Year: 2014

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

Hello World,

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (and Christmas and Valentine’s Day). I pretty much just love decorating.  (I love costumes too, and those will be the topic of upcoming blog posts.) Recently, I went to JoAnn Fabrics and came across a candy corn color-blocked pumpkin for $24.99. Instead of buying it, I made my own version with a foam pumpkin from the dollar store.

pumpkin6

The left photo above is the pumpkin from JoAnn’s, and the right it my DIY version. I didn’t realize until the gold glitter was on the pumpkin that I had gotten my candy-corn colors in reverse. #youhadonejob but let’s just pretend it was a creative spin on it. 🙂

I already had all the supplies on hand, so this project only cost me a dollar! The glitter I bought a while back in a 12 pack from Ross for $4.99, which I have gotten so much use out of. Tutorials for two different versions of the glitter pumpkin are below:

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

1. Gather your supplies: a foam pumpkin, acrylic paints, coordinating glitters, Mod Podge, a paint brush, and something to shake your glitter over (a paper plate, a placemat, or piece of paper).

2. Cover your pumpkin with white paint as a primer. Allow to dry and do a second coat so your original pumpkin color isn’t visible. Using paint will make it so we need less glitter later. Allow to dry.

3. Now you can go about this two ways: either mix Mod Podge and glitter together and paint that on the top third of your pumpkin, or apply a coat of Mod Podge to the top third of your pumpkin, and shake glitter onto the wet Mod Podge (while holding your pumpkin over your placemat). Give your pumpkin a light shake to rid of excess glitter, and allow that section to dry. Pour excess glitter back into your glitter container.

4. Apply your second color of paint to the middle third of your pumpkin. Allow to dry.

5. Repeat step 3 with your second color.

6.  Apply your third color to the bottom third of your pumpkin. Allow to dry.

7. Repeat step 3 with your third color. My pumpkin had a green stem, so I painted the stem black. Allow to dry.

8. If you are afraid of glitter fall-off, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to your entire pumpkin to seal it.

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

1. Gather your supplies: a foam pumpkin, acrylic paint, coordinating glitter, Mod Podge, a paint brush, thumbtacks (mine were from the dollar store) and something to shake your glitter over (a paper plate, a placemat, or piece of paper).

2. Cover your pumpkin with paint color of your choice. Allow to dry and do a second coat so your original pumpkin color isn’t visible. Using paint will make it so we need less glitter later. Also, my pumpkin had a green stem, so I painted the stem black. Allow to dry.

3. Now you can go about this two ways: either mix Mod Podge and glitter together and paint that your pumpkin, or apply a coat of Mod Podge to your pumpkin, and shake glitter onto the wet Mod Podge (while holding your pumpkin over your placemat). Give your pumpkin a light shake to rid of excess glitter, and allow that section to dry. Pour excess glitter back into your glitter container.

4. If you are afraid of glitter fall-off, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to your entire pumpkin to seal it. Allow to dry.

5. Push your thumbtacks into your pumpkin. I did simple vertical lines, following the curve of my pumpkin. If you are afraid of your thumbtacks falling out, you can apply glue to them prior to pushing them into the foam pumpkin.

pumpkins5

Aren’t they just so cute! I might actually head back to the dollar store and pick up another one and make a black glitter pumpkin with thumbtacks.

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

Happy Crafting!

DIY Glitter “Mr. & Mrs.” Letters

DIY Glitter "Mr. & Mrs." Letters

Hello World,

Last month, I went to two weddings in the same weekend, 400 miles apart. One of the weddings was a rainbow theme, with black and white accents. As my gift, I made the glitter “Mr. & Mrs.” letters (in the photo above) that were used as decor on the sweetheart table.

DIY Glitter "Mr. & Mrs." Letters

1.  To make your own glitter letters you will need: large wooden letters, glitter, paint the same color as your glitter, a paintbrush, a paper plate, and Mod Podge or a spray fixative.

2.  Begin by completely painting your wooden letters. Painting your letters the same color as your glitter helps so you need less layers of glitter later.

3.  Allow paint to dry, and place your first wooden letter on your paper plate.

4. Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to your letter. (I didn’t have all my supplies, so I applied another layer of wet paint.)

5. While still wet, completely cover the front of your letter with glitter.

6. Apply another layer of Mod Podge to your letter, and add another layer of glitter. (I didn’t have Mod Podge, so I actually used hair spray (with the windows open). I sprayed the letter, and quickly sprinkled more glitter on my letter.)

7. Once you have reached your desired amount of glitter, add one final coat of Mod Podge to help reduce glitter fall off. (I used one final coat of hair spray.)

8. Funnel your excess glitter (on the paper plate) back into your original glitter container. Allow to dry and repeat with your other letters.

Mod Podge would usually be the way to go, but in a pinch, hair spray works like a charm. I would recommend making them outside though as some glitter does wisp into the air, so there is some clean-up involved.

Rainbow-Themed Wedding

Close up of their cake.  Love the flowers on top. Especially that rose- it was so photogenic.

Rainbow-Themed Wedding Cupcake Tower

While the cake was for the bride and the groom, they had this great tower of cupcakes for the weddings guests. They had five different flavors, each with a different piped filling.

Happy Crafting!

Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad

Hello World,

These last two weeks I have been so busy, I haven’t made time to sit down and have a good ole crafternoon. This last weekend I actually went to two weddings, 400 miles apart. I am in the process of editing all the photos of my lovely bride friends, and a post with the deets on those weddings should will be up soon!

In the meantime, here is another simple recipe that is a refreshing and oh-so-tasty! For my photos, I only used one tomato and resulted with a smaller platter.

Caprese Salad

To make your own caprese salad, you will need:

  • Large ripe tomatoes
  • Mozzarella cheese (I prefer fresh versus the processed type, as it has more flavor and moisture.)
  • Fresh basil leaves
  • Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • Parmesan cheese

Slice your tomato(es) into disks and arrange on a platter. Slice your mozzarella in the same manner and arrange on top of the tomato slices. Either chop or tear your basil leaves and sprinkle over your platter. Drizzle EVOO on top, and finish by sprinkling grated parmesan cheese over everything. Serve immediately.

Caprese Salad

Cheers! The fair is this upcoming weekend in my area, and I entered five DIY projects I made this last year. Fingers crossed I win a ribbon! Did you enter anything this year?