glitter

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.

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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!

Repurposed Candle Jars

Hello World,

I’ll admit it. I have a candle problem. Whenever Bath and Body Works has their large 3-wick candles on sale, I can’t help but at least buy two. (And I stack the sale with a coupon, so the savings are even greater.) With that said, I have quite a collection of empty candle jars. I can’t just throw them away, so here is a project to repurpose them into a glitter colorblock vase:

1. Gather your supplies: a burnt out candle, glitter, Mod Podge, painter’s tape, a paint or foam brush, rhinestones, and glue (not pictured).

2. Either melt the candle on a candle warmer or in a saucepan full of simmering water. You also could pop out the wax with a spoon. Pour the melted wax into an unwanted plastic/glass container.

3. Remove all labels and tape off part of your jar with painter’s tape. Rub down any edges to avoid your Mod Podge bleeding through.

4. Cover your jar with your first layer of Mod Podge.

5. Pour glitter all that baby. Place a paper or mat on your work surface so you can later pour your leftover glitter back into its container.

6. Allow to set for a few minutes and repeat with a second layer of Mod Podge and glitter.

7. Allow to dry completely and remove your painter’s tape.

8. If you have messy edges, just scratch off the imperfections with your fingernail. Super or hot glue rhinestones onto your jar.

9. Fill your sparkly vase with fake/fresh flowers, twigs, pens, makeup brushes, etc.

Do you have a candle problem too? Check out this other tutorial to repurpose candle jars and this tutorial for using the leftover wax.

After covering the candle jar with glitter, I got a little excited and started glittering other items. I bought these candle sticks at a thrift store and planned on using them for another tiered jewelry display, but instead spray painted and added glitter to them.

Happy Crafting!

Glitter & Stud Your Phone Case

Hello World,

I have a Google Nexus, and finding cases for it can sometimes be a challenge. I decided to spruce up my plain case with two of my favorite things- glitter and studs. Check out the tutorial below for this super simple DIY project:

phone-case2

1. Gather your materials: a phone case, Mod Podge, glitter, clear spray paint, a paint or foam brush, flat-back studs, and E-6000.

2.  Place your phone case on top of a paper plate. I used a paper plate so that I could funnel my leftover glitter back into the container.

3.  Apply your first layer of Mod Podge.

4.  Cover that baby with glitter.

5.  Allow to dry, then add another layer of Mod Podge.

6.  Add more glitter. I used black glitter on a black case so if I missed spots it wouldn’t be as noticeable.

7.  Allow to dry. Spray with clear spray paint to waterproof it.

8.  Glue on your studs (in a ventilated area). Mine were from a clearance bin at Michael’s and were meant to be ironed on… but they were only $0.50.

9.  Allow everything to dry overnight. In the last picture above, everything was still a little tacky because I was impatient.

Tada! You have a personalized case! Other DIY case ideas could be to use: images, scrapbook paper, rhinestones, etc. Once I find another cheap case for my phone, I really want to make one completely covered with pyramid studs.

Happy Crafting!