Thursday, March 26, 2020

Thrift Store Canister Clay Embellishments




It's that time again for The Thrift Store Upcycle Challenge on the fourth   Thursday of each month! Here, a group of creative bloggers come together to share their lovely transformations of a thrift store item. Who doesn't love thrift store upcycle projects - whether it's actually creating one or admiring how an item from a thrift store was transformed!  

The Rules:

  • Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
  • There's no monthly theme.
  • There's no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts



Presently, the world is going through a health crisis and for those of us who are not on the front lines either providing healthcare or essential needs, we are sheltering at home and practicing social distancing. Crafting for me has always been a calming effect and healing pastime which I'm grateful for. 

 Luckily, I've collected a few items from the thrift stores well before this crisis.  One of them is this awesome canister I found at the Goodwill a couple of years ago for $4. What a bargain! Although I didn't have a clue what I would do with it other than to use it for storage. I loved the color - but not so much the painted-on flowers. Fortunately, I was able to sand them off. 


I've been playing with clay lately - something I didn't like doing as a child. I could never make anything decent with it. But now there seems to be some amazing things you can do with clay!  Like make flowers and even a decorative leaf dish! I've made clay flowers before - you can find the tutorial here. But these clay flowers are different in that I used fondant plunger cutters to make them. It's a great way to create embellishments and add dimension to items.

Here's how:

  • Knead a small piece of air dry clay until soft and pliable and place on a sheet of parchment paper.


  •  Next, use a rolling pin to flatten out the clay.


  •  Then use fondant cutters to make the flower. They are similar to cookie cutters except they have a built in plunger that pushes the clay out of the cutter. 




  • Next, apply E6000 glue to the underside of the flowers and sti them on the top of the canister to dry.





  •  Then glue a few more on to the front of the canister, too.


  • After drying, pain the flowers using  Plaid Metallic Plum Paint. 





  •  And for a cute effect, place a white dot in the center of the flowers after the plum paint has dried.


What a fun way to update a thrift store find!


And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

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Click here to enter

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Recycle/Upcycle Toilet Paper Into Beads


This is a re-post from quite a few years ago, as a result of the pandemic.  

Let's get personal and talk toilet paper! Some of you may have a whole lot of toilet paper on hand right now!  

This is probably one of the easiest and cheapest crafts ever!  I used a sheet of toilet paper, white glue, and water to form jewelry beads. Let dry and then use a nail or drill to make a hole, paint, nail polish and/or use utee to decorate! 

Here's how: 

Take a sheet of toilet paper (I used Charmin),


and cup it in the palm of your hand, squeeze some white glue in the center and crumble it together. 

Wet you fingers with a bit of water and dampen the toilet paper and glue, squashing and swirling it between your palms . . . .  around, and around,  shaping it into a ball.


Imagine making meat balls .  .   .
For larger beads, place the ball on another sheet of tp, add glue and dampen the tissue as before, and shape into a ball.  Keep adding additional sheets, glue and water for larger balls.



If it gets a bit sticky, add a little water to continue rolling.

Place on parchment paper after reaching desired size bead and let dry overnight or if you'll impatient, use a blow dryer or place in a 250 degree oven for a while, til dry.  You'll find it hard, hard, hard after completely drying!

Use a drill or nail to make holes in the beads.

 Now here's the fun part . . . decorating the tp beads!

You can color the beads anyway you like, but have you ever heard of nail polish marble dipped beads? This is how I colored mine:

Take a bead and put a skewer through the holes on the beads you made. Using a glass (the nail polish might make holes in a plastic cup) of water, put 4-6 drops of each color of nail polish you like. The polish will float to the top.


 Immediately dip the bead skewer into the floating polish and take it out quickly.


  The amazing result is a pretty marbled bead.
If you need more coverage, dip the bead again after adding more nail polish drops.  If you wait too long to dip, the polish will get filmy and harden while floating on the water. And you don't want this.

After dipping, you can take a skewer and scoop the left over scaly polish out of the water and use the water, again and again.  After marbleizing the beads, let them dry completely.



Isn't this another fun way to recycle or upcycle!
Oh, and you can try another decorating method, too, if you want!

To take your tp marbleizing bead to a whole new level of shine, try dunking it in some ultra thick embossing enamel or utee for a glassy or ceramic look! How cool is this!

Just place the bead on a skewer.  Then roll it across a clear embossing inkpad to dampen. Quickly roll the bead in utee.  When the bead is covered with powder, use a heat gun and roll the bead around so that the utee melts evenly.  While the melted utee is still hot, dip the bead back into the dry powder for a second or third coverage coat and melt again using the heating tool, making sure the utee coverage is even.




It doesn't take long for the utee to cool off and look amazing with all the colors flowing together. 
 String on a simple ribbon or cord and WOW! 
Perfect for making a garland of beads!
Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!
 Each bead is a unique organic looking creation.  Kinda wonky, I think! 
No two are the same!
 What a great way to use up all that toilet paper and costs just pennies to make!

Take a little time to enjoy 
and
Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Decoupage Egg and Stand

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

In case you're new to this blog, the purpose of the Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants (and you, too) to not just pin, but to make it happen! This month's challenge is about Spring Projects with a focus on Easter and Gardening, so I chose to do a project for Easter. 

I love decoupage and have always wanted to decoupage an egg - not just an egg but one that sits on a stand! There are lots of decoupage eggs but not very many with DIY stands. I did find a couple to inspire me to make my own - here and here.  And this is what I came up with:


Decoupage Egg and Stand

Materials Needed:

  • Paper Mache Egg 6" x 4.25"
  • FolkArt White Chalkpaint/brush
  • Silicone Mold (acanthus shape scroll for stand feet)
  • Cornstarch
  • Sculpey Air Dry Porcelain Clay
  • Parchment paper
  • 3" Display Ring Stand
  • RapidFuse Adhesive
  • Floral Napkins
  • Mod Podge
  • FolkArt Gloss Sealer


Let's begin with a paper mache egg .  .  .


and apply several coats of white chalkpaint to it and let dry.
While the paint is drying, coat the inside of the scroll mold with cornstarch to prevent the clay from sticking.
Next, press a small amount of porcelain air dry clay into the mold .  .  .

then, use a flat tool to scrape the excess clay from the edges.   

After smoothing out the clay in the mold, turn the mold upside down onto parchment paper and gently lift up the corner to release the scroll from the mold.

Then repeat the process to make three more scrolls to use as feet on the stand.
Next, coat the top edge of the plastic stand with RapidFuse adhesive .  .  .
and center egg on top to seal.
Then glue on the scroll feet around the base of the egg and stand using RapidFuse adhesive - a quick grab and clear drying glue.
To decoupage, cut out a floral pattern napkin flower and then separate the pattern from the plain ply papers.  Position the flowers on the egg and apply mod podge to smooth out wrinkles and adhere the flower patterns. Let dry. 
Add an additional layer of mod podge after the first layer is dry.
Once dry, seal egg with glossy varnish. And then admire how pretty it is!

TO JOIN NEXT MONTH’S #PINTERESTCHALLENGE, CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP ⇒ April Pinterest Challenge


For more Pinterest inspired projects from this month's Pinterest Challenge hosts, check out the links below ↓
Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop Image 
DIY Vibes  •  Mom Home Guide  

 
Now, let's see what the other hosts have created ⇓⇓

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter