Swirly in Craft Ideas Magazine Fall 2016

 We are thrilled to be part of the 2016 Fall issue of Craft ideas Magazine with a Thanksgiving project.

Corn cob place card holder

 

What we really enjoy with the how-to project for the magazine is that will supplied them with step by step photos to make the project.

 

 Be sure to check out a copy of Craft ideas Fall magazines at your favorite magazine seller.

Holiday How-to Summer: BEACH sign

This project is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ahhhhhh summer! Create this sea glass beach sign to display at your home this summer!

Learn how to here !

This project is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY.

Holiday How-to Christmas: Cardinal Yule Log

This project is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY.

 Tis the season to be making… this Yule log Cardinal ornament is a perfect project to make as a gift, embellish a present, or hang on your festive tree. 

Learn how to here

Holiday How-to Easter: Petite Bunny Basket

This project is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY.

We are so Egg~cited to share our New Polyform Easter how-to:
Create and celebrate Easter with these sweet petite Bunny Baskets. These mulit-purpose designs can be used as décor pieces, to adore your Easter tree or placecard favors for your guests. Designed by Lianne and Paul Stoddard of Swirly Designs - Handmade Polymer Clay ornaments - these baskets are easy and adorable! You can find the project here.

Revisit these fun Easter Tutorials

Easter isn't until Sunday, so that means you still have two full day of crafting. We thought we would revisit these two very popular Easter tutorials. Our Mini Swirly Bunny how-to is one of our most pinned project on Pinterest.

 

Creating these Egg Carton Baskets is a wonderful project and a way to recycle all those extra egg cartons from your Easter egg decorating.    

Happy Easter!

How~to: St. Patty's Day Shamrock Picks

Swirly Designs is sharing a little Luck O' the Irish with you today! Join us and craft up this simple Shamrock Pick to fancy up your dessert table this Saint Patrick's Day.  

It's easy! Let's get started:

Materials: 

• Green card stock (solid or you can use a print)

• 1/16" hole punch

• heart shape punch

• mini circle brads

• bent nose jewelry pliers

• toothpicks

• green food coloring

• small bowl 

  

Step 1.

Following the direction on the food coloring box, mix the shade of green that will complement your green paper. Add in your toothpicks and let them sit approx 15 -20 minutes. The longer they sit in the solution the darker your toothpicks will be. 

Step 2.

Remove toothpicks from the dye and let them dry completely.

Step 3.

Take some green card stock and a heart shape punch and punch out three hearts. (You will need three hearts to make one shamrock so for every one you are planning to make times by 3)

Step 4.

Stack the three heart shapes together and with a 1/16" hole punch, punch a hole about an 1/8" up from the bottom of the heart shape.

Step 5.

Insert a mini circle brad through the 1/8" hole in all three heart cut outs.

Step 6.

Open the brad ends and lay your dried tooth pick in the middle, and then close the brad.

Step 7.

Use your bent nose jewelry pliers to secure the brad tighter to your toothpick. Then spread apart your hearts to create your shamrock.

Once you get one done you can really crank these out fast. Use on your cupcakes, Irish soda bread or you can write your guests name on each for place cards.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

~Lianne & Paul

This project is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY.

How-to: Heart Tree Topper

This project is for personal, non-commercial use.

We love decorating for Valentine’s Day and as you may know we might have a few mini trees (is six a few??) decked out here to celebrate love day. Now, we don't expect you to have six trees... three would be fine..but even if you only have one here is a simple how-to project you can do to create this sweet tree topper for your own Valentine’s tree.

Materials
• Paper Mache covered styrofoam heart (we found these at Micheal's for a buck)
• Red and pink craft pain
• Sliver Dresden trim (D Blumchen & Co.)
• 3/8" ribbon coral rose color
• 5/8" ribbon lite pink color
• silver tinsel
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• a bamboo skewer

Step 1.
Take your scissors and make a hole at the bottom of the heart big enough to fit on your tree branch.


Step 2.
Paint. We painted one side bright red and the other side pink, but you can create any color combination you feel fits your ornament color palette. It could be red and gold, silver and purple etc.). Don't worry about the edges where the two colors meet, you'll be covering it with trim.


Step 3.
To make it easier to paint your heart, insert your bamboo skewer.Easier to hold, plus when done you can insert it into a glass to let the paint dry.


Step 4.
Cut two pieces of each of your 3/8 and 5/8 color ribbon 22" inches long (this size could vary depending on the size of your tree. You want the ribbon long enough to be able to drape down your tree) Use a glue gun to glue the ribbon around bottom hole of the heart alternating colors.

Step 5.
Glue the silver Dresden trim around the edges of the heart where the two colors meet. Then glue a piece of tinsel around the base covering the end your ribbon.


There you have it....your Valentine Heart Tree Topper!


Insert your heart onto the top of one of your trees and drape your ribbon down the tree.




The heart can easily be switched around if you want the pink side.

How great does the bright red side workwith our silver tinsel tree? It just makes all the red "pop" on the tree.


The red side also works well with a pale pink tree if you want more of a contrast.


...or switch it around to make the whole tree in tones of pink.

Have fun... be creative... use your own imagination to create your own lovely Valentine heart tree topper!

Happy Valentine's Day!