25 Gifts & Ornaments #20 - All Geared Up Steampunk Ornament

Yes I know another Steampunk inspired ornament...I can't help it, once I get into the Steampunk state of mind ideas just start coming fast and furious. 

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#20 - All Geared Up

Steampunk Ornament

Supplies:

Glass Ornament
Alcohol Inks
Canned Air
Sticky Foil  - Ranger
Gear Shaped Dies
Bullion (French Wire)
Ribbon
(optional) watch parts
Glue Dots
Instructions:

1. Add a few drops of one color of Alcohol Ink. I am using two colors so I started with the lightest color I was using - Terra Cotta.  

2. Place the canned air straw into the ornament and give it a few quick bursts of air. 

3. (optional) If you're using more than one color add a couple drops of the next color and again give it a few short blasts of air.  

Here is how my ornament looks so far....  I used colors that reminded me of copper but of course you can use any color combo you would like.

4. Cut several different sized gears from the sticky back silver foil. 

5. Color each of the gears with alcohol ink. 

6. Peel the backing paper from the foil; position and gently form the foil around the ornament.  This foil works perfectly for this type of application, it bends and shapes freely while sticking in place really well.

7. (optional) Of course you don't need to but I added assorted watch parts to the inside of my ornament for a bit of added interest.

8. Take a bit of French Wire Bullion (it's a tightly coiled wire) and stretch it out...

here it is after I stretched it out.  A little bit of bullion goes a very long way.

9. Snip the bullion into several smaller pieces approx 3-4" long. Place a few glue dots around the base of the hanger; bend each piece of bullion and stick it to the glue dots.

10.  Attach the bow and you're all set!

Mmmmmm, gotta love all that shiny gear goodness!!!!

25 Gifts & Ornaments #19 - Steampunk Queen of Hearts Charm/Pendant

I am so excited about this charm...it turned out just exactly how I envisioned it!  I love it when that happens don't you?

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#19 - Steampunk Queen of Hearts Charm/Pendant

A timing spring in older watches is what makes them go...when you wind up the little dial it tightens the spring which in turn makes the watch run.   These timing springs are very sharp but are very cool because they are extremely strong (being able to hold up to being tightened thousands of times during it's life) and hold their shape very well.   The inside of the spring is a very tight circle while the outside is able to be formed to some degree.  You will be forming the left side of the heart with the outside while leaving the right side curled up in it's natural form.


Supplies:

Watch Timing Spring
Watch Parts
Queen of Hearts Playing Card
Instant Bond type Glue
Glossy Accents or Resin
Jewelry Bail

Instructions:

1. Carefully stretch out the timing spring (remember it's very sharp); make a crease in the center and pinch it with your fingers. 

2. You're going to form your heart so the center of the spring (the most tightly wound section) is aimed towards the middle of the heart.

3. Bend the other end around to where it meets the center crease.  Hold it in that position and add a dab of the instant bond glue at the center.  You now have one half of a heart that is an open lobe and the other is a nice tight swirl.

4. Use a bit of instant bond glue to adhere it to the queen of hearts playing card....remember to position it so the face will show up in the finished charm.  It doesn't matter where the swirl side of the heart is on the card because it's going to be cut away in the end.

5. Depending on which type of medium you will be using you could proceed in one of two ways....

Glossy Accents - Add a layer of GA to the open side of the heart.  Let the GA dry.  Add more GA and drop in various watch parts over the entire area - fill in the heart and let this layer dry.  Continue adding additional layers until you get a nice dome built up.

Resin - Mix resin according to mfg. directions.  Fill the heart and drop in your watch bits.  Let it cure completely.

6. After the GA/Resin has had a bit of time to dry/cure, cut away the playing card around the wire heart.

7. Rest the spiral part of the heart against the filled section and add a dab of instant bond glue. 

8.  Add a glue on bail to the back of the charm.



And now you've got an awesome piece of Steampunk goodness!

25 Gifts & Ornaments #18 - Sparklie Vintage Cookie Cutters

Time to bring on the bling with these darling vintage cookie cutters.  I bought an assortment of vintage cookie cutters at an estate sale this summer and some of them were a bit grungy to actually use for cookies so I decided to set them back and make ornaments out of them!

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#18 - Sparklie Vintage Cookie Cutters

Supplies:

Cookie Cutter (vintage or new)
Glass or Regular Glitter
Thick Glue
Wire
Jingle Bell
Ribbon

Instructions:

1. Punch one or two holes in the top of your cookie cutter.  Since I'm using star cookie cutters I punched two holes side by side on a single point of the star.

2. Spread your thick clear drying glue over a couple of the sides.

3. Sprinkle glitter over the glue.  Shake off the excess.

4. Continue adding glue and glitter until the entire outside of the cookie cutter has been covered.

5. (optional) If desired you can cover the inside of the cookie cutter with glitter as well.  I personally like to leave the grungy vintage silver inside of the cookie cutter showing.  I think it adds a bit of personality to the finished ornament. 

6. Attach the bells to a jump ring.

7.  Thread the wire through one of the holes, add the bell to the wire and thread the wire through the other side.  Pinch and twist the wire a few times at the top of the ornament.  Your bell will now be suspended in the ornament.

8. Form a hook for hanging the ornament and snip off any excess wire.

9.  Add a ribbon and it's ready for hanging!

Enjoy!!

25 Gifts & Ornaments #17 - Sea Shell Wreath

Today's project is a bit time consuming but the finished wreath is SOOOO worth the work....

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#17 - Sea Shell Wreath

Supplies:

Wreath (should be pretty substantial to take the weight)
Shells
Hot Glue Gun
Metallic Spray Paint (gold or silver)
Ribbon
Wire (heavy duty)

Instructions:

1. Start by washing all the sand off of your shells and let them air dry.

2. Attach the wire hanger to the back of the wreath.
3. Begin by gluing the larger shells to the outside of the wreath.  I find they fit better if you alternate the larger and smaller ends up.    I also laid the wreath so it is flat on my work surface and used the table as a gauge on where to position the shells....  All of the shells were level with the table so that once the wreath was hung on a door or wall it would lay flat and not have any lumps or bumps by shells being glued on unevenly.

4. After you have covered the outside of the wreath, glue a layer of shells along the inside of the wreath.

5. Finally, cover the top portion of the wreath with smaller or unusual shells.  I covered the majority of the wreath and then went back over it and added smaller shells to fill in any gaps.

6. Once you're finished adding all the shells needed you will need to go back over the wreath and cut off any drips that might have occurred.  I cut mine off with an exacto knife.  You also need to remove any glue spider webs... no matter how careful I am I always seem to accumulate those buggers!

7. Now that you've got your wreath all cleaned up it's time to paint!  I don't have any photos of this as I had to take the wreath over to our building to paint.  I used a silver metallic paint (Rustoleum) but you can use any color you'd like.

8. After your paint has cured you can add the ribbon and hang it up!!

Here is how my wreath turned out! 

All of the ridges of each and every shell is highlighted by the metallic paint...it's simply amazing!

I'm thinkin if you change the color of the ribbon you could leave this wreath out all year long.

Have a wonderful evening!!

25 Gifts & Ornaments #16 - Polka Dot Enamel Ornaments

I have been wanting to share this ornament ever since the Enamel Accents came out but I couldn't for the life of me make it work using the EA directly from the bottle...  The darn stuff wanted to run and bleed together and make a horrible mess.   I got smart earlier this year when I was playing with the EA and figured out a much easier way to apply the EA.

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#16 - Polka Dot Enamel Ornaments

Supplies:

Clear or Plain Colored Ornament
(optional) Acrylic Paint
Enamel Accents - Ranger

Instructions:

1. If you're using a colored ornament you can skip to step #3 other wise begin here....

Remove the hanger and squirt some acrylic paint into the center of the ornament. Swirl the paint around until the entire inside of the ornament has been coated.

2. Drain the excess paint from the ornament. 

NOTE: I love using old caps from various spray cans for this step.

3. Shake up the Enamel Accents until it's well mixed.  Squirt a small amount onto your work surface, a dish, etc.  I am using an old bit of packaging.

4. Use a small stylus, pencil eraser or the end of a paint brush handle ~ dip it into the EA and dot it on the ornament.  I like to vary the size of the dots to add interest.

You can add the dots in patterns or cover the whole thing.  The EA drys fairly quickly but I like to work on more than one ornament at a time...while one is drying I dot the other one and go back and forth until they are both finished.

And here is how it turns out....

Pretty cool huh?

Mom and I made a black and white themed tree one year for Christmas....

these would have been a perfect addition!

Of course you don't have to use just black paint...this idea will translate very well using any color ornament you might have on hand!

25 Gifts & Ornaments #15 - Peacock Earrings

Today's project is brought to you with the help of my Mom!
This summer while she was garage sale -ing she found a place that had a stash of peacock feathers. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them so I have been saving them ever since.  Now, these feathers aren't as fringed in the center as some are so they aren't as long or as showy as some. 

If you'd like to give these a try but don't know where to find peacock feathers I'd first try your local zoo.  They often gather up the feathers and sell them for a very reasonable cost in the gift shop.  Sometimes you can find local owners who will give the feathers away for free.  If all else fails you can find them on e-bay and various on-line retailers.

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#15 Peacock Earrings

Supplies:

Peacock Feathers
Crimp Beads
Jewelry Wire
Beads
Ear Wire
Pliers

Instructions:

1. Trim the eye from the rest of the feather leaving about an extra inch of the shaft.  Strip all of the long fringes from the shaft.

2. Normally crimp tubes are round...peacock feather shafts are oval so you'll need to pinch a crimp bead so it forms an oval.  

3. Slide this oval crimp bead down the shaft to the base of the feather eye as shown.

3. Slide a 3-4" piece of wire into the crimp tube and pinch the tube shut securing the wire to the feather.  You may now trim off the excess shaft above the crimp bead.

4. Slide the desired beads onto the wire and affix the earring wire. 

5. Repeat steps 1-4 for the second earring.

Now it's time to enjoy the way cool looking earrings...

or of course you could give them as a gift!

Mine started out as a gift but I'm thinkin' I might have to keep em - LOL!!

These took a very short time to assemble, are relatively inexpensive and very easy to make.

I spent more time cutting and picking up all the wispy bits of feather I cut off that I did making both earrings!

So, if you're short on ideas for gifts these are GREAT in a pinch!

25 Gifts & Ornaments #14 - Faux Snowglobes!

I couldn't wait to share these with you.  I've been saving interesting jars all year long in anticipation of making these things.  You can use virtually any jar that has a lid to make these highly addictive little pieces of art.  There is no set design or theme so they could be personalized for anyone on your gift giving list.  I made mine very traditional with things like Santa, Frosty, angels, a bird, etc. but you could do girly themes like fashion, shoes, shopping or guy themes like nascar, farming, sports or anything inbetween!  That's what I love about making these....well, that and the fact that you can use recycled glass jars and other goodies.

25 Gifts & Ornaments

#14 - Faux Snowglobes

Supplies:

Glass Jar w/screw on lid
Alcohol Inks (optional)
Epsome Salts
Mica Flakes or Glitter
Items to decorate your globe....
Mini Christmas Trees
Metallic Pipe Cleaners
Mini Goodies (santa, snowman, etc)
Ribbons, Fiber, etc
Hot Glue Gun

Instructions:

1. If you have a very deep jar  or a jar with large sholders you can use the White Alcohol Ink around the bottom as I did on this jar.... This will create a frosty look around the edges.

2. Glue the Christmas Tree (or other main item) to the inside of the jar lid with hot glue.

3. Glue your smaller items either around the Christmas Tree (focal item) or if you have a jar with shoulders, you can hot glue them around the rim.  This jar was large enough that I could fit three seperate "scenes".

4. Once you have the inside goodies glued into place it's time to add the "snow".  I am using a combination of epsome salt and mica flakes.  You could use glitter in place of the mica but I like the shimmer mica offers.

Pour in a good amount of salt and mica/glitter.  You may have to test it a few times to get the correct amount.  Every jar is different so it's just trial and error.  You want enough "snow" to cover the bottoms of your focal point and the jar lid.  Too much more and it will look like a blizzard instead of just a snow storm.  Since we're not really adding water it's easy to adjust the amount if it's off.

To see if you have the right amount of snow, replace the lid and shake all of the salt/mica to the bottom...  This is perfect as it covers the lid, bottom of the tree and is enough to just surround their feet...

These are the other 2 scenes in this jar...

5. Now that the inside is taken care of it's time to decorate the outside.  I started by covering the top with more white AI.  I then added some greenery...

A bit of maribo feather boa...

and a few other goodies...

And here is how it turned out....

Remember I told you they were addictive. 

Well, I had some extra snow so I decided to make a few more to use it up!

I hope you're enjoying the 25 Gifts and Ornaments as much as I am...

Tomorrow I'll have a couple ideas to share with you.

Till then ~

Have a wonderful evening!