These were shared on the net last year....this is how I made mine FREE CHRISTMAS SNOWBALLS RECIPE 'Tis the Season for giving, so I have decided to give you all one of my favorite Primitive Christmas Craft Recipes for Free! You will love my Recipe for *MAKING OLDE FASHIONED WINTER SNOWBALLS, ICICLES & SNOWFLAKES* So EASY, fast and fun to make! Even the kids can get involved! These were a Great seller for me last Christmas ~ and they can be for you too!! It is my gift to you...and with plenty of time to make them for gift giving, craft shows, for your websites and shoppes, or even to sell on here on ebay! Don't forget to make up a batch for yourself too! So sweet tucked in an Early wooden dough bowl, trencher, basket, crock or Early jar... with a few sprigs of greens or cedar & some dried red berries! Fun! These Snowballs can be enjoyed Not ONLY at Christmas time but ALL Winter long ~ from November till the end of February!! Then, just tuck them away with the same care you would use with any Christmas Ornament, and they will last for Years & Years!! It was love at first sight when I first discovered the recipe for making these sparkly primitive snowballs in the 1999 issue of Gooseberry Patch... The Christmas Book! Those ladies are very talented for sure, and they were good enough to share this sweet recipe, so now it's my turn to share this fun holiday craft! I will explain below how to make them : in all sizes, big or small...in the traditional Wintery White, or make the Grungy dirty snowballs... How to make them scented or unscented, and how to make them S*P*A*R*K*L*E in more ways than one, with lots of popular Prim glitters! I am also Including full instructions for making fun winter ICICLES and Glistening SNOWFLAKES with the same easy recipe & Tecniques! Packaging tips too, and how to turn them into Prim Ornaments! Also be sure to take note of where to get the best supplies for the job at very low prices and all can be found locally... Hurray for no online shopping! These are SO innexpensive, and profitable to make and even a child can do it, although if you are making them for selling, you may want to make them yourself, just to be sure you get the perfect look you want! Lots of crafters are already making these exact same snowballs on ebay ~ You can too! ~*~ RECIPE OLDE FASHIONED WINTERY CHRISTMAS SNOWBALLS ~*~ Wintery Christmas Snowballs ~*~ A Vintage Christmas Tradition ~*~ Making Realistic sparkly white Christmas snowballs has never been easier!! Here's what you'll need: 1. A few packs of white styrophome balls in any size you like. They come in 1" 1.5" 2" 2.5" 3" and so on! Get them from Walmart, JoAnns Fabric, or any craft supply store. A package of a dozen is aprox. $2.00 - 3.50 depending on where you buy them and what size balls! 2. A bucket of white joint compound. Available at Walmart or any hardware store. 3. Your choice of either mica glitter, german glass glitter, or diamond dust (you can even use the clear glitter available at any craft supply store for basically the very same look! (all glitters available on ebay. Just type in Mica glitter, Mica snow etc.) OPTIONAL SUPPLIES FOR GRUNGING & SCENTING: 4. fragrance oil for candle making which is available online at Wholesale prices, on ebay and also at any walmart or craft supply store!! 5. Nutmeg 6. brown craft paint 7. plastic or wax paper lined tray or baking sheet How to make the BASIC traditional white snowballs BOTH scented and Regular: To make the snowballs the traditional white and NON SCENTED, just Roll your styrophome balls generously in the already stirred joint compound and quickly drop the rolled styro. ball into a bowl of your glitter of choice. Mica is my favorite! Then just toss the glitter onto the ball and roll it around CAREFULLY to coat snowball evenly. GENTLY pick up the ball and shake off excess glitter, and place it onto the plastic or wax paper lined tray to dry for 2-3 days. Roll balls over atleast once in the middle of drying time. Dry FULLY! Use a nice variety of sizes!! If you wish to SCENT the snowballs, simply blend a few drops of your desired Holiday fragrance oil into the joint compound and blend well, BEFORE rolling your styrophome balls! Make sure you are happy with the fragrance before rolling the balls! You can always add a few more drops for a stronger, long lasting scent! The oils I use are candle making oils, which can either be bought wholesale online, on ebay or even at local craft supply stores and ofcourse... Walmart! I like using Jack Frost, Peppermint stick, Holiday Cinnamon, Christmas Sugar Cookie, etc...Wanna make them grungy?? How to make the dirty snowballs: I have been experimenting and have come up with a New & Improved method for making your snowballs extra grungy, and so easy to achieve! Just place some of your joint compound in an old tupperware or cool whip container, and add your fragrance oil IF you are scenting them...and mix with a few drops of brown craft paint (available at any Walmart or craft store for about 49 -90 cents!) and blend to create a creamy Ivory Color! Start with only a drop, and add more drops of paint untill the desired color is achieved! Then proceed to roll your styrophome balls in the Ivory compound, roll in your glitter and set to dry as usual! IF you want little flecks of "Dirt" in your snowballs, just add a sprinkle of nutmeg to the compound and paint, before rolling the balls and coating with mica! Because they take a few days to make, it is a good plan to start early! Making Glittery Holiday Icicles: If you want to make the holiday Icicles, just use the same easy tecniques as you would use in making the snowballs, but rather than coating styrophome balls, just coat CLEAR PLASTIC ICICLES with the joint compound and continue as usual. The plastic icicles are clear and are usually used as ornaments, but can be found just about anywhere in packages of 20 or more.You can make these white, or grungy as well, and scented or plain! Whatever you prefer!! PACKAGING TIPS: Great Fall & Winter craft show sellers or make for holiday gift giving! Try bagging up 1/2 dozen icicles along with a 1/2 dozen variously sized snowballs... all in a cello bag with a pretty festive bow and tied with some cedar sprigs or greens, and watch them fly off the shelves! Or toss them into a wrinkly brown bag tied with Twine and a "snowflake" hanging from the bag Or Grungy "Vintage Christmas Picture" Tag, with dangling Rusty Bell!! Fill old ball jars, or fabric covered paper mache boxes! HERE'S HOW TO MAKE THE SNOWFLAKES: Making snowflakes is simple! I Like to use them as ornaments or hang them from the bag of snowballs or icicles as an accent! The same tecniques are used as the snowballs and the icicles. Just purchase the cheap clear or white plastic snowflake shaped ornaments from Walmart, dollar stores, etc.. in the Christmas section...and brush on the joint compound with a sponge brush... coat with glitter, bang off excess and set to dry... It is best to apply the compound with a sponge brush for easy application! Just DAB it on! Make them white or grungy just like you would the snowballs and icicles! Scent them up if you choose and toss a few in a cello bag! MAKING THEM INTO ORNAMENTS: You can tie a grungy piece of string from the tips of the icicles & snowflakes for the cutest Olde Time Vintage Ornaments for hanging on your trees or for gift giving~ Even for selling! If you wish to make the snowballs into ornaments, just cut a piece of rusty craft wire or any black will do also, and poke through the center of the styrophome ball... when the wire pokes through the other side, bend it over flat against the ball, Then proceed to roll in the joint compound, glitter it and set to dry! Be sure to bend the HOOK shape so it will hang nicely! The compound will harden around the wire and the hook will be STUCK for good! These THREE crafts are so fun and most of the supplies can be found at either Walmart, or any favorite craft supply store. If you can't find them in a local store, all ingredients are available online & on ebay! ENJOY! ~*~ SEASONS GREETINGS ~*~

I typed a long response and then my electricity went down for about two minutes. grrrr Barb, your cutting board is gorgeous! HUGE pic. But gorgeous. A furniture making course -- wow, good for you! I hope you do it. Amity, getting your clay pots at Goodwill was a great idea. You can paint them with house paint, decorate them with craft paint, and seal them inside and out with spar varnish. If you saw my thread about curb appeal projects, that's how I did mine. You can use stencils, and make polka dots with a q-tip, and checks with a flat brush. I'll put a link in for you. Nan, loved the Furoshiki bags video. I'll bet your DS was so proud of himself! Hats off to those of you crocheting and embroidering. We want pictures, please. Mari, thanks for that link! $200 for the basket? You've got a great 'Plan B' there. Tell us more about how you filled the baskets, please. I was wondering if there is a way to make slippers with rice-filled or whatever soles that can be stuck in the micro for cold tired winter feet. A super gift for a baby or toddler is buy a Raggedy (Ann or Andy) and enhance all the features and the heart by embroidering over them with red and black floss. This makes the features just pop. Then embroider the baby's name and b-date on the tummy. Very appreciated. I think some of them have music boxes in them. The Best Present Ever for grandparents is a calendar you make yourself. Use 8.5x11 card stock and get it comb bound by your local cheapie print shop. Put a 5x8 glossy photo of your kid(s) for each month. Dec on Santa's lap, Jan playing in the snow, Aug at the beach and so on. Leave a blank page between each month so if grandma writes appointments on her calendar it won't go through and damage the photo. At the end of the year she'll have a record of the kids growth. Make one for you too! You gals making the jam, are you doing the parafin seal on it? Or is this freezer jam? Please be super careful when pouring a big heavy pot of that hot, hot stuff! Here is a link that might be useful: painting pots

FWIW, I know how your wife feels about that fixture! I fell in love with the Kevin Reilly chandelier---the rectangular one with the fake candles--and have seen it at an aquaintenance's house and in a kitchen magazine. After much research a year ago, I found it for $13,000 at one of the Holly Hunt showrooms. But just now (after 15 more minutes looking...) I found an old eBay listing it for $5,800. Ugh. So Restoration Hardware is another budget way to go for a similar look. It is perfection isn't it?! Here is a link that might be useful: candle fixtures at Restoration Hardware

I've always struggled to figure out what "style" I liked. I tried shabby chic as well but it just wasn't right. Even though I liked the rustic and shabby portion, all that white and pink made me want to scream. I tried French country, which was much better, at least I could have my beloved blacks and reds, but it wasn't quite right either. I took all those "what style are you" quizzes and they''d always say either traditional or cottage, which I guess makes sense now. This didn't really all click until I went to a moving/estate sale that had a farmhouse table advertised. I was still trying to do the country french thing but when I got there and she took me inside to see the table (she had half the stuff out, half inside). I walked in and it was YES, I'm at home!! Maybe a little too heavy on the Americana for me but still, it all felt so cozy and comfortable. I love antiques (and boy did she have some!) but never knew how I wanted it all to feel. I bought the table and a grocery bag of stuff - knick knacky stuff and left a happy camper. I would have loved to grab a couple of cabinets and dry sinks but alas, way out of my budget. The table is so cool. It's not a table made to look farmhouse / barn style, it's actually a table from a really old farmhouse. No faux distressing, this baby has seen some hard days. I love it. Since then I've made 3 trips to the thrift store, each time spending $20 or so, and have a huge stash of cool stuff. I haven't put anything together though because I've been stripping paper and getting ready to paint. It's all piled in my garage just waiting to come inside.