Virtual Advent Calendar Day 18: Bottle Brush Christmas Trees

7 Days Left Until Christmas!

The bottlebrush Christmas tree.  A proud tradition in retro crafting.

Day 17's miniature village is surrounded by a forest of bottlebrush trees.

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Virtual Advent Calendar Day 17: Mini Village

8 Days Left Until Christmas!

Mini houses are all the rage this year!

My inspiration for this came from Suzie Millions and her benchmark tome, "The Complete Book of Retro Craft."  We also had one of these when I was a kid (I'm sure my mom still has it).  Honestly, they are all the rage this year.  There have been two tutorials lately one www.oneprettything.com.   So, instead of a full blown tutorial, I'm just going to tell you what I did that may have been different.

First, I arranged my little village on a styrofoam disc.  I wanted to put a picket fence around it, and I still may, but I couldn't find my packages of mini picket fencing in the crafateria which, again, is resembling the crapateria.  I may come back and add that later.

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Gingerbread House

It's a funny time of year for crafters I think, especially those of us who like to blog what we make! We are crafting away, but unable to share because the projects are surprises, right?

Well that's me anyway ... between here on S vs S, and Christmas gifts - it is busy!

One extremely shortcut thing we made the other day was a gingerbread house w/ an $8 kit from Target. Once I got it home, I starting wondering whether this was too ambitious of a project, but just rolled with it. What the heck. I did put the house together and squirted on the icing, then let the girls decide to decorate it or eat it. They decorated a little: the front and roof look good, but I think they mostly ate: the sides and back are completely bare!

On another note, has anyone been able to find little gumdrops for sale? I haven't been able to find them!

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Virtual Advent Calendar Day 16: Mason Jar Rim Window Ornament

9 Days Left Until Christmas

Mason jar rims and resin become a window to a Christmas scene.

Can you believe we are into single digits for the countdown?  Christmas will be here before you know it!

I used kosher salt for snow.  Worked great!

Have I ever mentioned that I love resin casting?  I don’t know what it is about encasing stuff in resin, but it’s fascinating.  Resin crafting is definitely a well-used weapon in the retro craft arsenal.  Why, kids have been encasing bugs, plants, coins and whatever else in resin since time immemorial.

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