Sweater Snowmen

These little guys are the cutest. The cutest ever. And they're so easy to make. I used a couple of thrifted cashmere sweaters that had holes for materials. So, they're not only cute - they're posh.

Cut yourself a rough tube of sweater material. The size you cut will entirely depend on the size of snowman you want to make. You really can't mess this up. You'll be stuffing and shaping the tube to your own specifications. Sweater material is super stretchy. And you can shape it as you stuff it. So, don't worry.

Sew up the side of your tube with a zig-zag stitch on your machine with the fabric's right sides together.

Then, use your glue gun to seal up the top in an X pattern. This will be the top of the head. You could also use thread to simply gather it up and tie the top. Since these guys are wearing cozy hats, no one will see the tops of their little heads.

Turn it right side out and begin to stuff your snowman's head.

Once you think you've created a good sized head, use some thread and wrap at the base to create a neck area. Tie off and trim your thread.

I stuffed the lower portion of the body and simply folded the ends over before securing the base with hot glue.

I made a simple cone shape with a different sweater material. Again, I sewed up the sides of my cone, right sides together, and flipped it right side out. Instant hat.

The little scarf is just an unfinished strip of material.

Dress up your little snowman. Place dabs of glue where you'd like your hat to role up, if you want a brim.

Another dab of hot glue folds the top of the hat down just a bit, if you'd like. They also look really cute when they're left a bit pointy.

Also, secure the scarf to itself right where you want the overlap.

Use hot glue to place some buttons.

Make a whole family!

Or a couple!

I feel cozy just looking at them.

Fall Candle Wraps

I put to use some more of those cold porcelain leaves I made using my recipe from this post and had also used to make fall napkin rings and made some really simple candle wraps to match the rest of my leafy decor.

I just cut four pieces of twin to the same length (long enough to tie around my candle) and then used a glue gun to secure the leaves to the twine.

Wrap those guys around your candles and you're instantly festive.

Fall Napkin Rings (from Shower Rings!)

Another simple and inexpensive craft. Do you know how cheap plastic shower rings are at the thrift store? Under $1 for 12 of them. So, I decided that 6 would make a nice set of fall napkin rings to be used for Thanksgiving.

Pretty, right?

I used some twine and a glue gun to cover them, but you could easily use jute, too, which might even give better coverage. 

Begin with a dab of hot glue to secure your beginning end of twine.

Make sure that the ring is "unhooked" so that you can slip the twine through that space in order to wind around your shower ring.

I wound around loosely a second time in order to insure full coverage - no one likes icky white plastic peaking through.

When finished winding, seal the rings shut. You can then begin to add your embellishments for the top of the ring.

I chose to add some cold porcelain leaves that I shaped and painted myself. You might remember my tutorial for cold porcelain here. You'll also need some floral tape to cover the remaining visible plastic portion on the ring and provide a smooth surface on which you can attach your leaves.

 

  

All that's left now is to place your lovely napkins through those rings and serve up some dinner (maybe even Thanksgiving dinner?).

Apple Garland

This simple apple garland is made with faux apples strung together on twine. It's a pretty decoration for fall and you can make it as simple or grandiose as you'd like with as many embellishments as you prefer. For now, I think I like this one very simple with only apples and leaves.

Since I don't have a special tool for threading styrofoam apples, I fashioned my own out of wire and duct tape. I attached the twine to the end of the makeshift wire needle with the tape and got ready to string a dozen apples.

Once I pierced the apple, I worked to make sure that my wire remained as straight as possible as it made its way through the apple.

When I could see that it was beginning to poke through the other side, I pierced that area just a bit with another wire end, just to make my "needle's" exit as easy as possible. I used my wire cutters to grab and pull the wire all the way through, just because their grip is better than mine.

Your wire will obviously push through some of the styrofoam so that you'll get some small pieces that are pushed out with the wire. Also, your exit hole might look a little messy once you pull everything through; just use your finger to push the styrofoam and apple skin back into place.

I tried to make sure that I strung them at different angles so that the final result would include apples that could be viewed from multiple angles. String a whole bunch of them and hang them up!

At this point, I cut up a faux leaf branch with some wire cutters in order to get smaller 3 leaf bunches, poking the ends of those into the holes I made for stringing the apples, just to one side of each apple. I added two bunches to either end of the garland.

Of course, you could get really creative and add many different things. Maybe even blend a pennant banner between the apples. Or, keep it simple. I really love mine.