O U T A B O U T

DIY your tree

Quite late, I know, but these were some of my DIY ornaments for 2013. I had too many ideas so it's a'clutter--Harry Potter, Star Wars (not shown), named ornaments, sculpting, spraypaint--it was a little chaotic. I had one day off and I ran with all my crafting ideas... from 10am to 11pm. It was longer than a regular work day! Still, even after the mess I was left with I'm pretty happy with my new tree additions. At least now I know what crafting ideas to go with next time, and which ones to totally ditch.

I really liked these black ornaments! Michael's sells these clear ornament balls along with other shapes and sizes for about $5 and with the 40% Off coupons they're always throwing about, it was even more affordable. The spray on chalkboard is always fun to use, too, but I didn't have liquid chalk so I just used a white ink pen (so sue me!). I made these customized badboys for my aunts and cousins. A pretty neat, cheap and easy stocking stuffer. For sureee.

Now for my favorite part: the clay! I bought some Sculpey for my first time, and I just had to make a few owl friends since I was also making the Golden Snitches! Wizarding World themed ornaments? YES, PLEASE! -- I also purchased a little clay sculpting tool kit and once I got a hang of molding/sculpting, I was easily able to make three little owls & mini books! I used some jewelry wire as the string loop. The longest and most difficult part was the baking. Even if the owls were only about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in height, they seemed to take hours to bake--I assume because the were so dense. Anyway, once they finished, I simply used some acrylic paint for coloring and design. I should put some type of finish/gloss over it, but I don't have any at the moment. Regardless, I think it somehow turned out well!

Now I know I still need a lot of work, but it's a first time for all of these projects, so I pass the decency test. I expect to do better and greater things next year. As always, do big, or try again another time.

2/01/2014 02:03:00 PM
2 Comments

Thrift on, Gift on

crafts

Some of my friends and I held a last minute holiday get together and the rule for our White Elephant gifts was that each one must have an element of Do-It-Yourself! Time to hit up the thrift store (and Google)! I got this load, worth $6, with some kind of gift idea...

I sort of just winged the whole project as I went along. I decided to go with some homemade chalk notice boards by using the same Rustoleum spray-on blackboard as seen in my previous post. I picked out a small picture frame, an IKEA mirror with a red frame and a dated picture frame with some quaint engravings (which matched well for the overall look, tyvm). After cleaning the goodies, I sanded the mirror/glass just a bit in order for the spray to stick (and for better writing). Next? Spray away! Btw, if you choose do this craft, do not forget to be in a well ventilated area and always wear protection: face mask + goggles. That crap stinks & is just not good for you to breathe in -Captain Obvious.

Once I did that, I figured my gift would be based on vanity/table toppers, so along with the tabletop blackboard I decided to make catch all plates (you know, the ones you see going for $16-$20 at Anthropologie & UO?). I really liked the shape and design of these plates--it took me nearly 20 minutes of looking at the dish section at the thrift store btw--but I decided to go with the all-white look anyway. I used a high gloss white spray paint (Krylon) for both the bunny and plates. This bad boy worked wonders because the bunny figurine was very crude, rough to touch and to be perfectly honest, looked brittle as hell. Once I sprayed on the gloss, it looked just as good as any other ceramic figurine--bumped up from a mere $0.50 to possibly $8.00? Haha. Anyway, it worked as well as I needed it to.

Once everything was dry--a few hours, depending on your weather--I used superglue to attach the figurine to the plate. It is key that you use glue that is appropriate for your pieces. I've also found white dry seems to make it look more like a solid piece.

I wrote these notes for the gift receiver to do... but the recipient was my friend Chainus, who happens to be pregnant. That being said, the second item actually said "take a shot"--but y'know, everyone needs to take a shit, too, so it's all good. Ha!

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Now this isn't related to our GirlsOnlyHoliday, but I wanted to show off my gift wrapping work! A bit random, but I was practicing what I liked best. I may just stick to kraft paper, black & dark blue for everything! Me likey.