DIY ornaments

Hi there sweethearts,

hope you had a holly jolly Xmas. Ok, so long time no bloggy, but I've been enjoying my holidays. I put working out on the back burner, and rightfully so. If you didn't eat a bunch of holiday sweets and yummy deliciousness than what is you doing baby? So aside from being away because of festivities I've been gettin' my craft on. I've been sitting on a tub of air-dry clay for over a year now and something needed to be done about that. When Aviva got a paper sent home from school asking for an ornament for her classroom's Christmas tree, I felt this was the opportunity. Now I wasn't sure how this would all turn out but in the end it was a learning experience through the process.

I wanted Aviva to take something that was representative of her. Since we moved from Texas only recently the cactus tree was a quirky but appropriate idea.

After sculpting it out I waited overnight for it to dry. Next, it needed a hook so it could be hung. I used a flexible wire I had in my craft box and some pliers to carefully insert it into the top of the tree. It went in about 3/4" to an inch deep and straight down. I needed it to be secure. Then going in with acrylic paint, it was time to make it look more like a cactus. I didn't take pictures of it in its unpainted stage but you'll get an idea of how that looks in my other ornaments pictured below.

 Here it is again from different angles. After the paint had dried, I coated it a few times with some Modge Podge which gave it a glossy shine. With an even smaller (thinner) gold wire and some star beads the girls had lying around, I made the "lights" that wrapped around the cactus. I created curls into the wire to hold the beads in place, the result has a nice whimsical touch. For the ribbon to hang it up from, I added a ring from a pack intended for making keychains. The burlap and white lace trim was a better choice than the red glittery ribbon, I already had. **If you haven't picked up on it by now, I really like to work with stuff I have cumulated from other projects** What kind of southern girl doesn't like the "shabby chic" look? It made it that much more personal and "TEXAN" to me. So, yee-haw bitches.

Cute, huh? 

It didn't stop there. Eager to try something else out, I asked my two best friends if they could give me some ideas. We thought about macaroons, or cookies but finally came to the idea of conchas. 

I love me some pan dulce and unfortunately for me there aren't any Mexican bakeries near by. At least none that I can locate. Ah, the horror! While sulking in the realization that I might have to go without the indulgence for some time, these little suckers were crafted:

We actually ended up having this sweet little "family sculpting moment". Aviva made the tiny snowman while Baby Abby and Daddy tackled making the bigger one together. 

I had to glue a lot of the "sugar" pieces back onto the "bread" part

because they kept falling off.  It was so freaking discouraging, because for a second I didn't want to continue making them. Still, nothing a little E600 and patience couldn't fix. 

Finally I got around to painting them. Thats when they started to look like the real thing.

I had to glitter out a couple, because, why not? Actually I'm not even going to lie, my parents never wanted me to use glitter as a child. They hated anything with glitter, esp clothes. I guess, that's why now as an adult, all the years of suppressed glitter usage is now hitting me, full force. I like anything that sparkles. If it glitters, I probably like it more. I did this with the all holy Modge Podge and also again, to coat them when they were finished. 

  This is the end result without and with flash (below)

My only regret when making these is that I waited forever to get the metal wires into them. I should have added the hooks when the clay wasn't entirely dry. Since I waited so long, I actually had to hammer the wire in, causing some cracking in the ornament itself. It made my heart drop to my asshole, I thought for a second the whole thing was going to crumble in half. I had to go back and carefully layer some E600 into the cracks so it didn't fall apart. 

But it don't stop here, homie! I had to take it one step further and make these Loteria boxes to store them in. These were little cardboard boxes; the kind jewelry comes in. I covered them like they were presents. The skill, still fresh from all the Christmas wrapping done a week prior. I used some posters with the Loteria print on them. I wish I could give you a definite place to get some yourself but I had found them at a Mexican grocery store for .99 cents each in their magazine rack. It was a great find. The paper is thin like newspaper and about the size of one fully opened. I decoupaged the paper onto the boxes. Meaning, a thin coat of glue, applied the paper, then another coat to seal it.

 

I did put thought into the placement of what image I wanted top and center. Of course I had to put La Sirena on top of one of them. I can remember laughing at "her boobies showing" when I was a kid. But El Mundo, The arrows, la Mano, La Luna, the heart, death,  El diablo, are all quite aesthetically pleasing to me. Packed up, they are the cutest things, I almost wish I had made myself one since I gifted all of them.

I'm thinking if I make more I could have a tree decorated with exclusively desserts. I can see it now, a small 2ft-3ft white tree with donuts, and cheesecakes, cupcakes and hard candies. I even thought about a churro, so you know I guess if you can think it, you can make it. But lets see if I actually let that idea come into fruition. I'm notorious at starting projects and abandoning them before I finish. Right now I've begun a wall mural on our dining room wall and finishing it is all that I can think about...

signing off,

the baby is too quiet in the other room...