Category: Crafts

Celtic Spirals

Carrie1 Comment

Yesterday I went to an art workshop at St. Paul’s in Princeton, NJ.  We learned all about celtic spirals and how it symbolizes the ebb and flow of life.  How everything eventually comes full circle.  From life on earth, to death, to new life after death.  Even if you do not share the same religious beliefs I do, you can still find beauty in the underlying spirituality of a celtic circle.  As we gilded the gold leaf onto our piece, you had to breathe deeply onto the piece to warm up the medium that the gold leaf adheres to.  As you take in breath you receive and as you release your breath you give back.  There was something comforting and meditative about the tedious work involved in creating this piece.  It allowed me to reflect on life and how I affect people and how I am affected by them.  Take time to reflect on your own life and find out what you can do to make yourself the greatest version of you.

Work in Progress

Sadie1 Comment

Literally:

I’m making a throw blanket for myself.  I’ll be honest, I’m in love with it.  First of all, I’ve never made a blanket for myself, I rarely crochet things for myself besides a quick scarf or cowl here or there.  The perk of making a blanket is that once it gets to a certain size you can use it to keep warm while you work on it!

The yarn is from Michael’s, it’s their private brand: Loops & Threads.  The type is Cozy Wool in “Aster” and “Harvest.”  And I got he pattern from a small booklet by Bernat called “Around the Season Afghans” that I picked up in the store.

The pattern I’m using is for a different size yarn so I had to adjust for that, and I’m creating my own stripe pattern, so I’m adjusting for that too.  Stay tuned for the “after” picture.  Happy Friday!

Project for Beer Caps

Carrie1 Comment

I usually throw a lot of parties during the winter months and as a result I collect a lot of bottle caps.  To make a few extra bucks, I use the beer bottle caps to make magnets to sell in the bakery.   Last year I made about 75 caps thinking that I would just try to sell them and hope for the best.  Little did I know that they would be a hot seller.  At just $.99, they were a great souvenir for kids. Don’t worry parents, by the time the caps are finished you can’t see any alcohol advertisement to expose to the little ones.

It’s so simple.  Just use a circle cutter (mine is Martha Stewart brand of course) to cut out a one inch circle of any desirable scrapbook paper that suits your fancy.  Then you can decorate the paper cut-out with any sticker you want.  I like to use a sticker that will give dimension to the cap.  After you have the cap all set to the way you want it, place them on a non-stick surface like parchment paper (I even used a cut ziploc bag.  Then, pour the clear resin into each bottle cap (I use Clear Castin’ Easy Cast that you can find at any Michael’s store) and let it set overnight.  Then all you need to do is to hot glue a round magnet to the back of each cap.  You’re creation is complete!