Tag Archives: Mark Kintzel Craft Ideas

Twine Christmas Trees

The holidays are here which means crafters are in overdrive! Dreaming, creating, repurposing, and general overall decorating madness. Trying to avoid the creative urge to scheme, invent easy and beautiful holiday crafts is futile.

So here we go. Take these styrofoam cones for example – with a roll of twine, and some glue you will create awesome Christmas trees.

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You’ll need:

  • Styrofoam cones
  • Hot glue gun
  • Twine
  • Bases for the trees (optional)

All supplies can generally be found at any craft store – I even found these birch bases at Michaels. If you can’t find twine, you will certainly score some at your local hardware store — that’s where I found mine.

Here’s how you do it:

  1. Starting at the base of the cone, hot glue the start of the twine then continue to wrap the twine till you reach the top.
  2. Hot glue the twine to the top of the cone.
  3. Done!

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For a little extra holiday pop, I added wool felt ball garland and tree toppers. However, these trees look amazing on their own. I also found the felt balls at Michaels and simply created the garland by threading the balls together with a sewing needle and red thread.

Happy crafting and happy holidays!

 

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Repurposed Pantry Jars As Party Favors

Hello crafters! A while back I posted a project titled, Repurposed Jars for the Holidays. It was a big hit on my blog so I decided to repurpose MORE jars but this time as tiny terrariums. I think they’d be awesome as wedding favors!

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Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Jars from your pantry
  • Craft store acrylic paint
  • Tiny succulents
  • Potting soil
  • Small pebbles
  • 18 gauge aluminum wire
  • Card stock paper
  • Tiny spoon or twig
  • Wire cutter
  • Pencil

With the exception of the jars, succulents and potting soil, you can pick up all project ingredients from your craft store. The succulents and potting soil can be purchased at your local plant nursery.

Here’s how you do it:

  1. Empty, clean and remove label from the jar.
  2. Paint jar lid your favorite color.
  3. Add about 1/2 inch of soil to the bottom of the jar.
  4. Remove the succulent from the store container and remove any excess soil that is around the root system. Don’t worry about hurting these little guys, they’re super resilient.
  5. Insert the succulent into jar and secure the roots of the succulent in the soil using a small spoon or twig.
  6. Add a layer of pebbles.
  7. Cut a section of wire to wrap and twist around the neck of the jar.
  8. Using a pencil, curl the other end of the wire around the pencil to create a coil – this will hold the name tag.
  9. Create a name tag with card stock paper, slip it in the coiled end of the wire and your done!

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This project is super easy and inexpensive to make. And best of all, it makes a super and unique gift. Oh, and caring for these little lovelies is a breeze:

Check every couple of days to see if your terrarium needs water. If it is dry add a tiny bit of water.

If your terrarium is closed, take off the top every couple of days to air it out. If you see lots of condensation or have added too much water, leave the top off until it has had a chance to dry out.

Pull off any leaves that show signs of yellowing or damage and prune plants if they grow too large.

Don’t fertilize your terrarium because you don’t want to encourage growth.

Happy crafting!