Faux Stained Glass Lanterns

I'll admit it, I'm too lazy to learn how to make real stained glass.  I love it, but I just don't have the patience or the skill. I truly admire those who do!  As you may already know, I will do almost anything to come up with a way to make faux stained glass and today I'm sharing how to do it with Unicorn SPiT Sparkling!  Yup, a little hard to capture in the photos, but these have a lovely shimmer when the light hits them!  Change up the design and you can make these lanterns for your table for any season.  Remember possums, there is always an alternative!  Oh, and don't forget to 

Make Your Mark!

 Fall tablescape complete with my new glowing lanterns

 Love they way they look with light shining through!

Fill them with tea lights or LED lights....It all works!

Watch how to make them here!

STUFF I USED

Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black & Brown

Unicorn SPiT Sparkling in every color

Minwax Polycrylic

E-6000 Glue

4 matching wood frames

Print leaf pattern on standard copy paper

1. Remove the backing and paper from each frame and 

glue in the glass (to the frame) with E-6000 Glue

2.  Tape the pattern on the underside of the glass so that you can see it from the front

3.  Trace the leaves on the glass with Allure Gloss in Black and Brown and let dry

4. & 5.  Mix equal parts Minwax Polycrylic and Unicorn SPiT Sparkling

 in a fine tip squirt bottle and shake

6.  Mix Dolly Firebird and Lavish Lovebirds to make Copper

7.  Mix Golden Gosling and Dolly Firebird to make Orange

8.  Fill in the leaves with the mixed colors and let dry

9. Glue the frames together in a box and fill with tealights or LED lights

Glowing and gorgeous!  Happy Fall!

Paper Turquoise DIY

Hands down, this is one of my favorite projects from The Big Ass Book of Bling!  When I was a kid, my mom wore this huge chunk of turquoise and I always thought it was real.  I asked her about it recently and she told me that my youngest brother had made it in 2nd grade from paper!  I immediately tried to make some myself and here are the results.  The great thing about this is that it's light and you can shape it any way you want.  Have fun!

xoxo, Mark

Danielle "rocking" some serious faux turquoise jewelry

I love the colors on this piece.  Try adding bits of brown and black.

Watch the short video tutorial here!

YOU'LL NEED

Blender

Strainer

Americana Acrylic Paints in Turquoise, Green, Red, Black and Brown

Wax paper

White school glue

Paintbrush

Newspaper

Minwax Polycrylic Clear Gloss

 Blend 2 large sheets of newspaper in 1 quart of water to create a pulp

Pour it over a strainer to remove about 95% of the water

Add 1/4 cup white school glue and mix

Create clumps and balls and place on wax paper to dry

*Make smooth balls for beads and bumpy clumps for stones

Let dry under a desk lamp overnight

 Drill holes in your round beads and pendants 

Paint the "rocks" in different shades of green, turquoise and red

When they're dry, paint them with watered down black 

Immediately wipe of most of the black with a damp cloth

*This will leave black in the creases and divits

Try watering down brown to give more texture

Dust the "rocks" again with more color

Coat them with a generous amount of Minwax Polycrylic and let dry

Mermaid Cuffs DIY

I grew up in Colorado with a bathroom that was decorated in seashells.  My mom was obsessed with them.  It wasn't until I was 19 years old that I actually saw an ocean, but even before then I loved anything and everything about living on the coast. Even if you live miles away from the ocean, these cuffs are perfect accessory to wear with your favorite summer outfit.  Dressed up with a fancy dress or down with a t-shirt, you'll feel like the beach is just down the street.

Danielle with her new Mermaid Cuffs

Watch the video tutorial here! 

YOU'LL NEED

Smooth On Liquid Plastic #325

Coral Silicone Mold

Starfish Silicone Mold

Americana Acrylic paints

DecoArt Dazzling Metallics

E-6000 Glue

Wood Bangles

Pearls and pearl cabochons

Paintbrushes

Minwax Polycrylic

Transparent tape

 Mix 2 teaspoons each of the two parts of your Smooth On #325

Pour it in your molds and let set for about 15 minutes

Remove from the molds while the pieces are flexible and tape them to the wood bangle

Let them harden for another hour

*They will harden to the shape of the bangle making your piece look polished

 Remove the hardened pieces

Paint them with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics in gold

Paint your wood bangles with Americana Acrylics in a color of your choice

Coat the bangle with Minwax Polycrylic

Glue your dry pieces to the bangle with E-6000

Tape them in place while the E-6000 dries

Add pearls and cabochons with more E-6000

You're done!

Frozen Inspired Floor Decor!

"Uncle Mark, can we watch Frozen?!?!"  Do I have a choice?  Not really!  Actually, the first time I watched it I did tear up a bit, but let's not get into that.  If you have kids around, there's a good chance they LOVE the movie Frozen.  I decided to create some Frozen home decor for my nieces in my bid to become FAVORITE UNCLE OF ALL TIME!  This floor mat is a great way to bring a little bit of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa's decor into a room.  I used Kraft-tex Kraft Paper Fabric which is a heavy duty paper and fabric all in one!  Coat it several times with polycrylic and you can easily wash it with soap and water.  Have fun!  "And yes, you can watch Frozen AGAIN!" 

Queen Elsa holding up her new painted floor mat!

Part of the castle that inspired this project.

Right by the door.

See the video tutorial here!

YOU'LL NEED

Print out of stencils above on standard copy paper

Kraft-tex Kraft Paper Fabric

Americana Acrylics in Baby Pink, Slate Gray, Purple Cow & Baby Blue

Sewing machine

Minwax Polycrylic

Paintbrushes

 1.  Print out your stencils on standard copy paper.

2. Fold them in half and cut them out.

3.  Unroll about 30" of Kraft-tex Kraft Paper Fabric.

4.  Fold the four corners in 2". 

5.  Fold all edges inward 1" to create neat, finished corners.

6.  Zigzag stitch the edges down all the way around the mat.

7.  Lightly trace your stencils on the mat with a pencil.

8. Start to fill in your design with the Americana Acrylic paint. 

 Keep going!

9. When you're done painting, coat the entire mat with 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic letting it dry for at least 15 minutes in between coats.

You're done! 

Lampshade UP-Style DIY

Not sure if you're a dumpster diver like me, but I found this chandelier a while ago and it has been through MANY incarnations. Since I found it on the side of the road I have no problem using it for my different projects.  I finally decided on gold with Mixed Media lampshades....but that could change next week.   For now, here's how I made the shades and if I make more, I'll share those, too.  Deal?  Deal!  By the way, just use your home copy machine for images and go to town.  Any kind of trim will do, too!  Happy crafting my lovely friends!

Here's the how-to video just in case!

My chandelier

Before the trim

If you don't have enough crystals, try beads or sparkly ribbon from the 99c store!

 You'll need:

Book pages

Glue gun

E-6000 Spray Adhesive

Scissors

Paper lampshades

Images from your home copy machine

Minwax Polycrylic

Trim of your choice

Cut your book pages in strips the length of the lampshade.  Don't worry about being too precise, you can trim later.

Spray the pages with E-6000 spray adhesive.  If you can't find it yet, use some white school glue and a paintbrush

 Apply them to your shade covering all of it.

 Let dry for about 25 minutes

Trim the excess off of the edges 

Cut out your images. I love birds and butterflies. Dover Publications has great clip art books.

Using the Minwax Polycrylic, apply them to your lampshade

Hot glue trim around the edges of the shade 

 

You're done! 

7 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS......Day 4! Rock on kiddos!

WELCOME TO DAY 4 of 7 Days of Giveaways!
To celebrate the official launch of THE BIG ASS BOOK OF BLING I have 7 boxes of goodies for 7 lucky winners this week.  The rules are easy!

1.  LIKE The Big Ass Book of Bling on Amazon.com

2.  Subscribe to my Youtube Channel and leave a comment on a video

3. SHARE this post on your FB page! 

YOU MUST ENTER EACH DAY TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THAT DAY'S CONTEST

I will be picking a winner every day from that day's entries!

OUR PRIZE PACKAGE CONSISTS OF:

Autographed copy of THE BIG ASS BOOK OF BLING!

EXCITER SET OF JACQUARD LUMIERE PAINTS

E-6000 GLUE

A SELECTION OF FISKARS SCISSORS

SELECTION OF ELMER'S PRODUCTS

KRYLON GLITTER BLAST 6 PACK

KRYLON STAINED GLASS PAINTS

MINWAX CLEAR AEROSOL CLEAR COAT

RING POPS (YES, RING POPS)

FYI!

I could NOT fit ALL of the prize package in this photo!  It's MUCH BIGGER than what is represented in this photo.....MUCH MUCH BIGGER!

Good luck!

We will be checking all the entries to make sure that all of the rules are followed so please make sure to accomplish all 3 tasks.