Category Archives: Crafts

Still Rockin’ Around the Advent Tree

This is part 2 of the Advent calendar ornaments.  You can find the tree instructions here and instructions for the other 12 ornaments here.

POINSETTIA

Scissors, leaves, 10 red petal shapes, pearls beads, red thread, thin gold ribbon, hot glue

Whip stitch the petals together.

Sew a pearl to the petal

Sew the petals together.

Notice that the flower is still very floppy.

Cut 2 small green squares.

Glue the leaves to a green square.

Cover the stems with the other green square.

Glue the gold loop to a petal. Glue the green squares with leaves to the back of the flower. This will also provide support to the floppy flower. The center needed something extra, so I glued a flower bead and a pearl.

CANDLE

White and red ribbon, white thread, leaves, 2 white candle shapes. 2 flame shapes, small poinsettia, thin gold ribbon, scissors, hot glue

Glue the gold loop to the corner of the candle. Whip stitch the candle and the flame shapes.

Glue the red and white ribbon around the candle.

Glue a tiny piece of gold ribbon to be the wick. Glue the flame to the wick and candle. Glue the small poinsettia to the bottom of the candle.

PRESENT

Scissors, 2 rectangles, blue thread, snowflake ribbon, thin gold ribbon, hot glue

Glue the gold loop to the corner of the present. Whip stitch the present together.

Glue the snowflake ribbon to the present.

Cut out 5 small pieces of ribbon.

Sew the piece into a loop.

Attach the next loop so they slightly overlap.

Attach all the loops to make a flat gift bow. It will be a little loose. But they will be glued to the present, so no worries.

Glue a rhinestone to the middle of the bow, and glue the bow to the present.

REINDEER

Red thread, brown thread, black thread, thin gold ribbon, 4 ear shapes, 2 head shapes, 2 eyes, 2 eye balls, 1 red nose, brown pipe cleaner, scissors, hot glue

Cut the pipe cleaner in half, and twist them into 2 antlers. Whip stitch the ears together. Glue the eyes and nose to the head. Sew on the mouth.

Sew the 2 heads together, but leave a hole on the top for the gold loop and the antlers.

Glue on the antlers and the gold loop.

SLEIGH

Hot glue, thin gold ribbon, red thread, green thread, 2 red sleigh shapes, green sleigh bottoms (skis? rails? whatever), scissors

Whip stitch the green sleigh bottom parts. When sewing the long rail, leave the middle open to attach the little legs.

Glue the legs into the long rail.

Glue the gold loop to the front of the sleigh. Whip stitch the sleigh, but leave a hole on the bottom for the legs.

Glue on the legs, and also a few sequins to give it more bling.

SNOWFLAKE
This snowflake gave me a hell of a time.  It pissed me off, even though it was my own stupid fault.

Scissors, white thread, blue thread, snowflake points, hot glue

I whip stitched the points together.

So in between the last photo and this photo, what you don’t see is me assembling the entire snowflake and all pleased with my work. And then I realize that I made a star, not a snowflake. Stupid me forgot that a snowflake has 6 points, not 5. So I carefully tore apart the whole snowflake to redo it. Here, you can see the 5 finished points and the last point that needs to be sewn and bling’d.

I have 2 small white squares glued together. Then I glued each snowflake point to the square.

Snowflake, take 2

SNOWMAN

Scissors, hot glue, 4 mitten shapes, 2 black beads, 2 hat shapes, small white pompom, 2 medium snowball shapes, 2 large snowball shapes, 1 flower button, 2 carrot shapes, red thread, black thread, orange thread, white thread, light green thread, dark green thread

Glue the thin gold loop to the top of the hat, and whip stitch the hat together. Sew the black bead eyeballs to a medium snowball. Sew the flower button to the large snowball. Whip stitch the mittens and nose together.

Glue the pompom to the top of the hat. Glue the carrot nose and a mouth to the head. Whip stitch the medium snowballs and the large snowballs together.

Glue the hat to the head, and mittens to the body.

STAR

Gold thread, thin gold ribbon, 2 large star shapes, 2 smaller star shapes, scissors, hot glue

Glue the gold loop to the tip of the large star. Whip stitch the large star and the smaller star.

Glue the smaller star behind the large star. I added some bling to the center.

STOCKING

Polka dotted ribbon, thin gold ribbon, 2 stocking shapes, 2 heel shapes, 2 toe shapes, sequins, scissors, hot glue

Whip stitch the heel shapes and the toe shapes. Glue them to the stocking. This is a double sided ornament.

Glue the gold loop to the corner of the stocking. Whip stitch the stocking together, but leave the top open.

Glue the ribbon across the top of the stocking. Glue the opening together.

CHRISTMAS TREE

2 tree shapes, 2 trunks, sequins, green thread, brown thread, scissors, hot glue, thin gold ribbon

Whip stitch the trunk together. Glue the gold loop to the top of the tree, and whip stitch the tree together. Leave a hole on the bottom for the trunk.

Glue the trunk into the bottom of the tree. Glue sequins to decorate the tree.

CHRISTMAS WREATH

2 green donuts, thin gold ribbon, sequins, green thread, scissors, hot glue

Glue the gold loop to the circle. Whip stitch the donuts together.

Decorate the wreath with sequins.

OooOoo! OoOoreOoo!

My daughter’s birthday is right before Halloween, and she will be celebrating it at her school.  That means bringing some kind of treat to share with the kids.  She didn’t get to help me make Oreo poké balls a couple of weeks ago, and she keeps asking to make some with me.  So I decided to make Halloween Oreos with her for her birthday.  I hit up Michaels and Target for cake decorations, candy, and more candy melts.  I was a little late in the Halloween shopping game, so pickings were slim.  However, good thing is everything at Michaels was 60% off.  I also happened to have a big box of Oreos from Costco because they were on sale last month.  Woot!

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I got black, white, and orange candy melts.  I heated them up using low power and in 30 second intervals.  If you want the entire melting experience, check out my Oreo poké ball post.  Since I was covering the entire cookie this time, I dunked the whole thing into my bowl of melted candy.  I used a spoon and a fork to get it all covered, and shook off the excess before putting it on wax paper to dry.

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My daughter had a lot of fun decorating the cookies.  Her cookies turned out to be more Halloween Candy Oreos than Halloween Oreos.

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I got to decorate some too.

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I Choose…ALL Of Yoummnomnom

I wanted to venture into making something Pokémon related that did not involve felt.  And I wanted to be able to eat it.  I’ve seen many photos and videos of edible poké balls, so I decided to try my hand at making Oreo poké balls.

I figured that it would be an easy project.  Just dip the cookies in candy melts, put some edible decorations on them.  Voilà!

However, things are not always as easy as they seem.  I looked up how to use candy melts, just in case.  Turns out, it is a little more complicated then just melting them down into colorful goo.  From the many forums and FAQs and how to’s, it looks like a huge problem is just getting those blasted little discs to melt properly.  Which seems rather odd since the whole point of them is that they are easy to melt, and easy to use.  But, those little unhealthy circles were indeed finicky little POS’s.  Thanks to the many sites I read, I think I did ok for my first time.

I wanted to make regular poké balls and great balls.  I got a pack of Oreos, a bag of white, red, and blue candy melts, Crisco, red fruit roll ups, and white candy pearls.

Note: Roughly half a bag of white candy was enough for the entire packet of Oreos.  A little more than 1/3 of the bag of red candy was enough for 2 rows of cookies.  Roughly 1/4 of the bag of blue candy was enough for 1 row of cookies.

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I could have melted the candy using a double boiler, but I didn’t feel like messing with hot steam, and potentially seizing the candy.  Warning: If any water or any water based liquid touches the melted candy, it will seize, aka, turn into a lumpy mess.

I decided to go the microwave route.  This is a rather tedious process because you can’t just use brute force and use your microwave’s full power to blast the candy into submission.

I poured red melts into a bowl.  I microwaved it in 30 second intervals.  I started at power level 5.  After each 30 second session, I would stir the candy.  I lost count of how long it took, but the red candy took maybe 4-5 minutes.  As the candy melted more, I turned the power level down to 4, and then down to 3.  Apparently the melting time and process can vary depending on the brand of candy melts, the color of candy melts, the microwave, the temperature of the candy, etc.

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After the candy melted, I added a spoonful of Crisco.  This is supposed to thin out the candy and make it easier to use.  So between microwaving, stirring, and mixing in Crisco, I finally got it to a good consistency.  Here’s a tip I read:  use a long and narrow receptacle for the melted candy for easier dipping.  I only had regular bowls, so as I neared the end of the candy, it became more difficult for the cookies to get enough coverage from the remaining shallow puddle of red.

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I dipped almost half of the cookie into the red candy.  I shook off the excess, then set it on wax paper on a baking sheet.

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I was impatient, so I stuck the tray in the fridge for a few minutes, so they would dry even faster.  They dried pretty quickly, I left the tray in for 20-30 minutes, and they were good.

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I melted the white candy melts, and dipped the other side of the cookie.  I had a latex glove on so the heat from my fingers would not melt the red part.  Plus, it’s a good thing because that red color stained.  Then I used a chopstick to dab a bit of candy in the middle.  That worked as glue for my pearls.

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For my great balls, I got red fruit roll up for the red stripes on the ball.  However, I was all health conscious (I don’t know why, since I was pouring Crisco, sugar, and artificial colors all over cookies with unknown creamy filling).  I picked up a box of organic fruit strips, and they looked bright red on the box.  BUT…they were more old bloody scab colored…  Next time, I will stick with the old fashioned, artificially colored Fruit by the Foot.  So anyways, I cut the fruit strips into tiny silo shapes.

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I melted down the blue candy, but I was not happy with the color.  I’ll have to look around for a more suitable shade of blue candy.  Even after adding white candy to lighten the color, they were still a much darker blue than I wanted.  If I was making Cookie Monster, this would be a great blue to use.  Oooh, idea for next time!  I stuck the fruit strip pieces on the blue while they were still wet.

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My not so great, great balls.  They do taste great though.

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Poké balls

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To store, I layered them in a container.  I separated the layers with the wax paper I used for drying.

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I Feel Pretty and Witty and Bright!

A few weeks ago, I made Halloween flower hair clips for my daughter.  They are very cute, but this barrette is for you ladies who prefer something more elegant for that Halloween (or any) party.

Elsa’s braid needed some extra sparkle that her snow flakes just could not provide.  Now she is ready to shine at the party.  The barrette looks a bit big on her, but she is only 3 feet tall, so her head is on the smaller side.  Yes, there is a 3 foot tall Elsa living in my home.

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I have here a 2.25″ barrette, black satin ribbon, a gemstone ribbon that looks a little like a chain, beading string, beads, glue gun, and scissors.

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I don’t know why barrettes have those 2 holes on the ends, but they were perfect for a couple of strands of beads.  First I looped a beading string through one of the holes, and used pliers to attach a crimp bead.  Oops, I forgot pliers and crimp beads in my supplies photo.  Well, a crimp bead isn’t really necessary, but I have a bunch, so I used it.

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I picked my bling for my double stranded…I guess you can call it a hair chain.  I secured the end of the chain with another crimp bead.  Then I tied the string to the other hole on the barrette.

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I glued a strip of black satin ribbon to the barrette.

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I glued a strip of the gemstone ribbon to the black ribbon.

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I cut eight 1″ pieces of black ribbon, eight 1.5″ pieces of black ribbon, and eight 2″ pieces of black ribbon.  I dabbed a tiny bit of Fray Check on the ends of the ribbon.

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I sewed the ribbons into a loopy flower.  Oops, I forgot the needle, thread, and Fray Check in my supplies photo too.  I need to stop slacking.  Anyways, unlike the flower I made for my daughter, this flower has 3 layers, and it is a single color.

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I finished the flower and glued a gem to the center.  Then I glued the flower to the barrette.

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A beautiful accessory to add a touch of sparkle to your braid, bun, chignon, ok I suck at hair, those are the only hairstyle names I can think of right now.  Basically, YOUR HAIR WILL LOOK PRETTY.

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Bippity Boppity Boohoo…I Tried

Last year, my mom’s friend moved to a different state, and she left behind a lot of her furniture.  My mom decided to take her dining room set, because, why not?  A free dining set.  Unfortunately they were relics from an era long gone, and I’m not talking about something you show off at the Antique Roadshow.

Maybe a few decades ago, this was the shit design and color to have, but to me, it just looks like shit.  My insincere apologies if you are a fan of this look.  My mom would not get rid of this set, much to the dismay and annoyance of the rest of my family.  As a compromise, I offered to give it a makeover.

I have never tried working with furniture before, so I did some research.  I wanted to change the back of the chairs, but I did not have the skills or time to do anything drastic, so I settled with repainting them.  I also decided to reupholster the cushions, and add more padding to them.  I mean, what I really wanted to do, was completely replace this set with a new set.  But, you know, moms.

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I got the OK to do whatever I wanted with the chairs, since just about anything would be an improvement (snicker), so I went with brighter colors.

I unscrewed the old cushions and went to the crafts store to figure out how many yards of fabric to buy.

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Man, that color just had to go.

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I used a screwdriver to pop the old staples out.  Shout out to my friend Susie, who helped me remove the staples.

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I got a staple gun to staple the new fabric to the base.  I added a piece of padding to each cushion.  The white fluff sticking out is the padding.  I didn’t want to breathe in all the dust and bits of who knows what floating in the air from the old fabric, so I got a mask.

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Here is the new and improved cushion next to the old and busted cushion.

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The chairs were easy to reupholster.  The sweaty and messy part was next.  I wanted to paint the chairs a cream color, so I had to first sand off the old wood stain.  It was my first time using a sander, and perhaps I could use more push ups in my life, but that sander was hard on my arms.   I read diy guides where you can sand it by hand, but I can’t even imagine how much time and arm power that would take.  I am glad I had earplugs and a face mask, because it was quite a loud and dusty job.  After I sanded as much as I could handle, I wiped down the chairs with a damp rag.

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I am also new at using spray paint.  I thought it would be easier than using a paintbrush, but I was so wrong.  It took so many freaking layers of spray paint to cover up the wood color, and so many trips back to Home Depot to get more paint.  I would squeeze that blasted paint can button for hours at a time, and my fingers would be stiff and numb for days.  Shout out to my husband for taking over with the spraying when my fingers hurt too much.

It was also a pain in the ass to find a good place to spray paint.  I started off in the garage, but I ended up spraying a fine white mist all over the surrounding items in the garage.  Oops, I felt really bad about that.  I moved the chairs to the driveway, but then I had to fight with the breeze, which kept blowing paint mist everywhere.  AND not to mention the damn bugs and bits of grass and dirt that kept blowing and getting stuck in the paint.  As you can tell, this was a great learning experience…

I have received word from my dad, that my services will be needed to give another old dining set a makeover.  If they want any painting done, I will stick with the old fashioned paint can and brush.

After I finished with the painting, I sprayed on a sealant.

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Once the chairs were dried, the new cushions were screwed back on.

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Here is the finished chair.  It’s still not my ideal dining room chair, but it will do.

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Just Bead It, Bead It

I hoard earrings.  I recently weeded out a bunch of earrings that I’ve held on to since I was in high school.  They were all rusty and discolored, and while they had sentimental value, I had to let them go.  I was also going through my old beading materials, and found all this stuff I’d forgotten about.  I guess at some point I felt the need to buy enough supplies to make myself accessories for a lifetime.  Since I could use more earrings that will rarely get worn, I will show you all an easy earring to make.  Sure you could just pick out a pair at the store.  But it’s pretty fun and thrifty to customize your own earrings, and be able to make several different pairs for the price of one ready to wear pair.  If you bought a bag of beads, you can make a matching necklace or bracelet.  I’ll get to that in a later post.

I have 2 fishhook earwires, 2 head pins (2″), beads, and pliers that have a cutter and a round nose.  I didn’t want to use the entire head pin, so I used the pliers to cut them down to 1.5″.  The craft stores sell head pins of various lengths.

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Slide the beads onto the head pin.

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Use the pliers to make a little loop at the end of the head pin.

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Attach the fishhook before closing the loop.

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It took me 10x longer to pick out the beads than it did to make the earrings.

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Ttttogepiii!

Today, Togepi joined my Pokemon family.

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A year ago, I started working with felt.  I got really into it and made all sorts of things for my daughter.  When Pokemon GO came out, my daughter became obsessed with Pokemon.  I wanted to make her Pokemon so she could train to become a Pokemon Master.

These are all done freehand, so I don’t have patterns to share.   I make things up as I go, so some of my methods might not be very efficient or easy.  Let me know if you have suggestions or tips.

  • I picked out felt that matched Togepi’s colors.  I keep all my felt scraps to use in later projects, that’s why there are no full sheets of felt.  Those teeny tiny bits of leftover felt are great for eyeballs.
  • I have needle and thread to attach pieces and also to embellish the borders of pieces.  It takes longer, but I like how the whipstitch makes the project look more finished.
  • I have my Fray Check to dab on the thread after I knot them.
  • I have my fabric pen in case I need to draw a tricky shape.
  • The tweezers are for really small pieces like eyes and mouths that are too small for my fat fingers to hold and cut at the same time.
  • Make sure your scissors are really sharp, or the felt won’t cut cleanly, and then you’ll get pissed off.
  • I use the glue gun for most of the gluing, but for tiny pieces, I like using the fabric adhesive.  The glue gun is too painful and messy for gluing tiny pieces.

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I double up the felt because just one piece is too flimsy.  Now that my Togepi is finished, I see that I should have either made the shell smaller, or made his spikes wider.  Next time.

  • 2  head pieces
  • 4 arm pieces
  • 4 feet pieces
  • 2 soles
  • 2 happy mouth pieces
  • 2 shells
  • shell designs

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I used the whipstitch to sew 2 arm pieces together to make a thicker arm.

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I first made the black toe line before sewing 2 feet pieces together.  I doubled up the thread so it would look darker.  After sewing the feet together, I hot glued on the soles.

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I sewed the 2 shells together, but I left the jagged end open.  I still used the whipstitch on the jagged side.

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I used the fabric adhesive on the red and blue shell shapes.  I used a toothpick to spread a little bit of adhesive on the shapes.  The fabric adhesive needs to dry for 2-4 hours.

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Here is the front of Togepi’s shell.

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I hot glued the hands and feet onto the shell.

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Before sewing the 2 head pieces together, I first glued on his mouth and sewed on happy eyes.  I also outlined the mouth with thread.

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I whipstitched the head pieces together, but notice that I left both ends open.  For the spiky end, I used a little hot glue across the eye line to attach the 2 sides.  The neck end I just left open since I would be stuffing his neck into the shell anyways.

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Pre-insertion of the head.  I stuffed some fiberfill into the shell to make him more 3-d.

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After inserting his head into the shell, I used a thin line of hot glue to glue the front and back of his head to the shell.

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Loop the Loop

Do you ever walk by accessory stores selling super cute hair clips, and think, for the price of two pairs of clips, you can buy a few materials and make like, 50 clips yourself?  And then, you end up buying the two pairs of clips anyways because it would take too much time and effort to make them yourself.

When my daughter finally started growing more hair, that was really exciting for me.  For the first two years of her life, she looked like a boy, and strangers would always say, “what a sweet boy, he is so cute,” and I would just go with it because I was tired of pointing out that he is a she.  This even happened when she wore dresses, so, whatever, shrug.

So she finally had enough hair for me to do stuff to it.  I happened to have leftover ribbon from other projects, so I tried my hand at making hair clips.  Suddenly, I found myself scouring craft stores for their sale and clearance ribbons, and now I have a lot of ribbon.

A few days ago, I was at Joann’s, and I saw fall themed ribbons on sale, and I couldn’t resist getting a sparkly orange ribbon.  I already had some black ribbon at home, so I decided to make Halloween hair clips.  Here is my model with the finished Halloween flower hair clip.

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I got out my glue gun, scissors, ribbon, 2 alligator hair clips (use clips with no teeth), 2 gems, needle and thread, and Fray Check.  I used a shiny orange ribbon, black satin ribbon, and a thin sparkly black ribbon.  You can use whatever color thread you want since it won’t be seen in the end.  Fray Check is a liquid seam sealant that keeps fabric from fraying.  It’s not necessary, but I get paranoid and like to dab a bit on the ends of the ribbon, just in case.

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The alligator clips are 1.75″ long.  I cut two 6.5″ pieces of shiny orange ribbon, and two 6.5″ pieces of thin sparkly black ribbon.  I dabbed a tiny bit of Fray Check on the ends of the ribbon.

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I used the glue gun to first glue the orange ribbon onto the clip.  The ribbon is long enough to cover the entire outside of the clip, and most of the underside of the clip.  I worked in small sections because the hot glue cools fast and I didn’t want to rush and screw up.  I started from the inside, and worked my way around the clip.

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After I glued on the orange ribbon, I glued the thin black ribbon on top of the orange ribbon.

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Ok, so they look kind of like caterpillars right now.

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I cut sixteen 1.9″ pieces of orange ribbon, and sixteen 1.5″ pieces of black satin ribbon.  Each flower needs 8 orange and 8 black pieces.  Depending on how big you want your flower to be, you can make these pieces longer or shorter.  I dabbed some Fray Check on each ribbon end.

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I stacked one orange piece with a black piece and went through the center of one end with the needle and thread.

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I stacked the other end of the two pieces and connected the other end with the needle and thread to make a loop.

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I made loops with 8 sets of orange and black pieces.  See where I’m going with this?

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After I finished making the 8th loop, I tied a knot at the end of the thread and cut the extra off.

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I used the glue gun to connect the ends of the first and last loops.  Fluff the loops out if they got squished.  Then I glued a gem to the middle of the flower.

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Glue the finished flower to the hair clip.  Now do everything again to make the second flower.

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Yay!  Cute hair clips.  One of these days, I need to get a tripod so I can make video tutorials.  Let me know if you have questions.

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I See Seashells at the Seashore

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I love the Outer Banks, also known as OBX.  I have so many amazing memories of OBX from over the years.  Our trip to OBX was always the most anticipated trip of the summer.  We’d rent a house with friends and family and have ourselves a grand time playing at the beach and eating all day.  I was really sad we couldn’t go this summer.  I looked longingly at photos of past beach trips, and remembered that I actually have a part of the beach here with me.  Literally.

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Every time I went to OBX, I would spend hours looking for shells.  The worthy ones had the honor of coming home with me.  Over the years, many many shells found a home in large ziplocks on my craft supply shelf.  I always told myself that I would do something with them later, but I think I am mostly a shell hoarder.

Last year I bought my daughter a 3″ x 6.5″ x 5″ wooden box from the crafts store.  I kept meaning to decorate it so she could have a treasure box, but obviously I didn’t get around to it.  This was the perfect opportunity to make her a special box that also celebrated our great love for OBX.

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My supplies: hot glue gun, tacky glue, shells, scissors, fabric marker, sheet of felt, ruler, and gloss sealer.

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I wanted to line the box with felt so any treasures inside don’t rattle around and break.  I measured the inside of the box and used the fabric marker to mark the felt for cutting.  I like using the fabric marker because the marks will wipe off easily with a damp cloth.  Make sure your scissors are very sharp or else the felt won’t cut cleanly and you’ll end up with a mangled mess.  I actually just got my scissors sharpened at Joann’s the other day, so I was quite excited to slice through the fabric so effortlessly.  I ended up with 2 pieces that were 1.75″ x 5.75″, 2 pieces that were 1.75″ x 4.5″, and 1 piece that was 4.5″ x 5.75″.  Do a test run and make sure the pieces fit before you glue.

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I used the hot glue gun for the felt.  I found it easier to put the side of the box I was gluing, down on the table, and glue the box instead of the felt.  Hot glue dries very quickly, so don’t dilly dally, or you’ll have hard clumps on the wood that you’ll need to peel off and redo.

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Now for the fun part.  Decorate the box with pretty shells!  If you want to be even fancier, you can also use mini flat marbles, gems, and sea glass.

I used tacky glue for the shells.  The flatter the shell, the easier for it to stay stuck on the box.  I had to reject many a shell, because they were too curved, and there wasn’t as much surface area to glue onto the box.  I didn’t want shells that would pop off easily.  After you finish gluing one side, let it dry for about 30 minutes.  It won’t be completely dry, but it should be dry enough for you to rotate the box and work on another side.  If shells start to slide around, turn it back and let it dry some more before you work on another side.

When I got to the side that opens, I used a thin rubber band to hold the lid and the base together and just shifted the band around to glue shells.

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After I finished with the shells, I let it sit overnight to dry completely.   Here is my finished box before spraying with a gloss sealer.

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While the sealer isn’t necessary, it does give the shells that freshly washed out of the ocean on a sun soaked beach glow.  I took the box outside and put it on cardboard and sprayed on 4 thin layers.  Make sure you check the breeze.  I got a face full of sealer and my hair got all sticky and the fumes were nasty.  Your box will be ready after sitting overnight.  I actually don’t know how long it takes for the sealer to completely dry, but overnight is probably a safe bet.

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Wish I could be, part of that world.

One more thing: I made this seashell picture frame last year with shells from OBX.  The frame is from a crafts store and comes with 3 sheets of clear plastic instead of glass.  I first spread a thin layer of Mod Podge on the wood with a brush.  Then I sprinkled a layer of sand and shook off the extra.  Yes, I also brought a bucket of sand home.  I didn’t put sand on the treasure box since the box will be handled a lot, and sand might come off and make a mess.  After the Mod Podge dried, I glued on shells.  Once the glue dried, I used the gloss sealer to finish.

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