Semi DIY - Nautical and Mermaid Cabochon Magnets

Semi DIY refrigerator magnet makeover. Easy, peasy! Our refrigerator has a few magnets ranging from cooking measurements, to bare, plain and boring.  Mind you, there aren't many but, I wanted to get some that were of similar themes.

I didn't see ones I liked and remembered a shop on Etsy called Flora's Findings that was so helpful to me months before regarding shipping insurance.

Flora literally has hundreds of glass cabochon cameos in all sorts of themes that she makes. She offers setting frames for them separately that you glue the cabochon into. 

I only needed four maybe, six.  I couldn't decide what to get and ended up with ten!
 I went with two ships, four mermaids, and four lighthouses.

close up of the setting frames.

Flora included some care info with the cabochons.

Glue a good size magnet on the back using glue suitable for metals, and viola!  Your magnet board or refrigerator will have a mini makeover.

I like the ships the best.  What ones are your favorite?

Starfish Ornament DIY Tutorial Using Bead Caps

DIY starfish ornament tutorial using bead caps instead of drilling holes or wrapping twine around one of the "fingers" is pretty easy.  All it takes is time and some patience.

Embellished

Natural and simple

Materials:

A)Finger style starfish like the ones shown here.  Mine are about 5.50" across.

B) Sharp scissors

C)1/8" ribbon or thin wire. Use fishing line if you want your ornament to have more of floating effect

D) Bead caps mine have either an antique or silver finish.with little "slots" near the tops.

 It's very important you look for ones that have a "slots" wide enough if your going to be using ribbon instead of fine wire or fishing line otherwise you won't be able to feed the ribbon through.  See photo.

E) Glue. I used Aleene's tacky glue. It dries pretty clear.  E6000 is also a great glue. It's a bit smelly though.
F) If you are going to paint or glitter your starfish do it before hand just be sure everything is dry first.

 For an embellished version like shown in the first photo that has the pearls on it.

You will also need the following

G) Small pearls mine are about 3mm.
H) Tweezers.
I) Small sheet of  aluminum foil.
J) Large aluminum baking pan or any baking pan that has sides you don't care about.
K) Tiny little dish or cup to hold the pearls in.
L) Clothespin or binder clip.

If you want to use crystals instead of pearls  flat back type crystals work best.

"Bead cap with "slots".

If using 1/8" ribbon cut it on a long narrow angle like shown.

Put a tiny amount of glue on the inside of the bead cap.

But the bead cap onto the starfish. Important: Make sure you can see through the slots otherwise you won't be able to feed your ribbon or wire later. Squeeze the cap gently around the finger of the starfish wipe away any excess glue that might squish out the holes.  Set aside and let the glue dry.

Once the glue has dried feed the ribbon into the slots.

Expect from fraying of ribbon during this step.

Wire or fishing line doesn't fray and is easier to feed into the slots.

If you don't care about being able to change the ribbon in the future
feed the ribbon through the slots of the bead cap first
then put glue on the starfish and put the bead cap on.

That's how this one was done.

To add pearls or crystals to your starfish

- Put your pearls or crystals you want to use in the dish.

- Place the starfish, dish or pearls and small piece of aluminum foil into your pan that has sides.

- Use the clothespin or binder clip to keep the ribbon out of the way by securing it to the sides of the pan

- Put a tiny bit of glue onto your piece of foil. You don't need much.

- Pick up a pearl or crystal with your tweezers and lightly touch into the glue you put onto your piece of foil.

- Place the pearl or crystal where you want it on the starfish.

 

Did your crystal or pearl go flying out of the tweezers?  That's the reason for the pan.  Mine went rolling all over because I didn't use one.  I'm am sure to hear that crunching sound when the vacuum cleaner locates them.  Clipping the ribbon to the sides minimizes the glued up pearl or crystal landing on the ribbon. 

You can really go to town making these very sparkling and glamorous.

Hang your starfish out of direct sunlight in a cool area to let the glue for the embellishments dry.

Viola!

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
If you don't have the time or care to make these I am thinking of putting some in my Etsy shop soon.

Silverware vases silverware ornaments. How to make your own.

Silverware vases are actually pretty versatile.. They can double as holiday ornaments, dress up a chandelier,  vase or be tied to the sides of old mason jars that have the metal clips on them.

I won't kid you there is some work involved, but once you do a few you will be thinking up all sorts of ways to use them. A supply list can be found at the end of this post.

The two most important tools are good dust masks and safety glasses.

My safety glasses are by "WileyX". They have foam padding making them pretty comfortable and interchangeable lenses to turn them into safety sunglasses  In addition to meeting ANSI specs they have a military ballistic impact rating.  True, way more then you need for this project, but I liked that extra rating and since we used to sell this style at work figured why not.

A dust mask is essential  Metal dust is extremely dangerous. 

A vice for holding the knife steady while cutting.

Hint: Trying tapping a fingernail on the handle to figure out where the blade ends and where the hollow part of the handle begins.  It's not fool proof method but after you do a few you can gauge this better.

Hacksaw

Using the hacksaw saw off the blade

OR

If you have one; a band saw outfitted with metal cutting blade.

My sweetie found this little one for me at a flea market.

(Such a romantic)

Once the handle is cut put on some work gloves and use coarse sand paper to smooth away the sharp edges.

You can also use a dremel with a grinding attachment and then finish with a sandpaper bit.

Now drill a hole in just one side with a drill outfitted with a small bit. Be careful to drill only

through one side of the vase.  A dremel will work for this too.

(an order in the works from a client for her neighbors)

Attach a little suction cup, fill with a small amount of water and add a small bloom.

Attach an ornament hook and viola!

Imagine fresh flowers on your holiday tree.

I'm thinking baby's breath would look lovely with our shell ornaments

You can dress them up too.

Find some wood coffee stirrers or Popsicle sticks and cut them down.

These are old clip back earrings. Just snap it on to the stick

For a beach look glue on a small sand dollar or shell.

You can also attach little signs to the sticks

Great as a small hostess or teachers gift.
Add a few sprigs of dried lavender, slip vase into a cello bag and tie with a pretty ribbon.

If you would like to make your own a supply list is below.
Or you can purchase one from my Etsy shop

Supplies List

• Silver plated hollow handled knife. "Grille" style knives work best. Grille style knives have shorter blades and longer handles

• Safety Glasses. Please don't think about skipping this important measure
• A good dust mask.-Don't skip this one either.
• A table mounted vice.
• Hacksaw or a band saw outfitted with a "metal blade"
• Drill or Dremel for drilling holes
• Gloves
• Coarse Sand Paper or Dremel for smoothing rough edges.
• Suction cup if you would like to hang on a mirror, window or vase.
• Wire, ornament hooks, ribbon or twine to hang on a chandelier or tree.

Glamorous Beach in a Vase how to and good old Beach Jars Tips

Outside our side door sits a table for two.

Since the space is limited decorations need to be small and compact.

I like to add a little beach grass that sways in the breeze.

Fire hazard! 

I minimized that by tucking the grass behind a large oyster shell.
 

To create your own you need to give your beach grass

 a little thinning out haircut.

 (toffee twist)

Tie a bundle of the grass with a little twist tie.

Place the oyster or other shell in the corner and drop in some

beach pebbles and shells.  Add the tea light  and a few more shells

to cover up it's sides.  Tuck the bundle of beach grass 
behind the oyster shell. Make sure the grass 
falls outward  and over the side opposite the tea light.

Instead of beach grass, add some water and tuck in a flower.

Now for a glamorous version.

Raid your jewelery box for old rhinestone earrings, pins, 

shoe clips, bracelets...etc Old rhinestone buttons work too.

Add a few loose pearls and Swarovksi crystals if you like.

A clip on earring or shoe clips work great on oyster and flatter shells.

The rhinestones look so pretty day or evening.
 Fabulous for a beach wedding!

The oh so popular "beach jar lantern" 

Everyone knows this one but, I like easy clean up.

Easy, old jar, sand or beach pebbles and/or shells candle

Put candle in jar surround with pebbles and shells. 

As the candle burns wax has a tendency to melt on to

sand or stones and shells and the jar. 

Messy.

 A quick fix is placing an empty votive cup into

the jar first.  I use a pair of pliers or tongs to gently

lower the votive cup into the jar.

As you drop in the pebbles and shells some will fall into

the votive cup helping to keep the candle straight.  Use long

tweezers or tongs to move the pebbles between the outside

of the votive holder and the inside of the jar.

I prefer using candles that are lower then

the the metal band on the jar; it looks nicer 

and casts that nice glow immediately.

It also minimizes wax overflowing the sides of the

votive holder.

I  use candles from the dining room that have already

been burned so they are usually just the right height.

Or 

 Simply lower a votive candle in a votive cup

into the jar....even cleaner since it's unlikely

any wax is going to overflow at all.

You can also place a tea light in a votive cup

Now,  

my personal favorite is using these small citronella oil containers.

No wax, no mess and hopefully less mosquitoes!
 The caps are little hard to remove but, worth it.

I like to hang little decorations, or clip on
 some rhinestones to the jar handles. Sometimes,
I add little silverware vases with small blooms.

If the jar is too short to use the suction cup

 I just tie the vase to the handles.

 Thanks for stopping by.

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