Showing posts with label Ornament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ornament. Show all posts

November 5, 2014

DIY ∙Pottery Barn∙ Mercury Glass Ornaments


Are you getting ready for the holiday season? It seems to come earlier and earlier each year! Last year I remember complaining that stores were parallel processing, selling Thanksgiving and Christmas decor at the same time. But this year I saw Christmas ornaments in one isle and Halloween candy in the next!   Now I am scrambling to get our Christmas shopping started, I mean, if they can do it, I guess I can, too.

December 23, 2013

DIY Glitter Glass Ornaments


Tis the season to be jolly! And Merry! And Cheery! 
All my life I have found happiness in Christmas. I think many of you probably feel the exact same way. I remember when I was a little girl, my father would take the entire family to the church and we'd listen to the Christmas message and learn about Christ. I would practically explode with anticipation as Santa would finish the night with presents and candy. It was so magical and though commercialism has saturated the market, the magic is still there. You just have to look for it in ways that bring it alive. 

December 21, 2013

DIY Silver Lace Ornament


Holy cow- I just barely got out our Christmas cards today! I feel like I'm running on a treadmill to catch up with the Christmas preparation, but I'm not making much progress. So I'll make this short and sweet. I made these silver ornaments by wrapping lace around an ornament and then spray painting it all silver. 

December 19, 2013

DIY Nativity Scene Glass Ornament

from Gardners 2 Bergers

Yesterday was my and Zack's anniversary! We celebrated by taking finals for like eight hours- how romantic... Actually, after working on tests we went to our favorite restaurant, Cheesecake Factory and then my darling hubby let me shop at Home Goods AND Ikea. 

December 16, 2013

DIY Snow Ball Ornaments

from Gardners 2 Bergers

Did you get a chance to link up your Instagram profile at the Instagram Hop? Make sure you do, so you and I can all get linked up on Instagram!

Last year I was in the first year of my MBA program, so basically every type of crafting was put on hold. [Which is sort of like a DIY-ers torture.] Incidentally, we are heading into finally and I am dying for Christmas break!! Buuuuut the year before before school, when I ruled my life and not them, I made 5 or 6 different types of ornaments. Then, this year, I've done the same. Which means I'll be posting them all throughout this and next week! 

December 13, 2013

Framing your Christmas Cards


So, I freaking love Christmas. I love the smells, the lights, the glitter, the ornaments, and the sparkles. You know what I hate? 
I hate thousands of cards littering my fridge door. I especially hate when I close the door and they all fall down and scatter on my kitchen floor. I also hate that some slip under the stove, never to be seen again. I saw this DIY project on TV, where someone put all their pics in a frame, so I thought I'd give it a go. It has alleviated some my cluttered card burden and brought the cheer back to my merry heart. 

December 9, 2013

DIY Stained Glass Ornaments
[Transparent & Opaque]



Christmas is here, bringing good cheer! Merry... Merry... Merry Christmas! I've been making myself merry by staining my own christmas ornaments. I'm not sure if many of you know how to stain glass bulbs, but these are quite easy to do. I wanted something to match my color scheme or blues and greens, which isn't always the easiest to find. That's why the DIY ornament is a perfect solution. 

January 5, 2012

Polymer Clay Skeleton Keys [Tutorial]

Let me start with a disclaimer...I am in no way a clay artist or professional, or whatsoever. But I am happy to share what I've learned with those of you who've asked me to!!
I basically picked up some clay because, well,  I live in Utah and there aren't any rockin antique stores around here {that I've found, anyway} and I don't want to pay Ebay prices for a key.
But then this little key appeared on Pinterest and I had to at least try to make my own.

For this project you need polymer clay, I bought a tiny package of Sculpey for $2 something at Joann's. With this teeny, tiny bit of clay I was able to make 6 skeleton keys.
Why 6? Well, I made 3 for my Christmas tree but was too busy to make a tutorial, or take any pics while I did it. I think I was doing something like 15 projects that day. Anywho- I made 3 more keys so I could show you all how super, duper easy it is.
Here are some of the images I used to select the skeleton keys I made.
I helped mucho to have an idea of what I needed to do.

First- The clay came perforated into 4 sections. I took one of the sections and rolled it out with my hand. My hand worked better than a little rolling pin because it warmed up the clay and helped keep it from cracking. One section can be rolled out into a long "snake" which I split the into roughly three pieces and cut it with a sharp and thin knife to keep from will "mooshing" the clay and instead make a clean cut. These three pieces form the "shank" of the three keys. {PS I had to actually Google these terms for keys- like seriously- "shank", say what?}
Second- Making the teeth of the keys. When you cut the shafts down to size, keep the extra and use it for the teeth.  Cut the little pieces of clay to the size you want, then cut them in half, length-wise. {See the third pic in a row, up above} Then lay them on top of the shank. Keep building them up to mimic the look of a key.


Third- Create the top of the key. I mimicked the shapes for the tops of the key without using any special tools. I stuck to a few knives, a screwdriver, and also I used the end of a pen to punch out circle shapes.
Fourth- I used a second block of clay to roll out some more snake -like pieces of clay to use for embellishments. I referred back to my inspiration keys a lot for these parts. Using a mixture of rounded embellishments and then others I flattened. Just let your imagination go.

Fifth- Getting ready to bake the keys. Preheat your oven for the directed temperature. I think each clay needs a different temp and amount of time. Placing the keys on parchment paper is recommended.
With polymer clay what you see when you put it into the oven is what it will look like when it comes out. So you want to make sure the shaft of the keys are perfectly straight for baking, the lines are straight and fingerprints are smoothed out.

Fifth- Bake it!


Now that they're all done, I sorta want to paint them!
If I could do anything differently, I would get a true white clay. Mine is  like a cream with some sparkles and shine in it. Now I am undecided whether to spray them white or oil rubbed bronze {although I DO like the look of clay- I think they look kind of sweet}.

Either way the clay is so easy to work with, you guys would find it a breeze to make something simple like keys! Thanks for stopping by!