Floral Painted Skull

This project is coming to you a bit late, but nonetheless here it is. For this project you will need a plastic skull in almost any size. Mine is actually pretty tiny; it fits in the palm of my hand. However, you could use a very large skull, for a more dramatic look.

Supplies:

Plastic Skull

Acrylic Paint (cheap craft paint works just fine)

Brushes

Spray Fixative (optional)

This is a great opportunity to pick up the skull in the clearance section post-Halloween, or maybe you have a few in your pre-existing decorations that you want to use year-round. 

Take a damp cloth over your skull to remove any leftover dirt from the store, and give it a solid coat of black paint. You may need to do more than one, depending on how well it covers the first time.

For reference, I grabbed one of my floral skirts hanging in my closet and snapped a quick picture. Any florals you have in your home, closet, or even the internet will do. I provided my image, in case you wanted yours to look identical to mine. 

When painting the flowers, try to look for the basic underlying shapes. Take these colors straight out of the bottle, and mix them with some white paint. I did 2 coats for this underlying layer. Then, using the color straight out of the tube with no white, and a tiny brush, paint the details on top. (For some of the yellow flowers, I did mix some red with the yellow to give a more orangish hue.)

After you are finished you can use an acrylic gloss spray fixative on top, to give it a nice glossy and protective coating. Just set a piece of paper under it, and give it 1-2 coats of the spray. I recommend doing this outside or in a well ventilated area to avoid the fumes. 

Hope everyone is staying warm in this chilly weather ahead! 

Striped Crochet Blanket

I finally have a chance to share this handmade blanket, that I absolutely adore. It's actually quite the story of how it came to be. It started as a scarf project a few years ago, to teach myself to crochet. Just a basic straight single crochet stitch. It consisted of 3 colors just blocked next to one another. After finishing, it was HIDEOUS. The blocks of colors looked odd, it wouldn't lay right because it was too thick, and it didn't go with anything I wore. I could of just abandoned it right then and there, but instead I went insane. 

I started cutting apart this scarf so that I had 3 sections. I was going to make a blanket, even if it killed me. Soon after I went to the store and picked out the other colors. Yet, I didn't get enough, thinking I would only need 7 stripes...whoops! Getting the second skein of each color was easier said than done. My local stores didn't carry the original colors, forcing me to wait till I went to the Adirondacks (original place of purchase) to get the others. Once I had it though, it was time to tackle this monster. 

Each strip is 120 rows of single crochet, made from one skein of 100% cotton yarn. It's basically 14 individual stripes of color, with thin white individual stripes in between. To some, this might seem like an odd way to make a blanket, with so many sections. Yet, this allowed me to throw a single skein in my bag and crochet during my lecture classes at school. 

Art History = Crochet Time

The final construction included sewing each color strip by hand to a white strip. Then, I took to the outside with a double crochet to widen the sides and give it a border. 

I absolutely love it though, despite how much work it was. For me, blankets have to have substance and weight, none of that fuzzy, flimsy, crap. With this begin made of all cotton...lets just say it's pretty heavy. It's already gotten me through some late night A&P study sessions and I'm sure it'll be my best friend during the long Rochester winter. 

Its resting place is folded in half at the end of my bed. It adds just the right amount of color to my overall grey bedding. Also Geronimo the sock monkey says hello! 

Anyway, this just goes to show that sometimes great projects come out of bouts of insanity. 

Mason Jar Luminaries

Many years ago for an outdoor party I made some mason jar luminaries to hang throughout the trees. They are overall pretty simple (minus the process using a ladder to hang them). This project would probably work better with lower hanging trees, but any will work as long as you have a tall enough ladder.

To make them you will need:

-Mason Jars (or a similar canning jar)

-24 guage wire

-Gravel or Sand

-Pliers

-Wire Cutters

-Tea Lights

-Twine

1.Take your jars and make sure they are clean. You can set the lids aside, you won't be using them for this project. Twist a small loop about 6 inches into the wire. Wrap the wire around under the lip, and twist another twisted loop on the other other side. Twist the two loose ends together. Cut the wire

2. Cut a 6-7'' piece of wire. Twist one end in one of the loops. Arch it over (this is your hanger) and twist at the other end.

3. Fill the bottom with your gravel or sand (you can also use those glass stones you find in the floral section) and place a tea light in the jar. Make sure the wick is standing up, so that you will be able to light it easily.

4.Then use a ladder to hang twine from a tree. Loop the twine through your wire hanger and tie a sturdy knot. The twine allows you to adjust the height of the lights.

Once it's dark, light them for a magical firefly effect.

They can also be hung on railings, placed along the walkway to an event or set on a table (These last two options will not need the wire).