Cute little night light project I did

I received the Snak 3K glue gun for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated are my own.

I was asked to review a glue gun called the Snak 3K and of course because I am a crafter I jumped at the chance to create. I love using glue guns in my projects. For one thing, I cannot sew to save my life. I can stitch by hand to make a pillow case or a felt magnet but my stitches leave a lot to be desired so I really try to avoid the whole sewing thing. I am a glue gun demon! I use my glue gun to do all kinds of things including the night light project that I started today.

This glue gun is much better than the one I got from Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago. The one from Hobby Lobby was one that I just plugged in and laid on its side when I was waiting for it to heat up or when I had to set it down for any reason. The Snak 3K has an off and on switch. I like this because I can turn it off and not have to unplug it if I need to walk away for a while. I also like that it  has a stand built into it near the tip so I can stand it up when not in use. This is much safer than laying it on its side when it is hot. I was always very nervous to leave my other glue gun unattended even when unplugged until it was cooled down.

I got this glue gun on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013TYAPOO  and you can watch the demonstration of the glue gun and see my project's completion below in my video.
The project itself was fairly simple and took me maybe 2o minutes to complete. I used a square vase that I got from Hobby Lobby but any glass vase or jar would work. I also used these glass floral marbles that they sell at the dollar store. They are round on one side and flat on the other and as I said you can get them in the crafting or floral section of the dollar store. I got mine at Dollar Tree. Lastly you need a hot glue gun and glue gun sticks. You can use regular glue but you will have to wait in between gluing rows to let the glue dry or the glass marbles will slide around. I found the hot glue to harden immediately and really fix the marbles to the vase.

Just pick out the color marbles you want and start hot gluing them to the vase. Be careful because the glue IS hot and it will burn your fingers. Do not let children handle any hot glue gun because they can really get hurt. As soon as you are done gluing you can add your inside lighting. I used a battery operated string light set in blue but you can use any color you want, or even a flameless candle for a flickering effect. It is a very quick project but it looks so pretty when it is done. They work good for night lights in a child's room or in a room for decorative lighting or even outdoors for some evening lighting. 
Here is the video that I did

 

Cricut Explore One and Cricut Explore Air for Crafters!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

If you’re reading this post, chances are, you’re a creative type. You like to craft, explore your creativity, and share your creations with others. And it’s for people like you that Cricut created their line of personal electronic cutting machines.

A little known fact about Cricut is that they’ve actually been in business for over 50 years, and their primary purpose has been to develop tools that inspire creativity in people.

Today, millions of people use Cricut’s award-winning products to create beautiful, inventive, and personal projects.

So, what is Cricut? Cricut is actually a family of electronic cutting machines that make it possible for you to easily create amazing do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. Well, not totally DIY because Cricut’s incredible machine’s do a LOT of the heavy lifting.

The two machines that Cricut offers are:

• the Cricut Explore One™ - allows you to cut
• the Cricut Explore Air™ - allows you to cut and write wirelessly

To give you loads of creative freedom and versatility, Cricut developed the Cricut Design Space™, a cloud-based software that works seamlessly with the Cricut Explore® family of machines.

Design Space gives you access to all of your images and projects from any compatible computer or iPad, so you can design just about anything, anytime, and anywhere.

Once you’ve uploaded your design (or pre-designed image) to your Cricut Explore cutting machine, you can sit back and watch it magically bring your design to life.

There are so many interesting things you can make and do with Cricut – which we’ll be sure to cover in a future post. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, it’s best to go over each of Cricut’s machines, what they do, and how they are different. And since I’ve given you quite a bit of info already, we’ll pick up on there in next week’s post!

Until then … happy crafting!

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Cute DIY Burlap Wreath

 I hope all my friends at Crowdtap enjoy reading my DIY blog

I was sitting around this morning and the crafty bug hit me. I knew I had foam rings and burlap so I decided to make a wreath to put up in the house.

So I pulled out my trusty glue gun, the ring and the burlap and went to work. I had picked up the foam rings at the Dollar Tree on one of my foraging trips and the burlap was ordered online from Michaels when it was 70% off. I didn't even use half the burlap that was purchased. So far I was into this project for close to $ 2.00. 

 Gluing the leading edge of the burlap to the ring, I tightly wrapped the fabric around the foam overlapping one piece over the other so that the green of the ring didn't show. I need to caution you that when you glue the burlap you need to hold it down for a few seconds to set. The burlap has holes in it so the glue will seep through and it is hot. You might want to use something to hold it down in place of your fingers.

After wrapping the ring in the burlap, it looked nice but of course plain. I dug into my crafting drawer for something to add to my project. I considered buttons and fabric flowers but I decided on these large flower package ties that I had picked up at Michaels on clearance a few years ago. The reason I went with the ties is because they can be removed easily to change the wreath to another season if I choose to do so.

The result was nice and I am very pleased with my creation. I couldn't wait to hang it up on the living room wall to enjoy. I suppose it looks more like summer or fall than spring but I can always change up the flowers or add birds if I find some to add. The important thing is I made something nice enough to put in my living room as decor that looks like it was bought and in total I spent about $3.00. You can change it up by doing fabric strips instead of burlap, or of course different embellishments would work well. It is all in having the basics and then wanting to create something.

A simple easter craft with foam eggs

Today the crafting bug bit me hard. I supposed its because I have been thinking of spring and easter and decorating. I decided to step away from the internet for a little while and craft some easter eggs to decorate the house with. I had picked up these foam easter eggs at the Dollar Tree the last time I had been in there and thought today was the day to work with them.

At first I was going to try painting them with acrylic paint and I may still do that if I can find more eggs, but I didn't want to sit around waiting for the paint to dry and I wasn't sure how the paint would set on the foam. So, I decided to use my every trusty Sharpie pens and create some eggs.

The first one as you can see, was just a basic striped one. I tried to replicate the way I used to dye colored eggs when I was a kid and that one was the result. I didn't think it was bad except I will say the yellow marker really doesn't pop the way some of the other colors do and the markers I have only has one shade of yellow. The next one I went with the polka dot effect using different colors and sizes of dots. I really like the way that one came out.

The third I have to admit was a bit of a failed attempt at first but it came out alright. I had heard you can get some really cool tye dye effects with Sharpies and rubbing alcohol. I colored one in vertical stripes in colors I thought would be nice when they blended. I went and got a bowl and put some rubbing alcohol in it and dabbed with a paper towel. Nothing happened except maybe the ink faded a little. There was no tye dye effect and I can only assume that the foam is too porous and the ink was already absorbed into the egg. Oh well nothing ventured nothing gained.

Next egg was another MAJOR FAIL lol but at least I am learning. I wanted to make a glitzy glitter egg so I pulled my silver and gold glitter out and poured some into a bowl. Took my paint brush and painted glue all over the egg and then rolled it in the bowl. Well glue didn't stick to all the egg so I had big patches of white egg showing. I got glue out of the containers and tried sprinkling on the bald spots and it worked some but still big empty spots on the egg. I spent a good 30 minutes covering the egg in glitter and making a huge mess with glitter on the floor, all over my hands and covering my work area. Right now, my glitzy semi bald egg is drying on the work table. Im thinking when I pick it up to spray sealer over it, the glitter is just going to fall off. So this one I label my failure egg.

So after my ego taking a bruising over my failure at being really crafty and creative, I went back to what I know. Coloring eggs in different ways with Sharpies. The last two came out nice. Overall I was happy with my easter creation. I had an empty plastic mayo jar that I tied a very pretty blue flowery ribbon on and I put the eggs inside sans the glitter mess. They are now sitting on my wood stove and my home is beginning to have that Spring and Easter feel to it.

This would be a great crafting project if you have kids home on Spring Break and don't want to deal with messy dyes. I would probably not use Sharpie's if they are young though because it still can be messy. I would suggest using Crayola Washable Markers if you are doing this with young children. I was careful and I still got some stain on my worktable at first. The ink doesn't dry right away so if you set it on a table or something without a newspaper, it will stain. Luckily I was able to remove it from the table with some rubbing alcohol. Go figure, it won't tye dye the eggs but it will remove it ( thank goodness) from a table.

What this blog will be about

I like to craft and I like to blog so I decided to combine both in this blog about crafting. Now to be honest, I can't sew or crochet or knit but that doesn't mean I can't craft. I have my acrylic paints, my Sharpie markers, and my trusty glue gun always at hand so I can whip up something creative when the mood strikes me.

I scour Pinetrest (follow my boards at Rottie's Pinterest) for ideas and like everyone else I pin them until I get the materials or the time to create things. I used to think because I'm not a skilled artist I shouldn't craft but I've learned that it doesn't matter how good you are. Crafting something is from the heart and believe it or not, you are more talented than you give yourself credit for.

Crafting for me is letting loose the creative animal that I have locked inside myself. When I paint something or design something to make as a gift, its an expression of me. It's how I show people around me that I love them. Like the ceramic mugs I have set aside to give my girls. They are dollar store mugs painted with Sharpie oil based paint markers and baked in the oven. Not expensive by any means but they are personal to my children and if they don't break them, when I am dead and gone, they have them as a reminder of me and how much I love them.

You can do it on the cheaps too which I love. I hit Michaels, JoAnn's Fabrics and Hobby Lobby after holidays to get things cheap. I also go to thrift stores and dollar stores and get things there. Reusing empty jars and cans can be inventive and inexpensive with a little creativity. It just depends on what you want to do and how much you wish to spend on it. My roommate has this Silhouette cutting machine and makes beautiful paper crafts and cards. She was lucky and won it in a give away two years ago. I'm not a paper crafter as such so it would be useless for me, but she loves it. If you are into that stuff than it may be a good investment for you. I prefer mugs, photo frames, paper mache boxes, clay, and painting but that doesn't make her more crafty than I or vice versa. It is all in what you enjoy doing.

So this blog will be updated from time to time with new crafts or inspirations that I feel like sharing. Things I use that I think others will enjoy knowing about, and other crafty stuff. I hope you enjoy reading this and keep coming back.

Rottie