Fun and Spooky Halloween Mirror!

According to Wikipedia, "googly eyes" are also called "jiggly eyes."  What do you call them?

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All you'll need:

• unfinished wood-framed mirror (available at craft stores; I used 12"x14")
• black paint
• paintbrush
• googly eyes (I used about 200, in assorted sizes and colors)
• your trusty Mod Podge 
• optional: Diamond Glaze dimensional adhesive
• optional: other decorations or letters (I spelled "BOO")

Step 1: 
Take the mirror out of the frame.  If yours isn't removable, use painter's tape to protect it. 

Step 2:
Paint the entire frame black.  Don't worry about covering it perfectly, because most of it will be covered with googly eyes (jiggly eyes?! :)) anyway!

  
Step 3:
Given Step 4, this step may not be necessary.  But I gave my entire frame a light coat of Mod Podge.  Again, it doesn't have to be perfect because it will be covered with eyes.

Step 4:
Start gluing on those googlies! My approach was to use my paintbrush to cover a small section of the frame with a generous amount of Mod Podge, and then stick the eyes on.  I also added some chipboard letters at the top of the frame to spell "BOO"!

The Mod Podge will dry clear, so the excess in between is fine.  It will take quite awhile to attach all of those eyes!

 

I found one googly eye that was missing its googler! I decided to use it anyway. :) Can you spy it with your little eye?

 

Step 5:
I wasn't totally convinced that the Mod Podge would hold the eyes on forever, especially because some of them had concave-ish bottoms and weren't sticking easily.  So I decided to use Diamond Glaze dimensional adhesive in between the eyes.  I think this also gave the final product a fun look.  

Specifically, after the Mod Podge had dried, I just squeezed a little bit of Diamond Glaze in between all of the little eyeballs, being careful not to get any on the eyes themselves.

Step 6:
The Diamond Glaze should be left to dry for a few hours without moving or touching the project.  Once it's dry, reinsert the mirror and voila! Fun and spooky Halloween decor. :)

Vintage-Style Serving Tray

A vintage-style serving tray made from a wooden frame and drawer pulls. 

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All you'll need:

• 1 - 8"x10" wooden frame (mine was $5 at a thrift store)
• 2 drawer pulls with screws (mine were $2.50 each at Home Depot)
• screwdriver/drill
• sandpaper
• scrapbook paper, cut to fit frame
• optional: coffee, tea, watercolors, etc. to "age" the paper
• paintbrush
• your trusty Mod Podge (I'd recommend "matte" over "gloss")

Step 1: 
I wanted my paper to have an aged look. Since I didn't have any coffee or tea in the house, I used a small amount of brown watercolor paint on a wet paper towel. Dab away!
 

 
Step 2:
Sand the frame, if necessary, to give it a more aged look as well.

Step 3:
Use a paintbrush to seal the wood with Mod Podge. I would recommend the matte variety for a vintage project like this one, but all I had was gloss and I do like the way it turned out.

Step 4:
Attach the drawer pulls on either side:
Measure -- at least twice! -- and mark where your screws will go.
I recommend drilling holes first, rather than simply inserting the screws, to avoid accidentally splitting the wood. 
Thanks for the power tool help, hubby! :))

Step 5:
Insert paper, reassemble frame, and voila!  A beautiful vintage serving tray. :)

Pretty Tiered Treat Stand

The size/color/pattern combinations are endless with this one.  And it is so easy!

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All you'll need:

• 1 large melamine platter (mine was $10 at Target)

• 1 medium melamine plate (mine was $2 at Target)

• 1 small melamine plate or bowl (mine was $2 at Target)

• 2 glass candlesticks ($1 each at the dollar store)

• E6000 -- NOT superglue!

I saw some very pretty (but breakable) plates and bowls at the dollar store, so this could potentially be a very inexpensive project! But I opted for the melamine dishes because they are not easily breakable.

As you experiment with different dishes, you may need to/be able to use different adhesives.  For my purposes, E6000 worked in adhering the glass to the melamine.  Superglue will NOT work!

Step 1: 
Wash all of the dishes and candlesticks, and dry them well.

Step 2:
Because with E6000 you put the adhesive on BOTH surfaces before sticking them together, I didn't feel comfortable with "eyeballing."  I just grabbed a ballpoint pen and traced the candlesticks onto each surface.  Make sure you trace the correct end of the candlestick, if it's not symmetrical top-to-bottom!

Step 3:
Apply E6000 to each surface, following the directions on the package.  From memory, I believe that means you will wait 1-2 minutes before sticking the two together.

Step 4:
Continue building until your treat stand is complete. :)

And voila, you're done! Now simply fill with delicious treats. :)

Colorful Birthday Balloon Wreath!

Who says wreaths are just for Christmas? :) (P.S. This is my first craft post not using Mod Podge! Shhh!)

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All you'll need:

• a 12" straw wreath; leave the plastic on!
• 350 greening pins
• 350 balloons in assorted colors
• ribbon
• 3-4 hours, so find a couple Netflix documentaries you've been meaning to watch :)

Step 1: 
Amusingly, Step 1 tells what NOT to do. Do not take the plastic wrap off the straw wreath! It will make a giant mess and there's no need to remove it. I didn't think of this ahead of time, as you can see. Well, hindsight is 20/20, right?!

Step 2:
To affix the balloons to the wreath, simply place each balloon between the prongs of a greening pin. Easy! Although kind of hard on the thumb once you have done a couple hundred of them, so maybe try using a rubber mallet or similar? 

As a bonus to using greening pins, there won't be any holes in the balloons -- in case you have a balloon emergency and need them in the future. :)

I didn't leave very much space between each balloon, but you can experiment and see what you like. Also, I only covered the part of the wreath that would normally be seen; i.e., the front and sides. Don't waste your time and balloons and thumb-strength on the back if no one will ever see it, right?

Step 3:
If you want to hang your wreath with ribbon (i.e. instead of using a wreath hanger), leave a strip of non-ballooned space at the top.  Then double-wrap a piece of ribbon around the wreath, tie in a bow, and fill in the space with the last of the balloons.  The pins will help to secure the ribbon in place, too.

And voila, you're done! A splash of color for your door during your birthday month. :)

Friendly Monster Boxes

We made several of these friendly monster boxes to house the utensils and napkins at our friendly monster-themed birthday party!

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All you'll need:

• an empty tissue box
• spray paint
• assorted scrapbook paper, stickers, or whatever else you'd like to decorate your monster box with
• scissors
• paintbrush
• your trusty Mod Podge

Step 1: 
Spray paint your monster box.  Note: some colors, like red, have notoriously bad coverage, so keep that in mind if you are using a patterned box like these ones.

Step 2:
After the paint has dried, cut out the monster box's "mouth" with scissors.

Step 3:
Decorate your monster box!  Adhere teeth and eyes with Mod Podge.

And you're done! Fill with supplies for your friendly monster party -- forks, spoons, knives, napkins, ketchup packets, whatever! :)

Colorful Plastic Bag Dispenser

No more unruly plastic bags! :)   

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All you'll need:

• an empty, clean antibacterial wipes canister with the label removed
• paper trimmer or scissors
• scrapbook paper
• paintbrush
• your trusty Mod Podge

 

Step 1: 
Trim your scrapbook paper to the correct size.  If your canister is a perfect cylinder, this will be very easy -- but if it tapers, this will require some extra thought! 

Step 2:
Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge with the paintbrush; then attach your paper.

Step 3:
Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge over the entire canister to seal the edges and give it some shine!
 

Let it dry, add your plastic bags, and you're done! Voila!

Pirate's Treasure Chest

I created this treasure chest to fill with small toys, treats, and stickers for my speech therapy clients. :)
 

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All you'll need:

• an unfinished wooden box (this one was $5 at Michael's)
• a ruler
• a pencil
• sandpaper
• paint (I used brown, black, and metallic gold)
• assorted paintbrushes
• a brown Sharpie (not pictured)
• your trusty Mod Podge

Step 1:

Using a pencil and ruler, sketch out the treasure chest design you are going to paint.  For mine, this meant creating wooden slats and three gold bands to encircle the chest.

Step 2:

Paint in your brown!  The edges don't have to be perfect yet.

Step 3:

Add the gold paint!  Create nice, even edges against the brown sections.

Step 4:

Add your details.  For mine, this meant a little bit of black paint between the slats of wood and small circles drawn onto the gold bands with brown Sharpie.  Then I roughed up the edges a little bit with sandpaper.

Step 5:

Cover the entire thing with Mod Podge to seal it and give it some shine!

Let the Mod Podge dry, fill this bad boy up with prizes, and you're good to go! :)