I want one that looks like me! - Black Angel Tree Toppers

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Usually, I use a Star at the top of my tree, but since my Christmas tree theme was inspired by a peacock feather I wanted an Angel with feathers on top of the tree.  My cousin told me she has a difficult time finding Black Angel Tree Toppers....I said get out of town, it can't be that hard.  MAN, she was right.... not only was it tough to find the topper, but when I did they did NOT fit my theme...SSSSSOOOOOOO, that's right you guessed it.  I made one myself.  What do you think?

FROM THAT

TO THIS!

I went to Walmart and found this inexpensive ballerina doll called " Funville Sparkle Girlz".  I liked this doll because her facial features resembled my own.  Cat eyes, round nose and DARK skin...ding I found the winner.  It also helps that she was only 5 BUCKS!  (So getting one for my niece for Christmas!)  Then I searched their craft department for peacock feathers, I was in luck because I got the last two..PHEW!  Then in their fabric department I looked in the quilting section.  Those of you who quilt know this, but for those that don't, you can buy pieces of fabric in quarters in the quiliting section instead of having to buy a whole yard.  I didn't need a lot of fabric so this was the ticket.  I bought a pack of quarters and got 5 coordinating pieces of fabric for $7.99.  Took the guess work right out of searching for more complimentary fabrics. Lastly, I hit the trim section and picked up a 1/2 yard of trim for $1, and a stool of ribbon/trim for $1.  I went to Michaels to find the remaining feathers I needed, found some for $6.99 with a 40% off coupon.  Bam I was on my way with only having to spend about $25.00.  Loving it!

I got home and stared at my hual...hum...I had to figure out the construction.  Meaning, I had all the materials, now what the HECK do I do with them...lol.  Well I figured it out, but first I needed to take care of one issue, my ballerina had this silky straight hair and I wanted mine to have kinky curly hair.  So, I took locks of it and braided it into about 8-10 braids, then I rolled the braids with drinking straws.  Dipped the whole head in super hot water for about 10 seconds.  I let that dry on a towel, came back an unraveled everything and was PLEASANTLY surprised to find a SUPER COOL AFRO!!!! YES, it worked.  So I styled it and then started putting everything together using the rest of my materials.  I used poster board to construct the skirt/cone for stability.  I made the wings of feathers separately on poster board then glued them onto the back.  I wired her hands together and I was done.  I used a hot glue gun for everything, NO SEWING REQUIRED.  I think it took me all of an hour or so.  So pleased, even my husband was amazed that I could go from what I started with to our Angel.

Here are some more Black Angels that I thought were nice if you don't have the time to make your own.

http://www.christmas-forever.com/thestore/prods/NS7281021-16B.htm

http://www.christmas-forever.com/thestore/prods/NS8285824-14A.html

Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting.  Thanks for reading.  Ciao for Now!

-Q-

The Kids Table - Thanksgiving

The key to having a pleasant Thanksgiving meal......THE KIDS TABLE.....stock that baby up with tons of activities and crafts and maybe you will get a chance to exactly chew your food instead of inhaling it so you can grab little jimmy before he makes his grand Superman dive off you're Great Aunts Antique furniture.

Here are some of the crafts I did for my client's kid table.  They had five kids at their dinner and I wanted to make sure each one of them felt special and had fun.  I made these Turkey craft boxes as place cards, a way to keep them busy with crafts, and a place to put the crafts when they are done and take them home with them.  Here's how I did it.

Materials 

The materials you will need need are:
1. Paper box....you can get these from dollar tree, Michaels, or hobby lobby really cheap.  I got these from Michaels for $2.99 each
2. Tags....you can either buy some premade tags at the craft stores or you can make your own.  I had some left over from another project so I used these.
3. Embellishments...it can be anything your creative mind can think of.  I'm using these paper flowers I got from Michales in the clearance section for $1.00
4. Scrapbook paper....I coordinated my paper with the paper flowers.  I tried to make sure each one was different for each child
5. Craft foam... I got mine at the dollar tree
6. Lastly, ribbon....I am using a burlap ribbon from Michaels.

Ok, let's get started.

First make a turkey head template

Trace and cut out on the craft foam

Next hot glue your ribbon around the sides
of your paper box

                   

                            Cover the overlap of ribbon with your
                  paper tag using your glue gun

Add your embellishment over top of
the tag to cover the glue marks

Fold your scrapbook paper accordion style
folding back and forth.  You can judge how
large you want the folds.

Fold in half 

Glue the two halves together

Once dry pull apart to make a fan

Turn it over and hot glue it to the back
of the paper box.  This creates the turkey feathers

Glue the turkey head that you cut
 out ahead of time to the inner part of
 the box in the front

You may need to hold it there for a little
until the glue has fully dried

Next cut out some feet

And glue them to the bottom of the
paper box so they show in the front

Print the kids names out on labels and stick them to the tags on the front of the box.  I later added a turkey face that I got off a google image search.  And you're done!  I hope you have a happy, healthy and safe Turkey Day!  Happy Crafting, Ciao for Now!

-Q-

A Southern Country Thanksgiving Table

I love the holidays, especially Thanksgiving

the food, the company, the beautiful tables.......

Here is my favorite one I did this year!!!!

My client asked me to help him out this year with his Thanksgiving table because he has an ULTRA busy schedule this time of year.  This man has "STYLE" so I jumped at the chance because I really wanted to try out something new for me.... a Southern Traditional Look!  

My client likes the traditional style in his home decor so it's only natural to want the same at your table but, I wanted to make sure I brought a little "Q" to the table by adding handmade items from my studio and little bits of bling!  Cause you know I gotta have my bling!  So first, my client selected a fabric that made me do a double take.  I was like, oh jeepers, how am I going to work with this....lol.  Definitely would not have been my first choice but the more I looked at it, the more I felt a connection with it. Sounds cheesy, but it's true.  The more I looked at the pattern the more I saw.  I made him a round tablecloth (well a table topper actually) out of the fabric.  My biggest challenge with that was the repeat on the fabric, 13" wide and long....lots of wasted fabric because I had to match the motif.  Since we only had 5 yards I had to be very careful with my cuts.  After I painstakingly racked my brain with geometry, and a phone call to my Mom (shout out alert), I figured it out.  The table cloth fit perfectly with the perfect amount of drop all around the table.  Go me, go me....

Earlier in the week I set up a few plate combination using dishes he already had. Like I said, he's got style so I had a few options to chose from.  He's also an even bigger dish lover than me.  I know, hard to believe right?  I like to mix up the plates/bowls to add a little extra visual texture as well as creating an opportunity to introduce more colors.  This was the plating option he liked best so we went with this.  I was thrilled he chose this one because I could add the yellow from the dinner plate to my floral arrangements. His dinner party was rather large so he mixed it up by using the other plate combinations on the second table which I think added more flavor.

The floral arrangements were inspired by the tablecloth.  As I said before, the more I looked at it the more I saw.  Kind of like when you look at the clouds in the sky, you "think" you see a bunny rabbit, or a train....Well believe it or not, I saw Pomegranates.....lol.  Pomegranates have amazing burgundy and rich red tones to them.  I used that to my advantage and paired that with deep red roses. I used white alstros with burgundy speckling and yellow alstros with burgundy speckling for highlights.  Lots of greenery for a grounding effect.  I also used bright red roses for depth.  I hand dipped some of the roses in gold paint because.....that's right, I gotta have my bling.  They came out perfect.  I will post a video on my YOUTUBE channel how to dip roses later this week.  Pomegranates also have a lot of visual texture in their core, so I cut them in half put them on skewers and stuck them into the arrangement.  For the base, my client had this pretty terracotta pot that I used on one table.  I decided to use the Soup Serving Dish on the other table that matched his dish set as the vase.  Hey, sometimes you have to think outside the box.  He was super happy with the way they came out and so was I.  What do you think?

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My favorite part of the table were the handmade gold pumpkin place cards I made in my studio.  Because we were using a lot of reds and greens in the color scheme I didn't want it to look to much like Christmas, so miniature pumpkins were the ticket.  If you'd like to learn how to create these for your fall table, check out my blog archives for " Gilded Glam Pumpkin Place Cards  ".  I also have a video tutorial on YOUTUBE. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j_kNRfvB3A   Check it out and subscribe. 

Well I hope this has inspired you to make your next dinner party the talk of the town.  Ciao of Now!

-Q-