Chocolate Bugs Halloween Trick Or Treat Jar

I found some chocolate “bug” chocolates in Aldi a while back and wondered if I could do anything with them for Halloween.
I had already saved a small jar with a black lid thinking it might come in useful for such a project.
I started by covering up any writing on the lid with a permanent black pen and a red scalloped circle.

I then glued some spider ribbon (from my Las Vegas trip to Michaels), round the middle of the jar and half way down the sides to make a handle, it took a couple of goes to get it right, hence the miss match of pictures.

I filled the jar with shredded red tissue paper and added the bugs, plus one sitting on the top.

I then decided that it needed a little something else, so made a label to stick round the middle using a scrap of torn black card with a handwritten Trick or Treat message using a white gel pen.

It’s an idea I am quite pleased with ……. but it could certainly be improved/fine tuned a little.I don’t actually think the jar needs to be filled with bugs, one sitting on a bed of shredded tissue would be just as effective, with perhaps plastic Halloween novelty on the lid like a bony hand or skull perhaps……….

…… so I think I may be collecting a few more small jars before Halloween finally arrives..

Craft Stick Flower Fairy Decoration.

Another craft stick fairy today, this time I wanted to try using flower petals from cheap artificial flowers for the skirt.

I call this the Queen Mother of my craft fairy projects, because she is about double the size of all the rest!  I thought all craft sticks were roughly the same size, but when I got the “Queen Mother” sticks home, I soon discovered they’re not.

The cottage rose came from Poundland, it was a very generous size, so I reckon there are enough layers for at least four more fairies. 

I started by wrapping a natural coloured cotton yarn around the top of the craft stick to make the hair.

This was followed by giving the fairy a face, using a fine liner pen and a top from a scrap of matching pale purple card. I then took three petal layers making a small slit in each for the stick to pass through.

To help the layers lie a little flatter I first used PVA glue between the layers, at the top, but then swapped it for blobs of glue gun glue as it stuck much faster.  I also added the fairy slippers by using a purple Sharpie pen and the carefully went round the edges to accentuate them, followed by a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents.

The fairy’s arms were made using two natural coloured beads knotted on to a length of cotton yarn.

I couldn’t believe it when I found that the Home Bargains butterflies I had were a perfect match for the petals. I stuck the centre of the arm thread on the back of the fairy and then glued the butterfly over so that the thread was hidden.

Next followed all the twiddly bits using strips of iridescent self adhesive gems on the wings, and the fairy’s top, plus two purple nail art gems on her slippers and a purple flat back flower in her hair.

To decorate a Christmas tree I think I prefer the fairies made using the smaller craft sticks, but ……….. I am also thinking that you could make some lovely fabric or paper bunting for a little girls bedroom by sticking matching fairies on alternate triangle pendants with a few stars  …….. perhaps this is “a watch this space” post for the future ……. when I have a little more time.

This fairy however is destined to mark Iris’s first dancing class sometime in September, I need to scout the charity shops for an ornatish style, white frame to stick her on, after removing the glass ……. again, watch this space.

Christmas Tree Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a white linen effect, hand cut card base.

There’s not an awful lot to this card. I have mat and layered on red and silver card for the centre panel with a little faux stitching using a black fine liner pen around the red mat.

The Christmas tree triangles came from a pack of Riverbank Revels mini bunting, reduced to 50p from The Works.  Some have straight edges and some have scalloped ones.

I put two wavy layers of white glitter card across the centre square, and then arranged the triangles into a group on top.  The final touches were added by putting a small silver star above each tree and clusters of three dots here and there.

If I were to repeat this card, I think I might group the trees just a fraction higher, as I think there is a little too much white space in the sky area.

Soldering With Marc – For Microscope Slide Christmas Decorations.

While I was in London the other week with Marc we watched quite a few microscope soldering tutorials on YouTube before having a go ourselves. Crafting with microscope slides has been a thing with me for too many years now,  I really think I should let go!The first thing we did was edge our experimental glass pieces with copper foil, which the solder should adhere to, after it has been coated with flux.

All was going well, but then we got unstuck as Marc’s soldering iron was, we think, more for proper electrical work, it had a weird end which was difficult to work out, at first, where to apply the solder, in the end we worked it out, but it was frustrating and fiddly, what we really needed was a pointed ended soldering iron.

The solder that came with it was also very thin, more suited to fine electrical work, but we persevered.

As this was pure experiment we used pegs to secure/hold the glass, but should I wish to pursue the idea I think I would need to get a Helping Hand magnifying glass stand as well.

And the results? Well, I am not sure …….. I was expecting a rougher, thicker and lumpier, handmade sort of looking end result …….

….. and though my application of copper wasn’t exactly perfect, we/I think the solder was definitely too thin.  However, for once, I didn’t get all that impatient and preserved just to get a feel for it all, in fact I quite enjoyed it, I didn’t get the usual itchy gum feeling when I get frustrated. 

I have had a look on e-bay and if I wanted to I  could invest in a soldering kit for under £10, I would then need to buy solder and flux (not sure how much) and a stand (£5).  However, to be honest, if applied with care, using the silver foil I bought a month or so ago, with hindsight, would/has produced just as good an effect as the slides I have studied on Pinterest, plus I can easily change the colour of the foil using a Sharpie pen …… so I need to think carefully if, after all this playing, it’s really worth it.

Charity Shop Find – Santa’s Tea-light House

I am always on the look out for kitsch Christmas ornaments with which to grace my festive shelves and this, though I doubt if there is any age to it ticked a few of my boxes, especially for just 50p.

I just love anything that I can put a tea-light in at Christmas, so there’s one box ticked already ……. but it was the snow I had my eye on ……..

I knew with a liberal dowsing of translucent micro fine glitter it could be ….. erm….. transformed, so that’s exactly what I did, also giving Santa a light dusting too.

I also felt that the wreaths could also do with a little something too, so a few flat backed gems here and there won’t go amiss ……. not to everyone’s taste I know, but very me ……  when grouped together with other similar festive pieces I might just get away with it!

Small Snowflake Wreath Tree Decoration

I was going to put this small wooden wreath on a card, but I have changed my mind and think I will attach a thread or narrow ribbon to it so that it can be hung on a Christmas Tree instead.

It started off as a wooden border in a pack I found reduced in The Works.

It’s a shame the leaves are not a bit more pointy like holly, but beggars can’t be too choosy.   I started by colouring the frame with a green Sharpie pen and then glued on white snowflakes made using a snowflake punch.

I then got carried away by adding smaller punched snowflakes using a tiny punch I had almost forgotten about, wishing I had perhaps used white glitter card instead of plain card.  Please excuse copious dollops of wet PVA glue.

And finally I went the whole hog, not only adding clear flat back gems to the centres of all of the snowflakes but also filling any other gaps with tiny silver stars …..too much?   It is very pretty, but I wonder if, with the gem centres the snowflakes now look more like flowers ?????

For such a bargain price I did buy several packets so I do have a little wiggle room to experiment. 

I am also thinking that by using small punched flowers I could make something similar, hanging from a matching ribbon to give a bride on her wedding day, trying to incorporate something old, new, borrowed and blue?

Patchwork Christmas Tree Card …… And The Sad Demise Of The Craft Punch

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and uses a hand cut kraft card as it’s base.

I am not sure about this card, I think it’s too busy, with too many trees and too many patterns, on a not very merry background and looking at the pictures with fresh eyes, I am not even sure about the mat and layering! With all the square gems and stars, there’s just too much going on …… put simply, I don’t think I really like it!

The idea is there, it just needs refining, so you’ll probably be seeing a few more versions of it over the next month or so as I try to get it right.

But, there is a story behind it too …… I know I had a triangle punch before I moved, in fact I had two huge drawers of punches, but I had to sort through them very carefully to condense them down to one drawer and I guess my original triangle one slipped through the net!  Well, I thought, I’ll just have to order me a new one from eBay …… OMG not a one!  Well, there were some in China, but the size wasn’t clear and for the price I guessed that they were tiny.  So I had to look further a field and this taller style punch was the only one I could find after a good while searching. I have since managed to find a squatter triangle on eBay, but had to do so by buying it in a bundle!

I blame dies for the sad demise of the punch, I love a punch, I cut my crafting teeth on them all those years ago. I have a good collection of exactly what I know I will use, the basic shapes in all sizes plus lots of flowers and leaves, with my Stampin Up circles as a staple. I have a Big Shot, and again have all the basic shapes I need, although I am not averse to increasing my collection occasionally, but Tattered Lace etc. don’t really do anything for me. But I admit I  am a very lazy die cutter, unless I have a specific idea, I don’t want all the palaver of getting my Big Shot out just for a few shapes, I prefer to go to my drawer and get out a punch.  Marc always tells me that I am a VERY impatient crafter, but all those mats and rolling for couple of shapes? The fact that I could buy a huge punch at The Hobbycrafts show that would have once cost well over £10 for just £1 shows that the punch is doomed …….. so I really need to double check to see if my collection is lacking anything before they disappear forever.

But …….. having had a great moan and a whinge all because I couldn’t easily find a triangle punch, it doesn’t mean this lady can’t be turned everso, everso slightly because I am now considering buying a small die cutter to have on my table whenever I craft  ……….. I fancy the Baby Blue, so all recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Marc’s Christmas Tree Bauble.

I found this Christmas bauble on Marc’s top shelf, it looked soooooooo expensive and then Marc laughed and told me that it was made from a polystyrene ball and a pair of old glittery tights!

He said he made a hole at the top of the ball, then cut a section (possibly the foot) from a pair of purple glittery tights, forming it round the ball and gathering the ends into the hole, securing with glue and a spare hanging fixing from another bauble.

He then decorated it using small squares cut from a mesh of faux jewels (I found an identical length of the same material in Home Bargains wedding section for 69p for 2 metres) and strands of very small silver plastic ball chain artistically swirled and glued.  It is stunning! And now, when I see glittery tights around Halloween I shall certainly be availing myself of a pair or two to see what I can come up with.  I am already thinking swimming noodle door wreath?