Friday, December 10, 2010

Tiny Hat Ornaments How-To

I'm re-posting this fun DIY because it was such a hit last year! If you make any little hats and take pics, post a link 'cause I'd love to see them --- like these ones here! So cute!

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 Here's the how-to for that little winter hat ornament I showed you last week. A friend taught me how to make these when we were in middle school and we stayed up all night making a huge pile of them to sell at the school craft fair. And that's how I paid my way through college! (juuuust kidding)

You'll need some yarn, a pair of scissors, a ruler, and a piece of a paper towel roll cut about 1/2" thick.

Cut a handful of yarn strands about 10" long. I find it easiest to wrap them around an appropriately-sized book and cut them as shown.
Make a loop with one piece of yarn and stick the loop up through the cardboard roll.
Wrap the two ends of the yarn up around the front of the cardboard roll and through the loop. Pull tight.
Do this all the way around the loop. You can make it a single color, alternating colors, whatever! It looks like a little hula skirt at this point.
Then turn it inside out by pushing all the yarn ends up through the cardboard roll.
Then tie them tightly with another piece of yarn.
Trim the little pompom at the top of the hat and there ya go! Feel free to leave it as is or embellish it with ribbon, rickrack, buttons, glitter, etc!

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Happy Crafting!
Arian

A Blog Party!

Michelle of Scissor Quirk is hosting an amazing blog party right now that is busting at the seams with giveaways, guest posts, and interviews. She's giving away two of my prints (of your choice)! So if you'd like a chance to win, hop on over and leave a comment!






There really are a ton of super-talented artists and crafters taking part in the party and so many great things to win. So go!

Arian

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Making Our Lists

 We've been making our Christmas shopping lists and checking things off. The boys have been great little helpers! Hudson's been writing his shopping lists the proper way---with ink and a feather, while I've been taking a more modern ipod list-making approach. : )

 The boys and I spent the day being productive little Christmas shopping elves. Of course we took a break to treat ourselves to some muffins (for them) and coffee (for me).
 This is one of the boys' favorite spots for our coffee shop dates because they can watch the barges go by and see all the big trucks on the bridges.
We got about half way done with our list before the boys got too tired to go on. : ) I'm looking forward to a weekend of more shopping and wrapping and crafting and carols and Christmas movies!

 (don't worry, we were stuck in non-moving traffic when I snapped these pics)
Hope you're enjoying all your holiday prep!!

Arian : )

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

"Awaited" Shirts

My rockstar sister is one of the masterminds behind Crossroad's annual Christmas show, "Awaited". It's the most artistic and creative representation of the Christmas story I've ever seen. And for the past couple years I've had the pleasure of creating the 200+ cast and crew members' special thank you gift! Two years ago they got my Christmas cards. Last year I got to create a custom art print for them. And this year I got to do t-shirts! (Hopefully they are not getting tired of me ; )

The text is a collage of phrases from the show.



Here are a few pics of "Awaited" last year....its pretty wonderful. Can't wait to see the new and improved version again this year!





(photos courtesy of Crossroads)

Off to do some Christmas shopping!! (This is the time of year each year when we realize that our hopes of making all our gifts this is again unrealistic.) ; )

Arian

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Busy Little Elves

It was a busy, festive weekend. My lovely assistant, Laura, and I, fueled by coffee and Christmas music, printed and packaged and sealed and labeled all day to catch up on sales. If you won a painting in the art auction, it's on its way!

A beautiful mess : )

The weekend was also spent making snow angels (the first of the season),

celebrating Christmas at the Seabird Christmas show,

 (grabbed a few of my shirts! they are super soft and comfy)

getting our first LIVE Armstrong family Christmas tree,

and celebrating Hudson's 6th birthday at his snow-themed, DIY pizza party (his request). I got tons of photos on my real camera that need to be unloaded.
All this busyness and freezing temperatures has got me feeling pretty under the weather. Any favorite home remedies for a cold that just won't go away? I'll try 'em! I'd love to just close the bedroom door, curl up in bed, drink hot lemonade, and watch about eight hours of Christmas romantic comedies. That would cure me for sure : )

Arian

Thursday, December 2, 2010

And the Winner is...

Matt, Katie, and Sophia! said...
Charlie Brown Christmas sound track. SO good!

Yay!! So please send me an email at arianarmstrong(at)yahoo.com and let me know your tshirt size and where to send your prize. Thanks!!

Arian

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

And One More Family Pic

..and one more family pic that got left out. I love this one. It really captures the boys' personalities, I think. Hudson, my intelligent, dramatic, creative, analytical son who will probably grow up to be a novelist or a Shakespearean actor or something else that requires great thought and creativity. And Jude, my sweet, cheerful, optimistic son who, no matter what he ends up doing, will do it with loads of charm and a smile. Love my boys : )

Arian