Feb 16, 2014
Decorated a new notebook for myself, going to get organized again!
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Decorated a new notebook for myself, going to get organized again!
Tutorial: How to Glitter a Frame!
Lately I've found that I rarely ever buy and use something "as is" anymore. I don't know if it's because I've gotten pickier, or if it's because I actually have a little spare time nowadays, haha.
But anyway, after seeing ZambiCandy's super cute jewelry frame, I've been on the lookout for the perfect frame to create a jewelry organizer (I'll post that too when I finish!~). I finally ended up getting this $5.99 frame from Ikea; it's super lightweight and had a paint finish I could easily remove.
This is just a tutorial of my method; there are probably plenty of other ways to achieve the same effect. But anyway, this technique should be able to work for objects other than frames as well. :]
Supplies
Sandpaper: A medium grit (roughness) works well - I think I used a 100-grit sheet.
Spray Adhesive: I used a 40% off coupon at Michaels, saves you so much!
Glitter: I used about half of the glitter you see here for a 15" x 19" frame. But you can get away with using a lot less if you're more careful with saving the glitter than I was. :] Also, I would suggest a less colorful mix than I had - there were so many colors that it ended up looking a little murky in different lighting~
Spray Gloss Coating: It's important that you get "gloss" and not "matte." Gloss coating allows the glitter so keep its sparkle, while matte will really dull it down.
Large papers to cover your work surface:This can be newspaper, drawing paper, etc.
First Step: Preparing Your Frame
The first thing you should do is roughen the surface of your frame. This step is important because it gives the glitter and glue something to grab on to. :] The only time you should skip this step is if your frame comes unpainted, unfinished and has a rough surface already.
The easiest way to do this is to sandpaper the frame until it's duller and scratchier. (I should really figure out a better way to describe this. :p ) You can do this with both metal and wooden frames.
After sanding, wipe the frame down with a *barely* damp paper towel to get rid of the excess dust.
A note about doing this with metal frames: I haven't worked with metal and spray paint myself yet, but it's recommended you coat the surface with a spray-on primer after sanding to prevent rusting.
Adding Glitter
Now for the fun part! *I strongly recommend doing this outdoors*
I had two large pieces of paper: one to spray glue over, and one to sprinkle glitter one. That way you can keep the glitter away from the glue and put it back in the bottle to reuse. :]
One section at a time, spray the frame with adhesive and quickly sprinkle glitter over it.
Note: I only used the strainer (pictured above) because I purchased the glitter pre-used and there were chunks in it, so it's not really necessary. Though I did find that it helped spread glitter more evenly~
Keep doing this until you've covered around half of the frame, and wait for the glue to fully dry.
Coating the Glitter with Spray Gloss
This is the part that prevents glitter from falling off every time you touch the frame. Cover the glittered parts with a few thick coats of spray gloss, waiting for it to dry between each coat. Then wait for the gloss to dry completely before finishing the rest of the frame.
If a lot of glitter flakes off even when you touch the frame lightly, you should put on more spray gloss. :p I ended up using around 2/3 of a can to coat this frame.
Finishing the Other Half
When the spray gloss from the previous step is completely dry, and you can pick the frame up by holding onto the glittered part without too much glitter flaking off, you're ready to finish the other half. Repeat the steps above (spray adhesive and glitter, then more spray gloss), and you're done!
I hope I described everything okay! As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to shoot me a message! I'd also love to see photos if you use this method on a project. ♥ ♥ ♥
I LOVE MY WIFE!
So things have been pretty busy around the Manor lately, but not in the Halloween sort of way. I’ve been feeling very anxious as of late because the blog has been neglected, no new props have been built, I’ve missed like a million Make and Take meetings (ok, maybe two or three actually), and all of our blog and forum friends think we’ve died or fallen off the face of the earth!
So, I’m a little stressed out about a hobby I love and enjoy so much. Feel like I’m letting people down. Then I get this in my email at work from my beautiful, loving, and understanding wife:
THAT’S THE SIGN!
This is like seeing the first flower of spring or the first snowfall of the winter. When Dixie starts thinking this way and put’s pen to paper, that’s the first sign of the Prop Season! My favorite season of the year!
Can’t wait for this weekend to get started!
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
ThinkGeek :: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Nothing like a reboot of the classics to get you reading again! Perfect stocking stuffer for any haunter who happens to also enjoy Jane Austen! Honey? You want a copy? ;-)
It’s Coming!
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Foam Boarded Windows
Often times, I make things harder than they need to be. But I realize this, and admit it, which I have heard is the first step to recovery.
I might not want recovery, though, as I have found I like STEPS… steps in a process, steps in a project, in a recipe, whatever I’m doing. Structure. Steps. Safe. Whatever.
So I started researching… early on. I found two sites that I really liked, and tried to take a little from each one. Juggernaut’s page on Horrorfind has an excellent tutorial HERE and another that really helped me was on Hauntedyards.com, HERE.
*Sidenote: My favorite of all, but completely out of my artistic league – is Ghoul Friday's amazing work on cardboard… yes, a 6 foot single sheet of cardboard painted to look like slats of wood. I wanna do that!!! ‘Ahh, patience young grasshopper, and one day you will paint like the Ghoul Friday….’ Anyways, its a great tutorial, check it out.
Ok, back to my making things harder than they have to be.
I had Jayson measure the windows… unfortunately we have about 33 (that sarcastic) windows in the front/side of our house – so I knew I would have to make alot of boards. Got out the trusty Wonder Cutter and got to work.
Paint. Well, I painted one solid brown, and didn’t like it. Too fake. Too flat.
Tried the dry brush thing – feeling all DawnFriday-like and all…. it looked like a First Grader got a hold of my brush. Looked bad. So I needed depth and texture, I can’t paint it right… so I grabbed the monster mud.
Yes, I iced the cake… err, monster mudded my foam fence pickets… crazy, I know. I spread it smooth like frosting, then I took various tools and made “wood grain”. Okay, so that looks more like cottage cheese, don’t pay attention to it.
Once I got the right technique down to make it look more like wood grain and less like oatmeal, then I tried the dry brushing over that – I mean, that's easy… the raised surface takes the paint, the recessed area doesn’t…
And then I had boards everywhere…. Because of course, MM takes longer to dry than paint. *I realize this AFTER I had done a thousand boards.. DOH!)
The point? I made it harder than it was….. no one EVER noticed the texture on the boards on the windows… twenty feet away… as viewed from the sidewalk… in the DARK….
But I knew. And I would do it again.
Installation day: Velcro’d to the outside of the window frame. Velcro’d to brick. Worked like a charm.
This one board had eyes glued into it. Can’t see it in the dark… I know, I know… haha……… now I just need LEDs.
Jayson even velcro’d boards directly onto our front door. Made it easier getting the kid on the bus in the morning if he wasnt having to step through hoops… err, boards.
This project was a lot of fun, and will be a cinch to reinstall next year. My only word of advice: Use the strongest Velcro you can find (and then good luck cutting it into strips, that adhesive can ruin good scissors!) so that the wind wont pull your boards loose. We used industrial velcro, and only had the END of one plank come loose for the 2 or 3 weeks they were on the house.
Garage Sales…
I like to go to garage sales. Finding an arm full of stuff for $3 just makes my skirt fly up! This section of posts will include an item bought at a garage sale and turned into a prop. Maybe it will give people ideas when they happen by a sale in the neighborhood.
This one is pretty obvious. But the best part of it was, it cost me a bright shiny quarter. Find of the day for me!
I obviously forgot to take a picture of it right after I bought it. I will remember to do that from now on (err, what was I supposed to be remembering?) Anyways… in its “found in a yard sale” state, it was slightly bent, and solid brass or fake gold finish or something… Not pretty.
Bent it the best I could, and primer and 2 coats of flat black Kilz later, it looked like the picture above.
Click for Detail
A bit of brown paint sponged on, and I had something that I could deal with.
Old Garage Sale Wall Sconce – 25 cents
Drop of brown paint size of a walnut – err, 25 cents?
Two Icky Finger candles that melted RED that the kids LOVED – Priceless.
(I know, the Master Card thing is SO overdone, but I couldn’t help myself!)
Happy Garage Sale Hunting!
DIY: New Phone Case!
I finally decorated a case for my new phone! The silver glittery case was from this store on ebay, and I covered it in rhinestones and fabric I had lying around. c;
If you're interested in decorating your own case, here are some good adhesives you can try:
Fabri-Tac: Good for fabric on fabric bonds (I used it to glue the black moon to the case, since the case is more of a fabric texture than a plastic texture).
Aleene's Jewel-It: Good for rhinestone on fabric bonds.
Aleene's Glass and Bead Glue: AWESOME for attaching rhinestones, etc to plastic bases. It has a good hold and doesn't crackle the backing on rhinestones. Recommended to me by MissAlphabet and I am forever grateful. ♥
If you have any questions please feel free to send me a message, I'll do my best to help! :]