Spring Basket/Easter Basket Craft

In honor of March being National Craft Month, I have a craft to share!

I have a thing for glitter.  I love it.  You might have guessed that from the numerous craft posts that I've done with glitter as a main "ingredient".  I think that glitter makes everything better and more beautiful.  Have an old pair of shoes that just don't look good?  Put glitter on them!  Suddenly you're Dorothy and have just landed in Oz.  Did you get an F on your most recent school assignment?  Cover it with glitter and stick it proudly on the fridge!  Everyone will be so impressed.

My hubby, however, does not like glitter.  Whenever he sees my glitter box or glitter containers out, a look of fear washes over his face, and the utterance of "oh, no" may escape from his lips.  He knows that when I get the glitter out, he will find it EVERYWHERE.  Despite my best attempts to contain the bio-hazardous material, he will eventually find a fleck or two smack-dab in the center of his forehead, but only after he has had a super-important meeting with someone at work. 

What has this to do with a project?  Well, in an attempt to get myself out of the winter doldrums and into the spring spirit, I bought some supplies to make a spring-themed basket: a pretty blue wire basket, some green moss, some wide ribbon, and two packages of wooden eggs.  Do you see where I'm going with this?  You got it--a sparkly springtime egg basket!

Since we don't do Easter bunny stuff (because 1: we don't have kids, and 2: even if we did, we probably wouldn't do Easter bunny stuff), I'm calling this a spring egg basket, which can sit out as a decoration until the temps outside finally warm up--which might not be until July, so I figure that I'll get plenty of use out of this cute little basket.

First, gather your supplies:

• Wooden Eggs (Hobby Lobby, $4/pk of 4, or less if they're on sale or you have a coupon)--these should be in the woodworking aisle/section
• Basket of your choice
• Moss (I found mine in the floral section)
• Decorative ribbon of your choice
• All-purpose glue
• Glitter colors of your choice (spring colors are nice!)
• Paint brush
• Acrylic sealer (always a good idea to help with glitter flaking, although some glitter will come off regardless)
• Paper plate, newspaper, etc. to protect your surfaces and collect extra glitter

Next, prepare your basket:

I laced my ribbon through the openings on the side of the basket.  If you can't do that, you can opt to either just tie it around the bottom, wind it around the handle, make a big bow, etc.  Do what looks good to you!

I only laced the ribbon through two spokes in the back of the basket to keep it in place.

Tie a big pretty bow and trim the ribbon to your desired length.

Fill the basket with moss:

Then, the glitter!
Paint the eggs with the all-purpose glue and sprinkle on the glitter, making sure to not leave any bare spots.  It might take a few applications.  Allow to dry.

I held the eggs with my finger at the top and thumb on the bottom, and turned it as I painted on the glue.  I let them dry and then went back and painted the egg's top and bottom, holding it gently in the middle.

If it's warm enough, take the eggs outside and spray them with the acrylic sealer.  Allow the sealer to dry overnight in a well-ventilated area.  If it's not warm enough where you live yet, just wait until it is.  The glitter will be fine until then, as long as the eggs are not handled much.

Voila!

Because I had some of the supplies for this, like the glitter, glue, and acrylic sealer, this project cost me well under $25 for the remaining supplies.  This is a pretty family/kid-friendly project, and you can keep the eggs forever as keepsakes, as opposed to real eggs that get peeled and eaten.  If you don't want the mess of glitter, though, just use regular acrylic paints and let the kids decorate them that way!

A Fun Ornament Project

Last weekend I was in a crafty mood.  I've actually been working on some of the projects in my craft room, and am happy to say that I'll be crossing three off of the list.  Three off of the list means that there's room for three new projects, right?

So, of course, I started something new.

I went to Michael's in search of wooden laser-cut ornaments and glitter.  I have lots of glitter, but I really love the Recollections brand of glitter that I can only find at Michael's, which is located about forty minutes away (they have some of the most vibrant colors in glitter that I have ever found).  But it was okay, because I was itching to go for a ride.

We had a fun time in the big city, going to Michael's, Bass Pro (for my hubby to regain his manliness after wandering around with me in a craft store), Chick-Fil-A, and Chili's (Chili's has a delicious new margherita flatbread dish, which I recommend, but I don't recommend the pesto ranch sauce that comes with it).  I came home with exactly what I had been looking for: eight laser-cut unfinished wood Christmas ornaments and MORE GLITTER! 

**Just an FYI--you should be able to get the die cut ornaments at most local chain craft stores: JoAnn, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc. for around $2 each.**

It's a really simple project--just paint on the glue with a paintbrush and apply the colors one at a time.  The different colors of glitter won't stick to each other unless the glue is still wet.  Spray them with clear sealer once they're done, and you have a simple project with a huge WOW factor!  String jute rope or pretty ribbon through the top to create a hanging ornament.

Here's what I have so far:

I used two shades of blue on these trees.

These are going to look GREAT on the Christmas tree in a few months.  It might take me that long to get the rest of the die cuts glittered.  I hope I've inspired you!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, Day 12: Fun Family Crafts and Merry Christmas!

I can't believe that Christmas is merely a few days from now, so I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!  Whether you're traveling or staying home, I hope that you have a wonderful and blessed holiday.  I'll be back online next year.

I tried to think of something super-neat to post as my last Twelve Days of Christmas Recipes entry.  I thought about recipes and I contemplated crafts, and I decided that crafts would be more fun, especially since most families have children who are going to be on Christmas break, if they are not already.  I decided on a few simple crafts that children and adults can do together, and chances are you have many of the supplies already in your house. 

Day 12: Assorted Christmas Ornaments

My hubby made this ornament when he was six years old!

The first ornament requires a recipe:
4 C all-purpose flour
1 C salt
1 1/2 C warm water

Yes, salt dough ornaments!  Simply mix all of the ingredients together until smooth.  Roll out on a floured surface to the desired thickness, and cut with cookie cutters or shapes found in your kitchen.  Use textured items, such as cheese graters, to create designs in the dough.  If you have rubber stamps, you can stamp designs into the dough.  Punch a hole into the top of the ornaments using a toothpick and bake in a 300 degree oven for about an hour or until the ornaments are hard.  Paint as desired and run string or ribbon through the holes, and allow to dry before hanging on the tree.  A great way to make memories with the kids, and if properly stored and cared for, will last for many years.

Now, while those are baking, you can make the second ornament.  The second ornament requires supplies:

Package of C4 light bulbs (found at Wal-Mart for $0.98)
Glue that dries clear
Glitter of your color choice
16 gauge wire (found in jewelry-making sections of your local craft store-I used aluminum)
Paint brushes
Empty cupcake liner container
Wire cutters, pliers, and round-nosed pliers

You knew I'd use glitter at some point!  These are really easy to make, and beautiful to hang from the tree.  They even bring a hint of nostalgia to your Christmas decor.  Appropriate for slightly older children who can be careful around fragile things.

The first thing you will do is wrap wire around the top part of the lightbulb.  You can do this however you want; I chose to coil it completely around the metal to conceal the screw part.

Be sure to leave a small loop at the top for the decorative hook.

Then, pour a good amount of glitter into the cupcake liner container.  Don't be shy; the more, the better!

Now, paint your glue onto the bulb.

Dip the glue-painted bulb into the glitter, and roll it around until the whole thing is covered to just the way you like it.

Set it aside to dry.  Repeat on the remaining bulbs.

Now, for the hook:  Cut a 12" section of wire.  Hold your wire with the regular pliers, and take the very end of the wire with the round-nosed pliers.  Grip just hard enough to hold the wire in place, but no hard enough to leave tooth marks in the metal.  Begin to wrap the wire, tightly at first, around the ends of the round-nosed pliers.

Slide the straight end of the wire through the loop on the bulb.  Then, create another curl, more loosely this time at the other end of the wire.  Curl until you like it.

Repeat on the rest of the ornaments!

You can also embellish with ribbons or beads.  Be sure that the beads have holes that are large enough to accommodate the size of the wire--all of the beads I had had holes that were too small to fit on the wire.   Be creative!

Luke 2:19-20: But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Merry Christmas!

German Glass Glitter...You've Gotta Try This Stuff! And Birthday Fun.

Well, I've been having fun the past few days.  Which makes the stomach bug, which I'm experiencing now, a major bummer.  Plus, this is the one night each year that gains an hour, which makes it the longest night of the year to be up running back and forth to the bathroom--major major bummer.  So, to pass the time and take my mind off of the sickness, I'll tell you what I've been up to.

German Glass Glitter
I am a new fan of this stuff!  I read about it a while ago in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and decided to give it a try.  If you haven't heard of it before, I'll explain: German glass glitter is basically what the name implies.  It is ground-up colored glass, and it comes in many different grit sizes and colors (I purchased three different grits, and I think I like the fine grit the best for the project that I'm working on).  Obviously, as this is tiny bits of glass, it is sharp, and yes, I've already drawn a little blood.  Here are the colors I purchased:

In these pics, you can see the different sizes of the glass grains.  The silver seems the most dangerous!

I'm working on some new items for my Etsy store using the glass glitter, and I'll share some pictures with you here: 

That's as far as I've been able to get with this particular project, though.  More to come when I'm finished!

Frankenstorm
With all of the coverage on the news and Internet about the hurricane that struck the eastern US last week, I'll not bother with saying much here.  All we got was a lot of wind and rain, but we also got some snow from it, which tickled me pink.  Hubby thought I was crazy for being so excited about seeing our first snow for the year, but I am like this every year when we get our first flakes.  It did make driving into work a tad treacherous, but here are a few fun pictures of the fluffiness:

You can see that not all of the trees have dropped their leaves yet, but many blew off during the storm.  I'm so glad to be this far inland, and not have had to experience what folks out east have been going through. 

Birthday Fun
My birthday is coming up this week, so we decided to celebrate this weekend, since a weekday birthday is pretty inflexible when it comes to having fun.  Hubby so sweetly decided to take Friday off, and we spent the day together, running errands, doing chores around the house, and eventually ending up having dinner at a quaint restaurant about a half hour away that I've mentioned before, Jeanne's Kitchen.  We had a good day.  But Saturday was really what I've been looking forward to ever since I found out what my dear husband had planned for us:
Here are a couple of photos of the Ohio countryside as we traveled to our destination...

And here is a picture of my birthday weekendapalooza purchases.  Wait a minute...is that...

Oh, yes it is...

Why, whatever could it be??

Silly girl, you picked it out...

Open it! Open it!

Oh, isn't it lovely?

It's a sterling silver piece of their 175th anniversary jewelry collection.  It's on a sterling silver chain, and both are stamped with the Tiffany & Co. logo.  Yes, my husband took me to Tiffany & Co. in Columbus and let me shop and try on all sorts of jewels!  I've never been in a Tiffany's, so this was extremely exciting.  When we first walked in, we entered a lobby area and were met by a well-dressed salesman and a well-dressed security guard.  I understood why there was a guard, but didn't expect it.  You don't see this sort of thing when you go to Zales at the mall.  The salesman took us around the store, asking us questions and trying to feel us out.  He showed us everything that they had.  I found a lot of things that were simply gorgeous, but way out of our price range.  The $58,000, 2+ carat diamond ring took the cake as the most expensive piece I tried on, which was fun because our salesman knew there was no possibility that we would buy it.  He didn't seem to mind, though.  The ring was so incredibly brilliant and simply stunning, with a narrow platinum band and a huge diamond in the middle.  The salesman put it on my finger, and my husband and I both exclaimed in unison, "Wow".  There were no other words.  While I know that I would never wear anything so audacious out in public even if I had the money to purchase such a piece, I couldn't help but think that I would love to be "the one percent" (if I bought into that whole school of thought).  I had picked out three necklaces, and finally decided on the one in the picture.  I really do like it!  I plan to wear it often.  Before going to Tiffany's, hubby took me to a very fancy steakhouse called Smith & Wollensky's, a restaurant that he'd eaten at before while in Columbus for work, but a place that I never had the pleasure to patronize until now.  It was neat, and the steak was soooo good!  We also ordered sides of green beans and lobster mac and cheese.  I didn't care for the green beans--they had been sauteed and mixed with Gorgonzola cheese, which I found out upon tasting that I didn't like (hubby agreed).  I tried to eat around it as much as I could.  Didn't matter, though--the steak more than made up for it!  For dessert, we ordered a piece of chocolate cake, which was huge.  We took most of it with us to eat later.  After lunch and jewelry shopping, we walked around, visiting other stores, and finally left after many hours of shopping, eating and walking.  It was a wonderful day spent with the man I love most (and not just because he took me to THE jewelry store).  I thank God for him every day, and am so glad to be blessed with such a sweet, kind, and thoughtful husband.  He really is a great guy, and I love him more and more as time goes by.  I look forward to many many years of happiness with him.  Thank you, my dear, for a wonderful day that will always be in my mind and heart!