Crafty like a Fox

Strung with invisible bead wire (or just use regular ole fishing line.)

These are a combination of Swarovski pearls, Swarovski crystals and fire glazed Czech crystals. They went together really fast and I liked experimenting with the different lengths. In theory, you can repeat the pattern over and over as much as you want. Not that anyone needs nine inch long earrings. Im just sayin...

Before:

After:

Steps:

1. Return the tray seen in the first picture and exchange it for the one in the second picture.

2. Paint bottom of tray and allow to dry.

3. Cover bottom area to protect paint. Stain the rest of the tray and allow to dry.

4. Leave bottom area covered. Spray with a finishing gloss, three times, and wait forever for it to dry.

5. Print and cut photos for the bottom of the tray. When your satisfied with the arrangement, glue them down with craft glue.

6. Do the same with flowers, or whatever else you might choose (I had a theme and color scheme to coordinate.) Must glue them down or they'll swim when you pour the resin.

7. Once everything is glued down, mix the resin according to package instructions and pour. Exhale over resin to pop any bubbles for a clear, even surface. (Dont inhale over resin unless you want a fine headache and a buzz.)

8. Cover tray with a box (or clothes basket veiled with plastic) to prevent any dust from resting on the resin as it cures.

9. Take lots of pictures and post them on crafty blog. Then wrap the tray and give it to mom.

Materials used:

1 raw balsa wood tray. $5

1 can of stain $3.50

1 can of clear gloss spray $4.50

3 colors of acrylic paints $.69 each

Envirotex Pour On Finish 16oz. $20 (but I had a 40% off coupon!!)

1 branch of silk flowers $2 (on sale)

Six B&W photos (printed from the computer. dont use originals)

Total process: 5 days, with lots of down time waiting for things to dry

End result: Perfect mothers day gift for mom. I hope she likes it!

I wanted to show off something Mike made for me. He gave it to me this weekend. It's a little blue robot holding my favorite flower, a daisy. It's made out of polymer clay and tin foil.

Thanks Mike!

Danulai and I were at a craft fair this past weekend and had the pleasure of meeting the gentleman behind Birds At Rest. Not only are his wooden birds really neat, there's a great story behind them as well.

This is an alien magnet I made earlier today.

After finding a little teddy bear at the craft store, I was inspired to make this baby bot. He was built up in aluminum foil first. With foil creating his head, his body and legs. Then I made wire arms, and covered everything in clay, using clay to join the pieces. I wasn't entirely happy with how he turned out after the first bake, so I added some clay and re-baked him (something I did for the first time. I'm not sure what to call him.