BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, all. Happy to have a creative refuge. 

Dollar Tree is already stocking Christmas stuff,  so I'm sure everyone else will not be far behind. I think Mr. Chocolate finally gets that if you don't get things when you see them, you may never see them again. Exhibit something he almost missed out on. 

I'm definitely missing JoAnn at this time of the year :(

This week I shared:

How to Make Hot Glue Tombstones (or any other thing for which you have silicone molds)

and

Happy Accident: Salvage a Broken Dish with Resin

Now, let's take a look at some of the fun ideas shared at last week's party! 

Steph Creates shared this DIY Candy Jar that would be lovely to give as a gift or to have at home. 

Press Print Party shared a fabulous Dollar Tree Ghost DIY. So cute! 

Ann's Entitled Life shared a gorgeous Fall Lantern Swag that can carry you through the season.

Finally, Hunny I'm Home DIY shared these Mini Halloween Trifles that would be perfect for any Halloween dinner, party, etc. 

Thank you to everyone who linked up, commented, pinned etc.!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Halloween: Resin to the Rescue Salvaged Stand

 

I love it when a plan I didn't have comes together.  I picked up a couple of those flat-ish glass round plate / dish / tray thingies. I'm really not sure what they're called but for me, they were "surface to play with!". I fugured they'd make great trinket dishes or a smaller tiered tray or something. I was thinking originally that I'd play with alcohol inks. 

While taking them out of my craft closet, OOPS! I dropped one and since we have HARD tile floors, it broke. But it didn't shatter, and as someone who likes to salvage things it looked like it could be glued back together. I then got the idea of doing Japanese Kintsugi, the process of adding gold leaf to cracks in pottery, and THEN I remembered I also had some resin from Dollar Tree to play with. Still with me?

Supplies:

• Dollar Tree Clear Glass Dish
• Chunky Glitter
• Resin (I used Epoxy Resin vs UV)

This is the dish thingy I'm talking about. They're usually with the kitchen stuff. And you can see how almost perfectly it broke. I used some Aleene's Clear Tacky glue to glue it back together. 

This is the resin I picked up at DT and the ones I've been in recently look like they've restocked it because it was impossible to find for a while. You need both A and B which work together. Last year, I also found this container of chunky glitter.

I dumped some of the glitter atop the dish and spreadh it out using a dry paint brush, making sure I covered the visible cracks. Then, following the instructions for the resin, mixed and poured.

Since the glass and resin are both clear, it's hard to see the effect in a picture, but this is after the resin was poured. I set it aside to cure for 24 hours. You can see the one piece I couldn't fill in, but it doesn't matter because whatever ends up going on top will obscure it. 

I was so happy with the way it turned out that I went ahead and used the unbroken one and another set of resin to make another! 

For now, I'm showing with this cute Skeleton Bunny I found at Walmart and fell in love with. 

Gotta love a happy accident, right? Now, of course, I want to do a couple of these for Christmas and Hanukkah! 

Halloween: Glam Hot Glue Tombstones

 

I mentioned in my post Pinkoween: Glam Skeleton Plaque that I'd share how I made the tombstones shown in the post and here we go! 

Supplies: 

• Silicone Tombstone Mold (Michaels)
• Hot Glue Gun and Gluesticks
• Acrylic Paints
• Rhinestones 

I picked this mold up at Michaels after Halloween last year. It's really supposed to be for chocolate, but silicone is silicone right? So it worked for my craft room. 

You could use colored glue sticks, but I prefer painting them afterwards because I don't like having to get the colored residue out of my glue gun. Been there. Hated that. 

You could use UV or Epoxy Resin for these too. After they set up, I popped them out of the mold. Hard to see the details here right? 

I painted with multi-surface black paint (Craft Smart, Michaels) and left some bare spots because I wanted an aged look. I dry brused over top with a little silver too. 

Creepy boneyard look achieved! But was I done? Of course not! BLING time. 

I grabbed this little set of non-adhesive-backed rhinestones in my stash and used dimensional glue (Ranger Glossy Accents) to attach. 

Et, voila!

Easy, fast, make as many as you need.

Sharing At:

BFF Open House Happy September!

Happy Friday Eve and SEPTEMBER Creative Peeps! I might just be biased about it being the best month because it's my birthday month, but also the birthday month of  besties, and my Fairy Granddaughter. 

We had the BEST getaway last week. Just wonderful. The place we stayed surprised us with a bottle of champagne and a beautiful fruit platter, then outdid themselves another night by decorating our room to celebrate our anniversary. Even the weather being iffy didn't matter. We had such a great time, and it was so nice after a chaotic year. 

Like the creatively obsessed person I am, I even got a chance to do some Dollar Tree sleuthing in another state! 

This week I shared: 

Vacay Craft Haul

Pinkoween Glam Skeleton 

So excited for the 'ber months! September, October, November, December...these are a few of my favorite things, and let's take a look at some inspiration from the last BFF Open House. 

This idea has SO many possibilities! Fresh Vintage by Lisa S. shared how to make an Altered Book Picture Frame. Best part? The pictures can be interchanged. 

Steph Creates shared a Simple DIY Autumn Floral and Bead Wreath. Perfect transition piece! 

Master Pieces of My Life shared this ingenious Chalkboard Craft Customizable Pennant Banner. You can update for each holiday! 

Finally, my caffeine addicted heart couldn't resist these Double Espresso Cake Balls from Cindy's Online Recipe Box. Of course, they also have chocolate! 

Thanks all who linked up and can't wait to see what you've been up to this week! 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Pinkoween: Glam Skeleton Plaque

 

Another Pinkoween project like my Glam Pinkoween Ghost. 

Supplies:

• Wood Plaque (Dollar Tree)
• Pink, Black, and White Acrylic Paint
• Small Skeleton (Mine is from a Dollar Tree Garland)
• Hot Glue Tomstones 
• Stand

I had this wood plaque from Dollar Tree in my stash. They seem to always have them in different shapes. The skeleton was part of a garland so I cut one free. 

The edge was beveled and I painted it in black. I think it looks like a frame. 

I used white acrylic paint to cover the center. I didn't even sand the wood because I liked it better if it looked rough. 

Once the white paint was dry, I coated it with white glue. This is my go to crackle technique!

Lightly dry brushed some silver and some white on the skeleton. 

Went over top with pink paint and watched the magic of the crackling work as it peeked through. Love how aged it looks! 

Gotta have more sparkle, right? I mixed some tinsel glitter (Michaels) and Mod Podge and brushed it on the skeleton and plaque. 

You can see the glitter here (along with a little black streak because I had a dirty brush, but it works!). Glued some beaded garland I picked up at Michaels on clearance around the edge as shown. And then using hot glue and tacky glue, glued the skeleton to the plaque. Couldn't resist adding some rhinestones to the eyes and tied a simple bow around the neck. 

To make the tombstones, I used a silicone mold and hot glue and will show how in a future post! 

Sharing At:

Creatively Crafty Linky Party #265

Happy September! Vacay Craft Goodies

 

Happy September Creative Peeps! I might just be biased because it's my birthday month, but I get to share it with some amazing friends and my Fairy Granddaughter. It's also officially the start of my favorite crafting times of the year, cooler weather, and fun Fall festivities. 

We had the BEST getaway last week celebrating our anniversary. After what's been a rather chaotic year for Casa Chocolate, it was relaxing and the place we stayed was incredible. 

Mr. Chocolate is the spa person in our house. We defy gender norms that way because they're not my thing. So while Mr. Chocolate went to his massage appointment and enjoyed all of the other amenities, Mrs. Chocolate went exploring and hit three Dollar Trees and a DAISO! 

You can take the Crafty Girl our of her craft room but she'll just come home with more goodies to play with! It was a win-win. 

I was super excited to find the stackable pumpkins in white! OK, yes, I'm probably going to paint them but it was more about them being solid vs have a pumpkin face that I was really happy about. The witch shoes...haven't decided if I'm leaving as-is and using for a tree topper or trying the viral Pottery Barn hacks with black twine that I've seen. 

That bright silver skull tray? 'Nuff said. And some cool napkins and a spider web table runner! Joy! The cauldrons have raised flames which will be perfect to dry emboss with contrasting paint to make them pop. Luckily we drove so there was room for everything. 

BEST find? A 40 sheet Colorbok paper stack not even at the revised $1.50 price. Still $1.25!! Kicking myself for not buying at least two. Blame it on shocked excitement. 

Can't wait to start playing! Hope you all had a great week and there will be a new party up on Thursday.