Thursday, December 19, 2013

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 7


Today we get to hear from KJ who blogs over at the super creative and fun blog Let's Go Fly A Kite! KJ has an entire section on her blog with fun craft projects to do with kids, be sure to check it out! KJ shared her awesome recipe last year for kransekake, and is back this year to share a tutorial for how to make the most adorable little Lucias!

Hello there! I’m KJ and I live in Toronto, Canada.  I have been blogging as a hobby for a few years.   I like to post about the  crafty messes that we make at let’s go fly a kite. For the past few years, I have joined Pickled Herring’s Scandinavian Christmas.   My paternal side is Norwegian and I like to include Scandinavian traditions in our family’s Christmas celebrations.

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That’s me on the Flåm Railway (Flåmsbana), Norway 2010
In November, my daughters and I attended a St. Lucia pageant at Toronto’s annual Swedish Christmas Festival.  They wanted to add to their miniature St. Lucia doll collection, so that was the impetus for this project which uses recycled wine corks.
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To make a wine cork St. Lucia, you will need a few supplies:

Body and head: one cork painted white and  a 1 inch wooden bead (you can paint the bead if you wish) 
Crown : green and gold wired trim or pipe cleaner
Sash: thin red ribbon
Candle:   A thumbtack and glue a  5mm yellow bead on top,
Hands: two 6 mm wood beads.
Hot glue

The figure’s construction is based on a traditional wine cork angel.  
Paint the cork white.  Hot glue the wooden bead to the cork, but offset the bead slightly so that the bead’s hole becomes the mouth. 

Next add the crown.  Cut a piece of green to the desired size and cut the candle trim to the desired size.  This is a little fidgety to assemble, but if you use wired trim or  pipe cleaner it should work.  I glued the candles first and then the added the green trim.

Next, glue the sash, thumbtack and beads.   The yellow bead is glued to the thumbtack’s sharp point.  
I added a wooden button to the base of the cork, but this is optional.   Sketch on the placement of the eyes in pencil first then go over with a permanent marker.
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I also added a gold trim loop to my dolls to hang on the tree or to place on a bottle of Glögg!

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Thanks so much for visiting Scandinavian Christmas  today,  God Jul!

I absolutely love these little guys and can't wait to make my own set! Thank you, KJ for sharing such a fun tutorial! Tomorrow we will hear from my dear sister, Caryn!

6 comments:

  1. These are adorable :)
    You came up with such clever details! You were the one who introduced me cork people, I'm always looking for ways to use the wine corks that we save, so I am a huge fan of this project. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Rachel and thank you Kathryn for including me this year. God Jul everyone and save your corks!

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  2. Oh my goodness these are darling! And using a pushpin for the candle? Genius! I've been making korknisse for everyone this year so have lots of corks at the ready. Thanks for the cool idea!

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  3. KJ - These are the cutest! I couldn't believe when I saw the pushpin used as a candle (with the little bead!!) - absolutely ingenious! And another thing I loved is the bead opening which you used as a mouth and they look like singing! Precious!

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  4. KJ! this is adorable! AND brilliant!!! How in the world you saw these precious little Lucia's in a handful of corks, beads and push pins I will never know! Bet the girls love them to pieces!

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  5. CLEVER AND CUTE AS CAN BE... St. Lucia tiny dolls made from wine corks and a few other things! Easy enough for young girls to craft, right? KJ, THANKS for the directions and FAB photos. GOD JUL! Recently I signed up for updates on your blog, so I'm anxious to see your continued creations. MERRY CHRISTMAS from Sarah Helene, Minneapolis

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