Life in Rehab

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Allow Us to Brooch the Subject

We all love flea markets, Goodwill, and yard sales, right?
One thing I look for is impossible, over the top costume jewelry.
Not the kind I'd wear~at least not since the 80's~but that class of baubles in
realistic metal tones crusted with gems.
Now if I have no intention of wearing it, what am I going to do?

Grab a nice mug of cocoa and let's talk.

First, if you haven't already spritzed a pile of Dollar Tree pumpkins in reflective
chrome paint, go ahead and do so.
We'll wait. It dries fast.

It only takes a couple coats.

Take small silk maple leaves, place them in a shallow box...

...and give them the same treatment.

Take a little silver glitter...

...outline the leaves in white glue...

...sprinkle on the glitter, and shake off the excess when dry.

Hot glue one leaf to the tip of an 8" length of heavy gauge silver wire.

Glue two more leaves pointing away from each other at 45 degree angles
just below the top leaf.

Curl a length of wire around a pencil~
is anyone else getting a weird sense of deja vu?~
leaving a small tail and drag it off the pencil still curled.

Now to assemble.

Grab yourself a glittering spray of fakery.
I used one in silver with a galaxy of diamonds and amber gems.

Insert the pin from the brooch into the foam pumpkin.
Poke the leaves and the wire spiral in near the stem, bend to arrange,
and guess what?

You're done.

Yeah, that's it.
This little brooch was scored at a church bazaar for $1 because
there's a stone missing.
Did I care?
Not so much.

This piece was so latge no other embellishments were needed.
Even I know when to quit.

So if yesterday's beaded babies looked a little troublesome and messy,
grab Great Aunt Millicent's stash and glam a gaudy gourd in minutes.
This was simple as can be, and Faberge' has nothing on us!

Right, I've gone too far with that one.

Speaking of over the top, that arachnid ring Z Gallerie had me wanting to shell out cash for?

Thanks to Gail at Purple Hues and Me, there's no reason to run out and buy one!
Check this out!
Gail's tutorial is simple and clear, and once you're done,
I DEFY anyone to not notice your handiwork!
I'll be digging through my bead case today.

Got some Autumn shine to share?
Join the Glitter Brigade!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Glammed Up Glittered Gourds

Once upon a time, a redhead who resembled an evil, manic Disney Princess
fell in love with a pumpkin.
The pumpkin was sparkly and luscious and loved her back.
But her wallet did not approve of the relationship.

Heartbroken, the Princess was swept into a romance with a glittery copper

kind of guy. It was fun, but she still longed for her Knight in Shining Silver.

Where there's a Rustoleum Chrome, there's a way.
Besides silver spray paint, you'd better have:

1 foam craft pumpkin from the Dollar Tree

School glue, like Elmer's

3 silk leaves

20 inches of heavy gauge silver wire

Wire cutters

A pencil

Silver glitter

A hot glue gun and sticks

Tiny seed beads in pearl, silver, black, and clear
Friendly birds and mice that will work if you sing

Remember these carvable foam pumpkins from Dollar Tree?

2 coats of chrome later, they were mirror bright.
Now how much would you pay?

But wait, don't answer yet!

We'll also throw in a selection of our small silk leaves
ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
NOW how much would you pay???

Don't answer that!
We're going to spray paint both sides of these until
you can see yourself in the surface!

Tell them what they've won, Bob!

(Announcer Voice Over)
It's a new shaker of silver glitter!

Ahem.
Okay, I'm done with game show and Disney references.
Besides, we need to play with glue.
Put down some newspaper.

Using plain old white school glue, outline the leaves.

Sprinkle silver glitter liberally on the leaves, obviously
concentrating on the edges.

If you can see white, keep going.

Allow this to dry for an hour.

Yes, all of them.

You're learning patience reading my blog, aren't you?

Once the leaves are dry, shake off the excess glitter.
And of course you're going to fold the newspaper in half and pour all that
unused glitter back into the container, tight?
See? I knew I didn't have to say anything.

Plug in your hot glue gun.
Cut an 8" length of heavy gauge silver wire.
Place the wire on the back of one leaf and glop on some hot glue, totally
burying the end of the wire.

Do the same with the other two leaves, placing them at opposite
sides of the wire, pointing up at about a 45 degree angle.

Criss cross the glue over the wire.
You don't want these going anywhere.
While this is drying and cooling...

...pour the beads into a shallow dish.

~Extreme close up of my mix~

Take the hot glue and working in sections, drape a thick streak
of glue about 1/3 of the way down the side of the pumpkin.
There is no need to be even or exact.
Variation will add to the look.

Roll the glue in the bead mix and press them into the glue with your fingertips.
Feel free to use a toothpick if you're a little sensitive to burning your fingerprints off.