Recycled Cardboard Halloween Bat Wreath with Mark Montano - DIY WCK Video

In this episode of the When Creativity Knocks All-Star Designers Holiday Series, Mark Montano shares his fun way of creating a faux distressed metal wreath for Halloween - out of cardboard and DecoArt® Americana Decor™ Chalky Finish paints!  

Cupcake Birthday Party - DCC & Little B™ Blog Hop

“Little B™” Cupcake Birthday Party 

This month the Designer Craft Connection is having a blog hop featuring products from Little B™ LLC.  Each participating Designer got a big box full of creative products to work with - dies, punches, dimensional stickers, Washi tape, paper flowers, and more!  It was like Christmas in September!    The themes of the boxes varied with each Designer so there are sure to be a great assortment of projects to inspire you.  

My box was primarily Birthday themed - with lots of fabulous cupcakes.  So I decided to create a variety of party projects for a Cupcake Birthday Party.  A table display, treat holders, a jar to hold plastic utensils, and cupcake decorations.

Little B™ is also sponsoring an amazing give-away as part of this hop!  $150 worth of product!  Enter using the Rafflecopter link below.

To enter, you must "like" the Little B™ FB page and comment on the blog posts. It's 2 pts for each comment, so the more comments the better the chance you have to win!   Enter until  10/29/15 at 12:00 AM CDT.

Rafflecopter - Little B Giveaway

Be sure to click on the link in the column on the right to find out what the other Designers are sharing too! 

Materials:

These are the Little B™ products used to create these projects

Little B™ Dimensional Stickers 

                - 100144 Cupcakes 

                - 100157 Birthday  Cupcakes 

                - 100167 Birthday 

Little B™ 100600 Happy Birthday Cutting Dies 

Little B™ 100407 Perfect Positioned

Little B™ 100357 Silver Foil Diagonal Stripes Washi Tape - Specialty Foil Tape 

Little B™ 100369 Scallop Circle Punch

DCWV Solstice Stack Patterned Cardstock

Westcott® Scissors 

Toner Fun Wire™ - Marshmallow 

Sizzix® Big Shot™ Machine

White Duck® Tape                  Beacon® 3-in-1 Adhesive 

Instructions:

Table Decoration  

Note:  This die is meant to cut a single piece which is folded to form a card.  Because I wanted to attach several together and create a tabletop decoration instead, I cut the card stock into squares, and placed the first and last pieces face down, and the center piece face up so the words would all be readable on the colored side of the patterned card stock.  If you are using card stock which is colored on both sides, you can cut them as a single piece and cut apart afterwards.  Use Sizzix® Big Shot™ machine and Little B™ Happy Birthday cutting die to cut four different colors of each word. (Little B™ dies come in a fantastic magnetic storage folder - this thing is genius and all of these type of dies should come packaged this way!  No more hunting through a box or bag of dies that have fallen out of the paper packet they come in!)  The Little B™ Perfect Positioner made it easier to die cut because it made it simple to align the die straightly for a perfect cut.   

Attach the words to spell out two sets of Happy Birthday To You.  I placed a small piece of white Duck® tape on the back of each set to hold the words together. (I used Duck® tape because it is a bit sturdier than regular tape would be for holding the pieces in place.)  Repeat with second two sets.  Add Little B™ Silver Foil Diagonal Stripes Washi Tape along bottom edge of both sets of words. 

Add medium sized cupcake from Little B™ Birthday dimensional sticker set to each set of words as shown.  

Cut rectangular piece of 4 1/4" x 3" piece of coordinating patterned card stock and strip of another card stock about 1” wide x 4 1/4".  Mount strip to rectangle as shown using Beacon® 3-in-1 Adhesive.  Mount large cake from Little B™ Birthday set of dimensional stickers.

Attach a set words to each side of rectangle with cake.   Fold, using mountain and valley fold technique, to create table decoration.

Treat Holders 

The size of these treat holders can be adjusted accordingly.  These were made to hold a small bracelet which was made for each guest.  

Cut pieces of coordinating patterned card stocks for however many party goers you expect.

I cut mine 3 1/2” x 9”, then ended up trimming them back a bit afterwards.  

Use Little B™ Scallop Circle punch to punch each piece of card stock on one 3 1/2” end.  Save punched circles for later.

Cut squares of plastic sheet from sticker packaging and use 3-in-1 Adhesive to mount on back side of each piece over punched out area.  

Create two scored lines about 1/4” apart approximately 3 1/2" from edge with punched circle.  Fold and glue together on

sides, letting the scored lines form a bottom for each holder (these will be a small gap - this did not matter for my treats as they would not fall through the gaps).  (This is where I cut the extra from the top - as I said - adjust your size according to the treat that will be given out - my finished holders are about 3 1/2" top to bottom.)

Add a Little B™ cupcake sticker from the Cupcakes set to each window on the treat holders.  Add a piece of the Silver Foil Diagonal Stripes Washi Tape to the top and bottom of each holder.  Place bracelets inside.

Utensil Holder 

Even though cupcakes were the focus, a side of ice cream was still on the menu, so we offered forks or spoons to our guests.  This decorated jar was a fun way to hold them.

Place large cupcake from Little B™ Birthday Cupcakes large dimensional sticker set on the front of the glass jar.  

Add a strip of Silver Foil Diagonal Stripes Washi Tape to the top and bottom of jar.  The tape and the sticker will easily remove from the glass after the party. 

Insert coordinating color of tissue paper an add forks & spoons. 

Cupcake Decorations  

This is an easy and fun way to add some pizazz to the birthday cupcakes without purchasing expensive pre-made decorations.  There's even a special cupcake for the birthday girl.

Cut 14, 6” pieces of Marshmallow/white Toner Fun Wire™.  About 1/2” from one end, coil around straw or pencil ending about 1/4" from opposite end.

Cut apart Birthday Party banner from Birthday dimensional sticker set to create individual letter pennants.  

Use 3-in-1 Adhesive to mount each pennant letter to the 1/4” straight end of wires. 

From punched scalloped circles cut apart and mount together to make one multi-colored circle as shown.  Insert coiled wire without a pennant letter through center.   This will hold a birthday candle for the birthday girl to blow out on her cupcake.

Add each embellishment to the center of a cupcake.  Arrange on table or serving tray to spell out Birthday Party.  

Tip:  If your party goers can’t agree on where to sit at the table - arrange them in order according to which letter cupcake they chose to spell out Birthday Party!

etchall® Day of the Dead Decorative Mirror

Day of the Dead crafts are growing in popularity - this mirror combines a variety of mixed media for a finished piece which will make a colorful accent to you home.

Materials:

9" Darice Mirror 

etchall® - Etching Cream, Squeegee 

              - etchnet® stencil - Sugar Skull 

Painters tape 

Makin’s Clay® - Red, Yellow, Green 

                        - Leaves Push mold 

Smoothfoam™ Disc 

DecoArt® Americana® Multi-Surface Satin™ - Deep Turqouise 

Beacon® Adhesives Tacky Glue 

Toner Plastics™/The Beadery® Skull Beads  Paintbrush 

Instructions:

This was my first time working with the new etchnet® stencils with etchall® cream - and I’m happy to say that the results were absolutely fantastic - one of the cleanest, crispest etches I’ve ever achieved!

Apply etchnet® sugar skull stencil to left side of mirror.  Use painters tape to securely tape in place, ensuring there are no ripples in the stencil. 

Pour etchall® cream on the side of the stencil - NOT ON THE OPEN AREA - Use squeeegee to pull etching cream over onto open areas of stencil, pressing slightly to ensure the cream is evenly applied though the net of the stencil.  Once you are sure you have a good even application over the open areas of the stencil, apply an additional coat of etchall® over the stencil.  Let set 15 minutes.  Return etching cream to bottle, rinse to remove remaining cream and remove stencil.  Clean any remaining cream from stencil and set aside for later use (etchnet® stencils are re-usable). 

Create multiple roses approximately 1” in size from red and yellow Makin’s Clay®.  There are multiple tutorials online for making roses with polymer clay and/or fondant - it really is quite simple!   

Use leaves push mold and green Makin’s Clay® to create multiple leaves for the roses. 

Use Beacon® Tacky Glue to mount roses and leaves as desired on left edge of mirror, extending above and below the etched skull.   Leaves and flowers can be mounted when the clay is still fresh, or after dry (normally the clay will be dry in 24 hours). 

Use Tacky Glue to mount blue skull beads randomly amongst the flowers.  Let dry.

Paint sides of Smoothfoam™ disc with Turquoise Multi-Surface Satin™ paint.  Let dry. 

Apply liberal amount of Tacky Glue to top of Smoothfoam™ disc and mount mirror.  The disc will give added depth when the mirror is mounted to a wall. 

One Skull - Two Ways - Gothic/Day of the Dead Keychain

Today on the Makin's Clay® blog I'm sharing instructions on how to create this Gothic Skull/Day of the Dead Keychain with Makin's Clay® and DecoArt® products - whether you like it plain and creepy, or colorful and ready to celebrate - it's a super easy project that would make a fun pendant too.  Just in time for Halloween!

Faux Hand-Carved Wood Bowl

This month on the Smoothfoam™ blog I shared this autumn project - I created a faux hand-carved wood bowl with a Smoothfoam™ half ball and DecoArt® Americana Decor® Chalky Finish paints.  Find the full instructions here.

Faux Ceramic Halloween Skull Planter - DIY Video Featuring Mark Montano

In this Halloween episode the WCK All-Star Designers Holiday Series Mark Montano shares his technique for turning a plastic Dollar Store skull into a faux-ceramic skull planter using DecoArt products.   

Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse

This week for my Cindi's Simple Solutions project on When Creativity Knocks - I'm sharing this creepy fun project.....

Just in time for Halloween, add a little spooky glow to your mantle this season with this Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse!  

Materials:

Plaid® - Wooden birdhouse 

            - FolkArt® Home Decor Chalk Paint - Maui Sand, Rich Black

            - FolkArt® Home Decor Antique Wax

Makin’s Clay® - Black

                - Cutting Mat 

                - Ultimate Clay Machine™

                - Professional® Clay tools 

                - Texture Sheet Set D - Woodgrain Sheet 

                        - Easter Clay Cutter - Cross Cutter

Beacon Adhesives® Tacky Glue 

Spellbinders® Grand Calibur™ Machine - Graveyard Scene & Shapes Die 

X-Acto craft knife 

Skull mold (special thanks to my Fairy Craftmother for mine!) 

Skull bead 

Paintbrush 

Paper towels 

Spanish Moss

Charcoal grey paper/card stock 

Battery operated votive 

Spiderwebbing 

Plastic wrap 

Instructions: 

1. Paint entire birdhouse with Plaid® FolkArt® Home Decor Maui Sand Chalk Paint.  Let dry. 

2. Roll black Makin’s Clay® with Ultimate Clay Machine™ to setting #7 (or hand roll very thin - about 1/16”).   Use Woodgrain texture sheet to gently impress texture onto rolled clay.  Using cutting mat as a guide, use cutter to cut 2 x 2cm squares.  Apply Beacon® Tacky Glue to surface of roof, then begin applying squares, overlapping some, to create look of shingles.  Let dry. 

3. Dry brush shingles with Maui Sand chalk paint.  

4. Use black clay in skull push mold to create skull. 

5. Flatten piece of black clay (I used my fingers, as I wanted an uneven appearance) to about 1/4”.  Place plastic wrap over clay, and cut cross using clay cutter. (Tip - Plastic wrap makes it easy to remove the clay from the clay cutter!) 

6.  Dry brush skull and cross with Maui Sand chalk paint.

7.  Use Tacky Glue to mount skull to front top of birdhouse, over opening, and cross to roof peak.

8. Flatten piece of black clay (I used my fingers, as I wanted an uneven appearance) to about 1/4”.  Use clay tool to write/etch desired word into clay.  Trim around word.  Dry brush with Maui Sand chalk paint.  Use Tacky Glue to mount to birdhouse beneath skull. 

9. Mix small amount of Rich Black and small amount of Maui Sand chalk paint to create darker grey.  Paint door onto front of birdhouse over hole on bottom.  Outline door in black, and paint center line to divide door.    

10. Use paper towel to apply small amount of Antique Wax to all surfaces except roof.  Wipe to remove excess.   

11.  Use Spellbinders® Grand Calibur™ and Graveyard Scene & Shapes die to cut 4 graveyards from charcoal paper.

12.  Apply Tacky Glue to top of bottom piece of birdhouse, mount Spanish moss.  

13.  Apply Tacky Glue to outside edge of bottom piece of birdhouse, mount graveyard scenes over edge around base, leaving a space for the “front step” of the mausoleum. 

14.  Add skull bead accent to front step. 

15.  Add spiderwebs as desired. 

16.  Optional:  To make your Haunted Mausoleum glow - use a sturdy craft knife to cut an opening in the bottom of the birdhouse.  The birdhouses are made from lightweight wood so this is possible if do with caution. (or else your mausoleum will come complete with blood stains!) 

Vampire Blood/Faux Blood Necklace

My favorite season is here and I can't help myself - I just have to re-share some of my favorite spooky fun projects!  In this episode of my series Behind These Eyes™ on When Creativity Knocks, I share my recipe for creating faux blood using ICE Resin & Rit Dye! 

And to further add to the creep factor - here's my recipe for the GHOULISH version of faux blood!  

The Truly GHOULISH Option of Faux Blood

In the Vampire Blood Necklace episode of Behind These Eyes with Cindi Bisson, I share my recipe for faux blood that will last for years. As part of the instructions, I suggest you use a tiny bit of Rit Liquid Dye at a time to color the resin - because if too much dye is used, you get a different result. We didn’t share that result in the episode - but I wanted to show our viewers just what kind of ghoulish results you get with extra dye! It’s a creepy effect too which would work great for some applications - just not for the pendant I was sharing with you. So without further ado…add a teaspoon or more of Rit Liquid Dye (the amount depends on just how crusty you want the finished result to be) to your small amount of mixed ICE Resin and you get what I think looks like clotty, crusty, totally disgusting blood puddles! Which my two boys think are totally cool…Happy Halloween!  

Follow the original instructions and you get smooth, dense puddles of faux blood.

Alter the recipe as above and you get GHOULISH blood!

Smoothfoam™ Jumbo Conversation Hearts!

Everyone loves those little candy conversation hearts you can find everywhere around Valentine's Day (although the messages sure are different these days then when I was young lol!).  Learn how to make my jumbo version featuring DecoArt® Americana® Chalky Finish paint and Craft Attitude™ to decorate your home for Valentine's Day on the Smoothfoam™ blog here.

All-Star Designers Winter Series: Valentine Treat Mason Jars

This week in the WCK All-Star Designer Winter Series I'm sharing three versions of "Valentine Treat Mason Jars featuring products from Makin's Clay®, Etchall®, DecoArt®, Kunin Felt, Beacon Adhesives, JudiKins, The Buckle Boutique and more.

Love This! Valentine Heart Clay Earrings

This week the Designer Craft Connection's blog hop theme is "Love This!"  We were asked to share projects featuring something we love - a product, tool, technique, etc.   I'm sharing a project featuring several products I love, and a few techniques too!

Be sure to follow the Designer Craft Connection link in the column on the right to see what other creative projects the designers are sharing!









Materials (A few that I LOVE!):

Makin's Clay® - White & Red
                         - Clay roller, Heart Cutter Set
Connie Crystals - red and clear
Beacon® Adhesives 527
JudiKins French Script rubber stamp
Clearsnap® Ann Butler's Crafter's® Ink -
Silver French earring wires, silver flat head pins
Jewelry pliers

Instructions:

Mix small amount of white and red clay to swirl and create shades of pink.  Roll thin (approximately 1/8" thick.  I love blending clay and leaving it slightly swirled - I think the effect is so pretty and each piece is totally unique. 

Ink script stamp with red ink and stamp into rolled clay.   Use medium heart cutter to cut 4 hearts.  Let dry (should only take an hour or so since clay is rolled so thin).  I love to rubber stamp Makin's Clay® - you can stamp it when it's wet or dry - use the stamp to make impressions in wet clay, etc.  Endless creative options!   And this JudiKins French Script stamp is truly one of my must have stamps - I've used it on so many projects I've lost count! 

Cover back of 2 hearts with Beacon 527.  Place flat head pin with head at base of back of heart.  Place second heart on top to seal pin within.  Let dry.  Beacon's 527 is one of my "go-to" adhesives - it works on virtually anything, is super strong, and dries clear! 

Add clear crystal bead and then red crystal bead.  Create loop at top of pin.  Add to earring wires.  Connie Crystals are a great embellishment for many projects - I love having them in my creative stash to go to for not just jewelry, but paper crafts, mixed-media and more! 

Duck Commander® & Makin's Clay® Ornaments

Have friends or family that love to watch Duck Dynasty® or just love the Robertson family values? 

Make them a fun set of holiday ornaments to trim their tree with Makin's Clay® and Duck Commander® stamps from KellyCraft™.

Materials:

KellyCraft™- 
Duck Commander® Wood - Faith, Family, Ducks
Duck Commander® Wood - Duckaholics Anonymous        
Duck Commander® Clear Polymer Set 1
KellyCraft™- Get-it-Straight™ Laser Square
                     - Multi-Mat™
Makin's Clay® - White
Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®
DecoArt® Metallic Lustre™ - Gold
Black Staz-On Inkpad
Westcott® Titanium Bonded Non-Stick scissors
Jute twine, ribbons or dyed fabric strips

Instructions:

1. Remove white clay from packaging and use Ultimate Clay Machine® to roll to approximately 1/8" thick.  Place on Multi-Mat™ (the non-stick, self-healing Multi-Mat™ is the perfect surface for working with the clay!).

2. Ink stamps with black Staz-On ink and stamp onto clay.

3. Use star cutters to cut around stamped images.

4. Use duck cutter to cut shape.

5. Ink "Faith Family Ducks" stamp with black ink.  Use Get-it-Straight™ Laser Square to align stamping and cover surface of duck shape.

6. Use straw to make holes for hanging ornaments.

7. Use fingertip to apply gold Metallic Lustre around outside edges of stars, allowing some to overlap onto ornament front, and apply sparingly over surface of duck ornament over stamped text.

8. Add jute twine, coordinating ribbons or dyed fabric strips (I dyed white cotton sheet fabric with Rit Dye to create these strips - I often use excess dye used for other projects to dye extra fabric to use for ribbon in future projects).

Peace in the Evergreens Etched Glass Votive Holder

When you light a candle in this etched glass votive holder embellished with real evergreens you’ll bring a warm holiday glow to your mantle. I found the original idea of adding evergreens to a candle holder in a Facebook post and decided to give it a try. My version features an etched glass votive with PEACE stenciled in metallic paint to soften the glow of the candle. The original post was just photos – I’ve included stepped-out instructions and some tips on what worked, and what didn’t, to make the process a bit easier for you to recreate.  

 

Materials: 

• Glass votive holder 
• etchall® Etching Cream 
• DecoArt® Dazzling Metallics® paint – Shimmering Silver 
• DecoArt® Americana® Gloss Enamels® Reusable Stick-On Stencils™ – Inspiration 
• Design Master® Tack 2000 Spray Adhesive 
• Westcott® Titanium Bonded Scissors 
• Tea light candle, or battery operated tea light candle 
• Fresh evergreens
• Foam brush, fine paint brush
• Silver ribbon 

 

Instructions: 

1. Coat outside of votive holder with etchall® etching cream. Let set 15 minutes.  
2. Use brush to return most of etching cream to the bottle. Rinse to remove remaining cream. Dry votive holder. 
3. Use stencil to paint “PEACE” with silver paint onto etched votive. Let dry. 
4. Break evergreens into small pieces.  In a well ventilated area, spray with Tack 2000 spray.   
5. Place evergreens around votive surrounding PEACE.  TIP – To help evergreens stick to the votive, I found it helpful to place a piece of parchment paper or a transparency over the evergreens and press with my hand until they stuck. Another word of advice – I thought I’d try using quick grab tacky glue to mount the evergreens – this did not work – the spray adhesive made it much easier. 
6. Trim bottoms of evergreens at base of votive.  Insert candle and watch the peaceful glow among the evergreens. TIP – the fire danger is minimal since the evergreens are on the outside of the glass votive holder, however, if you want to be even safer, use a battery operated tea light candle instead of a real candle.  
7. BUT WAIT…. THERE’S MORE….. SO NOW FOR THE CRAFT FAIL PART…… I lit my candle
   
   and set this pretty votive holder on the mantle.    When I came back half an hour later, the heat from the candle had caused the evergreens to pull away from the glass. Drat!  On to plan B – a pretty piece of silver ribbon wrapped and tied around the evergreens to hold  them in place.  You still get the effect of the evergreens, but no worries about them falling off lol! The moral of the story….. the spray adhesive still makes it easier to hold the evergreens in place while you tie the ribbon – so step 4 is still worthwhile – just add some ribbon as a back-up.