This past month I've been busy crafting and learning new things. There's been a lot of experimentation with craft materials and new products. This is going to be kind of a different blog post than usual, because I'm going to be sharing a few things I made and a few things I bought. It's a little like one of those monthly favorites blog posts or videos some people make. Just random fun stuff I made and bought during March.
I finally got around to decorating the little foam skulls I bought during my My After Halloween Target and Michaels Haul in 2012! These two foam skulls were from Michaels. Looking back at that blog post, it would appear these cost 20 or 30 cents.
The little skulls can hang from the ribbon at the top of them. Here's one demonstrating this on a doorknob:
I decided to make them into sugar skulls for Day of the Dead. I painted them, bejeweled them, and then "sugared" them with some heavyweight glitter.
I'm really happy with how these two turned out! They're like little girly sister skulls. I like decorations that look related but not identical.
It will be nice to have some little sugar skulls sitting around. I'll probably keep them out year-round. They're about the size of an actual sugar skull and they won't attract ants, unlike the real deal. Grossly enough, I know of what I speak with that!
I also learned of a cool use for old CDs. I happened to have a few with some documents on them that I didn't feel safe throwing out. Yet I didn't need more old CDs sitting around. So I saw online that if you bust up old CDs with a hammer you end up with some beautiful shards. Some people use scissors too, but that didn't work for me. I don't know what kind of scissors these people have, but mine weren't going to cut a CD! That only worked for trimming the tiniest of edges.
So after having some fun whacking CDs with a hammer, I needed to find something cool to glue them to. As it happened, I ran into a candle holder at Dollar Tree that was just what I wanted. It had a religious quote on the back but if you turn it around you have a nice black surface to work with. So I glued my shards to that with some regular Elmer's glue and let it dry an hour or two. Then I put a candle in it and enjoyed watching the colors move around in the dark.
I was so happy with my results that I'm looking for more things to glue CD shards to! Just a few words of caution if you want to try this.
1. Wear some protective eye wear. The shards like to fly while you're hammering them. One got me in the face, but luckily I wasn't cut.
2. Wrap some paper towel around your CD before hammering. You don't want random little sharp things laying around uncollected. Some people use a kitchen towel, but paper towel worked fine for me.
3. Pick where you want to glue these wisely because they like to slide around. Just put some glue on the back of your shard, place it down, and call it good.
Other than these two crafts, I wanted to share two more random things with you guys. Not that either of these are related to anything. It's just that I wanted to pass along some good finds. They're pretty inexpensive too.
Sticking with the Dollar Tree theme, I'd heard some reviews of this Dermasil lotion on YouTube. I have bored moments where I watch videos of people talking about their Dollar Tree hauls on YouTube. This is where I heard people raving about how great this lotion is, and they're right!
I was looking for a nearly scentless lotion because I wanted to mellow out some way too fragranced lotion I already had. So I picked some of this up. 10 oz for $1.00! I mixed it in with the too strong stuff and it worked to make it tolerable. Turns out I love this stuff on its own too. So I went back and bought more of it. It has a very light rosewater scent, if you're familiar with that. It has a nice consistency too; this lotion is not at all watery. I like this much more than a lot of higher priced lotions. And what isn't higher priced?
My other fun find is this "Sambal Oelek" pepper sauce. Look for the rooster label. It's a simple recipe of fiery red chilis, vinegar, and salt. It's hot and soooo good. You will want to put this on everything. This cost $1.99 at Woodman's.
Let me know if you guys try any of these craft projects or products!
The little skulls can hang from the ribbon at the top of them. Here's one demonstrating this on a doorknob:
I decided to make them into sugar skulls for Day of the Dead. I painted them, bejeweled them, and then "sugared" them with some heavyweight glitter.
It will be nice to have some little sugar skulls sitting around. I'll probably keep them out year-round. They're about the size of an actual sugar skull and they won't attract ants, unlike the real deal. Grossly enough, I know of what I speak with that!
I also learned of a cool use for old CDs. I happened to have a few with some documents on them that I didn't feel safe throwing out. Yet I didn't need more old CDs sitting around. So I saw online that if you bust up old CDs with a hammer you end up with some beautiful shards. Some people use scissors too, but that didn't work for me. I don't know what kind of scissors these people have, but mine weren't going to cut a CD! That only worked for trimming the tiniest of edges.
So after having some fun whacking CDs with a hammer, I needed to find something cool to glue them to. As it happened, I ran into a candle holder at Dollar Tree that was just what I wanted. It had a religious quote on the back but if you turn it around you have a nice black surface to work with. So I glued my shards to that with some regular Elmer's glue and let it dry an hour or two. Then I put a candle in it and enjoyed watching the colors move around in the dark.
1. Wear some protective eye wear. The shards like to fly while you're hammering them. One got me in the face, but luckily I wasn't cut.
2. Wrap some paper towel around your CD before hammering. You don't want random little sharp things laying around uncollected. Some people use a kitchen towel, but paper towel worked fine for me.
3. Pick where you want to glue these wisely because they like to slide around. Just put some glue on the back of your shard, place it down, and call it good.
Other than these two crafts, I wanted to share two more random things with you guys. Not that either of these are related to anything. It's just that I wanted to pass along some good finds. They're pretty inexpensive too.
Sticking with the Dollar Tree theme, I'd heard some reviews of this Dermasil lotion on YouTube. I have bored moments where I watch videos of people talking about their Dollar Tree hauls on YouTube. This is where I heard people raving about how great this lotion is, and they're right!
I was looking for a nearly scentless lotion because I wanted to mellow out some way too fragranced lotion I already had. So I picked some of this up. 10 oz for $1.00! I mixed it in with the too strong stuff and it worked to make it tolerable. Turns out I love this stuff on its own too. So I went back and bought more of it. It has a very light rosewater scent, if you're familiar with that. It has a nice consistency too; this lotion is not at all watery. I like this much more than a lot of higher priced lotions. And what isn't higher priced?
My other fun find is this "Sambal Oelek" pepper sauce. Look for the rooster label. It's a simple recipe of fiery red chilis, vinegar, and salt. It's hot and soooo good. You will want to put this on everything. This cost $1.99 at Woodman's.
