DIY Grubby Electric Taper Candles

 

In needing a grubby taper for one of my crafts, I figured I'd just try and make one.

Here's how it went. And it was super simple!

THINGS YOU MAY NEED:

Mod Podge

Cinnamon

Paint Brush

As you can see, I had to remove the bottom flat piece of the taper with pliers because I needed it to stick securely in foam. Totally optional and I'm pretty sure most of you won't need to do that.

Then I simply took some mod podge, brushed it on the entire taper with a small paint brush. I held it over a paper plate to hold back the mess.

And then while it was still wet with mod podge, I simply sprinkled some .50cent bottle of Dollar Store cinnamon all around the taper.

And then I found a place that I could hang it up to dry for the first time.

And after it was mostly dry and not falling off all over the place. I gave it a second, huge helping coat of mod podge all over the top of the cinnamon this time. And this way, it will seal up the cinnamon and keep it from trying to come off on our hands. 

After the mod podge dried, which only took about an hour, it was ready.

One more thing I did was replace the bland looking light with a grubby one I recently made to make it look more prim.

And here it is in my craft project that I needed it for.

I'm happy with it, and best of all I didn't have to go out and buy another item to finish my old tool box craft.

For Sale in my Booth#555

PRIMITIVE SNOWMEN JINGLE BELLS | Various Styles Over the Years

It's that time of year again! The time that I really start to begin painting more Christmas decorations for my Booth#555 at the Peddlers Mall. I got the Christmas spirit in September, lol.

And today I am starting on a new batch of Snowmen Jingle Bells. I got inspiration for these from the Oriental Trading Catalog. Theirs sale for $16.00 per dozen.

To buy them at $16.00 per dozen to resell wasn't really leaving me any room for profit in my craft booth. So I decided to find the plain jingle bells, same size and paint them. I found a package of 6 at the Dollar General Store for a $1.50. And then after the Christmas sale, I bought all the rest of them for half off! Totally amazing deal! So here's what I have started with:

I seriously buy every box of these I find, especially at the after Christmas sales! I will get around to using them, believe me!

I've came a long way through the years with these. I started making them back in November of 2010. You simply paint a base coat. I hang the hangers on a strip of wire and spray paint a bunch at once. And then just sit and paint on the snowmen in sections. Bodies, heads, arms, clothes, then snowflakes, etc. I do them in sections like that to not have to be changing my paint color much. And a hint is to lay them in egg carton tops, lined with paper towels, to help keep from rolling around. Here's what my first batch ever, looked like:

2010 Batch of Bells

$1.59 each

 

2011 Batch of Bells

Sold for $1.00 each to move faster, it seemed

 

2012 Batch of Bells 

Raised back to $1.59 each since I finished them in wax & began to package them.

These I experimented with dipping them in hot, butter colored wax, after painting. It made a great finish. 

Can't really see it in the pics, but looks pretty good. And the middle one is an old, black crow wearing a santa hat. 

 

Being as I did the extra wax dipping, is why I raised these back to $1.59 each.

2013 Batch of Bells

PHOTO COMING SOON!

Keep in mind, these are great crafts to make and sell. Especially if you find them in boxes of 6 marked down to half price to only $.75cents. That makes you only have like 12cents each in them. Sometimes even less if the sale is bigger. Then just your time to paint with paint you already have, probably. 

They are steady sellers for my craft booth. And with changing the theme a little each year, it makes a great item for people to look for. Sometimes I even put the date on the back of them. When I remember to, that is.

Hope this gives you some ideas to do with those plain ole' jingle bells!

Happy Crafting ya'll,

-Lisa

Halloween Ghost Night Lights with Silicone Bulbs

 

I had fun making these Halloween Night Lights the other night, so thought I'd share them today.

If you aren't familiar with the Grubby bulb silicone recipe,   

I have it listed here with full details, 

within this blog.

But for the quick version, I took some clear silicone (the higher priced one, not the white caulk kind) and mixed in some cinnamon spice in a throw away bowl.

Just mix it until it's a nice smooth brown color. No real recipe here. Just play around with it. It should look something like this:

Then I took the little candles, one by one, and hand dipped each flame. I just stuck it in, twirled it once and pulled it straight out, in an upward motion. Kinda fast, so that it gives a nice tip to the flame.

After letting dry for a while, outside, hanging by a string they were ready to fix up.

I took some black craft paint and just dotted on the eyes and mouth. And painted the base.
On a few of the bases, I grubbied them up by first painting on Elmers glue and then sprinkling on cinnamon and letting it dry. It give it a good grubby texture. Then I painted over it all black.

And tied on a strip of homespun fabric and attached an orange button.

 Notice the light on the right has the grubby texture on the base and the
one on the left is just painted black.

 I think I like the grubbied up base more. What about you?

That was it!

They would be a great addition to the Halloween theme around your home. The soft glow when turned on adds a perfect spooky touch.

And remember, without adding the faces, these would make great, everyday primitive night lights also!

Price: only $3.59 each

in my Booth#555 and available in my CraftBooth555 on eBay

Here they are in a black candle box getting all ready for sale:

 Just ignore the mess around it, this is in my craft room.

I made a sign to stand up in the tray, after an idea from Maggie over at EyeballsbydayCraftsbynight.

 It just says a little bit about how I made them and that they are a handmade item and such.

I cut it out of a regular piece of computer paper and glued it to a wooden finial I had. It made a great base. And I can easily change it out.  I think the little signs grab a lot of attention.

And if you look close to the left in the tray, you can see some little snowman silicone bulbs I also gave a try:

I just added more cinnamon to the silicone bulb mix and painted on a snowman face.

Check out:

 GRUBBY SILICONE BULB RECIPE

Please be careful when working with anything that will come in contact with electric.


 Happy Crafting Ya'll!
See ya' next time!
~Lisa

SNOWMEN JINGLE BELL Ornaments

Here's a group of the first snowman jingle bell ornies I made last year for Christmas 2010. They have various scarves and toboggans and their own different facial expressions. All vary in different colors and styles.

Here's how I started them out.  I buy those sets of 8 jingle bells in the Christmas department at the Dollar General Stores for a $1.50.

Yes, I buy tons of them.

Then I take them outside and spray paint them from hanging them up.

Or sometimes I try to paint them by hand and hang them to dry on whatever I can find inside:

And after they are all dry, there comes the tedious part of painting on the details.
It's really not all that bad though, once you get the hang of it.
I tend to paint the bodies first on all, then the eyes next and so on.
Trying to keep them all about the same in the process, but with different features.

Sometimes I replace the string with a piece of craft wire.

I didn't come up with this idea on my own. However, I did see them offered in the Oriental Trading party supplies catalog. They were and still are about $16.00 per dozen. So I could not have ordered them and resold them for any profit. So I decided to try to make my own.

I've even tried new styles as dipping them in wax to give them a more aged look. And I love them that way!

Limited supply left, found for sale at the Peddlers Mall, Booth #555.

I've priced these for $ 1.59.

UPDATE:
I went ahead and started pricing the new ones for only $1.00 each and cut out the packaging cost.
I then hung them on a
DOLLAR DISPLAY TREE in my booth and they really got more attention. Everyone loves a dollar deal!

Here's some ready to go:

If you'd like to see my newest batch of jingle bells and to see a more detailed tutorial of how to make these, just 

Click Here.

Happy Crafting Ya'll,
~Lisa