Thursday, December 21, 2017

Art Elements Christmas Blog Hop


Photo of owl by Philip Marsh on Unspla
Photo by Philip Marsh on Unsplash
Welcome to the Art Elements Christmas Blog Hop sponsored by Art Elements.   Anyone can join in this challenge and you can make your ornaments from any material you please and in any style you like – it just has to be hand made. The goal of the challenge is to have fun and maybe be inspired to try something new and make something different.
front of owl ornament by BayMoonDesign
owl ornament by BayMoonDesign

I have been saving Altoid tins for a number of years. I like to have them on hand to ship delicate pieces of jewelry and I store bead mixes in them too. Recently, I had been toying with the idea of making Christmas ornaments from them. I have collected a few ideas of what other folks have done with Altoid boxes here on Pinterest. There are also several tutorials there. After gathering ideas and reading tutorials, I decided that my Altoid tin ornament will be centered around some cute owls that I found on a Christmas card given to me by a dear friend in the 1980's.


Back of the ornament
Back of the ornament
I used that card as the background on the ornament and to cover the back and sides of the tin I used some paper with a wood pattern that I had on hand.  I dug into my collection of art beads and a ceramic with a heart on it. I added a few beads to it.   I used beading wire and crimp beads to connect them.  Before attaching them to the Altoid tin I used a hole punch and placed two small holes which I centered on the bottom of the tin prior to attaching any paper to the tin.  I opened a jump ring and inserted into the two holes, and then closed the jump ring.  This is where I attached my strand of beads.  I then covered the inside of the tin with part of the card.  To cover the bottom and sides, I used wood patterned paper. Modge Podge was used to adhere the paper to the tin.  I used scraps of white trim around the edges and added a snowflake that I made from paper.  I also added a tiny tree and owl that I found at the store.  The final touches to the ornament include a strand of white and brown twine that I ran around the sides and up to the top.  This twine serves as a way to hang the ornament.  I also added a white bow at the top.   I made 2 ornaments using this owl card.  I plan to give one of my friend that sent me the card in the '80's for her family Christmas tree and one to my daughter who loves owls.  Be careful what you send me!  It just may make it back to you.

Photo of hot beverage by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Now go and grab a hot beverage and sit back and enjoy seeing what ornament other folks made for this blog hop.  A special thanks to  Lesley Watt for organizing this.  A visit to the blogs and comments are appreciated.

Guest Designers

Art Elements Team


Happy Holidays!
Kathy

24 comments:

  1. OMG! Those owls are too, too cute! I love your use of the altoid tin. It's such a cool little shadowbox. I'm sure the recipients are going to love it too!!

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  2. Wow, Kathy! Impressive you saved that card so long. Very impressive ornament, so cute! And SO thoughtful of you to give that same friend the ornament you made with her card! You rock!

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    1. My friend loved it and I gave one just like it to my daughter because she loves owls. Big hit!

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  3. I love this!! Great idea. I also have a ton of ideas saved on Pinterest for altering altoid tins. I had planned to make a few as Christmas gifts but so far I have only partially finished ONE! This has given me the inspiration to finish it and wrap it up for a friend. Thanks for participating!

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  4. Somehow the Altoid tin (with the owl) reminds me of Harry Potter - Owls, house scarves and school. Merry Christmas to you

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  5. That is just adorable Kathy and a wonderful keepsake gift to give - I'm sure the recipients will be thrilled. Thank you for taking part in our challenge and happy holidays.

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  6. Beautiful! I love the little scene you've created!

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  7. What a great idea. And so wonderfully executed. I love that you re-used pieces of the card from so many christmases ago.

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  8. How cute! I love the idea to use the Altoid tins! I bet they smell Christmassy too, haha. That wood grain pattern turned out just lovely.

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    1. I finally found a good use for the wood grain paper!

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  9. I love that! I love diaramas :D

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  10. Wow, Kathy, this is amazing! I have a collection of tins too, but not yet brave enough to play :-) And, I love the history of the card behind the design. I think it's great you are gifting this back to the friend you got the card from in the first place!

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    1. I am happy to know that I am not the only one who saves Christmas cards.

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  11. That is the cutest ornament. I love it. Now I will be saving the tins.. And btw, I have a ton of Christmas cards that I have been saving as well. I just used a few for name tags Have a wonderful Christmas.

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  12. I love the tin. What a cute idea! The owl on the feont fits in so well with the others in the background. I'm always looking for ideas for old Christmas cards.

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  13. I am surprised by the number of people who save Christmas cards!

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  14. You created not just a Christmas ornament but a keepsake! And, yes, your owl is sooo cute!

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  15. Oh Kathy, another adorable ornament! I love your little hoot owl Altoids tin ornament. So cute and creative!

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