Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts

Saturday, October 6, 2012

[Halloween] DIY Pumpkin Lanterns

Totally getting into the groove this Halloween. I've never been really enamored with the idea of doing Halloween crafts, but for some reason the bug has hit me hard. I think it's a result of being in England last fall where they don't quite celebrate as hard as we Americans do for the holiday! 


This is a quick, cheap, and easy craft to do to create a few more bright lights on your patio or for your Halloween party! For those with crafting supplies, you probably have most of these already. The rest can be obtained from a dollar store.

Supplies:








For the Pumpkins:

- Glass Jars. I used old pickle jars and a few vases I picked up from the Dollar Tree.
- Orange paint. I used acrylic water based. 
- Paint brushes
- Black sharpie
- LED tea light candles. I got mine 3 for $1 from the Dollar Tree. Make sure they're the orange (or natural flame) flickering effect ones. It'll look more like a pumpkin. Get more than you think you'll need, since some are bound to be duds. 

For the Frankenstein Monster

- Large square vase or Ikea GRONO table lamp. I had some of these left over from a Christmas craft last year.
- Green Paint
- Two large screws. I used random ones from my toolbox

Directions:

1. Paint the inside of the jar orange. I didn't worry too much about perfection. You could use spray paint if you want a more even look. I did two coats.
2. Draw the eyes and mouth on with black sharpie. I free-handed mine (clearly).
3. Drop a LED light inside. You're done!






For the Frankenstein monster:
1. Repeat steps above, but attach the two screws with hot glue on either side of the face, just above the eyes.
2. If you're using the Ikea lamp, be sure to paint the OUTSIDE of the lamp. The glass is not clear, so the green paint won't shine through.








Friday, May 25, 2012

DIY- Pottery Barn Knock-Off Mirror

Have you been on Dollar Store Crafts? A lot of the crafts are aimed at kids, but there are a fair number of decor ones that have my fingers itching. With three dollar stores within a 5 mile radius of my house, I am well kitted out to make some thrifty crafts! I followed this tutorial to create a Pottery Barn knock off mirror. It's currently displayed on my bookcase, so it's too high to actually see myself in it, but I love how my lights reflect off of it. The only change I made to the tutorial was to paint the frames- wanted some bright color. I lined the edges of the frame with painters tape so the paint wouldn't smear on the mirror. Say that 10 times fast!

(Sorry for the slightly crap quality of picture)