Pumpkin Web Finds

It's that time of year again. I'm thinking about fall decorating. I have decoupage pumpkins from last years Vera Bradley Inspired Pumpkins project that I would like to add to. I went in search of inspiration and wanted to share those pumpkin projects with you. There are some really fun ideas here.


























XOX,

The Rebel Crafter


Make Your Own Silicone Cabochon Molds


I recently posted a Web Finds link on how to a make your own cabochons using polymer clay. I was pretty excited about the project because as a crafter I have bought my fair share of plastic cabochons. I use them on Rock your Iphone, Crazy Clips, 60 Second Earrings, Rockin' Hair clips, and more. I especially like them as scrapbook page and handmade card embellishments. All you need to make an endless supply of polymer clay, or resin cabochons is a reusable silicone mold. You can buy pre made molds on Etsy, but I discovered that for the price of just one or two molds, you could make several of them. You just need a box of EasyMold that can be found at Michael's. It is currently $19.99 so use your 40% or 50% off coupon. Ideas for molds are limitless. Charms, cabochons, momentos, jewelry, buttons, and steampunk can all make great molds. Now that I know how to make my own molds you can count on additional posts showing how to make the actual cabochons using different materials. It is very addictive, easy, and fun.



The first thing to know about working with EasyMold is that you need to work quickly. You will have approximately one minute to knead the putty. The product sets within a few minutes so you will make one mold at a time. 


Take equal parts of the white and purple mold putty. Unlike resin where you need to be exact you can eyeball equal parts. The size of your cabechon will determine how much putty you need. Mix only enough to make one mold.


Knead together the two colors until you get a uniform color. Get rid of the striations of white as seen in this photo. This will take approximately one minute to knead. This photo was taken at the half way point.

Roll the kneaded putty into a ball and then flatten slightly.

Press your object into the putty to form mold, or apply putty to the piece.


Leave the object in the putty to cure for 25 minutes. 

After 25 minutes you can pop out your object and you have a mold that is ready to use for modeling clay, candy, soap, resin, colored hot glue, plaster, epoxy, metal clays and more. You can use your mold immediately for most applications. You just need to wait 24 hours for using resin.


Check back soon for fun tutorials on how to make oven bake cabochons, and more using your molds.

XOX,

The Rebel Crafter


Ed Hardy at Michaels Dollar Section



I was at Michael's today buying some craft supplies and found Ed Hardy themed items in their dollar section. I picked up these cute note cards. I thought they were a good deal at $1.50 for a pack of 8 cards, but to my surprise they rang up at only .60. They have other designs including koi, and tigers. Along with note cards they have journals, clipboards, and note pads. If you have a teen, or someone like me who just likes old school tattoo designs, pick up some of these fun items for future stocking stuffers and gifts. You can't beat the price! While you're there grab some adorable zebra or leopard print purse tissues. They were also just .60.

Web Finds


I am a little cabochon crazy and definitely want to try making my own. Perfect for iphone covers!



Make these cute favor boxes.


Bent spoons for tea light holders, very clever.


Crochet onto tea towels.
Make your own Instagram book.



XOX,

The Rebel Crafter

Web Finds


Take advantage of summer blueberries with this cobbler.


How to make ombre frosting.



An easy  chain link necklace for non jewelry makers.



Make a bookplate for your reader.



Yummy looking apricot jam recipe.



No sew felt envelope.

Preserving Boxwood

In addition to my article here is a great step by step tutorial that may help with the correct amount of glycerine to use when preserving. They use a tube to hold the cuttings upright. That is a great idea!!!

http://www.wikihow.com/Preserve-Boxwood-Cuttings


I love preserved boxwood wreaths and topiaries so I decided I would pick up a boxwood shrub this summer to use for future projects. If you are lucky enough to already have a boxwood shrub in your yard why not try this easy project. In order to preserve boxwood you need glycerin, dye (if you want to keep the leaves green), and citric acid (the citric acid appears to be optional, as not all recipes include it). The glycerin allows the plant to be preserved, but still pliable and soft for bending into wreaths. Mix one part glycerin with two parts water. I picked up my boxwood shrub at Home Depot for about $20. I plan on working it into a live topiary shrub at some point. The glycerin proved to be a little more difficult to find. Some pharmacies carry it, but it took me 4 stops before I found a bottle at a Sprouts grocery store (none at my Walgreen's). You can also find the glycerin and the citric acid at soap making supply stores. This is a two part post with the second part being the actual projects made with the preserved boxwood stems. I have some inspiration photos below from Pinterest. The preserving will take a few weeks so start now and you will have plenty of time to make holiday wreaths and topiaries to keep and give.

For This Project You Will Need:

Boxwood shrub

Glycerin

Dye (optional)

Hammer

Glass or Ceramic Container


Start by giving your Boxwood shrub a little haircut. Trim off branches that are healthy looking. Use only nice looking branches with no spots on the leaves. 


Pull off a few leaves at the bottom of the stems and give the end a little smash with a hammer. This is supposed to help the stem take up the glycerin better.


Determine how much solution you will need for the preserving. The standard rule of thumb is one ounce of glycerin solution to one ounce of plants. A standard recipe you can use is 2 parts water to 1 part glycerin. So my recipe was the same, but I added colorant:

1 Part Glycerin to 2 parts water

*1 tsp of Concentrated Dye (optional)

*The leaves of the boxwood will turn golden colored if you do not add dye. The other option is to spray paint the preserved boxwood stems green when dried.





Add 1 teaspoon of dye to 1/2 cup of hot water and set aside.

Place hot water in a glass or ceramic container.

Stir in glycerin until dissolved.

Add the remaining dye solution, making sure your total is still 2 parts water to one part glycerin.


Once the solution has cooled down add your stems. My shrub is pretty small so my stems were not very long. I found I needed lower containers to fit the branches. If your stems are nice and long a wide vase would be perfect. Make sure all the exposed part of the stem is soaking in the glycerin and water solution.

Allow your stems to soak up all of the solution. It should take about 1-2weeks. Allow to be fully dried for about 3 -5 weeks before using. 


XOX,

The Rebel Crafter



Web Finds & Welcome Back

Hello Rebel Crafters! Sorry I was gone so long but after moving I made the executive decision to take the Summer off. I love my little blog, but Summer is all too fleeting in Colorado. I wanted to enjoy the nice weather before my Daughter went back to school and I went back to work. I really loved soaking up the sun while catching up on my reading. For those of you who emailed me I apologize that I was not around. Now that I am back I hope to get caught up with emails this week. I look forward to working on new projects, but in the meantime here are some fun web finds to check out. 




Kids bathroom printables.



Detox water recipe. 



Easy to make fabric flowers. 



Chevron monogram printout in lots of colors.



Pick up a dollar store shoe organizer for the car.



Simple 3 step picture but makes me want to head to Goodwill. 


Simple way to link picture frames into a display.


Knobs into wall hooks.



Decoupage your favorite places onto coasters.

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