Repurposed Photo Frame

Hello, everyone! Today I'm sharing a kinda creepy project I made using a 5x7 photo frame that had the glass broken years ago. It's been sitting in a closet waiting for me to go buy a new pane of glass. Apparently, that's never gonna happen so I repurposed it for something crafty. Let me take you through how it was made.

Here's what I started with. A GSL 6 Panel Rectangular Window, one of the GSL Wrought Iron Miniatures, some Black Creepy Critters Set silhouettes and the lid of a GSL 2.4 Inch Suitcase, which was the perfect size for this project! 

Along with the chipboard items, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the frame, selected a nice brick scrapbook paper from Paper Pizazz, cut a popsicle stick down to window box size and found a sinister image in my Zombie Tarot deck – the page of swords.

I assembled the suitcase lid using tacky glue. Once set, I painted he interior walls in a deep brown acrylic paint. I made a color copy of the tarot card and cut it to fit inside the suitcase lid. 

I glued the brick paper to the cardboard. Once the glue was dry, I marked the location on the wall that I wanted the recessed window to be with removable painter's tape then cut the opening with an X-Acto knife. 

The window was painted in an off white acrylic paint, while the wrought iron fence and window box popsicle stick were painted black. 

To finish off the window box, I selected two dollhouse bricks as spacers. Those were painted black and glued in place.

Time to assemble! The suitcase lid was glued in place behind the opening while the window was glued on top. I added some small greenery inside the window box before gluing that in place. 

The final touches were small flowers for the window box and some fun silhouettes from the GSL Black Creepy Critters Set. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Laser Cut Items Used

Wrought Iron Miniatures

Windows 6 Panel

Suitcase 2.4 Inch

Black Creepy Critters Set

Other Items Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

5x7 Frame

Paper Pizazz Brick Wall paper

Cardboard scrap

Tarot card/creepy image

Popsicle stick

Miniature brick

Greenery & flowers

Ectomobile Reimagined

Happy Saturday, everyone! I've had one of the incredible GSL Funeral Coaches for a while and couldn't decide how I wanted to finish it. I kept flipping back and forth between painting it black and trying to make it authentic to the late 1800's vs. making it into something really unconventional like a doughnut delivery vehicle. Once I got into my head that it's basically a hearse, I hit on the idea of turning it into a funky version of the Ghostbusters' Ecto-1. 

To get started, I set aside the wheels and chassis and laid out all of the pieces that form the coach's body. This makes both assembly and planning out which pieces need to be painted what color very easy.

I used white, black and red paint for the coach. Here are all the pieces with the exception of the wheels which were painted black with metallic for the spokes. 

Here is the main part of the coach's body assembled using a bit of tacky glue.

The ectomobile carries a lot of equipment on it's roof. I used the base of a GSL Suitcase 2.4 Inch for gear storage.

Finding stuff for the roof rack was pretty fun. I ended up using an Altoid tin, spent CO2 cartridge, some wooden beads, acrylic bits, spool, wire, light bulbs, sewing bobbin, and a black lego. The amber lights were made by gluing large rhinestones onto flat square silver beads. The satellite dish is made from a flower nail, which is the base you use when piping flowers from frosting.

I fretted over how to make a red light working only from stash then found a jar of these vase filler acorns. When you set a red one inside a polymer clay base and add a split key ring, I think the effect is quite convincing. 

The vehicle needs a companion to ride along. I sculpted a Slimer out of polymer clay. Here is an in-process picture.

I glued the chassis in place, added some signage and it's ready to roll.

Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Funeral Coach

Suitcase 2.4 Inch

Other Supplies Used 

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Polymer clay

Printed images

Bits & bobbins

 

 

Adventurers Beware

Do not begin unless you intend to finish... Happy Saturday everyone! I'm here to tell ya you can make pretty much anything you want if you have a little patience and some basic craft supplies. I used a GSL Suitcase 2.4 Inch for this tiny Jumanji board. Let me take you through how it was done. 

The suitcase comes with top and bottom sections, very easily assembled using tacky glue.

I used an X-acto knife to carefully cut the top of the suitcase in half.

A coffee stir stick was sized to fit the cut edges and then glued in place.

To replicate the game piece storage section of the board I cut two pieces of square craft wood to fit and glued them in place. 

The center crystal ball where the game's riddles are displayed was made from a bubble cut from a pill blister pack. I painted the inside of the bubble with pearlescent emerald paint. 

The game box was painted with brown acrylic paint and I added printed images of the game's interior. Look how cute the riddle bubble came out.

Here's the game's exterior. 

I sculpted the game pieces from polymer clay - elephant, monkey, rhinoceros and crocodile.

The game needs something to sit on.  I decided to make a square coffee table from two GSL 4 Inch TradingCoasters glued together. A wood grained paper from Ms. Sparkle & Co. covers the top, bottom and edge of the table top.

The feet are fashioned from dowel cap wood turnings that I painted gray.

Only thing left to do is glue on the table feet. 

 

In the jungle, you must wait 'til the dice read five or eight. Thanks for stopping by!

 

GSL Products Used

Suitcase 2.4 Inch

4 Inch Trading Coaster

Other Supplies Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Lumiere pearlescent emerald paint

Ms. Sparkle & Co. woodgrain neutral paper

Printed images

Polymer clay

Coffee stir sticks

Square craft wood

Wood dowel caps

Miniature dice

Retro Teen Girl's Bedroom Nook

How's that for a post title? Happy Saturday, everyone! This little project brought back some fond memories and I had way too much fun with it. Record players, black light posters, bean bag chair....let me walk you through how it came together.

The scene was set inside a GSL 7 by 7 Corner Room Box. Here are the pieces laid out ready to assemble with tacky glue. It's the perfect size to set a miniature scene.

Once the glue dried, I papered the floor with a white hardwood floor paper from BoBunny's Garden Party collection and the walls with Paper Studio's Girl Flowers.

A GSL Bookcase 1 to 12 displays a lot of treasures. Pink and gingham were all the rage for girls rooms during this era. Authentique Latest & Greatest has the perfect gingham to paper the back wall of the bookcase once it was assembled. 

Rubber bands were used to hold the bookcase in place while the glue dried. 

It was painted off white to reflect the French provincial style so popular during this timeframe.

The other piece of furniture in the room is a record player console made from a GSL Library Table. My dad actually made me one of these when I was a kid to hold my stereo. Today it holds my crafting books.  Here are the pieces laid out.

I painted the sections before assembly. This makes it easier to get paint into the small nooks. It was papered the same as the bookcase.

The room needs a record player! So easily made from a GSL Suitcase 1.6 Inch and cardstock circles.

It was finished with some beads for the knobs and a snip of wire for the arm. I also made a little jewelry box from a GSL Mini Cigar Box available over at Alpha Stamps.

Here's the record player in place beneath a few posters from the time period. This little nook has black light, Have a Nice Day, Hang in There and Peter Max posters. The console also has a ouija board, Mickey Mouse ears, Creepy Crawler molds, a Mad magazine, a jar of mercury (What, didn't everyone play with mercury from broken thermometers as a kid?) and some albums which are just printed images glued onto thin cardboard.

Some favorite games assembled from printed minis. 

The shag rug is a section of pastel rainbow trim I found in the fabric section at Hobby Lobby. I'm always on the lookout for bits I can use in miniatures. I sewed up a quick beanbag chair and plopped a stuffed animal in it. The miniature chemistry book next to the chair was covered in a bit of brown paper then doodled on. There's a periodic chart to study from, too. 

Besides a few collectibles, the bookshelf has a Pet Rock (pebble with googly eyes), Magic 8 Ball (black bead), Rubik's Cube and Green Ghost game (mini printables), black & white TV made from a small tin, and a Silly Putty egg (poly clay). The glass jar contains some water beads. I wanted to make a lava lamp but finally settled on this. I also really wanted a Troll Doll for this room and ordered a miniature one from China but my order got cancelled. I'll keep an eye out for one!

Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

7 by 7 Corner Room Box

Bookcase 1 to 12

Library Table

Suitcase 1.6 Inch

Mini Cigar Box Set

Other Supplies Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Printed images

Paper Studio's Girl Flowers

BoBunny Garden Party collection

Authentique Latest & Greatest

Cardstock

Miniatures & Collectibles

Breaking Bad Shrine

Happy Saturday, everyone. I am a huge fan of the show Breaking Bad, which is consistently towards the top of many best-TV-shows-ever lists. One of the most iconic scenes from the series was the kick off of season 3. You know - the one with the cousins...and the crawling? I did a little bit of research on the amazing shrine featured in this scene and learned it's a Santa Muerte shrine. She is a Mexican folk saint associated with healing, protection and safe delivery to the afterlife.   I made my own version using a GSL Frame Front Room Box available at Alpha Stamps.

 

The papers I chose were all neutrals from Tim Holtz Ideaology pads. I chose a mixture of browns, tans and greens for this project. To dress the dollar store skeleton, I used a scrap of black fabric and a small piece of a vintage fabric collar. They were glued onto the skeleton using E6000, along with a small length of chain with a rhinestone medallion attached and a crown for her head. I used a small plastic frame to back the skeleton. Before dressing her, I painted the parts of the skeleton that wouldn't be covered in a light gray acrylic paint.

 

I chose to glue down the interior wall papers before assembly, as well as the frame. The room box assembles very easily as it's just a box with a frame for the front wall. I glued the back, side walls, ceiling and floor together with tacky glue and held it tightly together with rubber bands while it dried. I left the frame front off until the interior was completely decorated. 

 

One of the items I chose to put inside the shrine was a GSL Mini Cigar Box also available at Alpha Stamps. I also wanted a tray and some shelf boxes to hang on the walls, those were made from mini suitcases. I used both the GSL 2 Inch and GSL 1.6 Inch suitcases for this project. The cigar box was decorated with some miniature printables and the suitcase pieces were painted in a raw sienna acrylic paint. 

 

For the walls, I chose two of the GSLGothic Cross Miniatures. One was painted in gold acrylic paint, the other in silver. 

 

Here are the boxes filled with offerings. Miniature money, dice, bread, printed vintage photos and correspondence, as well as a business card from a very shady lawyer and a little resin bottle of Schraderbrau.

 

Here is everything in place. I made the prayer candles from small jars, polymer clay and printed Santa Muerte images. 

 

Here are some of the Breaking Bad items I included in this piece. The teddy bear head was made from pom poms, a googly eye and a small piece of felt. The larger jar holds a plastic spider.  The smaller one has blue tinted plastic bits inside.

 

The exterior of the box was covered in muted green paper. Since I had a battery operated tea light on top, I needed something to cover it and decided to cover a small tin in matching paper. I put the Br & Ba periodic table symbols on one side of the tin. It's easily rotated so that it doesn't show if desired.

 

Here are a few extra views of the piece. 

Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Frame Front Room Box

Mini Cigar Box Set

Gothic Cross Miniatures

Suitcase 2 Inch

Suitcase 1.6 Inch

Other Supplies Used

Tacky glue

E6000 glue

Acrylic paint

Printed images

Plastic skeleton

Resin bottles

Tea light

Small tin

Various mini bits and baubles