This, that...and the other.

Pretty in Peeps Necklace by Margot Potter for ILovetoCreate
Follow this Link for Instructions

Okay so look, I sometimes feel as if my straw pile keeps me so busy I start to drift away and the rest of the things in my life, like my friends and this blog and my stray eyebrow hairs and even my ever growing pile of magazines start to feel like they're just out of reach.

I'm still here, plugging away at it all with the new job and our move into our new home and the buying of gee gaws and hoozits to decorate the new home which was initially going to be decorated in Cabin Chic but after the purchase of two giant reclaimed tin roosters from Mexico at our local Home Goods...is now veering into folk art kitsch...

Inhale.

Exhale.

So in lieu of a new project or a thought provoking blog post about the deeper meaning of string...

I wanted to reshare one of my all time favorite of favorite projects...ever.

If you like this one you may also love my Peeps Bouquet along with the tale of misfortune that accompanies that post.

I think Peeps are so cute I could just eat them up.

Well I could.

So could you.

I mean, they're edible. Duh.

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge

ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts: Edible Easter Centerpiece and Party Favor

ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts
Edible Easter Centerpiece and Party Favor
By Avalon Potter
“Teen Crafted, Mom Approved”

I love flowers, and especially Pink gerbera daises! I also happen to love jelly beans, parties, and crafts. I have always wanted to combine them all and with Easter on the way I thought of a perfect way to do it! This week’s project is an edible Easter center piece, with the delicious element of jelly beans and the adorable design of a pink daisy in a rick rack embellished pot!

Materials
Jelly beans
Cardboard
Styrofoam
Three colorful little buckets (we got these at Target in the dollar section)
Fake pink gerbera daises
Rick rack or colorful ribbon
Aleene’s Liquid Fusion Glue
Aleene's Foamtastic Glue

Tools
Scissors
Pen

Instructions

1. Gather all of your materials.

2. Wrap your ribbon around the base of the bucket to measure it and cut leaving a little bit of excess ribbon.


3. Apply a thin strip of Aleene’s Liquid Fusion glue to the backside of the ribbon and rewrap around the base of the bucket.

4. Repeat steps two and three for the top and bottom of all three buckets.

5. Measure the bucket width by drawing a circle on the cardboard with the bottom of the bucket. Then cut out the cardboard circle.


6. Take a chunk of Styrofoam and put it in the bottom of the bucket, then make a hole big enough for the flower stem in the cardboard. Add some Aleene’s Foam glue and slide the cardboard to the top of your foam.

7. Cut the flowers so that they fit in the pot making two the same size and the third taller.


8. Put the flower in the pot giving it a bend so you can see the flower face. Make sure the face is facing you.


9. Fill the pot to the top with jelly beans.

10. If you want to let your guests take these home, add a name on a card to the pot handle or the flower stem.

ILoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Pretty in Peeps Pendant

ILoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Pretty in Peeps Pendant
Mixed Media Jewelry Project
Margot Potter
“Mom crafted, kid approved.”
Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved

I loves me some Marshmallow Peeps candies! How about you? Last year I bought a huge pile of them just to stack them up and stare at the fabulous colors. They’re so happy and fun filled. My daughter Avalon loves Peeps too. She loves them so much I can’t buy too many or she’ll turn into a Peep.

No, seriously.

I spent the better part of Easter season last year contemplating how to turn a Peeps candy into a bead. I thought about leaving one to sit for a few months and get nice and hard and then spraying it with a sealant...and heck that might work if you didn’t live in a 130 year old school house with a small mold problem. Methinks a moldy Peep bead would lack some appeal.

I finally settled on Sculpey Ultra Light polymer clay embellished with Crafty Chica paints and glitter and Tulip Glam It Up Studs. This could become a pin or a pendant or you could make a whole bunch of these on dowels and do a fun Peeps flower pot centerpiece like my edible bouquet from last year. I decided to make mine into a necklace and just added a bunch of springy Vintage and new Lucite and wood beads for a super cute necklace. If you really want to go to town, try making some Sculpey egg beads to coordinate...or add some polka dots and squiggles to large wooden beads...or do a collar of several Peeps that circle the neckline. I am not exaggerating in the least when I tell you that making these is so much fun, you’re going to look for reasons to make more!

Materials
Sculpey Ultra Light
Crafty Chica Little Chica Paints Red and White
3 Tulip Glam-It-Up Iron-On Studs Black
Crafty Chica Glitter Sunset Pink
Aleene’s Jewel-It Glue
Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Spray
Aleene’s Matte Finish Spray Sealant

Tools
Paint Brush
Polymer Clay Dedicated Toaster Oven
Sheet of Brown Kraft Paper

(To Make the Necklace:
Various Coordinated Beads in a Pattern That Makes a 16” or Longer Finished Length (I got the clear Lucite with green filament beads in NYC but here’s a source online and Beadin’ Path has a plethora of great vintage and new Lucite beads), 49 Strand .018 (or thicker) Beadalon Wire (always fill the holes of your beads with the wire), Beadalon EZ-Crimp Fancy Sterling Toggle Clasp, Mighty Crimp Tool and Wire Cutters)

1. Soften clay in your hands or by running it through a clay dedicated pasta machine until it is malleable. Use a real Peep as your guide to create a clay version. I bought some for research so I could get the size right...that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

2. Use a sharp pointed object to create a hole in the middle of your rabbit’s head. This hole is threaded side to side so you can string the pendant on a necklace. Skip this step if you’re not making a bead.

3. Place rabbit on a sheet of Kraft paper on the baking tray and into a pre-heated 275 degree Toaster Oven. Watch the clay to be sure it doesn’t burn...it shouldn’t take very long to set. Mine took about 7 minutes...after I burned the first one. Oops.

4. Allow rabbit to cool. Mix red and white Crafty Chica paints to get a nice shade of pink. Paint rabbit. Allow to dry.

5. Place rabbit on a sheet of kraft or scrap paper. Spray with Aleene’s Tacky Spray. Pour a generous helping of pink glitter all over rabbit front and sides. Tap off excess and pour back into jar. Allow to dry.

6. Spray rabbit with Aleene’s Matte Finish Spray Sealant. Allow to dry.

7. Adhere the three Glam It Up studs to the face of your rabbit with the Jewel-It Glue. You’ll need to have a good dollop of glue so it fits into the recess on the stud. Use the handle of your paintbrush or a toothpick to remove any excess glue. Allow to dry.

Design Note: Do not eat this Peep.  It won't taste very good.  Trust me.

To Peep...or Not to Peep...

Image Public Domain Jon Sullivan

I would hazard a guess that Vickie Howell isn’t the only crafter to be derailed by the quasi-evil little marshmallow creatures known as Peeps. In fact the Peeps website has a crafts section and there’s an annual Peeps Diorama contest. Two weeks ago I couldn’t resist their siren song and I purchased FIVE packages. They come in a huge variety of vibrant shades now and I simply had to have every single color. Plus they were under a dollar a pack. So much joy for under a buck? Sign me up!

One package of orange rogue rabbits was gleefully consumed by my daughter, and the rest have been sitting on a shelf in my kitchen cruelly mocking me since. I don’t know what it is about Peeps. Why are we all so drawn to craft with them? I mean, if you break it down they’re actually pretty lame. It’s just a blobby drip of marshmallow rolled in super fine electric kool-aid sugar and the eyes are more often than not dripping down their faces.

Yet...they’re so...damn...cute.

I bought them with the intention of making a project. I considered leaving them out to get hard and spraying them with an acrylic sealer and making them into jewelry. I contemplated a Peeps wreath for the front door. I’m still brainstorming a Peeps-on-a-stick bouquet in a clear vase with jelly bean faux rocks to secure the stems as our dessert offering for Easter dinner. If I manage to eek that project out, I’ll let ya know. It’s not looking likely with the size of my straw pile.

To Peep...or not to Peep...that...is the question.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy a Peep...is to gobble it up head first...if I open just one little package I’ll have plenty left for my bouquet...

xoxo,
Madge