Valentine's Decor: DIY Shabby Glam Heart

 

I had so much fun with this! I'm currently working on another project inspired by it. Have you seen the large foam hearts at Dollar Tree?  Get one! OK get SOME!

Supplies: 

• Large Foam Heart (Dollar Tree)
• Coffee Filters
• White School Glue
• Ribbon
• Beads and Embellishments

These are the hearts. I got two so I still have another one to play with. I've seen some great ideas on Pinterest too.

I've done this technique before with tissue paper but if you're like me, you're the ongoing recipient of usable things other people buy but can't use, like these coffee filters my Mom accidentally bought the wrong kind but she "knew I'd do something with them". Confess...you're this person too!

Since I didn't know how this would turn out I saved my Mod Podge and figured I'd try Elmers. I love back to school season which is also great for Makers. I stock up on things like white glue and glue sticks which are always on sale then. 

I tore the coffee filters in pieces and applied glue to the heart, then applied the coffee filter and covered with more glue until fully covered. Once dry, I dry brushed with some gold and silver acrylic paint. I wanted light but visible coverage. 

Now the fun part! I love after Christmas deals too and found some great ribbon at Walmart for 75% off so of course I bought a few rolls. At 9 yards for $1.25 c'mon! Better than a Dollar Tree find. I wrapped the ribbon around the heart, securing with hot glue along the way and added some oversized rhinestones.

While I'm still picking up new stuff this year, I'm also very focused on using stuff that sits in my stash. You know how it goes! I found this heart shaped mini-frame by Recollections and had an aha moment. It was already white so I dry brushed it with some of the same silver I used on the heart (Craft Smart Bright Silver Multi Surface). I left it on the plastic backing it came with and just trimmed around the shape. I filled the heart with white seed beads then squeezed Diamond Glaze (a dimensional glue) to cover the beads creating a resin/epoxy look when dry. 

Diamond Glaze dries clear and I love it for small projects. I also added some heart and key charms from my stash and used the same ribbon to create a hanger for the heart.

To finish, I strung a few beads and another charm onto a head pin and pushed through the bottom point of the heart securing with a dot of glue.

Holiday Decor Hot Cocoa Tray

 

I love it when a plan I didn't have comes together. After I refreshed my Cocoa Bar Sign, I thought this tray, which was originally going to be a Halloween project, would make a perfect companion. Before I fell from high atop the thing in October, I'd already painted it so all that was left to do was add some vinyl!

Supplies

• Plain Wood Tray (I got mine at Dollar Tree in the Not A $1.25 Aisle)
• Acrylic Paint
• Digital Cutting File (I found mine in Cricut Design Space)
• Cutting Machine (Cricut Explore 2)
• Vinyl
• Transfer Tape 

Here's my plain wood tray which I painted with two coats of white acrylic paint. I debated using the same image from my Cocoa Bar Sign but there were so many fun images in Cricut Design Space and what's the point of a subscription if you don't use as many images as possible, right? 

I chose this one that complemented the sign. Since I plan to use this to hold my cocoa toppings, I kept it fairly simple. Size to fit the tray, cut, and weed. Le sigh. The "H" and one of the "O"s decided to be difficult. I'm sure it wasn't me trying to weed too fast. No, couldn't be that. At any rate, I ended up with:

Oops! There was a time when my OCD would have trashed the whole thing and done it again. Growth! I went back into CDS and cut "HO" the missing letters. 

I went ahead and put the image without the missing letters, then added them afterwards.

And voila!

And I love how it goes with my Bar Sign.

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Creatively Crafty Linky Party #227

Dollar Tree Snow Globes and Ornaments

 

I feel like I lost a month because I lost a month being able to be in my craft room because of my knee injury. So, it was great to spend some time in my craft room this weekend getting out my Christmas stash and having a chance to play. 

Over the Summer, I found these Disney, Pixar, and Sesame Street figurines at Dollar Tree. I knew from years past they made snow globe ornaments and was stalking them waiting for them to re-appear. 

Years ago, my Mom had given us a wonderful set of Disney ornaments. My main tree is more formal. Call it my Martha Stewart personality disorder. Even as a child, I had thoughts of the kind of tree I wanted when I had my own but when our son was born, I also wanted him to have a very kid-friendly tree. 

Mr. Chocolate and Son were in charge of this tree while I tended to my other three "frou-frou" trees with one stipulation: "Hands off our tree fancy pants". But kids grow up and he's lived on his own for a while and it's a conundrum. He doesn't put up a tree because of his dog who's a bundle of energy and while he was in grad school, his schedule allowed him to come home and trim the tree with Dad. For the last couple of years though, reality has set in and he won't always be able to do that. I FINALLY convinced them that I could honor the tradition of the tree but "spruce" (pun intended) it up a bit. I bought new lights and made a few ornaments to honor our continued love of Disney, Pixar, and Muppets. 

Supplies:

• Mini Character Figurines
• Snow Globe Ornaments
• Hot Glue and Glue Gun
• Epsom Salt
• Coordinating Glitter,Sequins, Ribbon,Pipe Cleaners

These are super easy and fun to make.

Some of the figures sit on a base like Jack Jack here. Learn as you go. While it fit within the circumference of the lid (bottom) I realized after I glued it in that the lid didn't quite screw on correctly so I had to glue it in. The process for all of these is the same.

Make sure your figure will fit through the opening and the lid will close. Glue the figure either directly to the lid or as I'll show, to something to elevate it a little. Then, use a length of pipecleaner and hot glue around the top of the ornament. This will create a seal because otherwise the filler may spill out. What goes inside is up to your imagination!

I used epsom salt and various sequins along with other small things like pom poms as my filler. Once you've "sealed" the top of your ornament, load it up with your filler then screw on your lid with the figurine attached and you can be done now, or do as I did and wrap the base with coordinating ribbon,

Your only limit is your imagination. The hardest part is if you are looking for a specific character. No guarantees that every store has what you want but then you just go from store to store, right? 

Jack Jack is Mr. Chocolate's favorite character so I was ecstatic to find him. I'm still looking for Edna Mode! 

I mentioned above that some of the figures don't come with a base like Jack Jack did. These, I was able to elevate a little higher using some wood blocks (Dollar Tree) from my stash. I glued the block to the lid, then the figure to the block. Since these ornaments are tall, there's room.

I did this with Oscar and then followed the same steps using coordinating colors. 

But wait...there's more! Some of the figures are just too big for the ornament opening. Solution? The Snow Globes that they also sell at Dollar Tree!

Sully's arms were too wide for the ornament so I made him into a snow globe! Same overall process...fill with coordinating sequins and/or glitter and epsom salt and wrap with ribbon.

I threw some sparkly pom poms in here along with some sequin snowflakes.

I'm really happy with how easy and fun these were!

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754th Inspire Me Tuesday

Creatively Crafty Linky Party #225

July-O-Ween: Stacked Poison Boxes

 

I struggled with what to call these because this was one of those projects that didn't really have a plan other than "how my brain works". I had two more plain wood shadow boxes from my Framed Skeleton Hand Shadow Boxes and this idea just came to me.

Supplies:

• Wood Shadow Boxes (Dollar Tree)
• Craft Smart Multi Surface Paint (Michaels)
• Halloween Scrapbook Paper (Stash)
• Halloween Labels (Stash)
• Fillable Ornament (Stash)
• Mod Podge
• Epsom Salt
• Halloween Glitter
• Hot Glue and Glue Gun

For this project I used the smaller two boxes. I painted them black with my go to  CraftSmart MultiSurface paint (Michaels), then sized and cut scrapbook paper I had in my stash to fit inside. 

I used Mod Podge to adhere the scrapbook papers but didn't coat the top of the paper. 

I had this package of Poison Label Stickers I picked up at Michaels on sale years ago after season. There were 5 sheets of them and I still have two complete sheets and a couple of partial ones! 

I attached a couple to gold foil cardstock scraps and trimmed. 

Then I attached foam tape to the back of each label and attached them inside the boxes. Now it's time to "pick your poison"! I mixed up some Epsom Salt and Halloween glitter to make mine.

Of course I made more than I needed but I have an idea for the remainder. I spooned a little on top f each label, then glued one half of a fillable ornament using hot glue. 

I debated about putting some vinyl on the domes saying "Break In Case of Emergency" and may sti add a sign with that. 

I used a combination of thick tacky glue and hot glue to attach the boxes, then finished by adding more of the same black roses I used in my Skeleton Hands project. Elegant and Spooky is my jam! 

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