2012 Craft Projects Review

I can’t believe yet another year passed us by, as 2012 came to an end and we’re ready to start a brand new year….and some new craft projects too!  I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the craft projects that I made last year, and I definitely look forward to a new year of inspiration and creativity as I delve into some new areas.  I am sure that I have overlooked a lot of crafts for this post, but not because I did not like the outcome of them, rather the amount of them, and it was hard to choose which ones to show.

Not all of my crafts had a DIY tutorial with them, but I wanted to share with you the large list of projects that I tackled this year, which actually surprised me when I was putting this post together.  Looking at the photo above, from left to right, are just a sampling of the crafts I made:

1. CEMENT HAND BUSINESS CARD HOLDER:  This was made with a latex glove filled with cement, and positioned just right, and while it was drying I pressed a small piece of wood in the palm of the hand to make the indent for the business cards.  
2. PAINTED COASTERS FOR HALLOWEEN:  Simple project, purchased some cork coasters at our local store and spray painted them orange, then cut out some faces in card stock paper and painted the black faces on, then sealed the coaster with a nice coat of sealer.
3. WOOD LOVE PLAQUE:  I made this item to sell on our eBay store and had great success!  It took quite a long time to cut this design out of wood, with all the curves it had, but it was well worth the time and effort.  To make the design of this plaque, I opened up Publishes and made four blank pages, then I played around with some fonts to see which one I liked best, then enlarged the font to a letter sized piece of paper, and printed it on card stock.  I then cut out each letter, and taped them together as the photo shows and used this as my template.
4. PAPER MACHE TURKEY:
5. CEMENT SKULL:  This was made from a cement skull mold and I mixed up some Quikrete, added a hook for hanging, and let it dry.
6. CEMENT TEALIGHT HOLDERS:  Made from household containers, like a cologne box, or a plastic lid.  Very easy project to do!
7. EEK HALLOWEEN DECOR:
8. TREE BRANCH PLACE CARD HOLDERS:
9. MELTED BEADS NIGHT LIGHT COVER:
10. CEMENT “GROW” STEPPING STONE:  We purchased a neat cement mold from a seller on eBay and I made a few of these grow stepping stones.  The mold was amazing on how much detail it showed after it dried.  I love this!
11. OOPS, A DUPLICATE – CEMENT TEALIGHT HOLDERS!
12. WOOD LETTER “A” MONOGRAM:  I made this for Roy’s sister for Christmas!
13. WOOD HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS STRING ART PLAQUE:
14. HEART SUN CATCHER FROM MELTING PONY BEADS:
15. EASTER PLACE CARD HOLDERS USING WINE CORKS
16. PATRIOTIC WOOD BOXES:  How I made these were actually from an idea I saw on someone’s blog, but they were making clay houses for their catus.  I liked the idea and made a bigger version and designed mine out of wood.  I have used these little wood houses all over the house and even used them on Fourth of July for silverware holders too!
17. WOOD BAT:  I love all the wood bats that I have made!  I even hot glued some lights to the back of one and now it glows when I hang it on the wall!  Neat idea, eh?
18. PAPER MACHE SNOWMAN:  This is one of my favorite craft projects!
19. HALLOWEEN CEMETERY COLUMNS MADE FROM BOXES:  These columns are a big hit on Pinterest!  I made them from some leftover boxes (all of the same size) and taped them together with masking tape, then spray painted them to look like cement block.  Everyone loved this idea!
20. MORE CEMENT SKULLS
21. PATRIOTIC MONOGRAM FOR FRONT DOOR:  I hand drew a large “R” for my boyfriend and painted it in patriotic colors.  Got a lot of compliments on this!
22. WOOD LETTER “N” LEASH HOOK:  I made this for our dog Nikita to hold all of her leashes.  I hot glued strong magnets to the back of it and it is now on our backdoor!
23. PAPER MACHE PUMPKIN:  This is the first (of many) paper mache pumpkins that I will be making.  The process takes a long time, since you have to wait for each layer of paper mache to dry before adding the next layer, but we will be using lots of these pumpkins as props in our yard next Halloween.  We will also be selling them on eBay too once we get a few of them completed.
24. WOOD “GROW” SIGN FOR OUR GARDEN:  Enough said about this garden sign – – you just want your garden to well, um….Grow!
25. BENDABLE MUMMY GUY:  Just a little bendable mummy to sit on your shelf, or anywhere you wish him to be.  Lots of fun to make him and wrap him up in gauze!
26. SOCK BUNNY TUTORIAL:  Now, these little bunnies will make a huge hit as a gift, for your pet, or placed in an Easter basket or Christmas stocking.  No matter how you use them, the recipient will be happy!
27. REPURPOSING GARBAGE INTO MAGNETS:
28. MOD PODGE COASTERS:
29. PAPER MACHE TURKEY LEGS

So, with 2012 behind us now, I am looking forward to a new year and some new craft projects!  One idea that I am anxiously waiting to start, is making adorable pillows that will brighten any room, and also figuring out how to make little pillows with photographs on them.  I know that Mod Podge has a medium photo transfer paste to do just that, and I can’t wait to try it out.  I want to try my hand at making little “Animal Pillows” with Nikita and Bella on them.  You could place these on a chair, couch, or the bed for an adorable accent!  Obviously, this will make a great blog post tutorial when I figure it out!  I can’t wait.

In 2013, I also want to delve heavily into making paper mache pumpkins in all shapes and sizes!  Once I get a few completed, we will list them for sale on our eBay store.  What?  You did not know that we have an eBay store?  Shame on you!  You can view our eBay store by clicking on any of the buttons on the side of this blog!  As an eBay seller, we sell mostly seasonal items, and since we love Halloween, we thought that the paper mache pumpkins would be a huge hit.

Anyhow, looking back on the crafts that I made in 2012 has truly blown me away, as I amazed myself at how many things I actually created.  Look out 2013, I’ve got a lot of work to do!  🙂

DIY Cement Hand Tealight Holder

While we were recently working with cement, we had a brainstorming idea!  Since we love Halloween a lot, we decided to try making a Cement Hand to hold our tealights, and the results were awesome! 

In our last post, DIY Cement Tealight Holders, we showed you how to mix up your Quikrete Anchoring Cement, so you should be up to date on that part of the process.  So, now that you have mixed your cement, take your latex glove and carefully pour the cement in the fingers first so that they fill up, then fill the rest of the glove, but make sure you keep enough room at the top of the glove so you can twist the end together and clamp it off with a binder clip.

Next, lay the glove on a flat surface to dry.  To get your fingers to stand up in the air, slide the glove filled with cement up against a box to hold up the fingers. 

Then, take one of your laundry detergent caps that we used in making our other cement tealight holders, and hold it in place in the middle of the palm of your hand.  Keep holding the cap in place until you feel the cement start to harden.  (pushing down on the cap also helps get rid of any air bubbles you might get under the glove)  Keep pressing down on the cap until the entire hand has hardened, which is about 5-10 minutes.  Once the hand is formed well, let it sit for about another 10 minutes to cure properly.

Take off the binder clip and carefully cut the glove with scissors off the cement hand.  Work carefully around each finger, as part of the glove will be caught under the grooves of the bent fingers and you might need tweezers to remove all the glove in this area.  NOTE:  While making our first cement hand, we noticed that when we bent the fingers up against a box, the cement did not completely fill each finger to the tip, but that’s ok because it looks like a finger or two was cut off, just perfect for a Halloween effect! 

You now have a finished cement hand to hold your tealight candle, or perhaps you can fill the indent in the palm with paperclips!  If you use a cap large enough, the indent you make could possibly hold a drinking glass and use the cement hand as a coaster!  The possibilities are endless, but be creative, have fun, and make sure you wear your own pair of gloves when working with any kind of cement! 

If you make any Cement Hands yourself, please share with us what you have made!