My Patriotic Swap Ornament

If you read my last post you know I entered a Patriotic Ornament Swap hosted by Sarah at Makin' Projiks.  Now I am going to show you what I submitted as my contribution to the swap.  As a I stated before these are well traveled ornaments.  I was on vacation while making these so they were all over NY, Massachusetts, Missouri, and then on to their final destinations, wherever that may be.

My initial project I was going to make was a bust, because I couldn't get my printer to work so I gathered all my patriotic colored supplies and hit the road.

Here are some pictures with my ornament in the works.  Sorry for all the different color tones to the pictures but as I said before these were crafted on vacation and taken with my cell phone.

I had some vintage blue ornaments that have been riding around in my car for months, a box or red candle stick holders I picked up at the thrift, cupcake wrappers, wooden balls, chenille stems, glitter stars, ribbon paint, glue, and accessories.  Now to figure out what to do with all this.

I used the candle stick holder as a base and glued some chenille stems to them.

I used the vintage glass ornaments as a body...I hope they make it intact to their destinations, you never know with vintage ornaments.  The cupcake wrappers were used as a skirt.  I have never done this before and didn't realize how tough it is to glue a paper cylinder to a glass cylinder, but I persevered.

If I thought gluing paper wrappers to vintage ornaments was hard, gluing glittered ribbon to the paper and ornament was even harder.  There were gaps between the ribbon and glass ornaments that I had to fix.  I also had to decide whether to tuck the stem of the ornament into the candle stick holder or use it to keep the wooden ball on.  I tried it both ways and stuck the wooden balls over the ornament stems.

I got excited because it was coming together and I could see what they could potentially look like.  as I was making these they kind of reminded me of something...

Here they are with their heads...oh wait one is missing their head!  I ran out of wooden balls.  The project would have to wait because I sent my sister to the store to get some and they were all out of the size I needed.  I had her pick up a smaller size but I didn't like the way they looked.

Now the hard part for me...their faces...I hate painting faces, they never turn out right!

I just settled for eyes and hair and added accessories.  I wanted to add more layers but I was running out of time and had to get these in the mail, so out they went!

Here is a view of the finished ornaments.  They are all different but similar.

There were brunettes!

Blondes!

and Black haired dolls!

I hope all the recipients enjoy them.  I had fun and a lot of stress making them but that is all part of the creative process for me.  Do you want to see the original ornament....the ornament that these were based on?

TA DA!  My five year old niece also made one.  We made hers first.  It helped with the development process of the final ornament.  I think she did an amazing job.  There was a lot of paint, glitter and glue involved.

Look at that happy face and glitter hair!  So cute.  Kids are so talented and artistic and are not swayed by others opinions.

So did these ornaments remind you of anything?  I can't decide which one the ornament looks like more...

https://ignaciosantonja.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/superheroes-de-todo-a-100/

Super Woman?

or

Wonder Woman?

http://prenatalyogacenter.com/blog/postnatal-yoga-and-the-power-pose/

I'll let you decide.

Oh guess what?  My Swap box arrived today and I can't wait to show you what I received.  There are some very talented people out there.  Stay tuned for the reveal or check out Sarah's blog Makin' Projiks.

Patriotic Swap

I joined a Patriotic Swap hosted by Sarah at Makin Projicks.  I've been looking for a swap to join so I could get my craft on.  I work better under pressure.  Sarah has never done a Patriotic Swap before but I and others kind of asked her to host one.  I'm wonder what I will receive because I had no clue what to make.  I pulled out all my red, white, and blue stuff trying to decide.  I had a totally different projick in mind for the swap but my printer wouldn't work and I was going on vacation.  I tried figuring it out but no luck.

So I packed up all my craft supplies, headed to Syracuse, and then off to Massachusetts.  These are well traveled swap gifts...kind of like our founding fathers.  I worked on them in Syracuse, Plymouth, and in Western NY.

Here is a sneak peak of what I was working with.  Can you figure out what I made? 

I had my 5 year old niece helping me.  She also made one for herself.  As we worked on hers I was able to work out most of the kinks before actually working on the ones I would be sending out.  Hers was really cute I should have just had her make all of them.

I used pieces and parts of stuff I had collected.  I over packed and only used a few of the craft supplies I had brought with me...I also ran out of stuff so I had to make a craft stop while on vacation.  That was not part of my vacation plans.

I also miscalculated on when I had to send these out, I thought I had more time to work on these...NOPE!  I finished these up and sent them on their way in a little patriotic wrapping.

Stay tuned for the full reveal.  

I will have a full post of what I made after I receive my Patriotic Swap box.  You can also check out Sarah's blog and see how talented she is with crafting, quilting, and decorating.  Sarah has such cute kids and she is never afraid to say how she is feeling.  She hosts Swaps throughout the year so if you want to get your craft on think about joining her Halloween Swap!