CRAFTING: DIY SNOW GLOBE SHOT GLASS ORNAMENTS

Yeah,  I know... Christmas is over. I had fully intended on getting this post out the door BEFORE Christmas arrived. Heck, I even intended to get it posted a good week or so BEFORE the big day b/c well, that would make sense now, wouldn't it? Well, let's just chalk that up as a fail. Looking on the bright side, they are cute, fun, and better late than never. Right? RIGHT!

PIN IT and put it on the crafting board for next Christmas! ;)

Things you MIGHT need (depending on what you decide to do) - let me stress MIGHT. You do not need all these things to make an ornament.

1. (pearl shimmer metallic cardstock)  //  2. (buttons)  //  3. (hot glue gun)  //  4. (plastic shot glasses)

5. (baker's twine)  //  6. (Elmer's glue)  //  7. (2" hole punch)  //  8. (silver spray paint)

9. (mini pink or white bottle brush trees)  //  10. (silver pipe cleaners)  //  11. (chunky glitter)

12. (mini frosted dollhouse trees)  //  13. (craft paint)  //  14. (white polymer clay)

15. (penguin trinkets)  //  16. (black sharpie)

And here is a little diagram on how you put them together. Attaching the base to the shot glass is the tricky part. Make sure to seal your ornament shut with mod modge.

1. Punch out two circles with your 2" hole punch. One out of the white metallic cardstock and one out of some other type of card stock - a cereal box, an old greeting card, etc. Mod podge them together to make a thick circle that will be the platform of your globe. The white metallic cardstock should be what is facing up in the globe so it blends in with the glitter.

2. Glue your trinket in the center of your circle onto the white metallic side. You can put all kinds of different things in your snow globe as long as they fit. I used little dollhouse trees, silver spray painted plastic penguins and a house and snowman that I made out of white polymer clay. I got my trees from Hobby Lobby - four for $1.99. They were too tall, so I clipped them with a wire cutter and then reattached them to the base with hot glue to make them shorter.

3. Fill your shot glass with glitter - just enough to cover the base when flipped over. make sure to use chunky glitter. It looks more like snow and the super fine stuff will cling to the sides of your shot glass.

4. Take your Elmer's glue and make a thin line of glue all around the edge of your cardstock circle on the white metallic side. Please it on top of your shot glass and place something like a glass on top to weigh it down and hold it together. Let it sit for a few hours until the glue is dry.

5. Seal the ornament by putting a coat of mod podge around where the shot glass meets the cardstock. Let it dry for an hour or so. It dries much faster than the Elmer's glue.

6. Using hot glue, glue a pipe cleaner around the base of your ornament. It will cover up any imperfections of gluing the shot glass to the base.

7. String your baker's twine through your buttons and tie a know. Attach it to the top of the ornament with hot glue.

POM POM FRINGE INSPIRATION

As a little follow up from yesterday's tutorial, I thought I would show some other examples of how you can use pom pom fringe. It is kind of my favorite. I would add it to pretty much anything. :) I will have lots of stamping inspiration and ideas up tomorrow. Happy Thursday!

DIY HAND STAMPED TEA TOWELS

Sometimes a girl just gets the urge to craft. At least I do. Sometimes I need to do more than just push pixels (graphics lingo) around a screen and actually get my hands dirty. I need to build, paint, or sew something!!! You know... like actually MAKE something I pinned instead of just pinning it. I had seen some DIY stamping tutorials on Pinterest & I wanted to give it a go.

I kind of combined a few different tutorials, experimented a bit, and made a few changes to come up with this.  

I made two different tea towels. 

The yellow one I bought fabric and sewed my own tea towel.

(100% cotton fabric - used for making cloth diapers, so super duper adsorbent)

And the pink one I bought from Walmart, which are sold in two-packs for $1.89!

If you like to sew, great. If you don't, buy plain white tea towels and use those. Either one will work - it's the same process. (***Note: Make sure the towel/fabric you buy does not have a lot of texture. The ink will not distribute evenly on the fabric. For example: a waffle weave towel wouldn't work well.)

Here is what you will need: 

  

Step #1: Decide on your design and make your stamps 

- I used wooden blocks that I had laying around, but you can use anything just as long as it is the right size for your stamp and a sticker will stick to it.

- Cut your foam in the design that you want. Obviously geometric designs work best and are easiest to cut, but really the possibilities are endless as long the design isn't too detailed.

- Peel of the back of the sticker and stick your design to the block.

Step #2: Wash, dry, and iron your towels

Step #3: Get ready to paint

- Put something under your towels so the paint doesn't leak through onto the table or other parts of your towel. I used an old magazine.

- Mix your paint colors. Use 1:1 ratio of acrylic paint and fabric medium. (a mixture of half paint and half fabric medium)

Step #4: Stamp your towels.

- Paint directly on your stamp. 

- Place your stamp where you want it on your towel and press down firmly. 

***Reapply paint to your stamp with your paintbrush before each stamp.

Step #5: Let your towel dry for at least 24 hours

Step #6: Iron your tea towels to set the paint

Step #6: Add some detail by sewing on edging.

There are tons to pick from. I picked the small tassel edging b/c I wasn't sure how the large ones would wash up.

And she strikes again...