Door Decorations

 

This is all my mother's doing. The nutcracker is hand made entirely from styrofoam, then hand painted and pieced together. My father was able to get her some large styrofoam pieces from some manufacturing place but I am not sure where. The nutcracker is the first in her set as she has also made a witch for Halloween and an Uncle Sam for the national holidays. They are huge neighborhood attractions and many neighbors have thier kids' photos taken in front of her door.

The fruit display is also her creation - using plastic pieces, hot glue and foliage on a piece of plywood. This year she added the banner. Again, it's just a nice piece of plywood that she cut out and hand painted.

I think it's awesome personally.

Fancy Apron

 

This picture was the inspiration for my project. I found this shirt at a little shop in the mall and guess what, it was $60. While I love my mother dearly I couldn't afford to spend $60 on a shirt. I knew this was right up my mom's alley though since she is a fan of wine. So I took a picture of the shirt with my phone to keep the idea fresh and started thinking of how I could do something myself. I came up with an apron and invested in the heat tool that adheres rhinestones to fabric. (It costs about $15 and the jewels come in all sorts of varieties).

 

I found the above picture on the internet and used it as a pattern for the wine bottles and glasses since the shirt was a lot smaller. I added my own flair to the design based on the original shirt and ended up with this! It was a lot of fun to make. The work is a bit tedious and I had to do it at times when the kiddos were no where around.

 

I'm really excited to have this heat tool now and tons of left over rhinestones. I'm seeing a lot of different crafts in my future - especially for nieces.

Wine Charms

I decided to make my mother wine charms for Christmas this year to go along with an apron I also made her (another post!) but I also needed a set of wine charms for myself since we hosted all the holiday meals this year and after Thanksgiving we realized that people were mixing up their glasses. :) The idea for my mother was to make 6 wine charms with the initials of her 6 grandchildren. So I found some cute block beads in the jewelry making aisle of Michaels, along with silver earing hoops and some white beads for spacers. The project is very easy. String the beads on the hoops, bend a little hook on the end and voila, inexpensive, personalized wine charms.

 

For my charms I couldn't think of a more beautiful color combination but orange and blue beads for my Gators. :) I also found these great silver rings that said "Integrity, Honor, Peace" etc. Six different words and I had my charms.

 

 

Total this project was like 15 minutes for each set. And it was pretty inexpensive too. These would make a great gift if you are going to a dinner party or some place where you need to bring something but don't want to break the bank.

Thanks for the reminder to post these things Bekah!

Merry Christmas!

This year for Christmas, I went all Hawaiian. I thought I had a unique opportunity to get things for people that they couldn't get for themselves. Something different. Unique, different, and Hawaiian can add up quickly, so I went Hawaiian-inspired for my friends through the mail. I decided to retry my hand at candle making. I had the wicks, metal braces for the base of the wick, the boiler bag, red, blue and yellow dye, and a tropical scent. (All of these things are available at any decent craft store.) I found the glasses on sale at Pier 1 and bought the wax at the grocery store.

So, here's what I did...
Step 1: get the wax melting
This one takes a little guess work, unless you know the size of your mold. You have to estimate how much solid wax to use. I got away with 1 1/2 blocks of paraffin wax (available on the baking aisle) in the heavy duty plastic bag, specific to candle making. You put the bag, with the wax, in a pot of heated/heating water on the stove, like a double boiler.
Step 2: while the wax is melting, get your glass ready
Tie a knot in the bottom of the wick (wicks generally come in a very long string, and you can cut down to desired length.) Pull the wick through hole in the metal weight. Set the weight down in the bottom. For this project, I also filled the bottom portion of my margarita glasses with shells for a more Hawaiian twist.
Step 3: coloring and scenting
Once the wax is melted, add in a few drops of desired color dyes and scents. Agitate the bag to get the color mixed evenly.
If you think back to elementary school art class, you'll remember that there are 3 primary colors. That's why I only bothered to buy red, yellow and blue. You can get green, purple and orange from combining these (BTW, the "red" tends to come out pink, since the wax is basically white). You can also get lighter or more intense color based on the number of drops you use. 2 drops of red looks very different from 5 drops. and 1 yellow plus 1 blue looks different than 1 yellow plus 2 blues. Hence, the rainbow you see here, from 3 bottles of dye!
Step 4: pouring
Be careful with the edges of your bag. they are probably hot. I try to leave 1 bottom corner out of the pot so it will stay cool. Slowly, carefully, but steadily, pour your dyed wax into the glass. If you go slow and steady, you'll minimize air bubbles.
All you have to do now, is let it set. The wax will harden, and solidify, and you've got your candle!
So, now that you know how simple it is to make candles, maybe you'll be a little less intimidated by the prospect.