Chalkboard Platter

I have seen so many craft projects out there using chalkboard paint.  Basically, if you have a fairly smooth surface and some imaginations, you can turn just about anything into a chalkboard.  One of the latest crazes I've noticed is using platters to create chalkboards for you kitchen or dining room.  Mostly, they're pretty plain and I thought, "We can do so much more with that"!  So, I put my thinking cap on and decided to make some stencils with my Cricut and clear contact paper and jazz that boring old platter up!  I think it turned out so adorable and fun and would work in almost any decor setting.

Materials I used for this project:

Cricut Mini Cutting Machine

Clear Contact Paper

Chalkboard Paint

Metallic Sharpie Markers

Gold Glitter Enamel Paint

Black Enamel Paint

Plate/Picture/Platter Holder

Chalk

Video tutorial for completing this project.

Darby Smart To DIY For ~ June 2015 ~ Polymer Clay Candle Holders

This is my new favorite box from Darby Smart!  I have never worked with polymer clay before but have wanted to try it for years.  I finally got my chance!  This box was a home run for me.  In the box were 4 bars of polymer clay in 3 colors, 4 tealight candle tins, 4 wicks, soy wax, and fragrance.  The directions as they appeared on Darby Smart's website:

As you can tell from my pictures, I took my design in a completely different direction.  The geometric blob was cute, but I wanted to challenge myself a little more.  Video Tutorial

Beads I made with the left over clay that will become

a necklace one day.

I am so pleased with the results. There was some trial and error and starting over. You can tell that more with the flowers because the color of the clay started getting more muddy and less marbly in appearance.  Overall, this project was a total win for me.  If you haven't tried Darby Smart yet, you don't know what you are missing.  Even in the months that I wasn't that enthused about the project, it was still fun to try it.  And then there are months like this when I couldn't be happier.

Scoring -
Value - 5
Ease of Use - 5
Instructions - 5
Finished Products - 5
Overall Score - 5

Fourth of July Vinyl Window Clings

Making your own vinyl to use in your die cutting machine is so easy and so much more cost effective than purchasing ready to use vinyl.  This is great for indoor use but is not going to hold up like ready to use vinyl that can be put on car windows and outdoor windows.  But for home applications for your walls and windows, it's perfect!  You will never find a selection of ready made vinyl that you can make for yourself.  You can literally use ANY type of craft paper you have on hand, even textured papers.  Any paper that can be run through a die cutting machine will work.

I use a spray adhesive to adhere the paper to clear contact paper, let it dry overnight and then trim it to fit my cutting mat for my Cricut.

The materials I used for this project are:

Cricut Mini Die Cutting Machine

Red, White and Blue Craft Paper

Clear Contact Paper

Cricut tools

Elmer's Spray Adhesive

Transfer Tape

Video demonstration showing how to use Cricut Craft Room to create these designs.

Video demonstration showing how to assemble window clings and apply them.

Darby Smart ~ May 2015 ~ Rustic Photo Album ~ Father's Day Craft

I was really excited about this box because it was a completely new to me type of craft.  I love trying new things and conquering "new hills". Lol, but seriously, I don't know if my skills were lacking in this project or if the product just didn't perform the way it was supposed to.  It was not a total fail but it bordered it.  I'll let you be the judge if it was win or a flop.  Please leave me some comments and let me know what you thought of the final product and also, if you subscribe to Darby Smart, let me know how this project turned out for you.

Scoring:
Value - 3
Ease of Use - 3
Instructions - 4
Finished  Product - 2
Total Score - 3

Decorated and Decoupaged Scripture Jars with Personalized Scriptures

I started making these jars and similar boxes last year to give as special gifts to people in my life who needed a little encouragement or as a gratitude gift for their service to God and community.  I can't begin to tell you how much they meant to the recipient.  It was such a beautiful sight when they opened the jar and realized the scriptures were personalized just for them.  I hope this project brings you and those you make it for as much joy as it has brought me and some special people in my life!  This is also a really nice gift for kids to make for a teacher, parent, grand parent, etc.

Supplies Used:
Personalized Printed Scriptures - click here to download a copy and just copy and paste the contents into word on your computer.
Mason Jars (but you can use any kind of container that works for you or that you have on hand)
Decorative Paper
Clear Drying Glue - I used Mod Podge
Brush
Scissors

Video Instructions for decorating the jars.

Video for Tips and Tricks for Printables.

Personalized Resin Coasters

I recently purchased some Letter and Number silicone molds from Amazon and thought they would be a great way to personalize resin projects such as coasters.  You can do them in any color or theme to suit every person's preferences such as sport teams, home decor, favorite colors, etc.  The possibilities are endless!  Hope this gives you a little inspiration to get you started.

Products Used:

Letter Silicone Mold

Number Silicone Mold

Coaster Silicone Mold

2 Part Epoxy Resin

Cork

E6000 Glue

Collage Podge Glue

Black Paint

Brown Paint

Pearl Ex Powder - Antique Gold

Darby Smart ~ April 2015 ~ Make Perfume At Home

I love perfume and all things that smell good, so naturally, I was excited for this months box.  As it turns out, the oils included weren't exactly my favorites, but they were my Mom's!  I really had never considered hand crafting my own fragrances to suit my likes and now that I know how easy and affordable it is, you can bet I will be trying more of it!



Here's the scoring for this box:

Value - 5

Ease of Use - 5

Instructions - 5

Finished Product - 4

Overall Score - 4.75

Enamel Painted Dishes ~ Darby Smart ~ To DIY For ~ February 2015

I was super excited for this month's Darby Smart Box!! I had been curious about enamel paints and their durability. This project was a perfect test run to give them a try. I wasn't out very much money on it and if it didn't come out well then a ring dish that sits on my dresser and isn't used much is just fine! :) Anyway, the directions for this project on the Darby Smart website were spot on and led to great results -http://www.darbysmart.com/howto#cocoa. I think I was a bit unfair in the video about the value of this months box. I am going to upgrade it to a 5 because there was soooooo much paint left in each bottle to do lots more projects. Even if I had double coated each dish there would still have been plenty of paint left. So this was an overall 5 for me ~ pretty good!!


So here's the scoring - not that it's necessary! LOL
Value - 5
Ease of Use - 5
Instructions - 5
Finished Product - 5
Overall Score - 5

Bead & Resin Paperweight

I truly love resin casting projects.  It's so fun to see objects suspended in clear resin, completely preserved.  For this project I used:

Famowood 2 part epoxy resin
Plastic beads
Silicone Spatula/Stir Stick
Plastic Cups for mixing and measuring
Silicone Mold

Block Printing ~ January 2015 ~ Darby Smart

This month's Darby Smart To DIY For Box was a Block Printing project.  This was my best month yet with Darby Smart.  The project was challenging, fun and pretty!  What more could a crafter ask for?  I had never tried any type of carving in my crafting, so it was really nice to try my hand at it.  The materials provided were good quality and sufficient for completing the project.  As of right now this kit is not available for purchase but there is one that comes with more inks and supplies for $47, here's the link for that:  http://www.darbysmart.com/projects/block-printing-starter-set

The link for the instructions on how to complete the kit that come in my monthly subscription box is: http://www.darbysmart.com/howto#yummy

The score for this kit:
Value - 5
Ease of Use - 4
Instructions - 4
Finished Product - 4
Overall score - 4.25

Please note:  I purchased this monthly subscription.  It is NOT provided to me to demonstrate or review.  I am not compensated by Darby Smart in any way to show this product.

Rustic Chalkboard Style Christmas Ornaments

Hello fellow crafters!  In my last blog post I described the DarbySmart.com web store and monthly subscription service in detail.  If you'd like to read more on it just click here.  This is the product I purchased in addition to my monthly subscription box as a project for my son and I to complete together.  We had a lot of fun, the project was fairly simple and the end product was super cute.  The kit cost $19 and I feel was well worth it.  You can order the kit here.  I am not being compensated in any way for demonstrating these products or directing you to them. We enjoyed it so much we are trying to get my husband to cut us some more wood slices so we can make more!  There was plenty enough Chalkboard paint left to do it and of course, plenty of inspiration!!  I listed the rating for this box as well as the link to the instructions below the video.  Hope you enjoy and Thanks for crafting with me!

The instructions as per the Darby Smart website can be found here.

Score for this project out of a possible 5 is as follows:
Value - 5
Ease of Use - 3
Instructions - 3
Finished Product - 4
Overall Score - 3.75

Hand Crochet Scarf ~ December 2014 Darby Smart To DIY For Box

Darby Smart is a craft supply website with a twist.  You can purchase individual craft supplies or you can purchase curated kits that contain all the products needed to make a DIY craft project from beginning to end.  There is a very wide range of projects to choose from in an equally wide range of prices.  Another thing I found interesting were the "Starter Kits".  Let's say your thing is wood burning or it is something you really want to try, just purchase the starter kit for $39 and you'll receive a wood burning pen, alphabet stamps and a wood coaster set to get started on.  This is a really cool concept for crafters like me who get a little overwhelmed when trying to get started in a new craft.  I don't always want to make huge investments to try a new craft out.  This is a much more affordable way to test the waters.

They also have a monthly subscription box called t"To DIY For" in which they send you all the products needed to complete that months project but the contents are a surprise until you receive them.  The monthly cost is $19 per month.  This month's To DIY For box contained a skein of bulky yarn and a small roll of a regular acrylic yarn.  The instructions on their website, which the link to is printed on the card in your box, show you how to hand crochet a scarf.  Below is the video I made taking you through the how to with pictures of the contents, screenshots and the finished product.  I am going to continue to subscribe to the monthly subscription and bring you videos each month of the projects and as often as I can I will purchase additional boxes with projects that interest me and bring you videos of those as well.  I've also come up with a scoring/rating system for these products to better help me evaluate the overall value of the product.  I listed the Rating for this project below the video.  Thank you so much for crafting with me today!

Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5)
Value - 2
Ease of Use - 4
Instructions - 2
Finished Product - 3
Final Score - 2.75

Instructions for this project as per Darby Smart can be found here.

Beaded Flower Topper for a Ring or Bracelet

Check out my latest video to get detailed instructions on how to make this beatiful beaded flower!

New Craft Videos - Bead Embroidery

I just completed my  very first bead project and it came out pretty darn good!!  I have a youtube video series posted today.  Here's the very first video in the series,

My New Craft Channel on Youtube!

I just started a craft channel on youtube!!  I am starting with a series on counted cross stitch and then I think I'm going to do a bit of cooking.  My youngest son is also a crafter and so we will also be featuring some kids crafts.  I'm so excited about this project and would love your input on content you would like to see.  Here is the first video in my counted cross stitch series.  Check out JeannineCrafts on Youtube to see more.