Tutorial – Pretty Lace Winter Jar Lanterns

These pretty lace and glitter jar lanterns are perfect for winter and look amazing. They make a great gift idea for any occasion including valentines day which is just days away.

Materials…

Choose a jar (I’m using empty Yankee candle jars)

Mod Podge

Ultra Fine Blue Glitter

Baby blue strip of lace (enough to tie a drooping bow around the neck of jar)

Blue pretty Heart Sticker (from 99p store comes within a packet of room stickers and found in their crafts section)

Tools…

A couple of paint brushes
Plastic cup or pot for mixing mod podge and glitter.

These are so easy yet the finished piece is stunning, perfectly suited to the winter season. They look pretty on a dresser or on a fire place and have this pretty vintage feel to them.

First mix some Mod Podge with your ultra fine blue glitter. You do need to add quite a bit of glitter. The mixture will not sparkle, but instead look very matt. Don’t worry at this stage it won’t sparkle… That’s where the magic of Mod Podge comes in.

Now take a clean brush and apply the mixture to the entire inner area of your jar… EVERYWHERE!

Apply using different strokes both in thickness and direction.

Once done leave to dry over night. The mixture takes longer to dry because of the glitter and thickness you applied it.

You will know when its starting to dry as the blue/white mixture starts to disappear. The magic of mod podge has then began to work.

By morning or sooner (dependent on when you created your piece) the mixture should now be clear leaving behind a crystallised, icy effect . The different thicknesses and strokes are still visible only in a glittering frosty looking sense.

Now transfer your blue heart to the centre of your jar, pressing firmly avoiding air bubbles.

Lastly tie your pretty lace around the neck of your jar creating a droopy dangling bow, to give it that vintage feel.

And here it is…

You can use different colour glitter too. I’m currently making a pink one that I’m decorating with ivory lace as opposed to the blue lace. I will also use a different room sticker though this is from the same pack as before.

Easy peasy … Super cute.

Decopatched Valentines Gifts Made With Mod Podge

As some of you who visit the blog may have already guessed, this girl loves hearts, and what with it coming up to valentines day, its the perfect excuse to get crafty with hearts. Today I’ve decided to make some pretty sweetie jars with matching heart magnets.

The Jar is one I’ve had ready to decorate for some time. I brought a few of them on a bric a brac stall at a bootfair last year.

The hearts are made of paper mâché and already have the magnets attached. They are of a good size and once papered, look amazing on the fridge or a magnetic notice board. These can be brought from Hobbycraft and are available both in store and online.

So for this project I used 2 large heart magnets and 1 jar. (Pairing a jar with a magnet to make a gift set)

Both the gift set and Individual magnet have been decorated differently but were both extremely simple to create.

The first Tutorial is for my Retro Heart Magnet and Jar Gift Set.

You will need…

Medium size jar (the type with a glass stopper lid)

Large sized paper mâché heart magnet (Hobbycraft)

Funky heart Decopatch paper (Hobbycraft)

Ultra fine baby blue glitter

Mod podge (Gloss)

Thick – Satin blue ribbon (Baker Ross)

Bright red ribbon (Thin)

Dark red ribbon (medium thickness)

1 Red & 1 blue self adhesive button (baker Ross)

White acrylic Paint

Sweets or other items to fill jar

Tools…

Craft Knife
Scissors
3 Paint brushes (painting, mod podge, glitter)
Small sponge (to wipe excess mod podge)
Ruler
Pencil

First the heart magnet….

1) Give your heart magnet 2 coats of white acrylic paint as abase. Allow to dry in between coats and be careful not to get any paint on the actual magnet as it may affect how magnetic it is.

2) Take a sheet of your Decopatch paper (comes in a packet of three) and cut in half using a craft knife and ruler fir support. Place one piece aside for your jar. Now with a craft knife and ruler cut paper into squares so that you can easily piece them back together like a jigsaw.

3) With Mod Podge or Decopatch glossy glue get Decopatching. I’ve explain the art of using Decopatch to decorate almost any object or surface in numerous post here before. So, without going into to much detail I’ll explain in brief… Basically cover the heart in mod podge, lay the paper onto the heart and apply another layer of glue over the top. For this project you will want the pattern to be perfect (not all mix match) So join the paper together to form the pattern (like wallpapering).
Tips… Only apply the glue to the area you wish to cover, instead gluing each section as you go therefore avoiding any areas starting to dry and becoming tacky.

If you have small areas in need of covering, then patch them up with small strips of paper.

Now leave to dry.

Note. Decopatch Glossy Glue & Mod Podge (gloss) can both be used as a glue sealer and finish. Both glues dry clear and are both easy to use. I’m using mod podge as its much faster when drying.

4) Once dry add another layer of mod podge and leave it for around 20 minutes to dry.

5) Once dry take the dark red ribbon and run it around the sides of your heart starting at the tip. Cut any excess ribbon and then use the mod podge to add the ribbon to the sides of the heart adding a layer of mod podge over the top of the ribbon too.

Leave to dry for 20 minutes or so.

6) Once dry stick your self adhesive buttons to the front of your heart like so. Now place to one side.

Now for the jar….

7) Bring forward your other half of Decopatch paper and wrap it around your jar. Start around 5 centimetres down from the neck of your jar so that the paper stops 3/4 of the way up leaving a small area unpapered. Only once you are sure its right add mod podge directly to the jar applying the paper as you go. (Apply the paper as a whole by rotating the glass, gluing and papering as you go). You will notice that you have a little excess paper at the bottom of your jar. Don’t worry! This will be removed soon. Now, add a top layer of mod podge over the top of the paper (ignoring the excess paper) and leave to dry for 20 minutes. Once dry add another top layer of mod podge and sit to dry for the same amount of time as before.

8) Once your jar is papered and the mod podge is dry the paper will be stronger and look very glossy. Now use you scissors to remove any excess paper from the bottom of the jar as to tidy it up.

9) apply mod podge around the top section of paper like a boarder. It only needs to be as thick as your thin red ribbon. Wrap the ribbon around the top of the paper and wipe any excess mod podge quickly with a sponge, to avoid it drying. Now apply mod podge over the top of the ribbon again wiping away excess as you go. Leave to dry for around 15 minutes.

10) Now mix some mod podge with lots of the baby blue glitter. Apply this to the inner section of the jar that is still visible. Also apply some around the neck and top rim of your jar. The mod podge will dry clear leaving a crystallised glittery effect. Drying time is longer as the glue is thicker and no paper is applied. Mine took a few hours to dry fully.

11) once dry tie your blue ribbon around the neck of the jar into a pretty bow.

Dried Mod Podge Mixture

12) for the top section of the lid, place the lid face down on some heart Decopatch paper and with a pencil lightly draw around it. Once done carefully cut out the circle with a craft knife. Decopatch your cut out circle to the top of the jar again adding two top layers of mod podge to the top of the paper. Leave to dry for 20 minutes.

13) Fill with Sweets or anything else you like (tea lights, makeup, pamper goodies, cookies) and fit lid.

Now just use some pretty tissue paper to wrap your heart and jar, place in a pretty gift bag ready to give as a gift.

Fabric Flower Power Heart Magnet

You will need…

1 Large paper mâché heart magnet (Hobbycraft)

Some funky flower fabric (enough to cover heart) Mine is from eBay

Medium thick orange ribbon (Baker Ross)

3 Self adhesive buttons that coordinate with your fabric (I used red, yellow, baby blue) from Baker Ross

White acrylic paint

Mod podge

Tools…
2 brushes (for paint and mod podge)
Scissors
Craft Knife
Ruler

1) Paint heart in white paint as before.

2) use a ruler and craft knife to cut fabric into two pieces one 3/4 in size and the other 1/4 in size. Use ruler to support fabric as you cut. Remove any frying.

3) cover 3/4 of your heart in mod podge placing the 3/4 piece of fabric on top at an angle so that only a 1/4 of the heart is left to cover. If fabric comes over the edges trim or just stick down as I have done. Add mod podge to both the heart and the top layer of fabric just as we did the decopatch paper.

4) Mod podge other 1/4 of heart and add the other half piece of fabric joining the pattern. Again add a coat of mod podge to the top layer of fabric working in the same way as the first piece. Leave to dry for around 20-30 minutes.

5) Once dry add the ribbon to the sides of the heart as we did for our retro patterned heart above. Leave to dry for 10-15 minutes.

6) Now stick on your three buttons like so and you’re heart magnet is set to go.

So… There you have it. Some fantastic Valentines handcrafted inspiration.

Have you made anything for Valentines Day?

Tutorial – Handmade Sweets for Valentines Day

Its fun to make your own sweets, especially with the children.

My toddler had equally as much fun making these with me as he did eating them.

I’ve included 3 types of sweets that we made, each very easy make.

All would be greatly appreciated by anyone this Valentines day.

Chocolate Dipped Peppermints

Ingredients…

200g Icing Sugar
1 Egg White
Plain or Milk Chocolate
Peppermint Flavouring
Green Food Colouring

Equipment…

Foil
Mini Sweet Cases
Mixing Bowl
Bowl (to melt chocolate)
Knife
Board
Tray/Plate
Spoon (for mixing)
Microwave (optional)

1: Add around 100g of your icing sugar to the mixing bowl, followed by one egg white, 5 drops of peppermint flavouring and 10 drops of green food colouring. Mix together well.

2: slowly add the remaining icing sugar to the mixture and keep stirring until you see the wetness/stickiness disappearing. The mixture should be thickening up into a dough like consistency that you are able to knead into a smooth ball. You may not require the whole 100g of icing sugar you have remaining or you may need to add a little extra.

3: Now make your mixture into a log shape and cut into disks. If you want the sweets smaller you can break each disk in half, roll into 2 smooth balls and slightly flatten with your thumb.

4: Now break up your chocolate and add to a non metallic bowl. Melt your chocolate in the microwave for around 30 seconds (adjust the timings if your chocolate is very hard or unrefrigerated). If you don’t have a microwave, then place your bowl in a pan of boiled water and stir till melted.

5: Lay down some foil on a board. Take each peppermint disk and half dip it into the melted chocolate. Lay it down on the foil.

6: Once all are done, cover a plate in a new sheet of foil and transfer your disks to the plate. Place the plate in the fridge for an hour.

7: Once your disks are set transfer them to your mini sweet cases. They will be firm but still mouldable so squash & mould a little if they don’t fit.

8: Place back in the fridge for 20 minutes and they are then ready to eat.

For gifts place Peppermints directly into a jar, place cases in a cute homemade box or bag them up with pretty heart cellophane bags tied with ribbon

Chocolate & Coconut Cherries

Ingredients…

Tube of Glacé Cherries
Packet of Grated Coconut
Bar Of Plain or Milk Chocolate

Tools…
Mini Heart Foil Sweet Cases
2x Bowls
Mixing Spoon
Cocktail Sticks or Fork
Microwave (optional)

1: Add some coconut to a bowl

2: Add Chocolate to a bowl & melt the chocolate as I did above.

3: I used my meat fork as didn’t have any cocktail sticks. First pick up your cherry with your stick, roll it in the chocolate and then the coconut.

4: Gently remove from stick and place in your heart foil case.

5: Do the same for all your cherries and then pop them in the fridge for an hour.

Half eaten yummy sweet

Chocolate Coconut Hearts

Ingredients…

Plain or Milk Chocolate
Coconut

Equipment….
Bowl to melt chocolate
Mini foil heart cases
Microwave (optional)
Spoon to mix chocolate

1: Melt chocolate as above.

2: Add coconut to the melted chocolate and mix well.

3: Spoon mixture into heart foil cases.

4: Sprinkle with coconut.

5: Place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Shabby Chic Hand Painted Heart and Twinket Set

Valentines day, another reason to get all creative and crafty!

Yes… I know we’ve only just done Christmas and New year but Valentines day is just weeks away and if you’re planning on handcrafting items for loved ones or creating valentines gifts with the kids then Now’s the time to get going… After all last minute is so not fashionable.

I’m actually hand decorating a paper mâché large hanging heart and matching small twinklet box for my bedroom dresser. Its actually not a valentines gift for anyone other than myself (if that counts) but this would make a lovely gift for that special day! Plus, it wouldn’t seem at all right to not share it with you guys.

I’ve made some beautiful heart twinklet boxes covered in pink rose Decopatch paper and posted them here on the blog last year. My initial plan was to cover both my heart and twinklet in shabby chic inspired Decopatch papers but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to try something a little different.

I instead decided to paint my heart and twinklet with antique white and jet black acrylic paint. To give both heart and twinklet a really good finish I opted for Mod Podge gloss lustre as this would give it a great shine and strong protective seal.

What I Used…
Large Paper Mâché Hanging Heart
Small Embossed Paper Mâché Twinklet
Antique White Acrylic Paint
Jet Black Acrylic Paint
White Lace Paper Trimming
Mod Podge Gloss-Lustre-Lustre

Tools…
Medium size paint brush
Small brush (for detailing)
Sponge Applicator
Glue brush (for mod podge)
Scissors

What I did…

1: The first step was to use my medium size paint brush to cover both heart and twinklet in a coat of antique white paint. One coat isn’t enough, so leave items to dry then apply a second coat of paint. I found that this paint dried really quickly (30 minutes at the most) which was great as I had to work on one side at a time allowing drying in between.

2: Once both coats have been applied and items are fully dried its time to add the detailing to both box and heart. I started with the heart twinklet box first. With the jet black paint and small paint brush I applied black paint to the embossed areas on the twinklet. This is a little tricky and fiddly as the embossed area is rather hard to see. I had to be careful not to overdo it but also decided to add additional pattern to make the design more bold and appealing. If you decide to do this, my tip would be, not to rush the process. Remember your applying extremely dark paint to a very light colour. Mistakes would mean a re-paint in the lighter colour and it would likely mean a number of coats to cover such mistakes.

3: While waiting for the twinklet to dry I started work on my heart. Again I used my jet black paint to add detail to the heart. The heart isn’t embossed yet I wanted to add the same type of design & effect as that on my twinklet as to create a matching set. With this I very carefully applied the paint to the heart doing my best to create a similar pattern as to that on the twinklet. As I had already needed to add extra pattern to the twinklet in a freestyle way, this actually wasn’t much different and therefore turned out to be easier than first expected! With this I was lucky to escape any mistakes that needed painting over.

I decided to apply the black painted design to half of the heart on each side. I felt this would look much better than covering the heart entirely in the pattern… Sometimes less is more! Note… If you would like to try this idea, you will need to first apply the pattern to one side of your heart, allow it to dry for at least 30 minutes, before turning over and painting the pattern on the opposite side.

4: I then brought forward the lid of my twinklet box and hand painted a similar pattern around the lids edges. I then left the lid to dry for around 30 minutes or so.

5: I then took my dried twinklet lid and with my mod podge I applied my paper lace trimming around the edging of the Twinklets lid, as shown below. I used the Decopatch technique to apply the paper trimming and again left to dry for around 30 minutes.

6: Once my twinklet was dry I painted the paper trimming in the same antique white paint (a second coat can be applied if desired)! I then left my twinklet lid to once again dry. (Good job this stuff is fast drying or I’d be here for months!)

7: Once both items had there detail applied and were fully dried, it was time to apply the Mod Podge. First you must give the mod podge a good stir (remember a little mod podge goes a long way). I covered both my items in a coat of Mod Podge with my sponge as an applicator. Remember as this stuff dries it gets really tacky and you will need to be careful not to apply more stokes of mod podge as it dries or this will make your items look bumpy and untidy. More Mod Podge can be applied once the first coat is fully dried.

8: Once the first coat of Mod Podge is dry (I’d give it an hour though it is likely to be touch dry much quicker) You can then apply a second coat. I applied my Mod Podge with a sponge as opposed to a brush because brush stokes can often be seen when using Mod Podge. A sponge looks more even and the end result is much better. Finally, I decided to leave it for a few hours to ensure my items were fully dry. Tip: To save time apply the Mod Podge to both sides of the heart and then dry by hanging your heart on a metal pole or similar! Just remember that your heart needs to have room to hang freely, not making contact with any other objects or surfaces as to allow it to evenly dry.

9: To finish I tied some pretty white ribbon to the hanging loop of my heart and some foam to the inner section of my twinklet (i did this by using my twinklet lid as a template on some self adhesive foam).

So… here it is…

You can use other colours to create any look you desire. These colours work really well for me though I think something like a striking hot pink pattern against a black background would look pretty amazing. Note to tell self… “Create hot pink heart & black heart for daughters bedroom!”

These would also make perfect Valentines gifts. Maybe adding a piece of jewellery inside the twinklet or maybe a few homemade truffles… Yummy.

Thanks for reading and would love to know what you all think.

Shabby Chic Inspired Mod Podge & Decopatch Tea Light Jars

I love using Decopatch papers to decorate items and surfaces. I had some pretty pink rose Decopatch paper left from another project and decided to use it to make some pretty tea light jars to match my heart twinklets I made a while back.

The results were fabulous and I was left with a really pretty tea light jar that I now plan to make more of.

Regardless of the beautiful result, these tea light jars are relatively simple to make and don’t require very many materials to create.

Here’s what you will require to make one of these tea light jars…

Small jar (Ikea spice jars are ideal)
Decopatch pink rose paper
Mod Podge
Hot pink fine glitter

Tools…

Scissors
Hog brush for Mod Podge

How to make your own pretty candle jar…

1) Cut your rose paper into medium size pieces.

2) Apply Mod Podge directly onto the glass jar in the area you want to apply your first piece of Decopatch paper.

3) Once you have stuck down the paper, add a thin layer of Mod Podge over the top.

4) Continue doing the above steps in till your jar is completely covered.
Be sure to slightly over lap the papers. Cut smaller pieces of paper for any patch ups. With this piece, try to ensure your papers at least match somewhat and the pattern doesn’t look too odd.

5) leave to dry for around 30 minutes

6) Once dry add a layer of Mod Podge around the jars neck and its bottom before sprinkling the fine pink glitter over the glued areas. Shake off any excess glitter.

7) Now add a small amount of Mod Podge to the middle of your jar and then cover with a little glitter (few pinches). Now leave the jar to dry for another 30 minutes.

8) Once dry finally add a final thin layer of Mod Podge over your entire jar and leave to dry for an hour or more.

9) Now, its dried, all that’s left to do is pop in a tea light and light it up with a candle lighter.

As the flame take form you will notice how your candle jar begins to spakle with the light and glitter.The effect is simply stunning and I’m really pleased with mine.

So… There you have it! Really cute tea light jars that are easy to make and don’t cost a fortune either. Why not make them for a loved one this Valentines Day?

Candy Filled Champagne Flutes – Perfect Valentines Gift Idea

These candy filled Champagne flutes are a really cute valentines gift idea and really easy to create.

I brought my plastic red champagne flutes in a pack of two from the 99p store. I also got my Swiggels Matlow Love Heart sweets here too.

All you need is…

2 plastic fancy champagne flutes
Swiggels Matlow Love Heart Sweeties
Paint or paint pens
Stick on gems
Cellophane heart bags from Hobbycraft
Red Ribbon
Red wire tie (comes with heart bags)
Selection of papers (any size, scraps will do)
Red sequins

Tools…
Small heart craft punch

So here’s how to make these cute love heart candy filled champagne flutes.

1: Use your paint or paint pens to decorate your champagne flutes. I used a red paint pen to add some pretty hearts. I painted my hearts in a way that gave the illusion that they were spiralling around the glass, descending in size.

2: Leave your flute to dry. Depending on what paint is used the time it will take will vary. Mine was fully dry within a few hours.

3: Add some sparkle to your champagne flute with some self adhesive gems. I used small black gems, placing them in the centre of each heart (except for the smallest hearts at the end of my spiral).

4: Place your champagne flute to one side and bring forward your papers and heart punch. Use the punch to punch out lots of little hearts.

5: Now along with some red sequins add some of your punched hearts into the bottom of the champagne flute. Now add some love heart sweeties followed by more hearts and sequins. Repeat in till the flute is full.Tip… Make sure some of your heart sweets are facing towards the glass so the words on the heart can be seen, adding to the effect.

6: Now carefully pop your champagne flute into the cellophane bag and crunch it in the middle, using your wire tie to secure. Now cover the plastic wire tie with the pretty red ribbon.

Now give the champagne flute to someone special .

Remember the bag acts as a pretty cover for your champagne flute, but doesn’t seal the flute and its contents shut. If sending this to a loved one then cover in pretty tissue paper and box in a bottle gift box before sending.

Resources
Website for Swiggels Matlow
Website For 99p Store
Website for Hobbycraft

Shabby Chic Wire Beaded Hearts For Valentines Day

We are currently in the process of decorating my daughters bedroom and even though its nowhere near finished I’ve already started making those finishing touches.

Myself and daughter sat down together and made this very sweet metal beaded heart that she plans to hang above her bed. Its very shabby chic and has been created using different beads, buttons, ribbon and more.

Here’s a round up of the items we used to create our heart and what you’ll need to create one of your very own.

Memory wire
Selection of beads
Selection of sequins
Selection of buttons
Wired gingham red and white ribbon
Selection of ribbon ( 3 colours)
Thin craft wire
2x mini craft pegs
Red string

Tools
Pair of wire cutters or sharp scissors
Extra strong glue dots.

Step 1 Choose your beads buttons and ribbon. Cut enough wire to make a medium sized hanging heart and bend in half so you have the point of your heart and two equal size sides. start treading on the different items. Really mix things up. Big buttons and small beads in no particular order look great.

2. Thread different items on each side of the wire but make sure one side isn’t more heavy than the other. Shape your heart as you go.

3. Bead just a little over half way on each side. Then take some more wire and wrap it around the remaining memory wire to make the top of your heart stronger.

4. Now join the two ends together by twisting them therefore making the top of your heart shape.

5. Wrap some thin ribbon around the exposed wire and tie into a knot. This will cover shape pieces of wire if there is any.

6. Now cover that ribbon with thick wired gingham red ribbon securing with an extra strong glue dot. This wired ribbon will make the top of your heart extra strong and very shabby looking.

7. Randomly add different pieces of ribbon to your heart, tying them in random areas and leaving them to dangle down from your heart.

8. Hang more buttons or beads to the heart by attaching them with the thinner craft wire.

9. Tie a bow at the top of your heart with some ribbon, adding some buttons to the middle with thin craft wire.

10. Now, cut some red string (I got mine from Ikea) and attach to the top of your heart with your two little wooden craft pegs.

Its now ready to hang.

These are great and there are so many designs you could make either by adding different items or even creating different shapes with your memory wire.

These would also make great little valentines gifts and are suitable for older children to make alone.

For bigger hearts with heavier embellishments use florist wire. This is strong but still easy to shape.