Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sweet Cupcake Ring Boxes

These mini cupcake ring boxes are so scrumptious, you'll want to whip up a whole batch! We made them for Crafts 'n Things magazine.


WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Materials
Sculpey III Oven-Bake Clay:
Chocolate #053
Dusty Rose #303
Spring Lilac #1216
Sunshine #1274
Pale Pistachio #1221
Translucent Liquid Sculpey Bakable
Transfer & Color Medium.

Tools & Supplies
Studio By Sculpey Super Slicer.
Studio By Sculpey Style & Detail Tools.
Sculpey Clay Gun: clover shape & small circle shape.
Circle cookie cutter, 1 1/8" diameter.
Rolling pin.
Wax paper.
Masking tape.
Cookie sheet.
Aluminum foil.
Old deck of playing cards.
Packing tape.
Ruler.
Fork.
Sponge paintbrush.


WHAT TO DO
1. Before you get started, cover your worktable with wax paper and secure it with masking tape.

2. To make the bottom of the ring box, slice off half of the Chocolate clay block, then condition it by working it in your hands until it is soft and pliable. To ensure your clay is rolled out evenly to the right thickness, make two stacks of playing cards with 7 cards in each stack. Tape each stack together with packing tape. Lay one stack on each side of your Sculpey. Roll out the clay with the rolling pin until the ends of the rolling pin are on top of the stacks. Your clay will be the same thickness as the stacks of cards.

3. Cut a rectangle 3¾" long and 1 1/8" wide from the rolled out Chocolate clay. Press a fork gently into one side of the rectangle to create the illusion of cupcake paper, repeating along one side to cover the piece. Use the cookie cutter to cut a circle out of the remaining rolled out clay. Stand the rectangle on its side and butt the bottom edge up against the outside edge of the circle. Curve the rectangle around the circle, pressing the bottom edges together to make a cylinder. When the sides of the rectangle meet, press them together. Burnish all the seams with the large metal ball end of the detail tool until the seams are smooth and nearly invisible.

4. To make the frosted lid, condition and roll out the Dusty Rose clay using the rolling pin and the same 7-card stacks. Cut out a circle with the cookie cutter. Make the circle slightly smaller than the bottom of the ring box by pressing the cookie cutter around the circle's outside edge, shaving off about 1/16" of the circle's diameter. Roll a snake ½" thick and 7½" long. Taper the ends with your fingers. To build a platform for the frosting swirl, roll a ball ½" in diameter, then mold it into a Hershey's Kiss shape. To make the frosting, press the end of the snake onto the outside edge of the kiss and coil the snake up and around the kiss, finishing with a swirl.

5. To make delightful sprinkles, use the extruder with the clover shape tip. Condition the Sunshine clay and press out a thin clover. Slice off with the slicer. Repeat until you have 10 Sunshine clovers. Next, use the small circle tip and the clay gun to make sprinkles in Spring Lilac and Pistachio. Press the clovers and sprinkles onto the frosted lid.

6. Bake all your pieces in a 275º F oven for 15 minutes on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil.

7. After the pieces have cooled, coat them with a layer of Translucent Liquid Sculpey to remove fingerprints and create a professional finish. Crumple a sheet of aluminum foil and press it out again to cover the cookie sheet. Place the coated pieces on the cookie sheet and bake again at 275º F for 15 minutes.

Tasty Twist: We adore a chocolate cupcake covered in pink frosting, but these little ring boxes also look sweet in other flavors. Try Vanilla Crème with Spring Lilac frosting or Sunshine yellow with Chocolate frosting. And don't forget the sprinkles!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Sew A Sweet Purse For Spring

Here's a fun little pocketbook to make for spring. It appeared in Crafts 'n Things.


Pretty Petite Purse

Make a mini cocktail purse perfect for a night out on the town.

YOU'LL NEED

Fabrics & Embellishments
Cotton fabric: floral, ¼ yd.
Cotton fabric: polka dot, ¼ yd.
Pellon Fusible Interfacing, ¼ yd.
Patterned red ribbon, 7/8", 60".
Gold rings, 1¼", two.
Ornate button, gold with shank, 1½".
Sew-on snap, ½" size.

Tools & Supplies
Iron & ironing board.
Pressing cloth.
Sewing needle.
Sewing machine & matching threads.

What to Do
Step 1
Place the rough side of the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the floral fabric, cover with a damp pressing cloth, and steam the pieces together for 15 seconds.

Step 2
Cut two 7½" x 7¾" rectangles from the floral fabric and two from the polka dot fabric. Cut the 7½" sides of each rectangle so they angle inward and the top of the rectangle measures 6" and the bottom measures 7¾".

Step 3
Cut a curve into the top edge (6" side) of each piece of fabric so the center of the arc is 1" below the top. (Cut one to use as a pattern so all the curves match.)

Step 4
Place a floral and a polka dot piece together, good sides facing in. Machine sew just the curved edge using a straight stitch with a ¼" seam allowance. Repeat for the other pieces of fabric.

Step 5
Open the two pieces of fabric and place together, good sides facing in, making sure the floral fabric faces the floral fabric and the polka dot faces the polka dot. Pin all the way around the edges. Machine stitch the pieces together using a straight stitch with a ¼" seam allowance. Leave a 2" opening in the side of the polka dot fabric.

Step 6
Create "boxed corners" by pulling the fabric at one corner apart and creating a triangle with the seam line down the center. Measure 1" from the point of the triangle along the seam line and mark a straight line perpendicular to the seam. Machine stitch along this straight line. Repeat for all 4 corners.

Step 7
Turn the piece right side out. Hand sew the opening closed. Stuff the polka dot end inside the floral end to form the purse lining.

Step 8
Cut the red ribbon into two 23" lengths and machine sew together with the good sides facing out. Then cut and sew two 11" lengths of ribbon together in the same way. Center the longer ribbon on the bottom of the purse and pin it to the bottom and sides. Hand sew the ribbon into place being careful not to sew into the lining.

Step 9
Fold the end of the ribbon over 1/8" and feed it through one of the gold rings toward the inside of the purse. Pin the folded end of the ribbon to itself below the ring. Machine stitch to secure. Repeat for the other side. Attach the 11" ribbon handle to the gold rings in the same way.

Step 10
Sew the snap to the inside of the purse ½" from the top edge, being careful not to sew through to the outside fabric. Sew the glitzy button to the outside front of the purse over the snap.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Craft and Hobby Show Fun!


We just got back from this year's Craft and Hobby Show in LA! We got to see all the latest and greatest new craft goodies coming out this year. One of the highlights was the Epiphany Crafts Button Studio. You can make your own custom buttons with this cool hole punch/sticker tool. And we loved meeting Tricia Barrett, the gal behind the idea! Her booth was loaded with flea market finds, so we knew we were kindred spirits!
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