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Showing posts from November, 2013

Alcohol Ink Glass Ornaments

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Last week I watched a  video from Ranger  (the folks who make alcohol inks) of a project where you drip ink into a glass ornament and then spray it around with a can of air.  It looked easy and fun, so I thought I'd give it a try! If you want to try it out too, you'll need: alcohol inks, glass ornaments, and a  can of air with a straw on the nozzle. Start out with your plain glass ornaments. Drip 3-5 drops of alcohol ink into the ornament. You can then swirl it around a bit if you'd like, or you can just stick the straw from the can of air into the ornament and spray and see what happens. You get something that looks like the pink ornament above once you've blown it around with the air. I left the pink one alone for a few minutes while I worked on a second ornament so that I could let the pink ink dry a bit and not mix quite as much with the next color I put in the ornament. Then I layered the ink until the inside was covered. I end

Crafting Revisit: Alcohol Ink Coasters

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The first time I decorated tile  coasters with alcohol ink , I had just started using alcohol inks--I was a total newbie.  I had read a tutorial online that just dripped the ink on the coasters and mixed with rubbing alcohol, so I gave that a try.  It turned out well enough (though not like the example photos) to encourage me to play with the inks more.  After  making my own applicator  (because I'm too cheap to buy the  real one ), I learned how much quicker and easier applying these inks could be.  So I thought I'd revisit decorating ceramic tiles to make coasters--this time using an applicator. So this time I took out my homemade applicator and dripped on the alcohol ink. I used all 6 different colors (because that's what's in my current stash--I have the  Nature Walk   and   Farmer's Market   sets). You can squeeze multiple drops in one spot or single drops all over. The "blotches" you'll get will change a bit in size. Once you

Washi Tape Pencils

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A few weeks ago I spotted a cute craft that I knew I needed to try: Washi Tape Pencils! They looked quick, easy, and cute--that's my kind of craft.  So I picked out some smooth round hardwood pencils from my stash of office supplies (What, you don't have a stash of office supplies?  Well then these are the ones I used .) Next, I picked out some washi tape from my collection that I thought would cover well enough that you wouldn't see the black of the pencil (or the printed logo on the side of the pencil) through the tape.  I then stuck the tape along the metal eraser edge of the pencil and ran the tape down to the end, being careful to center the pencil in the middle of the tape as I went so it wouldn't go on crooked. I trimmed the tape off with my scissors.  Then I smoothed the tape onto the pencil and repeated the process on the opposite side. When I was done I had a covered pencil.  Cute for jazzing up any office pen cup and putting a smile on your

Paper Strip Pumpkins

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Just in time for Thanksgiving decor--out with the jack-o-lanterns and spiders and in with the pumpkins and gourds--I made some paper strip pumpkins.  I read a few different tutorials for these online (even one from Martha Stewart ), but I ended up adjusting the instructions slightly to minimize the amount of paper needed.   To create two large pumpkins and four small pumpkins you will need: 2 orange 12 x 12 sheets of scrap book paper 1 sheet of green scrap book paper (for the leaves--an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet or some scraps should work) 12 metal brads two green pipe cleaners one paper lunch sack hot glue gun Cut your 12 x12 sheets of orange paper into 7/8 inch thick strips.  The first piece of paper I chose had an ombre effect that took the pattern from yellow to dark orange (so it looks like different piece of paper--but it was all cut from the same sheet).   You should end up with 14 strips of paper.  Cut the strips into 8 inch pieces with 4 inch pieces lefto