Repurposed Holiday Decor: Chili Pepper Ornament

Spice up your holiday with a chili pepper ornament made from the heart. Christmas is fast approaching, and if you're a crafter like me you know that there aren't enough hours in the day to make a gift for everyone. My default for handmade Christmas gifts are ornaments, and its never let me down. This chili pepper ornament is quick and easy to make, and here's what you'll need:
Tools
- Sand paper
- A paint brush
- A hot glue gun
- Pliers

Materials
- A bent tip light bulb
- Fine red glitter
- Red paint
- Green felt
- Small green beads
- Hot glue
- A fine gauge wire, or twist-tie

Clean off your bent tip light bulb with hand soap and water. Once it's dry, sand it lightly and use your pliers to pull of the metal seal on the bottom, where a small hole should be. Then, paint blub with two coats of red paint. While the bulb is still wet, sprinkle the red glitter evenly around the bulb and let it dry completely. Touch up bald spots with more paint and glitter.

Once, the bulb is dry, take a 6" piece of fine gauge wire, or a twist-tie*, fold it in half and place it into the hole in the bottom of the bulb. Then secure it with hot glue. And let dry.

* If you use a twist-tie, peal away the paper and use the wire within

Cut a round piece of green felt, a little larger than the diameter of the bulb's base, and thread the wires through the center. Use your hot glue to make a ring around the rim of the light bulb. Press down the felt circle and let dry.




Take a strip of green felt, that is about the width of the bulb's base, and cut ridges into it. You'll want to secure the felt strip with hot glue a couple centimeters above where the felt circle ends. Also, secure the felt strip where you would like the back of the ornament to be. Then wrap the felt strip around the bulb's base (small dots of hot glue will help keep the felt in place as you wrap it). Once, the metal base is fully covered trim away the excess felt.

Now, separate your wire strands and thread them with green beads.








Twist the wires together, so that the beads meet, and trim away the excess wire. And...

 It's a spicy holiday!
See more picture on Flickr
Buy your own on ETSY

My Homemade Halloween Costume

This Halloween I am going to be Leela from one of my favorite shows, Futurama. These are the pieces I used to make up the costume: A mask, a wristband, a white tank top, some Underarmour leggings, my snowboarding boots, and some neon purple hairspray. Most of these items I had around the house, but in all it cost me about $15.

Here are some tools you'll need to get started:
- Light sandpaper
- Scissors
- Hot Glue

First I created the armband out of:
- A tennis ball container
- Two felt circles
- Silver spray paint
- And, some blue painters tape

I cut the tennis ball tube to be about five inches long. With blue painters tape, I covered the area of the tube that I didn't want to be painted.  Lightly sanded the outside of the tube, and applied two light coats of paint. After it was dry, I removed the tape and put it on the inside of the tube so that the blue color showed through. Then, I cut two pieces of black felt and glued them to the surface of the tube. Finally, I cut a seem up the back of the wrist band, so I could squeeze it to adjust the size and tightness.

Next, I created the mask with:
- A plastic mask with an elastic band
- Purple wire
- White tulle
- Black felt

I trimmed the mask around the nose and eyes, so I could see and my nose was still visible with the mask on. Then, I wrapped white tool around the mask twice and secured it with hot glue on the bridge of the mask's nose. Cutting the purple wire to even lengths, I evenly spaced and secured them with hot glue; bending them a little for an eyelash effect. Finally, I cut a large black circle and hot glued it snugly to the front of the nose.

TIP: Glue down the edges of the circles near the inner corners of the eye holes, this will help with visibility.

This is an inexpensive costume and it's a lot of fun to wear. Share your homemade Halloween costume at Mind Ruffle's Facebook Page