On Tuesday I showed how easy it is to make gifts using cabochons and blanks. Presentation is everything (right?) so a special gift deserves special packaging. These gift tags are beautiful and can be altered for different gift giving occasions. Supplies: Wood Tags Paint Americana Crackle Medium Stamps and Ink How to decorate wooden tags: Step one: Paint the tag with a base color. This is what will show through the cracks. Let dry. Step two: Paint an even layer of … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2013
DIY Flower Garden Pendant
Ready for part two of crafting with cabochons? On Monday I showed you how easy and pretty inexpensive it is to craft with cabochons. If you missed it, you can find it here. This pendant is a little different, so I'm sharing it separately. It's still pretty basic, so even if you're a beginning crafter it won't be too challenging. Supplies: Pendant Blank Acrylic Flowers (from Plaid Barn) E-6000 Rhinestones To make your own flower garden pendant: Step one: Place your … [Read more...]
Teach Me: How to Craft with Cabochons
If you're a beginning crafter looking for an easy project to start with, look no further! When I first starting shopping on Etsy several years ago, I drooled over the lovely vintage looking rings and pendants that had resin flowers on them. At $30 and up, however, they were out of range for my tight budget. As more deal-a-day sites like Pick Your Plum and The Plaid Barn started popping up, I was amazed to discover that I could make my own for literally pennies. Now I make these items … [Read more...]
DIY Decorative Safari Print Finial
I love to knock off high end items, and if I can do it with items I have on hand it's even better! When I saw the World Traveller collection at Kirkland's, I pinned most of it. I loved the fusion of metallics and animal prints. The decorative finials reminded me of glass Christmas ornaments, and that's how this idea was born. Kirkland's I was able to make my knock off using three items I already had: a glass candle holder (wedding present, but you can get one at the … [Read more...]
DIY Gift Idea: Stamped Metal Guitar Pick
It's hard to craft for guys. But here's an idea he might like: a personalized stamped metal guitar pick key chain. I'm still a novice when it comes to metal stamping, but I've found there are some basic projects, like this idea, that you can make fairly easily. Since I'm still learning, I'll just point you to the post that got me started. Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects makes a lot of cool jewelry, including metal stamped projects. She wrote a great post for anyone just getting started … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Rusted Metal Wall Sign
I have a "thing" for all things retro, especially metal wall art. Unfortunately, I'm too cheap frugal to splurge on the real deal, so I made my own. (This post originally appeared at Crafts Unleashed. I hope you'll visit me there to see more of my work and tutorials!) I made two fun signs to decorate my house. One with a graphic, for my son's vintage sports themed room. The other may seem odd, but there's a reason for it! We have a bathroom on our patio that no one (especially muddy … [Read more...]
Teach Me: DIY Crackle Paint with Glue
There are lots of products on the market that can help you create a painted crackle finish. But what if you're on a budget, snowed in, or just trying to de-stash? Here's a frugal solution. A lot of my friends are new to crafting, so I mentioned on my FB fan page that I was thinking of doing an occasional post where I teach some basic techniques. People liked the idea, and even offered several suggestions for things they'd like to learn how to do. Here's one of their requests: how to use … [Read more...]
DIY Tinted Glass Mug with Monogram
I stumbled upon an insanely easy way to "tint" glass, that takes minutes to do and dries in seconds! I tend to craft in spurts, so while I had all my glass painting products out, I made several crafts, most of which were Christmas gifts. Last week I showed you how to paint a paper weight with a stencil. Today, I'll be using stencils again, combined with another technique, to make a tinted, monogrammed mug. BEST OF ALL, since the paint is on the outside, this mug can be used AND it's … [Read more...]
Crafting with Kids: How to Make Shrinky Dink Pendants
I got to enjoy some bonus craft time with my children over the holiday break. Using Shrinky Dink made me feel like a kid again! I was so excited to find plastic shrink film at Consumer Crafts. I loved to use this stuff as a kid, and I have a few ideas for things *I* want to make. But I also wanted my kids to have fun crafting with it, so we made pendants. My 8 year old son loves to draw,and he was excited about the possibility of designing his own jewelry. First, I had him draw his … [Read more...]
Painted Glass Paper Weight: Martha Stewart Glass Paint
I used Martha Stewart glass paint and stencils to transform a plain Dollar Tree paperweight. This project takes minutes to do, but looks professional! Now that Christmas has passed, I can finally share the projects that I made as gifts. This paperweight was my first glass painting project. I love that I could use both sides to give the image depth. On one side, the butterfly appears to be in the foreground, and on the other side it's the flower that is closer to the viewer. My kids are … [Read more...]