Step Right Up by Betsy Skagen

Ladies and gents, step right up because this week we are taking a shine to circus. 

I mean that literally, since my project today features different shiny surfaces that you can apply to circus trading coins. 

Each of  these circus trading coin features a different shiny surface: fine glitter, chunky glitter, distressed glitter, red metallic flakes or silver metallic flakes.

You can use these as trading coins, ornaments or as package tags.

Begin by covering both the front and back sides of the Artist Trading Coin with decorative paper.

Ink the edges of the coin with brown ink. Punch a hole in the trading coin, add an eyelet and thread baker's string through the eyelet.

Punch out the Circus Trading Coin Covers and the hat from the Alice Trading Coin Covers and cover with gesso.

Spread a thin coat of glue on the cover and add glitter or metal flakes. When dry, add foam adhesive to the back of the covers and adhere to the coins.

Great Stuff

Artist Trading Coin
Circus Trading Coin Covers
Alice Trading Coin Covers
Gesso
Glitter, fine, chunky and distressed
Metallic leaf
Brown ink
Baker's twine
Hole punch
Eyelets
Foam adhesive

Florentine Moon Triptych

I have always had an affinity with the night sky. The stars and moon make me swoon! And I've been especially inspired to make moony themed pieces recently, and this project is no exception.

The exterior is dark and moody. A Vintage Triptych "Florentine" is covered with paper from Graphic 45's Love Notes. 

The corners are adorned with Victorian Corners 2 which have been chopped in half to give a sort of hinge look. I've added a Hasp to the cover for a closure, and simply added the smallest of the Tudor Rose Singles to add a bit of decoration to the piece.

Inside I've relied on old paper and paint, and a bit of gold embossing powder.

I'm really pleased with it and I have a video to show you just how I achieved this look (and how I put the pieces together) Pop over HERE to see the walkthrough.

Are you ready to make some of your own moon magic?

Here are all the bits you'll need from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts:

Vintage Triptych "Florentine" *Coming Soon*
Victorian Corners 2 

Hasps
Tudor Rose Singles

And all of the other supplies that I used in this project:

Sweet Dreams Collage Sheet

Graphic 45's Love Notes

Black Crepe Ribbon
Rusty Star Ornament Set

Brass Starburst CharmFlat Back Gold Star Studs 12mm
Flat Back Gold Star Studs 8mm
Stamp and pad
Gold embossing powder
Glitter

Old Paper

Washi Tape

Acrylic paint
Glue

Jolly Little Christmas Floats with Tutorial

My kid decided he was too old for trick-or-treating this year, but not too old for a Christmas parade. Before moving here I was never really into parades. Standing around in questionable weather? Nah, thanks. Discovering night parades swayed my grinchy mind. The lights! The magic! *swoon*

And while these wee things aren't all lit up (although you could absolutely add lights!) I'm smitten with the bright sparkly cheeriness of these wee floats.

To make these little floats I simply added Wheels 1 inch Fancy and Wheels 1.5 inch Straight to Chunky ATC Blanks.

Glittered Chipboard Shingles - Pointed added around the edges complete the base.

Then it's just a matter of filling up those floats! I've used bottlebrush trees, miniature packages and decorations and a vintage looking Santa. All of those bits were bought in the holiday aisle at the discount shop.

Cute. Easy. Inexpensive. Yes please!

I have a little video to show you exactly how to put these pretty things together right HERE.

I need to make a slew of these to create an entire holiday parade for my mantle!

Want to make your own too? Here are the supplies I used:

Wheels 1 inch Fancy 

Wheels 1.5 inch Straight 

Chunky ATC Blanks

Chipboard Shingles - Pointed

Ribbon

Glitter

Holiday paper

Buttons

Bottlebrush trees

Tiny gift and ornament baubles

Plastic vintage looking Santas

White glue

Hot glue

Acrylic paint

Thin dowling or bamboo sticks

Shake Up Some Frosty Snowmen by Betsy Skagen

Christmas is the perfect time for upcycling objects. Vintage salt shakers, sandbakel tins and wooden spools are ideal for creating adorable snowmen (and women!). Add in glittery snowflakes and things get really chill.

Sorry I am so flaky that I simply cannot resist a few snowmen puns. You will just have to roll with it.

Somerset Studio's 2017 salt shaker snowmen inspired me to create my version  of cute snowmen using many different vintage objects.

Tutorial: How to upcycle vintage items to make snowmen

First you will need lots of snowflakes. Use a utility knife to remove the snowflakes from the Snowflake Shapes Set Minis.

Paint both sides with white acrylic paint. Let dry.

When dry, cover with matte medium and sprinkle with extra-fine clear glitter. 

 Roll small balls of paper clay. Use a toothpick to poke a hole in the bottom and where the nose will go. Let dry for a day, two days --yikes! three days-- or be smart and place in a 200 degrees oven for about an hour until they are completely dry, light and airy.

Insert a toothpick into each base hole and place the other end of the toothpick into some styrofoam to keep the balls upright. Cover each ball with white acrylic paint and let dry.

Paint pointed toothpicks orange and cut into small carrot shapes. Dip the flat end of the carrot into strong adhesive and insert into the nose hole.

Next make cheeks with pink paint and eyes and mouths with a black pen. 

Paint your snowmen with matte medium and cover with clear extra-fine glitter. 

Now comes the fun part. Create hats and crowns with vintage sheet music, salt shaker tops, findings, glittery snowflakes, tinsel and bling. Adhere to snowmen with strong adhesive.

Insert wintery sprigs into the snowman base hole. Bend these around the back of the head and adhere with strong adhesive. 

The next set of directions are specific to making a salt shaker snowman. Adjust the project as needed, depending on what you are using for a base.

If your salt shaker is made from glass, place beads and glitter into it. Vintage mercury glass beads make these even more special.

Add strong adhesive to the salt shaker opening and glue a large snowflake to it, then glue the head in place. Wrap tinsel pipe cleaners around the neck of your vintage object to create arms.

 Add additional tinsel or ribbon to the neck and bend the arms so the snowmen can hold a snowflake, or vintage holiday embellishment.

Create extra special snowmen bling by adhering one of your snowflakes to a rhinstone buckle.

Then glue the snowflake embellishment to your snowman body.

I hope these ornaments made you melt just a little and you have ball making your own!
-Betsy

Great Stuff

Snowflake Shapes Set Minis
Paper clay
Acrylic paint
Black pen
Matte medium
Extra-fine clear glitter
Tinsel pipe cleaners
Toothpicks
Hot glue gun
Extra strong adhesive such as Lock-Tite
Vintage wooden spools
Vintage salt and pepper shakers
Sandbakel tins
Bottlebrush trees
Miniature tinsel
Vintage Christmas music
Vintage Christmas embellishments

A Tiny Glitter Village

Hi everyone! Are you tired of winter yet? I know I'm looking forward to the daffodils peeking through the snow but that won't be happening for a while. In the meantime, I enjoy having a few winter decorations up for a month or two. We don't have a mantle at our house so I've never really had a place to set up a glitter village but I adore them so decided to make one in miniature using the GSL Tiny Plant Table

This one is so simple to put together, just 5 pieces!

I decided the stand should be white to enhance the snowy scene so gave  each piece a few coats of white acrylic paint on both sides then assembled the piece using tacky glue. 

Using an X-Acto knife I cut tiny house shapes from polymer clay and used a square match to indent windows and doors before baking them off.

I also rolled out some cone tree shapes and dug out my stash of nail art supplies, aka polymer cane flower slices, to give the houses a bit of decoration.  You can find these in nail supply stores and on Amazon. 

After baking, I applied a thin coat of tacky glue on each piece then tossed them into a container of superfine glitter to get them nice and sparkly. When the glue was dry, I added a bit of chunkier crystal glitter onto the rooftops for some sparkly snow.

They were then glued onto the top of my assembled table to form a tiny village.

I wanted to make sure not to get glitter on the sides of the table so I used painter's tape as a barrier before coating the village floor with a thick coating of tacky glue. Then came the fun part.... dumping a LOT of crystal glitter to make a thick blanket of snow!

To finish the look, I used some of the GSL Snowflake Shape Set Minis as a decoration. I got white acrylic paint into the little crevasses using a soft bristled brush.

When the paint was dry, I applied a thin coat of white glue and tossed them into the same superfine glitter to give them some sparkle.

I glued them onto the front of the winter scene and finished it off with a bit of blue bling. 

Once it's fully dry, tap off the excess glitter and enjoy your winter wonderland!

Gypsy Soul Laser Items Used

Tiny Plant Table

Snowflake Shape Set Minis 

Other Items Used
White acrylic paint

Tacky glue

Polymer clay

Polymer clay cane slices

Superfine glitter

Crystal glitter

Rhinestone

Painter's tape

Spring Fairy Altoid Tin

It's spring and my blasse mood is giving way to fairy dreams as the weather warms and the green shows through the grass. Swoon!

This month I'm going to show you how to create this pretty little altered Altoid tin with a sweet surprise inside.

On the outside I'm using an elmement from the Altoids Inserts Fairy Tale Frames,
Art Deco Corner Set and Faux Metal Number Plate.

I've used paper from Lemoncraft, but you could use any paper you love and make this project entirely suited to your own tastes.

Inside, I've used more elements from the Altoids Inserts Fairy Tale Frames. Behind the frame I've layered elements and images to give a dimentional effect.

This project is pretty dang cute and fairly easy to recreate, but I've made a demonstration video with some pointers that you might find useful.

Ready to make your own? Here's all the baubles and doodads you'll need:

Altoids Inserts Fairy Tale Frames
Art Deco Corner Set
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25
Blank Altoids Tins Scrapbook Paper (I've used Lemoncraft's Forget-me-not)
Glue
Gesso
Acrylic Paint
Glitter
Other Embellishments