Sunday, September 30, 2012

DIY: Paper Lanterns

You definitely need to head on over to Jellyfish Jelly's blog for an amazing PDF download with step-by-step instructions on how to make these gorgeous paper lanterns.  We think they'd be great in orange and black colors for Halloween or in deep bold colors for fall!  Have fun with it and show us what you make!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

DIY: Crayon Candles in Bottlecaps

We are forever questing to find bottlecap crafts that are easy and look good!  We love to knokw that we can upcycle these bad boys and make it look like we spent hours, when we only spent minutes.  

Craftaholics Anonymous has come to our aid with their DIY for turning old crayons and bottlecaps into mini candles!
how to make candles with bottle caps
these tiny candles are a really fun to make and come together quickly. AND you can up-cycle several materials in the process.

To make these colorful tiny candles, I used several materials that usually end up in a land fill: bottle caps, broken crayons, and empty soup cans. the only thing i bought to make them was the pre-waxed wicks which cost me $1.50 for a set of 12.

How to Make Bottle Cap Candles
supplies: bottle caps, crayons {or wax}, pre-waxed wicks, soup cans, wax paper {optional}, small cooking pan, scissors, and water
remove paper from crayons. you can also use candle wax if you wanted.
put crayons in clean, empty soup cans.
take your pre-waxed wicks and…
bottle caps
put wicks inside the bottle caps. i placed my bottle caps on wax paper in case i spilled some wax.
then using a small cooking pan filled with a couple inches of boiling water, place the can in the pan and melt the crayons. {you could also use a candle warmer to do this}the crayons melt pretty quickly. *note: it only takes a few crayons to fill a bottle cap!
pour the melted crayons or wax into the bottle caps.
let cool for 1-2 hours. then trim the wicks and you have some fun tea light candles to enjoy!
**added later: crayon wax does not smell that great when burned. if you plan to burn these candles, you may consider adding a scent to them**

Friday, September 28, 2012

DIY: Upcycled Plastic Pumpkins

Random Thoughts of a Super Mom has definitely captured our attention with this great and super simple DIY.  Check her out for more fun!


Just in case you want to make a HUGE mess and some SUPER cute pumpkins...here is the list of supplies and steps we followed to make them.
*******************************
Plastic pumpkins {mine were $1 at Walmart}
Scrapbook Paper {8 sheets for $1 at Target}
Mod Podge
Paint Brushes
*********************************
Tear scrapbook paper into small pieces
Attach the paper to the pumpkin and continue to coat it with Mod Podge until all the paper is wet and stuck to the pumpkin really well. This is the messy part, because the only way to make the paper stick really well is to work it with your hands!

Then use a foam paintbrush to apply a coat of Mod Podge all over the pumpkins and let them dry. 

Our pumpkins {coated with Mod Podge} drying on the table!

Our finished Thanksgiving/Fall Pumpkins!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

DIY: Autumn Garland

Dollar Store Mom continues our trend of finding wonderful DIYs that are all about dollar store re-purposing! We love when we can go to the dollar store and keep things cheap, but cute and fun.

Be sure to check out her blog for even more fun DIY!

 
This Autumn Garland cost less than $0.50 in supplies!
Though I actually spent $5 for the supplies used in this project, I used less than 1/5 of them, leaving me with more than enough for quite a few more projects from these same ingredients.

  • Paper doilies in various colors/shapes- $1 per pack of 32
  • Bag of cranberry-like “container filler”- $1 (this project used less than 1/8 of the bag)
  • glue- on hand
  • twine or string- on hand

 I wrote each letter on the doilies using glue, then had my daughter add the tiny cranberries. Let this dry for a few hours. If you’d like to just make this yourself, or if you’ve got older kids, hot glue is a better option.

 

I strung each doily on to some basic twine that I had on hand, and hung my garland across my piano. Tomorrow you’ll see what else I created from my dollar store finds to add to this cute display!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

DIY: Dracula Egg Favors

Dollar Store Crafts has another wonderful Halloween craft that would be ideal for anyone having a party!  We think these are so adorable we almost can't stand it.

cute dracula halloween craft
Looking for a cute Halloween trick or treat to give to grown ups in your life? This cute little Dracula is really an egg-shaped EOS lip balm sphere all dressed up for Halloween. What a great "Happy Halloween" for anyone who just doesn't need another bag of candy in her life! I vant to soften your lips! This easy craft is the perfect go-to Halloween gift for teachers, friends, or co-workers. Or use the Count as a cute hostess gift at your Halloween shindig.
In my life before Dollar Store Crafts (yes, there WAS a time before DSC!), I used to make and sell all-natural vegan lip balm. In fact, I was the #3 store on Etsy for awhile! So, I am a very harsh critic of lip balm, and I avoid most brands because they use petroleum-based products. The folks at EOS offered to send me some lip balm, and I agreed once I found out that their product is all-natural. Plus, they're just so darn cute! You can buy the spheres at your local big box or drug store, or on Amazon (EOS Lip Balm). And, while they cost more than $1, you won't have to buy anything extra to make the cute little Dracula costume, making it a great low-cost grown up Halloween treat.
Supplies: If you don't want to use EOS spheres, how about blown eggs or candy-filled plastic Easter eggs? If you choose to use blown eggs, follow the instructions at The Artful Parent: How to Make Blown Eggs. You might have to get really lucky to find plastic Easter eggs this time of year, but maybe you have them in your stash! I left Dracula faceless, but you could add googly eyes and drawn-on fangs!
Project Materials:
  • Cardboard egg carton, on hand
  • Craft foam or card stock (black), on hand
  • Scrap cardboard (white), on hand
  • Narrow ribbon (red), or red marker, on hand
  • Gold foil star, on hand
  • Black paint (acrylic craft paint or spray paint), on hand
  • Glue (tacky or hot glue), on hand
  • Scissors, on hand
  • Green EOS Lip Balm, about $2.78
dracula craft
Instructions:
  1. Cut a single cup from an egg carton and trim sides.
  2. Paint cup black (inside and out) with acrylic craft paint or spray paint. Allow paint to dry.
  3. Cut a small bib out of scrap cardboard (from a cardboard food container or label). If you need a template, trace a nickel, and then cut the circle in half so you have a half-circle. Cut a triangular notch in the half-circle.
  4. Glue a “v” of red ribbon on either side of the notch in the half-circle.
  5. Glue gold foil star to the red ribbon.
  6. For Dracula's collar, cut a 2x2” square of black craft foam or card stock. Cut “swoops” in one side of the square for Dracula's pointed collar.
  7. Glue collar to back of black egg cup.
  8. Insert egg into cup.
eos dracula craft

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

DIY: Gold Thumbtack Pumpkins

Here is another FUN-tastic Autumn DIY that would make a stunning center piece.  It comes from Madigan Made's blog so check her out for more!


Question: What do you do when you are nervously patiently waiting out a large hurricane? How do you keep your mind off the approaching storm?

Answer: Find a repetitive, mindless task that does not require power. (You know, in case the power goes out. Fortunately, it didn't for us.) And if you are crafty (or not!) that tedious activity might be to create one of these studded pumpkins.

Yep... the gold thumbtack train continues here on Madigan Made!!

(BTW- The runner up title for this post was "Thumbtackular!" thanks to Chelsea from two twenty one and her suggestion last night on Twitter.)
Sunday I showed you my brass tack covered wreath.
Now I want to show you my gilded pumpkins!

I actually made these beauties before I made the thumbtack wreath, but I wanted to show you the wreath first to coincide with the Nester's wreath party.

Like the wreath, I was inspired to make these metallic gourds after I made my thumbtack covered globe. The thumbtack texture was so neat, I wanted to try it on other things.

AND, if you follow me on Pinterest, especially my Fall inspiration board, you would see that I've also been enamored with the idea of gilded and gold leaf pumpkins lately.
I love sparkle and shine around Christmas... and I'm slowly appreciating a little glam for autumn, too. I could have made these silver, I suppose. But lately, I'm learning to love brass.
Gold hues can add warmth in the cooler months, don't you think?

Anyhoo, back to the pumpkins... To create them I used a couple of fake foam pumpkins from the craft store. The largest pumpkin was about 6" across. I spray painted them a gold color first in case any of the tacks did not fully cover an area.

(Note: I did not use the green gourd pictured here... but I went and grabbed a pumpkin from the dollar store instead... while I was buying more tacks. That third pumpkin did not get a coat of gold paint and I regret that fact, because you can kind of see the orange peeking through.)

Then, I proceeded to dip the ends of each tack in white glue and press them into the foam shapes. I used glue because I was worried that the tacks would fall out. I stopped using the glue about half way through the large pumpkin because I was tired I realized that the glue was not really necessary.

For placement, I first circled the top and the stem with brass tacks, overlapping as I went. Then I worked my way down the each 'rib' section of the pumpkin. I outlined each of those sections with tacks and then filled in with overlapping tacks. There really was not much of a science to my method. I overlapped the tacks and where I saw 'holes', I just added another one!

I had quite a few comments from you all about how many tacks I used on the brass tack wreath! ;)

Well, I used a TON more tacks with these three shapes! Good thing I needed an excuse like running to the dollar store!


With the large pumpkin, I lost count after 6 boxes of tacks. I'd guess that I used about 7 for that one. So, there are at least 1800-2100 tacks on that pumpkin alone! The smaller pumpkins took about 2-3 boxes of tacks.

Considering it was a dollar for a box of tacks plus $5 or less for a pumpkin form - it really did not cost that much to make these gilded pumpkins. It just cost me loads of time! ;)

Monday, September 24, 2012

DIY: Glittered Pumpkin Place Card Holder

Infarrantly Creative's blog has stunning DIY Glittered Pumpkin Place Card Holders that would be ideal for any Halloween party!  Or we think it'd be super simple to just leave off the place card holder portion and have a snazzy glittered pumpkin!
glittered pumpkins (14)

Supplies:

Styrfoam pumpkins

Hole saw and drill

Spray primer

Krylon’s Glitter Blast Spray Paint

Krylon Clear Spray

Votive candle

Tea light candles

Brad or Thumbtack

I purchased two different size pumpkins from Dollar Tree.   I used my hole saw bit (the size of the tea light candles) attached to my cordless drill to make a hole in the top of the mini pumpkins. Using a knife I scraped out the excess Styrofoam to create a nice even hole for the tea light to fit in. Then I spray primed the pumpkins and then used the Glitter Blast spray all over them.   I let them dry and then I sprayed a clear coat over the top of them.   You can seriously rub your hand all over it now and not a sparkle will come off.
Next I printed out the guest’s name on cardstock and cut it to size.   Then I stuck a scrapbook brad or thumbtack into the pumpkin to hold it in place.
thanksgiving placecard holders
I also used the larger pumpkin with a votive (drilling with the same hole saw bit) thinking it would make a nice fall centerpiece.
glittered pumpkins (15)
fall centerpiece
Look at the depth of color in this.   It has lots of golds, orange and brown flecks in it. So rich and beautiful!
glittered pumpkins (18)

Sunday, September 23, 2012

DIY: Halloween Wreath

Delia Creates' blog has a great Halloween tutorial and we want to showcase it now so you'll have plenty of time to get on it for the upcoming holiday!  We love Halloween and all the fun things you can do, so we'll be showcasing more DIY that has Halloween themes - so get those party themes ready to roll.

Check out their blog for more DIY!


 



Well today I have two more.
 




1. First...pack up the kids and go stick hunting. Get A LOT of sticks.


2. Then cut or break {which is what I did} all your sticks into similar lengths. It doesn't have to be perfect....at least not with this Halloween craft. The more imperfect the spookier it looks.



3. Cut a cardboard circle out of an old diaper box or cereal box. I used a medium sized mixing bowl and a cereal bowl for tracing. Cover in burlap or twine if you want. I don't think it is necessary. I added the burlap and it made gluing things more complicated. Plus you are going to paint over it so...

4. Hot glue the sticks around the cardboard circle.



5. Then spray paint it black. I had to touch it up with acrylic paint as well. You can paint the sticks before gluing. It's up to you.

6. Hang with a black ribbon and add an orange plastic spider if you have one in your Halloween stash.