August 16, 2024 • All Things Christmas!

Hello! Thanks for stopping by for a peek at my All Things Christmas murrini. I have over 25 designs to share with you as well as a few adorable projects. Since there are so many items this week, I’ve packaged most of them in the smaller 1oz. size so a bigger variety is more affordable. 1oz. packages will all be $18 and 1.5oz. packages will all be $26. The Big Christmas Mix is priced at $39.

Housekeeping notes:
Just a reminder that all my murrini are COE 96, made with Oceanside fusible glass, and will go on sale tomorrow, Saturday, August 17, at NOON Central Time.

Since August has 5 Saturdays, after tomorrow, the next Saturday that I will have new murrini will be Saturday, September 7. I’ve already started working on murrini for that weekend and it’s a new mix of wintry colors that are beyond spectacular! I can’t wait to show you!

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There are so many fun murrini in this week’s project ~ let’s get started!

The Christmas Mix

This BIG mix (2oz. +) has 12 murrini in it including a Santa, Rudy (with two ear/antlers), Red Peppermint, Christmas Twisty, Christmas Blossom, Holly, Snowman Nose, Snowflake, Flame, and an Artsy Christmas Tree for $39. All the murrini in this mix snip best with sharp wheeled nippers.

The kits will all have consistent sized murrini in them (not too big or too small). 

Tack Fuse Black and White Sheep Duo (with variations)

I recently had a request for Black sheep, so I was happy to make more as they’ll go great with the recent Nativity kits. Weighing in a little over an ounce, there will be 3 white sheep and 3 black sheep in each package. I will also have white sheep and black sheep sold separately as well. These snip best with sharp wheeled nippers.

Shepherds

Since we added sheep, I had enough remaining Shepherds from the Nativity to make a few 1oz. packages. Snip with sharp wheeled nippers. 

Here's a sample gift tag. Lightly tack fused at 1300 top temp with no hold. You can write the name of the person receiving the gift in a black Sharpie and it’s reusable as you’ll be able to wipe the name off later with a wet cloth.

Acorn and Pine Cone Duo (with variations)

This Duo is perfect for winter scenes. They will be sold in 1oz packages with equal amounts of Pine Cones to Acorns. Sometimes an extra Acorn may be added to bring the package to the correct weight. Oddly, these were difficult to photograph and get the exact color of the Acorn…but the lower portion is Oceanside Persimmon. Sharp wheeled nippers will snip these beauties perfectly. A light tack fuse is recommended to keep them from spreading out. The Acorns and Pine Cones will be sold separately in 1oz. packages as well.

Another fun Christmas gift tag. Instead of drilling a hole, I used one of Mike LaChance’s “small tack bails” (COE 96) and it sits in the upper right corner nicely without disrupting the scene. 

I actually forgot to fill the hole with fiber paper when I fused the tag, but luckily in the light tack fuse it didn’t close up. However, be sure to take that extra step of filling the hole with a bit of fiber paper because it isn’t worth risking it. This little bail is perfect for this use.

Old Fashioned Christmas Bulbs (with variations)

Back again this year are these fun bulbs. Perfect for so many Christmas projects. A light tack fuse is recommended to keep the outer shape of the bulb. There are 5 colors. Red, Sunflower Yellow, Blue, White, and Peacock. Lisa worked hard to sort these cuties so you would have the same size bulbs in your package. Therefore, these are the variations:

1oz. Mix - 1 each of all colors, $18  (Large Bulbs)
1.25oz. Mix - 2 each of all colors $22 (Smaller Bulbs)
1.5oz. Mix - 2 each of all colors $26 (Regular Size as shown in the photo above)
1.5oz. Single Colors $26 (Sizes will vary in the single colored packages)

Wheeled nippers work best on the bulb shape.

Blossom and Ornament Mix

This mix is a favorite of mine. All things red and green! You’ll get 8 total canes. Two each of the striped Ornaments (Circle and Slender), as well as two Red Blossoms and two Christmas Blossoms. The blossoms are great at any temperature, but the Ornaments are best at a light tack fuse. This mix will be $23 as it is weighing in slightly under 1.5oz. Wheeled nippers or the Chipper Nipper work great on the round murrini, but the Slender Ornament will require wheeled nippers placed right in the center. 

Ornament Duo

The Ornaments will also be sold in 1oz. packages just as a Duo. Sizes will vary in each package.

Red Blossoms

These Red Blossoms remind me of a Cardinal and they are one of my favorites this week. Perfect tack fused to fully fused, snipped and fully fused as a dot, or flip and fused for a larger version. Sold in 1oz. packages. Wheeled nippers or the Chipper Nipper snip these easily.

Christmas Blossom

I’ve had these beautiful blossoms in the Christmas rotation for many years now. They are an all-time favorite. Like the Red Blossom, these sweethearts snip easily with wheeled nippers or a Chipper Nipper and are great fused at any temperature. The Christmas Blossom is also sold in 1oz. packages.

Multi-size Snowflakes

I love various sized Snowflakes in a scene! This is why we take the time to make sure each 1oz. package has sizes from large to tiny. Wheeled nippers or the Chipper Nipper work great and they are wonderful fused at all temperatures.

Peppermint Duo (with variations)

This fun Duo of Peppermints will be perfect for your gingerbread houses, on Christmas Trees, and so much more. The Green Peppermints will be a bit on the smaller side and the Red Peppermint sizes will vary from large to small. They will be sold as a Duo and also separately in 1oz. packages. There will be approximately 6 canes in each package or up to 8 if the sizes are on the small side.

Multi-size Flames

I love the Flames. They also have so many uses. Campfires, Candles, Menorahs, Fireplaces, etc. So many fun options, therefore sold in various sizes within each 1oz. package to be used in any scene.

Santa and Rudy DUO (with variations)

Santa and his Bestie are back this year! Several batches were made, so there may be some slight design variances in each murrini. Sizes will vary within each 1oz. package. In the DUO, there will be 3 Santas and 3 Rudies with 6 ear/antlers. Santa is best at a light tack fuse (to keep his shape, but also because sometimes the flesh color by his eye may bleed out in a full fuse and you could possibly see an undesirable stripe). Rudy is great at all temperatures. Also note that the ear/antler are to be positioned with the ear on the outside and the antlers toward each other in the center. When flipped the other way, he looks more like a Moose. 😉 Wheeled nippers work best. Variations in this listing:

Santa/Rudy Duo, (2 each) 1oz.
Sant/Rudy Duo, (3 each) 1.5oz.
Santa only, 1oz.
Rudy only, 1oz.

Christmas Twisties

Also back again this year is the Christmas Twistie. This murrini has several fun ways to use it. Either snip as a thin chip and tack fuse for an “as-is” look, fully fuse it into a dot, or flatten a 1/4inch chip to spread into a swirly button. On this week’s project you can see Mrs. Frosty has a flattened version snipped in half and used as earmuffs! They are so much fun to work with. Sold in 1oz. packages.

Tiny Christmas Trees

The Tiny Tree is a tack fuse murrini so they keep their exterior shape. They are a bit trickier to snip, but I found wheeled nippers placed on the widest portion of the bottom of the tree works best. Sold in 1oz. packages.

Multi-size Snowman Noses (with variations)

I think Oceanside has finally landed on a nice orange color. It is definitely bolder than the original color from a few years back, but I’m loving this most recent version of orange for Mr. Frosty’s nose! Since everyone’s snowmen projects will vary, so will the sizes of the noses. Your 1oz. package will have a large nose, some tiny ones, and all the sizes in between. A nice variety for any project.

I will have one variation in this listing. I have just a few packages of XL noses. There are only 4 nose canes in the 1oz. package as they are BIG.

Holly Leaves

This sweet Holly leaf is definitely a LIGHT tack fuse murrini. The outer points will round out very fast. Take a peek at this week’s project. Mr. Frosty has Holly on his hat. Also, use sharp wheeled nippers on these guys and yes…they will sound incredibly crunchy when snipping. But hang in there, they’ll be ok…it just won’t sound like it. Ha ha! They are available in 1oz. packages.

Cardinals

I just felt like we needed to have Cardinals this week to go on our Christmas Trees! This listing photo is from the batch prior, but this version is very similar. One of this week’s Cardinals is on the Christmas Tree of the "Tree Farm" project, so you can see it tack fused. Wheeled nippers will snip this cutie with ease. They are available in 1oz. packages.

Poinsettia Kits (with variations)

The Poinsettia Kits are like last year having two canes of larger petals and two canes of smaller petals so you can layer them. You will also get three leaves and a .25oz. package of a frit blend for the center for $26.

Variations that will be available are mixed sized Petals (no leaves or frit) in a 1.5oz. package size and then a 1oz. package of just medium size petals (no leaves or frit).

This is a photo of the the steps to make the layered Poinsettia. A light tack fuse is best to retain the outer shape of the murrini. 

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This week's murrini fully fused.

Before we go on to this week’s project, let me show you some of my prepped murrini. I flattened some of the Christmas Twisties and fully fused some of the others into dots. 

Here are the Christmas Twisties I have snipped in various sizes to be flattened. The fatter the cane or the taller it is, the bigger the resulting “button”. Try to keep them as straight as possible. If they look like the leaning tower of Pisa to start with, they will be slightly off center as far as the flattened design goes. I use Nancy Sala’s flattening technique. I’m sure you’ll find some free tutorials out there, but Nancy has a few great tips and her downloadable tutorial is only $8. On her new website, if you decide to order it, you place your order then she’ll send you the PDF in an email. So you won’t get it instantly, but she gets to her emails fast. FYI just so you aren’t surprised by a short delay. 

These fellas are just going in for a full fuse. You can see one of the Red Blossoms on a little 3/8 X 3/8 piece of 3mm clear. I was going to flip and fuse it, but it spread out so pretty I liked it as it was. 

Here are my treasures. The bigger striped piece is a small piece of a Twistie that I also flattened. (I will have Fall and Christmas colored Twisties on Sept. 7) I use these for snowman scarves and other fun things. I scored it into 4 long strips and you’ll see the edge piece being used as the pole holding the “Tree Farm” sign in the project below. I also flattened a red Peppermint as well as just fully fusing one. I like  all the Peppermints, but my favorite, to be honest, is just snipped thin from the cane and lightly tack fused with an “as-is” appearance. However, the circular Christmas Ornaments are the BOMB fully fused like a dot! They look like real ornaments!! Love them.

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Now, on to the week’s project called "The Frosty’s Tree Farm"

My initial thought on the project this week was to have a snowman family. I even cut out all the pieces. But as you know, sometimes you just aren’t feeling it. I was not. So it progressed by just playing and moving things around. I was very happy at the end.

First I started with a 6X11.5 piece of transparent blue and white wispy glass. I loved the color but experimented with placing transparent Caribbean blue over the top instead of clear. The reason for placing transparent over the top is because I wanted my snowflakes to perfectly spread out without being able to see the clear around them. If you put a snowflake on an opal and fully fuse, the clear will be apparent and look like a circle around the snowflake. Also, I was wondering if it would give the project more dimension with the snowflake on top. 

I also knew I wanted snow at the bottom. So I cut an inch of the Caribbean off and slipped in a strip of white in at the bottom. 

In the kiln for a full fuse, you can see I did dust the bottom wispy with clear powder to prevent bubbles and I placed my Multi-sized Snowflakes on top. I put some of the mis-snips on the edges. 

Once out of the kiln and washed up I could have almost slumped this as a plate because it was so pretty.

Here is an up close shot at how beautiful the snowflakes are and you can’t see the clear around them. I think there is a slight bit of extra dimension having them placed on top the transparent glass (over the base glass) as you can see a bit of a shadow underneath which is super cool!

My project morphed into the idea of Mr. and Mrs. Frosty putting the final touches on their Tree Farm before opening day. I’ll explain each area.


First, the Christmas tree is Oceanside Adventurine Green, so it’s nice a sparkly. It’s just two layers of snipped glass. I get the pointy curved pieces by putting my wheeled nippers right on the edge of the glass.

It shoots them off in the coolest organic (but very pointy) shapes.

Then I decorated it with the Ornaments, Blossoms and Peppermints.

Next Mrs. Frosty has a scarf made from a flattened twisty snipped and I shaped to fit her body. Her earmuffs are made from a single flattened Christmas Twisty snipped in half and the band is a red stringer bent in a flame. Of course she has a Snowman Nose and is holding a candle so Mr. Frosty can see to finish the string of Old Fashioned Christmas Lights hanging overhead. The candle is actually a yellow Oceanside noodle and topped with a Flame murrini. Her eyes, mouth and buttons are black medium frit.

Mr. Frosty is clearly a hoot. Since snowmen get too hot wearing Ugly Christmas Sweaters, he opted for the goofy tie sporting Santa and Rudy murrini. Note Rudy’s ear/antler position. The ears go toward the outside and the antlers are next to each other in the middle. Mr. Frosty is also sporting a bit of a larger Snowman Nose with Holly Leaves on his hat and a Red Blossom that was pre-fused into a dot as the berry. The Frosty’s arms are made from Joni’s versatile Brown Variegated Stringer. 

For the Tree Farm sign, I used a rounded corner of the flattened Twisty that I showed earlier. The writing is painted on with Easy Fire Enamel. I placed an “Artsy” Christmas Tree on the sign (this comes in the Christmas Mix) and topped with a Tiny Christmas Tree for fun. There must be all kinds of trees at their farm!

For the Old Fashioned Christmas Bulbs I used all the colors dangling from a string made of a thin stringer (it’s one I had from the end of a pull and it’s really thin, but a long piece of Oceanside straight stringer can easily be curved in a flame/torch to give it a slight bend like this). 


Here we are in the kiln ready for our light tack fuse. You can see I put medium white frit on the bottom for the snow as well as some snow on top of the sign and a little bit on the tree. Before I closed the lid I realized I needed a Cardinal in the tree! You'll see it in the final version. I think the Frosty’s will be very successful in their Tree Farm business. 😉

For the final tack fuse, I went up and down slow with a loooooong anneal.

150>1150>30
350>1310>10
9999>950>6 hours (1 hour per 3mm layer plus an extra hour due to all the murrini)
150>800>15
150>700>15
300>room temp

I would really like to slump this into my curved mold so it stands on its own, but I was fearful of the tree side being so thick that it might be unbalanced and cause it to slip during the slump. If there are any slumping experts out there that have advice for me, I’d love to hear it. 

It's so adorable. I wish you could see it in person.

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Hints on the Horizon
On September 7th I’ll have a beautiful Wintry Mix as well as Twisties! If you didn’t get a particular Christmas item this week, please let me know and I’ll start more. 

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Helpful Links:

If you are looking for COE 96 stringer or pre-fused dots, Joni pulls matching stringer for the items I have each week. Find her beautiful work at Aggie Glass Designs.

If you are looking for Mike LaChance’s COE 96 handcrafted Bails, find his unique work at Mike’s Innovative Glass.

If you use COE 90, be sure to shop Lori’s beautiful murrini and mille options found at Wilderness Glass.