A Count Down to Christmas - Mini Shaker Ornaments and a Tree!

Hi and thanks so much for stopping by to see what's new on the GSLC blog today.  Christmas is coming up fast so I have two fun and quick projects that you can make with your kids or your friends to put a little fun into the season.

My first project is this fun set of shaker ornaments.  I used the Double Sided Ornaments to make them and each set has these cute acrylic domes to cover the tops so they were really fun to create with.  Keep reading for a quick step by step tutorial to make them for your family tree this year!

Start by painting all the frames white with chalkboard paint.  This is a good one because there is less water in it and it doesn't warp the chipboard.  Let them dry.

Create cute scenes on each of the chipboard circles and also on the clear fronts.  You can make them see through and you can pop them up with 3D Foam squares to make them more 3D under the dome.

Any kind of stickers are great to use ... just be sure that you sand around the edges to make sure

that the circle will fit back into the frame.  Add extra snow for the shakers before you glue them.

Here is another one. I should have made this cute little guy a hat. He looks a bit chilly!

After you finish the circles, glue them between the two ornaments with adhesive and clothespin them until they dry.  If you use quick dry adhesive it will go really quickly.

Add ribbon bows to each of the tops and also a little ribbon to hang it on the tree.  This was so fun!!

And I had more paper and stickers so I got to work on this advent tree too.  For this one I covered the front and back of the tree with Doodlebug paper and let it dry.  I also covered the bottom base with 

paper and then when it was dry I cut the slits in it to glue in the tree.  Then I glued it together and let it all dry really good.  Chalking around the edges finished it up and gave it more depth.

For the front piece I glued a piece of tan corrugated paper to give it some more texture.  For the letters and the numbers I inked them in red ink and then embossed all of it with red glittery embossing powder from Stampendous.  This is a really fast and easy technique to add color and texture to the chipboard pieces.  And then I added a bit of snow and glitter and a few of the snowman stickers peeking out of the top and sides. 

The kit comes complete with the tree, stands for the base and front and 13 squares and numbers to make sure you have the perfect numbers of days until Santa comes to you house.  It's a wonderful

project and can be used for years to come.  

Here is a quick supply list for you:

Ornament Double Sided (Contact Store)

Countdown Tree (Contact Store)

Doodlebug Christmas papers and stickers

3D foam squares

tiny clothespins, white paint, red ink, green ink, red embossing powder,

green embossing powder, green ink, scissors, paper trimmer, heat tool.

I hope you liked my projects I shared and be sure and come see more ideas from our DT.

Teresa Horner