Make your own hat and buttons

Save money by making your own embellishments for your craft project.  These instructions are for making a tophat and buttons to decorate a gourd snowman.

Gourd Buttons

This is very simple.  All you need is a thin shelled gourd of some type, and a paper punch.  You can use gourd pieces or an egg gourd works well too.  See picture attached.  These are small buttons and work well on a small project such as a mini bottle snowman.
Once you have punched out some buttons you can paint them. Ready to go!

Making a Top Hat

This is so easy to make and costs pennies compared to buying the pre-made hats at the craft stores.
All you need is a cardboard roll (toilet paper rolls work great for small hats) some felt, buy in sheets at any craft store, and some glue. Cut the cardboard roll in lengths (an inch to 1-1/4”). I used a serrated knife to saw through the side and not crush it. Cut the felt in a size to wrap around the tube. Cut a circle to fit over the top, and a larger circle shape for the brim.  Use glue to put together. Cut a hole in the bottom felt circle to place over the top of the head.

Pine Tree Luminary

Another holiday craft that is fun, takes little time and is useful as well as decorative.

You will need; a medium kettle gourd, a lamp base, a light cord with plug in socket and bulb and paint.

If you use your own gourd, you will need to cut a 2-1/2” hole in the bottom in order to remove the seeds and pith from the inside of the gourd.  This will also serve as the opening to insert the light base with light.

You may purchase the luminary kit from Amish Gourds which includes everything you need except for the paints.  The light base may also be painted any color you desire.

I like to use acrylic paint, it is easy to apply, covers well, and cleans up with water. Another inexpensive paint that I love because of the color choices, are sample wall paints.  Many paint stores sell the small jars of sample colors for around $2.00.

Using a stiff bristle brush, apply the paint, I like to add white on the one side of the brush to give a varied color affect. Brush in a downward sweeping motion to create a pine needle look.

When dry, you can use an electric drill with a ¼” drill bit and drill holes all around, create your own pattern for the light to shine through.

I like to add some gold sparkle paint around the outside to give a garland look to the tree.
Then you simply insert the base with the light into the bottom, and you have a lovely luminary!