Thursday, October 30, 2014

Faux Lavender Seed Bead Flowers DIY




As promised in my post on wrapped rope on glass, here is an easy, and I mean EASY, tutorial on making cute little lavender seed bead flowers. 

You only need:
  •   Seed beads
  •   Green cloth stem wire (18 gauge)
  •   Hot glue
  •   Cool cup of water
  1. Coat the end of the cloth wire stem with hot glue.  It might get messy but don't worry. 
 * Safety alert: always keep a cup of cool water to douse your fingers in when working with hot glue.  This helps to prevent glue burns!

 2.  Rotate the stem around so the glue settles somewhat evenly.



3.  Dip the glue stem into a small cup of seed beads (I mixed two purple bead colors together to mimic the colors of the flowers on the napkins) and twirl around, coating the glue with beads.



4.  Remove the stem .  .  .  the beads and glue will be soft to shape and manipulate. *Remember the water!






You can add more glue if you want to make the flower larger or to cover any missed areas.




5.  The glue will remain soft for several seconds  .  .  .  to stop movement of the glue and beads, I quickly plunged the flower into a cup of cool water.  You can also put all of your fingers in cool water and touch the beaded flower to set the glue and beads and to stop movement until completely dry.  That's it!  So easy!


Simply Lovely!





Have fun making these!!!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!



 















Saturday, October 25, 2014

Wrapped Rope on Glass and Decoupaged Napkins




Yes, I'm still into decoupage and napkins.  I had one more technique, for now, that I wanted to try.  I had gotten containers on clearance sometime ago at Michaels that I just couldn't pass up.  They were eighty percent off and the tops in my favorite color  .  .  .  you know what that is, don't you!  Had no idea at the time what I would do with them. I only knew I had to sneak them in.  My hubby really doesn't mind what I buy  .  .  .  but he keeps saying whatever I bring in, I needed to get rid of something to avoid clutter.  Ha! Ha!  Silly man!  Anyway, I saw an adorable paper towel with matching colors of lavender flowers at Tuesday Morning last week and I knew immediately what I was going to make.


I started coiling clothesline rope I found in my garage on the bottom of the glass with hot glue every few turns .  .  .


going around and around  .  .  .


until I reached the area just below the top.


Next, I tore out the design on the napkin I wanted to use and applied mod podge to the cording.  At first, I laid the pattern on plastic wrap, applied mod podge and  tried to smooth it over the rope like I had done with my pumpkins.  I soon found out that this wouldn't work because when I went to remove the wrap, the napkin lifted too. OMG!  I panicked and quickly wiped everything off of the rope with a damp cloth. 




Plan B:  After sending a question to Patti who is an expert on decoupage, telling her what happened and with her quick response, I gathered up my nerves and started over, first tearing out another design,  applying mod podge to the area again, and gently laying the pattern over the mod podge.  This time I folded plastic wrap and gently pressed it all over the napkin.  And it worked!



The design on the napkin included a rope tied around the lavenders, so I tore another piece of napkin with the bow and mod podged  it over the first piece, matching lines.


And then I added a little design to the top.  Not so sure if I'm satisfied with this, but for now I'll let it stay on.





I like how the ridges of the rope show through on the napkin, giving it a
completely awesome look!


I made cute little lavender flowers using seed beads, hot glue and wire stem.


And placed them in one of the containers  .  .  .  so cute!

I'll do a "how to" on the flowers here!
Stay tuned!



Take a little time to enjoy


and


Happy Crafting!




Thursday, October 16, 2014

Decoupage Paper Napkins on Pumpkins Using Plastic Wrap


There are lots of how-to decoupage pumpkins on the net, but a few years ago I read about a technique using plastic wrap to help smooth out the wrinkles.  I couldn't find the article I remembered but there is a wonderful video that shows how this is done.  I've never had much luck in not having wrinkles when I attempt to decoupage.  So I think using plastic wrap is a great technique that I need to try.

I have paper towels in my guest bathroom that I wanted to preserve by doing some sort of decoupage.  I also wanted to show the class I teach in my community clubhouse how to decoupage pumpkins, so I'm killing two things I need to do with one craft.

Paper napkin patterns are very delicate once the white backing layers are removed.  Using plastic wrap helps with the adherence and is less messy than the usual technique of applying mod podge first, and smoothing out the material  with a brush.


Since I had a pattern with a white background I needed to paint my orange pumpkins white.  I used chalk paint for this and it didn't take long to dry.

 
It's always best to tear away the edges of the design so that the napkin will blend in with the background instead of having a straight edge from using scissors.  I thought wetting the edge and pulling it gently away would be better but I had to wait for it to dry first before moving onto the next step (which I was too impatient to do), so I used my fingernails to tear the edge away.

 
After removing all the layers from the pattern, I decided where I wanted the design to go on the pumpkin.  Next, I placed the pattern face down on the plastic wrap. Making sure the plastic wrap is overlapping the napkin all around. Then I applied a light layer of mod podge, not too thick, painting it from the center out, pass the edges.  Making sure all areas of the napkin are covered.   

 
Once covered with mod podge, I picked up the top corners of the wrap (with napkin) and placed it on the pumpkin, smoothing out the napkin (center to edge) on the pumpkin, removing any air bubbles or wrinkles. Once satisfied with the look, removed the plastic wrap and let dry.
 
 
Smoothing the plastic wrap with my fingers was so much easier for me and it felt really good.  I could feel the ridges of the pumpkin while smoothing the napkin out.




I added additional napkin pieces using the same technique.

 
Finally, I applied decoupage glue over all the napkin patterns to seal and let dry.

 
Having a larger stem on the pumpkins adds a bit of whimsy to the overall look.
 
So I took a small piece of dampen brown bag paper, twisted into shape with one end open to fit around the small stem, coated it with white glue and allowed to dry.


Hot glued the twisted paper stem to the small pumpkin stems.




Looks much better, don't you think!





 
I painted the stems with dark brown acrylic paint to blend in better on top. 

 The smaller pumpkin is from the Dollar Tree . . . you can tell by the crease in the middle I couldn't get rid of.




I will definitely be using plastic wrap when I decoupage again.  
This is truly a great idea!
 
 
Take a little time to enjoy
and
Happy Crafting!













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