Archives for September 2014

Contessa EauCrafty

September 23, 2014 by Contessa EauCrafty Leave a Comment

Growing up as an only child, I learned early how to entertain myself. Imagination was the key to my entertainment. With the help of my imaginary friends and my steadfast pets, I could go anywhere and be anything I could dream up. As I grew up and had to become ‘responsible’ I never lost the thrill of turning every day items into something special.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been collecting ‘stuff’ that I thought was unique and could make into something awesome – some day, when I had time.

I stored it in boxes and baskets and when the boxes and baskets became cumbersome, I opened up a spare room to use as my craft room – some day, when I had time.

I lined the closet in that room with shelves and loaded my boxes and baskets onto those shelves and when that over flowed, I installed cabinets and a countertop to use as a workspace – some day, when I had time.

Over 40 years ago I married a man (Husband) who is Organized, Unimaginative, Sensible, Extremely Methodical And Tremendously Enduring. Hence forth referred to as HOUSEMATE. Opposites really do attract!

Every time I would bring home another ‘treasure’ or I pick up an unusual rock or stick during one of our travel adventures, HOUSEMATE would ask, “what do you intend to do with that?” My reply would almost always be “I don’t know yet, but isn’t it cool?” causing HOUSEMATE to shake his head and sigh.

We still live in the house we built with our own hands 40 years ago in a small rural town in Indiana. I love this town of approximately 1500 people, 275 pigs and 36 cows. There used to be a flashing stop light in town, but it burned out and now we have just a 4-way stop. Approximately 12 miles from most anything, I get to use my super power of turning nothing into something quite often.

Son and Daughter are both grown and long ago moved to the big city to seek their fortunes, We fill our empty nest with fuzzy kids. They are, in order of acquisition; Fuzzy Feline 1 – a very large black and white tuxedo cat who rules the kingdom, Fuzzy Feline 2 – a Beautiful and sassy blue Persian female, Fuzzy Feline 3 – a large and lazy cream Persian Male (and my best buddy), Fuzzy Feline 4 -a sweet calico Persian female and one Big Black Dog. All of whom assist me with my projects (regardless of if I need the help or not)

HOUSEMATE and I have had many great adventures in our lifetime, and as we head quickly toward retirement, are looking forward to many more.

The things I found at yard sales, clearance sales at the craft store, ‘stuff’ I found on vacation, ‘stuff’ people gave me, scraps from past projects and a large assortment of glue guns are all stored in my craft room, ready to become something awesome and it’s finally SOME DAY!

So Dear Readers, let’s see just where our imaginations can take us and how much awesome stuff we can create on this blog. I welcome and look forward to your comments, ideas and queries.

Imaginations HO!

Contessa

I Found My Marbles!

September 23, 2014 by Contessa EauCrafty Leave a Comment

One day while perusing my favorite ‘ junque’ supply shop. I came across a bag of big blue shiny marbles – for 99 cents!

Noting my excitement, HOUSEMATE asked “What did you find?”

“This!” I replied, holding up my prize, eyes now as shiny as the marbles.

“What are you going to do with it?” He asked skeptically.

“I don’t know yet, but aren’t they cool?”

‘Sigh”

The marbles went into my new bag of treasures and joined my already overflowing stash in a box in my craft room.

So as I am creating this month’s ‘Ode to Grapes’ I am thinking of things I can turn in to wine and grape themed treasures. What looks more like a grape than big blue shiny marbles!?!

Now where did I put them? My storage system gives HOUSEMATE nightmares, but after just a little digging, I found the bag and began looking for a way to make them awesome. With a stick Big Black Dog gleaned from our front yard, some of the leaves from my $1.00 leaf vine, some scrap pieces of wired raffia and of course, some Hot hot glue, I began.

Start with a base of three marbles, gluing them together with a good amount of glue. Then attach the stick to the center of the base. Start gluing more marbles in place as you move up the stick, rotating the bunch as you add them. Your artistic eye will tell you where to put them. Once you have a nice looking cluster, wind some wired raffia around a small paint brush handle to make vines. attach them wherever you think looks best for your cluster. Add some leaves and VOILA! a lovely accent piece.

Happy Creating!

Contessa

Wine Glass Charms using Corks

September 23, 2014 by Contessa EauCrafty Leave a Comment

Every wine bottle has a cork, so what are we to do with all those cute little things lying around? You could collect them in a cute little container, but where is the adventure in that?

I decided to make wine glass charms with them. I chose a light new type cork and an old-fashioned natural one. Here is what you will need:

Corks, slicer, jewelry pins, top rings to fit around the glass stem, industrial strength glue, tiny pliers, deco-podge medium. decorations of your choice. I have a vast collection of tiny shells that I scavenged from a beach in Kauai. You should have seen HOUSEMATE’s face when my luggage was inspected as we boarded the plane and my suitcase was full of shells and sand! These are something I treasure, so it seemed only natural to use them. I had other decorations in my scrap box, pearls from a broken necklace, beach theme scrap-book pieces, etc.

I attempted to slice the corks using a knife, but it was a lot of work and the slices didn’t come out uniform, so I got out my meat slicer and set it to 1/4 inch. Of course you MUST use the guard to avoid injury, but the corks sliced nicely into about 6 pieces each. They are not perfect, but that only makes them uniquely hand-made.

Work a jewelry pin down through the cork. This was a little tough because the pins wanted to bend, but I found that if I started a small hole with a tiny nail and then used my tiny pliers to push the pin from the top edge about a quarter of an inch at a time, I could get them in place rather quickly. The slices probably won’t be completely uniform. so start from the narrowest edge and work them down into the wider edge. ( Experience point: don’t push too hard or too fast, these pins can bend and come out the side into your finger!)

Once the pin is through, pull it all the way to the top with your pliers. Insert a bead or pearl onto the pin and pull it up to the bottom of the cork slice. cut the pin off at the bottom so you have just enough left to curl up the end and hold the pearl or bead in place.

No good sheller worth their salt doesn’t have some extra sand she’s collected, so I chose to use some of that in my creation also. I used an industrial strength glue to be sure to hold my treasures fast to the cork. I applied a good layer of glue to one side of the cork and then pressed the glued side into the sand. while still wet, I used more glue to attach some shells and other decorations to the sand. Let this all dry well – at least over night.

After the charms were good and dry, I coated the top with a good coat of mod podge and allowed that to dry well. It gave them a shiny finish and also some protection.

Now you know, your friends are all going to want some of these, so you will probably want to make several sets. You are limited only by your imagination. I did a second set using the natural cork. I used stamp pads to add some fall colors to them in random patterns, then attached some tiny wooden hearts. I used some pretty wire wrapped beads from an old broken necklace for the bottom. Other ideas – I had some tiny jingle bells that could be used as dangles and do the cork slices in a Christmas theme. Tiny flowers and scrap-book sized lady bugs for the dangles would be great for a gardener. If you have a regular group of friends who meet for wine, how about using scrapbook letters of your choice to make each person an initialed charm of their own.

Check out the rest of the site for other wine craft ideas and send me some comments and pictures about your own creations.

Contessa

Party Lights from Soda Bottles

September 23, 2014 by Contessa EauCrafty 2 Comments

Party Lights from Soda Bottles

After a hard day of blogging and crafting, I was sitting on my deck contemplating the bean field, talking to Big Black Dog and drinking a soda. Did you know those plastic cola bottles have some really cute designs in them? Hmmm…

Here is what you will need; about 6 soda bottles depending on how many lights you want, some type of saw to cut the necks off the bottles, a string of indoor/outdoor mini lights, craft knife, scissors, deco-podge medium, food coloring, paint brush and of course, hot glue.

Taking my soda bottle back inside, I tried cutting off the top portion (where the cap screws on) with a knife. That was way too much work as these bottles are particularly thick at the top and on the very bottom. I got out my electric carving knife and it worked quite well at cutting off the tops of the bottles, keep turning the bottle as you cut and apply steady pressure. About this time HOUSEMATE entered the kitchen. I think he might have been a little concerned about what was on the supper menu, because he asked his all time favorite question; ‘What are you doing?” Well, it seemed perfectly obvious to me, but I obliged him with and answer, “I’m cutting up soda bottles” After 40 years, you’d think he’d learn, but he went ahead and asked his next favorite question “Why?” Again, I thought it should be obvious, but I answered “I’m gonnna make something.” “Oh…Sigh.”

Once you get the neck off the bottles, they are easily cut with scissors or a craft knife. Make the first two cuts with a craft knife where I’ve indicated with the lines, the top where the top of the label would be and the bottom at the narrowest part.

Next with your scissors, cut up into the indentions in the top portion, rounding the bottom edges and forming long petals. Cut a small sliver in between each petal. the bottle will actually guide you where to cut. Only cut up about an inch and a half between each petal.

Then cut the bottom portion, first cutting off the bottom just at the line that appears just above the bumps on the bottom of the bottle. Then round out up into the bumps to make more petal shapes.

Then, from the smooth middle section, cut two leaf shapes.

I used deco-podge medium colored with a few drops of food coloring and applied a thick layer to the inside of the pieces. I used yellow for the bottom portion and orange for the bumpy portion and of course, green for the leaves. It is quite easy to mix this, pour a little medium into a small sealable jar, drop in about 5 drops of food color, put on the lid and shake. If you don’t use it all, it will stay fresh for other projects if sealed tightly. I used a soft flat paint brush and dabbed on the medium rather than trying to stroke it on. The great thing about this medium, is it is self smoothing. Allow all the pieces to dry overnight. when dry they will be clear.

The next step is to put a hole in the center of the bumpy piece where you will insert the light. I tried drilling, but had little luck with such a tough slick surface, so I pulled out a soldering rod and an OLD tip (experience note – DO NOT use HOUSEMATE”S new soldering gun and tip). once the tip is heated , just insert it into the center top of the bumpy part and melt a hole large enough to insert an indoor/outdoor mini light.

Assemble the flowers by running a bead of low temp hot glue around the top of the yellow piece and attaching it to the center of the bumpy piece. Now your pieces are beginning to look like flowers.

Next, determine how you want your pieces to be displayed on the light cord. It worked out that I made six flower pieces and that was just enough to evenly distribute on the light cord by using every third light.

Insert the mini light into the top of the orange bumpy piece. just the light part, leaving the green top piece out at the top and secure it with some more low temp hot glue. Next glue the leaves to the top in front of the light where is comes out of the top of the flower. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this step)

Now you have a lovely string of flower party lights for your next outdoor (or indoor) party!

I’m sure there are dozens more designs you can come up with for party lights. I hope you will share them with us.

Imaginations Ho!

Contessa

Wine Bottle Lights

September 23, 2014 by Contessa EauCrafty 2 Comments

Wine is a very hot commodity right now, both drinking and for crafting. New wineries are popping up almost weekly and with that – lots of bottles, corks and other grape themed items. Lights from wine bottles are one of my favorite things to make. I’ve seen them in shops and on line for sale, but I thought I could make them prettier and cheaper. There are as many design possibilities as there are wine bottle shapes and colors. This is what you will need;

bottle of choice, decorations of choice, ceramic drill bits and drill, small lights and HOT glue. The low temp glue you get at the craft store will not hold glass on glass, so you need the HOT kind that smokes when it comes out of the gun. I purchase mine at the hardware store. (Experience point: Be very careful this glue will blister your skin on contact and can create serious burns if you are careless)

Drilling bottles will take some patience and generally two people. Even with practice,
HOUSEMATE and I have a successful drilling rate of about 60%. You must start with a small bit, go slow and keep the bottle wet. Once you get a small hole through the bottle, graduate to the next size bit and repeat the process until you have a hole large enough to insert lights. (Experience Point: Tiny battery powered lights are a little more expensive, but they are much smaller, thus a smaller hole is required and less chance of breakage and less time drilling. The battery power also gives you the option of placing the light anywhere you wish and is not dictated by a plug.)

I roll a towel from both ends so it makes a cradle for the bottle. HOUSEMATE drills and I drop water onto the drill site using a straw and water. Make sure you are drilling above the bottom of the bottle, some bottles have concave bottoms and you will want to be sure your hole is above the highest point. Make sure you drill a hole large enough for the light and wire to fit through easily. (experience point: even though the first light fits in through the hole, the second requires a larger space for the extra wire)

Once you have a hole the size you need, you can clean the bottle, and remove any unwanted labels. (Experience point: drill the bottles first, removing labels takes some time and if you break the bottle during the drilling process, you’ve not wasted your time, and you will have to clean the bottle again after the drilling.) To remove the labels, soak the whole bottle in water, scrape labels once they are softened and then clean with an adhesive remover gel. Wash the bottles again in soapy water to make sure all the gel is off and make sure you clean the dust from drilling from the inside of the bottle. I use an old wire from a large silk flower stem, wrap some paper towel around the end making a kind of cleaning wand. Tape the paper towel in place and you can insert it into the neck of the bottle and it helps clean and dry the inside of the bottle. You want to make sure your bottle is completely dry inside before you insert the lights.

Turn your bottle upside down to insert the lights, this will keep them from bunching up at the bottom. (Experience point: make sure you check your lights prior to inserting them to make sure they work so you won’t have to take them out. They are harder to get out than they are to get in) Once all the lights are inside, turn the bottle over. You will want to adjust the placement of the lights. Again, I use an old wire from a large silk flower stem with a slight crook and the end to insert into the bottle neck and pull the lights up. you can help your lights stay in place by attaching one to the lip of the bottle with a very small amount of glue.

Now for the fun part – Decorating your bottle. Dust off your imagination and decide how you want to decorate. I chose some flat marbles available at the craft store. I found several bags on sale in a variety of colors. HOUSEMATE suggests washing the marbles first to make sure they are free of any substance from the factory and allowing for better adhesion to the bottle. For this particular green bottle, I chose some greenish yellow gems. Decide where you want the point of your decoration to be and place a drop of hot glue there. press the marble in place and hold for a few seconds until the glue starts to harden. Then, one by one, place the marbles onto the bottle. I like the grape cluster theme for my bottles, but you can decorate any way you like. Glue in the base layer first and then start adding additional layers as your creative inner self dictates. Hot glue is going to string, don’t worry about it, once finished and the glue is cool, you can pull them off as well as remove any unwanted glue runs.

When your gems are placed to your satisfaction, add some leaves (I found a whole vine at a yard sale for $1) You can complete the décor any way you like. I use raffia to wrap the bottle neck and sometimes the bottom of the bottle. You can add personalized labels created on your computer or by hand. I’ve given many of these to friends and they seem to like that I personalize them further by etching their initial into the bottle.

I use a die cut machine and plain old contact paper to make stencils to etch initials. You can get glass etching gel at the craft store. Follow the manufacturer’s direction for etching.

For clear glass bottles, I like to etch the entire bottle, making it appear to be frosted. you can use adhesive pieces to block the etching and make designs or patterns on the bottle. At the top of the page, notice the frosted bottle. there is a design in the front that allows candle light to show through and at the top and bottom I used a piece of lace to make a lace pattern around the top and bottom of the bottle.

Broken Bottles can still be made into something beautiful if the break is not too bad. I take a bottle cutter that I got at the craft store and cut off the bottom of the bottle above the break. Sand down the edge, decorate as you like and sit the bottle over a votive candle. This makes a lovely light for your dinner table. (Experience point: the bottle does get hot if left over a burning candle for too long – use caution when removing the bottle from the candle)

Other Ideas – How beautiful would it be to use full bottles of wine at a wedding table, remove the label, create a personalized one honoring the bride and groom’s special day and then decorate it according to their wedding theme colors. In the picture at the top of this page, that is what I did with the black and white bottle and the red one.

Enjoy your new wine bottle light, and check out the rest of the site for other wine craft ideas. Send me some pictures of your own creations!

Contessa

More Cork Crafts

September 23, 2014 by Contessa EauCrafty Leave a Comment

Still more corks lying around, begging to become something awesome. My favorite saying, Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much comes to mind. Why not incorporate this into a display using three Champaign corks in my collection.

For this project you will need: Three similar corks, small magnets, polymer clay, acrylic paint and small paint brush, sparkly nail polish, printable paper and of course hot glue. Low temp glue will do fine with this project.

Starting with the clay, shape your decoration. In keeping with this month’s theme of Ode to Wine, I chose to make grape clusters. I made several small balls of clay and about 6 grape leaf shapes. Assembled them into grape clusters and baked them according to the manufacturer’s direction. Once baked and cooled, paint them with the small brush in the color of your choice. I used a deep purple and green. After this paint had dried, I decided I wanted my grape clusters to be very special, so I added a coat of sparkly nail polish.

While you wait on your grapes to dry, you can begin preparing the cork. Since I used Champaign corks, the tops are rounded and the bottoms are a cone shape. Using a sharp knife, trim a small slice off the top back of each cork, making a flat edge to attach your magnets. I of course, save all kinds of magnets and I just happened to have a piece about 1 and 1/2 inches long that I cut into three pieces. Make sure the magnets are big enough to support your cork and its decorations on the fridge, but small enough that they don’t show from the front. Self adhesive magnets that come in rolls from the craft store will work well if you don’t have any just lying around, but the self adhesive will not stick to the cork, so these must be glued in place.

At this point, I must tell you that while I was trimming the corks, I had my hot glue gun heating up on the table. Fuzzy Feline 3 jumped up on the table to inspect my work. He gave me a couple of head boops to show his approval and promptly curled up next to my project on the table for a nap. When I reached for my glue gun to attach the magnets, I noticed that Fuzzy Feline 3 was fast asleep with his tail in the puddle of glue that dripped from the glue gun and was now firmly attached to the table. Not to worry, I simply reached over and snipped off the glued fur with my trusty scissors, moved his tail and the glue gun and he didn’t even wake up. So far he hasn’t noticed that his beautiful bushy tail has a hunk of hair missing, and I don’t intend to tell him.

Anyway. . . Once you have the magnets attached, use your computer to design some labels that will fit around the base of your corks. You can get quite creative with these using scrapbook paper, or plain white. I used a page of mailing labels, with a small design in them and then chose my font and color to match my grape clusters. You can put any words or decorations on the labels you like. Glue the labels in place at the base of the cork, the attach your decorations to the top part using hot glue for all.

There you have it, a proud display for your fridge, hand made by you! I hope you will send me some pictures of the designs you make!

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much,

Contessa

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Archives for September 2014

Contessa EauCrafty

I Found My Marbles!

Wine Glass Charms using Corks

Party Lights from Soda Bottles

Wine Bottle Lights

More Cork Crafts