DIY Fabric and Marbles Necklace

Who doesn't love a new piece of jewelry?!
For everyone who mentally responded "me!" to that question,
then this post is for you!
 

The only thing better than 'new' than 'free',
and that is pretty much what this DIY Marble Necklace amounts to...just pennies!

I'm sure y'all have seen these marble necklaces all over Pinterest.
But at the risk of being redundant,
I'm going to share my own post on the subject.

All you need is...

• fabric, cut into 2 1/2 x 45 or 60 inches long

• marbles {you can buy a bag at the dollar store}

Equipment

•  ruler
• scissors
• sewing machine

1. Cut
For a choker or high collar necklace {about 25 in. long}, I cut my strip 45 inches long.
For the longer necklace I sewed several strips together to make a tube 60 inches long.
This may seem really long, but once you start tying knots, it shortens up quite a bit.

2. Sew
First, if you are sewing strips together length wise,
sew these first, right sides together.

Next fold your piece in half length wise (right sides together) and sew up the edge
using a 1/4 inch seam.

3. Turn
Turn your tube right side out.

4. Stuff and Knot
Put in your marbles and tie knots after each one.
 Experiment with the spacing between marbles and knots.
Be sure to leave enough fabric on either end to tie your necklace around your neck.

This necklace was done just by tying knots right after each marble, close together.

This necklace was done by leaving a gap in between the marble and the knots on either side.
The next marble was tied tightly, followed by another marble with loose knots on either side.

I really like how this changed up the look.
I even made a bracelet to match!
{Recognize those clothes? It is this refashioned outfit!}

On my third necklace, I tied it the same as above, but made it longer,
and only added marbles and knots to the bottom half.
I LOVE that silky, multicolored fabric, it makes a great necklace!

After making my own, I helped my little sister make one too,

which she proceeded to wear both night and day (no kidding, she slept in it!) for probably a month.

She loved it so much, she made one as a Christmas gift for her best friend!

 How about you?
Have you tried this Pinterest project yet?

In case you haven't,
consider this your official nudge in the ribs.

DIY Decoupage Trunk Recovery

Today,
I'm going to share with you the wonder of decoupage.
This is a super easy method for prettfying things, and it has soooo many applications {ha!}.

My victim candidate was a set of miniature, floral patterned trunks.

I think they are made out of thin, pressed cardboard??
Not really sure, but this process works on wood and metal as well.

After having them in my possession since I was a tween, I decided they needed an upgrade. 

Granted, I did this project about four years ago, so I don't really have process pictures.
That makes this the first post in my month long Throwback series!
 

 Although this is mid process, you can see what the trunks looked like before.

Not pretty.

Don't worry, 

dollar store wrapping paper to the rescue!!

What You Need:

glue {regular Elmer's school glue}

water

wrapping paper

small brush 

scissors

Step One: Clean

Start with a clean surface by wiping down the item you plan to recover with a damp rag

Step Two: Mix

In a cup or dish, mix together enough glue and water to make a spreadable mix...think paint consistency.

Step Three: Cut and Paste

Work in small sections at a time.

First 'paint' a section with your glue mixture,

tear up pieces of wrapping paper and stick to your pasted area.
Paste over with glue again, tear more pieces of paper and stick them on, overlapping each other.
The key here being sure to have a layer of glue underneath the overlapping paper
and on the surface you are sticking them to.

Keep repeating that process until you get all the way around,

being sure to seal your paper down with a good coat of glue paste.

For the Bottom

You can either do the bottom in pieces of paper like you did the rest of the trunk,

or you could cut one, solid piece and lay it over the bottom.

The option is up to you and what you want!
{In my opinion, the solid piece looks better, but is trickier to do.}

Hinges & Handles

If you can take your hardware off, great!
But if not, just trace and cut your paper piece to fit snugly around them as best you can.

And that is it!

Simple, simple!

Now they look bright and cheery...so much better than before!

What do you think?
Does this give you any ideas for decoupage projects of your own?

Hand Painted Thriftstore Mugs...Fail?

 Give a girl two thrifted mugs.

Two painter pens.

40 minutes.

And what do you get?

T H E S E!

 Free-hand, one of a kind painted mugs!

Believe it or not, I took pictures of flowers on our shower curtain and referred to them for inspiration!

Pretty darling, huh?

Now...I need to make a confession.

These were done a long time ago.

How long you ask...errmmm...last November?!

Why the long wait to share?

Well, it is kind of a half success/half fail project, 

and I don't like sharing things with you unless I have it figured out!

So actually, I'm coming to you for help!

Here is the situation.

Originally I was going to paint these using the infamous colored sharpie method from Pinterest.

However, after doing some research, I found lots of failed sharpie projects.
The poor dears put so much time and effort into beautifully, detailed designs
only to discover it scratched right off, even after baking.

I like to make my own mistakes, but I have no problem learning from those of others,

so I decided to go another route.

At Wal-Mart I purchased two Painters Brand Opaque Paint Markers, 

one medium-point blue and the other metallic silver in fine point.
Truthfully, I couldn't tell a difference in the applicator size and wish they had been smaller.

I found the points too big to do small, fine detail work.

Though I took another route, I'm sorry to say that I ended up in the same predicament as
the failed Sharpie gals. Even after baking my mugs twice, the design scratches off with my fingernail!

My poor, drooping heart!

Upon some investigation I discovered that these were acrylic paint pens.
The pens themselves were not labeled anywhere saying acrylic, I only found that out by visiting the product website and reading up on them.

Acrylic = non permanent, not food safe as is.

 This is where I need your help.
I want to preserve my designs if I can, but I still want to keep them food-safe. 

In this wide, wonderful wold of crafters, I'm hoping one of you can give me some hard earned knowledge from hands-on-experience as to how I can fix and improve upon this situation!

Is there something food safe I can coat these with?

What sort of paints should I use in the future that are food safe but permanent? 

I would love to do more painted ceramic projects, 

it was quite addicting and the results are so rewarding!

There are dozens of ideas floating around in my head (and some on my Pinterest boards).
Colored paint, colored mugs, stencils, sayings, verses...so many designs, so many possibilities! 

DIY Embroidery Hoop Earring Keeper

In a burst of creative inspiration, last week I gathered some craft supplies
I had on hand and created this cute and easy Embroidery Hoop Earring Keeper!

When you have so many pretty earrings, why not display them in an equally functional
and decorative manner! 


Including the drying time for paint, I was able to whip this up in probably an hour's time!
Do you want to know how I made it?
I'll show you!

You Need:

Embroidery hoop, medium size range

Jute string

Paint

Brush 

Scissors

 

Paint your wooden embroidery hoop

the color of your choosing.

I painted the outer and inner hoops different colors for an extra pop of contrast.

If you are feeling adventurous, paint a little design on the outer portion of your hoop
where it will be visible.

A few swirly scrolls with some four petal flowers scattered over it looks great.

Then just to add more pop, I scattered some bright red dots and filled in some of the flower petals.

Begin to fasten your lengths of jute to the inner hoop.

I found the best way to secure the twine was by

wrapping it around itself and pulling it toward you.

By doing this it pulls the twine to the fore front of the hoop frame which will work best

when hanging your earrings.

This method doesn't actually secure the twine very tight,

the tightening is accomplished when you put the outer hoop on top and tighten it up.

I found when I made knots, they were too bulky and the outer hoop didn't slip over them,
so this is the method that worked best for me.
If this seems confusing or isn't working, just find a method that works for you.

Once you have the twine lengths tied on where you want them,
{I advise you hang some of your longest earrings from them to get the spacing right}

put the outer hoop on and pull each end of twine as tight as it will go.

Now tighten the outer hoop.

Once everything is tightened, snip the excess twine ends

 And, you're done!

Hammer a nail, and hang your new earring keeper!

Wanna know what sparked my sudden burst of creativity?

My dear friend and fellow blogger, Aspen aka The Texas Rebel Girl,

made me one of her awesome mathom keepers!!

 S E E?!

Isn't that just awesome?!

Made from chicken wire, sticks and jute twine, this piece is a great way to 

hang and display not only your jewelry, but also paper memos and various mementos as well!

I love it so much!

If you want to know how to make one, you can read Aspen's DIY blog post here!

I have found it so much easier getting ready
when I can quickly see the jewelry choices in front of me.
Not to mention I rediscovered some pieces
that had fallen out of circulation because they were buried under all the rest!

I hope you give this easy project a try!
It makes life a little easier...and a lot prettier.

DIY White Chocolate Butterfly Pattern

So remember me telling you in my Cake Mania post
how I decided not to itemize everything I made?
Weeelllll....I just couldn't help doing a special post on these white chocolate butterflies!Sorry if you are getting tired of seeing them.
I'm just a little excited about how they turned out!



You guys,
I want you to make these!
Believe me, these aren't hard, they look more intimidating than they really are.
You don't have to be an artist,
and when you are done they will look so impressive and you'll feel like a rock star!

I'm not even kidding.
I totally and unashamedly flashed these in the face of everyone who came into the kitchen,
like a cat with its dead mouse...only people didn't run away and scream.

The original link, with good instructional pictures can be found here.
 But let me brake it down for you:

WHAT YOU NEED:
White almond bark or chocolate
ziplock bag
parchment paper
glass measuring cup with pouring spout
scissors

What To Do

1. Trace your butterfly onto the back of a piece of parchment paper.
Fold the paper in half, creasing the butterfly right up the middle- this will help create the folded wing effect.
{At the bottom of this post, I have included some butterfly designs that I used for tracing.}

2. Melt your chocolate in the microwave, then pour it into your ziplock bag.
It is important that you let the chocolate cool so it doesn't come gushing out and make a runny design.
{Read this post about working with melted chocolate.}

3. Making sure your traced design is on the back of the parchment paper, snip a small corner section of your chocolate filled ziplock bag and begin tracing out your butterfly design.
Following the lines you traced, hold your piping end just above the parchment paper and let the chocolate
gently 'fall', rather than resting the tip directly on the paper.
It works better if you do the outline first, then do the lines and details inside the wing.

4. Once finished, place the butterfly between the open pages of a large book and cool in the fridge.

 

All that is left is to wait...then carefully slide your butterfly off the parchment paper,
put it on your cake, and dazzle your guests!
 

 Here are some butterfly designs to print out and trace.
I used the first two pictures for my designs, and both looked great!

Above picture courtesy of We Lived Happily Ever After, from the original chocolate butterfly post.

 

The above design would be great for beginners who are daunted by the detail in the other two designs.
The way you would work this butterfly is to trace around the entire outline, 
then fill everything else in with chocolate, leaving the holes in the wings blank. 
Results would be a more solid looking butterfly, not quite as delicate and breakable as the other two.

I hope this helps and inspires some of y'all!
Go forth, and let your creativity take flight!

Melted Chocolate Design Garnish: Tips & Tricks from a Beginner

Today I want to share with you some tips I figured out 'the hard way' (no pun intended)

when creating design garnishes from melted chocolate.

  
1. Use almond bark
 I'm not sure how important this one really is, but I read that it hardens better than chocolate chips.

Not to mention you can buy it in large quantities and it is cheaper than the equivalent amount of chocolate.
You can use the traditional white almond bark
(and add food coloring for colored chocolate!) or the chocolate version.

2. Melt your chocolate in a measuring cup with a pouring spout.

This came in very handy. Melt your chocolate in a microwave safe measuring glass, and as soon as it is melted, pour it into your awaiting bag. At this stage it will be really runny, so it will pour easily.
You can use a pastry or icing bag, or- like I did- a regular old ziplock bag.

Here is the number one and most important thing I discovered...

3. Let your chocolate cool before you work with it!

This is the key to success with detailed designs like these chocolate butterflies.

As you can see, the butterfly on the left is crisp, delicate, clean and more detailed. 

While the butterfly on the right looks 'melted', with thick, chunky lines and indistinct details.

This is the difference sufficiently cooled chocolate makes!

Butterfly number two was made when the chocolate was still very warm. 

Even with a small hole cut into the corner of my bag, the chocolate came gushing out too fast to control, 

and instead of 'falling' to the parchment paper gently, it pooled. 

Stick your chocolate filled bag into the fridge for a while,

until it has cooled and reached a squishy, not liquid, consistency when you squeeze the bag.

I wouldn't recommend popping it into the freezer though- the dredges of chocolate that are stuck to the side of the bag will harden completely, while the bulk of the chocolate will still be runny.
This uneven cooling creates clumps and makes it harder to work with.

When your chocolate has reached the right consistency, as you begin to gently squeeze the bag,  

don't actually rest the tip on the surface of the parchment or wax paper, instead hold the piping tip a little above the surface and let the chocolate 'fall' onto the paper, like working with a small rope.

4. Interconnect your chocolate designs, don't make them too thin and wispy.

Do you see those adorable little galaxy looking swirls in my picture?

And those back and forth zig-zaggy designs in the other shot?

 Well, every single one of those broke. 

There was a flaw in there designs, they were too spread out and not connected in enough places to have ample stability. If I had done the same designs only thicker, then it might have worked.

So keep this in mind when creating your designs.

5. Cool on completely flat surface in the fridge or freezer

I made the accident of laying one large parchment sheet of these still-soft garnishes across varying heights of food stuff in our fridge: the result, some of the designs were raised, crinkled and warped because they were soft enough to move with the indentations caused in the parchment paper.
A flat cooling surface is best. 

 6. Tracing Tips

If you are working from a drawing or printed design,

I highly recommend tracing that design on the back of your parchment paper, 

and then simply following those lines when you pipe your design.

If you just put your printed design underneath the parchment paper, it can slip around and create

a small tragedy by messing up the chocolate when you go to reposition the outline.

Do yourself a favor and take a little extra time to trace your drawing on the back of the parchment paper.

While 'drawing' your designs, try to keep the stream of chocolate constant,
the less starting and stopping you have, the smoother the end result.

B E   C R E A T I V E!!

Use your imagination to create fun designs and shapes.

Draw inspiration from sources around you.

You can also create words and lettering using this method,

but again, make sure your line is thick enough so your letters won't break on you.

 A little bit of detail can go a long way in bringing your sweet creations up a notch! 

So, there you have it! Just a little bit of experience that I want to pass on to y'all!
Now give it a try yourself!