Pumpkin Bling

The bling bug bit me again, only this time it was pumpkin bling instead of black & white bling.  I really love decorating for fall especially decorating with pumpkins of all kinds, shapes and textures.  I have lots of different pumpkins; there are the pretty glass and ceramic ones, and the ones which light up inside and fabric pumpkins too.  When I saw a fun, easy, dazzling copper pumpkin project, created by Michael’s, I just had to make one.  Follow along with me and see how I did it.

I gathered up all the elements I thought I would need; an orange craft pumpkin, metallic copper spray paint, metallic 2 ½” ribbons, leaf/berry picks, hot glue gun/sticks, medium gauge wire, wire cutters and scissors.  Now I was set to get started.  Let the fun begin.

I wanted to be sure my paint would stick to the slick surface of the pumpkin so I gave it a VERY light sanding with a fine grit sanding block, just scratched it up a little then wiped it down. Be sure while you sand you don’t take any of the orange color off.

Since the spray paint is toxic and creates a mess it became an outside studio project.  I put down some brown packing paper on the floor to protect the surface creating a clean place to work.  I grabbed a 2 liter 7Up bottle filled with gravel, which I use for my spray projects, put it in the middle of the paper, then I placed a spray paint cap on the top of the bottle to give the pumpkin a flat surface to rest on. This keeps the pumpkin up off the floor so you can paint the majority of the bottom. Time to paint.

A couple of tips for you first time spray painters;  I usually wear gloves to project my skin from toxic paints and I always wear a mask to keep my nose and lungs clear of fumes and paint particles.  Keep the can at a reasonable distance; too close and the paint will glob up and run, get too far away and the paint won’t make it to the object you are painting, a little practice never hurts, practice on the bottle below the pumpkin if you are not sure.  Now spray it with a light even back and forth motion, keeping the can moving to prevent drips and heavy areas.  Always start to spay just before you hit the pumpkin and just as you get past it to keep the surface nice and even.

Now we’re talking, that pumpkin’s got bling, a dazzling copper bling.  WOW!  I let it completely dry for a couple of hours to make sure I could work with it without scratching off the paint.

Back to my inside studio to begin glamming up my pumpkin, Is glamming a real word? It is now; it must be if I just wrote it.  I heard it on HGTV so it must be real. Giggles.

My studio helper, Honey, is getting everything ready so I can get to work right away.

         

“Now where did she say she put those scissors, she said they were right here?” 

 “I still don’t see them; they must be buried in here somewhere!”

Honey finally found my scissors and assembled all my supplies for me, I am ready to bring some bling to my pumpkin.

I begin by wrapping the pumpkin with the 2 ½” ribbon first down one side then back across the other side, using hot glue as I go along.  Tip of the day; don’t overdue the hot glue, to much enthusiasm can cause some very nasty burns; I have the scars to prove it.  The ribbon I used was very sheer so I had to be careful not to burn or melt it, not to mention burning my fingers if it oozed out through the ribbon, ouch!

Time for the bow, I am not sure I can explain how I made the bow, it is more like something I would have to demonstrate, but I will give it a try, if it is too confusing don’t say I did not warn you.  Here we go; first decide how long you want the first streamer/tail to be.  Once you figure it out pinch the ribbon together between your thumb and first finger, from there make a loop, then pinch, make another loop below that one and keep going back and forth, kind like a figure 8, adjusting the loops so you can see the pretty print, I did three loops on the top and three on the bottom, you can do as many loops as you can hold depending on how full you want your bow or how big you want it.  Leave a tail/streamer to match the other one.  Hint:  I tie it off with the wire first then I cut the tail/streamer to match the first one. I cut a little notch to make the ends pretty.

It was finally time to finish my project by hot gluing my bow to the top of my pumpkin, it took a bit of finessing to get it to stay just where I wanted it, I had to hold the bow in place for a little while to make sure the glue was dry before I let go.  It fell off twice, yikes, how embarrassing.  Isn’t she dazzling?  So shiny and full of bling, a very elegant pumpkin.

If you are not into bling and only want a pretty fall pumpkin you could wrap a plain orange craft pumpkin with ribbon, add a bow and some fall leaf picks and end up with a great table centerpiece or a festive hostess gift.

Wasn’t that fun? I bet all you crafty divas can’t wait to make a dazzling fall pumpkin of your own.  I am issuing all my readers a challenge; make your own version of my pretty pumpkin and e-mail a picture (in JPG format) of it to me at: buttonsbowsbling@gmail.com and I will post your pumpkins on my blog so everyone can see your creations.

As a special treat for submitting your Pumpkin Bling photos, they will be placed into a drawing for a special Creative Winter Craft Pack.  Winners will be announced on my blog the day before Thanksgiving.

The last day for submitting your photos is:  November 18, 2011.  After that date I won’t have time to post your photos, I will be in entertaining mode for Thanksgiving.  I can’t wait to see what you all make.  Happy Creating!

Coming soon is part three of Control That Clutter with more unusual containers for storage, some colorful fun projects, more fall decorating ideas and so much more.  See you soon.

Contain That Clutter Part 2

Contain That Clutter Part 2

In part 1, I talked about editing (see past post), Today’s post is about how to organize all those small and large goodies (for me it is sewing notions) using unusual containers.  You are probably thinking here we go again; I have to spend more money on storage boxes, bags and whatever else is out there.  True you may want to do just that but if you are thinking of going a little bit green and leaving a little less garbage in the landfills, then you might find my ideas useful.  Keep in mind I use all these items at my work stations.  I have a working studio with several projects going at once so I have to be able to find things quickly; little stations around the room help me to know where to look for an item without wasting time. My storage solutions do just that, some you will know about others will be new to you. Remember some of this is out of the box thinking.

For my colorful buttons, which I use in my children’s line, I put them into a couple of different kinds of containers. 

For the larger flower buttons; I put them into glass bottles which held Starbucks coffee, I soaked off the labels in very hot water so I could see each button color (love the lids).

For medium and miniature buttons; I used little condiment containers we got   with our take-out soup order.  They all had lids on them which keep those pesky little buttons from escaping and rolling around on the floor.

My specialty, wide ribbons and larger buttons are kept in clear hair spray can tops.  They are deep and clear so I can see the colors and my ribbons don’t end up a wrinkled mess.

All of these items sit on a very old acrylic tray my Mom used at cocktail parties in the 60’s. Totally a re-purposed item, it now serves notions.

A couple of other containers I use to sort and contain buttons are clear glass soup jars, vintage Planters Peanut jars, nut jars from a hotel mini-bar, (paid a hefty price for those nuts) and plastic containers from Kentucky Fried Chicken which hold the side orders.  They are semi clear with snap on red tops.

To store small jewelry findings, seed beads and other small embellishments I use sample glass jars I get from the make-up counter at the department stores.

My bias tape, elastic and piping all go into a fabric covered box which coordinates with my studio colors (black, white & turquoise).

Some of my threads are stored in a large glass cookie jar and a clear plastic mayonnaise jar with a cute avocado green lid.

Extra scissors, a flashlight, nail file and other goodies are stored in a mercury glass flower vase (a gift from my sister).

Glass jars of every kind, glass candle holders and little metal pails hold colored pencils; colored pens, paint brushes, stencil brushes, decorative cutting scissors, paperclips, rubber bands and so much more.  I primarily use glass for easy viewing but you can use any plastic food jars or take out containers you come across.  Pre-made salad containers usually have great shapes and colors and are pretty interesting to look at.

When you are looking for fun containers for storage ask yourself this:  What can I use this for or what can I put in this?  Look at everything you are going to throw out; try to see it in a new and creative light.

Of coarse you can purchase great looking containers just about everywhere, but remember half the fun is looking at things in a new and creative way and using them to make your creative world a little bit more organized.  Oh and don’t forget all the money you could be saving to buy more goodies.

Look for Part 3 of Contain That Clutter; we will be looking at storage for your larger supplies.  See you soon,