Glittery pastel bone and skull hair clips

Hello! How are you doing? Today is my second offical day of Study Break and I have certainly not done any studying ~___^ Instead, I've been working on finishing off some projects from the huge box of WIPs. So, so many abandoned projects; it's sad really. And also I've started some new projects because I am not the kind of person that will ever have all of her crafts actually finished.

  

This is one such project; I decided the other day that I wanted a hair clip shaped like a bone. I have no idea why, I just suddenly really wanted one. So I sat down with some sculpey and made some bones. And then I made some skulls. And then I burnt them (oops!) so I had to paint them.

 

 

I originally spray-painted them white, but then I decided that they should be pastel. And glittery. Because, why not, right? ~___^

I use Scott's Warhammer paints to paint my sculpey but of course those paints only come in dark, army-type colours; no pretty pinks in sight! So I mixed a drop of each of the acrylic colours in with some of the Bone White Warhammer paint  to create my pastels. It worked really well! I think because I used only a tiny bit of acrylic the paint still adherred really well to the sculpey. After I'd painted the bones, I gave them a thin coating of glittery Mod Podge; I absolutely love the subtle sparkle it gives the bones ^___^

 

I was going to attach alligator clips to the back of these, but then I found some great pins in the milinary section of Spotlight. They look just like bobby pins except they have a metal circle on the end of them which made them really easy to glue to the back of the bones. I wish I had found them before I made the bones though, because, as you can see, they are a teeny bit long and stick out from behind the bones.

 

I really like how these clips turned out but they are a little tricky to photograph; I took a whole set of photos yesterday but they turned out too blurry (for the close-ups) and limited in detail (for the in-action ones). So I took some new ones today but you can see from the photos with me in them that I'm still having some trouble with the latter problem; I wondered maybe if because they were so pale they were reflecting the sun too much? I don't really know. I included a couple of the in-action photos anyway, so you could get an idea of how big they are. You'll just have to imagine that you can see a bit more detail then the photo actually provides ~___^

I wore them into the city today as Scott and I checked out the new Codex release at the Warhammer store; but I didn't tell the people there that I've been using paints for non-army related purposes. That'll be our little secret, ok? ~___^

- Lisa xx

Doily spider web hoop, pom-pom spider, and a Hipster Wonder Woman cosplay

Hello! I know Halloween is over now (noooooooooooooooooo ; __ ;) but I still have some spooky things to show you! ^__^

I made this super simple cobweb decoration by framing an old doily in an embroidery hoop and glueing on a couple of plastic spiders ^__^

 

It was seriously so easy to do, and I'm really sad that it didn't have a long display period since I ended up decorating so late this year! >__<

 

But, at least I've got a head start on crafting for next year, right? ^__^

 

Here's the one tiny little corner that looked properly Halloween-ey (what's with all the end of year assignments, teachers? I don't have enough time for decorating! ~__^). Most of this is store brought, but I did make the glittery skulls and the washi tape skeletons (which you saw in the last post!).

I did also make the spider in the jar. It was very easy and I think balances on the line between spooky and cute very well ^__^

I used this tutorial to make the spider, although mine is a bit smaller so that it would fit into the jar and I gave it little eyes as well ^__^ After the spider was finished, I threaded a needle and pushed it through his belly, which created the hanging string.

I glued the string to the underside of the jar lid and then, when it was dry, covered the jar top with a scrap of fabric and some baker's twine. Easy peasy! ^__^

Lastly, here's my Halloween costume! ^__^ I decided on hipster Wonder Woman this year because I wanted to wear my glasses (so many people have told me that they look hipster!) and a skirt (because pants and I still aren't friends!).

 

This gorgeous illustration by Elizabeth Beals was the inspiration for most of my costume (you should check out all of her hipster superheroines, they're amazing!)

I made the headband using some gold ribbon and a piece of red leather which I cut into a star shape. My earrings are vintage that I got at an op-shop (and then soaked in antiseptic overnight ~__^), and my necklace is made from polymer clay and painted with acrylics. Unlike Elizabeth's Diana, I wasn't comfortable going out in just a bra so I wore a red corset style top underneath my transparent black top. I found the transparent top at an opshop and was so excited because it's vitually identical to the one in the picture! ^__^ My belt and skirt were also both from the opshop, as were my shoes and bag which I didn't take photos of (they are red high heeled Mary Janes and a red leather envelope bag with a gold chain strap respectively!). I already had the stack of silver bracelets, and the stars on my skirt are made from white felt and are just tacked on. 

Phew! And that's it! ^__^

Did you have a great Halloween? Tell me about it! ^__^

- Lisa xx

Washi taped wooden skeletons

Hello! The stores have started having Halloween decorations in stock, which I think is totally exciting, but some of them are a bit creepy. And not the good kind of creepy! ~__^

I found this wooden skeleton which one is apparently meant to give to children to paint. Would you give that to a child? I mean, look at it ...

 

*shudder*

However, I like things made of wood, and I like skeletons, so I brought three. ^__^ If you have a skeleton, or any kind of wooden shape really, you can use this tutorial to make it a more stylish kind of creepy ~__^

 

 Firstly, give it a coating of white paint. This is just to cover up the outlines, so don't worry if it's not too neat. I used spray-paint, but you could use acrylic if you have that.

Then, grab an assortment of washi tape. The only limits to your colour combinations is how much washi tape you own! ~__^ Your aim here is to create a kind of collage look; rip off small pieces of washi tape and place them haphazardly. Overlap them, lay them in different directions, just make sure you cover all the wood. I also removed the original wire joining the skeleton together to make it easier to apply the washi tape.

Once all your pieces are washi-ed, use a scapel to carefully cut off the excess. This part is very similar to the Monogram Washi Tape Brooches I made a while ago ^__^ Then give everything a coat of mod-podge, replace the wire, and add some baker's twine so that you can hang it up! ^__^

Huzzah! I made three different colour combinations; a modern green and purple, an original Halloween look of orange and black, and a classic red and black ^__^

 

I think I used about 7 different washi tapes for the purple and green one, 14 different washi tapes for the orange and black, and 8 for the red and black. Golly gosh! I don't have an addiction, I swear! ~__^

Obviously you don't need to have as much washi tapes as I do, even using three or four tapes would probably be just fine! 

Nonetheless, they're a great addition to my Halloween decorating! ^__^ (Does anyone get the impression I like skulls? ~__^)

- Lisa xx