Print, Cut, Decorate!

Welcome!

Kaleidoscope by inkspired

‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!’

Do you like to decorate for the holidays,

 but always seem short on cash when they roll around?

No problem!

‘Poverty is the primary source of creativity!’

Paper snowflakes and chains as house decorations 

Found on Pinterest.


I am very ‘into’ recycling and recycled art.
Let’s make some fun things,
and maybe even lessen the load to the landfills.

Found on Pinterest

The hanging swirls use the pattern above. So easy!

Cutting squares of paper into beautiful snowflakes
is easy to do also,
is economical,
and fun for any age!
Do you have a pair of scissors?
Any color paper, or white, that can be cut up?
That’s all you need.
(Even magazine pages can make beautiful snowflakes!)

If you feel more comfortable drawing a design first,
grab a pencil.

 An easy to follow chart showing how to fold your SQUARE piece of paper.

found on Pinterest.

After folding the paper so many times, it can be cumbersome to cut.  Try to use the lightest weight paper you can find.
I have even used a light hold tape 
to hold it together while I am cutting.

Here is another use for those cut snowflakes -
Paper Doilies!

There are many places you can find free patterns, so I am going to move on to another ‘free’ and cheap decorating idea for you.

Jumping Jacks & Puppets

There are many free patterns on the internet 
for vintage and modern jumping jacks.
Here are a few you can print, cut and string.

Here are simple directions on how to string your jointed paper doll to make it a jumping jack:

Here are a couple that you can color before cutting out:

PheeMcFaddell.com 
(This site has many more to color and cut out.)

A few hints that might help:
🎄
after printing & coloring, 
glue puppet to the back side of a cereal box.
🎄
tieing a small weight to the bottom string will help the jumping jack keep his strings orderly
🎄
remember to attach brads loosely
🎄
Santa can be any color you want!
(Our favorite Santa from our son was colored baby blue!)
🎄
Leaving the wings off turns a fairy into an elf

I do hope you try a few of these charming jumping jacks.

‘Til next time,
Inkspired

Truth:
(Usually learned before coffee/10 am)
Emptying the dishwasher is NOT advisable
When your Significant Other is trying to sleep.

Kaleidoscope by inkspired

Last minute Halloween decorating ideas

Baris

and

Irini

Two ways to say 'peace' in Cyprus

Baris is Turkish - spoken in the northern part of Cyprus

and Irini is Greek - spoken in the southern part of Cyprus

bottlecap magnet using all recycled junk mail

by inkspired www.inkspired.etsy.com

Let's have some Halloween-y Autumn Fun today!

c.1911, courtesy of Indiana Music Library

Here are some last minute ways to decorate for Fall Festivities:

I subscribe to several magazines, so I don't remember which one I saw this following idea in. The decorating note was to display your jewelry, and the accompanying photo was of a large marble bust of someone like Caesar, or some other Roman - type famous person. They had draped around the neck this incredibly fantastic necklace.

Well, marble busts are not part of my home decor.

Go figure....

What I do have is a fairly plain teapot.

I took this photo out in my garden,

but having it in the display case would still work.

So here is my adaptation:

netted butterfly necklace by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

Here's another idea:

Kind of fun, isn't it?

I also like the idea of having my handmade jewelry on display.

Here's another super-easy Halloween decorating idea -

black silk leaves.

silk leaves by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

I went to JoAnn Fabrics (or any crafts type store would do) and found these bamboo-type reeds. They were red, with black stripes randomly placed.

You could use any reed probably. I found mine in the flower dept.

I also found some black silk leaves with glitter sprinkled on them in the discount bargain shelves.

I cut my reeds into workable flower arranging sizes, but not all the same size.

Then I took off the black silk leaves from their stems.

Ok, here comes the hard part....

I stuck the leaves onto the end of the reed!

Really!

If it looked like it might fall off, I added a dab of Aleene's Tacky Glue (in the goldish bottle) to the end of the reed, before pushing the leaf onto it.

It was super simple.

I finished them off with an arrangement of Halloween/Fall type ribbons that I cut into different lengths and tied around the base. You can see them better in this photo:

For my leafy arrangement, I took some red mesh netting that had held some Baby Bell Cheese minis (produce/dairy dept. of my grocery store)

and added some clear marbles for weight to a simple glass vase.

Easy.  Quick.  Super cheap.

Just makes a gal happy, you know?

c.1916, courtesy of Indiana Music Library

courtesy Dover Books

I'm thinking I better close for now.

I keep getting weird messages from blogspot saying

'an error has occurred while saving'.

Doesn't sound very good....

so let's save it all now, and have more tomorrow!

inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

Twyna, Twitch Sister original Collage Art Doll

made from all recycled junk mail by inkspired

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com