Halloween Upcycle Project – Neon Skulls In A Jar

Check out this fun project I’ve been working on…

I had these old plastic skull Halloween decorations that looked a little less than spooktastic so decided that instead of showing them to the trash I’d give them a little TLC.

List Of Items I Used…

Clean Un lidded Glass Jar (Medium Size)
7 Small Plastic Skulls
Pink Fluorescent Neon Pink Paint
Black Sharpies Permanent Marker Pen
Selection Of Flat Backed Crystals And Gems
Illuminator Paint (Glow In The Dark Paint)
Black Netting (Type You Get Marbles In)
Plastic Black Spider Ring
Jet Black Paper Ribbon
Mosaic Adhesive

First I painted all my boring skulls a Fluorescent neon pink (total of two coats, leaving to dry fully in between).

Then I used my sharpie permanent marker pen to highlight and add bone structure and additional features.

Once complete I used a good strong Mosaic adhesive to add some bling into the eye sockets of all skull. As you can see some got blue gems others got green, some even got heart gems making them more a sugar skull than a scary skull.

I left eyes to fully set for at least an hour before giving all skulls to coats of Illuminator paint (this dries clear so if you try this yourself then don’t panic!)
Be sure to let dry a few hours in between coats or you will cause the first layer to go funny.

Once fully dried I carefully arranged them into my jar and covered it with the black netting. I secured the netting by twisting it and adding a little spider ring. To finish I added my black curly ribbon.

Display in or out their jar

These are UV reactive and will glow in the dark (charge with a UV torch).

The skulls are available in my etsy chic collective store. I made one for myself and one for the store. Go grab it or have a try at making your own.

#silentsunday

#silentsunday

I’ve Opened A Vintage Treasure Store

Ok I haven’t gone and rented some flash expensive london shop space in order of opening some awesome vintage boutique… Seriously I cannot afford that! But I have gone and started up my own little vintage Etsy store, and guess what? It’s actually going kind of well! I’m getting to do what I love while actually earning some money. I wouldn’t call it a wage but being a mum of three, every penny helps.

The vintage store, which I’ve named Chic Collective by the way, is ideal for me. If you read this blog you will know I love vintage, I’m forever on the lookout for wonderful vintage finds and I’m a bit of bargain hunter/shopaholic. This means that what I buy can now become stock. I get all the pleasure of searching out that stock doing what I do best… Shopping and bargain hunting only this time on a guilt free basis!

What’s more I’m still busy refurbishing vintage furniture and other odds and ends. In all honesty the dinning room has been largely taken over with vintage pieces of furniture in need of tlc. The plan is that my little online store which is mainly selling beautiful vintage jewellery right now will also provide me with an outlet to share and sell my refurbishments. This will be news to my kids ears as they have commented that our home is starting to resemble a DIY/Furniture store.

So here’s a few off my favourites on sale over at Chic Collective right now.

Spode Tea Set, Powder Blue Miniature Tea Cup & Saucer, Queen Anne Milk Jug And Sugar Bowl, Lucite Clear Bangle & Translucent Rootbeer Bakerlite Bangle.

Doir Signed Bow Brooch, Two Early Plastic Bangles, Rare Candy Bakelite Bangle, Rare Wide Lucite Bangle.

Siam Sterling Brooch And Clip On Earrings, Green Marbled Bakelite Vanity Set, Set Of Two Thin Vintage Pink Pens, 1920s-1930s Finger Curl Clips.

I started the shop at the end of June and already have over 300 fantastic Vintage products on display with others being added daily. I’m even giving a free gift with every order to celebrate the opening of Chic Collective throughout August 2013.

What’s more I’m planning a competition right here on the blog for a voucher for my store so keep your eyes peeled on here and of course over on twitter.

So, if you love vintage then why not check out my Etsy Store Chic Collective I post world wide and have a fabulous selection and not not forgetting the Sale section that currently has offers 50% of or more.

Click Here To Visit Chick Collective

#silentsunday

Stalked By A Cyber Bullying Mummy Blogger

So, for some time now I’ve been on the receiving end of a little cyber bullying. You may see this as strange as this blogger hasn’t been blogging like she once did however, this hasn’t stopped my stalking cyber bully… Oh no! This sad individual makes it their mission to comment on every post I write, whether on here or my long running blog ‘A boy with Aspergers’ At first I thought it was your average Internet nut job with nothing better to do, but soon I realised that it was more than that! This fruit the loop was actually calling me by my name and while abusing me and taking the total piss out of anything I’d written they would also throw in a little remark related to something other than that of my writing but my parenting, kids, home life and whatever else took their fancy.

This person was actually targeting me! Writing on both blogs and then messaging me from a fake Facebook account. Was this someone I bloody knew?

None of the sickly nasty comments left were ever published (other than one or two that slipped through the net) well you’d have thought that would deter them! They would have no idea if I was evening getting them let alone reading them before trashing them! But no! This person just kept banging on about my talentless self and get this… My “Fucked Up” kids.

Did I feel downhearted about it? I mean did I truly feel bullied as such. Listen I’ve read some nasty stuff and although it may slightly annoying me its never bothered me all that much. However, when this person started referring to my recent spout of depression, it got me wondering.. “Just how messed up is this person?” I wasn’t scared even though they claimed to know where I lived and how they were going to rearrange that face of mine I was just getting a little hacked off with the nutter and started wondering who the hell this prat was!

Then over the past few weeks the messed up stalking cyber bully got a little sloppy. A number of things they wrote referred to certain blogging events, certain dates that when I looked in my diary showed that I was attending some kind of PR event or another on such day. Looking back through past messages some of what they wrote suddenly helped the lightbulb in my head go ping.

No, I still didn’t no who it was, and yes I guess whoever it is is sat reading this now! What I was now 100% on was this person only knew me through the world of blogging… This person was actually a Mummy Blogger! Can I be sure? Yes I’m 100% and wouldn’t be writing this if I wasn’t! Put it this way. This person knew things about me and my whereabouts that I hadn’t wrote or tweeted about. Events I hadn’t made it too or upcoming events I was planing on attending that only those invited would no about.This sicko mentioned Britmums at least twice and referred to my tots100 ranking considerable amounts of times… I don’t no anyone but mummy bloggers to discuss the working of the tots100 rankings… do you?

Lately, I’ve been getting back on my feet. I never thought I’d see the day when I blogged so little. My page rank and states mean nothing and I find it hard to see how I spent so much time on the blog without going a little braking mad a long time ago. But one thing I have missed is the tight knit blogging community that no matter how much time I’ve hide away always bring a smile to my face when I return. To think that within that community their is one person, someone who has made it their mission to continuously try to chip away at me is a part of that makes me wonder… Who really can we put our trust in when online. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met loads of bloggers who I would now call a friend but it does highlight the fact that behind a smile could lay evil, that or an individual with such low self esteem and confidence that behind closed doors out steps a cyber nutter out to get the world.

Whoever you are, you can once more comment telling me I’m a talentless tramp with a mentally ill head case son… A mum who could do with some parenting lessons and a care plan too! You can once more trail through this post and highlight any spelling or grammar mistakes (god you know you love doing that) You can even enlist your ten facts on why I should drop dead just like you have done for the past few weeks and yes, I’ll promise you I will read them… How’s that? But what I will tell you is that when I do I’ll only be thinking off you and how sad and lonely you must be! I’ll continue to simply feel sorry for you and that I’d that.

Cyber Bully Can I even call you that? Sad lonely nobody? Now isn’t that a catch?

So my friends in the world of blogging, beware there is a cyber nut about.

Vintage Refurbishment – Indian Wooden Letter Rack And Key Hanger

I found this little gem at an auction and knew instantly what I wanted to do with it. Refurbishing smaller items is just as enjoyable as working on those bigger pieces and for this little project I decided on a two colour theme and the addition of some crystals to really shabby it up to its full potential.

This vintage letter rack and key hanger is beautifully made from thick wood and features a stunning carved out leaf pattern. Its stickers indicate that the product was handmade in India, though these stickers were somewhat difficult to remove so have now been painted over in Annie Sloan chalk paint. As this rack is made from real wood, certain areas have been untreated (areas between the wood carving) so as to ensure the product was splint free I gave it a quick firm sanding over.

The wood was then wiped with warm soapy water and then covered in a coat of Annie Sloan Paris Grey chalk paint, with the carved cut out areas being left untouched because to these areas of the rack, I would be applying a second colour paint! For this project I decided upon Farrow and Ball ‘Pale Hound’ a lovely cream colour with hints of yellow.

I wanted to achieve a real shabby appearance so wasn’t too careful with my painting, only taking more care where the two colours met to avoid overlap. Some areas received two thin coats of paint where other areas were left with one to help produce that old shabby hand-painted effect. It was important that the cut out areas really stood out and remained the racks main focal point. I think the cream contrasts really well with the grey and by making the cut out areas this colour it has helped me to achieve that.

Before applying my white flat backed 4mm crystals I gave the entire piece a good wax using Annie Sloan clear wax and then slightly distressed areas of the rack with 100 grit sand paper before giving it a final coat of wax.

The crystals were then applied to areas of the cut out carved wood, being placed randomly on corners and tips of each leaf.

I’m really pleased with the end result and feel that although this was pretty before the refurb, its now more fresh and interesting and will have little problems getting noticed, making a statement on any hallway wall.

This piece is now for sale. Remember you can email me to see where I’ll be selling each weekend or buy online using PayPal. Plus I’ve opened an esty shop called “Chic Collective” and I’m in the process of listing all items so be sure to browse whenever desired. Remember refurbished furniture makes each piece a one of a kind, making it truly unique to you, your personal taste and personality.

Note: I’m in the process of displaying my items including vintage jewellery and nicknacks on their own pages within the blog too. These should be ready soon. You can visit my instagram which currently displays images of some of my items.

Email clairelouise.tss@gmail.com for more info.

Kids Crafts – What We Made For National Recycling Week

With it being national recycling week we were set a challenge, to make something for this little cutie…

… Using recycled materials.

The Canimals (currently showing on CiTV) are all about turning something ordinary into something extra-ordinary and we (meaning myself and the toddler) took this into account while doing a little brainstorming. Well, eventually the toddler decided on making a play zone for his canimal with an empty cardboard box.

Harley loves playing with his car mat and this is where the idea came from. The only materials required were that of the cardboard box that we opened out and some child friendly poster paints… Oh and our canimal of course!

Having painted on a bendy white road under the instructions of my three year old, he then got to work turning our canimal play zone into a brightly coloured adventure zone.

Given it was a warm evening the activity was done in the garden where Harley had loads of room to express his creative flair.

He had great fun painting on a river, grass bank and loads of pretty colourful flowers.

The whether was nice so his masterpiece took little time to dry. This was great news as it meant his cute little canimal could enjoy their purpose built play zone in no time at all.

Kids Crafts – A Crown To Get You Noticed

Ok, so Alice’s school will be awarded a very large check of money today! Why? Because her school have taken first place in this years spelling bee table… In our language, it simply means that her school boasts some of the best spellers in the country.

To help to share the schools success the local paper will run a piece accompanied by some images of some of the pupils. In order to get selected as one of the chosen pupils to be photographed, children including my daughter, were asked to make a crown, the type that would get them noticed. Well, my daughter being the girl who never shies away from a camera, got on the job right away.

Armed with a box of bits and bobs, she got to work. Given we had to be somewhere yesterday evening meant she didn’t actually have all that long to design and create her “large” noticeable hat! But in all fairness this little lady is pretty capable of doing some fantastically creative projects in a tiny space of time.

So… Here it is! Her flower, butterfly, and of course… Bumble bee crown.

She used all sorts of materials to create her crown, from tissue paper to sequins, glitter to foam, card and decorative tape. A mountain of flowers that were so delicately sprinkled with glitter, then laid lightly around the crown. She even made a bumble bee eye mask to match her large hat! Alice may now have walked the walk to school with a head full of bumble bees but she did so in style.

She is a real inspiration my amazing Alice-Sara! Even if her oversized bumble bee crown doesn’t get her in the local rag, it gets her in my top spot list, as she always does, time and time again!

Well, thanks for checking out the crown of bumble bees! We hope Alice-Sara has inspired your little ones to get creative with buzzing bumble bees.

Great Kids Crafts For Fathers Day

Homemade cards are more personal than that of the shop brought kind! That’s why my little ones have been busy making Father’s Day cards ready for daddy’s special day.

For the younger ones a template is a great idea and Baker Ross have provided us with these fantastic template cards that just require kids to draw in the missing parts and then fill them with colour.

Kids love drawing faces (well my toddler does) its one of the first things most learn to draw. On these cards your child can draw in any type of facial expression they desire! They can even match the features (hair, eye colour etc) to that of their own daddy. Whether it be grumpy or smiley, the end results are just brilliant. You can even turn the card over to design the back of dads head… How cool is that!

Harley age 3 had so much fun working on these that we went through the entire pack in just one day. Ok, Alice also had a go and if truth be told… So did I!

Here’s the results….

Whats more you can even add other art materials to give your cards a certain edge. Kids can use goggly eyes or how about adding glitter to dads tie, or string for his hair? The possibilities are endless!

Card templates are available from Baker Ross Ltd (8 pack £1.99)