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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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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….
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… and here….oranges and pinks!
So as it spins or swings some, it’s just lovely with the colors changing rapidly.
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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.
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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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A Christmas Fan Pull | Crafts

December 15, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

The other day, I found myself gazing at this tiny, intricate, beautiful little ceramic egg, that I spontaneously hung from our fan pull in our sun room one day, quite awhile ago.

I wondered why it never struck me as a little Easter decoration until then, and how it really didn’t look quite right hanging there, the way it was.

It bothered me a tad more, when I realized Christmas was really coming very soon. I needed to do something about the egg, hanging there. I had a little more time on my hands than I have had for the past few months, so I decided I would make a Christmas fan pull, to replace the egg.

Then I thought about the year ahead, and my imagination ran wild. You all know I love holiday and seasonal themed ‘anythings’, and especially for my home decor. So, if all of the ideas in my head come to be, you all will be seeing some more themed fan pulls crafts around here, as the coming year progresses. I’ve got a whole array of a collection of fan pulls in my head, and I think it’s a lovely idea to have that collection, to change my fan pulls with the holidays and seasons as we roll through the year.

So here is my first fan pull craft, for Christmas. It’s not quite the vision I had in my head, only because I didn’t see the beads in the store, that I created in my head. (I don’t get why I can never find the stuff I make up? I mean, if “I” thought of it…..). I also sort of winged the construction of it this time around, but I am sure with experience will come…near perfection.

Here’s all I needed at the store for this craft:

Some pretty beads that said ‘Christmas’ to me. I love the ‘strands’ of beads found in the craft stores….because you can really take a good look at them, without them being in a container and such. Also needed, was some thin but strong gauged wire. I went with 26 gauge. And then…..I wanted a ‘star of Bethlehem’ of some sort. Whatever form I could find one….which was found in a back aisle in the way of a tree topper. I think. But I could fix that.

So first I cut the string and spread my beads out on the table.

Then Michael cut the star off the wire spring, leaving some wire to twist into a circle, which I covered with the small beads that came on my strand, and closed the loop more tightly.

Next I measured how long I wanted my pan full, doubled that length and added a couple more inches to that, and started stringing the beads, alternating between the larger color-faceted beads, with the clear crystal ones. Once through all of the beads, I slid the wire through the loop of the star, and back UP the whole wire of beads, until both ends were coming out of the top.

As an after-thought, I could have just hung the star on the center of the wire, grabbed both of the other ends of the wire, and fed them together through all of the beads, until they came out the top. But that would have been too easy I guess. lol

For security, I took both ends of the wire, and re-routed them again up the bottom of the top bead, so they came back out the top once again. So yes, 2 thin wires are now showing on the outside of that top bead.

With the excess wire coming out of the top of the strand of beads (with the star on the other end), I balled up the remaining wire, and just worked it into the clasp on the piece of chain hanging on the fan. Then I gave the whole thing a yank. It was nice and strong, and the fan turned on and everything. : )

I noticed a bit of wave to my hanging piece, and realized it was from the doubled wire. Perhaps I could bend it more here and there to try and straighten it a little more, but I rather like the bit of wave I think. It adds a little character and design. I decided to pass it off like I totally did that on purpose.

Fan pull chain and clasps can be found at hardware stores, etc. So in the future, if my current project involves beads with large enough holes, I may just decorate the chain itself. I already have some craft items for my plans for a new fan pull come January, as a winter theme.

But for now, I’ll enjoy my Christmas fan pull. I wondered if midnight blue beads would have been more appropriate, with the star of Bethlehem, but I still thought this looked rather pretty and Christmas-sy. It really twinkles, and displays such beautiful colors, when the room is filled with sun!

It was fun to make. I’m really going to enjoy creating this collection.

Oh, the possibilities!

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“40% off!”

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