Upcycling DIY home decor, woodworking and Crafts
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Mother’s Day is rapidly approaching. I gathered up some great handmade gift ideas with mom in mind, that you can make yourself for under $10. With jewelry, photo, spa and home gifts to choose from, you will find something just perfect for your mom and she will love that you made it for her.
Here is a cool Mother’s Day gift idea. This gorgeous flower pendant is made from an aluminum can and a copper rivet joining the 3 layers. It really couldn’t be simpler or less expensive. Mom will love it’s uniqueness. You can paint it to suit her tastes and she will have a heartfelt, handmade gift on her day.
Instructions:
Rinse and cut your aluminum can to a sheet that fits your die. Cut two flower shapes and a circle. Emboss the flower shapes and hammer the circle into a dome shape. Paint petals as desired with acrylic paint. If you like the colors on the can, no need to paint. I used Lumiere and sealed with Krylon Clear Coat.
When that dries, connect layers with rivet or eyelet. Punch hole in back most flower petal in for a jump ring and add your choice of chain or cord. That is it.
I was inspired by this month’s Paper Crafts Magazine to design a Mother’s Day card. Here, I printed it at 5,75 in x 4 in and mounted it with foam stickies onto a brown card blank measuring 6.25 in x 4.5 in. Easy!
You could also just print and fold into a card on white card stock.
Here are the color schemes:
To download the full size image for print, visit my other site, Printable Decor.
What is more beautiful than a multi-strand beaded necklace? I would make these all of the time if my schedule allowed, but they are time consuming. For this piece, I made my own toggle clasp using a technique I learned in Creative Beading Vol. 1, a book that I highly recommend if you are wanting to step up your bead weaving. I will never get through all the projects in there, but every time I have tackled one, I have loved the outcome.
So what do you think?
If you have been around here lately, you have seen the die cut jewelry phase I have been in since getting my Sizzix machine. Last week, I shared this round-up of 60 recycled can projects, which is where I got the inspiration for this pendant. There are several projects I found that use aluminum cans to create stunning jewelry.
This pendant is made of several layers. From top to bottom they are: Decorative pearl brad, leather cut from goodwill purse, metal cut from good will tin, 2 more leather layers, and a recycled starbucks Double Shot can, embossed and cut with sizzix. I spent the last couple of days cutting tin cans into flowers. Now that I have a huge stack, I will be creating lots of pieces. I found several more leather purses in my junking this weekend, as well as some more cool tins, so stay tuned for more die cut, recycled jewelry fun!
This purse was $1.50!!! Metal tin… $0.50, aluminum cans… free. My sizzix was well worth the cost!!
As promised, here is the wire wrap ring I made to go with the orange paper bead bracelet I showed in yesterday’s post. I was skeptical when I found the tutorial that promised this project would be doable by anyone, super easy. It turned out to be just that! I have never made a wire wrap ring, and this one I made on the first attempt, in under 5 minutes. I used a paper bead I had made previously, but you can used whatever you have. The tutorial recommends 8mm round, but my barrel shaped, big ol’ bead worked fine. So, check out this truly simple wire wrap ring tutorial with stunning results from Lytha Studios!
Note: If you are using a bigger bead like I did, add a couple of inches to the wire length.
Need a gorgeous, last minute gift that you can easily and quickly hand make? Maybe your are looking for an alternative to candy for a girl’s Easter basket. Look no further. This leather rose ring takes less than 5 minutes with a die cutter such as Sizzix Big Shot, used in this tutorial. If you don’t have a die cut machine, there are a truckload of fabric rose tutorials that will help you find a template you can cut by hand. Now on to the tutorial.
Supplies I used:
Sizzix Machine
3D Rose Die
Leather Scrap (from old purse)
Crafter’s Pick Glue (or other glue for metal)
Plaid Ring Bling or other Ring Blank
It is pretty simple. Just die cut your flower, roll into rose shape and glue onto ring blank. Let dry per package instructions. Tah dah. 5 minute sweet ring!
Have you seen the polymer clay/Sizzix kick going on here at SBLC? Well, I didn’t have a die to cut the exact circle I needed for these bracelet blanks, so I used a paper punch for a circle that fit perfectly.
You can easily make this beautiful custom word bracelet at home. Here is how…
For this project you will need:
Instructions:
That is it!
Today, I thought I would share with you another stamped polymer clay pendant. I recently signed up with Cindy Lietz’s polymer clay library, and was reminded about how fun it is to make bezel pendants with clay. The Polymer Clay Tutor video on stamped bezels inspired me to dive into these word pendants. If you are interested in developing your polymer clay skills, I cannot stress enough how wonderful, and under-priced, Cindy’s membership videos are. I am not being compensated in anyway for saying so, I am just that excited about the tips, tricks and inspiration jam packed into each video I have watched so far. Seriously, she is a fantastic teacher!!
Back to the pendants, I love how simple they are to create, and how each one comes out a little differently.
For this particular piece, I used the bezel from a pendant I scored for cents at a garage sale. I took a hammer to it and rid it of its glass covered image so I was left with just the bezel.
Since the bezel was antiqued silver, I wanted to give the pendant an antique feel. I mixed scrap clay to get the aqua you see in the final piece. With my fingers, I mashed the clay into the bezel, and smoothed it out into its cabochon shape. Once I was happy with the shape, I used metal stamps for the word “JOY”, and a clear cling butterfly stamp for the butterfly. I used a stylus to add a little more texture randomly, then baked for 45 min at 275°.
TIPS:
To finish, I used a mixture of glaze and black acrylic paint; painted the entire piece, then wiped away the glaze/paint mixture, leaving the black in the depressed areas. When this dried, I sealed with 2 coats of sculpey satin glaze. I love this stuff. It is easy to apply, dries to a lovely finish, and is inexpensive.
What do you think? Don’t worry, I am still on my Sizzix kick. Stay tuned!!
Being asked to do centerpieces at a June wedding, I have been trying out paper
rose methods like none other. This is one of the first ones I came across, and it is
my favorite for several reasons. It is quicker and less complicated than others, and the
result is gorgeous! Not only that, but think about the money saved on flowers
when you make your own from paper, and they won’t die. Perfect!
I found the full tutorial at Ellinee, with free printable templates.
I have made paper roses using this method from cardstock, printer paper
and coffee filters. They are all stunning, but heavyweight cardstock
makes the prettiest flowers in my opinion. I like to chalk the edges
in a bright, contrasting color like here…
Here is one I made from coffee filters and painted with watercolor.
Since I need my roses with a stem for the centerpieces, I followed the tutorial linked
above, except I built the rose around a floral wire like I showed you
in this paper flower tutorial a couple of weeks back.
This is my favorite! Remember it from this decorating with vintage
scrapbooking ephemera post?
Do you have a favorite paper flower tutorial?
I would love your ideas!
