IDEA SHARE # 7 - WINTER HOLIDAY IDEAS FROM THE FPC (as taken from the Fabric Painting and BEYOND Bulletin Board) Creating that perfect holiday look or gift does not have to be expensive or complicated...not if you do them with Cameo and Tri-chem products! I love to save money whenever I can, so I find it doubly rewarding to come up with clever, inexpensive ideas for Christmas. It lightens the financial load that is always so big during the holiday seasons. SO...Here...JUST FOR YOU…are some economical holiday decorating and gift ideas (that will also save you time)! :-) Placemats, table runners, or centerpiece mats: Make from plain Decoron (#0927, 6572) or blank material that has been edged. Cut the appropriate sizes out of Decoron or other material. For placemats, a 12" x 18" finished size is about right. 12" x 36" or your preferred length works for table runners. Figure a custom size for your favorite centerpiece, making sure to cut large enough to allow a border design. Then finish the edges, if needed. Now just iron on your favorite transfer designs or create your own with the Deluxe Tracing Tablet (#D658) and Transfer Pen or Markers (seen at http://cameopaints.com/access.htm). See our Creating Your Own Iron-on Transfers article for more details on ironing and on making your own transfer. Then all you have to do is paint and then embellish, if desired. Holiday Cards: Make your own from nice paper and cut an oval shaped window in the front. Now just paint a small scene or design onto a small piece of Decoron and place it behind the oval cut-out. Place your message inside the card and you have got a wonderful card. You can buy pre-cut cards and if you are truly clever you can create a design that can be used as an ornament once received by the recipient. You can also buy printed cards or print cards out from a software program and enhance them with glitter base and glitter, glitter paints, or sparkle paints. The Cameo Sparkle Accent #340 is excellent for putting sparkling snow effects onto cards. The results are really worth it! Holiday Card Holders: You can make a very pretty but simple one by cutting a piece of Decoron or other material that is about 18" wide and 36" or more long. Paint a nice border design on and hang it on your wall. Attach cards in rows of two by stapling them on or create a pocket, paint it, and glue it on using fabric glue #C400. You can even embellish the pocket and/or Card Holder with holiday ribbon or glitter or sparkle paint. Holiday Wall Panel: This can be made from Decoron (#0927, 6572), White Suede (#0934), Black Velveteen (#0933) or any material of your choice. Cut a piece about 12" x 18", finish the edges, if needed, and attach a wooden rod or a 12" flat slat to the top and add cord to hang it. If doubling the fabric over a rod or dowel, cut the length 1" to 2" longer than 18 inches. Next use a Pastel Pencil # D297 (for Black Velveteen) or Disappearing Ink Pen #D590 to plot out nine box (square) sections in the center to paint different simple designs into like stars, hearts, candy canes, bells, and angels. Be sure to leave a border section at the top and the bottom to hand-write a cheery holiday message into like ''Seasons Greetings'' and ''Welcome to our home''! Use the messages that suit you best. You can use your choice of sparkle paint colors (130, 131, 135, or 136) or Gold or Silver colors of Tri-chem ColorLite paints to get a nice bright finish. If you plan to make a washable panel, be sure to heat set the ColorLite paints if you use them with an iron (except on Black Velveteen since ironing will flatten the pile---use a hair dryer to heat set ColorLite on velveteen or pile material). Sweatshirts: Appliqué a holiday design onto a new sweatshirt for a gift or paint directly on one with ColorLite paints. Any color of shirt will do. Just transfer one of the many wonderful holiday designs that Tri-chem has (or create you own) onto the shirt or plain Decoron or material to appliqué. Paint the design and heat set it according to the directions on ColorLite paints Product Guide which is available through the Product Gallery. If appliquéing, cut the design out and iron Tri-chem Mounting Tissue (#0948) on according to its direction sheet then iron the design onto the sweatshirt. Then outline the edges with glitter or sparkle paints or Slix-Stix dimensional paints. And that's it! No heat setting needed for glitter or sparkle paints or Slix-Stix. Just follow the appropriate Product Guide for paint application. Product Guides are available through our online Product Gallery. You can use these directions to paint any nice design to any garment as gifts. You can even turn a $5 plain T-shirt into a $35 custom designed garment just by painting it! Ornaments: They are great fun to do! Iron transfer designs on to small, flat wood pieces or Decoron then paint. Cut Decoron designs out and add a piece of gold or silver string, ribbon, or lightly corded thread for hanging. You apply DécoMage (#D751), Voilá (#0750), or Designer Dusts once painted, if desired. 2. Make ornaments out of burned-out light bulbs by attaching florist wire to the contact end of the bulb to create a hanger. Do this FIRST. Then glue a clean plastic soap bottle cap (the kind that pushes up and down) to the top of the glass head. Next, paint the whole thing over with ColorLite paint and let dry by hanging the bulb so it does not touch anything. Finally tie wire-edged ribbon into a bow to the metal end. The bow should completely cover the metal channels. Add beads or other enhancement by attaching them with a hot glue gun, fabric glue, or other craft glue. 3. A fast way to make lots of ornaments is to use a Paint 'N Press (design stamp for fabric) like the Angel Bow one that (only) we have available for sale. Follow the directions with your Paint 'N Press and stamp out designs onto sheets of plain Decoron. Embellish and cut them out. Then add a string or cord for hanging. See our Holiday 2-in-1 Project Pages at http://tri-chem.fabricpaint.com/library/2n1Project.doc for complete directions and information on the products used. Other Gifts: Use NEW Creative Clay (#2510) to make personal items for your family and friends like those shown in the technique sheets that come free with the Creative Clay ($8.99 for one pound). There is also a video and two Paint 'N Presses available in a Creative Clay Video Pack (#3985) for just $15.99 which includes a pound of clay and the technique sheets, too. The Creative Clay goes a long way and keeps very nicely. It dries fast, is very durable, and paints up so nicely that it is really addictive! It is our hottest selling item now. Everyone is really loving Creative Clay. The instructional video shows you many ways to use the Clay. For your child's teacher: Make an apple out of Creative Clay and paint it when dry. Coat with #0652 Voilá after paint has thoroughly dried then write the Teachers name on it with gold ink or paint (either before coating with Voilá or after the Voilá has dried). Attach a cord for hanging or glue bottom onto a small piece of smooth plastic or felt for desk displaying. Trim any excess. For your computer addict: Create a Monitor Sitter by creating an elf or favorite animal or cartoon character out of Creative Clay then paint and coat with Voilá. See http://tri-chem.fabricpaint.com/craftsup.shtml for photos of great monitor sitters. For your mom or mom-in-law or other ladies in your life: Paint a heart-shaped plaque with ColorLite White or Gold and let it dry. Create a budding rose and three rose leaves out of Creative Clay, paint it and attach all to the plaque. Cover all with an even coat of Voilá. OR attach the painted and Voilá-coated rose and leaves to a sturdy gift box lid to create a new trinket box for her. Place a velvet pin cushion in it with sewing supplies or line the box with velvet. Enhance with adhesive decorative film and ribbon. You can even attach a small mirror inside the lid. Glue 4 flat beads or jewels to the bottom for feet. Believe me, she will love the box so much that she will never notice there is no jewelry in it! ;-) Cost = less than $3.00 !!! Value = Priceless!!! For everyone else: Try creating and painting the items described in the other sections above. They will LOVE you for it! After all, gifts made especially for you are the very BEST gifts that you get! So give some of your handiwork this year and every year! And SAVE MUCH $$$ along the way, too! Let us know what we can do to help make your holidays special! We love doing just that! From the staff at FPC International and myself, Diane Seveland Have a totally terrific winter holiday season!!! Happy Fabric Painting and Crafting!