Fabulous Find Friday 2

Here are a few of my "must have" sewing tools.  Do you know what these are?  Turning tubes.  So much easier than a safety pin.  I use these at least once a week.  Turns purse handles, spaghetti straps and all the other tubes I have struggled with in the past.  I got mine at Nancy's Notions but I have seen them elsewhere too.   Seriously, you NEED these.  Diana  

New Blogger

You know I love Halloween and all the creepy stuff that goes along with it.......but this new blogger's cookies are totally freaking me out......in a good way.  I can hardly look at these but aren't they cool.  A brand new blogger, Milly at Five Keeping Me in Stitches made these.  Can't wait to see what she comes up with next.  Diana

Black Feathers Everywhere

Just a quick post to show a feathered pumpkin that I just made.  Harder than I thought it was going to be.  And messy....real messy.  Diana

Death By Chocolate

Check out this funny headstone I found for my Fairy Garden!  But wait, there is more.  It was perfect to make a mold from that I could use for CHOCOLATE!!!

Using a two part mold compound from a previous project, I created this washable, oven safe (up to about 395) mold.   Think of the possibilities.

Next I took a chocolate and melted it (just barely) in the microwave.

Add a small handful of rice crispies.  Pour it into the mold, tapped it down on the counter to be sure the surface would be good and covered.  Chill and then unmold.  Next time I will use a little non stick spray to make the release a little easier.

Then I brushed on a little edible luster dust in silver and here is the candy bar size treat that brings a little creepiness to your indulgence!!!  Diana

Oh What a Can of Glitter Paint Can Do

Glitter in a can?  Who knew!  How wonderful!  Now EVERYTHING can get a coat of glitz with a push of a button!  Wow........  I took this plain Jane black craft (meaning cheap) wood house and sprayed glitter and shine on in one easy step.

I might cut a hole in the bottom and then insert an electric candle.  Spooky.  But with glitter.  Diana

Be Calm...It's Only a Spider

I needed to make this pendant.  The past two weeks have been so busy and I have a habit of getting really hyper when there is a lot going on.  Laid back?  Not so much.   

 I found one inch glass tiles that I decoupaged computer printed images on the backs of. 

 I just googled hanging spider to find this cute guy. 

6000 glue holds the pendant loop on.  No limits to what you could put on these!  Diana

Gothic Ring

When I saw these adorable Gothic scrapbook embellishments, I knew I had to have them.  There were twelve in the package!  And the first thing I made with them is this super cool ring!

Adjustable ring blank and a bit of 6000 glue......that's it.

And it cost pennies.  Seriously, just pennies.  Diana

Storybook Pendants

This is a very easy project.  A few charm frames. plastic inserts, and miniature book pages......plus some modge podge.  Lots of modge podge.  I modge podge the images on both sides of the inserts.  One side is a vintage picture from a book and on the other side is some text.  I found the crow at The Graphics Fairy and the Little Red Robin Hood at Vintage Catnip. 

The Raven pages were given a little brown ink to age them.  I am thinking this will be great for Halloween.  Love Halloween.  A lot.  Diana

BIG Tote

This is another scripture tote but this one is REALLY BIG!  I got a request from a young girl who wanted it for another girl in her Sunday school class.  It is going to be a surprise! 

There are lots of pockets inside and the totes dimension is 10x5x7.  Lots of room for scriptures, booklets and all the stuff you need in class.  Her favorite color is a lime green and the A is her first initial.  I machined quilted the green fabric so it is very sturdy.   No pattern for this one, just made as I went.  Lots of love stitched into it for a very special young lady.  Diana

Candy Corn Burlap Banner

Fall has arrived in Ohio!  This week I made this fun little banner for less than $2.00. 
All you need is
1/2 yard of burlap
orange spray paint
yellow spray paint
twine or ribbon


Cut your burlap into triangles.  Mine are 9" wide.

 I didn't use anything to make the paint lines straight.  I think their imperfections make them more fun.  Also, don't bother with the white tips of the candy corn the paint didn't really show up, and I didn't want them to be too stiff.

 I attached them to twine by threading (no need for needle, just shove it through an opening in the weave) one square inch in from the top corners.  I secured them in place on the twine with a knot at each side.  I don't know that the knot was really necessary though.

Fabulous Find Friday

I thought I would try something new on the blog.  Most Fridays we will try to bring you cool things we have found in blogland that you can get too!  Our first find is this super cut ribbon found at an Etsy shop

that exactly matches some ribbon we bought at the Country Living Fair held in Columbus Ohio this past weekend. 

What would you make with this ribbon?  I haven't decided yet but I love this ribbon!  Diana

Tombstone

Our Bishopric asked me to make a gravestone cake and cupcakes for YMYW last night.  They wanted a giant grave on the cake that said RIP Death of a Testimony.  Here is what I came up with! 

The tombstone is made with rice crispies.  I added some black food coloring to the marshmallow mixture to get the stone look. 

After it set overnight, it looked like granite! Oh, and of course I miss spelled it!   Diana

Creepy Skull Napkin

Do you scare easy?  Then these napkins are not for you!  I mean really, skulls?

 But I love to be creeped out!  Seriously, love scarey things.........except for vampires..........and werewolves.........and zombies........and living dead things that eat people.......  Oh and all the teenage slasher type characters...........and clowns.........I hate clowns........

But I love these skulls.  They are pretty.  And fancy.  I like fancy.  
I made these using a free embroidery design, I forgot where I got it, but I remember it was free, and some black cotton fabric.  I cut out 15 inch squares of fabric, embroidered it and then used my new serger to make a rolled hem.  That was a new technique for me and it was sooooo easy.  I will be putting rolled hems on EVERYTHING now.  EVERYTHING.  Diana

Sweet as Candy Corn Needle Holder

Look at this little guy!  Isn't he sweet!  And he has a little secret....

 He holds sewing needles! 

I made him on my embroidery machine and a design from GG Embroidery.  He is supposed to be a hair clip cover but I made some adjustments in the sewing order and then hand stitched the two together at the tippy top.  Now I have a giggle every time I reach for a needle.  And what a cute little gift this would be.  Diana

Head Bands

This is what I do in the evenings when I am watching tv and can't quit fidgeting.....make headbands.

I love to combined different colors and see what I get. 

 Pink and green, yellow and orange (Halloween), so many combos.

Some ribbons and a glue gun.....and a little girl can have a headband for every outfit.  Diana

Farm Fresh Hard Boiled Eggs

 My children LOVE hard boiled eggs.  In an attempt to make their school lunches more fun I am trying to do some unexpected things in their lunch boxes.  When we were in S. Korea several years ago, we picked up some egg molds like these.   We only picked up two.  What's the point in only boiling two hard boiled eggs at a time?  Then I decided to try to use my ice cream sandwich molds to make a bigger batch.  Guess what--they worked.  Here's how...

Lightly spray your molds with a non-stick cooking spray.  The first time I didn't do this and some of the detailing stuck to the mold.

 Bring your eggs (preferably more than a week old.  They will peel easier) to a boil.  Once a boil is acheived quickly lid the pot and remove from heat.  Let sit in the lidded pot for 15 minutes.

 Remove one egg at a time and run under cold water until you think you can stand to peel them.  The hotter they are the better they will mold.  I was able to peel them after running them under cold water for about 5-7 seconds.  Place the egg in the mold and put the plunger in.  Add a good amount of weight to the top so they press down completely.  I placed mine on my counter top with a cutting board pressing on them.  I had to add a stack of plates to make sure there was enough pressure on the plunger.  It is important that the egg is hot when it is placed in the mold, so I had to do one egg, from peeling to pressure, before I started the next one.  Let the eggs rest for about ten or so minutes before you remove them from the mold.  You can wait longer, but make sure that if you do they are in the fridge while they are being compressed.

 Then pop off the bottom of the mold and your egg should slide right out.