Thursday, July 19, 2012

DIY Keepsake/Vial Necklace

The Setting

Just a quick hello from guest blogger Melody! Recently, I had the privilege to accompany my parents and very young niece to see Cathy Rigby Is Peter Pan! in Dallas at Fair Park. Cathy is such a fantastic performer, and of course the show was fantastic. This, however, is no review. Part of the magic included after the show, Peter Pan signs autographs by the exit to support a charity, and passes out fairy dust (foil confetti) to the children as they leave. Of course, all four of us got into the gigantic line to get our playbills signed. As we neared the front, one little girl dropped some fairy dust on the ground. As she went to pick up all the tiny pieces, she realized that the fairy dust from the show was EVERYWHERE. People had trailed it out into the lobby as they left, and I imagine lots of people must have dropped some while making their way towards the exit. This adorable little girl began to pick up every little piece of fairy dust she saw, exclaiming that, "Peter's gonna need it to fly! I'm going to put it back in the bucket," as her parents tried to coax her off the floor and out towards the car.

The Muse Strikes

It was then that my niece and I both separately began to worry about what we would do to keep it as a reminder of our fantastic night. On the way home, having realized we both wanted to hold on to the magic as long as possible, I offered to make a necklace to keep some of it in. I'd seen necklaces with 'fairy dust' on such internet sites as etsy and thought, "You know, it can't be that difficult." Turns out, it isn't! So follow along as I give you a few pointers on how to hold onto some magic of your own.

The Process:

Step 1: Gather the necessities.

(1) Cork and Vial Pendant, available at craft stores.
(1) Measure of Necklace Cord, length of preference [Leather lace does well to hold knots]
(1) Scoop of Magic, whatever form it takes for you.

Step 2:

Start with your pendant, open. This is a vial from a package of (2) two cork-topped vial pendants from Hobby Lobby.

Step 3:

Add your measure of magic. Here is mine, spilling out of the playbill. Those foil squares were a bit difficult to fit into the vial, but crunching them down like paper into a trashcan fit lots, and gave the shine more dimension.

Step 4:

When finished, dab some craft glue round the upper half of the cork's surface  where it will meet the vial, and close it tight. Adding a bit of glue to the base of the metal loop in the cork wouldn't hurt, either, just for extra help keeping it all together.

Step 5:

Measure out a little more chord than you will need and cut. Thread through the loop in the pendant. Now, you can leave the vial loose to slide along the chord or keep it stationary. I chose to knot it down at the base with a good square knot. Then, another at the top, leaving room for the head to fit through the necklace. I felt it was missing something, so I added another piece of chord below the mouth of the vial for trim, wrapped twice around. Tighten all the knots and trim the excess!

Voila! She is finished!

Honestly, the picture doesn't do it any justice, I'm just a terrible still-life photographer. I'm good with people, pets even, not... Stuff. Hahaha. Anyway, I hope any reluctant crafters out there will find this a helpful confidence boost. This really is one of the easiest projects I've ever done. Posting this blog entry easily took me 4 times as long to finish ;)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Be the change - Gandhi quote and free printable by no biggie


This beautiful quote globe with a free printable designed for Silhouette on Pinterest inspired me.  The quote is by Gandhi, and the post Favorite Gandhi Quote (free printable) plus Silhouette promo is by no biggie .  Wow, just had to share it.  

She did one for the globe and did another to put in a picture frame.  I love them both!  Click on the link above for her tutorial, free printable, and promotion.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Ghandi

For a moment, just imagine a world filled with people just like you and me who actually became a change for the better of our world. Pondering Gandhi's words brings to mind my own fav quote. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  - Margaret Mead


I hope you feel empowered by these words.  No matter who you are, you can make a difference. 


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Arise and Shine Forth - Wall Art DIY


How about some quick and easy DIY wall art?  Here I used a passage of scripture, but you could just as easily use your favorite song lyric or a name or just about anything you like.



Our theme for the Young Women and Young Men at church this year is "Arise and Shine Forth, which is take from this scripture: "Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;"
Doctrine and Covenants 115:5

I got the idea from a Pinterest DIY Song Lyric Wall Art post.  The original post Song Lyric Wall Art/D.I.Y. Project with tutorial is posted by A Beautiful Mess.

Instead of using oil paintings as shown in the tutorial, I chose 8"x10" pictures mounted on wooden plaques available at Dollar Tree.  My dear friend RB used her amazing skills with the Cricut to print out the letters and art for me.  I bought a can of Clear Flat Krylon Acrylic Spray Paint and sprayed two coats on the face of the plaque before sticking on the letters so that the sticky stuff wouldn't tear the paper picture.  Worked like a charm.  This is the first one I made, and I used Flat White Krylon Acrylic Spray Paint to paint over everything once the letters were applied.  It didn't work as well as I thought.  The flat white balls up really bad and leaves a chalky residue.  Hard to explain, but next time I'll use White Acrylic Craft paint from Walmart.  It is more affordable and won't be so hard to work with.  

Here is a before and after of the second one I did.  White Gloss Acrylic Craft Paint worked great.  The only downside for this paint is that it goes on wetter and might bleed through your letters a bit.  The spray paint goes on drier.



It is a fun project that can be completed in about three hours.  If you spray the plaques with the Clear Krylon ahead of time, then you'll save about 30 minutes to an hour of time.  The day I painted the first one was quite warm, so my paint dried in 10 minutes flat.  I painted it outside on my front porch.  The second one I painted with a sponge brush and used my hair dryer to speed up the drying time between coats of paint. 

Our Young Women group made some of these during a weeknight church activity.  If you make one, tell me about it.  Send a me photo and/or comment and perhaps I can update this post with your creations.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Savory Spice Rub Gift with Recipe and Free Printables




Here is an excellent Spice Rub recipe called Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning that is delicious on meats and any other savory foods.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Instructions

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
Yield: about 2/3 cup


Supplies needed to make decorative gift jar filled with Spice Rub:


Upcycled Spice Jar or Small Jelly Jar
Kitchen Funnel (available at Dollar Store)
Measuring Spoon Set (available at Dollar Store)
Printer, Paper, Cardstock
Jute, Twine, or String (found mine for a dollar at Big Lots)
Cotton Fabric
Clear Tape (wide) (available at Dollar Store)
Scissors
Index Cards

Free Printable Recipe Cards pdf



Free Printable Recipe Cards png image


Martha Stewart Free Printable Retro Jar Labels

Lay your jar lid down on your fabric and cut a circle large enough to cover the edges of the lid and drape down nicely below the area where you'll tie it on with your jute rope or twine. Set aside. Print your label, cut it out, and tape it onto your jar with the wide tape.  Shrink recipe card down to a size just a bit smaller than your index cards. Print your recipe card on your paper and cut it out.  Neatly write or type your recipe on the card.  Using your wide tape, tape the index card to the recipe card. The tape works like a laminating machine, but is more affordable.  Shrink and print your garlic gift tag and write your To: and From: and personalize it. Laminate it with your tape, too.  Punch a hole in the gift tag and the recipe card.   I have both the gift tag and the recipe card with all the text you'll need on pdf, and as soon as I learn how to share documents properly, I'll add them to this post:) Cut two 8" lengths of your jute.  Attach one to the gift tag and one to the recipe card as shown in the photo, or just any way you like to do it.  Cut one length of jute that is long enough to wrap around your jar twice, plus enough left over to tie into a nice bow.  Using your funnel, fill your decorated jar with spice rub mix.  Screw on lid tightly.  Hold fabric circle over lid, wrap jute around fabric and jar lid twice, and tie snugly in a nice bow or knot.  Slip your gift tag and recipe card jute through the jute on the jar and tie snugly.  

Our YW Camp was the week before Father's Day this year.  The YW made these for their Dads for Father's Day.  I love those girls and leaders so much!!  FYI we made these outside on a campground table in the Davis Mountains State Park in far west Texas.  We had a lot of fun making them, and the Dads enjoyed their gifts, too!

I hope you enjoy this Emeril's Essence Creole Seasoning .  Honestly, the first time I used it was for a perfect picnic chicken recipe.  I've since used it on burgers and lots of other foods. I'll share the chicken recipe with you soon!

In case you need more variety, here are several Martha Stewart Spice Rub Recipes.  Let me know if you make this, I'd love to hear all about it.

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Sincerely, Paula: NO RULES Weekend Blog Party with Linky #51