Bella Dia

Happy Valentines Day!

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

Vintage Valentines to Print

Do you love vintage valentines as much as I do? I think they are
so much better than the ones that are available today. I found two
sites that have adorable vintage valentines that you can download
so I thought I'd let you know. I've been busy with Valentine's Day
posts at The Crafty Crow and making valentines with the kids but
I have some great thrift finds to show you as soon as I can get to it.

The valentines above, and more, are available here.

We are also making valentines for the senior center and the
Meals On Wheels program for a total of seventy seniors so
we're knee deep in hearts and glitter.

Isn't that little Dutch girl adorable? These are just a few
of the ones available here. Have fun!

Glittery Newspaper Tree

I saw this tree on the Martha Stewart site and almost
immediately set to making it.  I'm planning on doing a whole 
landscape of recycled trees this year for a holiday display so
this fit the bill perfectly. I have a few tips for you if you decide
to make one as well. 

* I made the polymer clay base exactly as the instructions and
it came out perfectly only I used a bamboo skewer instead of
a knitting needle for the support.

* I have a large paper cutter and I am *so* glad I did! 

* Cut out all the newspaper ahead of time so you use the
same amount of each size. 

* We used a small newspaper cone for the top instead of a
star since ours is just a regular tree in the woods
and not a Christmas tree.

* I used Elmer's spray adhesive for the glitter. The glitter is
actually small opalescent flakes - a brand new bag
that I got while thrifting, woot!

* It is surprisingly sturdy and I plan to keep if for next
year so we'll see if it stores well.

* My kids were very much involved and could easily do it
on their own but it does take awhile so you may want to
have them switch out if they get bored.

Handprint Turkey Softie and Tutorial

For me, the hand print turkey is the quintessential
Thanksgiving kids craft and it is one of my favorites. I thought
it would be fun to have a more permanent version so I decided
to make a softie version. I'll be the first to say that the following
tutorial is very spare (because I'm really supposed to be working
on other things) but I had this on my mind and just had to make it!

You'll need:

*two layers of fabric large enough to accommodate your child's
hand with at least one inch to spare all the way around

*a few pins

*disappearing fabric marker or pencil

*sewing machine & coordinating thread

*scissors

*poly-fil or other stuffing

*pencil with eraser for help with stuffing

*scraps of felt (wool preferable)for feathers, wings, eyes, beak,
and wattle; I used red, orange, gold, yellow, and beige

*fabric glue, like Fabri-Tac

How-to:

With right sides of fabric together, trace your child's
hand with the marker/pencil.

Pin the fabric together and sew over marked lines
leaving the wrist area open.

Trim within about 1/8" of stitch line.

Snip between the fingers and around any curves.

Turn right side out and poke out fingers.

Using only small bits of stuffing at a time, stuff the
fingers then the hand.

Tuck in the bottom opening and edge stitch to close or hand
stitch if you've got time - I didn't.

Feathers should be about the length of the fingers. I didn't
use a pattern but cut them freehand. I used five different colors
and cut two feathers from each one for a total of ten. Snip
along one edge of the feather.

Apply glue only at the base of the feather and attach to the turkey.

Cut two wings, apply glue on one forward end only
and place appropriately.

Cut a little triangle for the beak and a little rounded strip
for the wattle and glue in place.

Take a little bit of felt and roll it between your fingers to make
the eye then glue in place and repeat for the other side.

Tip: If you don't want to machine sew then make the body from
felt. Leave a little more room around the edges of the tracing
for hand sewing and there's no need to turn it inside out.
Continue as above with the stuffing and feathers.

Your done! That was simple right?  Enjoy!

*This post includes an affiliate link. If you make a purchase 
through this link I will receive a small commission. I only 
recommend products that I like and think that you 
will like too. Thank you for your support!

Fishbowl Pumpkin Tutorial

These fishbowl pumpkins are a fun and inexpensive way to add
some Halloween atmosphere to your home! Working around
the face is a little tedious so I would leave that for the adult to
do but kids can get in on the rest of the action. They look best
with a variety of sizes and different expressions!

You'll need:

any sized fishbowl - I got mine at the thrift store for $1
orange and yellow tissue paper
Mod Podge
paint brush
dish of water
pencil

Tear the yellow tissue into a variety of sizes

I thinned down the Mod Podge with a little bit of water in a dish.

Paint a smallish area of the bowl with Mod Podge and lay on
the tissue  then cover with more Mod Podge.

Repeat until you have covered the whole bowl in about two
layers of yellow.  I didn't do the bottom and don't worry if you
go over the top edge, you can trim that later.

After the yellow layer has dried (maybe about 20 minutes) take
a pencil and very lightly draw on the Jack-O-Lantern's face.

Tear the orange tissue into different sizes but also cut with
scissors some small straight edge pieces to work around your design.

Cover the whole bowl with two layers of orange tissue.

After it has dried, trim the top edge with scissors.

Put in a candle and admire your work!  As always,
never leave a lit candle unattended!

Halloween Tip: Scrim!

If you want to hide certain areas of your room or just
want to create a more haunted atmosphere then go to the
fabric store and get yards and yards of scrim! It's very
inexpensive and found in the decorator fabrics on those
really large rolled up bolts of fabric. Don't worry about
hemming or any of that stuff (the texture is very similar
to cheese cloth) just cut and hang!