Various Christmas projects

I'd like to share some various projects I made (some with a bit of help) throughout December.

This lovely shadowbox was a gift for my niece and her new husband. The picture in the frame is from their honeymoon. The words and flourishes are vinyl. I poured in some craft sand and shells which I think gives this a really neat look.

An ornament and matching card I made completely from paper with a touch of tulle (it's a little hard to see with the light background but trust me it's there ;)

Another ornament gift for a friend. Made with vinyl applied to the outside of the glass ball. I used some more of that swell sand and a couple of small shells to  fun it up some!

Here's another glass ball. This one has a picture on the inside and vinyl letting on the outside. For this one you cut a picture out roughly the size of the ornament, this one was 2 1/2" diameter. You roll the picture around a pencil, stick it through the hole then straighten it out, I used the end of a paintbrush to push it flat.

A snow measuring stick made with a large paint stirrer from Home Depot. We made this craft with my son's 5th grade class. They loved it! 

Another gift ornament I made. I painted the wooden oval gold and glued on the paper piecings. Yes, those flowers I made from paper, gorgeous aren't they? The cutting files are all from Scraptastical Kreations.

Lastly is this fun ornament my son and I made. Every year he and I make an ornament together for him to give family and friends. We try to incorporate a hand print or footprint to measure his growth. When he was 4 (2006) we made a snowman hand print ornament and we thought it would be fun to do it again this year to compare how his hand has grown. This is the result.

 The process, first coat your hands with non-toxic paint. He doesn't always look like such a lunatic I promise you.

Second, place ball in hand, third, wrap fingers around. Notice how that thumb is facing a funky way for a snowman??

After they dry, decorate them up! We used Sharpie Markers and Stickles. Some of the funky thumb prints became snowmen making funny faces, others were reindeer with antlers and some became polar bears.

A look at some of the fun and silly faces, hats and additions. Each one became a unique work of art. We made 12 all together. 

And here they are side-by-side made 6 years apart. We had so much fun doing this together. I miss spending time crafting with my fella and treasure the moments we still get to do it. Every year I hang these on my tree will always bring me back to these good times.

 Thanks for stopping by today. I hope I've inspired you in some way!

~there's always a story

Nancy :)