Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Valentine Hearts Candle Sleeve






Valentines is such a great time for using candles.  We know that the warm glow of candle light and a pretty vessel to enhance it is a simple way to upgrade a plain glass candle holder.  Hence, a pretty puffy velvet hearts candle sleeve. 

So easy and quick to make and the nice thing is that they easily slip on and off for a change of mood or change of holiday.



Using heart picks and a glass candle holder from the dollar store, this whimsical valentine candle sleeve will add a touch of romance to any area of your home.

Just remove the stick portion of the pick and sparingly hot glue the sides of the hearts around the glass holder until they form a ring.



Start a second row by sparingly gluing the bottom tip of the hearts on top of the first row. You really don't want to have a lot of glue showing.




The sleeves are free standing and can easily be removed.



The puffy heart design is just cute and adorable!







See how these puffy velvet heart candle sleeves bring that air of romantic elegance to your table display or holiday décor!

The end result is a decorative sleeve that is super easy to make and a great addition to your valentine décor.



Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!










Linking To:

Before & After Wednesdays at The Dedicated House

Friday, January 24, 2014

Crafting in Cabo, Mexico



I'm back from vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and got sick while there.  I think it started on the airplane when a woman kept sneezing the whole flight to Mexico.  I kept covering my water but I guess it was no use, I was destined to get something.  I hadn't had a cold for a few years and I did get a flu shot back in September. I don't know what I have, but I'm terribly congested with a sore throat, achy ears and a stopped up nose.  I'm still not feeling well right now, and am not in the mood to do any crafting, but I wanted to post about a "craft class" I took in Cabo.

I nearly fell off my chair when I was reading the activity schedule available at the Pacifica Resort where we were staying and came across a craft class.  I had visions of making Mexican pottery or handcrafted items so I convinced one of my traveling buddies, Helen, to go with me so I wouldn't be by myself.  Helen isn't into crafts and I'm sure she was just going because I asked her but, in the end, she really made a beautifully decorated frame that outshined all of us.

 
The activity center was located in a building all to itself not far from the pool area.  As you can see, no one was there when we arrived except one lone person tucked away in the corner. Our craft supplies awaited in boxes on the table.




 
I took a picture of a reflection of us sitting at the table waiting for instructions.



Our instructor, Ariana, was eager for us to get started, but I think there was a language barrier or I just couldn't follow simple directions. We were making frames out of corrugated cardboard (how disappointing) and she gave me two pieces of paper so I cut two pieces out. I just wasn't thinking.   Ariana looked at me and said why did you cut two out and I said because you gave me two.  Dummy me, one was for the backing. Ha! I cracked myself up! I was on vacation so what do you expect?   I told her that I wasn't a very good student. But honestly I thought we were gonna make something native to Mexico and not a photo frame so my mind started wandering.

I glued on the border frame and started decorating with "sand" - not very original, cause all the finished frames looked basically the same:

Besides, Ariana was rather stingy with the supplies and had us asking for whatever we wanted instead of just dumping the boxes on the table.  Every now and then she would say, oh I have this and I have that.  Well, I couldn't think and had no creativity juices flowing in decorating my frame.

 
Yep, you can see how much Ariana enjoyed this class.
 
 
Like I said, Helen was really into making this craft.  And I'm so sorry I didn't get a finished picture of her creation. So pretty!

This is mine.  Looks like something made in the 1st grade, don't you think!
 
I'm going to post a bit more about my trip when I'm feeling better.  There were a lot of handcrafted items I saw that I'd like to share with you.

So please stay tuned!
 
 
 Happy Crafting!





Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Valentine Safety Pins & Beads Necklace


Thought I would publish this guest post that I did last year for the Inspiration Café.  I love jewelry made out of safety pins.  It makes for a very "hip" statement.  Today's jewelry is all about making a statement.  And by using safety pins in jewelry or fashion you can make a really big statement.  It's entirely up to you and your designs.  


I love crafting and am always trying to come up with a new version of what has already been done. As in life, what goes around, comes around, or what's old is new again.  For this post I want to show you my take on a .  .  .


Valentine Safety Pins and Beads Necklace
Just about everyone has seen some sort of jewelry made out of safety pins.   You can find lots of choices on the net.  I think beaded safety pin jewelry is an easy way to personalize a holiday such as Valentine’s Day.  How cute it would be to dress up for your sweetie wearing something made by you for that special occasion.  You can pick out the exact color of beads you want to match your outfit or go with the traditional red, pink and white beads like I did.


 For this necklace, you will need:
     


·        1 Large Safety Pin
·        2 Medium Safety Pins
·        4 Small Safety Pins
·        40 Assorted smaller beads
·        18 Large beads
·        1 elastic cord approximately 30 inches long - you can cut later to fit




  
The dollar store carries a pkg of 175 asst. safety pins. This would cost $8.99 at a craft or fabric store.


1.      Arrange the safety pins on your work surface with the largest pin between the two medium pins, with two small pins beside the medium pins.

 2.      Starting with the largest pin, open and arrange the beads how you would like them to look, centering one of the large beads between the smaller beads. Put on as many beads possible (I used 8) and close the pin.

 3.     Place 6 small beads on each of the two medium beads, making them identical.  I used a slightly larger bead in the center of the five remaining beads for these pins. 

4.     Place 5 small beads on each of the four small pins making them identical.


5.     Make sure your pins are arranged in the exact order as stated in #1.


6.     Thread the cord with three of the large beads, next, pass the cord through the hole on the end of the small safety pin, thread two more large beads, one small pin, two large beads, one medium pin, two large beads, one large pin, etc., continuing in the arranged order until you have strung all of the large beads and pins.


 7.     Tie a knot on each end of the cord, or for a more finished look, attach a short chain on each end of the knotted cord and add a clasp.  Ta Da! You're done! 



Making your own variation with different beads, this safety pins and beads necklace is a great signature piece for any Valentine Festivities!


I want to thank Danni and the Inspiration Cafe Team for allowing me this wonderful opportunity to do a guest post.  They are truly awesome!

Take a little time to enjoy,
 

























Sunday, January 12, 2014

Burlap Woven Heart Basket



I'm going back to the days when I was a cub scout leader and had the boys make paper woven baskets for their moms or school-age crushes for Valentines Day. This is a classic paper or felt craft made during the holidays especially Christmas, Valentines and Easter.  It is super easy to do. I wanted to try one in my usual "go to and trendy" fabric:  burlap.  This time, instead of applying mod podge to the burlap like I did here, I tried using Heat n Bond Ultra Hold for a cleaner, sturdier and fray free look.  Sorry, it didn't work for me.  Following directions, I applied the heat n bond to one layer of burlap, cut out the pattern and tried ironing the burlap to the heat bonded burlap (one side worked) and it wouldn't stick together permanently. One layer opened on the edges no matter how much or how little heat I applied.  I ended up gluing the two pieces I had together with mod podge.

Lets just start from this point.  I made a free-hand pattern approximately 17 inches long using ideas from this helpful site.  Like I said, I applied the heat n bond to the red and white burlap and cut out the pattern. Then I cut out separate pieces of each red and white burlap and tried ironing the two together. Since the burlap heat n bond pieces wouldn't stay together, after cutting out both patterns, I glued them together with mod podge.



I folded each burlap piece in half and placed the red on top of the white one to get that "heart" shape. 




 
Next, with a pencil, I lightly drew three inside lines equally spaced and cut along the lines.

 
To start weaving, I laid the burlap patterns as shown and took the first white loop into (through) the open red loop and around the next red loop and into (through) the open red loop and around the last red loop.  Hope this isn't confusing.  You are basically weaving in and out with each row starting the opposite way.
 
Once done, move that first finished row up some to start weaving the next row loops.
The next row is done the opposite with the white loop going around the first red loop and through the next red loop and around the third red loop and through the fourth and final red loop in that row.
 
 
Gently pushing the two completed rows up and starting the third white loop like you did the first, weaving through and around the red loops until you finish that row.
 
Again, gently push your three completed rows up and start the final row and white loop opposite of the last one, going around the red loop and through the next, etc. until you've completed that row, gently easing and pushing the rows up toward the end of the cuts.  Ta Da!

Your finished woven heart looks stunning! 

To make sure you've woven it correctly, open it to look inside.  Think of all the wonderful items you can put there.

 
I barely had enough red burlap left to cut two 12 inch strips of the heat bonded burlap and glued them together for a handle. 

 
You can also use ribbon to make a handle by gluing the ends to the inside of the heart basket.



Once the handle is dry, you can fill the heart with flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals or even jewelry for that special occasion.


This burlap woven heart basket is 10 x 9 inches (not including the handle) - which is  really a good size to accommodate lots of things.  You can make it smaller or even larger if you want.   I glued plastic red hearts on the outside as a special touch. 



I'm really loving how this woven basket turned out.  Burlap is so much better than paper or felt.  And oh, imagine making one as a "Flower Basket" to be used in a wedding.  How cute would that be!  There are so many possibilities!


  
Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 







Sunday, January 5, 2014

Burlap LOVE Script Basket





Is it too early for Valentines? We just finished New Years and Christmas.  I'm in a funk right now.  I've started a few projects but can't seem to finish any. I'm just dragging along.  The weather is so cold here and my mind keeps wandering to the time in a little over a week when I'll be on the beach . . . somewhere WARM, just relaxing.  Oh boy!  But I need to finish things and post  before I go so I won't be thinking while I'm away what I should have made or done before leaving.  Are you with me right now? 

Last fall I ordered some wired jute rope from Trendy Tree.  It looked interesting, but once it came I didn't have a clue as to what on earth I would make with it.
 Then I remembered seeing wire writing somewhere on the net, but now I can't seem to find where.  Anyway, using my no sew burlap basket as a prop, I created a sweet message of "love" scripted in wired jute rope.   The tutorial for the basket can be found here.
Once that's made you can begin forming the rope into the cursive "love" word.  Allow at least 6 feet of wire rope to form the word and heart shape.  It's always best to have more to work with than less.  You can always remove the excess. Also allow extra wire before and after the word to form the curvature of the heart.  As you form the letters, glue as you move along, pressing the rope to the glue until it catches. That shouldn't take very long. a matter of seconds, using hot glue.
 

 
Once the word is in place and glued, you want to take the wire ends and form the heart shape above the word.  Just shape each end into a "heart loop" and glue the two ends together.
 
 
 
There!   Now you can add sweet things for that special loved one or dress up your "love" basket. . .
 
. . . .  courtesy of Picmonkey
 
I guess it's never too early for LOVE!
 
 
You can apply script words to just about anything!  Have fun making and, oh, by the way . . .
 
 

Happy Crafting!