Etching Hurricanes with Eddie Ross

On March 20, 2010 Creative Candles is sponsoring a community workshop with our friend Eddie Ross. Those participating will create unique looking, personal monogram etched, glass hurricanes. These will feature 3×6 hand poured candles from Creative Candle. We have provided the hurricane and etching supplies to assist those involved. These “hurricanes” will be a uniquely etched glass cylinder on-top of an antique plate, a combination sure to be a truly unique centerpiece! Some of proceeds from the event will be given to DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS).

Making and Dying Felted Beads with Wool Roving

You can easily make your own felted beads or patches to match any color combination you would like, without making a huge investment. Once you know how to dye and shape wool, you can use this technique to enhance jewelry, accessories, dolls, and toys. This dying technique will work on any type of wool or animal fiber, and will be familiar to anyone who has ever dyed Easter eggs!

Things you need (Makes approx. 12 round beads of about 1” diameter):
1/2 yd Combed Wool Roving
Package of Unsweetened Kool-Aid (in your preferred color)
Water
White Vinegar
Measuring Cup
Large Glass Microwave Safe Bowl or Baking Dish
Rubber Gloves
Plastic Wrap
Plastic Spoon

Things to do:
1. Soak the wool roving in hot water for 20 minutes so it will accept the dye. Tear it into smaller pieces before soaking if you want to make different colors.
2. Dissolve the Kool-Aid in ¾ cup of water, and stir with plastic spoon. Add ¼ cup vinegar, and stir. You can adjust this for darker or lighter colors by using more water—or less Kool-Aid.
3. Remove the wool roving from the hot water and squeeze out (don’t wring out) as much water as you can. Place the wool on a piece of plastic wrap.
4. Slowly pour the Kool-Aid over the wool, until it is saturated. Wrap the plastic around the wool roving, and secure with string.
5. Place in the pyrex container, and microwave for 2 minutes. Check the wool, and microwave again if needed. You will know the wool is ready when all of the liquid is colorless—and the wool is tinted. Be careful—it will be hot.
6. Remove the fiber from the plastic and tear off a piece about the size of a golf ball. Roll into a ball—you may need to roll it in your hands for a minute or two to make a firm ball. The more you roll it, the smaller it will be.
7. When you are happy with the size, allow the bead to dry.
8. When dry, string with a tapestry needle and thread, or add beads to embellish.

Project Notes:
You can make several different colors at one time—just use a different piece of plastic wrap for each, and cook them all at the same time.

Wear plastic gloves when working on this project—the dye will stick to your hands.

Kool-Aid is meant to be consumed, so you can use your regular household items for this project.

This technique will work on any animal fiber—but it won’t work on cotton or man-made ones. The wool roving listed here is perfect for this project, but you could also dye yarn or fabric using the same technique.

To make the beads shown here, use Kool-Aid in a variety of colors and saturation, and mix packages to create other colors as needed.

Easter Craft: Felt Bunny Ears

Turn your little one into an Easter bunny! Kids love to play dress up, so why not dress up as a bunny for Easter. These ears are easy to make, and are tons of fun to wear. You can make these bunny ears together for family time or create them to put in Easter baskets. You can also use these as party favors, and costumes. You can easily adjust the elastic size to make the bunny ears suitable for adults, children and pets alike! Let your imagination go wild and customize your bunny ears with glitter, ribbon and other fun embellishments.

Things you need:
2 – Gray Felt Squares
1 – Pink Felt Square
Scissors
Paintbrush
Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue Sticks
Fabric Stiffener
Felt Bunny Ear Template
Elastic

Things to do:
1. Print out your Felt Bunny Ear Template Cut two of the larger bunny ear shapes from the gray felt.
2. Cut two of the smaller bunny ear shapes from the pink felt.
3. Cut the 3″ circle from the gray felt.
4. Pour a small amount of the fabric stiffener on a paper plate and carefully brush on the fabric stiffener onto the gray felt bunny ears. Be sure to cover both sides of the gray felt ears. Set aside and let dry.
5. Next, attach the pink felt pieces centered on the gray felt bunny ears with a bit of hot glue.
6. The slit on the bottom of each gray felt ear will form two tabs. Fold the tabs towards the pink inner ear. Place a small amount of hot glue on top of the left tab and press the bottom of the right tab onto the glue until it is secure. You should now have a 90 degree corner at the bottom of each bunny ear.
7. Carefully place and glue the ears onto the gray felt circle (attach the ears by the 90 degree corners). Finally, attach the elastic under the gray felt circle with a small amount of hot glue.

Handmade Tulle Tutu Tutorial

Make an adorable tulle tutu—perfect for dress-up, costume, or a special occasion. What little girl doesn’t like to play princess for a day?! These lovely tulle tutus would also be super cute for a flower girl in an upcoming wedding! This technique allows you to quickly create an adorable tulle tutu for your favorite person or pet, using a few simple supplies. Be careful—tulle tutus are addictive! You may find yourself with one in every color!

Things you need (Makes 1 tutu for a baby, child, or pet):
2 Spools of Tulle Netting in your favorite color
1” thick Waistband (non curling) Elastic
Scissors
Needle and Thread or Sewing Machine
Tape measure

Things to do:
1. Measure the waist of the person (or beloved pet) who will be wearing the tutu. Add one inch to this measurement.
2. Cut a piece of elastic to match this measurement.
3. Overlap the ends of the elastic, forming a waistband, and sew to secure. You can do this by hand or machine. Instead of using elastic for the waistline, you can tie the strips around a long piece of ribbon and then use the ends to tie it up and make a bow. What girl doesn’t love to be even more of a princess with ribbons?
4. Decide how long you want your tutu to be. 12” is a good length for small children. Crawling babies and pets may need shorter lengths—about 8” would work.
5. Double the length measurement you want—so if you want 12” in finished length, you will need to cut 24” strips of tulle.
6. Use scissors to cut strips of tulle from the roll in your desired length.
7. Use a lark’s head knot* to attach each strip to the tulle tutu. Place strips all the way around the waistband. The more strips you use, the fuller your tutu will be. Your tulle tutu is finished and ready to wear when you are happy with the look

Project Notes:
Don’t limit yourself to a single color—you can use multiple colors to create a unique tutu for any occasion.
Decorate the waistband of your tulle tutu with silk flowers or pretty ribbon for a fresh new look.

*Larks Head Knot: This is a very easy knot to make—chance are, you already know how to make one, but didn’t know the name of it!
1. Fold the strip of tulle in half, forming a loop at the top, and letting the ends dangle.
2. Place the loop behind the elastic waistband, and pass the tulle ends through the loop.
3. Pull the ends to secure.

MTV uses Our Acrylic Ornaments in Another Lady Gaga Premiere

In America’s Best Dance Crew (Season 5; episode 6) there were seven remaining crews that performed the moves and fashion of hit songs by Lady Gaga. Static Noyze performed Lady Gaga’s Beautiful, Dirty, Rich where the bubble costume brought the entire act together. The Lady Gaga’s bubble costume was simply fashioned from our very popular acrylic ornaments, which has proven to be a versatile item. There were no eliminations during this episode due to voting issues. At the end of the show, the judges chose the best performance to receive immunity from the double-elimination following episode.

Easter Craft: Pipe Cleaner and Pom Pom Finger Puppets

This is such a fun and easy project for the kids. The creative possibilities are endless when using simple craft supplies such as pipe cleaners and pom poms. Pipe cleaners are easy to shape and forgiving if there is a mistake made. Using other classic craft supplies such as googly eyes, pom poms, feathers and other embellishments one can create any finger puppet critter one can think of!

Things you need:
Pipe Cleaners (colors of your choice)
Pom Poms (colors of your choice; 1″ pom poms are a good size for the head)
Googly Eyes
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Things to do:

1. To begin you should create the finger puppet base, then the creativity of the actual critters will come natural. Take a full length pipe cleaner (again color of your choice) and wrap it rather tightly around the tip of your finger. Once you take the base off of your finger you are then able to stretch it out to your liking. Be sure that you coil the tip of the base tightly as pictured. This will make gluing the pom poms easier and cut your chances down of getting hot glue on your fingers (there is nothing like getting hot oozing glue on bare skin **sarcasm** haha So let’s lessen those chances!) Hot glue works perfect for these little finger puppets but if you are more comfortable using a “cool” glue, try using Aleene’s Craft and School glue. This may take longer to complete your finished project though.
2. After you have created the spring base, your kids (or even your own) creativity is free to play and experiment! Basically glue the 1″ pom pom on top of the spring base as a head. Glue on googly eyes. Then play!

To make wings, take a 4″ pipe cleaner and bend into the shape shown in the picture above. There is no need to glue the wings onto the body, just simply slip the wings between the coils and they will be fine.

To make a beak, simply cut a small piece of orange (or other desired color) pipe cleaner and bend into a “V” shape and glue just below the googly eyes.

To make ears, follow the instructions for the beak but cut two pieces of desired length and glue on top of the critter’s head.

Photo Credits:
Craft Jr.

DIY Wedding Ribbon Wands

Ribbon wands are a fun way to celebrate the newly weds. Ribbon wands are perfect for any occasion, especially weddings where no noise makers or rice is able to be thrown. Since throwing rice is out of the question…throw some colors around, and create a wedding keepsake at the same time! They are a simple yet beautiful item that adds flair and fun to any wedding. You can create and personalize your own ribbon wands using simple craft supplies such as ribbon and wooden dowel rods. Ribbon wands can be personalized by using the wedding colors as a palette. You can use play with different ribbon widths, patterns, and material of ribbon to add a fun unique look. You can also add flowers, feathers, and other embellishments to add more detail and reflect your wedding style.

Things you need:
Approx. 20 yards Of Ribbon (color of your choice)
Wooden Dowel Rods
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint (color of your choice; optional)
Mod Podge (optional)
Double Sided Tape (optional)
Scrapbooking Paper (optional)

Things to do:
1. First thing is to decide whether you want to paint the dowel rods or leave as is. You can paint the dowel rods in a color of your choice or leave them as they are; a natural light wood. We recommend painting the dowel rods white, black, silver, or chocolate brown. Then you can play with ribbon strands for accent colors. Now you may be tempted to try spray painting the dowels but the color doesn’t usually apply evenly. So take your time to hand paint the rods and it will be well worth it when they are finished. You can also even try decoupaging pretty paper onto the dowel rods as well using Mod Podge
2. If you want to use several different strips of ribbon, simply cut several lengths of ribbon of varied colors, materials, and widths. Tie the ribbons in a knot around the end of the wooden dowel rod. If you are more of a minimalist, you can stick with one strand of ribbon. Cut you ribbon strands into 12″ pieces and stick a strip of double sides tape at each end of your ribbons. Then carefully wrap the ribbon around the top of the dowel rod. If you are comfortable using a hot glue gun you can use that instead of the tape (Personally I am not so good with the hot glue. I tend to glue things to the table and burn myself).
3. You are basically finished. Feel free to play with embellishments such as feathers, rhinestones, or even little flowers to add some personality to your wands. Display your ribbon wands in a large glass vase, fill with sand, pearls, stones, or glass marbles and simply place your wands in the vase. Voila!

Photo Credits:
Get Married

Easter Craft: Pipe Cleaner Easter Basket

You can’t celebrate Easter without an Easter basket and these little baskets are easy to make with pipe cleaners. Pipe cleaners are fun and easy to work with, and they are great for kids. These mini pipe cleaner baskets make great gifts, or favors and the kids will enjoying making them!

Things you need:
6 – Pipe Cleaners (color of your choice)
1 – 3″ Styrofoam Egg
1 – Floral U Pin
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Things to do:
1. Begin by cutting four pipe cleaners in half. Hold the pipe cleaners together in a small bundle and twist them together in the middle. Spread out the pipe cleaners; creating a star shape with eight points. Be sure that you keep them twisted together in the middle. Add a ninth point by attaching another pipe cleaner to the center of the star shape. You will want this ninth point to be the same size as the others, so be sure to trim all points so that they all the same length.
2. Space out each point so that they are evenly spaced between each other.
3. Hook a full length (12″) pipe cleaner and twist one end around the center of the star.
4. Center the bottom of your styrofoam egg in the center of your pipe cleaner star shape and pin it down using a floral u pin. Slowly and carefully bend the pipe cleaner points up around the styrofoam egg to form a cup shape.
5. Carefully begin weaving the full length pipe cleaner over and under the points of the star shape in a circle formation. When your full length pipe cleaner runs out, simply twist another at its end and continue weaving. Remember to weave tightly so that your basket will hold its shape. You may stop once you have reached the end of the points. Delicately take the styrofoam egg out of your basket. You can wrap the end of the pipe cleaner around itself and cut off any excess to secure the edge of your pipe cleaner basket. Lock in the weave by hooking the end of each point over the last weave.
6. Twist two pipe cleaners together to create the handle of your little pipe cleaner basket. You may cut down to desired length if needed. To attach the handle, just simply hook to the lip of your basket.
7. Finally, to create the base of your basket twist two pipe cleaners together and create an appropriate circle big enough to fit on the bottom of your basket. Trim any excess and glue the base to the bottom of your basket. You have now completed your little pipe cleaner basket! Now it’s time to fill with Easter grass and little treats!

Project Notes:
To make your pipe cleaner basket stronger and more secure add dabs of hot glue along the inside edges as you weave.

The instructions above are to make a basket about 2-1/2″ in diameter. To create a larger basket use the same instructions but use full length pipe cleaners when forming your star shape instead of the halves.

Photo Credits:
Martha Stewart

Easter Craft: Easy Pom Pom Bunnies

These lovely little pom pom bunnies are easy to make, even the little ones can help assemble a bunch of these fuzzy friends. You can use these pom pom bunnies in Easter baskets or even for baby shower baskets! This pom pom bunny would be a great project for the classroom or an evening at home with the family.

Things you need: (To make one bunny)
1 – 1″ White Pom Pom
1 – 3/4″ White Pom Pom
1 – 1/4″ White Pom Pom
1 – White Craft Felt Square
1 – Pink Craft Felt Square
1 – 1/8″ Pink Double Satin Ribbon Spool
2 – 5mm Googly Eyes
Aleene’s Craft and School Glue or Hot Glue*

Things to do:
1. Glue your 3/4″ pom pom onto your 1″ pom pom. Set aside. Let the glue cool or dry (depending on which glue you went with).
2. Cut two – 1-1/4″ tear drop shapes from your pink craft felt.
3. Cut one – 1″ shape for the bunny’s feet from the white craft felt square.
4. On each end of the two pink felt teardrop ears add a dab of glue and pinch the ends together. Set aside and let dry.
5. Cut two – 3/8″ pieces of ribbon and glue them together in a X shape. This will become your bunny’s nose.
6. Finally, glue your felt feet to the bottom of the 1″ pom pom. Glue your googly eyes, ribbon nose, and pink felt ears to the 3/4″ pom pom to make your bunny’s face. Then glue on the 1/4″ white pom pom for the bushy bunny tail.

Project Notes:
*Aleene’s craft glue works well on craft foam and pom poms. It is also safer for little hands but it will take longer to dry and for the project to be finished. Hot glue is a lot faster but we advise strict adult supervision.

Baby Loopy Chenille Lamb

Check out this loopy chenille lamb! This loopy chenille lamb is super simple and quick to make. Loopy chenille has been used to make a variety of craft projects to add a soft and fuzzy texture. Loopy chenille is flexible and can be bent to hold any shape you desire. This loopy chenille lamb can be made for an Easter decoration or even a centerpiece for a special occasion, such as a baby shower!

Things you need:
1 Hank – White Loopy Chenille
1 – 4-3/4″ Styrofoam Egg
1 – 3-3/4″ Styrofoam Egg
1 – Craft Stick
1 – 1/2″ Pink Pom Pom
2 – 2″ Styrofoam Eggs
2 – 3/8″ Dowel Rods
2 – 25mm Googly Eyes
Black Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint
Paint Brush and Accessories
Floral U Pins
Hot Glue Gun
Glue Gun Sticks
Ribbon and Flowers as Desired

Things to do:
1. To start your loopy chenille lamb, take your two 2″ styrofoam eggs and cut them in half. These will later become the little feet of your loopy chenille lamb. Paint all four halves with the Black Apple Barrel acrylic paint. Set aside and let dry.
2. Take your 3-3/4″ styrofoam egg and paint half of the egg black (starting from the smaller point and go half way down). Set aside and let dry.
3. Once your half painted styrofoam egg has dried, press the craft stick half way into one side of the white (unpainted) section of the styrofoam egg.
4. Cut about 15″ of white loopy chenille from your hank. Begin wrapping the entire white (unpainted) section of the half painted styrofoam egg with the white loopy chenille. Secure the loopy chenille with floral u pins and hot glue. This will be the head of your lamb. Be sure to leave the black painted half uncovered. This will be its face.
5. Cut two – 6″ strips of white loopy chenille and bend each strip in half. These will be your lamb’s ears. Pin the ears loopy chenille halves onto the top of your lamb’s head, just behind where the white loopy chenille meets the black styrofoam egg using floral u pins and hot glue. See photo for placement.
6. Wrap the 4-3/4″ styrofoam egg with the white loopy chenille until completely covered. Secure with floral u pins and hot glue as needed.
7. Press the remaining half of the craft stick into the larger styrofoam egg, just behind the smaller end of the egg. Secure the craft stick to the styrofoam egg with a dab of hot glue. Your lamb’s head should now be attached to your lamb’s body.
8. Cut your dowel rods in half, making each rod 6″ in length. Place each half into the four “corners” of your lamb’s loopy chenille covered body. See picture for placement if needed. Secure the dowels with hot glue. Be sure as you add the dowel rods that you are placing them just right, so that your lamb will be sure to stand on its own.
9. Take your small 2″ egg halves that you painted earlier and place them flat side down. Gently press the ends of your dowel rods into the top of your egg halves. Be sure that you do not press to far, or you might ruin the egg halves. Add a dab of hot glue to insure that the little black feet stay in place.
10. Cut four – 7″ strips of white loopy chenille. Wrap each loopy chenille strip along the exposed dowel rod legs. Secure with hot glue as you wrap the loopy chenille.
11. Cut one – 4″ strip of white loopy chenille and bend in half. This will become the lamb’s tail. Secure with floral u pins and hot glue at the end of your lamb’s body. For specific placement refer to photo.
12. Glue on your googly eyes and pink pom pom onto the black section of your lamb’s face. Finally, adorn your lamb with ribbon or flowers of your choice.

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