Welcome to my turn in a Holiday Blog hop.  I’m delighted to be part of this blog hop put together by talented artists.  We are taking turns sharing a fun holiday project or craft and hope that you are inspired to make some using our free patterns and instructions.  And leave a comment on each of the artists blog and you may win a random drawing for a prize by each artist.

I love to entertain over the holidays and often need more festive dishes or bowls.  I painted this terra cotta flower pot to give an extra bowl to hold holiday treats (or even a plant).  Since stripes and dots are very popular design elements and which I also happen to love, I used these to decorate it.  It’s easy to do and you can make one and use it that night.

1.  Use a terra cotta flowerpot the size of your choice - you can make it as big or small as you like.  Wash the flower pot and go over it with alcohol to disinfect it.

2.  With a pencil, draw the lines for the stripes around the rim.  I made the stripes on mine about an inch wide.  Also, draw 1/2 inch circles randomly on the bottom of the pot.

3.  Paint the red dots and the red stripes, alternating the stripes.  Paint the background of the bottom pot white and the remaining stripes.  It will take 2-3 coats of paint.  Let it dry between coats.  Paint the inside of the pot your choice of white or red.

4.  When the paint has dried, add small white dots in a line on the red stripes.

5.  After all has dried, use a clear satin acrylic to seal the paint.

6.  Fill with your choice of snacks, chips, ornaments or whatever you desire.

Please leave a comment to be entered into a random drawing for a prize.  Also please visit the other artist that are participating in this blog hop and leave comments for a chance at more prizes.

Nov 14 - Terri Conrad

Nov 15 - Brenda Pinnick

Nov 16 - Tori Higa

Nov 17 - Joyce Shelton

Nov 18 - Me!  Phyllis Dobbs

Nov 19 - Cherish Fleider

Nov 20 - Joy Hall

Nov 21 - Barbara Johansen Newman

Nov 22- Sharyn Sowell

As part of this blog hop, we are supposed to answer these questions to give some information about ourselves.  Mine are below.

5 things we might not know about you that you’d like to share.

1.  I love to listen to music when I work and have music of every genre except rap.  The type of music I play depends on what I’m working on.

2.  I planted lettuce for the first time this fall and was delighted that it turned out so tasty.  The only place I had to plant it was in the flowerbed by the mailbox, but the bright greens looked very pretty and my husband backed down from being horrified by veggies growing front and center of our yard.

3.  I’m a color junkie and often buy stupid stuff just because I like the color, however anything with great color is not stupid! Like a purple cooler to carry to the beach when we have several in basic red and white.

4.  I enjoy social gatherings with my girlfriends such as bunko, girl’s poker, pokeno and book club. And, I don’t have time to read the books so I go to listen, socialize and drink wine.

5.  I feel guilty because I don’t get around to exercising as frequently as I want - almost non-existent at this point as I’m working hard on close deadlines.

5 things going on in my creative world.

1.  In October, I signed with a fabulous agent, Jewel Branding & Licensing and am very excited about this partnership.

2.  I’m working on several new art collections and am looking forward to seeing new products created with my art at the January markets.

3.  I’m putting together a quilt e-book.

4.  I’ve been creating Christmas crafts to share with my blog readers.

5 things that really inspire me.

1.  Color, lots of it.

2.  Humor

3.  Nature, especially the greens

4.  Flowers, even though this is technically part of nature.

5.  People - family, friends, and other artists.  I’m also really inspired by the paintings of Matisse - love all his work.

Be sure to leave a comment and be included in a drawing for a prize.

Phyllis

Take a tee shirt out of your closet and turn it into a dress with a few simple sewing instructions.  I designed this child sized “T-Shirt Flounce Dress” for Sewing Savvy magazine.  The pattern and instructions are on their website for free downloading so that you can sew a few before school starts  The dress is embellished with ribbon and has a ribbon flower that you can make.

I chose a yellow and orange color combination, but you can come up with your own color combinations based on the tee shirt colors you choose.  And why not enlarge the pattern and make one for yourself!!  It would make a comfy dress to shop in or even a cute dress for the beach!

Best to you and all that you do!

Its that time of year again to pull out your fall and winter clothing.  Its still pretty warm here in the south, so I haven’t started sorting through my winter clothing, yet. 

If you have sweathers you don’t wear any more but just can’t part with them, or just haven’t gotten around to discarding them, stop! Before you toss, think of ways to give them new life. They can be recycled into really fabulous gems - unique one-of-a-kind items for a decorative touch to your home or for a wardrobe accent.

This is a pillow that I made from a gorgeous brightly colored striped sweather that I just didn’t want to part with. (As you get to know me, you will find that I’m addicted to color!) Just cut a square or rectangle from the front or back of your sweater and use a nice coordinating fabric for the pillow back. If you have a good front and back to your sweather, you can make two pillows for a matching pair, or use one as a gift. This pillow was made from a fisherman’s knit sweather. Add trims, tassels, or other embellishments to put your own personal touch to all the items you create with sweathers.

Here’s a bottle bag I made from another sweather.

You can create all kinds of fun things - decorative gift bags, purses, totes or a lingerie bags. Use the smaller, irregular areas to create small sachet pillows .  Use the sleeve to make a storage holder for plastic bags. The list is endless of what you can create. Just use your imagination!