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Summer Fan Pull (and Some Special Gifts) | Crafts

July 29, 2010 By Laura 6 Comments

Call me way late to the party, but I ‘just’ got around to making my summer fan pull. I’ve kept this one up, which I made for spring, all of this time.

But I’ve got 2 things to say about that: 1) I’m not really late TO the party. I think more, I’ve been too busy being AT a party, to find time for such things, as getting crafty. 2) The spring fan pull did not look all that out of place, so it didn’t bug me too much. I mean, it’s not like it was snowflakes or anything.

Thus, I’m giving myself a break. Just in case no one else does.

I did a have a plan in my head for a long time though! I knew I wanted to make it beachey-themed. Seashells, beach colors like warm tans and sea blues.

What I didn’t know, was that I would have splendid company, while I crafted my summer fan pull. My brother and his family were down, and my nephew and niece decided to make a fan pulls of their own, with me! So I enjoyed some nice chit-chat with them, while we crafted. I found it all rather enjoyable, and I think they did too!

So here’s my summer fan pull. Quite summery I think. Do you like?? I had planned to take photos of my nephew and niece’s fancy fan-pulls as well, but they had put them away, and then we forgot! Darn-it-all. But they did a nice job!

Moving on.

My God Daughter, and her mom (my cousin) and brother (and her brother’s friend) were down recently as well, for the kid’s photo shoot. And my God-Daughter brought me this……

….a hand painted cupcake wine glass, by Delish. Because she knows I love everything about cupcakes.

I really do. I love this glass. I love her.

It’s not the first time she has been so thoughtful. (Nor is is it the 2nd. Or the 22nd.). Last time she was down, she brought me this cupcake plate set and sugar bowl! Because she knows I love everything about cupcakes.

I really do. I love this set. I love her.

But wait…there’s more….

…..She made me, all by herself, this wine cork pull.

I think it’s beautiful. It has HER all over it. Sprinkled with love, for me.

I really love it. And her.

I know….it does kind of seem like she gets the impression I drink a lot of wine, huh?

LOL. But no….I don’t think so. Just look how full that bottle of wine IS!! I’ve had it for weeks! My dad brought it for me, when he came down several weeks ago. He knows I love wine, on occasion.

I really do. I love him.

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Seriously Creative Egg Decorating | Easter Photo Series

April 6, 2010 By Laura 5 Comments

You know people are serious about creative egg decorating, when they break out the airbrush and air compressor!
The kids got creative in their own way! Check out the results in this Easter Photo Series.

It is our hope that all of the beautiful colors, creativity, and spirit of Easter in this post, brought you all of the joy that it brought us!
We are so glad you dropped by to check out our fun.

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Spring | Easter Fan Pull | Craft

April 2, 2010 By Laura 3 Comments

Just a quick share of my fan pull for Spring & Easter!

These beads are so beautiful. They are heavy, like marbles, but smaller.

And just ….pretty.

The beautiful piece on the end is glass as well.

It has definitely put another touch of ‘spring in the air’, in the sun room.

Just in time for a lovely Easter this weekend, too.

Thanks for dropping by, and taking a peek!

***HaPpY SpRinG!!***

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Fan Pulls: for Winter and February

January 29, 2010 By Laura 9 Comments

I have found I enjoy making fan pulls for our home decor, to go with various seasons or holidays. But it was almost the end of January, when I put up our winter-themed fan pull. Reasons being, I had to make it first! Next year, they will all be up right on time, because they’ll all already be made. But for this little craft-session, I also made February’s. A LOVE theme of course.

We’ll look at the winter one first. This one we’ll probably use maybe in late November, if it has snowed, and maybe the first week or so of December. But then we’ll be having our Christmas fan pull up for the rest of December. The winter one here will go back up for the month of January, and maybe early March until it feels like spring. Unless of course I make a St.Patrick’s Day one, although we’re not Irish. But I suppose that’s not St. Patrick’s fault. lol

I’d like to take this opportunity to say . . . fan pulls are very hard to photograph! Maybe I’m not using the right lens, that I don’t have. : ) But I just can’t seem to capture beauty of the fan pulls, in relation to the room, if that makes any sense. So…I do the best I can for you. They are also difficult to crop, being a very thin piece straight down so – forgive me for some of the tall vertical photos that require extra-scrolling. I did get into the photo taking because, they have beautiful detail. So the extra photos are just some art-fun I was having, that I hope you’ll appreciate.

The winter fan pull was easy to make, because I found little snowflakes, already on a chain! So I bought 2 of them, and just connected them. I used 26 gauge wire at the very top and like last time, just sort of balled it, to slip into the catch from the actual fan chain higher up.

You will find I am showing lots of seemingly similar photos in this post, because I want to show you the various displays of color that these throw when the light hits them. BEAUTIFUL hanging there on a sunny day.

See here….blues, purples….
–

… and here….oranges and pinks!
So as it spins or swings some, it’s just lovely with the colors changing rapidly.
–

Here is a closer up of the snowflakes on the chain.

Yesterday when I was making them, it was snowing out!

But it’s gone today. It’ll snow again though.

The gorgeous big snowflake on the bottom, I found separately at the craft store, and added to the snowflake chains.
Love the colors in this one above.

Now look at this! Same big snowflake from a different angle. See?
It’s glass or crystal I think. I’m not sure.
–

Here is the snow flake chain laying on the table.
It is SO much easier for me to photograph them this way, than them hanging in the middle of the room.
Pretty though, huh?

So these are more what they look like hanging up. It’s just hard to photograph that way.

I couldn’t stop taking photos. lol

So…..that’s for winter.

For February, the month of love, here is what I did….

…which again, the photo just doesn’t do it justice. I do want to mention that this one IS threaded beads all the way. And, unlike using 26 gauge wire all the way through as I did for December’s, I found that heavy fishing line works great! I did double it for extra strength, just in case. And THEN, I used the wire to attach at the top. It’s one of those things, like with anything new, you learn a little bit every time, and do better next time. If you recall, December’s has a little swagger, from the wire through the beads. It didn’t hang straight. I SAID I liked it, and thought it gave it character. But I just didn’t want to do it over. ; ) I like the slinky flexibility of heavy fishing line, much better.

So here is a much better and closer look. Red beads in 2 different sizes, some little silver bars, and some diamond-like studded squares. I LOVE them. They did not come with the red beads….I put them all together. They were all cheap-cheap.

But the big heart at the bottom….not so much!! When I found it, it was SO PERFECT and JUST what I was looking for for the bottom of this fan pull. So I looked to see how much it was. $15.00!! It was a cubic zirconia. I almost cried. I mean….I just don’t spend money on such frivolous things. We can’t!! But I REALLY wanted it! Most all of the beads were on sale….so I was thinking, somehow, this one must be too. It was with all of the beads. So {A} brought it to the register to have them price check it. But guess what? It was really and truly $15.00.

I just stood in the aisle…frozen. I couldn’t spend that on it, and I couldn’t leave with out it. So there was nothing else to do, but just stand there. With my whole family around me, who were losing their patience.

So, Michael finally said, “Oh just get it!!. Gosh….every time I pull that fan chain, I’m going to say, “$15.00!! $15.00!!” He really would too. Trust me. Not that I would ever forget myself….but the joy of seeing the beauty of it would help me get past it, in time. But not Michael. Well, I already felt guilty enough. That little announcement would surely tarnish that ‘love’ feeling I would have had going on through-out the month of February. So….when I got to the register, I did what I would recommend YOU ALL DO, whenever you can. I begged for a coupon or a discount! I said, “Please….do you have a coupon hanging around I can use?” And she said promptly answered, “No I don’t. Sorry.” (For the record, she didn’t really sound sorry.) So I said, “But my husband said he is going to say “$15.00″ every time he pulls the fan pull chain!”. THEN she said….“Actually, I guess I do have this 40% off one item coupon in my drawer here.”

See? : ) So then I did the happy dance, let out a “YA-HOOOO!!” through out the whole store, the kids said, “MAMAAAA!“, and then I thanked her profusely, of course.

She said I was welcome, and I believed her that time.

Oohh….Be still my heart! (No pun intended. lol)

It’s a gorgeous piece, is it not?

I think the whole fan pull, is just beautiful. Classy. Gorgeous. It twinkles!

And every time Michael pulls that chain to turn the fan on and off, he can smile and say…

“40% off!”.

“40% off!”

Well Folks, that’s it for this edition of ‘Fan Pulls’!

I hope you found that my crafting, and shopping tips, inspired you!

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Wrap Jewelry – Craft Tutorial

August 23, 2009 By Laura 9 Comments

This is a fairly easy craft project tutorial where you can create some really fun or beautiful wrap jewelry for kids or adults. Depending on the materials you use, you can really get all kinds of styles using the same concept. Also, keep in mind; they can be homemade Christmas gifts, and made ahead of time! We’ve made these as Christmas gifts before, and they were very well received! So this may be a great idea for all or some of the little girls and ladies on your list. Or, maybe you’d like to add to your own accessories! The pieces we created so far have been more for girls, from little girls to women, but with a little creativity and thought, we think we’ll be able to come up with some boyish pieces as well.

wrap jewelry tutorial

You don’t need much in the way of supplies!! Here’s a quick run down, depending on the design of the piece you are making: Memory wire, bottle-nose pliers/cutters, a bead assortment, charms, waxed cotton cord, and possibly acrylic nail polish.

This is memory wire. It is called such, because it keeps it’s nice shape, no matter how you try to bend it. We threw out the packaging, but this wire can be found in any jewelry supply aisle of any craft store. There are a 2 or 3 sizes, and this is the largest for necklaces, but it works perfect for grown ups or little ones. The above is one piece, and you just cut off what you need.

memory-wire

memory-wire_2

Above is a piece cut off to be just the right size. Using bottle nose wire cutters, we cut it to be 1-1/2 circles, and that seems to be just about right for grown ups and little ones alike.

Next, using bottle nose pliers (the same tool that has a cutter on it as well), you want to twist a little loop at the end of the wire. This little loop is to keep any beads you put on from falling off on the other end. You’ll only do this on one end to start, because you need to slide on your beads first on the other end. When all the beads are on, you loop the other end to finish.

So…..you grab the tip end of the wire, and …..

….just twist the wire into a little tight loop.

Michael does this for me, because honestly, my hands are not strong enough to do it myself. But don’t let that discourage you, because {A} can do it on her own just fine. So I guess what I’m saying is, I’m just weak.

This is what the little loops should look like. It’ll stop any beads from being pushed off.

Here’s some of our assortment collection of beads. These container organizers are really nice! We’ve done lots of projects using beads, so collecting them and keeping them sorted like this is fun and efficient.

wrap jewelry tutorial

Here are two little girl’s necklaces, all done. All kinds of charms and gems can be found in craft supply stores, or online. These charms matched some beads we had perfectly! {A} made these.

wrap jewelry tutorial

Here’s another little girl’s necklace.

wrap jewelry tutorial

This one is adorable…

wrap jewelry tutorial

…..it’s a crayon box, as you can see. {A} made those as well.

As we’ve said, there are all kinds of charms in craft stores, but there are also

lots of great charm places online, and here is one we’ve ordered from: charms

And for some older looking pieces, we just found this place and this place as well.

handmade-wrap-jewelry-tutorial-4

Here’s another option, above. In the jewelry section of craft stores, you can also find little sets like this, all ready to go. This set has 4 wooden colored beads, a beautiful polished stone, and dyed waxed cotton cord.

wrap jewelry tutorial

So I used that set to make this necklace above. This one wasn’t quite AS quick to make as the all bead ones. I looped one end of the wire, (well, Michael did), and put the stone and beads on first, centered as I could, and then looped the other end right away. Then I wrapped the colored cord around the wire. It did take a but more time, and patience. I wanted the cord sort of twisted and irregular, but you can also wrap the two to make it striped, all the way down the wire. There are a couple of small challenges with this design, but I’ll share some solutions: 1) The cord tends to just slip around as you wrap it, making you quickly realize you are getting nowhere, fast. So you need to start by tying the cord at the loop end of the wire, and then wrapping around the loose ends. I used acrylic nail polish right in the beginning there, to help secure it.

2) The other challenge is just checking as you go, to be sure the beads and stones are going to end up centered on the piece, as they should be. It’s a little tricky, and I think mine is a little off. But use the two ends of the wire to gauge wear the center of the piece as a whole is. Is anyone following what I’m trying to say here? lol

wrap jewelry tutorial

I made this one for ME. : )

wrap jewelry tutorial

I LOVE it!!

Here’s some other kind of assorted wooden beads that would work.

They would look really nice with these natural shades of hemp cord. Together they would make a lovely necklace for a neutral or warm toned outfit.

Here’s another idea: They sell much smaller memory wire, so you could make matching bracelets to go with any or all of these necklaces! For instance, you could do the necklace with the beads and charm, and then a bracelet with just the matching beads!

handmade-wrap-jewelry-tutorial-8

Here’s our little model, {O}, who by the way, made her own necklace!

So kids can do this craft project with very little assistance, using the beads and charms. They just need a little help to cut the wire, do the loops, and maybe put the charm on. These particular charms we ordered just have a regular round necklace clasp with the little lever. So they can put it on the center after all of the beads have been put on, and someone loops the ends of the wire.

wrap jewelry tutorial

It appears about the same fit on kids or adults. It’s just with kids, it overlap wraps around at the back more so than on adults. But I find them pretty comfortable, and definitely stylish.

wrap jewelry tutorial

Cute, huh?

We hope you enjoyed this craft project! Let us know what you think, and if you have any questions at all, just ask and we’ll be happy to clarify! We hope it makes for a great gift idea for someone, even if that someone is yourself. : )

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