Another DIY Christmas gift {Happy Find}

Hello there. I'm back with more Christmas gift ideas! Happy Find is one of the first blogs I fell in love with. Venus is so sweet and fun and her crafts are always so bright and cheerful! Today she is here to share a great DIY gift idea... but if you're not in the mood to make it yourself then definitely check out her shop. She has the most adorable aprons and pincushions. I treated myself to a sweet little mini pincushion that I LOVE and I bought an apron as a gift and had a REALLY hard time letting it go :)

Hello sweets!

My name is Venus and I'm the happy craftin' gal from Happy Find. Crafting is my drug. When the babes are tended to and the chores are done, you'll find me in my little craft space making pretty things. And speaking of pretty things... boy do I have a tutorial for you!

Ashley has invited me to share with you a tutorial that I actually posted several years back, but this time, it's with a twist. I had this vision in my head. I wanted to make a little wooden doll, reminiscent of a Matroyshka if you will, but I didn't want to paint a face on it. I wanted to have Lala (my wee one's) face instead.

I have been tinkering with several different transfer techniques, (HERE, HERE and HERE) none came close to the clarity and quality of what I was envisioning, especially when you're working with a curved surface. So after a few tries - a few failures, I came up with this:

Cute, right?

So let's take it to another level...

Let's make a greeting spool!

A perfect little gift for the special peeps in your life. A treasure to keep forever!

So enough of my jibba-jabba and let's get craftin'!

***

SUPPLIES:

As shown above:

-hot glue gun.

-iron on sheets.

-fabric (preferably lightweight white cotton).

-mod podge.

-scissors.

-acrylic paint and paint brushes.

-wooden thread spool.

-wooden ball with a flat bottom (or a wooden bead or wooden doll head will work).

NOT shown ( I just plum forgot to add in the pic):

-varnish.

-an iron & ironing board.

-ribbon, felt, paper and/or fabric to use for your actual greeting.

***

First, measure your wooden ball to determine the size of face to print out.

***I printed out several different sizes on a piece of paper first to figure out the right size.***

Once you figure that out, then print the picture onto your iron on transfer sheet. Don't forget to "mirror" your image if you want your image to face in a certain direction.

Next, follow manufacturer's directions and transfer the photo onto your fabric. I highly recommend lightweight cotton fabric in white. It's easier to work with.

Cut out your child's face.

Place photo on wooden ball for placement and decoupage using Mod Podge.

Once you decoupaged (such a fancy word), it should look something like this.

Now paint around the face. I painted a little bit on the photo along the edge.

Once you're done painting and the paint is all nice and dry, it's going to look a little "rough" or dull.

Paint a thin coat of varnish and set aside to dry. It's going to look all shiny and prrretty!

While that's drying, you can start dressing up your spool. For ideas, tips and just plain know how, hop over to my ol' tutorial (click on the photos below to take you there).

Go on... I'll be here waiting.

Okie-dokie...

Once you have your spool all done and pretty, your doll head should be dry and ready. Using your hot glue gun, attach the head to the spool and...

drum roll, please...

You're done! Now all you have to do is admire your handy-dandy work and wrap it up. Easy, right?

Now if making little greeting spools isn't your cup o'tea, than how about making an awesome chess set using photos of friends and family? How's that for a cool handmade gift for Christmas?! Or how about making one into a necklace? Or even a set of dolls of the family for a special little girl to play house with? Or for boys, making them into mini super heroes? AH! The possibilities!

The wooden balls and spools I got from Michaels and JoAnn's. I'm thinking of buying some of these next time:

Photo via: I Used To Be A Tree

photo via: Goose Grease Undone

***

Oh my dear friends, it's time I mosey on outta here. Thank you, Ashley for having me over! It was fun.

Have a blessed magical holiday season

&

Keep craftin'!!!