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. 

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.

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.

Stained Glass Mosaic Smoothfoam™ Ornaments

It's time for the Smoothfoam™ Holiday Ball!   Follow through the links here on their site to see tons of creative holiday projects made with Smoothfoam™ balls!   For my project I made stained glass mosaic ornaments - you can view the full tutorial in my Creatively Crafty video linked below from my YouTube channel!  

Decoupaged Ornaments Cluster Swag

The theme for this month's Designer Craft Connection blog hop is "last minute" holiday decorations.  This simple cluster swag is easy to make with just a few materials.  You can use patterned paper, fabric, or decorative holiday napkins like these I found in the $1

bin at the local craft chain store!   

Be sure to click through the Designer Craft Connection link in the right column to see what other projects participating designers are sharing! 

Materials:

Three 4" Smoothfoam™ balls

FloraCraft SimpleStyle™ Burlap Garland

Beacon Adhesives® Fast Finish Decoupage 

Aleene's® Fast Grab Tacky Glue 

Jute 

Foam brush

Instructions: 

1) Tear decorative napkins into assorted pieces about 2".   Pour Fast Finish Decoupage in bowl and use foam brush to apply to each Smoothfoam™ ball, then apply napkin pieces to ball, leaving hole in ball open, overlapping to cover the balls.  Coat surface each covered ball with Fast Finish Decoupage to seal.  Let dry. 

2) Cut 3 strands of jute 16", 3 strands 13" and 3 strands 10".  

Squeeze Fast Grab Tacky Glue into hole in ball, twist ends of each group of jute strands, insert into hole (use tip of scissor if needed to push strands into hole).  Let dry. 

3) Make large bow from burlap garland.   Insert piece of wire through back of bow loop and twist to create hanger loop.  Tie ends of jute together and tie to wire loop on back of bow.   

Graveyard Cupcake Stand

Create a ghoulish display for your Halloween cupcakes with this Graveyard Cupcake Stand!   Rowlux Illusion Film is the perfect "pool of blood" to highlight your baked goodies.  This faux stone stand can also be customized easily for any occasion by changing the ribbon around the top.  

Materials: 

Smoothfoam™ - 10” Disc, 6” disc, 3” cube 

AdTech™ hot glue gun & glue sticks for foam 

Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine & Graveyard Scenes and Shapes www.spellbinderspaperarts.com 

Rowlux® Illusion Film - Red Serpentine
PlastiKote Fleckstone Spray Paint - Manhatten Mist  

1” black ribbon 

Dark grey card stock

Clearsnap® Colorbox Crafter’s® Ink - Night 

Westcott® TrimAir Premium Titanium Paper Trimmer,  Titanium Non-Stick Scissors 

2 straight pins, pencil 

Instructions: 

Step 1:  Paint Smoothfoam™ discs and cube with texture spray paint.  Let dry. 

Step 2:  Follow manufacturer instructions to use Spellbinders® Artisan Explorer and Graveyard die set to cut 6 of the graveyard strips and desired number of headstones and skull and crossbones from dark grey card stock. 

Step 3:  Lightly ink die cut pieces with black ink to shade embossed areas. 

Step 4:  Use hot glue to mount cube to 6” disc base and 10” disc top.  Add ribbon around outer edge using straight pins at each end  so ribbon is removable.  This allows for versatility with your faux stone cake stand - change the ribbon and change the theme easily. 

Step 5:  Hot glue graveyard strips onto ribbon around rim of top of stand. 

Step 6:  Trace 8” circle onto red Rowlux® Illusion Film and cut out. 

Step 7:  Hot glue toothpicks to back of each gravestone and skull and crossbones.   Insert into the tops of frosted cupcakes. 

Step 8:  Place Rowlux® circle onto top of stand - do not glue in place - this way it can be removed for washing or changing for other occasions.   Add your cupcakes to your stand.  

Smoothfoam™ Burlap Pumpkin Door Banner

Find the full instructions on how I combined Smoothfoam™, Rit Dye, BurlapFabric.com and Ad-Tech to create this dimensional pumpkin door banner here on the Smoothfoam blog! 

Burlap Apples & Display Bowl

BurlapFabric.com is sponsoring this amazing blog hop featuring projects from 20 Designer Craft Connection designers - Be sure to follow the links below to visit their blogs and see what they are sharing too, and sign up to win the amazing prize package BurlapFabric.com is offering!

I decided to try making burlap apples with the red burlap I received in my box of burlapy goodness from BurlapFabric.com - and a decorative "bowl" to display them in (I like the "bowl" so much I plan to display other seasonal goodies in it too!).   Don't let the multiple steps overwhelm you - it's easier than it looks to create your own burlap apples!

Materials: 

BurlapFabric.com red burlap, regular burlap, frayed edge 1" burlap ribbon, 3 1/2" burlap ribbon with black stripe top and bottom
Smoothfoam™ balls - 3 7/8"
Westcott® Craft Knife, Self-Healing Cutting Mat, Titanium Bonded® Non-Stick Scissors
AdTech® Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
DecoArt® Americana Multi-Surface Craft Paint - Apple Green
Spanish moss, paintbrush
Real apple for reference and mid-project snack (optional lol!)

Instructions:

1) Use craft knife to cut approximately 2" circle, then add 4 cuts inside.

2) Remove foam from top of ball.

3) Use craft knife to carefully trim/scrape away around edges of removed portion to create curve of top of apple.

4) Use craft knife to cut approximately 1" circle from bottom of ball, remove foam.

5) Use craft knife to create 4 small arcs/curves around hole on bottom of ball (like the arcs on the bottom of a real apple).

6) Carefully use end of scissor to create hole inside top and bottom openings on ball (you will tuck burlap ends into these holes).

7) Cut 5 petal shaped pieces from red burlap, approximately 5" x 2" in the center (I used my cutting mat as a guide for sizing each petal).

8) Add small amount of hot glue to one end of first petal, tuck into hole on top of apple.

9) Bring bottom of petal to base of apple, add small amount of glue and tuck into hole at bottom of apple.  Add small amount of hot glue on each side and adhere to foam ball.

10) Add small amount of glue to second petal, tuck into top of foam ball, slightly overlapping first piece of burlap.

11) Turn apple over, add small amount of hot glue to sides of petal, and mount to foam ball overlapping first piece of burlap.

12-13) Add small amount of hot glue to bottom point and tuck into bottom of apple.
Repeat with remaining petals until Smoothfoam™ ball is completely covered and your apple is ready for the stem & leaf.

14) Cut 3" piece of frayed edge burlap ribbon.   Tightly roll and use small amount of hot glue to adhere to create stem.

15) Use hot glue to mount stem into hole at top of apple.

16) From plain burlap, cut leaf shapes.

17) Paint both sides with Apple Green multi-surface paint and let dry.

18) Use hot glue to mount leaves to stems on top of apples.

To create the display bowl - I upcycled!   I used a clean chipboard potato stick can (and sadly, I had to eat the rest of the potato sticks in order to empty the can - it was a hard sacrifice but worth it for the finished project), but any sized can would work depending on how big you want your finished display bowl to be.

19) Use Westcott® Titanium Bonded® scissors (I love these scissors!  They are STRONG enough to cut through almost anything!) to remove top of can and leave 3" sides from base of can.

20) Use hot glue to mount burlap ribbon around can (it will extend about 1/2" off the top edge of the can).  Add Spanish moss.

Here are the links to the blogs for the other participating designers:

Angela Holt   http://www.angelaholtdesigns.com

Anita Scroggins   http://www.theflamingochronicals.blogspot.com

Beth Watson  http://www.bwdesignstudio.blogspot.com

Carmen Flores Tanis   http://www.florestanisstudio.com

Cherish Flieder   http://www.somethingtocherish.com

Jennifer Priest   http://www.hydrangeahippo.com

Julie McGuffee    http://www.juliemcguffee.blogspot.com

Kristi Parker    http://www.kristiscreativecafe.blogspot.com

Lisa Fulmer    http://www.lisalizalou.com

Madeline Arendt    http://www.madelinesthoughts.blogspot.com

Marilyn Gossett    http://www.marilyngossett.blogspot.com

Michelle Frae Cummings    http://www.faeriedustdreams-michelle.blogspot.com

Sue Eldred   http://www.sueeldred.com

Susan Brown   http://www.sbartist.com

Terry Ricioli    http://www.terryriciolidesigns.blogspot.com

And here's how you can win the fabulous prize package valued at $100 that includes a really nice variety of natural and colored burlap yardage, ribbons, embellishments and totes.  They have several ways to enter by leaving a comment on my blog and by following the DCC, BurlapFabric.com and Craft Foxes on social media. - http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/73bd0b11/

Smoothfoam Moss Cube Vase

Make this simple moss covered cube vase with Smoothfoam™ - Find out how on the Smoothfoam blog - http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/moss-cube-vase/

Faux Succulent Wreath with Smoothfoam™

This week in my Cindi's Simple Solutions article for When Creativity Knocks I created this faux succulent wreath with a Smoothfoam™ base - find the instructions here.

Bluebird of Happiness Baby Shower Video

In this episode of the WCK All-Star Designers Spring Series, I share an idea for combining products from Makin's Clay®, Rit Dye®,  Smoothfoam™, Halcraft®, DecoArt®, JudiKins, Westcott® and AdTech to create a baby room banner - view the episode here:

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/All-Star-Designers-Spring-Series-Bluebird-of-Happiness-Baby-Shower

Vintage Key with Smoothfoam

This month our Smoothfoam™ Design Team challenge was to create something with a steampunk feel - my project was this jumbo sized, faux rusted key!  Find out how I created it on the Smoothfoam blog.

Beaded, Blinged Easter Egg!

This Easter egg Smoothfoam decoration is an eye catcher because of it’s large size, it’s shimmering Earth Safe Finishes Ann Butler Designs Iridescents, and it’s Connie Crystal bead accents!  A single egg in a decorative bowl is all you will need to give your Easter season a bit of glamour.  Check out full instructions to create your own on the Connie Crystal Blog - http://sparklebycc.com/beaded-blinged-easter-egg-with-connie-crystal/

Egg-Stravaganza!

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/All-Star-Designers-Spring-Series-Egg-Stravaganza

The first episode of the WCK All-Star Designers' Spring series is now live!   Hop on over to WCK to see what creative projects Ana Araujo, Laura Bray, Jonathan Fong, Judi Watanabe, and I created featuring products from Westcott, Makin's Clay, Smoothfoam, JudiKins, AdTech, Halcraft, DecoArt, Etchall, and Rit Dye!   This week's episode is a "mash-up" - we've each created something and shared a quick how-to.  In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing individual project episodes with more in-depth instructions on how to create the projects.  We are also choosing a weekly winner from everyone registered on our site to receive our weekly newsletter to receive a prize box full of goodies from our sponsors so don't miss your chance to win some of these fun products!

Easter is SPRINGING up!

Easter is in the air these days!  I'm happy to be a part of a fun Smoothfoam™ challenge to create something "Eastery" with their hollow spheres - You can see everyone's creative projects on their site here - http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/7-easter-crafts-smoothfoam/

Enjoy!

Faux Cement Bowl with Smoothfoam

While spending some time on Pinterest searching garden decor ideas, I started to notice that I was really drawn to the cement bowls in all sizes.  Especially those with succulents displayed in them. I am part of the Smoothfoam™design team and we were recently challenged to create a spring/Easter project with one of their  hollow Smoothfoam™ spheres.  It was the perfect base for creating my own faux cement bowl!

Materials:

Hollow Smoothfoam™ sphere in size of choice
Smoothfoam™ disc for base of bowl
Westcott® craft knife
Emery board, marker, string/ribbon
Ad tech™ hot glue gun and foam glue sticks
Ad tech™ silicone finger guard
Plasti-Kote® Fleck Stone spray stone finish -  Manhattan Mist










Instructions:

Step 1:

Choose Smoothfoam™ hollow sphere and disc.

Step 2:

Use emery board (or sandpaper) to sand top rim of half of sphere.

Step 3:

Determine how high you want the sides of your bowl to be.  Measure from rim to base and place a mark where you will cut the sphere.  Using a piece of ribbon or string cut to the same length to place onto the curve of the sphere will simplify marking additional spots around the sphere.

Step 4:

Use craft knife to cut from mark to mark and remove the base of the sphere.

Step 5:

Use Ad tech low temp glue gun with foam glue sticks to glue disc to base of sphere.

Step 6:

Add hot glue around inside of sphere where disc connects.

Step 7:

Apply hot glue to outside of bowl where disc meets base,  while glue is still hot use silicone finger guard to smooth glue into crack and eliminate any excess glue.

Step 8:

Spray with Fleck Stone spray inside and outside of bowl.

Fill your finished bowl with Spanish moss and add faux succulents or special Easter eggs like these made from Smoothfoam™ (stay tuned to find out how these eggs were decorated!).

This is the bowl from Pinterest that inspired my faux version.

Garden Penny Ball with Smoothfoam

For my March Smoothfoam™ Design Team project I created my own penny ball for my garden!  Inspired from Pinterest!  Find full instructions on the Smoothfoam™ blog here.

 http://www.smoothfoam.com/blog/put-a-penny-ball-in-your-garden/

Cupcake Mason Jar Treat Holder

Today I'm sharing the latest episode of When Creativity Knocks - I'm showing the attendees at the Smoothfoam booth at CHA how to create this adorable treat jar designed by Julie McGuffee!

Ann Butler Designs Blog Hop - Spring Bloom Topiary

I am excited to be a part of the Ann Butler Designs blog hop!  In the midst of all this snow and ice in North Carolina, I felt like I needed a little touch of spring so I designed this cheerful flower topiary!  Be sure to check out the other participating designers to see what they've created too!

Ann Butler http://www.creativitystirsthesoul.com/2014/01/ann-butler-designs-january-blog-hop.html

Amy Bowerman http://wp.me/p1xj8L-1ub

Candice Windham http://candicewindhamdesigns.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-do-i-love-thee.html

Cheryl Boglioli http://wp.me/p2zUiu-1cE

Eileen Hull http://www.eileenhull.com/2014/01/ann-butler-blog-hop.html

Jen Goode http://www.100directions.com/pretty-as-a-peacock-ink-colors-from-clearsnap-and-ann-butler/

Madeline Arendt  http://madelinesthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/01/ann-butlers-stamps-blog-hop.html
Sharon Rienhart http://smrdesigns.blogspot.ca/2014/01/delicate-valentine.html

Materials: 

Ann Butler Faux Quilting Stamps by Unity Stamp Company - 1” Leaves All Over
Clearsnap® ColorBox Crafter’s® by Ann Butler - Lilac
White cotton fabric 
Lavender embroidery floss, needle 
1 1/4” Smoothfoam ball 
Yellow Blumenthal Lansing button 
Wooden skewer 
Darice tin watering can 
May Arts ribbon - yellow print, green print 
Beacon Adhesives Tacky Glue 
Iron 

Instructions: 

Ink 1” leaves stamp with Lilac ink, stamp 8 times on white cotton fabric.  Ink stripe stamp with Lilac ink, stamp 8 times on white cotton fabric.  Heat set with iron. 

Cut out each stamped square, leaving approximately 1/8” on all sides. 

Place 2 leave images back to back, straight stitch embroider around image.  Repeat with remaining stamped leave images and striped images. 

Use fingers to gently remove threads around stitching to create frayed edge. 

Thread each square, through one corner, onto needle, overlapping.   Fan out to create flower. 

Place small amount of tacky glue on yellow button.  Place in center of flower.   Embroider through flower ot hold in place. 

Place Smoothfoam ball into bottom of watering can with hole facing upward. 

Place small dab of glue on top of skewer, wrap with green ribbon.   Place strip of ribbon around stem, tie, then tie ends in knot to create leaf.  Repeat on other side. 

Insert skewer into ball. 

Glue flower to top of skewer.  

Tie strip of yellow ribbon around watering can ending with a bow. 

Add Spanish moss to top of watering can opening to cover ball. 

Burlap & Wooden Snowflake Ornament

I love burlap!  The rustic, country feeling it brings, the texture, and the neutral color that goes with any color scheme.   I've been having fun creating holiday ornaments this year with burlap and Smoothfoam™ - here's my latest creation!

Rustic Burlap Snowflake Ornaments 

Add these rustic burlap ornaments to your country Christmas tree for a homespun holiday feel. 

Materials: 

Smoothfoam™ ball 

Blumenthal Lansing Favorite Findings™ - Wooden Snowflakes 

Burlap

1” brown grossgrain ribbon

Jute ric-rac trim 

Twine

Hot glue gun & hot glue sticks

Scissors 

Instructions: 

Cut burlap square approximately 8” x 8”.  

Place Smoothfoam™ ball in center of square with hole on top.  Add hot glue around hole, fold four corners of burlap upward and mount to ball.  Fold remaining burlap over and glue to side of ball.  

Cut piece of twine for hanging ornament, hot glue ends into hole in top of ball. 

Gather edges of burlap, tie together tightly around twine loop with additional piece of twine. 

Mount brown ribbon around center of ball.  

Mount jute ric-rac centered on brown ribbon. 

Mount wooden Blumenthal Lansing snowflake in center over ric-rac.