Projects so far

Saturday, 26 November 2011

47th Project completed - An 'Icy' Christmas Bauble

Well another busy day over. I spent the day with my Other half and Daughter at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport for their 'Trash to Treasure' Gift fair. It was really nice to do  a craft fair again as it must have been around 6 yrs since I did the last one.


Unfortunately it was very quiet but it was a good day with friendly (and very talented) stall holders. I spent most of the day demonstrating whilst doing this weeks project which caused a lot of interest and comment!


Anyway, on with this weeks offering. As promised last week, this is the first of a few 'Christmassy' ideas to tie in with the time of year.......



An 'Icy' Christmas Bauble


Materials

  • Plastic bottles
  • A Polystyrene ball (mine came from my stash, it had got warm at sometime and was a bit melted on one side)
  • Silver Acrylic paint
  • A scrap of left over ribbon
  • An old box of pins (a bit worse for wear)
  • Left over beads
  • Heat Gun
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Bowl of water
  • Optional - small amount of silver spray paint
  • Beading thread / fishing line
  • Pair of tweezers

Instructions


1. The first step is to paint your ball with some silver acrylic paint, this will take time to dry so pop it to one side whilst you do the other steps.


2. Next, let the hot glue gun warm up so the glue flows freely and hold it over a bowl of water and 'squiggle' some glue into the water so it forms a 'mat' TAKE CARE NOT TO GET THE GUN WET!!!! The glue will cool immediately so you can remove it straight away. You will need a few of these 'mats' to cover the ball.


3. Cut the bottles up into small squares around 1cm square. Push a pin through a bead and then through a square of plastic. Holding the pin with a pair of tweezers, heat the plastic quickly with a heat gun so it begins to curl up around the pin head. Should it decide to curl the other way remove the pin and put it though the other side. You will need a lot of these so keep going!



4. Use the plastic on pins to attach the 'squiggled' glue mats to the ball. Keep going until the ball is completely covered.



5. Using the jewellery thread / fishing line, make three beaded strands and tie together to form a 'tassel' to go on the bottom of your bauble. Pin and glue it into place.






6. Now finish with a loop for hanging and a bow made from a small length of left over ribbon. All ready for the tree.





2 comments:

Marion said...

i've been "lurking" and enjoying your creativity but this one's really fab!!!

I don't do Christmas but that doesn't stop me from wanting to have a go at the techniques ....especially the glue on water......i think I have seen coloured and glittery glue too....MMMMMM!!!

Julie Williams said...

It must be said the glue in water is one of my favourite techniques, it's so simple and I can always think of things it could be used for - Jewellery always comes to mind and I have used it for earrings and brooches before now. Glad you are enjoying watching the blog - it is great to hear from everyone!