Vintage Halloween Votive

Hope it's not too early for one little Halloween craft post?  I've just had the holiday on my mind lately.  My son is already suggesting costumes and I've been thinking about what craft I'm going to have the kids do for our school carnival.  So needless to say, that's lead to a lot of ideas such as these Vintage Votive Candles.

This craft was inspired by Fellow Fellows' houses by night.  They're pretty much constructed the same way only they're Halloween images instead of houses.  I'm just going to share brief instructions on how I made them.  If you need a visual, check out Fellow Fellows' blog.

Supplies:

Glass candle votive
Tape
Scissors
Vintage Clip art - The images that work out the best have a good about of white space in them.  The clip art I used came from The Graphics Fairy blog.  Here are the links for the Raven, Owl and Girl Witch.

Directions:

1.  Print out images on standard printer paper.  You might need to adjust the size of an image depending on your votive.

2. Cut image out and wrap around glass votive.  Tape paper together in the back.

3.  Add a tea light.

*Never leave candles unattended.  The paper can get hot.

 Another idea would be to use haunted houses or grave stone photos/illustrations.

The Simple Things

Have you seen The Simple Things Magazine yet?  It's by the publishers of Mollie Makes and it just came out September 6th.  I'm always inspired by the Mollie Makes magazine and blog so I can't wait to see The Simple Things.  The Simple Things is described as follows, "It's about slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of enjoying the company of friends and family and making simple food for simple gatherings".  Sounds pretty good to me. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Back to School Desktop Wallpaper

In the spirit of back to school season I thought I would share this cute desktop wallpaper by Naho Ogawa.  You can get the free download on Naho's site.  Naho is a freelance designer living in Tokyo an has a delightful site worth checking out. Some of her work includes designing illustrations for Anna Sui.  She also has a daily life blog you might enjoy.

Thank you Naho for letting me share your illustrations.

Kaleidograph Online

Have you heard of  Kaleidograph?  It's a design pattern toy for kids and a design tool for adults.  The toy comes with  a set of  geometric shapes that can be stacked to make unique layered designs.  Well, I was poking around the Kaleidograph site when I stumbled upon the online version of the toy.   So of course I had to test it out and I must say it's very therapeutic. So if you need a little distraction or inspiration, stop by site.  But I'll warn you, it can be very addicting.  Let me know what you think.

Screenshot of online Kaleidograph

Kid Craft: Star Necklaces

Over the weekend I was organizing my craft supplies when I came across a bag of wood stars.  Ironically, the stars were given to me from someone who was cleaning out their craft supplies.  Instead of passing them on, I decided to make something with the stars, washi tape star necklaces.  Coincidentally, I was also able to put to use some of the rayon crochet string I was given as well.  Love when that happens.

Supplies:

Wood Stars Discs - Can be found at the craft store

Gold Paint - I used Elmer's paint markers

Jewelry bails - Can be found at the craft store

Washi Tape (a.k.a. Japanese Masking Tape)

Rayon Crochet Thread - Could be substituted for any string or jewelry chain

E6000 Glue - Can be substituted for an extra strength glue

1.  Start with a wood star.

2.  Paint the entire star gold, let dry.

3.  Add washi tape.  You could also coat the tape with a glaze if you wanted.  I tried it both ways and preferred it without the glaze.  I liked the matte finish better.

4.  Glue bail to back of star.  You'll notice I glued the bail upside down.  I did this so the bail would not show in the front.  You can position the bail to your preference.  You might prefer to glue it so it shows in the front.

Add a string of your choice and you're all set.  Since I was working with string, I didn't bother to add a clasp.  I just tied a basic knot at the top and made sure the necklace was long enough to slip over my head.

*Craft Tip - If you're using old string that has kinks in it, you can iron them out.  Same goes for ribbon.  Just make sure you have your iron on the right setting. Synthetics can melt easily.