snowglobe ornament

Jaime here today from That’s My Letter and it’s officially holiday prep time!  Today I’m sharing a DIY snow globe ornament with a wood base that makes a perfect gift for anyone big or small.

This snow globe ornament is constructed on a wood base where all the interior pieces can be glued to the base and then the clear globe is placed over the scene.  The globe is plastic and the entire ornament is very lightweight so it won’t weigh down your tree branches!

snowglobe ornament 4

You can put nearly anything inside the snow globe as long as it fits under the dome.  I used bottle brush trees, wire candy canes and a wood dowel sign with the family name printed on cardstock.  Add a little faux snow and you have the cutest little winter scene.

snowglobe ornament 2

The faux snow will cover any unsightly hot glue and adds just that tiny bit of sparkle.

snowglobe ornament 3

Add a small wood ball on top to compliment the wood base with a string for hanging and you have a keepsake ornament that will look beautiful on or off the tree.

snowglobe ornament 1

Materials:

snowglobe ornaments supplies

  • 3″ clear plastic craft ornament
  • 2″ circle (cut from cardstock, only used as a template)
  • 3″ wood square (1/4″ plywood)
  • mini pom poms
  • mini wire candy canes
  • mini bottle brush tress
  • 1/8″ dowel
  • small wood balls with hole in center
  • red string
  • white glue
  • paint brush
  • faux snow
  • x-acto knife
  • sandpaper
  • hot glue gun & glue sticks
  • scissors
  • pencil
  • black sharpie marker

Instructions:

Step 1: Using an x-acto knife cut around the ornament opening enough to remove the neck portion.  Don’t worry about being neat here the goal is to remove the neck and have a wide enough opening for scissors. Read more

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Want to make a lamp shade that will bring some style and bling to your home? All you need are a few mosaic tile sheets, a lamp shade top piece, and some thread. In no time you’ll have a beautiful Mosaic Tile Lamp Shade!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions:

Cut up the lamp shade to expose the top ring.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

This is what you should be left with:

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Lay out your mosaic tile sheets. Cut the mesh to the height you desire for your lamp shade. The lamp shade I created was small, therefore I only needed a 6 inch height to cover the lamp bulb.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Lay two sheets of the tiles side by side and stitch the two sheets together at the seam from the mesh side.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Wrap the tile sheet around the lamp shade top ring and trim the excess tiles off.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Stitch the open ends together. I found it easiest to slip a paper towel roll into the center to support all the tiles while stitching it.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Stitch the lamp shade ring to the top of the mosaic tile tube. Loop the thread through the tile mesh and the lamp shade ring around the entire circumference.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Your lamp shade should look something like this:

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Attach your lamp shade to the lamp and admire!

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Lights out…

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

…and lights on. I love the shadows cast by the tile lampshade.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

Enjoy a unique and beautiful lamp shade in your home. The mosaic tile lamp shade adds a touch of class and bling to our mudroom.

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

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PHGFancySignDisclosure: As a #LowesCreator, I was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase supplies for this post. I was not told what to write. All ideas and words are my own.

how to stamp with potatoes

Hey there! It’s Melissa from The Happier Homemaker back again with a fun and easy DIY tutorial you can even get the kiddos involved with! I’ve been noticing block printing coming up a lot in my home decor magazines and catalogs lately. Last week when I was prepping a little rainy day potato stamping activity for my 3 boys, I decided it may be time to try a little block printing DIY of my own.

Supplies:

  • Flour Sack Tea Towels
  • Large Raw Baking Potato
  • Knife
  • Craft Paint
  • Fabric Medium
  • Iron and Ironing Board

Instructions:

Cut your potato in half and use your knife to {carefully} cut your design.  Simple shapes work best for this type of stamping.

diy potato stamped towel

On a paper plate, or paint palette, mix your craft paint with fabric medium in a 2:1 ratio (or according to fabric medium instructions.) Read more

DIY Message Cloth Napkin Gift Idea

Bringing a hostess gift to someone whose home you are staying in is apparently a pretty universal thing.  I had never heard of such a thing until I was in my late 20’s.  It’s not a mind blowing concept but I have come to appreciate the simplicity of the thoughtful gesture.  Granted, if you are a “Real Housewife”, then I’m pretty sure if you don’t show up with a bottle of Cristal you get the stink eye.  Hostess gifts don’t have to be spendy, they just need to be thoughtful.  Today I am going to show you how to create an inexpensive gift for the hostess with a sense of humor. Gather around and learn how to make these “Eat Your Veggies” cloth napkins.

Materials:

  • Silhouette Cutter
  • Computer
  • Iron on Heat Transfer material
  • Napkins
  • Iron
  • Ironing Board
  • Towel
  • Tape Measure

Instructions:

Start by pre-washing the napkins.  Measure how big the lettering should be by folding the napkin (half fold or quarter fold napkins) and measure the printable area.

hostess gift idea

Arrange the words as you would like them to appear on the napkins.  Watch your dimensions!  Duplicate the image as many times as you have napkins.

hostess gift idea

Right click on the image and flip the image horizontally.  This will be the mirror image allowing the words to be read once they are applied to the napkin.

hostess gift idea

Send the wording or images to the Silhouette or other craft cutter.

hostess gift idea

Once the image is cut,  weed out the negative spaces. Read more

DIY Chalkboard Memo Board (4th grade project) | Pretty Handy Girl

DIY Chalkboard Memo Board (4th grade project) | Pretty Handy Girl

Before the end of the school year a REALLY GOOD friend of mine asked if I would give a talk in her daughter’s class about what I do for a living. I hemmed and hawed because I rarely have the free time. But, the main reason I was hesitant was because I didn’t know how to talk to 4th graders about what I do. Saying I’m a blogger is something that is hard for me to vocalize. “I write a blog” sounds simple and easy. But, in actuality, I do so many other things to make this blog a reality. Just a few of my job descriptions are: writer, photographer, builder, crafter, teacher, photo editor, business woman, manager, social media coordinator, graphic designer, web designer and all around handy girl! How could I explain all of that to the students?

Suddenly, an idea hit me! I would waltz into that classroom and use my platform to break down the stereotypes about women and handy people within 30 minutes (or less!) Then I’d empower the 4th grade students by letting them build their own chalkboard memo board AND use a power tool! Lofty goals, but I felt sure I could do it. Little did I know that the students wouldn’t be the only one empowered.

The quiz:

I started out by talking to the kids about what a handy person is. They shared terms that fit the definition of a handy person: fixes things, builder, carpenter, plumber, woodworker, and home improvement specialist. Then I showed them a slide presentation and gave the kids a quiz asking them to tell me which of these people are handy:

DIY Chalkboard Memo Board (4th grade project) | Pretty Handy Girl

I showed them one picture at a time and as expected, they got all of the answers wrong.

The answers: Read more