Guest post by Ginger Bowie, Ginger Snap Crafts

Hi! I’m Ginger from Ginger Snap Crafts. My blog is full of fun & simple crafts that you can do, too! I’m excited to be here at the NWA Motherlode today.

My family & I have lived in Northwest Arkansas for just over 5 years. We absolutely love it here. I’m always happy to meet new friends.

Today I’d love to show you how to make  this adorable {light bulb} snowman ornament.

For this project you’ll need:
light bulb, fabric strip, cotton ball, ribbon,
buttons, black paint marker, hot glue gun,
metal hook, orange cardstock, twine or thin ribbon

Here’s how you’ll assemble your snowman ornament:

one~ You’ll get your fabric strip (about 2 inch X 4inches long) & iron the edge up.
two~ You’ll hot glue the fabric {folded side down) around the silver part of your light bulb.
three~ Put a small piece of cotton ball inside your soon-to-be-snowman’s “hat”.
four~ Tie the top of your “hat” with a piece of twine. Fray the edges with scissors.
five~ Tie a ribbon around the skinny part of the light bulb to make a scarf. Glue into place with just a dot or two of the hot glue.
six~ Draw on eyes & a mouth with the black paint marker & then glue on a orange cardstock nose.

Isn’t he cute?

Add a hook to the top & he’s ready to hang on the tree!

Here are a few more of my favorite Christmas crafts:

Christmas Countdown

{handmade} Nativity

Ho Ho Ho Blocks

White Christmas Luminaries

Thank you so much for having me over!
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

I’d love to keep in touch!

Guest post by Mandy Estes

Happy Fall everyone! I’m Mandy and I blog over at Fireflies & Cattails where I generally post about craft-y ideas or things that I’ve made recently. Today I’m going to share a simple little fall inspired mini table runner.

So if you know the basics of sewing with a machine this DIY is for you.

First, let’s talk supplies. I have a small table so I wanted something small and simple. You’ll need about a 1/3rd of a yard of burlap, a yard of trim, and any leftover fabrics you have laying around from previous projects. If you would like to make your runner a different size feel free to adjust!

Next you’ll need to cut your fabric panel pieces. Measure 6 x 12 inches for your middle most fabric and 2 x 12 inches for your corresponding side pieces of fabric.

Then sew all three pieces right sides together. Sew pretty close to the edge.

After you’ve sewn them together you have the option of ironing a thin piece of interfacing to the back side for reinforcement but this isn’t necessary. When you’ve done the above steps it should look like this:

Now you need to cut your burlap pieces. You’ll need two 5 x 12 inch pieces for the top of the table runner. Once you have them cut out sew to each side of your fabric panel (right sides together). Iron over where you have sewn together.

*A trick when cutting burlap: to maintain straight edges you need to pull out two strings where you want to cut across. Doing this should leave a visible space for you to cut, therefore leaving your edges perfectly straight.

Lastly:

• Once you have the top of your table runner complete you need to measure the length across (it should be something x 12 inches) and cut a corresponding piece of burlap for the back of your table runner.
• Once you have the back piece of your table runner cut out sew it to the top piece right sides together, leaving a space to turn. I would make sure your space to turn is somewhere over the middle fabric panel just because it will be easier to sew together once you have turned it right side out.
• Turn right side out, iron, and sew around the entire runner. This just makes the edges nice and flat.
• The last thing you need to do is cut your trim (two 12 inch pieces) and sew them to the ends. And you’re  done! Voila!

About Mandy: Mandy is a stay-at-home mama to her 2-year-old little boy. She says, “We like to go on adventures to great granny’s house, bake, and play with our tractors in the dirt. Mama likes to make things.” Visit Mandy’s blog HERE.