Halloween Apothecary Jar

     Are you ready for some frightful fun?  Halloween is next month, and it's about time for us crafters to get started on our spooky decor for the holiday.  Today, I have the perfect project lined up so that you will be ready for some ghoulish fun... A Halloween Apothecary Jar!  

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Let's get started!

You will need

Glass jar

Black Chalky Finish

Acrylic Paint (Assorted Colors) 

Brown Paint or Distress Ink

Brown or Black Paint Marker or Felt Pen

Scissors

Glue Gun

Cardstock

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

Step 1: Take the top off your jar if it comes with one. Squirt some hot glue onto the rim of the jar and let it run down the sides.  Don't let it run too much!

Step 2(not pictured): After your glue is dry, paint the entire jar with the black chalky finish.  It doesn't have to be perfect!  Remember, it's old and distressed.  Unless you want to sand it later, let your dry brush to all the work.  Leave some pockets of glass visible.  Streaks?  Who cares! Also, keep in mind that you want to leave the glue gun "leaks" on the rim of your jar as clear as you can.

Step 3: Draw/write your label onto your cardstock and cut it out.  I recommend using a brown or black pen to stick to the vintage look. 

Step 4: Crumble up your label.  Yup.  Do it.  This will make it look more old and distressed because of the added texture.

 

Step 5: Now you want to unfold your label again and then weather your label with some brown paint.  Use a dry brush and very little paint.  Mod Podge this label onto your jar and let dry.

Step 6: Distress your jar even further by using your dry brush and some green paint to add more detail to the leaks. You can make it more dimensional by adding gold to your leaks.  I decided to streak just a little bit of the green and gold onto the rest of the jar as well.  It's okay if you go over the label a little bit too, as long as you stick to the borders.

 Step 7: This part is optional, but hot-gluing some moss onto the sides and top of your jar will add a really creepy and Witch-y look.

Also, if you have a cork that fits your jar, or if you're lucky and your jar already cam with one, you can make it look dingier by lightly staining it brown to make it darker.  After that, hot glue bits of moss onto it and glue it back onto your jar!

     All you Potterheads out there, make some noise!  Apothecary jars are that perfect mix of creepy, dark, mysterious, magical and fascinating.  What's cooler feeling like you have all the different ingredients around you to make a potion or conduct a spell?  Now, you can!  Create your own apothecary and potion jars this Halloween for some magical decor!  Then, you can invite friends and family to "Come sit for a spell.." (Ba dum TSS!)  

As always, have FUN and see you next week!

Erika @ PC

Grad Party Card "Book"

Good day, Crafters!

Graduation season is right around the corner (Can you see it in our stores?), so you know what that means!  GRAD PARTY!!!  Yes, the daunting task of planning and prepping for your graduate's special event can be a stressful one, but we're here to help and make it fun.  

Today I will show you guys how to create an awesome Vintage-style Money Book.

 

Yes, I said "book"!  Who says a grad party has to be school-themed?  I'm showing you that you don't have to follow the color scheme or theme of the graduate's Alma Mater.  

The theme can be a lot more personal.  This card box is in the form of a book to represent a graduate who loved literature and all things vintage for example.  It's different, unique and makes a great conversation starter as a centerpiece too!

 

 This was built from just one piece of 20 x 30 inch foam board and then decorated to look like a really old book.  I Mod-Podged brown cardstock onto both covers as well as the spine and then distressed it by rubbing it with a Memento stamp pad in the color Cocoa. I also misted some gold Mr. Huey's spray onto the covers to give it some shimmer.  I then covered the sides of the exposed foam board with brown creme wax, painted the pages with a mix of butter yellow and white Ceramcoat acrylic, and then streaked some wax on that to create the "pages".  

 This project will be featured on an upcoming episode of  The Joy of Crafting, so be sure to check it out if you want the full walk-through of how to create this awesome card "book"!

Erika @ PC

Glitter-it Grinch Ornament

I have become Glitter-it crazy. There are so many different ways to use this product. I have been decorating ornaments with the Glitter-it. The newest one is the Grinch ornament.

Supply list:

Glitter-it glue

Vintage & Sparkle Glitter - Hollywood Hills

Black- Scribbles paint

Yellow Decocolor Paint Markers Nani yarn Happy Crafting! Beth @ Mapunapuna BFC

Halloween Unbreakable Ornament

Halloween Ornament

Creepy, Crawly and Creative is what your going to say when your child makes this bat ornament. 

Supplies:

30143772 – Clear unbreakable ornament

77613620 – Black Foam Sheet

30055159 – Moving Eyes

30131084 – Stickles

30121824 – Glitter it

30141797 – Vintage Sparkle

Cut the shape of bat wings with the black foam sheet. Make any design with the Stickles on the foam sheet. Pour a small amount of glitter it in the unbreakable ornament and swirl it around. Make sure to get all of the ornament coated. Pour any remaining liquid back into the Glitter It bottle. Add a good amount of glitter to the inside of the ornament. Give it a good shake to make sure the glitter has coated the inside. Glue the eyes and bat wings. A hat or add some pom poms to make bat ears will finish the ornament. 

Happy Crafting! Beth @ Mapunapuna BFC

Vintage Hair Comb

So, I've been slightly obsessed with hair accessories lately. I don't really know why except to say that it's getting hotter here, and having my hair up is sounding more and more appealing than letting it hang. If you want to put your hair up in style without spending some big bucks, some DIY hair accessories might be just the ticket. Plus, you can make them to match anything you own.

That being said, today's blog post is about - guess what? A DIY hair accessory! Yay! I whipped up this beautiful, vintage looking comb with rhinestones and copper wire in no time flat.

To make a comb like this of your own, all you need is a comb (yes, sorry, you need a comb to make a comb), some 26 gauge copper wire, and this beautiful 5mm rhinestone chain-like thing called a "cup-chain".

To create, simply hold the rhinestones against the comb and wrap in place, in between the comb teeth, with the copper wire. I finished my comb by weaving a small piece of my wire between all the other wires behind the comb.

The combs came in a 6 pack and I had enough wire and rhinestone cup-chain to finish 6 combs. Truthfully, I could've made more but since I only know about six people, I stopped.

If you like the combs you can come and visit them at our store and see them in beautiful reality. Or you can just make some of your own.

Puna @ Enchanted Lake