ake your home glisten with sparkling new holiday craft ideas

(ARA) – Time to deck the halls. That’s right, as the weather turns cooler, it’s time to don that holiday spirit and prepare your home for festivities.

But do your tightened purse strings have you saying “bah humbug?” Luckily, creating exquisite holiday decor can be fun and cost-effective when you do it yourself. Here are a few amazing holiday craft ideas that are simple and sensational.

Glittered holiday pinecones
Create a beautiful centerpiece with items that you might find in your backyard – all in less than an hour. Here’s what you’ll need: pinecones, Krylon Primer and Krylon Glitter Blast glitter spray, fishing line and a drop cloth.

Make sure that the pinecones are clean from dirt and dust, then tie fishing line around the stem of the pinecone. Hang them from above so that all surfaces are accessible with the drop cloth underneath. Next, simply spray a coat of primer and let dry and then spray with your favorite glitter color of Glitter Blast. Soon, you’ll have pretty pinecones ready to spruce up any table.

Colorful cones
Decorate your home with a festive holiday cone. Let your imagination run wild with these cheerful creations. Here’s what you may need: various sized foam cones, Glitter Blast glitter spray, scrapbook papers, self-adhesive foam sheet, sequins and pins, ribbon, paste and acrylic jewels.

To start, thoroughly spray the cones with your favorite colors of Glitter Blast and allow to completely dry. Then, follow these guidelines to create three unique versions.

Polka dot cone. Punch out a variety of sizes and colors of circles from scrapbook papers and foam sheets and attach in random patterns to the cone using the paste. Start with larger-sized circles and gradually adhere smaller sizes on top. Finally, pin on 1-inch glitter sequins.

Ribbon cone. Spiral ribbon around cone, anchoring in place with craft glue and craft pins. Cut small snips in the edges so ribbon will lay flat. Glue and pin sequin trim in between the ribbon spirals.

Beaded cone. Using straight pins, pin sequins at random all over the cone. Then use paste to attach flat-backed acrylic jewels in and around the sequins.

To complete the look of each uniquely designed holiday cone, make a hole in the very top of the cone with a pencil point. Press the neck of a small tree ornament into the hole and secure with a drop of glue. Now you have three beautiful and original cones for a creative and colorful arrangement.

Original ornaments
You may have had sticker shock the last time you shopped for holiday ornaments – but luckily with some inspiration from renowned crafter and author, Mark Montano, you can update your tree for almost free when you design your own. Here’s what you’ll need: eight wooden clothespins, cardboard, scissors, glue, spray paint, large rhinestones, hot glue gun and glue sticks, fishing wire and loose glitter or Glitter Blast glitter spray.

To start, take the clothespins apart and arrange the wood pieces in a starburst pattern with the fat ends of the pieces touching in the center and the skinny ends forming the points. Cut out two 2 1/2 inch cardboard circles. Glue a cardboard circle in the center of the clothespins and let it dry. Flip your starburst over, glue the other cardboard circle in the center and let it dry. Next, spray paint the entire ornament in a color of your choice. Cover the cardboard and about half an inch of the surrounding clothespins with glue and sprinkle glitter on top – or use Glitter Blast glitter spray. Flip the starburst over and repeat. When dry, use hot glue to adhere a rhinestone in the center of both sides. For the hanger, fold a 10-inch piece of fishing wire in half and hot glue the ends to one of the clothespins. Once dry, hang on your tree and enjoy.

For more holiday craft ideas from Krylon, visit www.yourholidaystyle.com; for craft ideas from Mark Montano, visit http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/.

Crafty Santa’s Cookies Plate

“Oh it’s beginning to look like Christmas,” and you are missing a very essential part to the Christmas holidays; Santa’s Cookie Plate. Yes, I know that Santa isn’t what the holidays are about but every year, thousands of children pile various types of cookies onto a plate before heading up for their restless Christmas Eve slumber. Why would Santa want a cookie off of a plain cookie plate?

Well, he probably doesn’t care but more than likely, you do, which is probably why you have come to this site to find out how to make the perfect Christmas Cookie Plate.

What you need:

• One plate: I find that ceramic plates work best and white is the best color to work with since the colors show on the plate very well.
• Christmas Stamps: I love this stamp that I purchased at the craft store Michael’s. The little Santas are from a Stampin Up set.
• Staze-On: This is a permanent stamp ink and it can be purchased at any craft store in the stamping section. Black ink is best but you can work with many different Staze-On colors.
• Sharpies: Any permanent fine tipped markers work but I am a huge fan of Sharpie. The colors are bright and they stay to the surface. Choose colors that will complement your stamp.
• Sealer Spray: There are different products on the market but find one that is safe to use on items that hold food. Krylon clear acrylic is one of these.

Directions:

1. Wash your plate and then dry it completely before you start. This is very important since a wet plate will make the images bleed.
2. Once the plate is completely dry, figure out what type of design you will want on it before you start stamping. This can be done by laying out the stamps on the plate.
3. Using the Staze-On, cover the stamp completely with ink. If the stamp is small, you can press the stamp onto the inkpad but if it is big, reverse the process and press the inkpad onto the upside down stamp. This gives you more control over where the ink is going.
4. Stamp the images. Generally, if you are stamping and make a mistake, it can be removed with a wet dishcloth; however, if the image sets, you will need to use a powdered bathroom cleaner, such as Comet, to remove the ink.
5. Once all your images are stamped onto the plate, color them in. For my plate, I used red and black as the primary colors.
6. Allow the plate to set overnight.
7. In the morning, spray with the sealer. It is better if you test it on a different plate before you spray the finished plate. Allow the sealer to dry completely and then reapply again. Repeat for a third coat.

Once your plate is sealed, it will be all ready for Christmas Eve. If you wash the plate, make sure you do a wipe down of the plate with a damp cloth. If you need to submerge it into the water, never use really hot water and never soak it. Also, never use hard cleaners on the images.

-Sirena Van Schaik