Glitter Pumpkins.

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know that I love glitter.  On everything.  Except the back pocket of adult jeans; that’s just ridiculous.  So I was almost elated to find this awesome new (?) product at Hobby Lobby on Saturday.

It’s glue … with glitter … and sequins!

Well, of course I bought it.  But when I got home, I was so excited I could barely think of what to put it on.  Until I spied my daughter’s little miniature pumpkins.  (Are those technically gourds?  Ahh, who cares?)

I think the effect is totally cool.

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Pumpkin Vase Floral Arrangements.

I made these as centerpieces for a picnic several years ago, and I was really pleased with how they turned out.  I’m starting to see them in magazines and on craft websites more and more.  I think I originally got the idea from Better Homes and Gardens.  Basically, I just used a Drimmel tool to poke holes in the pumpkins/gourds and stuck some floral pics in.  For the pumpkin with the candle, I had my husband carve out the top to hold the candle.  Those suckers are really hard!

(Sorry that last one is so blurry.)

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Easter Decorations

Since it’s cold and fixing to snow, I figured there was no better time to bust out the Easter decorations!  I usually prefer to wait until after Mother’s Day to get them out, but I think we need a little cheer.

I made these candles.  Actually, I bought the candles.  But I did decorate them myself.  I simply hot glued a piece of ribbon all the way around and then hot glued an Easter embellisment over the ends.  I find that hot glue works really well with candles since it will melt the wax a little and let the ribbon get good and attached.  Just be careful not to touch the candle with the tip of your glue gun.  That’s not good form.

Isn’t that an awesome deck screw?  I took these pictures the day before yesterday when it was 70 degrees.  And since it is now dark and cold and fixing to snow, I’m not going to go retake them just to get the screw out of the picture.  Yeah, I’m a rebel like that.

Here’s a couple more terrariums.  I seriously love these things.  My mother asked me what I was going to do with all of them (I bought 3 more jars at the thrift store last week).  I told her I was going to build floor to ceiling shelves and fill them with little miniature terrarium worlds just to creep people out.

This one is a Mason Jar.  The moss hasn’t had a chance to thicken up quite yet.  And that’s a bird hanging from the lid in back.

Here’s the top of the lid.

And here’s the other terrarium.  The Easter bunny is zooming along.  Probably on his way to church. 

I should make a terrarium with a little church in it.  Do you suppose a Calvary terrarium would be too over the top?  Yeah, you’re probably right.  That’s a bit much even for someone with I Love Jesus socks.  But a Mount of Olives terrarium would probably be okay.

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Moss Terrarium

I ran across a “moss terrarium” online a few weeks ago and became totally obsessed with making my own.  They are so cool!  I made 2 yesterday but, I spent so long taking the picture of the one I’m sharing today, that the other one condensated on me (because it’s kind of cold out today) and I couldn’t get a good picture of it.  So you’ll just have to wait to see my Easter Terrarium.  But, trust me, it will be worth the wait.

My grandma gave me this glass jar for Christmas several years ago.  I put some river rock in the bottom, some potting soil over that, some moss that I got off the firewood we are using, and I had the tractor already.  I think I got the tractor at Tractor Supply a few years ago to decorate a birthday gift for my husband who loves Farm-All tractors.

This one was starting to condensate on me too, but I think it’s a good enough picture that you can see how charming these things are.  I’m thinking they’d make great gifts for any number of people.  You can custom tailor the theme to fit each person’s interests.

I’ve been on a craft roll lately, so I have a lot of things to share this week.  And maybe I’ll run across something goofy to share too.

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Another Handmade Christmas Gift.

My friend Krista crocheted a skirt and matching purse for Shelby.

Isn’t that cute?  It was really cute when Shelby put on all her jewelry and slung the purse over her arm then pushed her shopping cart around!

Thank you, Krista!

Please don’t look at all the crap on my living room floor.  Shelby’s favorite hobby is getting every single toy she owns out of her toys boxes and then walking around tripping over them.

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Easy Handmade Christmas Gifts – Part I

Do you ever have people tell you, “Gee.  I’d love to make some Christmas gifts, but I’m not very crafty and I wouldn’t know where to start.”?  I get that a lot.  Probably because I’m kind of seen as a miniature Martha Stewart around the blogosphere.  But nice homemade gifts do not have to be difficult or expensive.  Thus, my Easy Handmade Christmas Gifts Series.  I’m not sure how many crafts I’ll put up or how often, but you can rest assured that there will be at least 2.  Probably more as I root around in my scrap room closet for the supplies for all those projects that I’d “get to later”.  I’m sure I’m the only one who has a closet full of that stuff.  Right?  Not!  (Sorry, I regressed to the ’90′s there.  Forgive me, I can’t help myself.)

Anyway, on to today’s project.  This will be perfect for the reader in your life.  Couple this handmade bookmark with a gift certificate to her favorite bookstore and a box of tea bags and you will be the hit of the Christmas party!

I got these rectangular pieces of acrylic at a rubber stamp convention.  (Shut up!  You know you want to go to a rubber stamp convention!)  They measure 1 1/2″ x 5″.  But I have heard that you don’t have to get them at a fancy rubber stamp convention.  Supposedly, your local hardware store will probably carry acrylic and will probably cut it for you.  But that’s hearsay, so don’t tell them I sent you or anything.

I mod-podged a piece of patterned paper onto the back of the bookmark (the pattern goes against the acrylic so it’s like you are looking at it through a window) then I inked the edges with pink pigment ink.  While the ink was still wet, I sprinkled sparkly pink embossing powder on it and set it with my heat gun.  I punched the hole in the top with my Crop-A-Dile.  One note here, when I used my Crop-A-Dile on my practice piece, the acrylic cracked sometimes and sometimes it didn’t.  Therefore, I would recommend backing the bookmark with a piece of tape before punching your hole and then removing the tape.

I finished off by stringing a piece of ribbon through the hole and adding a little snowflake embellishment.  The embellishment is from my stash, so I can’t remember who made it.  It was probably either from Spare Parts or Making Memories.

There you go.  An easy handmade Christmas gift that won’t break the bank and that is entirely useful and un-tacky.

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Vintage Thursdays – With A Little New!

Don’t you just adore my non-superfluous use of an exclamation point in my title?  Say yes!

I’m all about finding useful uses for my thrift store finds.  At least that’s what I tell Meat Galore when he asks me how much more crap I’m going to be bringing home.  I found these vintage records at our local thrift store (like it’s real hard to find records at thrift stores – ha!).  When I got home, I realized that I do not own a record player.  And I haven’t since about 1985.  Well, that left me in a bit of a pickle.  Turns out, you can make bowls with these things! 

It’s pretty easy, just put the record on an upside down bowl on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Then take it out and shape – but hurry, you have less than a minute before it cools.  Don’t worry though, the records can be reheated (I won’t tell you how I know).

Just a note, in case you are not always real quick on the uptake like me, small records (are they called 45′s?) curl upward, while the regular size ones melt downward.  The little one is my favorite.  It makes a great catch-all for keys and such.  My apples look really cute in the big bowl.

 

 

Isn’t that the cutest tea towel you ever saw?  My mom made me a whole set.  Sunday through Saturday.  I know today is Thursday, but Thursday is in the wash, so I am using Tuesday.  Anyway, the tea towel isn’t vintage, but my mom was upset that I showed my baby blanket a couple weeks ago and didn’t provide any recent samples of her work that she says is better.  Anyway, I heart my little doggie tea towels.  Here’s a bigger picture.

Thanks for looking at my stuffies!  For more vintage thingies, go check out http://www.anapronaday.blogspot.com. 

 

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Sadly, I have nothing funny to say today.

 

I know all my faithful readers will be sad to hear that I cannot think of one funny thing to write today.  Seriously.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Null set.  The big … oh never mind, you get the point.  I was reading the “Rules and By-Laws of Serious Bloggers” and realized that I am contractually obligated to write something about Brett Favre and the New York Jets.  But I know nothing about Brett Favre or the New York Jets, so all I can say is Brett Favre got traded to the New York Jets.

I made another tote bag last night.  I like this one way better.  I made it out of a camisole that I picked up at the thrift store for a quarter.

 

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In case you thought I was more bunny-kicker than bunny-hugger…

 As it turns out, I have a bit of bunny-hugger in me.  Or do I?  That could be the chip in my head talking.  At any rate, I take my own bags into the store to carry my purchases out.  Up to now, I have had to depend upon the kindness of strangers (okay, not really strangers so much as my mother) and Etsy-ers to make me cool bags to carry.  It’s because my sewing skills are seriously lacking.  I’m pretty crafty – Martha-ish, if you will; but I have a hard time sewing a straight line.  That’s partly why I was so impressed with myself for making this hand-made bag.  It is an old t-shirt.  I lopped the end off and then sewed a triple seam at the bottom.  I cut the sleeves off and widened the opening (neck-hole) with pinking shears to finish it.  I really like the results!  I haven’t load tested it, but I have faith that at least one of the three seams will hold.  At least I hope they will hold.  It would be very embarrassing to have to chase rolling cans of beanie weenies around the Wal-Mart parking lot while irate mini-vanners wait for me to vacate my spot.

**If anyone knows how I can get my pictures centered up, I’d be forever in your debt if you would share that little tidbit with me.  I know as a serious blogger I am also expected to know a thing or 2 about computers.  And I do, I’m actually a computer genius in disguise.  I’m just testing you to see if you know.

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Altered Boat Prop with Pin-Up Girls.

I’m the first to admit that I’m a bit of a hillbilly.  Just a bit, don’t go crazy.  I have indoor plumbing and all that.  But I did make this boat prop candle holder for my folks’ lake house.  I know a guy who knows a guy who got me an old boat prop.  Actually, my husband just asked his pack rat (or “collecting”, if you want to be all PC and stuff) friend if he had a spare boat prop laying around.  But it sounds much cooler to say I know a guy…  Anyway, my wonderful husband buffed it and shined it up for me.  I mod-podged pin-up pictures that I got from the internet to each propeller and then stuck a taper candle in the middle hole where one would ordinarily put a bolt.  Voila!  Instant lake house art – enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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