Dollar Store Salt Shakers + Vintage Buttons = Button Flower Bouquets

It’s me again! I am on a crafting BINGE! I don’t know what’s gotten into me! Maybe because it’s been sunny and “Spring” feeling these last few days? I don’t know, but I’m going with it!

I have a fun “dollar store craft” for you! I made these cute little vintage button bouquets using Dollar Tree salt shakers (you can also find some at the thrift store for super cheap, like the ones here on the left) and some buttons and wire that I had on hand. So easy and a perfect Spring craft!

I also used twine for a bow accent, and shredded paper (also found at Dollar Tree) to stuff inside the shakers and help hold wire stems in place. I suggest using a pair of pliers that have a cutting edge on them, so you don’t jack up your scissors while cutting the wire.

To make the stems, you are going to twist the two sides of the wire together. Fold the wire piece over and cut it roughly the length you want the stem to be – keeping in mind it will be a tad shorter after twisting it together.

Layer your buttons to make fun, colorful little “flowers.” Slide the ends of the wire through your button flower and start twisting them together tightly, to create a sturdy stem. Cut off the excess wire.

Stuff a small amount of shredded paper down in the salt shaker to help hold the stems in place. You could use more buttons, beads, floral foam, or nothing at all…whatever you want!

Make as many flowers as you’d like! They are fun to make!

My first bouquet is a red and brown theme

And my second bouquet was a blue and black theme

I photographed them for Etsy but decided at the last-minute to bring them to the co-op. They are currently in my booth at The Carriage Place. I can’t wait to make more!

Last night I photographed a ton of new stuff I am putting in my Etsy store, and I wanted to let all my fellow crafters, that have booths or small shops, know that I am going to be selling these word blocks in groups of 6 at a wholesale price. I ordered way too many of them, so they’ll be in my shop this week at some point. They would be a great little item to resell, if you’re into country/prim decor like me!

  

I also wanted to share a few great thrift store finds from today! A great enamelware tin pan, an apothecary style jar (these sell like hot cakes in my booth!) some wooden plaques for future craft projects, vintage tin molds, and a small wooden platter with a glass cloche. I am going to paint the wooden base – probably black with a yellow prim star in the middle.

I was also sooooooooo excited to find some unique Scrabble tiles from a “Deluxe” edition of the game; 100 tiles for only $4! Best of all, they are maroon colored! I love that they are different from the regular Scrabble tiles, yet are a great color for country crafting!

And lastly, I had to share this find…..these brown kraft boxes were only $1 for a bag of 6!!! If you have an A.C. Moore’s, go grab some before they are discontinued!!! I was “that person” who depleted their inventory. Hehe. I am going to stamp them eventually. Love the variety of shapes!

That’s all for today! Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!!!

My First Attempt At Stamped Sculpey Clay Ornaments

Yay, the world didn’t end! That means we can keep crafting!

I’ve wanted to play with oven-bake clay for a while now so I picked up a package of Original Sculpey oven-bake clay at A.C. Moore’s the other day.  This stuff is great – it’s very easy to work with and only took me just a minute of kneading it for it to become very pliable. I can see why it’s good for kids crafts as well!

I decided to try stamping the clay. I broke out a bunch of random stamps including a set of small alphabet stamps. After some experimenting, I would recommend using stamps with heavy lines. The stamps with fine details didn’t work as well.

I see these small letter stamp sets in the $1 bins at all the craft stores! I’ve even seen them at Walmart. Scoop ‘em up when you see them, because they work AWESOME for this project! Helpful tip: write the letter / number on each side of the stamp so it’s easier to find the stamps you are looking for when they are strewn all over your craft area!

Since I do things the ghetto-fabulous way, I used different sized wine glasses / flutes as my ornament cutters. You could also use cookie cutters, which I did not think of until after the fact…duh!

(Disclaimer: I would not recommend doing using glasses that you plan to drink out of, because I don’t want to be responsible for getting you sick! Same with using knives and cookie sheets…technically you are supposed to keep your clay and food/cooking tools separate. Honestly, I just wash them really good and use them again like normal, and so far, I’ve lived!)

I rolled out the clay to approximately 1/4″, cut out the circles using my glasses, and then stamped them. There were many re-do’s and mistakes…I found some stamps worked well and some didn’t. You gotta just play around and see what looks best! I poked a small hole in the top of each pendant using a toothpick. I’ve seen others use a straw for a bigger hole.

Follow the Sculpey directions on the box to baking times. I baked mine at 275 °F for 15 minutes, and they came out great. After letting them cool completely, they were quite hard and durable.

And now for painting! Again – experimenting here. Upon tons of Googling, I found you should use water based acrylic craft paints, unless you are going to seal them first, which I didn’t want to bother with. I used the acrylic craft paints below, which happen to be super cheap too. I think these pains were $.50 each from the craft store if I remember correctly!

I tried a couple of different techniques with varying results. Technique #1 was painting over the stamp indents to get paint down in the creases, and then wiping off the surface with a DAMP paper towel.

Here are they results (below). They come out good if the stamp is deep enough. Otherwise, the paint easily wipes right out of the indented areas. See the middle of the bird cage on the left? I didn’t evenly press down the stamp, so some areas show up better with the paint than others. The key one came out pretty good!

Technique #2, which I really like, is to paint the whole surface and then wipe off the paint with a DRY paper towel. This leaves some paint on the surface, almost like a “stain”, while also leaving paint down in the grooves of the stamped design.

Here’s the result. I like this better, because the color on the surface kind of covers up any imperfections and adds to the “vintage” look.

Another way to do this would be just paint the surface with the desired color and then wipe, faced down, on the dry paper towel like this:

That seemed to work well in keeping the paint down in the grooves but leaving a nice over-all color stain on the surface. I also found you can do this, let it dry, and do this technique over again to get bolder colors! Here is the result of doing it twice:

Technique #3 was doing the 1st method (paint then wipe off with a damp paper towel) and then letting it dry…then doing a light “wash”, if you will, with another color. I started with black lines:

And then diluted some green (with a bit of water) and painted over it. I then wiped it with a dry paper towel to leave some green staining on the surface.

The result is the one in the picture below, on the bottom left. The same technique was used for the other two in this pic, but different colors. This is my fave I think! Love the two-tone look!

After they dried, I sealed them with the hard coat Mod Podge. It dried with a very subtle matte finish, and you couldn’t even tell it was there. The sparkle Mod Podge would be cool too, especially for Christmas ornaments, but I didn’t end up using it for this project.

Here are some close-up’s. I used thin jute twine I had lying around to hang them up. I think for a first try, they came out pretty neat!

My mind is spinning with ideas…these would be great as custom Christmas ornaments, tags for gifts, wedding favors, or just little ornies to hang around the house! Small ones for jewelry pendants, wine glass charms, or big ones as coasters! If only I had more time!

I found some other craft blogs with some variations on this project:

Clean, simple, white ornaments from Little Lovelies:

Or these fun, colorful little doodads from Neat and Tangled:

And some more great personalized Christmas ornies from Then She Made:

Hope you were able to get some ideas from my day of fooling around Sculpey and the links I have posted above! There is so much potential here! I can’t wait to work on some more and maybe create some ornies to sell in my Etsy store! Also coming soon to my Etsy: tons of awesome real antique skeleton keys, bulk rose hips, cinnamon sticks, and more! Stay tuned!!!

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!!!!!!! Cheers!

Easy Dollar Store Craft: Sharpie Decorated Christmas Ornaments

If you are on Pinterest, or frequently peruse craft blogs like I do, then I know you’ve seen some variation of this Sharpie project! Porcelain mugs, plates, bowls, and more…simply drawn on with Sharpies and baked for 30 minutes to make the designs permanent. Talk about easy and FUN! I love this idea – the possibilities are truly endless!

Though it’s not technically a dollar store, these porcelain ornaments were only $1.00 at A.C. Moore. I betcha you could find some similar at the Dollar Tree. If not, I know most dollar store have porcelain coffee mugs and plates that would work great too. You could also look around the thrift stores and score some cheap porcelain “canvases”!

I looked online at graphics and clip art and got some ideas on what I wanted to draw.  It’s hard to see in the picture below, but I did draw a rough outline of my design with a pencil before taking a Sharpie to it.

I love this little folk art snowman! I copied him from Chestnut Junction Graphics. I did purchase the graphic for use on other projects as well…he’s just too cute!

Helpful tip: While working on your designs, don’t fret if you make a mistake. A little rubbing alcohol will “erase” the Sharpie marker on the porcelain (before baking, that is). I used Q-tips as a way to touch up and re-do some areas.

Here are some of the designs I came up with for my ornaments! I free handed these but you could easily use a transfer method or a stamp as a base for your design if you’d like!

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to make the Sharpie designs permanent. After baking, they look exactly the same. They do not brown or fade!

I cut off the tacky gold string and replaced it with some ribbon and twine. You could use jute twine, baker’s twine, homespun fabric, ribbon, or wire to hang your ornaments. Go with whatever compliments your designs!

Awwwwww, love my lil’ snowman hanging on my lil’ country Christmas tree! What a great, cost-effective idea for Christmas gifts or party favors!

And I hung up the crow themed ornie on my crow shelf. I love crows…can ya tell?!?

And now for something even MORE fun than crafts…FREE craft supplies! I realized that since I started my blog I have never done a give-away! Shame on me! I have so many loyal readers and crafty friends that I thought I’d give away some fun stamps to say THANKS for reading my blog! Leave a comment on this post with your name and you could win one of these 3 stamps!

A large “script” stamp, which would be great for tags or scrapbooking…

A Victorian looking skeleton key

Or a set of 4 vintage “Ladies In Hats” stamps, as you may have seen on my little grubby tags! I have my own set of these pretty ladies!

I will use a random number generator to pick 3 numbers and match those numbers up with the list of comments. For example, if you’re the 3rd person to leave a comment, and one of the randomly generated numbers is “3″, then you’ll win one of the stamps! I will draw 3 numbers a week from today, which will be on Christmas Eve! I’ll email the winners and mail them out just in time to start off 2013 with some fun new craft projects!!! GOOD LUCK!

If you give the Sharpie Ornies a whirl, I’d LOVE to see pics! I’ll even post them here! Thanks! Happy Craftin’!

How to Make Your Own Stamped Gift Tags & An Impromptu Ghost Hunt…

Happy Fall!!! We just got home from week in Orange County, NY, for a Police K-9 Seminar that Greg was sponsoring, and boy was the weather and scenery spectacular! Upon getting home I realized there is just one month to go before my craft show and sooooo many things left I want to do…crap! I wanted to share some stamped gift tags I made because I think they have potential to be really great craft show sellers! I will also share some pictures from a little creepy detour I took in an abandoned hospital, where some of the K-9 training took place. More on that in a bit…

For these cute lil gift tags, I used a heavy stock brown kraft paper, which I got out of the scrapbooking section of the craft store. It was like  $.20 a sheet or something ridiculously awesome like that.

I cut the card stock into strips and used a small tag punch to punch out tons of tags. I got this at one of the craft stores (Michael’s I think?) for about $12, after using a coupon. It was originally around $20, but TOTALLY worth it since you can make an unlimited amount of tags!

I used a tiny hole punch to make the holes and some black string for the ties.

I made a TON more than are shown here…they are so versatile! For gifts, price tags, decoration, craft show sellers, or general crafting! You could use different thin ribbons and different colored inks / papers…there’s soooo much potential!

I decided to leave some blank and stamp some, both for my craft show. I chose this cute little gnome stamp which sorta passes for an elf for the holidays…

And of course, Santa!

 I packaged ‘em up, 4 to a bag. I am thinking $1 per bag. It’s a descent profit for me, but a great deal for customers too. What do you think?

And now, for the ghost hunt you’ve anxiously been waiting to hear about! Forget this crafty crap, now THIS is COOL!!! I thought my fellow blogger Eva Halloween over at The Year of Halloween would particularly enjoy this, as she shares my affinity for the dark side! It all started when I heard we were going to an abandoned hospital for an afternoon of dog training…

And it didn’t take long for the stories and rumors to start, about how the place is haunted and all of the weird “encounters” the officers have had while training there. Naturally, I decided to take a detour down to the morgue and snap some photos in hopes of catching some otherworldly friends on camera. I didn’t capture anything in my photos, but I did HEAR something. A cart rolling down a hallway to be exact. With no one else on that floor. Hmm…

Let’s take the tour, shall we? Not to the basement, but down to the SUB-basement we go! For those of you who are less fond of the mortuary sciences, I apologize for the morbidity of the photos to come.

Turning the corner  heading towards the morgue was this lone, randomly placed chair. I so badly wanted there to see a figure sitting in it upon examining my photos. No luck.

The freezer where the deceased were stored until they could be put to rest.

And a lovely vintage incubator that looks more like a giant toaster oven to me. Same principle I guess?

And the much-anticipated morgue. All of my photos were devoid of any orbs or ghostly encounters like I had hoped. Still very interesting to see the table and tools so up close and personal.

A little foam neck holder to help position the body. Looks comfy, eh?

And what exactly were they slicing and dicing so hard that they left knife marks and scratches on the metal table? Guess we’ll never know…

The tools…just left there one day and never touched again.

Look at the size of that knife!

I never knew the liver weighed so much!

A nearby laundry room…

And some peculiar art work on the walls of a children’s operating room. I’m not sure a giant, blood-red octopus is really the most “calming” imagery they could have chosen…

And I will leave you with one last image of the deserted hospital memorial room. This place left me so intrigued and grateful for the opportunity to explore! Sweet dreams my friends!

The Easiest, Coolest Project Ever: Stamped Paper Mache Gift / Trinket Boxes

Sorry for the blogging hiatus! There’s been so much going on and I have been not been in the crafting mood lately. Now that the sun is starting to shine more and Spring is here, I am getting that itch again. Barn sale season is upon us! In the mean time, here is an easy little project that I was experimenting with, and REALLY like the results!

You may remember these little snowman boxes that I did for my winter craft show:

Well, I decided to play around with stamping some of the brown paper mache boxes that were found in the same area as the white ones above.

I got all my supplies ready to go…

And I quickly found out that larger stamps work better for this project, and I’ll show you why!!!

I tried stamping on the tops like you normally would, pressing the stamp down on top of the surface. The paper mache boxes aren’t perfectly flat on the top – they are warped, have raised edges, etc. Every time I stamped them, parts of the image would be missing, like this:

So, I found out that it worked much better to lay the stamps down on their backs, and press the paper mache surface onto the stamp. That way you can press down all the way around and ensure an evenly stamped image. Hence, the larger stamps work better!

Here are some of my favorites:

I think they would be a good Christmas craft show seller, maybe $1 a piece, to use as small gift boxes.  I’m gonna make more because they were just plain easy and fun to make. I’ll let you know how they do!

I categorized these as a “dollar store craft” because the paper mache boxes, at $2.50 per 6 pack amount to around $.41 cents a piece. That’s not including the half off coupons that you can always find online for the major craft stores. Also, I have had a lot of luck finding really cool stamps for $1.00, like these ones from Michaels:

So have at it! Send me a pic if you give them a try! In other news, I HAD to share with you the “find” of a lifetime…this  35 drawer catalog/apothecary unit…for FREE…on the side of the road!!! That just doesn’t happen! I about died!!!

Every drawer was there, with this AMAZING original hardware…

I was all gung-ho to sell it in my booth but upon cleaning it up, I decided to keep it. After a little soap and water, voila! Isn’t she a beaut? The bottom right have drawer is there, it’s just darker than the rest. It gives it character.

Well, hopefully I can get my butt up and moving with some craft projects and find some inspiration in this beautiful sunny, Spring weather. Hope everyone had a great weekend! BBS!

Making Your Own Pencil Eraser Stamps

I was recently “commissioned” to do a little project for a friend who attends an annual Briard Dog Show and makes up the goodie bags for the attendees. Inspired by some of my handmade Christmas magnets, she gave me this image as a guide and said she would like some magnets made up with this paw print. It’s a normal paw print except for the two little paws on the bottom corner, also known as the “dew claws”.

I immediately thought of the custom made stamps I recently saw on Pinterest and thought I could make my own dew claw stamp to add on to a normal paw print stamp. You may have seen this on Pinterest:

So I bought this small paw stamp from Michaels…

And used a pencil eraser to make my own dew claw stamp. I drew a small oval to guide me when cutting it out with an exacto knife.

It was a little rough around the edges…

So I used a nail file to smooth out the edges. I then stamped it and filed it until it was the perfect oval shape!

Here is the completed paw print stamp! Not too shabby!

Paco gave it his doggie “stamp” of approval! (ridiculous pun intended)

I picked up a variety of colored ink pads to stamp with.

So far I have teal, black, and a magenta color. All I have to do is about 200 more, glue on the magnets and I am good to go! Let the mass production commence!

I wanted to share this because it was so easy carving that little paw out of the eraser…and you could take this project in so many directions! You could carve a small heart, circles, or any simple shape. A square to create a checker board effect…the possibilities are endless! Pencils and large pink erasers could be picked up at the Dollar Store, making it a CHEAP craft as well! Here are some other very cool ideas (linked up to their original tutorials)!

Even MARTHA has done it! Love these handmade cards!

Have you made your own stamp? Are you gonna try? If so, send me a pic and I will post it here! Have a great weekend!!!

A Shutter Shelf and Stamped Wooden Tags

So on Wednesday night I did a massive overhaul on my booth and moved it all around to “freshen it up” and add some new stuff. Nothing worse than a booth that has the same crap and never ever changes! I decided I wanted another shelf for display, so I created a shelf using one of my wooden shutters and some funky brackets I found at Hobby Lobby. Using some drywall screws, and the help of a few of my co-op buddies,  I now have an awesome new shelf that fits my decor perfectly! Not to mention a RECYCLED shelf….I am all about going “GREEN” lately!

These cast iron brackets were only $3 a piece! Score!

Here it is after I loaded it up with STUFF! That bunny in the front is a thrift store find from the other day. Isn’t he cute?? I added the homespun ties around his neck and his carrot, just to jazz him up a bit.

This other project last night was on a total whim and had surprisingly good results! I have had these wooden tags in my stock of supplies for at least a year. I thought, wonder if I can stamp these…?

But first, I had to distress them a bit and make them look not-so-brand-spankin-new. I was going to break out the Minwax stain but I decided to try using some basic craft paint which was sitting right in front of me. The wood seemed soft and like it would absorb this thin paint well, and I was right!!!

I used this cheapy paint from Wally world or somewhere. Because it’s cheap, it’s THIN, which actually worked really well for this.

I used an old cotton shirt to rub it on and then wipe of the excess.

After they dried a bit (I waited about 10 mins) I stamped them with regular rubber stamps and black ink. I went with a skeleton key theme!

Aren’t they cool? Not bad for a totally random, “on-a-whim” project! Just fun little decorative tags to hang where ever! They could be neat gift tags too I suppose. What else could you do with them? So many different ways you could take this project.

Now that I know you can easily stamp on wood…hmmm…the wheels are spinning! So many ideas! Ahhh!

If you give these a try, send me a pic! I love to see others’ ideas and variations on this project! Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Craftin’!

 

A Few Last-Minute Projects!

Wow! Only 3 days until my craft show up in the North Country! I have been working my @$$ off getting things ready and finishing up some last-minute projects, including using up some of the excess supplies I have had lying around. Remember those “vintage” style keys I found at Michael’s? I decided to make more decorative tags with them, since they have been selling well at the co-op. Whatever doesn’t sell at the craft show goes right back to the booth!

I also found some smaller keys with words on them in the scrapbooking section and thought they’d be super cute on the tags.

Another fun little project are these “Santa’s Key” signs. I had all these square red pieces of wood, that were left overs from “The Stockings Were Hung” signs. I didn’t want to throw them out, so I glued on some left over knobs (using E6000) and wrote Santa’s Key with a silver paint pen! I’ve seen this idea using hang tags with a key attached, but I thought a little wooden sign might be fun hanging next to the door!

You may have seen my little snowman clothespins, but I decided to change it up a little and try some gingerbread men. These have been sitting in a pile on my craft table for months because I didn’t like the way they were coming out. I finally figured out a simple face and I think they ended up being sort cute. I still like the snowmen better.

A last-minute trip to the thrift store turned up some cool folk-artish Santa’s! The one on the left had green and blue crayon marks all over it which were easily cleaned off with a scrubby. The one on the right had a little chip out of the center (the little white spot in the middle of the red robe) which was quite noticeable in person. I mixed up some paint to match the red robe and touched it up. Good as new!

I also found a few little vintage kitties, a cute little choir boy, another fun Santa, and this little wooden box. Just a few fun knick-knacks.

My favorite find was this wooden type set tray. Not sure if it’s a real old one or not but it’s still cool! I’ve always wanted one of these!

Guess that’s it for now…and I probably won’t be back til after the show. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Wish me luck!

“The Stockings Were Hung” Signs

So…my basement is an absolute disaster getting ready for my craft show next weekend! Every where you turn, it kinda looks like this…Christmas CHAOS!

And it continues to be a homespun candy cane sweat shop…

Anyway, this year I attempted some signs that were at the request of my friend Christine. I think they a are great idea for those of us who don’t have mantles to hang our stockings on! They came out very cute, but it was a total experiment. There are some things I’ll probably do different if I make them again next year.

So I started by purchasing these pieces of wood at Lowes. You could use any scrap wood you have lying around too. I spray painted them red and brown, but in the future I’d like to do a hunter green or a light green I think. I lightly sanded the surface and the edges. I used foam stamps for the letters. I find it’s easier and way faster to stamp them in bulk. Stamp the first letter on all your boards, then the second letter on all the boards, and so on.

After the stamping was done, I (Greg) trimmed the excess edge off. He drilled some holes for me, slightly larger than the width of the knob screws I was going to use.

Before doing the knobs, I wanted to do a few things while the board was still flat! I used a gel stain (Deco Art) to give it a bit of an aged look. It’s a subtle difference in the picture but is more noticeable in person.

Next I used these “push in” picture hangers (Lowes) because they’re easy to work with.

I used this metal punch to make sure the edges were all the down way in. Line it up with the edges and hammer them flat!

My favorite part…the KNOBS! I LOVE these knobs from Hobby Lobby! I always wait til they are 50% off (which is often) and buy them in bulk for projects. I had fun picking out the color combos for these signs! Anyway, I lined them up with the width of the board to see where to trim them, so that the sign will lay flush against the wall. I used a white paint pen to mark where they needed to be cut.

I had to buy a bolt cutter for this project ($14 at Lowes) but it’s a GREAT tool and I know that I’ll use it again. Totally worth investing in it.

It cut the knob screws with virtually NO effort! SO AWESOME! Forget hours of sawing with a hack saw!!!

I covered the knob screws with E-6000 (super-duper strong glue) and pushed them down into the pre-drilled holes.

And then waited oh so impatiently while they dried…

I am wondering if I should put a “…” after the work hung, like I have seen on some other similar signs online? Either way, I love them!!!

Some things I’d do differently are add more knobs and space the knobs farther apart. I’d also not do the brown, but maybe a light olive green or a dark hunter green. I was originally thinking that I wanted to do something neutral incase red didn’t fit someones color scheme, but I guess it doesn’t really matter around Christmas…cause everything is red and green! Maybe a blue & white one? Oh the decisions!!!

I am SOOOOOO excited for my craft show, mainly because I get to spend a weekend with my best friend. It’s always so much fun! Have a great weekend all you crafty super stars!

Stamped Tea-Stained Tags

This was my first attempt at these tags and I am SO happy with the results! I have been looking for metal rimmed tags for the longest time, and believe it or not, they are REALLY hard to find! I found some at a 5 & dime store back home and cleaned them out! How awesome would these be as small gift tags, around a wine bottle neck, or for use when scrapbooking?! Here’s the “how-to” should you want to try them!

Here they are before their tea bath…

I made a very strong tea mixture of at least 10 tea bags to this small bowl of water. I have been leaning towards tea staining more and more because using coffee can leave a strong, sorta unpleasant smell on the paper. Using tea, there is no weird smell.

I let them soak briefly (too long will make the paper separate from the metal rim) and then put in the oven to bake & dry  for about 10-15 mins at 200 degrees.

They weren’t getting dark enough for my liking, so I decided to put on the broiler to really brown them. It worked great, except I left them in a little too long…

Seriously, be careful and watch them VERY CLOSELY if you are going to use the broiler! I woke Greg up out of a sound sleep with the smell of smoke…he came whipping down the stairs to see if the house was on fire! Whoops! Most of them came out great though, and were perfectly “grubby!”

I found this set of 4 small vintage lady stamps at AC Moore. I brought a tag with me to make sure they would fit inside the metal rim. I was so happy to find these! I adore their little hats and accessories!

I also found these fun little holiday stamps that were also the perfect size! Great for small Christmas gift tags!

Love how these look!!!

I tied on thin black or brown jute for the ties, found at Walmart in the jewelry-making section.

Bagged them up for my craft show…but I want to make some kind of label for the little baggies. Haven’t gotten that far yet!

Hmm…what else could you do with these? Use around wine stems as drink identifiers? Use for crafty accents? Decorate a small Christmas tree? What else???

Guess that’s it for today. I want to take some updated pix of my booth at The Carriage Place to show you all the fun holiday stuff I put out. Soon, I promise! I also have some very cool thrift store finds from the last few weeks. AHH! So much to do, so little time!!! Hope everyone has a great afternoon!

Mini Country Jar Candles

I said I wasn’t going to do the jar candles again this year but I just can’t resist the Fall scents! Pumpkin Spice, Vanilla Spice, Mulled Cider, and a new one this year: Pecan Pie! I got these at Wally World, and I think they are an awesome deal. Only $1 a piece, and the scents are very fragrant and long-lasting. Also, the labels peel right off, so they’re great for crafting!

Really, why bother trying to pour your own when you can get these for $1!

Instead of making labels this year, I decided to do something EASY and not as costly, or time-consuming. I simply wrapped the jars with a wide piece of homespun fabric, wrapped with a piece of jute, and finished with a rusty star, heart, or little salt-box house. All secured with the hot glue gun. The pictures aren’t great, because I took them with my phone. Sorry. SOMEONE went to a dog training seminar and took ALL the good cameras in the house!

Originally I was done at this point, but I wanted to do something to indicate the scent. I decided to make little tags to tie around the necks of the jars. I cut down the normal size tags to make “mini grubby tags.” I stamped them with my mini alphabet stamps to spell out the scents – some of which I changed. I didn’t like “vanilla spice” so I changed it to “spice cake.” These mini alphabet stamps can be found at the craft store OR Walmart for $1 too!

Tip: I find it’s easiest to stamp multiple tags at once. Stamp the “p” on all 3, then the “u” on all 3, and so on. It’s so much quicker stamping out one whole tag when you are fumbling around with tiny stamps like this.

I don’t stress if they aren’t perfect…that just means they are one of a kind and have a little home-made charm!

I used to print out labels on brown craft stickers and just tie a piece of fabric around the neck. The labels were a pain in the @$$ to get just right, not to mention those stickers aren’t cheap or easily accessible. Cute, but just not efficient for me.

I really hope people think my new candles are as cute as I do. Guess we’ll find out very soon! If they do sell well, maybe I’ll make a bunch for the craft show in Dec.!

In other news, here are some cool thrift store finds from last week, starting with this very cool, retro scale! I am getting quite a nice collection of old scales and can’t wait to display them together.

Grapevine heart wreaths…for a buck? Heck yeah!

Two country-style boxes, both in great shape!

A round pink jar with a wire frog lid

An itty-bitty rug beater…at least I think that’s what it is! It’s so stink in’ cute!

And lastly, this cool wood pharmacy sign. Not sure if it’s a repro or not but I love the graphics and lettering.

Well that’s all for now! Has anyone else been working on any Fall crafts yet? Or am I the only one who wants Fall to hurry up and get here?! Have a fabulous weekend and BBS!

Making Country Signs Using Foam Stamps

Sorry it’s been so long! I have lots of projects to share, but they are all half-finished and/or not photographed! D’OH!

Anyway, I decided to share a “how-to” on my country signs since a few people have asked me how I make them. I recently made this sign for a lady at the co-op and decided to show you a step-by-step of the process.

Finding pre-weathered or barn wood is ideal. Since I can never find it, I just buy these pre-cut boards at Lowe’s. Use whatever kind of wood you’d like! Paint the board the base color you’d like and sand down to your liking.

For the letters, I use this heavy body acrylic paint. It’s wicked expensive but a little goes a long way, and I use it for tons of projects. It works great on the signs! Use a basic sponge for applying the letters.

Foam stamps usually come like this. Don’t try to tear them down the perforated edges- I have ruined stamps this way. Cut them!

Lightly moisten the sponge. Ring out all excess water…you don’t want it wet; just “pliable.” Dab in your paint and tap off the excess.

Carefully dab the foam letter surface with the sponge. This process goes quickly. You have to do it this way or else way too much paint gets on the stamps. Dipping the stamps directly into the paint will result in waaaay too much paint on the stamp surface, and squish out the edges when you press on it. Trust me!

Line up the edges of the letters with your other letters by looking down the side of the stamp and eyeball it. I don’t lay it out ahead of time…though I probably should! If you mess up, quickly use a damp paper towel to wipe off the letter that you messed up. It comes right off if you do it quickly, so you can re-do/re-position that letter and try again! *Note- that only works with smooth wood that’s been spray painted like the one shown here…it probably would not wipe off of an uneven surface easily, so just be careful!*

Press down evenly, and pull directly up, so as not to smear it!

Once done stamping, I like to immediately wash my stamps off in the sink to get the paint off before it dries. Use running water and just rub/wipe the paint off and lay on a towel to dry.

Once the sign is dry, use a gel stain or regular stain to “distress.” I use the gel stains because they are not as messy and sticky to deal with. Wipe off the excess with an old rag. Sand more if you’d like. Make it as old and distressed looking as you’d like!

The imperfections are what make these signs great, and one-of-a-kind!

The other one I made for her…

Here are some other signs I have made using foam stamps.

Well that’s it for now. I hope this tutorial was helpful! As always, I’d love to see pix if you try to make these! Signs are fun and make great gifts…give it a whirl!!!

 

 

Stamping Hang Tags, Skeleton Keys, and Possibly A PERMANENT BOOTH?!?!

Yes, I think I am about to take a plunge into the world of craft co-ops! It’s not 100% yet but I have spoken to the owner of this wonderful craft/antique co-op called Liberty Hollow, and am looking at a few booth options. I will most likely start small and if things work out, I’ll move into a larger booth!

THIS IS SO EXCITING! It’s been consuming my mind lately!!! Also, Liberty Hollow has a…how do I put this…”sub-par” website lacking a lot of basic information and design so I offered to re-do the website in exchange for a few bucks off my monthly booth fee, which the owner seemed very interested in.  I hope it works out; this place is right up my alley! It’s one of my favorite places to shop, and I know the place like the back of my hand! I’ll keep ya’ll posted!

In the mean time, I have acquired some really great new rubber stamps that I picked out especially for stamping my grubby hang tags. The first is a lovely little bird cage…these seem like they’d be great for Valentine’s Day!

I realllllly love these ones….skeleton keys, of course! They are my new obsession lately…not sure why!

I love the flower with the script behind it. It’s so….romantic.

And lastly is my favorite, a Victorian style woman writing at her desk…

I plan on grouping them together and selling them for crafts, scrapbooking, gift wrapping, or whatever your primitive little heart desires! I recently saw unstamped grubby hang tags in a catalog selling 5 for $5….gimme a break! I am thinking more like 5 for $1!

I attached a (reproduction) skeleton key to the tag for interest.

It was inspired by the pic below from Confessions of a Plate Addict. I am certain they are the same keys from Hobby Lobby!

I could make these all day! Not sure what to do with them though…they’re just so PRETTY. Hang up or use as bowl fillers perhaps? Do you like the homespun (below) or the ribbon (above) better? I usually prefer homespun for all projects, but I might be leaning towards the ribbon for these.

And the left overs became funky hanging ornaments!

The other project I worked on over the weekend was replenishing my stock of country tea lights. The little plastic flames are wrapped with masking tape to avoid getting the texture paste on them.

I textured a few of these little rusty stars to make small star ornaments. I love them as plain ol’ rusty stars, but couldn’t help experimenting here. Cute and simple stars never fail!

Well, I got my crafting fix…for now! The possibility of a real booth has motivated me. I am overwhelmed with ideas and to-do lists!!!

Have a great week everyone!