Silver Button Blingy Decor Ball

 I decided to change that big silver Christmas ball looking orb because that's just what it is.
A big silver Christmas ball.

. You know when you go to someone's house and you see a decor item that just draws you in 

and you want to pick it up and handle it and 

say, "What is it? This is so cool!" 

That's what I was shooting for.

In my craft room I have a huge stash of stuff, including silverish buttons and doodads.

I roughed up the ball surface with sandpaper
and used hot glue then E6000 adhesive.

 I used wire cutters to trim 

 the hasps off the back of the buttons so they would lay flat.

Then I went to town and attached every silvery button and trim I could lay my hands on. 

                                                                                                                                           

Buttons and bottle caps and watch faces and silvery beads and glass half marbles...

and jewelry parts and necklace clasps and scrapbook gems and even glitter.

Oooh! I like it alot!

               
             

Or right there where it started, at the end of the counter when you come in the door? 

Yeah. That's the place.

 I love the way this came out! 

Don't you want to pick it up and turn it over and check it out? 

So do I! 

Make Big Acorns For Fall

You will never guess what these BIG acorns were before.

Ready? Oversize plastic Easter eggs from the Dollar Store!

When I saw this Pin way back in 2012, I knew I had to make them.

Following the Pin to its source I saw that the blogger used plastic Easter eggs! This is my kind of creative recycling: making something clever out of something else.

I decided to use these oversize Dollar Store eggs from my stash.

 First, I painted them brown with craft paint.

 I hot glued the eggs closed then wrapped them in burlap scraps. I pleated the burlap around the egg and used hot glue all the way around to secure it. Then I deconstructed a pine cone and used it for the top and added a twig stem. Cute!

But that first one  didn't look quite right to me, so I tried this....

I used the two rounded ends and glued them together. 

Already this looks more like a natural acorn shape.

Instead of the pine cone petals, I used hemp garden twine and hot glue.

Hemp twine hot glued round and round the top until I had the plump acorn look I wanted. 

A little twig adds to the finished acorn.

By George, I think I've got it!

You could also use the regular size plastic eggs but I wanted BIIIIG acorns, so I used the big ones.

Now I'm remembering those HUGE eggs for panty hose and wondering where I can get some. Now THAT would be a statement acorn. LOL!

Fun Pincushions For My Craft Room

Here is the sad pincushion I've been using for years and years. I put it together in a hurry and it sure looks like it. But hey, it worked!


Now we've moved and I'm setting up a new studio and I decided that I need something fun and colorful and whimsical that would make me smile. Heck, why only have ONE pincushion? I decided to make several so there would be one at every work station.

I started with a collection of random wineglasses left over from my Parents' 60th Anniversary Dinner Dance. I spray painted them in the colors I've chosen for my creative space...turquoise, red, ivory and black. I cut out muslin circles and sewed various lace trims across them, stuffed them full with polyfill and hot glued them in place. Then I started embellishing. LOVE this rose trim, I've got loads of it.

One of my rosette necklaces draped over the top gave me the direction I wanted to go. So pretty! Great timing, too, as I have just sold this necklace in my Etsy shop.

I haven't hand sewn in a year so I wondered if I could still manage to make rosettes out of 1/4" ribbon. Turns out I can!

Here's how the turquoise pincushion came out; so pretty, frothy, romantic and colorful. LOVE IT!
And here's the red one. Along with the rosettes I added buttons and tulle poofs. Love the heart pins on top!

Gorgeous!

And the black one. I added silvery leaves recycled from a pair of heavy earrings. Perfect accent!



And the tall white one. This one is specifically for threaded needles so the thread can hang down the side and not get tangled with the pins. I added the bit of primitive star garland on a whim and really like it. The muslin rosettes are hot glued, not sewn, and they worked wonderfully.


Here they are all together. When I walk into my crafting space they draw my eye and make me smile. Isn't that how you are supposed to feel when you're feeling creative? Soon I'll have the whole room put together and I'll post a tour.

I'll be linking up to the parties in my sidebar. Come take a look, you will find some wonderful inspiration and projects.

Silver Button Blingy Decor Ball

I posted this several months ago when I was a blog newby, so I'm posting it again for my new friends. This is the little display/vignette at the end of the counter when you come into the house from our deck. This is our buffet counter when the fam is here and the rest of time it is Stacking Central cuz it's so convenient. A red glass vase with twisty twigs, berries, flowers and dried eucalyptus, two milk glass pieces and yes, that's a chunky tequila bottle that I've embellished and filled with glass marbles.

So I've been trying to keep this counter cleaned off except for this little bit of decor and it's okay and pretty, but.......the silver ball in the milk glass urn just needed a little something, you know? It looked too much like an oversize plastic Christmas ball, which is exactly what it is. I decided to just do something fun and a little over the top. You know when you go to someone's house and you see a decor item that just draws you and you want to pick it up and handle it and you say, "What is it? This is so cool!" That's what I was shooting for.


I hied me away to my craft room and my store of silverish buttons. I opted for silver to match the ball and glued my first button on. Then it occurred to me that the ball was very slick and so were the buttons, so I roughed up the ball with some sandpaper to give the surface some tooth for the hot glue to grip.


I also pulled out some glass half marbles and some scrapbook gems to fill in any gaps.
















And I snipped the hasp thingies off the back of the buttons with my wire cutters. I don't have to show you how to do that, do I? Good.






So then it was me and the buttons and the ball and my glue gun. Put on a little smooth jazz on the CD player, some diet pop close at hand and I went to town. I threw in a few silvery stars and snowflakes and some beads......

Oooh, I like it. I like it alot! I used the little gems to fill in the spaces and some bottle caps for a bit of rustic charm and I had a good time! Ignore the hot glue strings, I dealt with them later. The hubs poked his head in and said it looked steampunky. Is that a word? I agree. It does look kind of steampunkerish.


And a couple hours later and a bit of scrubbing with a stiff toothbrush to take off the glue webs and I have this.....


So now comes the fun part, trying it out in different places in the house and seeing how it looks.



In the living room on the shelf right by my reading chair?



On the shelf in the hall bathroom, right below the mirror?



Or right there where it started, at the end of the counter when you come in the door? Yeah. That's the place. I love the way this came out! Don't you want to pick it up and turn it over and check it out? So do I! ; 0 )

Posting this over at the Fine Craft Guild linky party. She asked for a post with lots of good directions and this definitely qualifies!!