Repurpose or Alter an Old Candle Jar and a Soup Can

Hello crafty peeps! I was just thinking about how much I love this time of year and it's about the only time I will pay any attention to television commercials. I think one of my favorite commercials last year was the one put out by Glade with Jordin Sparks singing This is My Wish, Holiday Anthem.  She has a beautiful voice and the song is very uplifting both in its words and notes. I went to Glade's YouTube channel and couldn't find the "Jordin" version anywhere. Kind of weird, but fortunately I found it somewhere else and could listen to it.     I did my Christmas shopping earlier this year so I'm concentrating on finishing up my Christmas cards and doing some projects for small favors and gifts. My daughter's 18th birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks too. December is always a crazy, but exciting month.  
I've got two projects to share with you today. Both were done for the Sketches4ALL 5th Anniversary Challenge Party. If you're interested in an altered/repurposed challenge, I just started one over at S4All today. The challenge will run until December 31st. There are also many other fun challenges from our design team members that are going on right now and an awesome prize for the winner of the 5th Anniversary Challenge Party. So don your creative energy and come on over!   I started out with an empty candle jar for my first project. This particular jar has a nice shape, so I didn't want to cover it all up. It also has a wide and straight area around the center so it was perfect for adding paper to.  

 

 

1. Measure the surface of the jar where you want the paper to cover (find the width and height) and cut your clear cardstock. 

I chose to use the clear cardstock so the light from the candle would show through better than regular craft paper, but either will work. 

2. Emboss your paper.

My cut piece was about 10" long which posed an issue since the embossing folder I wanted to use (Darice - Snowflake) is only 5" long. Then it hit me to just do one end of my vellum and then do the other end. Since the snowflakes of the embossing folder are randomly placed, I could do it in two steps and there is no seam or cut off point. It worked perfectly.

3. Adhere your paper to your jar
I didn't add adhesive all the way around, but instead only along the seam on the back. I chose to use a little Mod Podge, because it dries clear and won't be affected by the heat of a candle-flame like tape or hot glue would be.

4. Embellish the jar.
I chose to use my pine branch die by Impression Obsessions. The pine branch gives a nice holiday touch and is intricate and pretty enough to stand on its own. I like a lot of embellishments, but for this particular project I wanted as much candle light to get through as possible and I didn't want to cover up the pretty embossed snowflakes.

My candle looks so beautiful lit up! In person, the clear cardstock looks just like frosted glass.

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I ran into a problem
After I cut my pine branches I coated them with Tim Holtz Adirondack Silver Mixative, which was a mistake. While I was giving them shape by bending the branches around a knitting needle and fluffing the needles themselves the mixative began to flake off.

I chose the mixative because it's gorgeous and very reflective. I've loved it with other projects, but since it sits on the surface you cannot bend it without losing some of it. I decided not to concern myself, because any white showing just makes my branches look snowy, but I will be careful to stay aware when deciding whether it's the right choice for my next project.

To add more reflectivity and some sparkle I ran two rows of Darice rhinestone mesh around the bottom. I had considered placing ribbon here and it looked nice, but once I had the rhinestones in place there was no question that it was the best choice for this candle.

I also added a bow and a tag that says JOY. I got the sentiment from The Cutting Cafe. 

I love the way it turned out.

  My second project is a tin can that will hold Hershey's Kisses. The colors I used are teal, aqua and brown which break away from colors normally associated with Christmas and winter.

 

Find a can
I raided my recycling bin and found a La Choy Chicken Chow Mein can. The label came off easily after I ran it under hot water for a minute or two and then rubbed it off with my fingers, but the blue tape on this particular can was another story. Fortunately it scraped off of the very top quite easily and I just left the rest because I knew it wouldn't show from under all the layers I would be placing over it.

 

1. Measure the can.
Begin by measuring the circumference of the can and cutting your piece of white craft cardstock to wrap around it. 

2. Emboss your paper.
I needed exactly 12" of cardstock so to make embossing easy I decided to use my 12" Cuttlebug, Polka Dot embossing folder. 
3. Adhere your paper to your can. 
I used tape. 
4. Embellish your can

 How I embellished mine:

This first step was more involved and honestly I'm not sure that I'm going to do it the same way again.

1. Make the trim for the top edge
I cut the edges (the thicker part) off of two colors of burlap. Then I placed them together so I would have a reasonably smooth edge at the top and bottom of the trim line. I got the look that I was after, but it was labor intensive and the hot glue was not kind to my fingers as I struggled to get all the little pieces to stick down. 

2. Wrap burlap around the center of your can.
I wrapped mine so the fibers were at an angle.

3. Color a 4" paper doily.
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass
4. Adhere your doily to the front of your can to frame your label.
5. Print out your sentiment
I got the sentiment from The Cutting Cafe
6. Die cut your label
Spellbinders Card Creator-Reflective Moment die pack.
7. Edge the label with ink
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in the color Vintage Photo. 
8. Add twine to the bottom edge of your white craft cardstock and decorate your lid.

I decorated the top by using another 4" doily that I colored with ink. I also added a snowflake that I got from The Cutting Cafe. It's the same snowflake that I used to make my tag (below).

9. The finishing touch

To finish the edge of the lid of the can as well as the bottom edge of the can I hot glued twine to it. I added a pine cone wrapped in some twine to make lifting the lid off easy. 

This was a very enjoyable project to do because I just went with whatever came to mind at that moment. To be creative in that way is freeing.
I can't wait to put the chocolate kisses in.

Project 1 Supplies List

Project 2 Supplies List

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day :)

  Happy Crafting!

Make Your Own Snowflake Decorations

Hello Everyone!   If you've stopped by for the Sketches4All Challenge Celebration, click here.    Just a quick post while going through my Christmas decorations. I had forgotten all about this and when I was new to crafting and blogging last year it never even dawned on me to share it.      So here is the link to what I had found through Pinterest last November. They were so cute I had to give it a try.   http://www.fabdiy.com/diy-snowflake-popsicle-ornament/

    I decided to do a snowflake theme for my front window. Except for the lit up star, I had done all my decorations in shiny and glittery gold and silver decorations. The popsicle stick snowflakes were so easy to make with just a dab of hot glue on each stick to put them together. Festive and fun!

  Happy Crafting!

My Craft Room Makeover for under $100.00

Hello everyone! 

Wow, I've had a crazy last couple of months, but I'm back and so happy to be able to get back to crafting again and see all of your wonderful projects. 

Scroll down for video

Today I'm sharing my craft room makeover video that takes you through the process (can be found further down this post) as well as a few photos of my finished room. I made a video to avoid making people scroll through a post for the next two weeks. The dramatic reveal moment of the second song makes me laugh every time. Music does wonders. Some of the photos move quickly because they are mostly the smaller projects that were done and can be viewed in previous posts. I still have my chandelier to hang, my floor to polish and an old ceiling to paint eventually, but everything that deals with my crafts is done and in it's place and that is a breath of fresh air. 

I set myself a budget of $100.00 and I'm proud to say that I didn't go over budget.

$$$ Spent

$3.44 can of spray paint
$24.00 cloth storage bins
$16.00 small baskets
$12.99 curtains (cut up to enclose bottoms of shelves and table)
$11.00 satin finish white paint
$12.00 rugs
$3.00 chair
$5.00 chandelier (not hung yet)
$5.00 bag of curtains, clock and miscellaneous small decorations
$7.00 spray paint for chandelier

Total $99.43

 

I wasn't able to finish everything for my craft room makeover such as the painting on the glass of my cabinet and my chandelier is not yet hung, but my room is far enough along to reveal. I'll post the remainder of my projects as I complete them.

Be prepared for an extremely girly room. I love how different it is from the rest of my home which is decorated in earthy tones and has very clean lines. My table skirts make extra storage and can be easily removed and hung back up. I also have enclosed my rubber stamp cabinet that sits on my desk with a curtain, but most of the time it's not hung. I just use it when I have company.

I added a comfortable wing-back recliner chair to my room so I have a corner devoted to relaxation for reading or doing a yarn project. So far one of my girlfriends has made herself comfortable there. I like having somewhere nice for her to sit.

If you have not been happy with your craft room, I hope my project gives you the inspiration you need to make your room, corner, or closet a space that makes you feel good. My craft room makeover was definitely worth the effort.

I would love to hear your ideas of ways you've organized and/or decorated your craft rooms. Please share your ideas in the comments below for other crafters. 

 

Happy crafting!

Easy Way to Make Your Own Shabby Chic Wall Clock

When I was at local yard sales recently, one of the places allowed people to fill a bag for $5.00. After stuffing some material in my bag to make table skirts for my craft room I had a little more room left for a few more things. One of the items I grabbed was a clock. I needed one for my craft room, but I wasn't quite sure what I'd do to make it more appealing. It wasn't a bad looking clock before, it was just too plain and dark for my room. I like the shabby chic appearance much better and it was really easy to do.

 

The first thing I did was take it apart.

Next I painted the two circles pink with acrylic paint.

 I wasn't sure what to do with it next, but while looking around for ideas I found crackle medium in my paint cabinet and decided to give it a try. You just brush it on, over your first dry layer of paint, and then let it dry. The crackle medium is clear, but shiny so it wasn't difficult to tell where to paint and where I had already painted it on.

The result is fabulous and it was fun watching it. The crackle effect began happening right away so I continued to paint the white acrylic paint on quickly. There was no need to be super neat about it. I just tried to apply the paint as evenly as possible without having to go over it too much.

Once I finished applying the white paint I let the clock dry completely for a couple of days before touching it. It's not necessary to leave it alone that long, but it should at least be allowed to dry overnight. Waiting is just to be on the safe side of not ruining the finish as you put it back together and embellish it.

Before I put the clock back together I embellished the inside. I placed gems between the numbers, a pink swirl of gems under the twelve and I hot glued a pearl strand onto the inside edge of the clock face.

Once I was done decorating the inside I put the clock back together and hot glued pearl strands (fake pearl necklaces I bought at yard sales) to the outside of the clock.

Then I made a bow with some hanging ribbon and pearl strands. I tied them together with wire and then hot glued the entire thing onto the bottom of my clock as one piece. Once the glue was dry I hot glued a store bought white flower in the middle to cover the wire.

I always try to keep some handmade flowers available for projects and these flowers were perfect for my clock. I made them using lace and ribbon and just weaved a wire in and out, then gathered the material in a circle and twisted the wire ends together. They were very easy flowers to make and you can use anything for the centers of your flowers.

Here is my clock hanging.

My finished clock turned out gorgeous and it feels good when I check the time to be looking at something that I made.

If your interested in making your own flowers check out
Handmade Flowers

Happy Crafting!

 

Feminine Lampshade Makeover in 4 Steps

Hello everyone!

Today I'm sharing a lampshade makeover that I did by just using items that were already in my craft room. I considered buying a fancy-shaped lampshade that I could add lace, fringe and pearls to embellish, but I like to upcycle and it seemed a waste of money and a perfectly good lamp shade to not just redo it. I didn't add fringe and peals to this lampshade since it has simple lines. I wanted to keep it clean looking. I also didn't want to block the wonderful lighting it provides now. I haven't decided what I want to do with the base, but the old stained shade had to go. 

I'll walk you through the steps I took.

In the first photo you can see I made a huge mistake. I tried washing my old lampshade and it just left it stained and ugly. I should have known better, but live and learn.

Step #1 Remove the old ugly fabric

I was more than happy to rid myself of the drab color that made the light a very yellowish-orange. Not good for a craft room. I started by removing the decorative strips from the top and bottom of the lampshade.

In the photo below the top strip has already been removed and I'm pulling the bottom one off. I was surprised how easily I could remove them and that they were just glued on. Note: I didn't pull the strips off while it was on the lamp base.

If I covered my lampshade without removing the old fabric it would just block more light and I was afraid the stain would show through. So I used my Xacto knife and a pair of scissors to get down to the bare bones of my lampshade. After cutting the material away I was a bit fearful of what I was going to do next. As usual I didn't plan ahead.

  

Step #2 Prepare your new fabric

 I found some taffeta fabric I had gotten from a friend. Just about any fabric can be used. This fabric tears quite easily once you make a small slit with scissors at the top. The sides of the fabric strips will fray a little, but I liked the fringe-like effect it gave. I also ended up with some webs of thread that I had to pull away. It was like working with hot glue and getting those little strings.
The first strips I made were too big and wouldn't lay well so I tore them in half which gave me 1 and 3/4 inch strips. They worked perfectly. I chose to do strips because it seemed to be the easiest route to take with the fabric I had.

Step #3 Hot glue your fabric to your lampshade skeleton and wrap

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of wrapping the fabric on the wire skeleton of the lampshade, so here I used a piece of card board to illustrate. First I used hot glue to attach the fabric to the top wire frame and let my fabric hang down the front. Then I went under the front bottom edge (wrapping) of the lampshade and slightly angled the fabric in the back so the next time I pulled the fabric down the front it would be moved over revealing half of the first strip.

I could have stopped here once I was done wrapping the fabric, but I wanted to personalize my lampshade. I wanted something feminine and not having the edges trimmed would have driven me crazy.

Step #4 Decide the theme of you lampshade and embellish

I chose the ribbon and laces I wanted to use and hot glued them on.

I also attached a lace flower I made.

Now I have a new lampshade that produces a soft white light, makes my room brighter and fits with theme of my new craft room.In the photo the shade appears shiner than it does in person as the camera picked up reflection.

 This is how my lamp shade appears when the light is turned on.

Happy Crafting!

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