A Day at the Beach for Mom

Okay, so maybe you can't take your Mom to the beach but you can bring the beach to her for Mother's Day. I found the instructions to make this here.

Materials:

beach glass

16 gauge wire

24 gauge wire

metal charm (optional)

gel super glue (optional)

Tools:

wire clippers

needle nose pliers

I wish I could tell you that I picked up this glass on some exotic beach, but I bought a bag of beach glass at my local Dollar Tree store in the flower arranging section. Measure around the perimeter of your glass and cut three pieces of wire about 4 inches longer. Cut four pieces of wire, the same gauge as the big wires or smaller, about 3 inches long. Bundle the three long wires together and wrap the center snugly 3 or 4 times with one of the shorter wires. Snip off the ends of the short wire and tuck them in.
Wrap two of the other short wires midway on either side of the glass as shown. Lay the glass on a hard surface and bend the wire around the circumference. Wrap the forth short wire around all six wires. No need to clip this wire yet as this may be a temporary wrap.
Bend the top wire over the glass as shown. You may need the help of needle nose pliers for this step.
Turn the glass over and repeat on the back. If necessary, readjust the middle wire so that it fits around the outside. The glass is now captured between the wires.
You may keep your temporary top wrap or remove it and wrap one of the free wires around the others to hold them in place. Spiral four of the six wires and arrange them around the top of the pendant. I shortened a few of the wires before I spiraled them for variety.
Cut off all but about 1 1/2" of the remaining 2 wires and wrap them towards the back of the pendant using your needle nose pliers. This will form the bail to allow the pendant to be attached to a chain.
You may embellish your necklace further by glueing a metal charm (available in the jewelry department of your local craft store or the scrapbook aisle) to the front of the glass with gel super glue.

Below are several smaller pendants made the same way with a smaller gauge wire and irregular shaped glass.

See You in the Funny Papers

When I bought Perfect Paper Mosaics by Susan Seymour available here I knew I had to make something that recycled my old newspapers, one comic strip at a time, for Earth Day.

Materials:

masonite board (or foam core, wood, chipboard)

black acrylic paint

Sunday funnies

black poster board

glue stick

white glue

mirror mastic (optional)

small mirror

Mod Podge

varnish

or

thick clear glaze (Diamond Glaze, Crystal Glaze, Glazed Dimensions)

Tools:

paint brush

old credit card

square paper punch (or scissors)

brayer or piece of plexiglass

Glue funnies to a piece of black poster board. Smooth down with an old credit card (hotel key was used here). Punch or cut out squares.

Position the mirror where you want, on a piece of masonite that has been painted black. Make a light pencil sketch around the mirror and remove. Glue on the funny paper squares with white glue. I paint the glue on the masonite, let it almost dry, then stick the paper down. Leave a tiny gap around each square. The squares will curl up a bit. I found that I could flatten them out by rolling them with an acrylic brayer (roller). The author suggests using a piece of plexiglass and weighting it for a few minutes with cans from your pantry.

Glue the mirror onto the board. As mine already had a flocked backing, I was able to use plain white (Elmer's) glue. If you just have the silvered backing you might want to use a mirror mastic so that the glue won't eat through the backing causing strange looking blobs. Then either use thin pieces of wood, or in my case, cut 1/4" wide pieces of matboard and paint them black. Glue the slats around the mirror and the outside edges for a finishing touch.

The author recommends that you seal the paper with decoupage medium (Mod Podge) then several coats of varnish. I used a clear glaze (this one was called Glazed Dimensions) directly to the paper. It's prudent to test your sealer and/or finish first before slathering it all over your project. This tends to eliminate the "oh no" moments we crafters know so well.

Egg Crate

Lovely box with a damaged top. What to do? Cover it with cracked eggs shells - what else? I love this look that mimics old ivory. Besides, now you know what to do with all of those old Easter egg shells.

Materials:

wooden box

black acrylic paint

egg shells

white glue

clear nail polish

Tools:

brush

wooden skewer

tweezers

Remove the membrane from egg shells. This is a fussy activity best done in front of TV.

Paint the top of the box black. Let dry.
Brush on white glue. Place a piece of egg shell on the glue and push down with the skewer to crack the shell. Learn from my mistake - this is too much glue. I spent a lot of time wiping excess glue out of the cracks.
Use tweezers to fill in any large gaps with small pieces of shell.
After the glue dries, dilute black paint with water and brush over the shells. Wipe off with a paper towel while the paint is still wet.

When dry, use clear nail polish to seal and protect. This is my new favorite sealer. It's cheap, dries super fast and is very glossy. No one objects to the smell. They think that I'm finally doing the girly thing - painting my nails. Fools.

Bird's Nest Earrings

If you want to give your favorite chick (you?) a pair of earrings for Easter, follow these directions.

Materials:

24 gauge beading wire (Michael's)

6 oval pearls

earring posts or wires

E-6000 glue (for posts)

Tools:

small needle nose pliers

Cut one piece of wire 18" long.

Cut 5 pieces 5 " long.

Gather the shorter wires and wrap the longer wire 2 or 3 times around the middle of the bundle.
Spread the spines out like a spider. Since you need an odd number of spines, take one spine and weave it around the others. Tuck the end inside the nest using needles nose pliers if necessary.
Begin weaving over and under with the long wire. When you have a base about the size of a penny, bend the spines up and pull slightly while you weave to make a bowl shape.
When the nest looks about right ( or you run out of long wire) cut off the end of the long wire and tuck it into the inside of the nest. Then start weaving the spines around each other; one at a time. Wrap the end of the weaving spine around one of the upright ones and tuck inside. Take a spine opposite the last one and weave it. Repeat until you only have two spines left.
Thread 3 pearls onto the remaining spines. Twist them together near the pearls, but leave a little slack. Thread the wires through the bottom of the nest. Pull and arrange the pearls in a pleasing manner. Twist the wires and tread them back into the nest. Cut off the ends and tuck the wires out of sight.
Glue posts onto the backs with E-6000 glue or hang the nests from earring wires. Get ready for the Easter Parade.

Lamb Tails

Where oh where have your little lamb tails gone? Probably to someone's Easter basket. Make this fun Easter goodie with an empty jar and marshmallows.

Materials:

empty jar

large marshmallows

white copy paper or sticker paper

double stick tape (optional)

Download Lamb Tails label here. Print (on either copy paper or sticker paper), cut out and stick to jar full of marshmallows.

Easter Egg Seeds

Here is a fun play on Easter food. Easter Egg Seeds made from Tic Tacs.

Materials:

white Tic Tacs

white cardstock

double sided tape

Download Easter Egg Seeds label here. Print, cut out label and tape it around Tic Tac label. Tuck one in your favorite Easter Egg basket.

Bunny Rabbit Tails

Tired of jelly beans for Easter? Try Bunny Rabbit Tails. Here is the perfect way to inject a little humor into your Easter celebration.

Materials:

miniature marshmallows

cellophane bag (available at Wal-Mart, Michael's and Target)

white cardstock

Tools:

Stapler

Download Bunny Tails label here. Print, cut out label, fold in half and staple onto cellophane bag of miniature marshmallows.