Hot Glue Gun Ornaments

I hope y'all had a happy Thanksgiving, but now it's Christmas time! For those of you who've been following my blog since last year, that means it's #CreNativity season!!!! Today, I'm showing you how to make really cute Christmas tree ornaments out of simply: glue gun sticks.

The supplies you will need are glittery/colorful glue gun sticks (if you can't find colorful glue gun sticks, you can use regular ones and sprinkle FINE glitter in it while it is hot and in your desired shape, but it won't look as good as possible), parchment paper, cute string (the string holding the ornament on the tree), and a hot glue gun.

To start, lay out your parchment paper, and plug in your hot glue gun, putting in a colorful glue stick while its heating up. If there is already a plain glue stick in there which is not your desired color, wait for it to heat up a little, then either push all the glue out (wasting it) or rip the stick out the back. The end will look a little weird but it still works. Now once your preferred color is heated up, squirt it onto the parchment paper into that shape. If it is mixed with the prior glue, squirt all the way until there is a steady flow of the new color. Now to design your ornament, I first squirt the outline of the shape, then fill it all the way in with glue. For the Christmas tree one, squirt the green all the way out and put the gold in to do the star. I used mini sticks, so all of the shapes used up one stick each. Now let them dry. 

To add the string to hang it on the tree, cut a piece of string about 5 inches (just an estimate). Gently peel the shape off the parchment paper and flip it over onto the back side. Add a dab of hot glue on the back (either in the same color or clear) and place both ends of the string there creating a loop. Add a little bit more glue on top of the string. Once that is dry, you are done!!!!! 

¡Feliz Navidad!

Cornucopia

As those of you who follow The I in Creativity on Instagram and Facebook, you'll know that I postponed my craft on Sunday to today so that it will be okay to use tomorrow for thanksgiving (because it is food, as I mentioned in the posts). Well, here it is! A real cornucopia! As cool as this is, it's not my original design. As much as I am crafty, cooking really isn't my thing, so I thought up the idea, then searched for a tutorial, which is how I made this one.

I'll basically explain how I did it, but to see the one I followed after, I'll add a link at the bottom. Before you begin, you'll need to 3 packages of 14oz pizza crust dough. I only used two, but it's always better to have more than less. You will also need a LOT of tinfoil, pizza cutter, cutting board, cookie sheet, Pam, rolling pin, and optionally, a water bottle to size the foil mold.

Use your water bottle to roll up the tin foil into a cornucopia shape. I was confused with this part because the opening needs to be larger than the circumference of the water bottle, so I sort of rolled it into a bigger cone on my own, then just placed the water bottle inside to keep it strong as I roll up more layers. I found that if you gently roll up each piece of foil then unroll it and roll it onto the mold, it will be stronger than a smooth flat piece, but that could be just me so do whatever you want. Keep adding a ton of layers until it is really big and strong. With the opening, fold over the pieces around it to make the hole stronger. Don't forget to bend the tail like a traditional cornucopia.

Now unroll your pizza dough onto your cutting board, roll it out to about 1/2inch thick with your rolling pin, then use your pizza cutter to cut it into strips (the long way) 1inch wide. Oh, and spray your cutting board, rolling pin, cookie sheet, and tinfoil mold all with Pam. Once they're all into strips, put your mold onto the cookie sheet, and wrap the strips around the tinfoil. Even wrap it on the under side. This really stressed me out because the pieces on the bottom would sag and stretch thin, and they were too long to wrap around once, but just continue wrapping around the cornucopia and when it runs out, just pinch it to the next piece you add on. Mine didn't stick together very well, but as long as it's still hanging on there, it's fine. And for my other problem, just make sure there is a designated bottom side. If you want to do fancy braids with the dough, just take as many pieces as you need and braid them, or twist them. My only suggestion is don't do anything that won't lay flat. I did a knotted one and now there are holes in my cornucopia, because I couldn't pull it tight enough to, but it is still fine. 

Once it is fully wrapped, preheat the oven to whatever your packaging says. Mine said 400 degrees F, but the tutorial I was following said 350, so I did 400 and just watched it closely. While it is heating up, make an egg wash thing with an egg and 1 tsp of water and paint it on the dough so it looks golden when it comes out of the oven. Now, put the cookie sheet into the oven. I probably took it out after 15 minutes, so just keep your eye on it and stay in the kitchen. When you take it out, let it cool, then gently remove the tinfoil. I am going to wait to so that until tomorrow before thanksgiving.

Now it is done! It is really cool, and tastes great once you're done using it as decoration. Except it's a bit overwhelming for non cooks. But if I could do it, odds are you can too! To see the other blogpost's  information, click here. 

Flower Hair Accessory

Today I am going to show you how to make a hair elastic cuter by adding any decoration, but in this case, a flower.

All you will need is an elastic, a flower (mine is felt, but any faux flower from a craft store will work), a small rectangle felt piece, and a hot glue gun.

All you do is take your flower (if it is on a stem thing, pull it off, then use scissors to cut off the pokey part on the back, so it is flat) and flip it onto the back, then place one side of the elastic in the center of the flower, and hot glue it the felt piece over it to hold it in place. Let it cool, then it's ready to wear! 

Cornucopia Napkins

Today's blogpost marks my first 2016 Thanksgiving post! We will be making more napkin art, similar to last year's Turkey Napkins/Napkin Holders, so you can have tons of napkin variations!!!! Also, in that previous post, I did a whole place setting decor, so check it out! Now onto the craft!

This will be a million times easier with a paper napkin (it has to be square), and I'm not sure if it would work with a heavy fabric one, but feel free to try it if necessary! Other than a napkin, tape is optional to secure it, and the silverware will go inside.

Most paper napkins come folded in fours (one large square folded in half one way, then folding that in half the other way, making a smaller square), so depending on the size of silverware you use will affect the size your napkin needs to be. For plasticware, leaving it small will work even better, but for regular silverware, it has to be unfolded all the way into a giant square. 

From here on, all steps should be the same. On one side of the square, fold the side over twice about an inch (or way less if making the smaller napkin), to create a cuff. Now flip it upside down, so the cuff is pressing against the table. On the parallel side from that, fold both bottom corners up at an angle so there is a point at the bottom side. Now, roll up the napkin into a cone shape with the point on the end as the point for the cornucopia. Take the point, and roll it up a few times, hold it tight for a few seconds, then let go and it should curve up. If the cornucopia is too weak and doesn't "stand up" shove another crumbled up napkin into the cornucopia. Now place the silverware inside! If any of this if it doesn't stay, either put it under something heavy or use clear tape. 

That's all for this week! Happy holidays! 

Elsa Costume

Sorry I didn't post yesterday! I wanted to show you all my Halloween costume, so we had to wait! 

My mom made my costume using this McCalls pattern, that you can find at your local fabric/craft store such as Joann's or HobbyLobby. As long as you have an intermediate sewing level (enough to read patterns) you should be okay with this pattern. Always be sure to read it while still in the store to know what skills it requires, and the needed materials.

For my makeup/hair, I used sliver roll on shimmer on my eyelids, and a little bit under/around my eyes. For my hair, I curled it to add texture, but I already have curly hair, so it basically maintained it. Then, my mommy helped me with a regular pancaked French braid. We then added a blue bow, and glitter hairspray.

To see my last year's Mary Poppins costume, click the link. Enjoy! Now we can get on to thanksgiving crafts, then.... #CreNativity!!!