I hope you all had such a Merry Christmas and enjoyed some time with family and friends. We were fortunate enough to wrap up the last remnants of the flu as the holiday officially began. Of course I had so much I wanted to share with you guys before Santa's visit, but naturally, not a single bit of that happened. So many ideas and so little time, isn't that always the case? Better late than never though.
While your present opening and tree trimming has come to a close, don't put those ornaments, wreaths or garlands away just yet. Many of your gorgeous baubles are just the thing to add a little sparkle to your New Year's festivities. Lucky for both of us that the handmade ornaments I had planned to share prior to Christmas Day, actually work for any festive occasion or cute handmade wall decor, all the live long year. And of course they add that extra bit of sparkle and shine that's perfect for ringing in the New Year with style. At least I'm not too late for that upcoming event. At least not yet… Give me a day and I may be able to come up with another round of some horrid sickness. Ugh.
This project was created for my Cran Crush Christmas Look and I used it for another pretty that I will share later in the week. Stay tuned for that fun…
This project is really simple and can be done in bulk for very low cost and in no time at all. At first glance this seems like a project that doesn't require a tutorial, but I assure I made that mistake myself and the result was something out of a glittery medieval tarring and feathering spectacle. Trust me on this one…
Materials:
- Feathers in a style of your choosing. I used a large bag of white feathers from the craft store.
- Glitter in gold or a color of your choosing
- Glue – Elmer's or other liquid craft glue
- Small Ornament Hooks (can also use floral wire)
This is going to sound a tad silly, but start by sorting through your feathers and choosing only those that have enough of the smooth bottom portion (instead of the fuzzy section at the top) to make your sparkle show well.
Your going to use your finger to apply your glue, very gently. I tried a few other methods for this and they all ended up in a large virtual blooper real with feathers and glitter everywhere. It was not pretty. Or actually it was pretty, just not what I was going for. It's funny I didn't consider that this step needed special care, and so I was surprised when I kept screwing it up, over and over again. Some things aren't as simple as they seem!
To avoid a good feathering, you will dip your finger in a dollop of glue and gently brush a thin layer over the bottom portion. Follow the natural V shape of the feather (the V is upside down) and give it decent coverage. Keep it from being so thick that you start to tangle and overlap the little tendrils, this isn't very good looking when it happens. With any remaining glue on your finger, carefully and lightly brush the very outside edges of some of the fluffy uper section. If the pieces start to come out when you do this, lighten your touch or skip this little bit. It's really more of an extra bit of pretty than an important step.
This part is easy peasy, glitter and shake off the excess.
Now for the complicated stuff… If you have floral wire or ornament hooks on hand, they will make this step pretty simple. I had ornament hooks so that is what I will show you. If you are using wire, simply wrap your wire in a similar method that I show you here, only once you wrap it through, wrap tightly around creating a stem of sorts.
First you will want to poke your hook through one side of the feather from behind.
Then thread it back through the other side, and out the back.
Now you simply need to wrap that end around and down in the front, but be sure to leave the remaining hook toward the back. If you plan to hang these from something that requires you to use string, I recommend twisting the upper portion of the hook around the feather again and bending the end down into a half circle loop. This will give you something to attach your string to.
These are so pretty in person, and so fast to churn out in bulk. I used these on my Cran Crush Tree and also for another project that I will share with you later this week! Yahoo.
