Small Easter Wreath ......

I had high hopes for my Easter wreath this year, that is until I couldn't find any more of the string carrot embellishments I was so chuffed with from The Works (see 20th February post).  I tried in every Works I passed and online, but no luck ...........

Disappointed, I decided to use up all the foam carrots I had left over from Easters past (still available in Home Bargains 79p a pack of 6), although I wasn't very inspired by the idea.

I started off by painting a small MDF wreath on both sides with green acrylic paint.

Then glue gunned two layers of said carrots onto the wreath base, adding a few painted, wooden ladybirds for a little extra interest.

However, despite adding a carrot print bow, made with Easter ribbon from The Range (£1.29 for 2.7m), it still looked rather lacklustre to welcome in the spring!

So, I simply grabbed a few small, resin roses that I already had, punched some tiny foliage to go with them and then stuck them all in clusters around the carrots.  It looked better .........

......but it's not my finest work by any stretch of the imagination, but it will do for the next two weeks or so!

HEADS UP - The Works are stopping their Together Rewards scheme from Saturday 30th March, however vouchers can still be redeemed until Saturday 29th June.  I can't say I am surprised...... I've seen value for money and the quality of some of their craft products, particularly packets of embellishements go down in the past year or so. I  know I am partly to blame for their struggle, after championing them (as well as The Range and Hobbycraft) for quite a few years now, I'm afraid I've succumbed, finding better quality, value, variety and inspiration on Temu ......... hangs head in shame!

Hanging Easter Bunny Decorations.

These decorations use a few spare, foam clay, moulded rabbits I had left from last weeks very similar idea (18th March).

..... made using scraps of blue and green patterned paper, 4ins, wooden egg shapes (Temu 32p for £5.84), small wooden fences and tiny butterflies that I've had for ages, punched foliage, tiny resin flowers (£1.16 for 100 from Temu) and nail art, plactic bows.

I started by covering the egg shapes on both sides with the paper ........

........ and then cutting the fences in two to help fit the rabbit and his carrot in between.

The butterflies were duly coloured and doodled on and a small pile of foliage punched .......

........ which were all put together on the front of the egg.

After the butterfly was added, I faux stitched round the edges and along the skyline (on the front and back), plus a few clusters of three dots here and there, using a black biro (to prevent any bleeding of ink when the whole thing was varnished. I then gave the front and back several coats of clear, glossy, quick drying varnish.

However, when all this was done, the back looked a little plain, so I added a couple more wooden butterflies, a metal Easter plaque backed on blue card, plus more flowers and foliage, so that if they were hung as a decoration on festive twigs etc., they would look good from whatever angle.

Revamped Craft Table - A Work In Progress

My craft room table has been looking a little worse for wear of late, as I am not the cleanest of workers and don't often use a mat/cover while I am working.  I did paint and varnish it before Christmas, but yes, I mucked it up again, as soon as I started crafting again after the holiday, doh!

So, when I couldn't bear it any longer, I struck upon the idea of using packs of 1.75ins x 1.75ins, waterproof, adhesive squares that I had bought from Temu for a completely different project, which cost £1.68 for a pack of 62 pieces.

Well, the 5 packs I already had just about covered the first leaf of the table, so needless to say I've had to put in another order, enough to complete the narrow top/middle panel and the other leaf. 

...... however, I am quite pleased with the results/effect so far ......

........ which I think might be best to seal before the new packs arrive.

I have also bought a large plastic tablecloth to cover the table from now on while I  work ........ and when it's all finished, rest assured, you'll be the first to see the results!  

Easter Bunny Shelf Sitter Decorations

Another idea, inspired by the purchase of a new mould from Temu, that cost just £1.14, well, it would have been rude not too!

I started off by casting the rabbits using Crayola Model Magic ......

....... leaving them to dry out for a day or two, before painting them, using emulsion match pot paints.

I only gave the rabbits themselves a quick flick of paint, seeing as they were white already.

While the rabbits were drying I put the background fences together using slim, 7cm  craft sticks ........

...... painting them very quickly and lightly with a little white ........

..... and then yellow paint, before adding some doodled greenery using acrylic pens along the bottom and sides of the fence. 

The fiddle fart included black, flat back domes for the eyes, a pink, flat back, pearl nose and a tiny nail art bow on the carrot, plus a lick of pink felt pen in the middle of the ears ........

......... and then once the rabbits were in position, tiny resin flowers here and there, along with my signature three dot clusters.

I wasn't too sure if I wanted these to be hanging decorations .......

..... so I've experimented with having them as sort of shelf sitters by gluing a small, Jenga game piece on the back ...........

...... with I think, quite successful results ........

..... an idea I plan to explore again for Christmas and perhaps Halloween and birthdays.

Easter Bunny Egg Decorations

I wasn't sure if these hanging eggs would work, as the idea was soooooo well out of my crafting comfort zone, but, you know, I think they did. However, I have to apologise here, because taking pictures of them was a nightmare as they rolled everywhere.

They started out as a bit of an experiment, just to see if a new mould I got from Temu (£1.87) would turn out as detailed as I hoped it might be ........

I used Cayola Model Magic to create the rabbits  and yes, I was pretty pleased with the results, but left them for a couple of days as I didn't really know what to do with them at that stage. 

Then, I remembered the huge bag of plain, plastic, eggs decorations I got for £1 from Bilston Market a while back, from a trader who must have bought pallets of out of season stuff from Amazon. When I looked them up, they should have cost £7.99.

I glued a rabbit to each of three eggs, using As Hard As Nails to ensure a secure fix and then added some spare beading trim left over from another project over the join. It looked ok, but I gave the eggs a day or two to dry out a little more.

Painting was a little more problematic because, obviously, the eggs had a tendency to roll, as well as taking 3 to 4 coats of emulsion paint to cover the eggs to a sufficient depth of colour ......

...... but, I got there in the end..

However, I wanted to age them and give the impression that they were made of some sort of ceramic/pottery, so I dry brushed them with a tiny amount of white paint and they looked OK, but not quite as "aged" as I hoped ........

..... so, with baited breath, I decided to wax them ........

..... using an ancient pallet of rubbing wax that I've had forever and my finger .......

...... terrified that this final step would ruin them .........

...... but no,  woo hoo hoo, I was thrilled with the results ......

..... achieving the look I'd really hoped for, that certainly doesn't belie their true, very plastic origins until you actually pick them up!  

Resin Apothecary Bottles

I just wanted to show you these resin apothecary bottles I've made. Marc first told about this mould and the YouTube video that sort of went with it way back last year. So, I got me said mould from Temu for just £2.28, almost straight away, but to my shame, it just stayed in a box, in the cupboard until last week ...... but WOW! 

The video is from Claire's Crafty Corner, who I have followed avidly ever since ......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFJjXKh2dnY&t=653s

It was sooooooooooo easy to follow .........

I dusted the mould with a variety of Chameleon powders I also found on Temu (£1.34 for a 30g pot) .......

..... then mixed up a batch of 1:1 resin (Amazon), with a few drops of black pigment dye (Temu £1.34 - 10ml bottle) and simply poured the mixture into the prepared mould .......

...... and as I had a bit left over, I also made up a few small skulls.

All I had to do then was leave the resin to set, I gave it a little over 12 hours and was thrilled with the results (as above). Now, I don't have a clue what to do with them, typical, but for once it was about the thrill of the production, but I am thinking perhaps a Halloween wreath or a plaque that looks like rows of shelves ........ we shall see, perhaps nearer the autumn when I'll be in a more spooky mood??!!! 

Easter Door Plaque Using Iron Orchid Designs Primitive Mould

Woo hoo, I've got a new Easter plaque for my front door ..........

I usually have a wreath, but this year I thought I'd try something different .......

...... especially after I found this wooden blank in The Works for £4, thinking I could do something with it using my Iron Orchid Designs "primitive" mould.

I started by painting the plaque white (I don't know why), before giving it two coats of yellow emulsion.

While the paint was drying, I got out the mould and a pack of Crayola Model Magic ........

...... and proceeded to make a pile of impressions. After a good dusting of cornflour they all came out of the mould pretty easily, except for the hares, mainly due of the delicacy of their legs, but I got there in the end.

I then set about arranging the impressions on the plaque, before gluing them securely using Hard As Nails.  To be honest I was at a bit of a loss as to how to arrange them, so I copied a design I'd seen done by Made By Marley on a pair of bedside cabinets using the same mould.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=O8NUzbckvR4

I was then ready to get painting .............

I gingerly used acrylic paint and a pretty fine paint brush. It was a bit fiddly, so next time, since the surface I was using was flat, I wondered about painting all the parts first before sticking them down?  

When I thought I was done, I quickly dry brushed the edges and in between the shapes with shades of brown to give everything the appearance of a gentle aging.  

However, I have to admit to being a bit fuddled again when it came to sealing/ varnishing stage, as I've found that the acrylic paint tends to bleed into the varnish, what can I do to stop it?  Should I make my own chalk paint (adding a little made up plaster of Paris) to alleviate the problem or invest in a "proper" acrylic sealer?    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

But when the varnish was dry, I messed some more as it still didn't look quite right, painting over some of the parts again, this time with emulsion paint and then drying brushing in white, but not varnishing over it this time.

After that I knew I had to stop fiddle farting as I was in real danger of ruining it completely, if I wasn't careful.

Despite all these trails and tribulations I am really chuffed with the end results.  I like the aged look, but there again I think it would look just as effective if simply left with the colours popping, but using a satin finish (if varnished), rather than a glossy overall look, but whatever I decide I need to pop to The Works first  to see if I can find some more of the plaques!