Category Archives: crafts

…Try, try again… (Vintage Glitter Cloche)

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Christmas, crafts, Gilded Girls

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I finally finished the Vintage Glitter Cloche! The bottle brush trees were a success the second time around and I was careful to not leave them in the bleach solution too long. Also, better quality bottle brush trees fared much better than cheap ones.
The pale, winter scene designed by Debbie and Shea of A Gilded Life reminded me of a Russian winter. So I carved a turret from a wood ball to place on top. This scene in a jar fits nicely amongst the candy jars on the shelf in the dining room.

Vintage Glitter Cloche

If at first you don’t succeed… (Vintage Glitter Cloche)

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Christmas, Craft Fail, crafts, projects

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Working on the Vintage Glitter Cloche was a good learning experience in crafting. Here is my first attempt at making those awesome cream-colored bottle brush trees.

Bottle Brush tree fail.


What a hoot! I had no idea that the trees would disintegrate if left in the bleach solution too long. The green trees were placed in the big jar of 40% bleach/water solution and left to bleach. I stirred them occasionally and watched the green leach out for about an hour. Then I went Christmas shopping. When I returned hours later, the trees looked wonderful. But when I pulled them out of the solution, they were rusty and disintegrated. Such sorry little trees! I’m going to make another cloche that will fully showcase the awesome character of these trees. Perhaps a Dr. Seuss-inspired cloche. That will do nicely! Never waste a crafting failure, just re-purpose it!

Vintage Glitter Cloche

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in community, crafts, projects

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This glittery little scene was supposed to be the table centerpiece for Christmas Day but I didn’t have time to finish. It is one of the projects taught in Christy Tomlinson’s “The 12 Artsy Ornaments of Christmas” workshop collection by various artists.

After signing up and paying a small fee, I had access to a special site online where there were 12 different Christmas ornaments and decorations featured over the span of one week. The website will be available for six months so I can go back any time I want to view the classes again. Each decoration has videos, printables and instructions by teachers along with community connection. The video classes online were a great way to join other artists creating pretty decorations. I learned a bunch of new craft techniques and hope Christy repeats the workshop next year too. It was a lot of fun!

This Vintage Glitter Cloche was taught by Shea & Debbie of A Gilded Life. It was easy and fun following the class video to create this scene. I still have to finish it but even unfinished, it’s already brightening the table this rainy day.

Beaded Notebooks

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in beading, crafts, tutorial

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I needed to write a couple notes today in a notebook and found these little beaded beauties from long ago. They were cut from larger notebooks but you can easily use a full size notebook.

If you want to make one, just unwind the spring coil from a notebook and add beads as you put the spring back on the pages.  Don’t fill each coil all the way with beads or the covers won’t be able to open fully.  Add a few rounds of beads and test how the notebook opens before completing the beading.

Beaded Notebooks

Capturing Sunlight

16 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in crafts, sparkling, sunlight

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The sun barely enters our north-facing house most of the year, but from October to March, we get a little bit more.
The afternoon rays passed by my desk too swiftly today so I balanced a book on the edge to extend the desk. Then I hung a little plastic chandelier ornament to capture the light for as long as possible.  A glass chandelier would splash splinters of sun everywhere but I’m content with my little plastic ornament until I get a glass one made.