THE ALTERED FLEA

Monday, October 28, 2013

Candy Corn & Cactus Centerpiece

Do you appreciate awesome alliterations?

If so, then you'll like this aptly-named

Candy Corn & Cactus Centerpiece.

Frequent readers of Altered Artworks

know that I love working with Terra cotta pots.

I've used them for

Halloween Treat Gifts,

Table Placecards,

a Tiered Front Porch Address Planter,

and Teacher Appreciation.

Here is one more project you can create using

three varying sized Terra cotta pots.

You'll also need yellow, orange & white acrylic paint,

decoupage sealer, foam brushes,
floral foam, E-6000 glue,

twine, Washi tape, ribbon,

and/or any other embellishments of your choice.

Oh, of course, you'll also need candy corn.

Since I only bought (notice I did not say "eat")

one bag of candy,

I filled the bottom pot with shredded crinkle paper.

And I planted a small cactus in the top pot.

Paint, decoupage and embellish the three pots,

following the traditional colors of candy corn.

Place some floral foam inside the largest pot

so it sits fairly snug.

Place the medium pot on top of the foam

so about 2/3 of this pot shows.

Repeat with another smaller piece of foam

in the second pot,

and place the smallest pot on top of it.

(This process is a lot easier to do than write!)

Use a bit of E-6000 to secure the pots in place.

Add the candy corn and shredded paper inside the pots,

filling up any empty spaces.

If you do not want the candy to be eaten,

cover it with decoupage so it cannot be removed.

That's it!

Wouldn't this make a ~~lovely~~

Cute Candy Corn & Cactus Centerpiece

for your Halloween table?

Would you decoupage the candy corn to the pots,
or would you watch them "disappear"?
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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Guest Blogging at "Fun Home Things"

Are you getting goosebumps just thinking of Halloween

and all the creative possibilities

that come with this spooky season?

Then come on over to

Fun Home Things

today where I'm guest blogging.

Find out how to make a glittery

Candy Corn & Terra Cotta project.

Here's a sneak peek at what you'll find:

I'll meet you there!

Sharing here:

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Why I'm in Love with my Local Hardware Store

I have been drawn to hardware stores since I was a child. In addition to the usual array of nuts and bolts, you can find a fun mix of wonderful items like kitschy kitchen towels, fancy drawer pulls, garden accessories, a full spectrum of paint chips, cute key tags, postcards, doormats, beach toys and much more. The employees at our local hardware store are helpful, friendly and they love to see my offbeat trash-to-treasures I'm working on.

Last week I needed two 1" wide wood boards for a spice rack that I was transforming into a two-tier shelf for my daughter's dorm room. The associate that helped me suggested inexpensive paint sticks might just fit the bill. He was right! They were the perfect width and length. With just a tiny inset cut on each end, the paint sticks were the answer to my broken spice rack. Here it is when I spotted it at a yard sale:

The shelf design lends itself to a vintage, distressed technique. However, this is for my college daughter, and she requested bright and sassy! She chose a neon yellow color. After two coats of paint, I podged strips of fun Chevron yellow & gray paper to both shelves.

I transformed a mini photo frame into a chalkboard, and glued it to the top of the rack.

For added pizazz, we adhered even more Chevron--this time, bright ribbon to the back boards (the ones I added from the hardware store) and white buttons to the front of the shelf.

It's bright, sassy and fun (just like my daughter). She loves it!

Maybe I have to re-think this whole vintage trend.

Since I'm an equal-opportunity Mom, I thought I would share this personalized stamped washer necklace I made a few years ago for my older daughter. It was my first attempt at metal stamping. I used two different sized washers, one stamped with her name, and the larger one with her sorority name. It was a big hit with her sorority sisters. Wouldn't this be a fun project for the girls to create on their weekend retreat?