Deck Out Your Deck In Seaside Style

Create your own "coastal" retreat with beachy flea market finds.

Seaside style is all the rage. And whether you live minutes from the shore or hours by plane, you can breathe the sea air by creating your own patio paradise. Coastal accents like glass floats, fishing nets, and even conch shells can be found at flea markets from Maine to Texas to Idaho. So get out your straw hat, pass the tanning butter, and get ready to turn your deck into a seaside oasis with these seven essentials for beach living.

1. Make A Cooler Table

You can't go to the beach without a cooler, so keep this flea market find by your side as a "seaside" table. Skip the modern plastic models and go for a vintage metal one in blue or silver (you can find one for between $5 and $25). Fill it with ice and this cool table earns its keep!

2. Go Blonde/Whitewash Furniture

Bleached wood and white wash paint a coastal scene. To get the look, simply paint flea market furniture white and use it outside. Look for bargains like dressers that have lost their drawers. The "shelves" are perfect for beach towels and flip-flops--even if you live in Kansas!

3. Catch A Net

Every seaside shanty has a net or two. This swap-meet regular makes a terrific outdoor curtain. Hang it from a long branch to create a virtual wall. Or make a chic, seaside swag by draping it from a tree. You can dress it up with shiny shell buttons for a little natural pizzazz.

4. Send A Message In A Bottle

Long for your own desert isle? Set the stage by adding a kooky message in a bottle to your island retreat. Just look for an old Coke bottle and a cork at the flea market and roll up a note inside: "Help! My umbrella has drifted to the other side of the glass!"

5. Make A Crate Great

Aged shipping crates abound at flea markets, and for some reason they are irresistible. So give up the fight and get a few favorites in different shapes and sizes. Turn each crate on its side and tack it up to your fence or wall for an instant outdoor shadowbox to showcase your shells. Now that sand dollar looks like a million bucks!

        

6. Get Out Your Beach Booty

Have piles of seashore finds from romantic walks on the beach, but no place to put them? Take your beachcombing skills to the flea market and search for half a dozen wire-clasp jars. Fill them with precious shells and sea glass for a splashy display of your tiny treasures. Just keep an eye out for pirates!

7. Hang A Sign And Hang Out!

No beach bungalow would be complete without a weatherworn sign, and the flea market is the perfect place to find one. If you see a sign that's peachy but not beachy, just paint it white and make your own. "Beach Access" is a classic, but "We're Happy As Clams" says it all.

Summer Lights

Bring the beach to your patio with a sparkly handcrafted candelier!

Glitz up your outdoor space by making your own candlelit crystal chandelier. With a simple hurricane candleholder, armature wire, and crystal beads, you can create a glamorous mood light for your deck. And for that seaside look, add sea glass, sand, or seashells. Make three candeliers to hang at different heights and you'll have the beginning of a romantic beach getaway in your own backyard.

For each candelier, you will need:

armature wire, 10 feet (1/8 inch diameter)
silver craft wire, 10 feet (26 gauge)
1 garden S-hook (3 1/2 inches long)
3 lengths steel jack chain, 1 foot long each (#16 size)
hurricane candleholder (5 1/2 inches tall)
white pillar candle (3 inches tall)
4 pieces of sea glass
1 cup of sand, shells, or sea glass
4 clear acrylic gems with holes for beading
12 clear iridescent bicone beads
needle nose pliers
wire cutters

Directions:
Step 1: Wrap the end of a five-foot length of armature wire around the top of the candleholder one time. Lock the wire tightly into place by folding the end back on itself as shown. Continue wrapping in the reverse direction, twisting three loops into the wire equally spaced around the perimeter to serve as hooks. Give each loop an extra twist to tighten as you go. Finish wrapping the wire and lock the end as before.

Step 2: Wrap the bottom of the candleholder with a two-foot length of armature wire and lock as before. Fold the long end under the bottom of the candleholder and fashion a swirl.

Step 3: Create the "S" shapes by bending a nine-inch length of armature wire. Make four total. Attach a piece of sea glass to each "S" using craft wire. Wrap with abandon!

Step 4: Create the gem danglies by threading a large gem onto a six-inch length of craft wire. Fold the wire in half and feed both ends through three bicone beads. Twist the wire into a loop and wrap the ends to secure. Make four total.

Step 5: Attach three lengths of chain to the garden S-hook. Open the bottom link of each chain using pliers and hook onto each armature wire loop at the top of the candleholder. Hang the candelier.

Step 6: Embellish by hooking three of the "S" shapes to the top lip of the candleholder and hang the last "S" shape from the bottom swirl of the candleholder. Then add a gem dangly onto the bottom link of each chain. Hook the last one onto the bottom "S" shape.

Finish your candelier by pouring one-inch of sea glass (or sand or shells) into the bottom of the candleholder. Set the candle inside. Pour the rest around the sides. Now grab your sweetheart and get those flames a-burnin'!

Colorful Twist: If your look is more ocean blue than seaside green, try using copper wire and cobalt sea glass instead.


Lip Tip: Make sure you select a glass candleholder with a lip at the top. That way the wire won’t slip off when you hang it.

Tip For The Landlocked: Is your nearest beach a thousand miles a way? Take a trip to your garden center for a bag of sand. Use the leftovers to make a sandcastle!

Alfresco Floorcloth

Transform your deck into an outdoor living room with a colorful floorcloth.

Get a jump on spring by creating your own painted patio rug. Go for an upscale look with dramatic color combinations and large stencils featuring ornate flourishes. Then coat your floorcloth with clear polyurethane to make it waterproof. Who knew you could have such a pretty rug outside?

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Primed heavy-duty "10 ounce" cotton canvas, 40 inches by 52 inches
Renaissance Tulip StenSource stencil
2" Floral Flourishes Border StenSource stencil
7" Balmoral Border StenSource stencil
7" Acanthus Border StenSource stencil
Cadmium Yellow Light acrylic paint, 4-ounce tube
Cadmium Red Medium acrylic paint, 4-ounce tube
Turquoise Green acrylic paint, 4-ounce tube
Ultramarine Blue acrylic paint, 4-ounce tube
Water-based clear polyurethane, 1-pint can
Elmer's carpenter glue
High-quality, synthetic bristle paintbrush, 2-inches wide
Foam stenciling sponge or spouncer, 1.25" size
Blue painter’s masking tape
Scissors
Yardstick
Colored chalk


WHAT TO DO
Step One
Paint the entire surface of the canvas yellow and let dry. Use the tape to mask off the border, then paint the border red-orange. Create the decorative pattern by taping each stencil down and applying the paint with the spouncer. Dab small amounts of paint into the openings, being careful not to get the paint under the stencil. (For best results, wash each stencil between applications with soap and water.)

Step Two
When the paint is dry, seal the canvas with the clear polyurethane using the bristle paintbrush. Allow the polyurethane to dry for at least 2 hours. Flip the canvas over and seal the underside. Let the canvas dry for at least 2 more hours.

Step Three
To create a tidy hem, turn the floorcloth face down. Starting at the corner, measure 12 inches up each side and mark with the chalk. Draw a diagonal line from one chalk mark to the other. Cut the corner off along the chalk line. Repeat for all four corners. Fold each side in 6 inches and crease, then glue the edge of the hem down with the carpenter's glue. Let the glue set for 30 minutes. Finally, place your new floorcloth on your patio and fire up the grill!

No-Slip Tip: Keep your rug from becoming a flying carpet with a few strips of anti-slip tape. You can find it at hardware stores.

Canvas Primer: If you can't find primed canvas, buy regular canvas and prime it yourself with 2 coats of gesso or white latex primer.

Garden Variety

In the spring it's tempting to race to your local home improvement store to get all new stuff for the patio. But wouldn't it be more fun--and economical--to shop for one-of-a-kind garden delights at your local swap meet? You can outfit your whole backyard in just one trip, and it will look like you spent years carefully collecting your garden treasures.

Easy Chairs
We see all kinds of patio furniture at the flea market throughout the year. But as the weather gets warmer, we see more and more. On this trip, we spotted a turquoise wicker sofa and chair. Kitty was drawn in by the color, but when we checked them out up close, we could see they were missing some of their curlicues and had some mildew staining. Although they could easily be cleaned, it would be hard to repair the broken wicker spirals, so she passed.

We found dozens of wrought iron patio chairs, something our friend Margaret was on the hunt for. Last year she bought a vintage glass table that seats six, but it didn't come with chairs. So since then, she has been buying the chairs one at a time, mixing and matching their designs. She intends to tie the whole set together by spray painting them all lemon yellow. This trip she picked up a café chair with oak leaves in the seat back for only $20. The same seller had a classic Adirondack chair with a worn paint finish that we all admired. He said the chair was invented in the early 1900s and that if you found an original made by Harry Bunnell, it could cost more than $1000. We all agreed that an Adirondack chair just feels like summer. Makes you want to lean back and sip lemonade!

Sculpture Garden
In springtime, nearly every booth at the flea market has a backyard Bambi or stone squirrel begging us to take him home. This trip seemed to have a pond theme because we saw several cement frogs, a huge turtle, and two glorious swans--and that was in the first hour! Kitty gushed over a three-foot copper heron that would make a regal sentinel standing guard over her vegetable garden. But the seller wanted $275, so we kept on looking. Later in the day, we saw a kooky cast-iron statue of a mermaid. She'd be a riot reclining on a chaise in the backyard. Jennifer managed to keep her cool when she asked the price. $150? Sold! It's a good thing flea markets have heavy-duty carts you can borrow. That mermaid weighed a ton!

Hot Pots
We both have a bit of a green thumb, so interesting planters were on our list. One vendor had wooden window boxes for $25 each. They were super weathered and would look at home hanging on a wooden fence. Another had a six-foot-tall wall planter perfect for trailing plants--and also perfect for privacy. We laughed that $175 is a bargain if you have nosy neighbors!

Just a few aisles over were a pair of concrete Grecian urns like the ones we had by the pool growing up. Our mom liked the classical drama they added, especially with giant scheffleras planted in them. Cement urns get a gorgeous patina as they age, and the ones we had in Florida were always covered in a pretty green moss. Our reminiscing convinced Margaret to buy two! The booth next door was filled with shabby chic pieces, including a flower cart straight out of My Fair Lady. Jennifer wanted to turn it into a portable English garden, but the dealer wanted $195. Too bad the mermaid ate her whole budget!

The Butterfly Effect

 

Bring the beauty of a butterfly garden to your patio with a whimsical etched window. Just pick up an old wooden window at the flea market, mask a flower and butterfly design, then etch with real etch cream. As you rinse your window clean, the ethereal image will be revealed!

Materials
Wooden window from the flea market
White Con-Tact paper (not shelf liner)
Plaid Silhouette Stencils:
Butterfly 29636
Floral Burst 29640
Chandelier 29637
Armour Etch glass etching cream (10 oz)
Steel chain*
2 Screw hooks (3½")


Tools
Sharpie marker
Scissors
Drop cloth
Window cleaner
Paper towels
Protective gloves
Sponge paintbrush
Kitchen timer
Drill


*Steel chain isn’t easy to cut, so measure before you go to the hardware store. Hold your window under the branch where you’d like it to hang. Have someone measure the distance from the window to the branch at each end. One length might be longer than the other if the branch slopes. Get the two lengths cut at the hardware store.


Instructions
1. Start by making a set of large stickers to use as a mask. To do this trace the Silhouette stencils onto the Con-Tact paper using a Sharpie. Cut them out with scissors but do not remove the backing yet. Arrange the cut-outs on your window to create a pleasing design. Make a sketch or take a snapshot with a digital camera to refer to later.


2. Set the stickers aside, don your gloves, and thoroughly clean the window with window cleaner and paper towels. It is very important to clean any and all oil from your fingers off the window. Any fingerprints will show up when you etch, and your finished project could end up looking like a crime scene!


3. With your gloves still on, peel the backing off the stickers and press your design onto the window. Use your snapshot from before as a guide. Crumple a piece of the adhesive backing into a ball and use the slippery side to rub down all the edges of your stickers. Clean the glass one more time by spraying the window cleaner onto the paper towel and carefully wiping the exposed glass around your stickers.


4. For the etching process, take the window outside and lay it flat on a drop cloth. Be sure you are still wearing your gloves. Using the sponge paintbrush, apply a thick layer of etch cream over the glass and stickers. Your brushstrokes will show, so use a swirling motion to create a pattern with the etch cream. Once your window is entirely covered with etch cream, set your timer for 5 minutes.

5. After 5 minutes, rinse the etch cream off the window with a garden hose. Rub the surface with your gloved hand to help clean the glass.


6. Take off your gloves and peel all the stickers off the window. Rinse again with the garden hose to remove any remaining etch cream. Let the window dry.


7. To hang your etched window, pre-drill two holes a few inches from each end, then screw two hooks into the top of the window frame. Attach two lengths of steel chain to a sturdy horizontal branch in your yard. Then hang the window from the last link in each chain.

Improved With Age: For a garden piece like this, shabby is chic! So keep an eye out for a wooden window with a weathered look. You can pick one up for less than $20.

Wonderful Waterfall Birdbath

Birds are drawn to the sound of water, so attract them to your deck with a tabletop birdbath fountain. All you need is a fountain pump, two glazed planters, and some river stones (and water, of course!). The pump will push the water up into the top planter, and gravity will send it trickling over the edge and into the dish below. The soothing sounds will make you want to sit back and relax while you watch the birds take a dip.

You Will Need
Small, electric, underwater fountain pump (60 gallons per hour at one foot lift)
Clear vinyl tubing, 3 ½ inches long, ½ inch inside diameter (or size to fit pump)
Large, shallow ceramic glazed planter, 14-inch diameter (without drain hole)
Small, ceramic glazed planter, 6-inch diameter (with drain hole)
Polished river stones, approx. 8 pounds
Hollow bamboo stick, 2 ½ inches long and wide enough to fit over tubing
All-purpose waterproof sealant or silicone, clear

Directions
Step 1
Put the pump switch in the ON position (unplugged). Place the pump on the bottom of the large planter to one side. Fill the bottom of the planter with river stones to the height of the pump.

Step 2
Feed the clear vinyl tubing through the hole in the bottom of the small planter so that one inch comes out of the bottom.

Step 3
Seal the hole around the tubing with sealant and let dry.

Step 4
Take the end of the tubing from under the small planter and attach it to the pump. Rest the small planter on the pump and a level bed of river stones.

Step 5
Slide the bamboo stick over the tubing. Trim the top of the tubing to the height of the bamboo stick.

Step 6
Fill the small planter with river stones and place any leftover stones in the large planter. Be sure to hide the cord with stones. Finish your fountain by filling it with water and plugging it in. The trickling sounds will let the finches know it's bath time!

Flotation Device: Turn your fountain into a water garden by adding a floating water plant like a hyacinth.

Beachcombing At The Flea Market

It's summertime and the shores of the flea market are awash with seaside treasures! Vendors wait all year to haul out their beachy bounty, from life preservers and crab trap buoys to abalone shells and coral. So on this trip to the flea market, we were on a quest to help transform a friend's guestroom into a breezy coastal retreat. Kitty was looking for a few authentic ship lanterns with red glass and a pretty patina that would be handsome on the bedside tables. Maritime artifacts like these go for hundreds at auction, so she was happy to find a pair for only $50!

As we ventured on, we spotted a weathered "Private Beach" sign that would add a whimsical touch to our island look. A galvanized bait bucket caught Jennifer's eye. She thought it would make a clever storage container, and at $24 it was a steal. The find of the day was a collectible sand pail in near-mint condition. Lithographed, children's beach buckets like this one are often scratched and dented after years of sandcastle making, but this particular pail looked like it had never seen the sun! This vibrant goldfish pail would probably sell for over $100 online, so we paid the $65 asking price and saved our haggling skills for another day.

Bouncing Beauties
Scalloped, metal lawn chairs from the fifties (sometimes called "motel bouncers") are as popular as ever and can cost over $100 in the real world. Fortunately, these classics are regulars at the flea market and go for a fraction of the antique store price. Old metal chairs are great makeover candidates if they don't have too much rust. Just sand any rusty spots, wash and dry the chairs thoroughly, and then give them a coat of fresh spray paint. We found a pair of these chairs for only $30! They'll be stylish with a coat of Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze and cabana-striped cotton throw pillows.

Seashell Chic
The perfect finishing touch for a beach retreat has got to be seashells, so stock up on these natural home accents. Look for colorful, affordable shells like speckled sea snails or lion's paw scallops to display in an apothecary jar. Starfish, sand dollars, and sea urchins make attractive objets d'art for only $5 each, and those you find at the flea market will have lost their fishy smell! An abalone shell with its mother-of-pearl finish makes a naturally glamorous soap dish. Spectacular finds like a sea fan ($5 to $15) or a nautilus shell ($15 to $30) can stand alone as amazing organic pieces of art. And look for peachy, king-sized conchs, which run between $10 and $20 each–they make dramatic bookends.

Buoy Crazy
Glass fishing floats in blue-green and aqua evoke that ocean feeling in any room. These vintage glass buoys are still washing up on the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Baseball-sized floats sell for between $10 to $15, and larger grapefruit sized floats go for $15 to $20. Genuine floats are hand-blown, have bubbles in the glass, and have no seam. Authentic glass floats should also show serious signs of wear and tear–after all, that breakable buoy has been battered by the waves for who knows how long. Plus, the frosted effect is beautiful!

What To Shell Out
Sea Snails 50¢ to $3
Sand Dollars 50¢ to $4
Starfish $1 to $10
Sea Urchins $1 to $10
Abalone Shells $3 to $5
Scallop Shells $3 to $6
Sea Fans $5 to $15
King Conch Shells $10 to $20
Nautilus Shells $15 to $30
Ruffled Clam Shells $15 to $30

Flea Style Birdhouse

Give an unfinished birdhouse unflappable curb appeal with a colorful flea market makeover!

YOU'LL NEED
Materials
Unfinished wood birdhouse, 9" tall.
RIT dye, Kelly Green.
Clear topcoat spray paint.
Screws, 1/2", 2.
Little nails, 1/2", 38.
Big nail, 2".
Eye screw, 1 5/8".
S-hook.

From The Flea Market
License plate.
Big washer, 3/4".
Small washers, 1/2", 8.
Small nuts, 1/4", 9.
Sawtooth picture hangers, 6.
Wooden yardstick.
Bottle caps, 6.
Small buttons, various colors, 6.
Medium buttons, various colors, 6.
Keys, 6.
Post office box number plate.
Old jewelry chain, 12".

Tools & Supplies
Pyrex measuring cup.
Sponge paintbrush.
Light-duty hand saw.
Liquid Nails glue.
Teaspoon.
Chopstick.

WHAT TO DO

1. Use a chopstick to stir 11/2 teaspoons of the Kelly Green RIT dye into 1 cup of steaming hot water. Over a drop cloth, use the sponge paintbrush to stain the wooden birdhouse with the green dye. Let dry. Seal the birdhouse with a coat of clear spray paint.

2. Start adding gingerbread trim by gluing one nut to the peak of the eaves. Using the small nails and a hammer, attach the saw tooth picture hangers to the eaves of the birdhouse. Then glue the rest of the nuts and washers in a row beneath the eaves, alternating the nuts and washers.

3. To make short flowers, glue a small button onto each key. Glue the short flowers onto the sides of the birdhouse.

4. To make taller flowers, glue a medium button inside each bottlecap. Snip pieces of the chain into two-inch lengths. Using the small nails and a hammer, attach the ends of the chain lengths to the sides of the house, stretching the chain out to form the flower stems. Glue a bottle cap to the top of each chain-stem.

5. Create a fence by sawing the yardstick into 4 pieces that fit around the bottom of the birdhouse. Using the small nails and a hammer, attach the ruler pieces to the base of the birdhouse.

6. To make the roof, punch a hole in the center of the license plate using the big nail and a hammer. Bend the license plate in half over the edge of a table to form a peaked roof shape. Place the license plate on the roof of the birdhouse, then screw the eye screw through the hole in the license plate and into the birdhouse. Use small nails to nail through the sides of the license plate securing it to the roof.

7. To finish it off, use the screws and a screwdriver to attach the post office box number plate onto the birdhouse over the door.

Crafty Shopping Tip: Don't have a license to drive to the flea market? There are plenty of license plates to choose from on eBay! Whether you find one online or at the swap meet, you can expect to spend about $5 to $10.

Secret Garden Beaded Bracelet

Capture the beauty of a summer garden in full bloom with an easy-breezy beaded bracelet.

YOU'LL NEED

Materials
25 Ruby Czech glass bell-shaped flower beads, center-drilled, 8mm
7" length Sterling-plated chain, medium wide cable
25 Sterling silver 1" head pins, 22 gauge
50 Faceted Swarovski crystal bicone beads, 5mm, various colors
1 Silver lobster clasp
1 Silver jump ring

Tools & Supplies
Round-nose pliers.

WHAT TO DO
Step 1: Place 2 different colored bicone beads on a head pin. Then place a bell-shaped flower bead on the head pin so the opening of the bell faces the beads.

Step 2: Push the beads all the way down until they rest on the end of the head pin. Bend the wire 90-degrees where it exits the top of the bell-shaped flower bead. Grab the bent wire at the very tip with the round-nose pliers. Rotate the pliers to curl the wire into a complete loop. You may have to reposition the pliers halfway through.

Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make 25 beaded flower head pins.

Step 4: To attach each flower to the chain, open the wire loop at the top of each flower with the round-nose pliers. Hook the wire through a link in the chain then close the loop again. Continue adding the flowers to links in the chain, making sure they are evenly spaced. Leave a ½" tail on one end of the chain.

Step 5: To finish the bracelet, attach the lobster clasp to the other end of the chain using a jump ring.

Crafty Shopping Tip: Consider buying your beads online. Beads are so small you can often get free shipping! Try www.artbeads.com.

Dazzling Detail: For a professional-looking finish, get 2 or 3 extra bicone beads and place them on a head pin, leaving off the flower bead. Then make a loop at the tip and attach it to the end of the bracelet.

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!

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.

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!

Cookie Party!

Our crafty Aunt Kay made us these super cute frilly aprons. So we wore them to the annual cookie party. We were voted best dressed!

Bead Heaven!

We just got back from the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza in Oakland where we finally got to meet the delightful Christi Friesen. She is a creative genius with polymer clay and author of the book Steampunkery which is not only inspiring and artistic, but also hilarious. Totally recommend!

We saw some terrific jewelry at the show and tried to restrain ourselves from buying too many sparkly things.

Some of our favorites:
Barb Switzer's wire work: http://www.beadswitzer.com/
Christi Anderson's PMC creations: http://www.elementaladornments.com/
Mikia Angel's seed bead pendant kits: www.buythekit.com/04/nikia.html

Happy beading!

Turkey Day Fun!

Check out Turkey Day Crafts For Kids, a slideshow we did for Parents Magazine's newsletter. They are all activities to keep the kiddos busy while you're prepping the Thanksgiving Feast. Happy Turkey Day!

This Topiary Is Bats!!

We made this batty topiary using black wrapped candies glued to Styrofoam. It came out so hilarious and cute! Check it out in this week's Woman's World magazine.

Jump Into Fall

Check out this piece called "8 Easy Fall Makeovers" we did for Family Circle's online newsletter. It's loaded with inexpensive, simple, and even free ideas to put your home in the fall mood!