Painted Mason Jar with Paper Pinwheels

I have no luck painting on mason jars - remember the cool flag jars I made for my sis a couple years ago that were such a nightmare for me to paint? Click here to revisit that post - they are really cute and she displays them all the time so that's nice, at least my suffering wasn't for nothin' hahaha! Anyway...I saw on Pinterest someone painted a jar with chalk white paint and I thought I'd give it another try - bought chalk paint that specifically says for painting on glass, I thought maybe the prob in the past was the craft paint I used - but nope, this was just as bad.

I painted one coat and let it thoroughly dry overnight, then when I added a second coat the base coat peeled off in spots. Ugh. I was going to skip this all together and not even show you, but hey, it's what I made so there it is - Pinterest fail. I am using it to display the paper pinwheels from yesterday's post, and with the addition of ribbon and tulle I'm hoping the bad paint job is disguised!

second coat

I even tried adding another coat - hard to see in this picture but it still peeled the under layers off!

One year ago: red, white, and blue berry trifle...SO good!

Red, White, and Blue Windsock

Browsing the internet (aka: wasting time instead of doing something productive) and saw this idea for an easy quick craft - since I have the supplies on hand I just now went and made one (aka: got off my behind and did something)...took me maybe 15 minutes tops and it's really cute. Great kid craft!

Cut 1" strips of plastic tablecloths - I cut 10 each of red, white, and blue ones that I had on hand (from the dollar store that are 54x108") for a total of 30 strips. Make a wire ring using whatever wire you have on hand that you can bend into a circle, twisting it closed with some pliers (turn the ends under so they aren't sticking out and sharp). I have 16 gauge wire which is pretty heavy but still easily bend and shapeable.

For each strip: fold in half, put the center loop under the ring, bring the ends up over the ring and thru the loop, pull tight. Repeat until the ring is as full as you want it. Tie on some fishing line (or thread, or light wire...) to hang.

this is all you need (or use scissors to cut the strips), plus pliers to bend the wire.

29 strips to go...

tie on something to hang it - I used fishing line.

Found the idea here.

Pom Pom Earrings

Got the idea for these from Michaels, I didn't have all the supplies they called for so I made them using what I have on hand. They came together really quickly once I made the pom poms - for those I found a tutorial here to DIY a pom pom maker and it totally worked! I'm pretty stoked, I do love pom poms and now I know how to make them quickly and easily - I can feel my sister rolling her eyes at me as I write this, she's gonna love (wink) these earrings...

This is a two-part craft - I thought about making it 2 separate posts but if you want to make these in time to wear on July 4th I should give them both to you at once. This is a longer post than I normally do so bear with me!

First you need 2 pom poms, you can make them any size - mine are about 2". I made them in red so I'll have fun Fourth of July jewelry to wear with the blue and white cotton dress and red converse tennis shoes I'm planning to wear that day,  make yours any color! Watch the video to see step by step directions, it's quite easy. You'll need to cut a piece of yarn about a foot long before starting, set aside for now. Cut out 2 circles from cardboard, then cut a smaller circle inside and a notch on the side - they look like 2 "c"s once you're done. Hold the two pieces together and wrap yard as shown starting at one end of the c and wrap to the other end, then wrap back to where you started so there are 2 layers of yarn on the circles. With your non-cutting hand hold the yarn in place and don't let go while inserting scissors between the 2 circles with your cutting hand. Once again, don't let go! Cut thru the yarn as shown; still holding on to the yarn with one hand use your other hand to wind the long piece of yarn you cut in the beginning around the pompom between the 2 circles and tie in place. Remove the cardboard and trim the balls to make them even all around - that's the hardest part, getting the whole ball even!

2" circle, then trace a 1/2" circle in the middle and cut out, also cut a notch so there is a place for the yarn to wind thru. After making the first one trace it onto the 2nd circle and repeat so you have 2 identical "c"s - they look like "c"s to me.

holding the two circles together, wind yarn around from one end to the other and back again

You'll need to hold onto the yarn that is wrapped around the inner circle - I'm not showing that 'cuz I need my other hand to take the picture! Insert your scissors between the 2 circles and cut thru the other edge of yarn (the middle of the circle stays intact) - don't let go of the inside part of yarn or you'll have little pieces of yarn and no pom pom!

still holding the ball together with one hand, insert a length of yarn in between the 2 circles and pull tight.

knot the ends and remove the cardboard. Trim the pom pom so it's even all the way around.

Now to make them into earrings...

Supplies I used per earring:
15 small blue beads
1 jump ring
1 crimp bead
1 spacer bead
fishing line
needle
2 tweezers
needle nose pliers
glue (if you want to get all serious about your project)

Thread the needle with fishing line and put the needle thru the middle of the pom pom. Then bring the needle up thru the bottom of the pom pom and knot it at the top. Cut off one end of the fishing line so you just have 1 strand to work with (if I was serious about these and wanted to make sure they don't break I'd put a dab of glue on the knot before cutting one end off - but this is just a fun little project and I don't care if they last forever). Remove the needle. Thread 15 beads onto the fishing line, then the spacer bead, the crimp bead, and lastly the jump ring. Run the fishing line back on itself thru the crimp bead, the spacer bead, and a couple of the blue beads pulling till taught but not so tight the beads buckle. Using needle nose pliers crush the crimp bead to lock the fishing line in place, then cut off the tail sticking out thru the blue beads (once again you could but a bit of glue there to make sure it stays put). Using 2 pairs of tweezers open the jump ring by twisting the sides away from each other - don't pull the ring apart that will make it all wonky and difficult to close, if you twist the end (one tweezer goes away from you and the other twists towards you); attach the jump ring to the loop on an earring hook then close the ring back up.

after running fishing line thru and back up the middle of pom pom, tie it in a knot and remove one tail.
slide 15 small beads onto the other tail as shown. 

add a spacer bead, crimp bead, and jump ring - then thread the tail back thru the crimp bean, spacer bead
and a couple of the blue beads. pull tight so there's no space between the beads then crush the crimp bead using needle nose pliers. cut off any tail that is sticking out. 

Paper "Fireworks"

I'm working on making things for Ronda's seasonal display table (click here  for Halloween and here for Fall), we're doing a "beachy" summer theme and I'll show you all the fun things I've been making for her in the next few posts. While making some pretty paper flowers I thought how much they looked like fireworks if I used red, white, and blue paper - they'll be perfect for Fourth of July decorations.

Starting with a 3.5"x8.5" strip of cardstock, fringe one long edge with fringing scissors (or just make thin cuts the entire length with sharp scissors). Tightly roll up the strip, run some glue (I used a glue stick) along the last one inch of end so it'll stay coiled up. Pull the fringe down, slightly curving it with your fingers as you go so it pulls apart and looks like a paper pompom. Add a drop of glue to the underside of the coil then insert a wooden skewer. Done. I did the flowers a little differently and will share that later (click here to see the spider mum post).