Variety is the spice of life

I've been branching out from the wine bottles and adding a little variety to my inventory.  I'm trying to decide whether I have enough wares for a booth at the flea. 

Suitcase becomes cat bed

Cake stands and tiered servers

I'm told these will be dishwasher safe in a week.

Except the ones made with real china, naturally.

Knickknack nooks.

Everybody needs a little secret box.

Mug hooks and a pair of knickknack shelves.

Frames become trays.

Hoop groups

Shell plaques.

These turned out so cute, I may make some for myself.

Some finished hurricane bottles

I have loads more.  This is just a sample.

And some finished vases

I haven't settled on prices for anything at this point.

Wine Bottle obsessed

My coworker who's getting married who inspired the glass wine charms?  Source of my new obsession - cutting wine bottles.  I found a tutorial on YouTube where you use a glass cutter, score around the bottle and use alternating hot and cold water to separate the pieces.  It takes some practice, granted, and you have to get a really nice line around the bottle to get it off perfectly, but I'm really getting the hang of it now!

Honestly, if I hadn't gotten a perfect cut on my very first try, I might have given up about 20 bottles ago.  But how could I not be encouraged by this?

Check that out!  Perfect.  And, yes, that's the same bottle I used to display the wine charms. 

There have been MANY fails.

But now instead of getting one good cut out of every 8 or so, I'm getting one out of every 2 or so!  I came up with a way to roll the bottle to make a smoother cut, and I'm going to have my dad help me tweek it a bit over the weekend.

Loving it!  I have been completely obsessed with getting bottles to practice on.  I got an email from a guy on craigslist today who has 20 CASES of empty bottles.  Woo hoo!

I'm trying to build up an inventory for the Pop Up Flea Market this summer in addition to practicing for the wedding decor.  Now that I have a gorgeous, organized new work space and the workshop isn't ridiculously cold anymore, I'm cranking stuff out like crazy!

'Tis the Season

An Easter egg project that I'm still on the fence about.  That was terrible grammar, but you get the picture.

Decoupaging fabric on a completely curved surface is no picnic.

Drawer doll house

I saw this project online and just had to try it.  You take two drawers, put them back to back, and turn them into a doll house!  I did this in a weekend.  My first windows and door and exterior stuff looked TERRIBLE.  I tried to make them whimsical, but they seemed more like a kindergartner did them.  So I found some pictures online and printed them off.  MUCH better.

Now I'm hot for more drawers.  These just had a flat front which made the roof a bit boring.

Tiles

The previous owners left a bunch of leftover 4x4 tiles that were used throughout the house.  I used them to make the numbers on my wall clock.

So I've taken a bunch more, printed out some photos I took and put them on the tiles.  I had a hard time figuring out what color to edge them with.  Naturally, I think everyone's favorite color is teal or aqua, but I decided I should be a little more neutral.

Aren't they cute?  And they're already pre-drilled if you want to hang them on the wall.  They even have felt on the back.  Very fun to make.

Come on, Spring!

My small project materials inventory exploded after 5 hours of thrifting yesterday!  See inspiration pictures below.  I bought glass vases to spray paint with stencil designs, frames of varying sizes, AND won some diamond tipped dremel bits for more wine charms and baby food jar candle holders.

Now if it would only warm up enough to spend more than 2 minutes at time in my workshop!  Too bad I can't spray paint inside...

Glass tile wine charms

Inspired by my bride-to-be officemate, I made these wine charms from some glass tiles I had leftover from another project.  Seed beads make them distinctive from each other.  Share vino, not germs.

On sale at Pgh craigslist for $20 for the set.  Glass and vino not included.  'Smine.

Wooden jewelry display

I made another one.  Yes, it's the same color, but what can I say?  That's what a signature color is for.  I like the paper better in this one, and the compartments are smaller.  Fun to make!  Fun to sell!

For sale on Pgh craigslist for $25.  Jewelry NOT included.  'Smine.

Two crowns

Annie was very into the movie A Bug's Life before the holidays, and I made her a 'queen ant' crown for her birthday.

The first attempt was made with wire hangers, socks and felt.  It did not go well.  Not only was it HUGE, it was heavy and didn't fit on her head.

The second attempt went much better.  It is made out of foam and pipe cleaners.

She asked Santa for a 'a big crown with jewels' for Christmas.  This is made out of foam and stick-on 'jewels' that I reinforced with glue. 

The Castle - finished

The castle is finished (enough) and was well received both by my daughter and by my brothers who used to play with it in the Before stage.  I used matte Mod Podge to apply sheets of printed out stone and wood patterns.  I also printed out shields, lanterns, and other fun things.  The characters are Budkins and a green dragon from my older brother (because every castle should have a dragon to keep the knights from getting lazy).  This was an extremely fun project but put all other projects on hold for a time, so it's time to get back to business.