Paper clay, it's EASY (but not sleazy)

have you tried paper clay?  i did and i like it!!  

i've had some down in my stash for a long time, but haven't really done very much with it.  gee, i wonder why?  i've only started 794 projects the last 2 years-don't ask how many i've actually  finished, maybe 3?  i'm no expert on paper clay, but i did make some cute little pendants yesterday (and finished them today, 'cause i am a procrastinator extraordinaire!).  i'm just starting to realize all the FUN stuff you can do with this air drying clay.

i made an easy little tutorial to get you started too!

grab: some paper clay (duh!). i used "creative paperclay" it's an 8 oz block that i found at Michael's Arts and Crafts.  also a pasta maker (dedicated to crafts ONLY), some mini rubber stamps, mini cookie cutters, a small bowl of water, paint brush, silver paint and wax paper.  if you don't have a pasta maker for crafts, you can always make 2 equal stacks of playing cards that you can put the clay between and roll out.  stack as many as you need to get the thickness you'd like.  i put my pasta maker on the thickest setting which is kinda thick, but not really.  have i mentioned i got a D- in math every time i took it?

i suggest keeping your clay in a plastic baggie and then down inside a little tupperware thingie. 

 i rolled out my clay then made a light mark with my circle cutter before i stamped so i knew where i was going to put my design.  if you cut the circle 1st then push your stamp into it, you can distort your circle.

 push your stamp down in and gently rock it back and fourth.  if you don't like your 1st stamp, wad it up and re-flatten.

 once you get it cut out, take your finger and dip it in the water then run it around the edge of your pendant to get rid of those little edges (i know, this picture sucks!)

 go see my buddy's blog to see what this amazing girl is doing with paperclay

unusual girl studios

use a pokie thing (i'm technical too) to make a hole in the top.  be careful when you start to move that clay around, you might get some cracks, just use your finger in the water again to smooth it down.

i let mine dry overnight on the wax paper and them got out some silver acrylic paint.

 you can see below how i didn't smooth my clay out real well in the "K" pendant, i should have smoothed it out before i let it dry... easier to fix while it's still damp.  

once the paint dried, i put a little jump ring thru the hole and wrapped a swarovski crystal too, 'cause i'm fancy!

 these really are pretty quick and easy to do, something even your older kids could do (mom of 5, i'm thinking of YOUR girls:).  cute jewelry, gift tags, charms... if you try some, make sure and leave the link in the commets!

i gotta run, mad max 2: the road warrior is on!  happy thursday friends!

Big super duper Giant crepe paper DIY flowers!!

aren't those pretty!?  HOP on over here to see how to make your very own!!

DIY Christmas mirror ornaments

darling and i made these the other night...AT night.... hence, the really icky pictures!  but, disregard the pics and make the easy-peasy ornaments!

Here's what you need:

✪ package of mirrors (easy to find at places like hobby lobby!). for every 2 mirrors, you'll get 1 ornament. the bigger mirrors can be heavy, so if you have a REAL tree (like we do this year) make sure they're not so heavy they pull down your branches.  though hard to believe, i had a whole lunch meat container FULL of different sized mirrors (don't worry, the turkey was gone).

✪ E-6000 glue (hot glue is not good for this craft!)

✪ silver string or fishline or whatever you want to use (we used some silver elastic string)

1.  put some E-6000 on the back of 1 mirror (this stuff smells NASTY)

 2. put a loop down into the glue, smear it around a little to make sure the string gets nice and gluey.

 3. stick the other mirror on and press GENTLY! be a little careful, these ARE glass!  gosh, do i even have to say that? you're smart!! just like those tubes of cream for vaginal yeast infections that warn you not to eat the stuff!  thankfully, they say that as i've often contemplated using it as toothpaste! geesh....

 4. hang on tree!  i find that more is more and more is better in the case of mirror ornaments! i say add so many that people feel like they need a polyester jumpsuit and ABBA playing!

~Merry Christmas~

10 Random Things Friday...

Oh geeesh, i have so much to get done today!!!....

1. i am off to the mall to pick up my packet for the Koman Race for the Cure. 5k tomorrow morning at 8:30.  i love to run these races. what's not to love about waking up at 6 on a saturday, eating a power bar, having the nervous poops, worrying about having to pee (just a little bit) while you run, and race t-shirts! 

2. i watched the movie "As Good As It Gets" yesterday and could NOT quit laughing!! the movie quotes from this movie are PRICELESS!

~ You're a disgrace to depression.~

  ~ You people who talk in metaphors oughta shampoo my crotch.~

                              ~ I'm drowning here, and you're describing the water!~

       ~ Come on in, and try not to ruin everything by being you.~

           ~ I can't do this without you. I'm afraid he might pull the stiff one-eye on me.~

If you haven't seen this movie, get it! but don't watch it with your kids!

3. for $3.74 i changed this (lame table) from this:

 to this:

 4. can you believe i took this picture? i <3 it!!

5. does this happen to you?

 we have this basket right outside our door (in the garage) and seriously, who has time to dig thru that mess to find 2 that match?  ok, i have the time, so perhaps the question should have been "who is too lazy to dig thru this mess to find 2 matching flip flops?"

6. i love these boots

am i too old for these? i think so!

 i LOVE this color! (below)

i believe these are more age appropriate than boots #1.

7. i love this!!!

find it (and other good stuff) here:

snottub

8.

most amazing cupcake EVEAH!

source (it's in DUTCH)

9. cute tutorial from a glove!!

cute, hun?

source: motherbabyearth

10. HAT DRIVE for the kids in China!!

I will be collecting $$ (donate button on TOP left of this blog-ALL $$ goes to hats!) AND hats: handmade or store bought winter hats (NEW only please!!) until 10-31-11

please, please, please consider donating! even a $1 is appreciated!!

Have a great weekend!!

DIY Cupcake Stands from old dishes.

this Sunday,  the mister, darling and I are throwing a 50th wedding anniversary party for my parents!

50 years, no lie!!  they are among the few.

 i ordered "professional" cakes (due to the fact that my mother dropped some pretty obvious hints like "if you order cake, i like clara ____'s cakes".  my mother and her discriminating taste is fodder for another post). i also made SEVERAL mini cupcakes since I really am not sure how many people will show up-YIKES!

I knew i wanted some cute displays for the mini cupcakes but since i didn't have the carpenters from "Cupcake Wars" at my disposal, i went to goodwill.

If you wanna make your own, you're going to need:

1. saucers

2. plates

3. glass candle holders

4. E-600 glue

 these plates happened to have that little lip for the cups, but since they were iridescent, i knew they must be mine!

i found these glass candle holders for .99 each

Step 1: put the glue on the edge of the candle holder and press down onto the plate, let this set up for several hours.  after the plate is set, put glue on the other end of the candle holder and press the saucer into place.  that's it! 

because mine had that "lip", i had to off set my saucers, but i didn't think it made a big difference.

at the party we'll be serving mini cupcakes so i didn't need huge plates, but you could do any size you need.

i think they turned out pretty cute!

If you make some, let me know!!
Get yourself over to my pal Angela's blog for another cool DIY!!  She'll tell you how to do antique a mirror!!
pickles on pizza

**don't forget to go to Tuesday's post and enter my my memories suite 2 software GIVE-AWAY**

Apothecary Jar Bird Nest Tutorial-DIY

I know you're busy putting a bird on it (last Monday's video...) but how about puttin' a bird IN it?!  I love those glass apothecary jars, but some of them can get pretty pricey.  I kept my eyes open and found this one at Michael's for $9.99 plus it was 40% off!  I knew just what I wanted to do with it...

Now this is Easy-Peasy, seriously, it's for "crafty-wanna-bees" (you know who you are!).  Grab yourself a glass container, some green sheet moss, a pre-made wicker nest and some small plastic Easter eggs.

I sprayed the glass with windex to start and noticed the hole in the middle went ALL the way to the bottom on this one... 

Since I didn't want moss falling into the bottom, I took some packing tape, cut it in a circle and put it over the hole.

Then I (actually Darling) put down a layer of sheet moss (you might want to shake some of the "crumbs" off into the trash)

After we put this in, I went back and filled it in a little better so it was more round and filled in the bottom of the bowl better.

We put the nest down inside, put 3 turquoise eggs in and...

THAT'S IT!

Easy AND Cute!

Now....

Go Put a Bird In It!!

Jiggly Jellie Soap...DON'T eat the SOAP!

"She drank up all the water, she ate up all the soap, she tried to eat the bathtub but it wouldn't fit down her throat...." 

I saw this jellie soap tutorial on: YouTube and had to share!!

jellie soap!

 Jellie soaps kind of like the ones LUSH makes... 
shower-jellies by LUSH

(it is NOT the same as LUSH... but it's still fun and easy too!!)

Darling and I made this Monday during her day off/snow day 

(Dear Snow, you are NOT even funny anymore, please go AWAY! Love, chinamommy)

You need: 1 package of UNFLAVORED Knox gelatin (NO cherry, NO blue raspberry, NO orange), *3/4 cup of boiling water, food coloring, 1/2 C body wash (your choice, but I like the shimmer of caress and the fact it says "Cashmere Luxury"!), 1 tsp of iodized salt and a bowl to mix it in and something to use as a mold (a form, not the green fuzzy stuff on cheese!).  Also a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol is good (so is a glass of red wine, but that's to drink, it has NOTHING to do with the recipe!).

 Pour the gelatin in a bowl (yes that mouth is saying "oooooo, is this SUGAR?"

Pour 3/4 of boiling water in the gelatin and mix till it is ALL dissolved!

Then add 1/2 cup of your body wash, mix until it's all blended in.

 Add a drop (or 3) of food coloring, your choice!  Darling chose purple.  After the color is mixed in add the 1 tsp of (regular iodized) salt.  I noticed it took the shine out of my soap at this point...but once it set up it's pretty shimmery again. You can also add some glitter (made for soaps, not craft glitter as it tends to have sharp edges and who wants to explain to the Dr. that you let your kid use soap with sharp glitter in it cause you're all FANCY?!)

 I had my vintage jello tins all laid out but then remembered we had the heart molds, so we used those instead.  I think we'll do another batch and use the tins...

Now, see how bubbly it is?  This is where that little bottle of rubbing alcohol comes in to play! Spritz the bubbles and POOF.... 

 they're gone!!

If you're using a flexible mold like I did (this is from the $2.50 bin at Target), make sure you put the mold on a cookie sheet or something solid BEFORE you pour your soap in!!!   Lesson learned the hard way around here.... story of my life!  Once you have your soup in it's mold (and let me tell you, you can use a plain old glass dish then cut the slices like brownies... Mmmmm, brownies! Doesn't that sound good?) put it in the fridge overnight with a note that reads DO NOT EAT!  IF you live in Michigan, just put it in your garage because we're all lucky like that....Brrr/Grrr!

Let me know if you give this a try!!
**update: I wrote this "ACHOOO" post Monday 'cause I've felt like "ACHOOO", crap! But want to let you know, when we took these out of the mold yesterday they were NOT quite set up! I did another batch using 1/2 cup of water instead of 3/4 and then mixed that with the previous batch. Less water made them much firmer so if you try this, go with a little less water**

(I'm glad these are done just in time for me to resume my obsessive hand washing! I've been sick TWICE already this year and only once last year...ugh!)