Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Faux Quartz Crystal Jewelry

I love quartz crystal, but because of it's weight it's almost impossible to wear more than one chunk of it. Well, now you can pile it on by casting it in Glaze Coat (2 part epoxy resin). All you need is one or two pieces of quartz to cast and you can make as much as you want. Color it, add glitter, wrap it with wire and paint it.  No one will be able to tell the difference, I promise.
Have fun! xoxo, Mark
Danielle wearing tons of "Quartz Crystal" jewelry
Wrap a piece in wire and attach it to a ring base..... Easy!
Drill two pieces and hang them from earring wires
Watch the short video tutorial here!
YOU'LL NEED
Flat metal cuffs
One or two crystals to mold
Cups, stir sticks and gloves
Tape
 Mix equal parts of the Mold-N-Pour putty
Press your real crystal into the putty and surround it to create your mold
Wait 10 minutes and remove the real crystal
Mix equal parts of Glaze Coat and stir for 5 minutes
Fill your molds with the Glaze Coat
Remove the bubbles with a long arm lighter
Let cure overnight in an unoccupied room or outside
*You can also use colorants and glitter with this process
When cured, scrape of the edges with a craft knife (if you need to)
Glue the "quartz crystals" to a flat metal cuff with E-6000
Tape in place while they dry
Paint some in metallic gold
Drill them and hang them from earring wires

Friday, March 27, 2015

Paper Turquoise DIY

Hands down, this is one of my favorite projects from The Big Ass Book of Bling!  When I was a kid, my mom wore this huge chunk of turquoise and I always thought it was real.  I asked her about it recently and she told me that my youngest brother had made it in 2nd grade from paper!  I immediately tried to make some myself and here are the results.  The great thing about this is that it's light and you can shape it any way you want.  Have fun!
xoxo, Mark
Danielle "rocking" some serious faux turquoise jewelry
I love the colors on this piece.  Try adding bits of brown and black.
Watch the short video tutorial here!
YOU'LL NEED
Blender
Strainer
Wax paper
White school glue
Paintbrush
Newspaper
 Blend 2 large sheets of newspaper in 1 quart of water to create a pulp
Pour it over a strainer to remove about 95% of the water
Add 1/4 cup white school glue and mix
Create clumps and balls and place on wax paper to dry
*Make smooth balls for beads and bumpy clumps for stones
Let dry under a desk lamp overnight
 Drill holes in your round beads and pendants 
Paint the "rocks" in different shades of green, turquoise and red
When they're dry, paint them with watered down black 
Immediately wipe of most of the black with a damp cloth
*This will leave black in the creases and divits
Try watering down brown to give more texture
Dust the "rocks" again with more color
Coat them with a generous amount of Minwax Polycrylic and let dry



Thursday, March 26, 2015

It's #Thurs-DIY!

Tons of colorful fun on this very happy #Thurs-DIY!
We have Easter eggs and Easter tree and an Easter Chandelier complete with chocolate bunnies.
Hop around and get inspired.  Don't forget to tell them I sent you.
Happy #Thurs-DIY, kiddos!
Here we go!
Lia Griffith wows with her beautiful floral Easter eggs! 

Who doesn't want a Chocolate Chandelier filled with candy and chocolate bunnies?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-a0YYjhrSk&list=UUt4zycubX8BJZ8pZhZ4w8ow
Margot Potter makes Peeps cupcakes and I want them!  

Who wouldn't wear a cute little Easter necklace?  I know I would! Love it Margot!  


Aunt Peaches makes a beautiful Easter tree!  


Make beautiful Handmade Bezel Resin Hearts with this easy tutorial:  


Cathy Attix makes a super fun sweatshirt!  

 Stephenie makes a pretty decoupage jewelry box!   

Megan makes a gorgeous knotted fleece blanket! 





Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Handmade Bezel Resin Hearts

Lately I've been obsessed with the work of an artist named Terri Brush.  She makes beautiful soldered jewelry using all kinds of bits and bobs and her work inspired me to make some resin filled heart bezels.  Sadly,  I was too lazy to do the soldering work, so I figured out an easier way to make heart bezels with super easy to find supplies.  Much easier than I thought it would be, too!  When they were done, I filled them with broken jewelry pieces and extra things I had in my bin and then covered it all with Glaze Coat.  I have to admit, I can't stop making these!
Danielle wearing a cluster of resin hearts
 Special thanks to www.ChainGallery.com 
for the beautiful chain they sent me!
I went a little nuts making these....
Learn how to make them here!
YOU'LL NEED
Aluminum flashing (any hardware store)
Serrated edge scissors
18 gage wire
Flat plastic (top of a takeout container will work)
Jewelry pieces
Clothespins
Needle nose pliers
Book pages or music sheets
Latex gloves, plastic cups and stir sticks
Chain to hang your hearts  (www.ChainGallery.com)
Make sure to check out ChainGallery.com for 
an amazing selection of beautiful chain!




Saturday, March 21, 2015

Chocolate Chandelier

Ok, every once in a while I just feel like making something crazy, nutty, kooky, bananas.....and here it is.... An Easter candy chandelier. Truth be told, I really just needed an excuse to buy chocolate bunnies and then gorge on them. No worries, my terrific assistant Danielle helped me. Nom nom!
Happy Easter!
 I had quite a few peeps while making this, too!
This concept would also be really fun for Valentines Day!
Watch the short video tutorial here!
YOU'LL NEED
Recycled cardboard
Peeps
4 chocolate bunnies
Jelly beans
Plastic eggs
(8 small, 4 medium, 6 large)
Ribbon
Easter grass
Glue gun
Paintbrushes
Craft knife
Hole punch
 Trace your pattern on cardboard
*You'll need two single pieces and one piece cut on the fold
Cut 8 quarter circles about 1 1/2" each
Paint everything with Americana Decor Chalky Finish
Hot glue the pieces together
 Add hot glue to a cardboard disk and glue on plastic Easter grass to make a small nest
Add a large plastic egg to the center and surround it with jelly beans
*You need to make 4 of these nests
Take 4 small plastic eggs and glue Easter grass to the base of each
Make a large nest with hot glue and Easter grass with a large egg in the center
*This large nest will be for the center of the chandelier
Embellish the chandelier with a matching color of paint if you want
Add the nests with the large eggs to the arms of the chandelier
Glue the small eggs with Easter grass to the curve on the chandelier
*Refer to the beauty shot for placement
Glue 8" long pieces of ribbon to 4 small, 4 medium and 1 large egg
Punch holes in the bottom of the chandelier
Hang the eggs from the holes
Glue peeps on the chandelier with a hot glue gun
Add the large nest to the center of the chandelier with more hot glue
Hang from ribbon
Open the large eggs on the nests and fill with chocolate bunnies
Chandelier pattern
*Mine was 18" high
Ready for my egg hunt!