Dia de los Muertos Skull

So I'm having a pumpkin carving party next month, and the theme is Day of the Dead. I've been scouring my favorite websites and local stores to find clever party supplies and decor. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I found these online:

They are a set of Jewel Eye Skulls from the Los Muertos collection at World Market. Adorable, right? Well, I visited my local World Market to get a better look at these babies, and was disappointed to find that they're made of foam. From the looks of the picture I was expecting solid plastic, maybe ceramic if I was lucky, but nope, foam. Well, I wasn't about to pay $20 for something that would blow away if I turned my ceiling fan on too high. 

Luckily, my local Dollar Tree had these:

These are 6-inch, hollow plastic skulls. The one I bought had a little better paint job, but it was still your basic cheap, not scary. blow-molded plastic skull. But it was only a dollar, and I had a plan. You know me. I always think, "Why should I buy something when I can make it for less?" 

My next step was to purchase a 40-pack of 18mm acrylic jewels from Walmart for $2.50. I had all the paint I needed at home, including black and antique white acrylic paints, as well as a can of Rustoleum black primer for plastics and some Rustoleum spray-on clear enamel. I gave my Dollar Tree skull a good coat of primer:

Then I went to work on the details with a fine-tipped brush and my acrylic paint. Once that was dry, I sprayed on my enamel coat to make it shiny. Finally, using a hot glue gun, I added two purple rhinestones. Voila!

Isn't it wonderful? I didn't use quiet the same design as the World Market version, but I think I like this one better. I'm definitely going to make at least one more for my party. I love this one so much I kind of want a whole house full of them, and not just during Halloween, either!

Well, that's all for now. Happy crafting, folks!

Minecraft Birthday Preparations

We're back to talking about birthday parties! This year, my little one wants a Minecraft themed party. Daddy introduced her to "the block game" when she was very small. Since then she's grown to love everything about it.

A Minecraft themed party in some ways is simple because everything in the game is block shaped. However, this type of party presents a challenge because there just isn't that much to be found in the way of themed party supplies. Fortunately for me, I have left over boxes from our recent move to Montana, a color printer, and access to the internet. Lots of creative people have made free printables featuring textures from the game, which allows me to turn ordinary Dollar Tree party favors:

Into Minecraft themed party favors:

Likewise, all it took was some scissors and glue to go from this plain cardboard box:

To these neat table decorations:

For invites, party banners, food placards, and bottle wraps, go here.

Well, I've got a little more in the ideas department here, but I don't want to give it all away at once. In the past, I'd do a GIANT birthday post with all my ideas and pictures shoved in there, but this year I want to do it differently. I'll post a few ideas at a time, and then when party day has come and gone, I will post overall pictures and then link you to the individual idea posts. I figure it'll make things a little less overwhelming in the end. As always if you want to see some Minecraft ideas that may or may not have made the cut, check out my Pinterest Party Ideas board.

Catch you later, friends!

Simple Lamp Update

Hey, guys! It's been a while; life is going great here in our new home. I'm in the process of updating my little one's room; we're transitioning from baby furniture to stuff that I'm hoping she can use into her teen years. Today I started with her lamp. It started out like this:

That is a basic Better Homes and Gardens accent lamp I bought from Walmart a few years back. I new I wanted to make something bright and fun for the little one, so she helped me pick out a fun, light-blue colored spray paint. We chose the Valspar Paint + Primer in One Exotic Sea color in a glossy finish. I taped off all the working parts and sprayed the lamp base in several light coats. While that was drying, I decided to spruce up the plain shade by punching some sparkly, silver stars out of Tulip iron-on transfer sheets and carefully ironing them (low-setting!) to the lampshade. I wasn't sure if the iron-ons would work because of the plastic lining in the shade, but it turned out great, and I didn't melt the shade! Check out the finished product:

Now my girl has a fabulous new lamp to match her sparkly personality!

That's all for today, my friends, but I'm hoping to get back into my regular updates, so check back soon for more fun stuff!

Forming Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers - Part 1

Today, we talk about how I'm making my bow. I'm not finished with it yet, but I thought I'd share the early steps now because yesterday was Earth Day, and this is really a green project.

Originally, I was going to make the Ancient Amani Longbow. Leah doesn't actually have that weapon or its lookalike, the Restrung Voodoo Bow, but it looks nice and "trollish," and I thought it would match my outfit nicely. The more I thought about it, however, the more I was  convinced that I should make my bow Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers. Leah has this weapon in the game, and it holds great sentimental value for me because it is the only pre-Burning Crusade epic she has. I took the time and completed the quest chain to get all the materials needed to create the bow. That was back when all of my real-life friends also played WoW, and I would have never raided Molten Core or Onyxia without them. And I'm so glad I did, because the quest chain isn't available anymore, so I got it while the getting was good. Plus, it really is a gorgeous looking bow. Seriously, follow the link above and then click the "view in 3D" button. You can't really find a weapon like that anymore in the game. Armor and weapons in game now are missing something. Some of the new stuff does look completely bad-ass, but there's something to be said about the elegance of the early epics.

Anyway, with a picture of my bow handy, I took a piece of cardboard and cut out the outlines:

I used a paper towel roll for the handle. Then I began to crumple up old newspapers and attach them with with masking tape to give the bow its basic shape. For added stability, I glued a wooden inside the paper towel roll and attached the other pieces of the bow to it.

This is the basic shape of the bow once all that was finished:

After that was done, I strung the bow to get the curve the way I wanted it. Then I made a glue/water mixture, dunked in newspaper strips, and began layering them on. Once they dry, they'll give the bow a nice rigid structure.

 And that's where I am now, waiting on things to get good and dry. So far, the only materials used have been those I already had lying around the house. So there you are, my green and soon-to-be awesome bow. Stay tuned for Forming Rhok'delar - Part 2!

Update - Forming Rhok'delar - Part 2 now finished!

Poppin' Tags and Fletchin' Arrows

"I'm gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket..." If you haven't heard this song, you need to. This song has become my theme song. Check out the radio edit here:

Why have I made Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" my theme? On my last trip to South Carolina, the mom-in-law and I made a trip to our favorite thrift store, where I scored four over-sized tees for 99 cents each. I altered the first one to make a cinch tee. I also made a skirt, and from there, it kind of snowballed. I made another skirt, then I altered two shirts I already owned, then I made several repairs to torn clothing that had been sitting in my project bin for months. Since then, I've been opening up my Sewing and Fabric Projects board on Pinterest and saying to myself, "What can I do today?" I think refashioning thrift store finds might just be my new hobby.

Ultimately, that's not what I want to tell you about today. In my last post, I promised to tell you about a part of my Halloween costume that's also a Valentine's Day friendly project. I know Valentine's Day is over and this post is way overdue. I apologize for that; life got in the way and I had other things to attend to. On the bright side, if you like this idea, you have a whole year to get it ready before Valentine's rolls around again! As you know, my WoW toon Leah is a hunter, and so my project was making arrows!

I started out by researching various bow hunting supply sites and discovering the average length and thickness of arrows. I then selected dowels from the craft store that were approximately the right thickness and cut them down to size. Then I sawed the nock in the end of the shaft. To make the arrowhead, I simply carved a sharp point with my knife and then smoothed it out with sand paper. I wanted a primitive look, and I thought this would work better than making arrowheads for that purpose.

Next, I looked for a user-friendly tutorial that would help me make realistic fletching for my arrows. I came across an article on primitiveways.com called "Fletching by Hand" that ended up giving me all the information I needed. I didn't follow the instructions to the letter, well, because I never really do. I'm a maverick like that. Besides, all I wanted was the basic idea for making an arrow that looks functional. For my fletching, I picked up some natural colored duck feathers from the craft store, and I split them down the quills with a utility knife. I trimmed them up to the approximate size and shape I wanted, then I used a dab of super glue to help hold the feathers in place while I wrapped them with dental floss. I didn't have any natural sinew, but the dental floss looked enough like it to suffice, so that's what I used. As I wrapped, I dipped my fingers in craft glue and slid the dental floss through them so it would adhere nicely without unraveling. And that's really all there is to it! Check back in the near future for my adventures in quiver making!

Just a couple of things

This week's post will be a fairly short one because we have company. My father-in-law is visiting all the way from sunny San Diego. It's been almost two years since the last time we saw him, so my little one is having quite a nice time with Grandpa.

Most of last week was spent getting ready for company, and that included reorganizing the little one's room to give her more space and better access to her toys. We used to keep all her toys in two big plastic buckets, which was a nightmare. To find anything, she would have to dump everything in the buckets out on the floor. The solution was re-purposing three sets of black, rolling plastic carts with the clear drawers. I had been keeping my craft items in them, but that wasn't working out, so I relocated my crafts to the bookshelves in the hallway. Then I cleaned out the carts and gave them each a coat of brightly-colored spray paint, and then loaded them up with my daughter's toys. Now she can see what's in each drawer, and she has more floor space to play. I can also get into her closet without having to move buckets around too. With my little one's permission, her big buckets now hold my fabric stash and add some cheery color to my craft area.

I also finished up two craft projects that I had been meaning to do. The first was a tin sign that my mother gave me that said, "Laugh" on it. I love metal signs, but I'm not a big fan of the "Live, Laugh, Love" stuff, so I thought I'd give it a new identity. Now it sits on my front porch, and it looks like this:


The first time I saw a sign like this, I laughed my butt off. I decided that I needed one for my house at some point. I like people to be aware when they approach that I have a dog, but I don't feel the need to scare them, because my mutt is not mean. I felt humor would be the best way to counter this, and since I have a cat as well, this sign is perfect.

The other project was fairly simple; it was inspired by all the lovely wrapped vases that can be found on Pinterest these days. I love the rustic, yet elegant look that the twine gives the vase. My vase used to be a Tropicana orange juice jug, but with its awesome shape, I felt it deserved a better fate than being tossed in the recycling bin. So now it's holding pretty fresh flowers on my kitchen table. Not bad for some trash and some twine, huh?

Well, that's it for today. Next week, I'll once again be talking about my Halloween costume, but the subject matter will be somewhat fitting for Valentine's Day. I'll be showing you how to make your own arrows (for decorative purposes, of course)! Stay tuned!

As always, if you're looking for more good ideas you can always follow me on Pinterest.

Quilting

This week, I'm going to talk about my first ever quilting project. A while back, I got the idea in my head that I needed an exercise mat. I'm not really sure why, because I don't actually exercise indoors all that often (I like to walk), and when I do, a towel or blanket on the floor usually works great, but meh, when my mind gets an idea stuck in it, I have a hard time shaking it. However, I knew I didn't want to just go out and buy one, so I decided to go through my fabric bin and see what I could come up with. What I found was an old pair of curtains I made for our NY house that had a light olive green fabric up top and a cream/floral pattern on the bottom. So my mat is recycled. How do you like that? Even my off-white border pieces came from old curtains.

I lost interest in this project for a while, but I'm happy to report that I finally finished it, in time for New Years, even. New yoga routine, here I come!

Here's a pic of the top part all pieced together; I was honestly amazed at how fast it went together.  It took me all of two hours to go from pieces to pinned and ready for quilting. What did take forever, was cutting the pieces out. That was not fun, I'm not gonna lie. But hey, once that was over, it was smooth sailing. Even the quilting went fast, because (shh, don't tell my mother-in-law) I machine quilted it. Now, I had every intention to hand quilt this baby - I bought a quilt hoop and everything! But I had finished my first square and was starting my second when I said to myself, "Why are you doing this by hand? It's just straight lines. You'll get done so much faster if you machine it." And you know what? I was right; it was much faster. I did learn that I can't do quilting on my machine for anything much bigger than this mat, because keeping everything from bunching up would be nigh impossible. And of course, if I do anything other than straight lines, it would be best if I did them by hand, but for now, the quilting is done, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. It's not perfect, but it's good for a first try. 

The final step was binding it all together. I got my bias tape and started stitching, but about 1/3 of the way through, it became blatantly obvious that I didn't know what I was doing. The bias tape wouldn't stop bunching, and even with pins, I sometimes was missing the quilt all together. A quick call to the quilting expert, AKA mom-in-law revealed that I had to hand-stitch the binding, or at least one part of it. Now, all that being said, I still decided to finish the binding the way I started, just so the bad part wouldn't look even worse by comparison. Is that wrong? Even so, my exercise mat turned out pretty nice. Not bad at all for a first attempt. Take a look:

I even added ties so it rolls up!

Frosted Luminaries

There was one decoration that I did for my Pumpkin Party that I didn't talk about in my previous blog. They're frosted glass luminaries, and they can be used for any occasion where you need a little ambient lighting:

Like so.

 All I did was save up some glass jars, wash them, put on some foil star stickers (the kind you get in the office section of your local big box store), and spray on some glass frosting spray. I've seen ideas similar to this floating around on Pinterest, but most of them call for spray paint, and I personally didn't want to use anything so opaque. For my project, I used Krylon Frosted Glass Finish, mainly because it was the only kind my craft store had at the time. Just make sure your jars are good and clean, make sure all that sticky junk that holds the labels on is gone, and follow the instructions on the spray can. These would be great for Christmas, or even a wedding. You can customize your stickers to any shape, or just leave them off entirely. It's a great little upcycling project that takes only minutes to do.

Now, in case you're wondering, the sticky stuff on the jars I used was pretty stubborn. What I did to get it off was remove the label and rub some petroleum jelly on the adhesive. I let it sit for a day or two, then I scraped as much off as I could with a razor. After that, I washed the jar with HOT water and soap. If it didn't all come off after that, I spritzed it with some Pine-Sol and re-washed the jar with hot water and soap. I've also heard you can used peanut butter, rubbing alcohol, or nail-polish remover. Basically, these things are supposed to weaken the adhesive so that it isn't quite so sticky. I tried them all, and the petroleum jelly worked best for me; I only had to use the Pine-Sol a couple of times as a last resort.

I'm proud of how these turned out. I'm going to keep them handy for my next evening porch get-together. Anyway, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more crafty stuff!