Hot Holiday Gifts and Gadgets......a live interview from Atlanta, GA

 Ok, this is just a screen shot and I'm not very good at capturing the moment, but if you click on the link below, you can see one of my 30 very early morning interviews from Wednesday.

http://www.tucsonmorningblend.com/videos/132953923.html

LeAnna from Lee Lee's Sweets won the last contest!

Congratulations LeAnna!  You've won a copy of The Big Ass Book of Crafts 2.  I saw your blog when I picked your name and I love your baking skills.  You are super talented! Get in touch with me at MarkMontanoNYC@aol.com so that I can send you your book and get your mailing address!  

99C STORE: Silver Antique Mirror

I challenge myself recently to invent a way to make a silver leafed mirror without the cost and trouble of actually silver leafing something.  I got this round mirror at the 99c store to experiment but then quickly realized that this was the PERFECT mirror for a project like this.  So here you are my creative friends.  My 99c store Silver Antique Mirror!
Today it's also featured on Plaid Crafts site.

YOU’LL NEED:

1 cheap mirror with frame (99c store)

1 roll of aluminum tape (also purchased at the 99c store in the hardware aisle)

Scissors

Folk Art Metallic Gold acrylic paint

Folk Art Leaf Green 447 acrylic paint

1 can of Silver Metallic Krylon Spray paint

Rag or paper towels

Two 3” wide by 30” long strips of green organza OR 30” of wide matching ribbon.

Hot glue gun

HERE’S HOW:

1.    Take the mirror out of the frame.

2.    Cut your aluminum tape in small pieces and start taping them around your mirror frame.  Don’t worry if you get creases, you want creases!

3.    When your entire frame is covered rub it with a rag to make sure the tape is sticking everywhere and shows the shape of the frame perfectly.

4.    Dab your paper towel or rag in some green paint and rub it along the frame so that it catches in the creases.  Rub most of the paint off only leaving hints of it here and there.

5.    When dry, repeat the process with the gold metallic paint until you get the desired effect.

6.    While that is drying, lightly dust the edges of your actual mirror with the silver Krylon Metallic spray paint.  Do this right on top of the mirror to give it an antique aged feel.

7.    When everything is dry, replace the mirror in the frame.  I like to hot glue my mirrors in their frames (especially cheaper frames) so they are more sturdy.

8.    Tie a bow in your ribbon or organza and hot glue it to the back of your mirror to hang.

Don't forget to check out another 150 projects in my new book
THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2

LUCITE PLATE HOLDER CHANDELIER

Before I begin, I would like to invite you to join my blog!  Just sign up and you won't have to head all over the internet to see my projects!

It's so easy, just follow by E-mail.

Thanks

I don’t usually pick favorites, but I have to say that this just may be my favorite project in

THE BIG ASS BOOK OF HOME DECOR.  It’s beautiful, easy to make and if I do say so myself, it was a stroke of crafty heaven when it finally came together.

YOU’LL NEED:

6 clear plastic plate holders.  *I got mine at the 99C store.

Household Goop Glue or E-6000

6” socket and cord set

Small bulb for your socket and cord set

Office tape

Newspaper

Dremel Tool with grinding attachment (standard with Dremel)

HERE’S HOW

1.         Unfold 3 of your plate holders and arrange them equally on your table on a large piece of newspaper.

2.         Carefully mark on the newspaper where each of the legs touch the newspaper because this will be your guide.

3.         Tape your 3 pieces together and then take your socket with your bulb screwed in and figure out how much space you will need to create for them on the inside of your chandelier once it’s finished.  Because the 6” socket set is so small, you probably won’t need to create much room.

4.         With your Dremel, grind out enough space for your bulb and socket.  Do this on each of your 6 pieces.  *Now I know this sounds difficult, but it’s not.  Just take your time and grind baby!  Make sure to grind out enough room so that you can wiggle out your bulb and change it when it’s time.

5.         Using the guide you created on the newspaper, glue your 3 pieces together. *The hinges are where mine fit together beautifully.

6.         When those 3 pieces are dry, glue the other 3 pieces together the same way.

7.         When you have your 2 sets of 3 pieces dry, carefully slip in your socket with bulb and glue all 6 pieces together feet to feet.

8.         With a dab of glue take your cord and attach it to the crease in the chandelier so that you can hang it from a hook.

ALSO AVAILABLE with over 150 projects is

The Big Ass Book of Crafts 2

Enjoy!

SATURDAY CONTEST: Let's try this one more time!

CONTEST!

Jaime AKA Mabuglet won the last contest and she gets a spankin' new copy of
 THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2!

1. Please share to let everyone know about the contest on FACEBOOK & TWITTER.

2. Join my blog if you haven't:http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/

3. LIKE my Big Ass Book of Crafts 2 Page on Amazon.com if you haven't already. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451627807/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0F5AGRF76AJ53PHPZ1TF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

4.  Join my FB page if you haven't

http://www.facebook.com/MarkMontanoNYC?ref=ts

5. Comment here that you've done it all.  Make sure to check on the blog for the winner!

I'll announce the winner on FB, Twitter and on my blog.

CAFAM CRAFT NIGHT with yours truly!

CAFAM Craft Night in beautiful Los Angeles!

What an amazing night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles.
Thank you to CREATE FOR LESS (you MUST check out CREATEFORLESS.COM) for donating felt, beads, wire, card stock and everything else we needed for such an amazing night.  Everyone had a wonderful time making pine cone and paper ball ornaments.

 The AMAZING Possum Pine Cone

Professional crafter for sure. This little guy is at every CAFAM craft night showing us how it's done!

The pine cone characters made with felt and googly eyes made everyone feel like a kid again.

This one got drunk and trampy!

These two made out all night and later got married.

 This guy met several gorgeous creative ladies. Take note single guys, there are MANY beautiful, single women at these events!

These two knocked my socks off and mastered the paper ornament in no time.

Yay!  Createforless.com!

My friends Julie and Matt.  Julie is an amazing crafter and really fun to shop with.
Please join me the first Thursday in January for my next Craft Night at CAFAM!

Jaime AKA MaBuglet won the last contest!

CONGRATULATIONS JAIME!  Thank you for entering, joining my blog, and telling people about 

THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2.  Make sure to get in touch with me.........Oh, and EVERYONE, stay tuned for another contest very soon. I am giving away a book almost every week until I run out!

Silly and Fun: Cardboard Art Head (for hats)

Have I mentioned before the Fiskars.com rocks my world?  Because they do.  Seriously, if I had a nickel for every time I used my Fiskars scissors I'd be a millionaire.

This cardboard art head was one of those projects I made just for the fun of it. Why?  I have no idea.  I have too many hats, but it does look very cool on my dresser!

BTW, this is from THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2!

CARDBOARD ART-HEAD HAT STAND

YOU’LL NEED

4 copies of a face to fill a standard 8 1/2” X 11” sheet of office paper

Scissors

Cardboard

Elmer’s Spray Adhesive

An X-Acto knife is perfect for this project

Hot glue and glue sticks.

HERE’S HOW

HINT: one side of your image will be perfect and the other side will be a little off.  It’s FINE!!!!!

Cut out one of your copied images.

Lay your cut out face up so that the faces are back to back, and trace around your copied image.

Cut out the shape that you just traced.

Spray Elmer’s spray adhesive on the back of one of the images you just cut out, and glue it to a piece of cardboard.

Carefully cut out the cardboard backed head with a cutting knife.

Spray the second image with adhesive and glue it to the back of your cardboard head.

Repeat steps 2 through 6 using cardboard head as the pattern to trace.

Cut one of your cardboard heads in half.

Apply hot glue to the center edges of your split face and glue one to each side of the full cardboard head.

THIS PROJECT AND OVER 150 MORE

in The Big Ass Book of Crafts 2

Wednesday Contest! Win THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2

CONTEST!

Adriana Mora won the last contest but no worries, I'm having another one and the rules of entry are pretty simple.

1. Please share to let everyone know about the contest.

2. Join my blog if you haven't:http://markmontanoblogs.blogspot.com/

3. LIKE my Big Ass Book of Crafts 2 Page on Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451627807/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0F5AGRF76AJ53PHPZ1TF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

4.  Join my FB page if you haven't

http://www.facebook.com/MarkMontanoNYC?ref=ts

5. Comment here that you've done it all.  Make sure to check on the blog for the winner!

I'll announce the winner on FB and on my blog.