Flower Necklace

 This is another broken necklace that I found. When I bought it I actually did not realize it's flaw, but the middle flower is missing it's sparkly rhinestone center.

 

 

 

I bought a set of flower rhinestone earrings from Claire's to use in place of the other flowers.

 

 

 

I removed all previous adhesive so I could apply my rhinestones better.

 

 

 

In order to keep an even pattern, I removed the two inner rhinestones from the teal flowers on either side of the middle flower.

 

 

 

I clipped the earring piece off of the rhinestone so that only a small piece of metal stuck out of the back and the piece will fit nicely into the gap provided in the flower.

 

 

 

I heated up the hot glue gun and one by one added the rhinestones.

 

 

 

I allowed the glue to cool for a short period of time then I removed the flyaway strands of glue. The thin pieces detach very easily from the main dot of glue while the adhesive is warm-cool.

 

 

 

And the work was done!

 

 

What are your favorite products to buy and fix? Happy crafting! 

T-shrink

So I had a wonderful craft opportunity presented to me, and I took it! I was given a Marvel t-shirt that was much too big for me, but it's too cool to not wear, so I've decided to make it me-size.

 

I started by folding the shirt inside out, and then I laid the shirt flat on a smooth surface. I chose another shirt that I like the fit of and laid it flat on top of my project shirt as a guide.

 

 

 

I traced around the edges of the shirt, giving myself a one inch leeway.

 

 

 

I cut off the bottom seam and then I cut along the line that I had drawn. I double rolled the bottom seam then pinned. Next, I pinned the front and back of the shirt together at the sides where I made the cut.

 

 

 

Next came sewing the shirt together. This step is fairly straightforward. I sewed the bottom hems, then I sewed the right side of the shirt together, then the left.

 

 

 

Because cotton has a tendency to unravel, I hand-stitched around the edges to keep this from happening.

 

 

 

And the shirt is finished--Viola!

 

 

 

Now my new shirt fits well enough to wear!

 

Happy crafting!



Memory Quilt

 

My mom recently unearthed some old fabric from my childhood that she had used to make me pajamas. Now that I have started playing around with quilts, she decided to bestow the sentimental pieces upon me.

 

So, I've gathered up several of my childhood fabrics and cut them into squares. Then I set up my squares on the floor in the order that I wanted them.

 

 

Next, I sewed the squares together by column. Then, I sewed three or four columns together in order to quilt these five strips directly onto the batting and backing. 

 

 

 

1. Take the strip on the farthest right and lay it out on top the backing and batting.

 

2. Next, take the strip next farthest to the right and lay it upside down on top of the first piece, making sure that the left edge matches before pinning to the layers of batting and backing.

 

3. After quilting that down, unfold the upside down strip so that they both face upward.

 

4. Repeat steps 1-3 with the middle piece, then the left, then the farthest left, until the entire thing is quilted.

 

 

Finally, tuck in all the loose ends. I double folded the excess backing on the edges onto the front and sewed it down as edging.

 

I was quite happy with the end result!

 

 

 

What are some of your favorite childhood fabrics?

 

Happy crafting!

Christmas Corksters

 

I hope everyone is doing well this winter. I had some great fun making cork coasters over Christmas break.

 

YOU WILL NEED SOME SORT OF WOOD BURNING TOOL FOR THIS PROJECT!

And also coasters, they are also important.

 

You can buy coasters at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, Amazon, and more.

 

Wood burning tools are available at Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and more. Though you may need some pocket jingle to pull of this project, this tool can be used for a plethora of crafts, so this is definitely an investment if you are interested in small woodworking crafts.

 

I began by tracing the coasters onto printer paper and drawing on designs. I made several sheets of these so I could have multiple design options.

 

This is the simple design that I started with, and having only four coasters, I had to pick carefully.

 

 

 

I used a soldering gun, and, as practice, tested out some shaped on a spare piece of wood.

 

 

 

I then moved to practicing some more elaborate shapes on a spare piece of cork, to get the feel of the thinner, more pliable material. The gun doesn't need to be very hot to burn and shape the cork, and you want to move fairly quickly from spot to spot to avoid burning through the material.

 

 

 

Next, I used a pen to lightly trace my design on to the coaster. The burn should cover the trace marks, so there is some slight room for error on this step.

 

 

 

I burned my design onto the coaster, and this was the result. Each spot where the cork is burned, the heat and pressure from the tip of the soldering gun form a slight groove. The longer you hold the gun stationary on the coaster, the deeper the groove becomes.

 

 

 

Next I added white paint all through the grooves.

 

 

 

Adding color or glitter to just the grooved areas allows most of the cork to show through and do it's job of soaking up liquid to save your furniture.

 

After letting the paint fully dry, I coated the mixture with glitter to add some sparkle and seal in the paint.

 

 

 

You could individually add glitter to the wet paint, like I did with this other coaster. After the paint dried, I coated the design with Mod Podge to seal it all in.

 

 

 

 

You could also combine glitter with glossy Mod Podge, and carefully brush the mixture into the grooves. This glue tends to dry clear, so the glitter is still able to sparkle. Using glue that dries with a  somewhat clear white sheen, like matte Mod Podge, still allows you to see the glitter, but the sparkle is slightly dulled. I used this method with the other two coasters in the set.

 

 

 

What are some designs you want to burn onto coasters?

 

Happy crafting!