 I've never been a beach girl. Well, I guess I like to sit on beaches but not swim and such... does that make sense? I'm the girl that wants to just sit and read outside in the sun with a drink then go cool off by putting my feet in and then repeat the process! Anywho, regardless of not being a beach girl... I have to say I love how this Mermaid Lantern came out. I have previously done many renditions of a fairy lantern seen here but this change up was really fun especially for summer. For this particular craft I utilized a readily available peanut butter jar but you could definitely use just about any jar you may have at home! If you want to make this project a little more fun and involved (especially for kiddos) take a trip to the beach to look for shells, sea glass, and interesting beach finds to use instead of buying items at the store! Even broken jewelry or random gems will look perfect on this jar if you think about what is often lost and found at beaches! I did purchase this cool starfish on Amazon as I was doing it for a class and it came in a pack of 24. As well as this pack of fish netting that I cut and hot glued to the outside and lid! Supplies:
1. So let's begin! For this project I utilized light blue tissue paper (you could use any color though!). You can cut it down beforehand to better fit your jar so you don't have a bunch of extra in your way! I chose to leave this flat and not crinkle it at up like I had done with my fairy lanterns. Start by brushing your liquid glue onto your jar in about a quarter of a section at a time. Then lightly lay your tissue paper (right under the top of the jar so you can still put the lid on!) into the glue and smooth it out gently. Repeat the process until the jar is covered.
2. Flip the jar upside down so that you can cover the bottom. Trim away some if there is too much, paint on some glue and fold over the paper into the glue to cover it completely.
3. Work on covering your lid by doing the same thing. Paint on your glue and cover it the lid with the paper. I put one layer on and did another to make it a bit darker! Trim away the excess from the lip of the lid.
4. Add your mermaid to the inside of the jar by painting the one side with the glue and pressing her on the inside of the jar where you would like (avoid the seam from your tissue paper!). (Optional) Add glitter to the outside of the jar by painting glue on where you would like the glitter to be and sprinkle the glitter into it. I used it to “frame” around where the mermaid is in the jar. Use your finger to tap the glitter into the glue and shake off the excess.
5. Next, add the netting! I found this surprisingly tricky! You can stretch it across your jar, cover the entire jar, or overlap it in a messy way (option I chose!). Secure it in various spots with hot glue, careful with your fingers! I also added some to my lid so that it would hang over the sides!
6. Once you get your netting situated, you can hot glue your embellishments! You could really add however many you want to your jar and all the way around too. We only had a limited number of supplies so I added them mostly around where the mermaid is to frame her silhouette.
7. Last step, add your candle! Again, I got my candles from Amazon, because they came in bulk for the class, but I also liked these ones because they were a bit taller than normal too since the jar was also taller and wider. Mine kept rolling around in the bottom of the jar so I also added a piece of scrap fabric in the bottom first so that the candle would have something to sit into. Turn the candle on, put the lid on, and watch it glow! Ps. you don't have to actually twist the lid on, just close it enough so the top is covered :)
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 Are you looking for something cute and fun for these summer days ahead? Really this craft can be done for any season or holiday, let's be honest, but I think they are particularly cute for summer! It is a very simple and relatively quick craft that just about anyone can do. If you have littles wanting to help, just make sure you supervise cutting and that you handle the hot glue of course! Supplies for flowers:
Supplies for upcycled vase:
6. It will look pretty uneven, so just trim around the yarn all over again 😊 Do this step with each of your pom pom flowers.
7. Next, using hot glue, glue each of your “flowers” on top of the wooden sticks. I had 6 sticks but cut 3 of them down to smaller sizes so that they would be at different heights! You're all done with your pom pom flowers at this point!
 Who doesn't love wildflowers?! This is a fun, whimsical painting to do with friends during the spring or summer months, they'll love it! Supplies:
14. After adding some more grass in, it’s time for the really messy part!
  Supplies:
When I saw posts on Pinterest regarding these rocks I thought they were adorable and felt like I had to do them for a program at work, which here I am, prepping to do just that! My goal was to travel around to local parks and search for the perfect "strawberry-shaped" rocks to use, however, doing them for a public program meant that I needed about 110 of these rare diamonds and lets be real... that did not happen. I love using up supplies from previous projects and a coworker of mine had left over "mexican river rocks" from a rock-painting program, so, this is what I ended up using, cool. Taking a quick look at project photos on Pinterest, I saw that some showed that the rocks were painted white first. "Nah, I don't need to do that" I thought to myself peering at the 110 rocks waiting on my cart. So I went ahead and painted the first couple with red... "huh... this doesn't look too good" I quickly realized. "Do I seriously have to paint these white?" I begrudgingly thought to myself. So, I took a shot at the next one with a nice single coat of white acrylic paint. After it dried, I put the first coat of red over it and WOW, what a difference! You can see in the below photo the ones I painted first laying in the background on newspaper vs. the new beautifully vibrant rock in my hand.  Thankfully, we have people who work with us who are often looking for "odd" jobs to do in down time.... well.... I think painting 110 rocks white is the perfect job to do for that! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought 5 rocks would be a good amount for this project which ended up working well for dry times as you make your way through each rock and each layer of paint. So, paint all rocks white, then paint all rocks red. I put 2 coats of red on top so it's a nice even layer.
After my dark green dried, I went over it in a smaller reflection with light green. Then, I added a dot of the dark green in the center to represent where the stem would technically be. I'm not gonna lie... I hated this... still hate it. I do not like the way this came out but got even more stressed out the more I tried to "fix" it. I found it best to just leave it as is and move on full steam ahead!  Next, will be your act of patience. Using a tiny pointy brush, paint "raindrop" shaped black "dots" all over your rocks to represent the strawberry seeds. And do this with every... single... rock!  Now, go over every... single... dot.... on every... single... rock... with a tiny white "raindrop"/"dot". You could also change this up and be more realistic by making the seeds a golden yellow or changing the look of some so they're not all exactly the same. But I didn't have time for that and was shooting for a simple, easy project for my participants!  Lastly, put them in a cute bowl, basket, container, whatever! I found farmer market style containers at our local craft store. They came in a pack of six so were super affordable! I also put a piece of fabric in to drape over the sides before I put the rocks in and wa-la, Adorable summer decor!  It feels like it has been ages since I have last posted! But it has not quite been 2 months yet so I think I'm still in the clear. The reason for my absence was mostly due to the fact that I was in charge of throwing my parents a surprise 40th anniversary party! And it's no simple feat - especially when you want to do it up like me (Momma taught me best!). Planning a party of any type has so many components! It starts with when to have it, where to have it, and rolls into the confusing guest list of who and who not to invite - hoy, so many decisions! Luckily, a wonderful aunt offered to host the party for us, which means... no cost! (I tried to give her money guys, I swear). Once you decide on a guest list, you can make/order invites. So much fun!  We put a twist on the party since it was for my parents anniversary and made it a 1970's party to honor 1979. I love having a theme. It makes it more fun in my opinion! But, I also think just doing a general color scheme is fun too! So, once you get those invites out you can start thinking about the details: food, decorations, etc. Luckily, my parents have amazing friends, everyone offered to bring something. My aunt and I provided the main dishes and everyone else brought sides and desserts. Someone else even offered to get the cake for us - thank you, thank you!  I was left to decorate, which I love more than anything. Since we went with the 1970s, I tried to stick with the beautiful hues of that era - yellow, olive green, peach, brown, etc. and it was beautifully vintage when it all came together.
To see how to make the fabric garland, read my post here: https://www.the-art-escape.com/blog/scrap-fabric-garland I put together a small photo collage (didn't want it to be too overwhelming) to show the progression of our family over the last 40 years and also put their 1970 style photos in frames to use as decorations on the tables - and conversation starters of course!
 I used mason jars for center pieces, filled them with stones so they wouldn't blow over, and put a simple mixture of fake flowers with pin wheels or "40" stakes in them. I purchased the pin wheels for dirt cheep at a craft store and made the "40" stakes myself by cutting out "40" on glitter paper with the CriCut, gluing them to a white background, and taping them to the stakes. I trimmed everything down to fit into the glasses at varying heights. My aunt also had tree slices left from previous parties that we used under the mason jars! This provides some extra pazaz to the table for sure! To be completely honest, I didn't really know how many tables we would have. I also didn't know where I would be hanging all the stuff I was making but I just kept making away! Everything was able to be used and it all came together perfectly!
Although it was supposed to be a surprise party... my parents totally knew! They said no one talked to them all week and people were being too weird - woops! That's ok - it was a perfect 70's bash none-the-less. Now, for one thing that was not so perfect.... there always seems to be something that happens at events: strange family drama, weird occurrences, something doesn't work, something breaks, you forget the cake, etc.... this particular event resulted in my aunt (yes the same aunt who hosted) acquiring a broken leg!!!! It was awful, there's just no other way to put it. I felt/feel absolutely terrible that it happened because, in my mind, if I wouldn't have had it there, she wouldn't have broken her leg! Now she will be laid up in a cast for weeks and weeks, right in the middle of summer (she's a camper, this is a big deal people!) and right before her grandbaby is due! Terrible, terrible, terrible! It happened while we were setting up for the party, we tried to make her sit the rest of the day/night but the woman wants to move, move, move! Thankfully, she had a boot from when she broke her other leg another time and wore it all night... but, the next day, x-rays revealed it was most certainly broken. Picture below to prove how amazing my aunt is for sticking around the whole night!  So, in conclusion, there are so many different pieces and parts for planning a party. You can go in so many different directions and do just about anything, making it personal for whoever the guest-of-honor is!
Need ideas for planning your next party?? Just ask me, I'd love to help! |
Rebecca Myers (Dickinson)Hey there, I'm Becca, or Rebecca, but not Becky, never Becky, unless you're my family from down south! I'm a simply modern librarian by day and an artist by night. My pursuit is for a simple, happy, healthy, and more fulfilling life! I hope I inspire you to get crafty! Archives
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