Friday, September 29, 2017

Rockin Ghosts Rocks

I recently came into some rocks (I get stuff all the time) that were already painted white and oh, so smooth!  Not many to make anything with - just a little over a dozen. 

Rock painting is quite trendy right now and everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon with their artistic creations.  But unfortunately, I am in no way an artist - I can barely draw stick people.  And no matter how many tutorials there are to show me how to draw and paint something beautiful and unique, I can't get it! It's just not in me.

But looking at the rocks and their shape -  reminded me of tiny little ghosts, staring back at me.  Wondering????

So I got out my black acrylic paint, a few skewer sticks and set out to have fun making ghosts faces.  No paint brush required! Using the flat end of a skewer stick, I painted on the eyes. And with the pointed end came the mouths and a few other dots and curves.  Easy peasy, and so much fun!


And then, lining the rocks up and gluing in place  .  .  . 

I created my very own group of rockin Ghosts Rocks!

What fun, and oh, so whimsy! 
  Rockin this Halloween!


Thanks for stopping by
and take a little time to enjoy,
Happy Crafting!

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Cruise Dress Scuptures




I really didn't post about the cruise I recently took with hubby during the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.   The cruise was shorten by three days because the ship, The Allure of the Seas, stayed out of harms way in the ocean for three extra days for the safety of the passengers that were already on board. Our itinerary was also changed to a destination we had been to many times before - Nassau.  We enjoy cruising and try to take advantage of any opportunity to cruise that comes our way.   But I must say, those four days were very relaxing and the ship, and everything about it, became the nicest cruise we have ever been on. The Allure of the Seas can hold six thousand passengers, but there were only a little less than two thousand on board with more crew members than passengers for this cruise. It was as if we were the only ones there at times. What luck!

I won't bore you with pictures of our adventure, but as a craft blogger I do want to share with you this extraordinary artwork that was on the ship. Nestled in the aft glass elevator shaft starting on the lower deck level and expanding up to the seventeenth deck where our loft suite was located were 34 floating dress sculpture forms of paper-wrapped wire and crystal beadwork.


Absolutely amazing and very impressive! 


The artwork, titled "Dreams of Utopia," belongs to a Korean artist by the name of Keysook Geum, a very creative and talented lady, indeed!


I think if I could knit or crochet, I would try to create something like this!
Ha!  That's wishful thinking!

Our next cruise is already booked for the original destinations. Here's hoping for another inspiring adventure!


Thanks for stopping by
and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Pumpkin Head Wire Dolls DIY


Don't you just love making cute Halloween decorations! Here's a easy to follow but rather lengthy tutorial for making pumpkin head wire dolls! These handcrafted dolls are such a fun craft for anyone to make! You can dress them up in so many ways using colorful and adorable fall flowers and leaves!  And the best part, most of the materials used are $1 or less!
  • Small Pumpkins
  • Floral Wire 
  • Embroidery Thread
  • Faux Fall Leaves
  • Faux Fluffy Flowers
  • Ice Pick or Sharp Pointed End                                       
  • Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Skewer Sticks
  • Wire Cutters/Scissors
Begin by inserting an ice pick or sharp pointed end into the bottom of a small pumpkin (which will be the head) about halve way up.
Next,  cut a 24" piece of floral wire (Dollar Tree) for the taller doll and fold in half. The smaller doll was made with an 18" piece of floral wire. Next, place a dab of glue on the folded end and insert up into the base of pumpkin. Let dry.

Next, twist the wire a couple of times, creating the neck. To make the arms,  take one of the wires, stretching it horizontally and measure 1 1/2"  from neck, folding the wire towards the neck, wrap around the vertical wire and down.

*I painted on the eyes by dipping the flat end of a skewer stick in black paint and dabbing it onto the pumpkin. Next, I dipped the pointed end of the stick into the paint and made triangles on top of the circles, blending them in. I also used the pointed end of the stick to add the mouth. And after drying, I added white dots on the eyes by also using the pointed end of the stick.


 For the left arm, stretch the wire out horizontally, measure again 1 1/2" and fold back towards neck and wrap over the first arm and down.  

Next, to create the torso, grab the two long ends and twist together four or five times, measuring 3/4 of an inch and be sure to match up the length of the legs, cutting off any excess wire.



 To wrap the doll,  Place a dab of hot glue on the middle of the torso and lay the end of the embroidery thread on top, and begin wrapping the thread around the torso a few times and up towards the arm .  .  .


 and begin wrapping the arm as evenly and neatly as possible. If the wrapping becomes open and uneven, just push back the threads together.


When reaching the end of the arm, place a small dab of glue on the end and wrap the thread around several times and back towards the torso.

 After wrapping the arm back and reaching the torso, wrap around the torso a few times and then begin wrapping around the other arm, the same, as before,



 dabbing hot glue on the end, wrapping around end a few times and then wrapping back towards the torso, wrapping around it a few times, up towards the neck. Then wrap around the neck towards the base of the pumpkin head, wrapping evenly as you go up, then wrap back down to the arms .  .  .
 there, wrap a few times diagonal across the shoulders, one side at a time, criss-crossing, creating an X around the shoulders and arms. 
Continue to wrap down towards the leg and end, applying hot glue and wrapping several times and back up to the other leg, wrapping around bottom torso before starting on the leg.




 Once back up to the torso, wrap several times, filling in any open spots, then place a dab of glue on center of torso, wrapping thread around several times to seal and cutting off excess thread.


 To make a cover dress suit, add a dab of glue on torso and place a coordinating color thread on top. 
Begin wrapping torso, up to underneath the arms, wrapping each side, creating an X around the shoulders, back up to form the top of the suit and wrapping down and around the torso and then each leg and back to the torso for the bottom portion. Finish with a dab of glue on torso and wrapping thread around to seal and complete the look. 


To dress the dolls:


1.  Take a bunch of fluffy flowers .  .  .
2.  And separate the layers of the flower.
3.  Line up the layers into sizes from large to small.
4.  Beginning with the smallest flower layer, fold in half, and make very small slits in a + pattern to widen opening.
5.  Make tiny slits on all the layers - from small to large to pull on to the wire dolls, layering by sizes for a fluffy look!

 And finally, adding the smallest layer to the pumpkin top for an adorable hat!


               

For the larger wire doll, I glued on leaves to the front and back, and added the plastic flower sepal from the bunch for the hat.

What cute little pumpkin head boy and girl wire dolls!



Thanks for stopping by
and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Halloween Crafting!

Monday, September 11, 2017

Dollar Store Fall Leaf Handcrafted Pumpkin

Welcome! 
It's that time again for our Monthly Challenge Blog Hop!
I've joined a group of creative bloggers to bring you a monthly challenge blog hop. On the 2nd Monday of each month we share our themed creations for the month, be it Upcycling, Family Recipes or Dollar Store Crafts.  This month, it's Dollar Store Crafts, new or old and it's one of my favorites! Who doesn't love creating dollar store crafts???  

It's amazing what can be created with items from the dollar store!  For this month's theme, I created a handcrafted leaf covered pumpkin out of items from the dollar store that included punch balloons, faux fall leaves, brown craft paper and even mod podge. 
While looking around the store for ideas, I didn't realize the dollar store carried punch balloons until I saw them near the regular balloons. Yes, 3 for $1.They're so much larger and stronger than regular balloons and very easy to blow up! But did you know they make great faux pumpkins, too!!!!  Here's how:
Gather the following -
  • punch ball
  • twine
  • newspaper
  • mod podge
  • foam brush
  • brown craft paper
  • hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • stem wire
  • acrylic paint or stain
To make the pumpkin, after blowing up a punch balloon to around 12 inches, knot and push the blow up end into the balloon to grab the opposite end, pulling it up and tying both ends together with twine into a .  .  .
pumpkin shape. 
This might be a bit tricky to do for some, but keep trying until you've pulled the balloon together and tied it off. I've done it before here, when I made a paper mache vase.
Then take four strips of twine - more than enough to cover the entire balloon and wrapped each one evenly spaced around the balloon, tying and knotting as tightly as you can to make grooves similar to a pumpkin. Knot all the twine ends together at the top and cut off excess. 
Next, paper mache (just like you did as a kid, except we're using mod podge instead of homemade flour, salt and water glue) the balloon by tearing small strips of newspapers and applying mod podge using a sponge brush over the entire balloon. Apply four or more layers of newspapers for strength, allowing each layer to dry before adding the next. Be sure to paper mache over the twine, and to rub between the grooves, too!
Once dry, paint the pumpkin in a color to match the leaves. I didn't care that the print from the newspaper showed through since I was covering it with leaves, but painting on a primer first would have covered the print, if you prefer. 

Next, turn the pumpkin upside down (it's so much easier to glue on the leaves this way) to begin hot gluing the leaves on, one row around at a time. I just added a dab of hot glue to the center of the back of the leaves for a fluffy look. Start each new row by overlapping above and between the previous  leaves. 
Continue adding leaves, row by row until the pumpkin is completely covered. 
To make the pumpkin stem, crumple small pieces (the length you want) of dampen brown craft paper together and then smooth them out.  You can also use a brown paper bag to make this.  Lay a shorten stem wire on top and roll up the paper - adding more to thicken the stem.
Twist and bend the stem into shape with one end wider as the base. Add mod podge to the twisted paper and any open areas to seal and allow to dry. 

Place the wider stem base on top of a piece of brown paper and draw around the base for a cover pattern. Cut out and glue on cover to the stem base.   Paint stem and let dry. 
And finally, hot glue the twisted paper stem to the center top of the leafy pumpkin and Ta Da!
What a beauty!
So adorable!!!
This is such a great and inexpensive way to make your own decorative pumpkins for just a few dollars!!!!  Have you noticed how much the larger faux pumpkins are? Even with a discount? So, why not make your own!

Be sure to visit all of the ladies' blogs for their awesome Dollar Store Crafts:

And don't forget to come back next month for our Upcycle Challenge using clothing!  What a fabulous challenge that will be!
Thanks for stopping by, and
Happy Fall Crafting!