Tutorials

How to Clean and Restore Putz Houses

Today I'm fixing up some vintage putz houses that are in fairly rough condition.  The idea here is to tidy them up and make some gentle home improvements without really changing their designs.  Ma...

Let's Make a Halloween Village! DIY Putz Houses

The flat-pack putz house kits are not just for Christmas! Today I am using them to craft a spooky gothic village.  If you missed the tutorial for assembling the DIY putz house kits, you can find i...

Putz House Assembly

These chipboard houses are the perfect blank slate for a Christmas village of your own style.  The kits come flat, with the pieces already cut out and scored, and each one comes with a translucent ...

Nostalgic Cotton Batting Santa Ornaments

If you have ever wondered how to make spun cotton figures from scratch, this is a great introductory project to the nostalgic art of spun cotton. For these small-scale antique style spun cotton dol...

Bump Chenille Ornaments

Let's make some vintage bump chenille Santa ornaments!  This is a classic vintage Christmas craft.  Sometimes called Clay Face Santas, you could buy Made-in-Japan chenille ornaments like this at t...

Tips for Drawing Vintage Faces on Spun Cotton Doll Heads

Every now and again I find vintage Made in Japan spun cotton doll heads, and I find them to be so charming.  The faces were clearly done by hand so no two are alike.  It used to be that you could b...

Vintage Christmas Matchboxes! Holiday Papercrafting

Are you giving a candle as a gift this Christmas? How special would it be to include one of these Christmas matchboxes for the recipient!  You can get a pack of 10 matchboxes at Dollar Tree, and e...

How to Make a Pine Cone Snowman on Skis!

  Today's craft is very much based on some wonderful 1950s skiing figurines! There were many types- some were elves, some were snowmen, some had spun cotton bodies, and some had pine cone bodies. ...

How to Make Spun Cotton Angel Ornaments

It's the holiday season! I love making angels of all sorts. This variety is made using 20mm doll heads paired with 60x45mm spun cotton cones, and they have little loops added to the tops of the hea...

New Craft Kit! Vintage Elf & Toadstool Decoration

It's the holiday season! I have a great new craft kit this year.  If you like a holly jolly vintage Christmas you'll love making this elf with whimsical toadstools! You'll just need a low temp gl...

Making a Miniature Book Nook: Cozy Apothecary

As we enter cozy season, I've been very drawn to doing crafts in a small scale.  Today's project is not really a tutorial, but a creative exploration. I'm working on a tiny room box filled with mi...

Transforming Toys into Halloween Decorations

At Christmastime, I like to decorate with a lot of natural materials: glass, wood, metal, and things made of cardboard or paper.  But for Halloween, I aim to please my inner child. And what does s...

Miniature Dollhouse Candles made from String Lights and Straws

Sometimes when you can't find the exact thing you need, you just have to make it yourself! With spooky season approaching I've brought my Halloween dollhouse down from the attic, and I've been ou...

Victorian Figural Ornament Made with Roving and Cotton Batting

Hi ho, and Merry Christmas!  Earlier this year I shared a start-to-finish spun cotton snow baby figural ornament tutorial using cotton coil or medical cotton.  Today, I'm doing a version using rovi...

Making a Halloween Doll with a Vintage Hanky!

In the last tutorial I shared how to make clay Kewpie doll faces from a vintage figurine.  You can find that project here. Today, I'm using the face to make a little 1920s ghost doll for Halloween!...

Making Clay Doll Faces from a Vintage Figurine

I recently found a really cute figurine, kind of Kewpie style, and I wanted to use the face for making some Halloween dolls!  I share this technique for making craft faces in my book Spun Cotton Cr...

Snow Baby Project Demo - Making a Spun Cotton Doll from Scratch

Today I'm excited to share a video demonstration of one of the projects in my new book, Spun Cotton Crafts!  The Snow Baby from page 106 is an easy-to-make spun cotton doll.  The design is not com...

Spun Cotton Boats: Handmade Cotton Batting Ornaments

These darling little boats were inspired by the sparkly Sebnitz ships of the late 19th century.  The small German town of Sebnitz was known for its marvelous handcrafted Christmas ornaments which ...

Making Vintage Style Clothespin Dolls! 1960s Kitsch Craft Project

 Today I'm making these retro ladies, inspired by some clothespin dolls my mom picked up at a holiday bazaar in the 1970s. I like the quaint look of the long dresses and hand-drawn faces. For this...

Spun Cotton How-To: Making Vintage Style Champagne Bottle Ornaments

Today I'm making some entirely hand-built spun cotton champagne bottle ornaments inspired by some antique factory-made versions from the 1920s.  Because the silhouette is fairly simple, I am build...

Winter Cottage Snow Globe Ornament - Sweet Christmas Craft

In this project I am creating a snowy winter wonderland inside a glass snow globe ornament to hang on a Christmas tree.  The empty glass ornaments come in round globes, bell shapes, and domes. To m...

Snow Day Ski Friends - Vintage Style Spun Cotton Figures

  These whimsical figures are made from spun cotton shapes and colorful crépe paper, and are the perfect indoor activity for a cozy snow day.  In this project, crépe paper is used as clothing for ...

Retro Felt Angels - DIY Vintage Style Christmas Craft

I recently got a shipment of these wonderful spun cotton angel heads from the Czech Republic- in PINK!  This project was inspired by this wonderful display of bohemian angels that I found in a 196...

Spun Cotton Spring Birds with Coffee Filter Bonnets and Ruffs

I love combining spun cotton with pipe cleaners. It immediately makes a decoration look vintage!  For these happy spring birds I picked out paint colors that matched some pastel pipe cleaners, and...

Vintage Style Spun Cotton and Paper Lantern Ornaments

  I have always loved the vintage lantern ornaments that were made in Japan for export in the 1950s.  There were several different types made of paper, as well as the heavy painted glass bulbs for...

Fall Pumpkin Crafts: Turn a Pumpkin into an Autumn Fairy!

In the spring I made crepe paper flower fairies to welcome the season, and so with fall approaching I thought I would do a variation using pumpkins!  I think they would make such a darling centerp...

DIY Paper Shamrock Corsage for St. Patrick's Day

Here is a shamrock pin for St. Patrick's Day that's so pretty, you'll wear it every year.  It's simple to make with just paper and pipe cleaners, but the result is very elegant.  You can use any gr...

Make a Halloween Fairy Pumpkin!

  I have been making Halloween fairy gardens for a few years now.  It's incredibly satisfying to watch the neighborhood kids ooh and ahh over the little village of pumpkin houses and miniature deta...

How to Make Sisal Bottle Brush Trees - From Scratch! DIY Craft Tutorial

Published July 14, 2017 Here's a fun craft project for Christmas: How to make sisal bottle brush trees - from scratch!  In this tutorial I'm using green sisal fiber, some floral wire, and a couple...

Christmas Craft Tutorial: Make a Retro Cake Pan Diorama!

These cake pan dioramas are a fun way to display small ornaments or figurines.  I have some little wooden ornaments, pine cone elves, and putz houses that are sometimes hard to see if I put them w...

Tutorial: Retro Spun Cotton Sugar Bell Ornaments

These retro sugar bell ornaments look almost *exactly* like the ones made in the 1940s!  Before styrofoam entered the Christmas market, spun cotton was a go-to material for imported Christmas orna...

Make Minty Bleached Bottle Brush Trees for Christmas!

In this tutorial I am sharing my technique for bleaching bottle brush trees. You will need to use craft trees made of sisal, which can be harder to find than plastic or pvc trees.  I use simple ho...

DIY Snow Globe Ornaments - Fun Christmas Crafts

  Published November 2, 2016 These DIY Snow Globe Ornaments have a great vintage style, and are so fun to make!  There are three style of glass ornaments: a globe, dome, and bell-shaped cloche.  Y...

How to Make Spun Cotton Pumpkins! DIY Fall Craft Tutorial

This is such a fun fall craft project!  In this tutorial I'm using 45mm spun cotton balls to make adorable little pumpkins.  It's quite simple, and they are so pretty.  I think they would make lov...

Mossy Fairy House DIY Tutorial

This is a darling cottage-style mossy fairy house.  It's simple to make using a paper mache house as a base.  After wrapping it in sheet moss, I'm putting on a rustic roof made out of corrugated c...

Speckled Spun Cotton Easter Eggs DIY Tutorial

In this tutorial I'm making speckled spun cotton Easter eggs.  These are so darling.  I did a similar project last year, but this time I've added a coat of clear glass glitter. You can paint them ...

Tutorial: Christmas Snow Globe Ornament

I've been wanting to make a Christmas snow globe ever since I started carrying these clear glass ball ornaments in the shop!  This design was inspired by a 1950s German ornament that I once saw ...

Tutorial: Cute Snowman Decorations

  These cute snowman decorations couldn't be simpler to make, and they are so darn adorable! Their bodies are spun cotton, and they have little bump chenille arms, plastic hats, and each one holds...

Tutorial: Fairy Pumpkin Village

Tutorial: Halloween Candy Corn Trees

These Halloween candy corn trees are so simple to make, and look so *sweet* on a windowsill or mantel.  This is a really easy Halloween craft, and would be a great rainy day activity for kids.  A...

Tutorial: Spun Cotton Quail Eggs

I love the look of quail eggs, and I love all things made of spun cotton, so here I'm combining the two! These spun cotton quail eggs would make the most wonderful spring decorations. They would b...

Retro Spun Cotton Birds

These adorable retro spun cotton birds were inspired by some Christmas ornaments that were made in Japan in the 1950s.  I've sold a bunch of them, and they often came in blue, teal, and white.  Th...

How to Make Spun Cotton Mushrooms

Here's a great way of making whimsical antique-style spun cotton mushrooms with loops for hanging up as ornaments. These would look adorable on a woodland Christmas tree, and make super unique gif...

Tutorial: Deer Diorama Ornament

These vintage-inspired Christmas ornaments are just the sweetest little treasures! You can collect all kinds of miniatures to put inside and craft your little worlds.  I make some with little spun...

Tutorial: Plaster Fairy Mushroom Picks

It seems that so many amazing crafts originated in Germany.  These plaster fairy mushroom picks were inspired by some vintage German-made ones, and would make great embellishments for lots of proj...