Hip, hip, hooray for birthdays!

Hi Everyone,

Jess here today with a crown fit for a rusty queen.

I don't want to admit it, but I have a rather big birthday coming up.  I thought maybe having a crown would ease the pain a bit.  I'm not a frilly girl.  I'm a grungy girl and my crown needs to fit me. 

I started by covering my crown with tons of vintage paper.  I used old dictionary pages, sheet music, catalog pages, shorthand practice sheets, and more.  I used collage medium to adhere it to the crown and once it was dry I cut it down.   

I then added lots of Distress Stains and Inks in blues, greens, and browns.  Once the base colors were down I went back with Distress crayons to highlight edges.  

To make the fancy front piece I used  Baked Texture embossing powders.  I glued on the front piece and let it sit overnight. 

I had this cool old door plate that I adhered to the crown using brads.  

I added an old bingo number to the center of the door plate. 

I added metal flowers, with a bingo marker I colored using Distress Oxides and Baked Texture powders, to each side of the crown.

The inside of the crown is lined with graph paper.  You can see here I attached the band using tiny staples.  

This is the back of the band.  

This was really simple to make and you could really use this crown in so many ways.  I hope you enjoyed my grungy take! 

Jess

Salvaged Heart

Hi Everyone,
Jess here today with a fun shabby chic project.

This was really simple to put together.  Start by covering both sides of  your Dress Form Tag with the paper of your choice.  I inked the edges of my paper. 

  

Cover the largest set of wings from the Wings Assortment with gold embossing powder. Once the wings have cooled off attach them to the back of the tag using a strong adhesive. 

 Cover the base of your Flourished Heart Frame with DIna Wakley Media Paint in Blushing.  This is a bold pink and I used a wash of cheap brown acrylic paint to tone it down for this project.  

Cover the top of your frame with Finnabair Paint in Royal Red.  While the paint is still wet cover the heart with Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo.  This makes the heart look old and kind of crusty.  Perfect for this project.     

Glue your frame together and attach it to the dress form tag.  Finishing the main part of the piece just took using a Tim Holtz Chip word that I banged on the side of my desk to ding it up.  Vintage photo Distress Ink covers the chip word.  

I used an old spindle to make my base.  I stuck a Tim Holtz Memo Pin in the top and then wedged the finished project into it.  I love the look of sari ribbon for making bows.  This one has a large off white bow and a smaller pink bow to cover where the pin got stuck into the spindle. 

The spindle is fun because you can just pop this piece out and change it up for the season.  

Enjoy! 

Jess

Rotten Smelly Dragon Jars

This wasn't the tutorial I had planned. A string of unfortunate events led to my planned project to sit in a state of disrepair.

What's a girl to do? Scramble!

I came up with these rotten smelly dragon jars about a week ago and was planning a tutorial in the future, but circumstances put a 'RUSH' on those plans.

The Dragons Shape Set used is pretty handy. There are two designs in three sizes so you can create a both quart and pint sized jars with just one set. The wings need to be bent to fit them in the jar, but they are sturdy things and will survive the ordeal.

 

The jars are made using a different technique than the fairy lanterns and, believe it or not, I haven't even added lights to these.

Those shadows are entirely from backlighting the jar. Pop them up on a window sill, or in front of a light, and you should see your small smelly dragon in it's stinky jar!

Now, I know that people are going to say they want to use these as nightlights, but really, dragons like their sleep and dark places. Best to let them rest at night rather than keep them up past their bedtime.

Below you'll find how to make these terrible things. Just a couple of additional notes first:

• To soften the streaks/drips you'll want to mist with water while still wet

• Apply several layers of brown wash to get a really dirty grimy look

• Why add glitter? It adds texture and give the paint something to grip. Plus, a little sparkle isn't a bad thing. But if you want to skip this part, go ahead.

Inspired to make your own dragon jars? Be sure to tag me when you show them off. If you try your hand at this project for your own blog, be sure to link back and gimme a shout out, please and thank-you!

If you're inspired to make your own dragon jars, be sure to tag me and Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts when you show them off. If you try your hand at this project for your own blog, be sure to link back and give us a shout out, please and thank-you!

Finally, here's what you'll need to make them:

Dragons Shape Set
Glass jar

Acrylic paint
Clear glitter
White glue
Cheesecloth
FlowerSoft-Ultra Fine *optional*
Twine
Charms & embellishments

P.S. Once again, a note about fire safety. DO NOT put live flame candles in these jars. I like you, you're a good egg and I don't want to see you hurt.