Sherlock inspired "Study In Pink" earrings

Have you ever seen something in a store or online and thought "I could make that myself"?  I do that all the time.

 

So does my daughter.

 

Except she doesn't think "I could make that", she thinks "Mom could make that".  I am flattered by her seemingly unwavering belief that I can make anything.  But time and time again, I accept the challenge.  And time and time again, she is right!  She has several items that prove it too.

So when she described some earrings that she saw, she asked "Could you make me some?"

 

They look like pills.  If you have seen the first episode of season one of Sherlock (Where Benedict Cumberbatch plays the lead) these hopefully will look very familiar.

I had no idea where to start.  How do you make pills?  The capsule type.  So I went to Dollarama to scout supplies.  It was Christmas time when I went and I spied some of those capsules (!!!) that have little sponge shapes in them and you put them in water and the shapes "grow".  I hope you know what I am talking about because I didn't think to take a photo of the package.  I scooped them up and brought them home.

I wasn't sure that I could pop the capsules apart while keeping them intact but it was very easy.  These little capsules are sturdier than I had expected. 

 

Here are all ten emptied out and the sponge crumbs have been wiped out with a dry Q-Tip. 

Now, what to fill them with.  I looked at little pink and white beads, but they didn't look right with the holes in them.  I have some tiny clear/white glass balls that would be perfect but I forget where I got them and couldn't find any pink ones.  So, I did what any sane person would do.  I looked in my pantry and found the perfect solution.

I used sprinkles.

It took a while to separate the white and pink ones out, but I did it!

Filling the capsules was easier than I expected.   I only needed four, but I filled all of them to be sure I had spares in case I broke any.

Since the capsules I used are meant to be dissolved in water, the next step was to seal them.  I strung a piece of thread (in a colour I could easily see for removal later)  through them, then I hung them up in a cardboard box and forgot to take any photos.  I broke two during this process.  Good thing I made spares. When they were dangling in the box, I sprayed them with about four coats of clear acrylic spray, letting them dry between coats.  You couldn't wear them in the pool or the shower, but they should be a bit water resistant.

Once they were completely dry, I removed the threads and slid a head pin through the holes that I made while threading them and made a loop at the top of the pin.  I put a tiny drop of clear nail polish at the bottom where the pin went in for extra security.  Then I rooted through my jewellery supplies and found some thin chain (always keep odd/ugly/single earrings, you never know when parts may be handy!) and hung my pills from the chains and attached them to an ear wire.

Pretty nice, I think. Most importantly, my daughter thinks so too.   And all I had to buy special for this project was the package of capsules for $1.15!  Everything else was already in the house, and we still have lots of sprinkles for ice cream and cupcakes!

I like to think that Benedict Cumberbatch would approve of these.
Thanks for looking!
:)
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Fairy in a Jar

Don't let this happen to your fairies!

Always make holes in the lids of your jars when catching fairies, fireflies or anything living!

 

 

 

Quite some time ago I had seen some really cool looking "dead fairies" online.  I decided then that I wanted one of my very own.

 

I am not sure where to find fairies around where I live, and even if I did, I would never want to sacrifice it for a conversation piece. 

 

So I made one.

 

 

After two Halloween's of searching, I finally found these little skeletons.  Six to a package.  They don't move except for at their hip.  Each leg swings freely.

 

The fairies I had found online were all standing up in their jars, leaning against the glass.  I had it in my head that I wanted mine sitting on a mushroom, looking thoughtful. 

 

Things rarely turn out the way we plan them though.  And my first problem was that I had no idea how to shape this little skeleton.  My husband told me that a heat gun would probably do the trick, and he would do it for me since I was a little afraid of burning myself.  So I gathered up a few skeletons and brought them to his shop and modelled how I wanted her sitting.  My husband was able to get her pretty close to what I wanted.  I wanted her chin resting on her hand but that just wasn't meant to be and she wanted to be resting her forehead in her hand.  In retrospect, I like this much better.

 

 

I also scrapped the mushroom idea for two reasons.  I hadn't thought about how I was going to make one yet.  And my husband had this great old branch handy that looked absolutely perfect.

Originally I was going to try to "age" her wings since they had been in the jar as long as the fairy, but I really loved the look of the glittery wings against the rest of the dull, dreary items in the jar.

 

I also scrapped the idea of having a wand lying on the ground by her.  I don't think real fairies have wands.

 

I had a lot of fun making this.  It was nice to spend some time in my husband's shop doing something other than giving him a hand too!

 

Thanks for looking!

:)

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Earrings and sewing and T-shirts, Oh my!

I'm not focusing these days.  I have completed several small projects though.


I've had these beads since about November and finally got around to making earrings with them.
The crystals in both pairs glitter beautifully.  Unfortunately, it is a bit overcast today so there isn't any good light for them to reflect.

I made myself a geektastic Iron Man 3 t-shirt.  Too bad I haven't seen the movie yet!
I gave up trying to take a good "selfie"  I took lots and this was the best.

Hopefully Robert Downey Jr. would be impressed.


And I sewed my self a swimsuit cover-up.  I got the tutorial here, at Grits and Giggles.
My only problem with this was that I eyeballed it.  Don't do that.  Use a tape measure.  I had to pick the seams and redo them! 
I think it is really cute.

Next up,  a tablet cover.  Hopefully that will be done within a week.
Thanks for looking!
:) Pin It

A Tip for Ironing a Freezer Stencil

While making a Walking Dead shirt as a gift for someone, I realized that stenciling words can be a pain in the butt.

This still needs a final wash to soften up the paint and get the cat and dog hairs off it.

 

 

 

Letters can be tricky when freezer stenciling a shirt.  Especially when the letters have holes in them like "D", "a" "e" "R" and "O", all of which are in this shirt!

 

But, through practice, I have learned a little trick.

 

I make my stencils by printing what I want out on a piece of regular printer paper.  Then I tape a larger piece of freezer paper, shiny side down, to my cutting mat (I have graduated from a piece of cardboard to a real cutting mat!  What a difference!) and I tape my print out onto the freezer paper and cut through both pieces with an exacto-knife.

 

It is tedious, but worth it.

 

Never throw anything away!  You need your freezer paper holes, so keep track of them.  You also will want your plain paper letters.

 

In the following photo, I have ironed down the big piece of my stencil and most of my holes.  I still need to iron the holes in place for my "R" and my "O". 

I saved my plain paper "R" to use as a template for properly placing my hole. 

 

 

See? I carefully put my plain paper "R" in place and then, even more carefully, placed my freezer paper hole (shiny side down! That is very important or you will adhere it to your iron!) 

 

 

Then, even more carefully than before, iron over your letters. (and marvel at the way I was able to iron with one hand and take a photo with the other and never scorch my project!) 

You will iron the hole in place and just remove the plain paper "R" with no trouble! 

 

 

 

 Perfectly positioned!

 

 

 

 I did the same with the "O" and have lovely letters.  Now I am ready to paint.

 

 

 

 Don't forget the teeny zombie on the back of the shirt!

I am very happy that the recipient of this shirt really likes it.  I have even seen him wearing it!  And I don't think he put it on out of obligation either.  ;)

Thanks for looking!
:) Pin It

Monster Books of Monsters ~ FINISHED!

Finally done!  Hooray, hooray!!!!!!!

I started these almost a year ago, it's about time I got them finished! 

If you'd like to see the progress, you can see part one,  part two and part three by clicking the links.

 They still look pretty cuddly, but I am happy with them.

 

After getting them all sewn together, all that was left to do was put their titles on.  I wanted it to look like gold embroidery.  I started by trimming the fur to give myself an area to paint on.

Then I practiced on some leftover fur that I had saved. I had gold glitter paint that I was planning to use, but it doesn't show up by itself.  I tried painting the letters in black, brown and yellow first, then went over them with the gold.  I liked the look of the yellow the best.  I have so many smears of yellow on my practice fur, it is difficult to see what I have here, but it is all my practicing.

 

Then I painted my titles on.

 

"Monster Book of"

"MONSTERS"

 

A front view.  He has a little fur blocking his leftest eye, I see.

Maybe I won't give these to the kids...

 

 

 

Now that I finished these, I can make my Iron Man T-shirt!

Thanks for looking!

:) 

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Monster Book of Monsters: Part Three

Just held together with pins at the moment

 

Well, my high hopes for fabulous teeth were temporarily dashed when this is what I created.

This will not do at ALL!

I had decided that I was not going to make any sort of template or pattern because I want both books to look different.  So I picked up a piece of fabric and folded it in half and just stared sewing teeth.  It actually didn't look too bad... Until I tried to turn them right-side-out.

Back to the drawing board.

After some thought, I decided that making each tooth individually was the way to go.  Again, I didn't use any sort of pattern.  I just sewed what looked like a tooth.  Just one at first.  It looked perfect! So I went all out and sewed up a whole bunch.  Then I arranged them on the table and switched them around until I thought they looked right.

 

 

Then I put a little stuffing in each one and pinned it to the "gums".  I put a piece of batting between two layers of red to plump them up just a bit. 

 

 Made myself a tooth sandwich and sewed it up.

 

 

 I also made the tongues using red and a little batting for substance.

 

 

 And here is where my Monster Books of Monsters sit now.  All pinned together.  I need to sculpt around the eyes a little more.  Both of the girls just want to hug these guys, and they are supposed to be a little menacing.

Here is what they are trying to look more or less like. 
These images were found on a Google Images search for "Monster Book of Monsters"

Next I need to sew these together and come up with a way to get the title on them.
Thanks for looking and following my progress!
:) Pin It

Monster Book of Monsters: Part Two

I've lost my crafting mojo.  I just haven't been in the mood to craft.  Today, however, I decided that I need to finish these Monster Book of Monsters.  I've only been working on them for about ten months!!!  You can see the start here, if you'd like.

 



 

So, I got out my eyes and chose suitable ones.

I made little pillows to put them on, and attached the eyes.  These are very lightly stuffed so that they can be sculpted under the fur.

 

 

I carefully slit the fur after determining the position of my eyes.   Then I sculpted a little around the eyes. I will probably do a little more sculpting detail later.  He's going to have trouble seeing with all that fur in his eyes! 

 So I trimmed a little around the eyes.
This is where my Monster Book of Monsters stands at the moment. 


Next up: The teeth. I'm making them soft.  These will make or break this project, I think.
I have high hopes for this.

Thanks for looking!
:)

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Come to the Dark Side, We have ... ... CHOCOLATE!

Yeah, I know he isn't perfect.  But he's still very cool!!!!

Dark chocolate, of course!

 

 

My oldest daughter gave me this super cool Darth Vader ice cube tray for Christmas.  And it creates these super cool Darth Vader ice cubes!

Coolest ice cubes in the galaxy!

 

I have tried about half a dozen different ways to try to get clear ice and have only come close once.  So I switched to chocolate.

 

Unfortunately, my chocolate is a little on the old side.  I know, how does that even happen!?  Who know that old chocolate doesn't melt well?  Not me, that is for sure.  So all the chocolate you see in this photo was scrapped.  :( 

The next batch didn't melt much better, but at least it was workable.  And tastes fine.  That is the most important part.

My youngest has been saving her Ring Pop rings, at my request, for a project just like this.  They have been thoroughly washed, but I boiled them for a few minutes just to be sure.  

 

All of my ingredients and materials on a tray.

 

When my chocolate melts properly, I just boil a little pot of water on the stove, remove it from the heat and place my Pyrex measuring cup in the pot and let the chocolate melt, stirring occasionally.  Sometimes I have to reheat my water. Normally, it melts to a very smooth, pourable consistency.  Not today.  It was a smooth, spoonable consistancy.  So that is what I worked with.  The second time.

 

Here is the mold, all ready to go.

 

 

After I spooned the chocolate into the molds I tapped it on the tray several times hoping to get all the air bubbles out and trying to get chocolate into all the nooks and crannies of the mold.  This would have worked really well if the chocolate had melted better!

Once I was pretty sure I had gotten all the bubbles out that I could, I placed my rings.  Then waited. And waited.  And put the mold in the fridge and waited some more.

 

 

When they had set, they popped out of the mold quite easily!  Several imperfections, but who cares!  Next time they will be much better.  I am sure of that.

My youngest has already done quality control testing and gave me a thumbs up.

So, I went from having the coolest ice in the galaxy to having the coolest ring pops in the galaxy!

 

Now, I just need more chocolate.....

 

Thanks for reading!

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