glitter.

__________________________________________

Dry...

in a safe place away from kids who might think these are real cookies :)
( No this is not from personal experience but my kids did ask if they could have one. Good thing I had real gingerbread cookies on hand to give them.)

__________________________________________

Hang,

with a string or an ornament hook on your tree. 
(You could also hang them in the window or use them as a decoration on a gift package.)

_______________________________________
Give
Since I made a double batch I have tons of extras to give as gifts.  
My double batch made about two dozen cookie ornaments, so this recipe should make one dozen.

 (I figured out a really easy way to make a cute little window in my origami boxes! Super awesome right?!! If I have time I'll make a tutorial on that.)

So go ahead and try it out! Tell me what you think. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. :) 
Oh and my new sculpture is up in the shop now.

I am linked up in these link parties.

My latest sculpture

Here she is! I just finished glitter-flocking her little tree today!

She is about ten inches tall and wears a handmade jacket with faux fur on the hood. Her jacket is so cute I might have to make one for me too. :)

 I will let you know as soon as I list her in my Little Lolas shop. :)  If you want to get an email when I do list her just click "subscribe to feed" on my Little Lolas shop page.

{ Tutorial } How to make a glittered felt christmas tree

I am so excited to share with you the EASY instructions on how to make this felt glittered tree. I really am super happy with the way they turned out.

Here is what you need:

• Felt  (I used white)
• Scissors
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Craft glue
• Clear glitter
• Styrofoam cone  (or any cone shaped thing)

Note: I didn't use a Styrofoam cone I used a cone shaped wire tree from Dollar Tree last year, but I think they aren't there any more. You can find foam cones at Dollar Tree or any craft store.

____________________________________________

Step one

Cut felt into large medium and small strips.

 cut 4 large strips (2 in wide)

cut 4 medium strips (1 1/2 in wide)

cut 2 small strips (1 in wide)

 

______________________________________

Step Two

Cut deep scallops into each strip

___________________________________

Step three

Glue along scalloped edge of each strip and glitter generously.

 ______________________________________
Step four
Hot glue each strip onto the cone starting with the large strips at the bottom and ending with the smallest at the top.

 _______________________________________________
Step five
Cut a half flower shape (for tip of tree)

____________________________________________

Step six

Glitter and roll the half flower in a cone like shape. Glue this to the top for the tip of tree.

 

That's it! Pretty easy right? If you have any questions just leave it in the comments and I'll answer them there. That way others who might have the same questions can see my answer too. :)

(I like to link up my posts in these link parties)

Made by you: origami boxes

 I love seeing the things you make from my tutorials!
You are all so creative!! Getting your pretty photos in my in-box is so fun!!

 Alexandra, from Switzerland, made this pretty box using recycled newspaper. I love that she chose a blue page and made matching decorations. :)

My sister, Annie Carie , made these from holiday card-stock. I love how festive and colorful they are.

Janelle, from New Zealand, made these boxes from paper she printed from her computer. I love the retro designs!
Have you made an origami box, a felt flower, or any one of my tutorials?  Please email me your photos, I would love to share them with everyone! :)

How to make a doily

The images are pretty self explanatory but here are the steps.

1. Trace a circle using a cup.
2. Use large scalloped scissors to cut around the circle.
3. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in each scallop.
4. Punch another row above and in between the other holes.
5. Erase circle or flip it over.

And done! 

You can use this same technique in a straight line to make a lace strip like I did for the package on the left.

I link up in these parties