Thursday, February 20, 2014

Faux Capiz Trinket Boxes DIY


We've all seen those adorable faux capiz chandeliers made out of wax paper shells posted around blogland.  I wondered why more craft items haven't been made using the technique of ironing sheets of wax paper together and making something else out of the translucent looking material. As a crafter, I am always looking around for inspiration and thought faux capiz glued to paper mache boxes would look fabulous as trinket boxes.

There are lots of tutorials on ironing sheets of wax paper together to form the faux capiz but I especially like this video to get you started.  It talks about the proper way to iron wax paper and how many sheets of wax paper you can iron together so that they "stay together." I started out thinking I could just iron as many sheets together to get  thick faux capiz , but I soon learned that I couldn't.
Four sheets of wax paper is about the max you can iron together. And still I had a problem with them coming apart after cutting. Maybe it was my ironing technique or the wax paper, I just know if you plan on making something like this, be prepared to glue wax paper pieces together as you go.

 I started with a paper mache box that I traced the sides onto the ironed wax paper and cut out.


 Next, I cut the sides into 1/2 inch strips.

It was easy for me to lay the strips on the box and make "lines" with an xacto knife where I wanted to cut.


I applied tacky glue at first but later switched to using a brush and mod podge to speed things up.


I glued the faux capiz "tiles" down on all four sides, allowed to dry and . . . .


painted the tiles and box interior with a combination of white metallic pearl and gold metallic pearl acrylic which gave the tiles a bit more shimmer like you see with real capiz shells.

  

 Made a round faux capiz trinket box to match.

And added a crystal ball to the tops.





How cute are these to store my mother's old jewelry in? 
   
What ideas do you have to make with faux capiz?

  


Take a little time to enjoy

and
Happy Crafting!

 


Monday, February 17, 2014

Ribbon Butterfly How-To



  I had the pleasure of attending my first ever sponsored crafting event and boy was it FUN as you can see by Jocie's (One Project Closer's The Better Half) expression.

Michaels featured the inspirations, supplies and classroom and Hometalk invited the hosting bloggers and followers. What a blast!  An enjoyable and creative time was had by all.

Those of us who attended were told to check out Michaels' pinterest-inspired displays, decide on a project, either duplicate or do your own thing, buy your supplies, and meet in the classroom to create our own pin-worthy projects under the guidance of an invited blogger.

Jocie, was our bubbly host at the Ellicott City Michaels.  And guess what, she's even cuter in person! She is so talented and her project, Wood Letters on Burlap Canvas was awesome! It really was amazing to see it up close and so inspirational.






Gail
*I had to add this photo Jocie took!

I had been so indecisive as to what I would make.  I ended up hauling a lot of unnecessary supplies to the party since Michaels supplied all the needed tools to work with.  Wow!  See what you missed!

In any event,  I ended up doing my own thing, hand painting (with the wooded end of a sponge brush) flowers on a burlap wrapped canvas, scripting the word SMILE in jute twine and making a butterfly out of rolled ribbon.  Very simple to do!  And, btw, done with purple paint and ribbon!


While I was making the butterfly, someone in the group said, and I quote, "I could never do something as complicated as that!"  Whoa, complicated?  I think not!  I never do complicated!



 The butterfly was  so easy to make!  Here's how:


To make the head, put a little dab of hot glue on the end of a twelve inch ribbon and start rolling to the end.


Dab a little glue on the end and close.


Do the same for the other three smaller 6inch strips.

To complete the body, connect all the rolls with a little glue dabbed where the ends are glued for a seamless look.
 For the wings, dab a little glue on the end and roll a couple of times.
From the end roll, three inches away, add a dab of glue and glue the end at that spot, making a loop.  


Put a dab of glue on the top of the glued portion and wrap the ribbon over the loop pressing where you applied the glue


 Your ribbon should look like this:

Put a dab of glue on the ribbon end and loop it over and down on the opposite end.


Now the ribbon (wing) should look like this:

Repeat for the other 12 inch ribbon strip.

Do the same for the 9 inch ribbon strips, only after you roll the end, dab glue at the two inches away mark from the end roll, and loop.

Once the two different size loops are made, glue them together where the ends are showing.



Next, dab a bit of glue onto the end of the wings and attach to the body.


The end of the wings fit perfectly into the groove of the body.




For the antennae, I used two long pins with round balls.  Just insert with a little glue on the ends.





Smaller or larger butterflies can be made using shorter or longer pieces of ribbon or by using different materials. Now that you know how to make them, the choice is yours.  So easy!





I loved attending this free craft time at Michaels and I saw so many inspiring ideas!  Thanks Hometalk, Michaels, Pinterest and most of all, Jocie, for making this happen!

Until next time,





Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

 

















Thursday, February 13, 2014

No Crust Cheesecake




I yearn to find a good store-bought no crust cheesecake, but in this area of Maryland that's hard to find.  In reality, cheesecakes are so much better when made at home.  I've been making this no crust cheesecake for over forty years and it's absolutely divine!   Rivals the best I've ever tasted!


1 lb small curd cottage cheese

2 8oz cream cheese softened

1 ½ c sugar

 4 eggs slightly beaten

2 tbs  lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

½ c butter melted

1/3 c corn starch

1 pint sour cream

Beat cottage cheese & cream cheese on high speed until well blended and creamy.  Blend in sugar, then eggs.  Reduce speed to low, add lemon juice, cornstarch and vanilla.  Beat until blended.  Add melted butter and sour cream.  Blend at low speed.  Pour into greased 9 inch springform pan.  Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1hr & 10 minutes (70 minutes)  Turn off oven and let cake stay in oven 2 hours.  Remove and cool completely.  Chill in refrigerator.  Remove sides of pan.  May be frozen.
 
 Don't stress over cracks - they have nothing to do with how wonderful this cake tastes.
 
Cheesecakes absolutely tastes best at room temperatures so after chilling let the cake stand 20-30 minutes before serving.


This no crust cheesecake is a creamy smooth dessert that melts in your mouth, and if you desire, add a bit of fruit on the side.  But I've found it to be DIVINE just as it is!




Is there anything more impressive than presenting a fresh, homemade cheesecake wrapped in a beautiful box with a big red bow to your sweetheart?  I think not!



Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Baking!
 
 
Gail