A wintry cross stitch finish

  This little stitchery, a freebie from Erin Elizabeth Designs, was one that I completed last winter but .had not figured out a finish for.  The design depicts a little snow globe, sort of a tallish shape.  I finally came up with the idea of displaying it in an upside down pint Mason jar -- and yesterday I took a few minutes to make it all work.

I pressed the cross stitch really well and trimmed it down a little and pressed all the raw edges to the back.  Then I rolled it up to make it fit in the jar.  I quickly saw that it was going to need something inside it to help it hold its shape and not collapse within the jar.  In my cardboard stash I found a white marble-look side panel from a tissue box.  I rolled it up, taped it together with packaging tape, and rolled the stitchery around it.  That made the difference and gave me just the look I was going for.

I'd thought I might glue a sparkly snowflake button or two to the lid of the jar, but I haven't done that yet.  I sort of like the plain look, but when I get it out next year I may decide it needs a sparkly snowflake.  Meanwhile, I'm loving this little finished project just as it is.

So happy to have completed this at last!

A little snow globe inspiration

 On Monday, it snowed steadily all afternoon and into the evening ... it felt a bit like living in a snow globe!  

 And also on Monday,  I came across a couple of fun snow globe ideas that I thought I'd share with all of you. 

 The above is a piece of 6" scrapbook paper from a set called Snow Globes.

I blogged about this set back in 2015 when I purchased it, as you will see if you click the link above.  Back in late November, I took some paper from this set and the other one I got at the same time, over to our camp for grandkids to craft with.  The other day, I was putting some things away and came upon the remaining papers from this set.  Oh, this one is so sweet!  It's really inspiring me to make some simple snow globes (minus the water) from jars,  just to use in winter decorating.

I did a bit of a search to see if I could find any of this paper still on Etsy or eBay, but struck out with that.  I did, however, find these adorable paper snowglobe kits:

 

They are out of stock, but maybe can still be found somewhere.  A kit makes 12.  They are so cute!

The same day, in sorting through some things I had saved for scrapbook journaling, I came upon this:

Oh, aren't those snow globe cookies the cutest?   This was from a King Arthur Flour catalog, but maybe not a very recent one, for I couldn't find them in the online store just now.

The closest I came was these Falling Snowflake cookie stamps.  

 

 

They are on clearance right now, $14.95 for a set of 3, which is still a little pricey for me. 

And all of this reminded me of these felt ornaments

which I've been wanting to make for years: Felt Snowglobe Ornaments.  Maybe this will be my year!

A lovely decorating idea ... why not gather the supplies this summer?

Photo by Laura at Finding Home Farms

This Snow Globe Village Centerpiece  by Laura at Finding Home Farms is one of the prettiest centerpiece ideas I have seen.

I've made similar "snow globes" or terrariums in large jars before, but grouping a couple of them with other items like this is a new thought for me.  Laura mentioned that this entire idea got its start when someone offered her a large empty pickle jar.  The bottom of each jar was partially filled with loose artificial snow, then the glitter houses, bottle brush trees, and some candy canes placed inside.

(When I saw those jars with their lids painted red and green it just brought back precious memories of my grandmother.  Every jar in her pantry had a painted green lid and an ivy decal on the jar itself.  What a truly amazing woman she was!  How she would have loved Pinterest.)

A tray or shallow box will be necessary to place the jars in.   If you are handy or know someone who is, you can build your own.

Laura lined her box with purchased batting-like snow.  Then she placed in the filled jar snow globes and also tucked in another glittery house which wouldn't fit in a jar, along with more bottle brush trees and some ornaments.

She set the centerpiece on a simple paper table runner and added more trees and vintage ornaments.  What a cheery vintage look!  I absolutely love this idea.

So why not do a little shopping at yard sales, or shop your house and your Christmas stash, to see what ornaments and other goodies you can find for this project?  And when you're at a summer cookout or reunion, be sure to ask if you can have the empty pickle jar!