POTPOURRI PIE (faux)

I really enjoy making unique holiday decorations and this is one that I love making and giving as gifts to my friends and family to enjoy throughout the festive season.
It is a pie.....a fake pie that looks and smells real!
I use a glass or ceramic pie dish, that they can use later for actual baking.
Here are supplies that you will need to make one for you to display or to give as a gift (this would make a wonderful Hostess gift):

1 ceramic or glass pie dish
1 package potpourri (vanilla, or cookie/pie scent)
12x12 square brown netting (or tulle)
2 12x12 pieces of light brown or tan felt
ground cinnamon
Low Melt Hot glue gun and glue sticks (use care when using hot glue)
pinking shears
regular scissors

Place the contents of the potpourri bag into the the glass pie dish. Remove the pieces of the potpourri that are too bulky or large (or break them up into smaller pieces). Hot glue the netting onto the pie dish over the potpourri by placing a dot of the hot glue on the rim of the dish every inch or so, using care not to touch the hot glue, press the netting in place, making sure the netting is taut as you make you way around, after the netting is glued down completely around the dish use scissors and trim off the excess netting that extends over the rim of the dish.
Use the pinking shears to cut felt into 10 strips, 12 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Place 5 strips evenly spaced over the netting and place 5 strips in the opposite direction, weave them to create the lattice (refer to picture). Glue the strips down at the point where they meet the rim of the dish. After all the strips are glued down, trim the excess felt that extends over the rim.
Using the regular scissors cut about 5 or 6 strips of felt 12 inches long and about an inch wide.
Refer to the picture and start to hot glue the strips around the rim of the dish, one at a time, fluting as you go along to make it look like a fluted edge on the pie.
Once you have finished, sprinkle cinnamon all over the pie as you would for a real pie.
After that you will have a pretty realistic, wonderful smelling fake pie to place on your table or counter for a long lasting fall or Christmas decoration (or for anytime).

CAROUSEL HORSE APRON

Here's what you need:
1. Ready made apron, any color and size you wish
2. Glitter dimensional fabric paint (assorted colors)
3. Fusible webbing (follow manufacturers instructions)
4. Iron (dry iron no steam)

This is an apron I had fun embellishing not too long ago. The apron is from Michael's, just solid purple (my favorite color) and I wanted to do something special with it. In my fabric stash there was some fabric with these beautiful carousel horses printed on them. I ironed some fusible webbing on back of the fabric and then carefully cut out the three prettiest carousel horses. I ironed them onto the apron, and when they cooled off, I used the glitter dimensional fabric paint all around the entire outline of the carousel horses as well as the mane, tail, saddle and other areas on the horse. Then with the same glitter paint application I wrote words having to do with carnivals all over the apron. Let it dry overnight. I really liked the way it turned out. It's completely washable. Great for a kids craft, with adult supervision of course.

FLOWERS EVERYWHERE!

Whew, been really busy these last couple of days, I've been helping a very good friend of mine (a florist) prepare flowers for a big wedding for this weekend. This bride wanted lots and lots of beautiful flowers, which she got!


Beautiful Wedding Bouquet, she made with many white roses.
She used lots and lots of beautiful, wonderfully scented flowers! She is a very talented floral designer!

ALTERED BOOK....3D CHRISTMAS

Great Recycling Project!!

Do you remember making Christmas Trees out of Readers Digest publications, where you fold each page into itself twice then fold the bottom flap up? Well, here is a great twist on that craft, using a hardback book. Do NOT remove the hardback book cover, it is part of the project, the pages will remain attached to the book cover.
I took the hardback book, (with maybe 185 to 200 pages) and folded each page that same way (as mentioned above). Books with more pages than that will be too many and you will end up ripping pages out.   I then spray painted the inside flaps and the Christmas tree 'Hunter Green' and spray painted the entire outside cover with Matte Black. You can use a gold metallic marker to write anything you like on the outside cover. I wrote 'Merry Christmas'.

As you can see, it is only half a tree, still attached to the book cover.

Side view

Using gold metallic marker, write anything you like.

After folding and spray painting I waited for it to dry thoroughly, maybe 1 hour. I then took some Christmas scrapbooking papers, cut them to size and glued them down to the inside flaps using white glue. Then came the fun part! The embellishments!! You are only limited by your imagination...I recycled old Christmas cards by cutting out and using the graphics and the inside greeting, but you can use die cuts, photos, anything your heart desires!! Photographs would work perfect!! You may decorate the tree by gluing Christmas trinkets all over it. I used low-melt hot glue.This is a simple and wonderful craft you and your kids can make together. I think grandparents would love a gift like this from their grandkids especially if there are some photographs involved!!