THE ALTERED FLEA: 2015

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Create a Beach-themed Holiday Card Display

Repurpose a large picture frame into a

beautiful holiday card display.

See the full tutorial at my new address, AlteredArtworks.wordpress.com

Friday, November 13, 2015

Hanukkah in a Jar

Any which way you spell it, the Festival of Lights will be here before you know it. This year, Chanukah begins Sunday night, December 6. It's just three weeks away, but you have plenty of time to create unique Chanukah decor and gifts.

One of the most popular projects on my blog is "Chanukah-in-a-Jar." So, I thought I would share it again.

I used a clear plastic pail 6" tall with a 4" diameter. It has a lid and handle, which lends itself nicely for attaching colorful ribbons and tags. However, you can also use a mason jar or repurposed spaghetti sauce or jam jar. You just want to be sure it's tall enough to hold the Menorah candles.

Start by gathering craft supplies to embellish the container. Go through your stash or stroll down the craft aisles looking for printed and solid scrapbook or gift wrapping paper, ribbon, punches, stamps, ink, tags, charms, metal labels, etc.

Cut a strip of cardstock 2" x 18". If using 12" x 12" paper, cut two pieces and tape them together. Then cut a coordinating piece of printed or gift wrap paper to 1-1/2" x 18." Using tape adhesive, tape these two pieces together, one on top of the other. Adhere ribbon to center of strip.

Using 2-1/2" circle punch, cut a circle with glitter paper. Punch out two smaller circles (I used a scalloped punch, too) from the solid cardstock. Stamp image on smaller circle.

Adhere long strips to pail. Then adhere the circles to the pail, covering up the seams. (This then becomes the front of the pail.)

Using varied textures and widths, tie 6" strands of coordinating ribbon to handle. Cover the center of the lid with paper using decoupage sealer. When dry, adhere label printed on cardstock and metal label holder to lid. Tie charm to metal holder.

Stamp "Happy Hanukkah" and "To/From" images on tags.

You can find wooden dreidels at most party stores or in the Hanukkah section of your local large store this time of year. Punch or cut a 1-1/4" square from coordinating paper. Punch a small hole in center of the paper square, which will fit over the dreidel stem. Decoupage to dreidel top.

Then choose the "ingredients" for your jar. Include:

[Box of] 44 menorah candles

(enough candles for each night),

the large dreidel,

small box of matches

[embellished to match]

chocolate gelt, and

candle blessings.

For the Chanukah blessings, I printed the Hebrew, transliteration and translation on both sides of a 4" x 6" cardstock, rolled it up and tied it with blue & white twine.

Arrange the candles and other "ingredients" inside the pail.

That's it!

Here is the completed Chanukah-in-a-Jar:

If you would like a copy of the blessings document, leave a comment with your email, and I will send it to you.

These Chanukah-in-a-Jar make great gifts for children, grandchildren, teachers as well as hostess gifts.

While you're in the festive handmade spirit,

you may also like these holiday projects:

Display your Menorah Candles in Style

Add Color to your Blue & White Decor

Sharing at these linky parties:

Romantic Home

Diana Rambles Pin Me Linky Party

Life as We Know It

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Thanksgiving Table Favor Decor & Hostess Gift

Want an easy, quick and festive table favor or hostess gift for Thanksgiving?

Gather together a small mason jar with lid, fall-colorful candy [I used peanut m&m's], and a few embellishments such as twine, fringe, ribbons, flowers, labels and a tag.

The first step is actually the most difficult: filling the jar. Be very careful. Fill the jar to the top, avoiding the temptation to eat too much of the candy, or you'll end up with a half-empty (or half-full) jar. Not such a good gift. If you did this step correctly, you should have something that looks like this:

The rest is EASY. Embellish!

I first wrapped the jar with a piece of canvas fringe.

Then I tied twine around the fringe, using three colors of red, yellow and brown, which just happens to perfectly match the m&m's.

Top the lid with a sunflower and a tag. This one was stamped with "thank you." You can stamp it with Happy Thanksgiving, or just write a name on it.

And you're ready to go!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Jewelry Holder for the Tennis Fan

You gotta love a sport where each game starts with the word LOVE.

Even though it means you haven't scored any points yet, it is a kinder way to say ZERO.

When DecoArt asked me to create room decor for a sports fan, tennis immediately came to mind. As it turns out, I am a decent player on the doubles court.

I started this project on a search for a vintage wooden tennis racquet You can usually find them hiding in the corners of thrift stores. I paid $6, which was a bargain compared to the ones I saw at last week's flea market for $50 and more!

I sketched out my plan to turn the racquet into not only decor, but a useful jewelry holder.

I chose colors that tied into tennis: blue representing the courts and neon yellow for the ball, with white & black for the trim. The paints are Americana Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic.

First, I painted the entire racquet (including the strings).

Then I painted white stripes on the handle and sides of the racquet face

and added rhinestones around the frame.

The ball was a bit tricky. I didn't want to try cutting a real tennis ball in half. After some thought, I used a paper mache cupcake top, which has a flat bottom. I painted it neon yellow with white stripes, added a sticker that reads, "Queen of the Court," and hot glued it to the racquet face.