Showing posts with label glass block. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glass block. Show all posts

Sunday, August 8, 2010

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

It's always great to go on vacation but there's also something wonderful about coming home ( I love my bed!).  We had a great two weeks away visiting my mom, friends, brother-in-law, colleges ( $$$) and I got to visit some great creative shops along the way. I blogged about a couple of them or tried to from my phone our the i-Pad ( still not convinced it's the best thing since sliced bread).  I got to go to two of my favorite bead places, Beads Galore and Scottsdale Bead Supply and stocked up on some great things to play with later.

Last year, one of my BFFs gave  my mom a present for Christmas that my mom fell in love with and wanted to give similar ones to a few of her friends. It was one of those glass blocks with lights inside like you see here So she asked if I could make them and if I minded doing any crafting while I was on vacation. HELLO? A chance to be on vacation AND use a glue gun?! In addition to the opportunity to go to craft stores including one I don't have at home? Bring. It.

I'd seen these glass block projects but hadn't made any and now I'm hooked. Maybe they're not new news but they're still fun to play with and there are endless possibilities. There are a variety of places you can get the blocks. Least expensive is your HW store but they typically don't come pre-drilled to put the lights in and I wasn't about to do glass drilling ( I understand you can go through several drill bits). So mom and I used our Michael's 40% off coupons and bought the more expensive ones they sell there ($16.99 pre-discount for the large one) that come with different closures for banks, lights, or simply plugging the existing hole. So started with this: 



Used a variety of ribbon (some from mom's recycled stash ... re-use, re-use!) stickers ( red and gold block) , Christmas picks from Hobby Lobby, and 1 string of 100 mini lights per block and ended with these:



She wanted one for a friend who wants to keep this out all year round, and the friend wanted black and white which I love working with so that's this one:

which I kept really simple using only black and white polka dot ribbon and two vinyl pieces I brought with me that I'd picked up at JoAnns on sale for $.50 !

Crafting on vacation?! WIN-WIN!  And mom now has a glue gun :)

Linking up at:
  UndertheTableandDreaming Beyond The Picket Fence