Beach Combing For Sea Glass

We have just got back from a lovely weekend away at Butlins Bognor Regis. Right outside the Butlins complex is a rather lovely pebble beach. So on Saturday myself and sister took the children to the beach during low tide. The perfect time to beach combe.

The toddlers beach combing

The kids love collecting bits and bobs in their buckets. We collected some interesting pebbles, a few stuffed with Quartz crystal, some pretty shells and best of all some lovely pieces of sea glass for jewellery making.

It was my daughter Alice-Sara who had the best eye for finding sea glass. She found mostly clear glass (which now has this frosted white appearance) and some pieces of green glass.

So just what is sea glass?

Here’s a Wikipedia definition for sea glass…

“Sea glass or beach glass is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of fresh and salt water. These weathering processes produce natural frosted glass. Sea glass can be collected as a hobby and can be used to create jewellery”

We found that looking for this special glass during low tide produced greater results. We sat and used our hands to search through the pebbles along the tide line.

We didn’t find loads of the glass but did find a few nice pieces, enough to make a few nice items of jewellery.

Other pieces we found were lovely but not ideal pieces for jewellery, purely because these had some chips and were a little irregular. However these would look awesome if used for a mosaic project.

Here’s a few other bits the children found…

Natural formed quartz crystal the images fail to show just how sparkly this really is

<em>Huge shells and crazy looking pieces of sea plants

Tiny shells found by the toddlers

Some strange yet interesting rocks

#silentsunday

How To Make Jewellery From Shrink Plastic

Shrink plastic is a very versatile medium. Its fun to work with for both children and adults alike and its available from most good craft stores and online.

Today I’m going to show you how to use shrink plastic to make these two lovely pendants…

The materials you will require are…

2 x frosted sheets of shrink plastic
Black permanent marker pen
Gold metallic gel pen
Gold metallic pencil
Silver metallic pencil
Length of black cord or leather
Thick silver memory wire (for choker)
10 4mm flat backed crystals (white)
2 x Charlotte crimp bead tips (silver)
1x jump ring
Flat silver charm (like a tag)
2 silver pendant attachments
1 necklace clasp
Small amount of silver tiger wire

Tools

Scissors
Mini hole punch
Access to a pre heated oven or heat tool
Flat nosed pilers
Wire cutters
Super glue

To make your round pendant use your permanent black marker pen and draw a circle that goes into a swirl on the rough (frosted side) of your shrink plastic.

Next decorate the edging of your swirl with a petal like pattern like I have.

Use the gold gel pen to colour in groups of the petal like decoration like so.

Decorate any other way you wish.

Now cut out the shape and use the mini hole punch to make a hole in your pendant (not to close to the edge).

If using an oven preheat this to the temperature stated on the manufacturers instructions on your shrink plastic. Follow the guidelines to shrink the plastic.

If using a heat tool, place your plastic, frosted side up, on a ceramic surface and hold it with a pencil tip as you apply the heat.

Within seconds the plastic should start to shrink. It will all fold up into a ball before finally opening back out to reveal its smaller self. This process takes seconds.

The plastic will now be 7x smaller and much more thicker than it was previously.

Once the plastic has cooled use super glue (a tooth pic or similar) to glue one crystal to the centre of your swirl and three more crystals like I have in the image below.

Now fit a pendant grip through the pendants hole and thread the black cord through the hoop.

Its now time to finish of your necklace using the jewellery findings!

Thread a charlotte crimp end to each end of your thread. Tie in a knot to secure and use flat nosed pilers to crimp the thread securely inside the body of the Charlotte.

Now, to one end of your thread add a jump ring to the Charlotte crimp end and to the other end attach a clasp.

Your first pendant is now complete.

Gold and silver pendant

Cut your shrink plastic into a thickish strip.

Use your gold and silver pencils to add swirls of both colours to the rough side of your plastic. Ensure your swirls overlap one another like so…

Once your design is complete again cut down your plastic remembering that it will be 7x smaller once shrunk. Your finished pendant will need to measure at least 2-2 1/2 centimetres in length.

At this stage you will also need to round off your edges to ensure there are no sharp corners.

Turn your plastic long ways up and use your mini hole punch to make a hole both at the top and bottom of your shape.

Now place in the oven shrinking your plastic as you did before (instructions above).

Once your plastic has shrunk and it is cool to touch use you super glue to glue on five of your crystals randomly in the centre of your swirls.

Attach a pendant grip to the top hole like so.

Now take your flat silver tag and glue on one more crystal to its centre.

Thread a small piece of silver tiger wire through the loop of your flat pendant and then through the hole at the bottom of your shrink plastic.

Twist using flat nosed pilers and cut of any excess with wire cutters.

Your flat silver tag should now dangle from the bottom of your plastic pendant.

Lastly mould the memory wire into a hoop and thread the pendant onto the wire. Secure the end by forming two loops using flat nosed pilers.

And your finished.

Alice loves wearing these home made creations and the shrink plastic has done well to impress us both.

Why not give those above a try or simply use your imagination to create your own style of shrink plastic jewellery.

Tutorial – IKEA Mirror Upcycle

You too can take one of these Ikea mirrors…

And jazz it up for someone special…

Mine has been personalised for my daughter who absolutely loves it.

To upcycle the Ikea mirror just like mine you’ll need…

Metallic Purple Acrylic Paint (Baker Ross)
Various size brushes
Black permanent marker pen
White/glitter decals
Black/glitter butterfly decals
Mod podge gloss

Tools
Glue & Paint Brushes

The mirror was actually rather glossy in its texture which meant I really should have striped it down to ensure the purple acrylic paint would stick to the frames surface.

However, I decided to try something different! One… I was being lazy, and two… Because I wanted to experiment a little with painting techniques.

So, I applied my paint directly on top of the mirrors frame. For the first coat a very thin layer was applied with a sponge applicator. For the second layer I applied another thin layer in the opposite direction I painted the last.

For the final layer I swirled the paint with the tip of my sponge to gain the effect shown below.

I then let my frame dry for an hour

For the next part of this upcycle I took a black permanent marker and with it I wrote my daughters name (Alice Sara) at the top and bottom of my frame like so. Alice has a double barrel name but you could maybe use the first name followed by their middle name or surname.

I then left it for a further hour just to ensure the pen was fully dry to ensure I didn’t smudge it during the next step.

I then decorated my frame with the decals. I applied some decals to my wording as to give a 3D impression.

My last few steps was to cover the entire frame in mod podge gloss and
fit the mirror back into the frame to finish.

If you don’t fancy trying this yourself I’m happy to create one for you. All you need to do is email me the name you want to use to personalise the frame and any other requirements… boy, girl, colour, design etc. This maybe created on a different frame dependent on howmany of this type I have left. All will be of similar sizes and of good quality.
Prices start from £10
Email clairelouise.tss@gmail.com
Payment taken via PayPal

Tutorial – Decopatch Friendship Heart Pendants

Over Easter I shared with you all some crafts inspired by Polystyrene eggs. While shopping in the town centre when enjoying a recent holiday to Butlins in Bognor Regis, I popped into the ‘Works’ Where I uncovered these cute little polystyrene hearts.

Having recently used polystyrene miniature eggs to create Egg pendants with the children, it gave me an idea for a crafty project for these hearts.

The idea… Heart Friendship Pendants!

If you fancy a go at these yourself, they are relatively easy to make just a little fiddly if anything. Its the perfect craft to do with bigger kids. Alice who is 10 had lots of fun making hers.

Here’s what you’ll need to make two pendants like ours…

2 designs of decopatch paper (your choice of design and colours)

Decopatch Glue

Mod Podge Shimmer (gold)

Glue/Decopatch Brush

Tiger Wire/Craft Wire

fishing Wire

Tiny Gold Beads

Glass beads

Glass crystals (colours to complement Decopatch paper)

5 x 4mm flat backed crystals (colours to complement decopatch paper) I used white and blue.

Jewellery Findings (couple of crimping beads and crimp covers, 2x pendent attachment, jump hoops, 2x clasps & catches)

Tools…

Crimping tool
Brushes
Scissors
Nail (to pierce a hole through hearts)

Here’s how to put it all together to make your heart pendents

1) Use a sharp nail to pierce 2 small holes opposite one another, right at the top of your hearts in the centre, like so…

2) Cut papers into small manageable pieces. Decopatch your hearts using your paper pieces and decopatch glue. This is done by simply adding glue directly to the heart and over the top of the paper. Cover one side of pendants, allow to dry for 30-40 minutes before doing the other sides.

When it comes to covering the sections of the hearts where the two holes are located, do this using the nail to locate the holes and piercing the paper.

3) Once these are dry use a clean brush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge gold shimmer. Apply to one side of the hearts, leave it to dry for 30 minutes before adding the shimmer to the opposite sides and again leaving to dry.

4) while the pendants are still wet, secure your 3 4mm flat back crystals in a row down the centre of one side of one of your pendants and the remaining crystals onto your remaining heart pendant in the same way. Now leave to dry.

5) Now take your two tiny gold beads and insert into the two holes with the holes facing up.

6) next take your pendant attachments and fit them to the hearts via the holes on the gold beads.

7) Next, take some fishing wire (enough to make desired necklace length) and thread it through each of your pendants hoops

8) Now thread on your glass beads and crystals like so. Five on each side looks nice. Do the same for your second necklace in a different style.

9) Make a knot on both ends of the wire while you prepare your findings.

10) Finally connect your crimps and covers, jump loops and catches. Sit back and admire your work.

We made 2 heart necklaces as Alice-Sara wanted to make these for herself and best friend as friendship necklaces.

The thing I love most about this project is the endless possibilities it brings. You can make a different heart for each day of the week just by changing the paper style or beads and crystals on your necklace.

What’s more, with the magic of Decopatch glue and Mod Podge your polystyrene heart is now stronger and much more solid, but still super light to wear.

Why not try it yourself, experimenting with different papers and beads as you go.

Hope I’ve inspired you to get creative with Decopatch papers… Enjoy.

This Weeks Bootfair Finds

Here’s some bargains I’ve grabbed at a few bootfairs over the past couple of weeks.

Pretty vanity set (brush and mirror)

I brought the set in perfect condition but accidentally smashed the glass in the mirror so will need to get this replaced. I love the floral vintage design its so pretty and cost £3

Sweet silver heart trinket 50p

A very sweet decorative trinket that is ideal to store little bits in. Mines on my dresser and is a current home to a few rings.

Metal magazine rack

Love this. Its just my style and fits in well with other furniture I own. Plus it was a real bargain at £2

Stirling Silver Rose Pendant

One of my best buys of the week (well, few months if I’m honest)! The pendent is 925 Stirling silver and really nicely crafted into this pretty rose design. The pendant is on a black leather cord that is finished with a 925 Stirling silver clasp. Can you believe this cost me just £1.50. To be honest I don’t think the stall holder knew it was silver as she informed me it was a costume piece of her daughters.

Basque Style Jewellery Holder

I usually find that these holders that have been created to hold jewellery are usually really cheap and tacky looking (especially those with the butterflies etc)! However, this is quite the opposite. Its manufactured by a brand called Two’s Company which seems to be more known to the states. This particular holder is for necklaces and its really heavy in weight. I love the colour and detailing. The shoulder area has this stunning metal detail and the body that is this pretty pinkish gold colour has pretty detailing that is really subtle and delicate. I paid a fantastic £1.50 for this piece and was more than pleased with that.

Vintage Jar (maybe mustard/sugar jar) with silver Plated Lid

I found this rather nice glass/crystal jar with a silver plated lid. The lid is marked EPNS and although very pretty needs a little cleaning to remove tarnish. The jar was a bargain at just £1

Branded hair and beauty bargains

At another bootfair I grabbed this Toni & Guy travel selection consisting of straight and sleek shampoo, conditioner, heat defence spray and a rubber shine styling product. These haven’t been opened. They came in a tony and guy straighteners zip holder so am guessing they were once part of a straighteners gift set. I paid a reasonable £2 for the lot.

Other items I brought from the same sale included

New- Micro Injection Lift Fusion
New- Lancôme self tan lotion
New- Mou- Hair texturizer
New- Lancôme nail polish
New- YSL Lisse Expert

All for £20

#silentsunday

Kids Crafts – Painting Pebbles

We, meaning myself and the kids, collected lots of pebbles while on our recent trip to the seaside. Once we got them home we decided we would paint them for the garden.

Our pebbles would be used to brighten up flowerpots and flower beds. Here’s what we used…

Various Pebbles (collected from the beach)
Acrylic paints (various colours)
Mod Podge
Googly Eyes
Glitter glue

You can paint your pebbles anyhow you like the possibilities are endless. This is a great little craft project that you can do with the kids. My very own toddler loved it.

The activity held my creative little three year olds attention for over an hour. He painted in various colours before adding different coloured googly eyes and painting on red smiles.

His little stones were painted and glittered… Messy but fun.

Once the toddlers pebbles were dry I added a layer of Mod Podge to give them a shine as well as a protective layer.

Yourself, along with the kids, can let the imagination run wild painting & creating allsorts of designs and patterns from funny faces to dinosaurs, dots to hearts.

We also made some pebble bugs using paint and googly eyes. For our bees and lady birds we used some foam pieces to form the wings. For our spider we used some garden wire for the legs. These are currently busy drying on the window pane, but I’ll be sure to post another little update once they are dry and ready to display.

As for Harley’s wacky face pebbles, we plan to place them around the flower beds in our garden today (given it remains bright and sunny that is).

Hope we have inspired you to have fun with paints.

Remember… Painting on paper is fun but painting on pebbles is awesome!

Upcycle – Vintage Inspired Crackle Butterfly Box

I’ve had this plain wooden Ivory box with drawer fitment for a while now and wasn’t to sure what to do with it. I brought it at a rummage sale for pennies and at the time thought it was fine left the way it was.

However, as the weeks have turned to months, this box has done nothing useful. Its sadly just been moved around my bedroom, longing to fit in. With this I decided that in order to make real use of the box i’ll have to put my own personal stamp on it!

Being a girl who just loves jewellery and consequently owns a lot of it, I decided to upcycle my wooden box into a vintage style jewellery box.

Here’s what I used to transform the ivory wooden box..

FolkArt Acrylic Paint (940 Coffee Bean)
Mod Podge Shimmer- Gold
Wooden Cut Out Butterfly
4mm White Crystals (flat backed)
Crackle Paint White
Square Piece Of Mirror
PVA Glue (mixed with water)

Tools
Paint brushes
Glue Brushes
Sponge Paint Applicator
Hairdryer (or heat tool)

Firstly I had to give my box a wipe to remove any dust or dirt.

Next I removed the drawer and with a sponge applicator I applied my coffee bean paint to the entire box (drawer included). I allowed them both to dry before adding a second coat.

Once the box and its drawer had dried I added a thin layer of mod podge gold shimmer adding a thicker application to the edges of my box.

I allowed a 30 minute drying time before starting on my next step…

Now… I mixed 2 parts PVA glue to 1 part water (the idea is to create a runny but tacky glue mixture).

I then applied a thin amount to the lid of my box and applied direct heat with my hairdryer. I made sure not to completely dry the mixture as I needed it to remain slightly tacky to the touch.

I then took my crackle paint in white and scooped out some mixture onto a plate. With a sponge I applied the paint over the entire lid (directly over the tacky glue mixture) making sure not to go over the same area more than once as this will ease the crackling effect.

I then did the same with both the glue mixture and the crackle paint on all other areas of my box excluding the front section that surrounds my drawer. The drawer itself also received the same treatment.

Once all areas of crackle were applied and fully dry I again applied my gold mod podge shimmer to the entire box, including the section that remained brown and not crackled.

As I allowed the box to air dry for a further 30 minutes or so, I started work on my butterfly.

To decorate my wooden butterfly for the lid of my box I used a sponge applicator to cover it in coffee bean paint on both sides. This received two coats of paint in total.

Once dry I applied mod podge gold shimmer to the entire butterfly again on both sides.

Once the butterfly was dried I applied another coat of gold shimmer to just one side of the butterfly. It was during this application that I also applied the 4mm white crystals and then placed to one-side till later.

Next I took a piece of square mirror big enough to fit neatly in the centre of the inner section of my lid, and stuck it down with super glue.

The last step was to take my crystal butterfly and again using superglue apply it to the lid of my box at a slight angle like so…

Done!

I love the crackle effect on the box. By adding the gold mod podge shimmer the box has both subtle and vibrant gold tones. However, my favourite part has to be the crystal butterfly. Its hard to capture both the sparkle from the crystals and the shimmer from the gold on a photo! The effect looks much more spectacular in life.

I’ve really enjoyed turning my plain old ivory box into my own little vintage masterpiece. Why not upcycle things around your home? I’d love some inspirational ideas for the future, so feel free to share any in the comment section of this post.

Blast Off! Paper Rocket

As its been nice and sunny, yet a little windy I thought I’d share this fab craft idea I discovered
Over at ‘Little fingers big art’ A blog very worth a visit.

Roylco

Set a course to new heights with this rip-roaring rocket!

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