Bella Dia

Little Miss Pine Cones Go Skiing

I made these three little Pine Cone Girls in between working
on other projects and I think I have found a new obsession.
Right now it's all I want to do but, yeah, like that's going to
happen. Maybe after Christmas. They are made from pine
cones we collected in the fall and each girl is about 2½" tall.


Miss Willa


Miss Blush


Miss Jovie

Advent Day 18: The Polar Express and magical miniature wonderglobes

Book: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Activity: Magical Miniature Wonderglobes

I imagine most of you are familiar with this book, if not the
movie. I'm a big admirer of Chris Van Allsburg's work so if you
haven't seen the book be sure to take a look at it and his
exquisite detailed drawings. His website is very cool and has a
lot of fun activities for kids. Click here to go to his postcard
page and send someone a postcard of The Polar Express.


Magical Miniature Wonderglobes

Supplies:
• glass bowl, cup, etc. that is easy to see through -
try the thrift store for a good, inexpensive selection
• batting
• cardboard from a box
• marking pen or pencil
• scissors
• miniature trees, animals, people, etc.
for decorating
• small mirror for lake if desired
• glue
• glitter
• glitter glue
• 2 silver chenille stems



Step 1: Trace the upper edge of the glass onto cardboard
and cut it out. 



Step 2: Place cardboard circle on batting and cut around
the batting a little larger than the cardboard. 

Step 3: Glue batting to cardboard circle.



Step 4: Arrange miniatures on batting as desired; snip batting
a little to get the object nestled in well. 

Step 5: Glue objects onto the batting. 

Step 6: Add glitter or glitter glue as desired to your scene.



Step 7: Twist two chenille stems together and glue
around edge of the cardboard circle. 

Step 8: Make sure glass is very clean inside then put glue
on the rim, turn upside down and glue into place. 



*This post includes affiliate links for your reference. If you make a 
purchase through the links I will receive a small commission without it 
costing you any more. Win win! I only recommend products that I like 
and think that you will like too. Thank you for your support!

Advent Day 17: The Christmas Hat and white chocolate & peppermint spoons

Book: The Christmas Hat by A.J. Wood and
illustrated by Maggie Kneen
Activity: White Chocolate & Peppermint Spoons

A little white owl is hard to see in the snowy winter time so his
mother makes him a bright red hat to wear. Now he's easy to
find in the snow, and the fox thinks so too! Beautiful illustrations
and embossed pages make this book especially pretty and the plot
is humorous and charming; there will be smiles all around after
reading this story. This book is a great jumping off place to
discuss how animals use camouflage to protect themselves.
Click here for arctic animals printouts and here for animals all
around the world and how they use camouflage.


White Chocolate & Peppermint Hot Chocolate Spoons

Supplies:
• white chocolate candy melts or white chocolate chips
• candy canes or peppermints
• plastic spoons
• wax paper
• for packaging: cellophane bags and ribbon



Step 1: Lay out the wax paper. 

Step 2: Put peppermint candy in a baggy and crush with the back
of a spoon or rolling pin into nice little sprinkling size, then
put in a dish to use later. 

Step 3: Melt chocolate according to directions on the package. 

Step 4: Dip spoons into melted chocolate being sure to fill
the bowl of the spoon then place on the wax paper.


Step 5: Sprinkle bits of the crushed peppermint on
the bowl of the spoon. 

Step 6: Place spoons in refrigerator until hard. 

Step 7: Use clear cellophane bags to wrap the spoons
and tie with a ribbon.

Step 8: To use, heat 6 - 8 ozs. of milk in a mug then stir with
your chocolate spoon until all the chocolate is melted. 

*This post includes affiliate links for your reference. If you make a 
purchase through the links I will receive a small commission without it 
costing you any more. Win win! I only recommend products that I like 
and think that you will like too. Thank you for your support!

New Crochet Book to Love: Vintage Crochet

Vintage Crochet by Susan Cropper is one of the most beautiful
crochet - no, not just crochet - craft books I have ever seen. The
title says it all but I still wasn't prepared to swoon and drool over
every picture and project. There are so many patterns in here that
I would like to try but even if I don't it's still a wonderful book to
read at bedtime and drift into dreams of crafting utopia!



Why do I love this bag so much? Is it the perfect shade of
orange? Is it the ribbon handle? Is it the subtle sheen of the
yarn? I don't know but this is on my list to make.



Bobbles! Aack, what's not to love?! I have some old wood handles
just like these so this bag is being put on my list too. There are a lot
more projects than these two bags - a wavy blanket, Alicia's cardigan,
an adorable headband, a cafe curtain that just kills me I love it so
much, a breakfast set that includes tea and egg cozies, Juju's scarf
and cloche, a tablecloth - but you'll have to get
the book and see for yourself!

Advent Day 16: A Pussycat's Christmas and A Rainbow Flyer Kitty Toy

Book: A Pussycat's Christmas by Margaret Wise Brown
Activity: Rainbow Flyer Kitty Toy

I love the illustrations in this book! Anne Mortimer really knows
her cats and captures their expressions perfectly. In A Pussycat's
Christmas we see Christmas and all its preparations through the
cat's eyes. You can see a preview of the book here. I hope the kitties
in your life enjoy this jingle toy. The needle needs some pushing
to get through the pompoms but otherwise it's a pretty easy
and simple project.

Rainbow Flyer Kitty Toy Tutorial

Supplies:
• 1 yard round cord elastic
• small pieces of felt in rainbow colors
• large eye needle that will accommodate the elastic
• 3 jingle bells
• pompoms in rainbow colors to match felt

Step 1: Cut felt into long rectangles with pointy ends. 

Step 2: Knot one end of the elastic and thread the other
through the needle. 

Step 3: String on a jingle bell, then purple felt, purple pompom,
blue felt, blue pompom, etc. Put another jingle bell between
the green and yellow and then another one after the red pompom
and tie a knot around the bell. 

Step 4: Tie a loop around the other end of the elastic to be able
to hang it on a door knob

Step 5: Have fun with your kitty!

*This post includes affiliate links for your reference. If you make a 
purchase through the links I will receive a small commission without it 
costing you any more. Win win! I only recommend products that I like 
and think that you will like too. Thank you for your support!

Free Gift Tag Round Up

I've moved all the links to free gift tags
to their own page listed in the right hand
column or you can click here.

Advent Day 15: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree and Stacked Paper Christmas Tree DIY

Book: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Activity: Stacked Paper Christmas Tree 

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree is one of the sweetest books around.
It's the story of how one tree becomes the perfect tree for many
people, and animals, as it keeps getting clipped shorter and shorter
and passed down to someone else. Apparently it was made into a 30
minute TV special in 1995 - I wish it would be aired
again because I would love to see it.


Stacked Paper Christmas Tree DIY



Supplies:
• solid and patterned green scrapbooking paper 
• scissors
• glue
• compass
• pencil
 

Step 1: Use the compass to make circles on the back of the green
papers. This tree has 8 levels but you can do as many as you'd like.
The smallest size tree is 1" in diameter and increases by 1/2" each
level to the largest size which is 4 1/2" in diameter. The paper cones
are made from half circles so one set of circles will make two trees. 

Step 2: Cut out the circles, then cut them in half. 

Step 3: Twist each half circle into a cone, overlap the edge and glue.
A clothespin works well as a clamp to hold it while it dries. 

Step 4: Stack the cones to make it into a tree!



*This post includes affiliate links for your reference. If you make a 
purchase through the links I will receive a small commission without it 
costing you any more. Win win! I only recommend products that I like 
and think that you will like too. Thank you for your support!

Advent Day 14: The Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Bean Bags & Games

 
Book: The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth
Activity: Gingerbread Man Story Bean Bags

It just wouldn't be Christmas without this holiday classic, The
Gingerbread Man. Go to Sur La Lune Fairy Tales and read an
annotated version of the story and learn a bit of its history. Jenny at
Allsorts has a wonderful on-line gingerbread house for you to decorate
too. Jan Brett's The Gingerbread Baby is another fun version. She also
has a lot of great activities to go along with her book on her site.


Gingerbread Bean Bags Tutorial

Supplies:

• pins
• beans
• scissors
• embroidery needle
• brown felt for gingerbread, red for the fox
• embroidery floss to match felt (brown & red)
• puffy paint (dimensional paint) in assorted colors
• template (sorry again for the quality, my scanner is still down)

Step 1: Print out the template and cut out the patterns. 

Step 2: Use the patterns to cut out 2 gingerbread man pieces from
the brown felt and 2 fox pieces from the red felt.

Step 3: Decorate one side of your gingerbread person and fox with
the puffy paint and let dry for about 24 hours before proceeding. 

Step 4: Match the front and back pieces of the gingerbread
man together and pin. 

Step 5: Use two strands of floss and stitch about 1/8" from the edge
with a running stitch - leave an opening for stuffing. 

Step 6: Fill gingerbread person with beans, not too full, then
stitch up the opening and knot off.

Step 7: Repeat steps 5 and 6 for the fox. Now you're
ready for the game!


How To Play The Gingerbread Man and The Fox Game

Goal: Keep the fox from eating the gingerbread man!

Number of players: 2

How to Play:

One player uses the gingerbread man bean bag and
one player uses the fox bean bag. 

The gingerbread man player tosses his bean bag and then
the fox player tries to toss his fox bean bag so it touches
(eats) the gingerbread man. 

If the fox touches the gingerbread man then he wins,
if not then gingerbread man wins!



Gingerbread Cookie Beanbags DIY

Supplies:
• same as above but no template
• find a good circle to trace and use that as a template - try
a coffee cup, measuring cup, etc.

Step 1: Cut out two circles for each cookie. For the following game
you will need six cookies all together so 12 circles.

Step 2: Decorate 3 cookies with the same pattern, such as a Christmas
tree, and the other 3 cookies with the same pattern
such as a snowman; let dry for 24 hours. 

Step 3: Match a decorated cookie front with a plain
cookie back and pin. 

Step 4: Use two strands of floss and stitch about 1/8" from the edge
with a running stitch - leave an opening for stuffing unstitched. 

Step 5: Stuff cookie beanbag with beans - not too full. 

Step 6: Finish stitching up the beanbag and knot off. Do the same
for the five other cookies and your ready for the game!

How To Play Gingerbread Cookie Tic Tac Toe Toss

Goal: Get three beanbags in a row - horizontal, vertical, diagonal. 

Number of Players: 2

How to Play:

Mark a tic tac toe grid on the floor with masking tape. 

Players take turns throwing their bean bags on the tic tac toe board
trying to make three in a row and at the same time keep their
opponent from making three in a row. 

If the beanbag toss doesn't make it on the grid or lands in an
already occupied spot then the player loses his turn. 

The first person to get three in a row wins!

I hope you enjoy these games and your new beanbags! You could
package them up with written game instructions and have a great
handmade gift for a child on your gift list. Have fun!

*This post includes affiliate links for your reference. If you make a 
purchase through the links I will receive a small commission without it 
costing you any more. Win win! I only recommend products that I like 
and think that you will like too. Thank you for your support!