A Second Crafty Idea on Making a Unfinished Wooden Jewelry Box Aged

Another howdy to everyone; this is the second half on what to do with those cute wooden unfinished boxes or jewelry boxes you can find in craft stores.

I have done this one a bit different, in that I used acrylic paints; I took some dark yellows and browns for coloring the unfinished box, some scrapbook paper, twine, cotton fabric and some little wooden decor to stick on the box.

Once again I suggest sanding the unfinished box with a light weight sand paper just so that you can get the paint to set better and stick in certain areas of the grain.

What I did was to first paint on browns and yellows then quickly wipe them blending the paints into one another and staining the wood. In this project you need to work quickly with the paint and at times let it dry and then add another coat until you get the desired look you would like. Now with this project it is not about being perfect, be messy and having fun. As you might see in the pictures I let the paint set in certain areas and did not wipe off because I wanted an ugly, old aged looking box to some degree. I decoupaged the paper on the front back then the fabric got put on top, once again let dry over night. I added a little more paint over the paper using the yellow and wiped off again.

The fabric on top of the box is cotton fabric with a bunch of chickens and once I let the fabric dry, I began to stain the fabric with strong instant coffee.

Some of the final touches were a bit of glitter paint that was applied then wiped; twine, and the little wooden decor pieces were added using hot glue.

This project took a little time and work but was lots of fun and interesting to play with the paints and get a different look.

A Crafty Idea; making a wooden jewelry box look old and primitive

Happy Super Bowl weekend to everyone; this weekend I thought I would share a project I just finished. I love hunting for these little unfinished wooden jewelry boxes in craft stores. I like to get them and aged them and I thought I share how I do them up.

What I did was measured some scrape book paper out and decoupage it onto the front the jewelry box and I tore a bit off on the sides to make the paper look old and used ; second I cut an old birthday card I had laying around that had this cute kitten on it and decoupage it on the front over the scrap book paper. But lets step back for a second before decoupaging I sanded the jewelry box down a bit with a light weight sand paper and roughed it up a bit to get some of the natural design of the box to stand out. When I added the scrap paper I let it dry real good for a day, then added the kitty and let it dry for another day. When it was completely dry I beg to stain with instant coffee, making the coffee quite strong with very little water. I then did a wash over the entire jewelry box and let it dry quite well once again ( using a larger paint brush)

Then I used a much smaller brush and dipped it into the stain but also dipping it into some dry instant coffee that I poured into a small dish causing an even darker stain and adding where I really wanted to age the box even more. Sometimes I would just leave the stain sitting in place letting it dry that way.

I have a ton of fun creating these aged jewelry boxes, because there is so many different ways to create them and a little later on I will share another that while back I posted about but will talk about again because that one is done an entirely different way and it is one of kind.

A Spice Sauce to Spice up Chicken for Dinner

This is one of my favorite recipes because in is all in just the sauce you make to pour over the chicken to bake in the oven.
Here is what you will need:

• A whole chicken cut up
• large baking pan
• 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
• fresh pineapple slices or canned pineapple
• 1 1/2 cup of vinegar
• large onion cut up
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• Optional Chili pepper

Place the cut up chicken in a well greased baking pan and set aside. In a bowl add the tomato sauce, pineapple vinegar, onion and brown sugar. If you like it hot then add a dash of the chili pepper. Mix well using a large spoon or whisk. Then pour it over the chicken and bake at 400 degrees until the chicken is done.

Serve this with a green salad and hot corn on the cob and you will have a spicy but good dinner for all

The Finished 18 inch aged HeirLoom rag cloth doll

This is how the larger 18 inch aged Heirloom rag cloth doll has come out; as I have stated I stained the body several times first staining the fabric and baking in my over along with the clothing also at 200 degrees. Then I kept some of the staining separate and a paint brush which I used later to drop the stain on the clothing and the doll it's self and just let it air dry. I love how she came out in the end and now I am working on the smaller doll which will measure 12 inches long and will go along with this doll as a complete set. When I have finished her I will post the entire set together and add them to my Esty store.

Step Two on what I am working on, a Set of rag cloth dolls

This is the second step to making my rag cloth dolls; I have baked the first stage of the staining in and have darkened the fabric.

Now I took what stain I had left over and used a small paint brush to drip the stain onto the rag cloth doll and and let it dry naturally so that I get the more aged look to the doll, you can see the staining by looking at where the botches are located on the doll.
Now the third step will to begin sewing each of the dolls up and filling them with fiber fill. I want to mention when I drop the extra stain onto the dolls I just let them dry over night really well.

In the next picture I have cute the dresses and bonnets; the clothing as also been stained using the coffee and brown acyclic paint. Once I have the clothing sewn up I will sand it lightly with a light weight sand paper and then rub the cinnamon into the clothing and I will show this in the next stage.

What I am working for Jan 21, 2011 Rag cloth dolls

I got busy this afternoon, I found an old rag doll pattern and decided to use it but I will be making some serious changes to to the dolls as I create them. The pattern is an old McCall's pattern that I am altering somewhat; I just love using a pattern piece from all different patterns just to see how dolls will come out.

I am using a heavy duty fabric for the dolls, and right now I am in the process of staining the fabric, the body fabric is Onsburg but it is heavier and lighter. I will let this set for an hour and then bake the body pieces in my oven at 200 degrees. The stain is a mixture of brown acrylic paint and a some instant coffee about a table spoonful. Once the dolls are dry I will rub cinnamon into the fabric for more aging. I will be taking more photos and posting showing how the dolls are coming along and what/how they will turn out. So I hope you tag along and see how the dolls and cloths come out all this coming week.

Talking about a Wall Hanging Quilt Called Colors of Winter

A big hello to all! I am back at working on my blogs once again. Christmas and the new year were very busy for me this year and so my blogs did not get the attention they needed but here I am again and off to a new year and a new start on the blog.

I call this wall hanging quilt colors of winter because I was thinking of a winter that one might spend in a log cabin looking out their bedroom window and guess what; this is what this quilt is about.

The backing is quilting batting and a plaid flannel that was used, all the other fabrics are just cotton fabrics with lots of color. I thought the tie dye cotton just fitted the mood of winter so it became the back round or the skyline for the setting of this quilt.

The idea of the story is you are looking out a big picture window in a log cabin bedroom there is the bed with a warm plaid flannel blanket and by the bed is a small chest with a lit candle flickering away. As you look out the window you see horses racing away from some black bears and a bunch of trees that have grown tired of the cold winter that has befallen them. It also would not be winter with lots of snow on the ground, of various shades.

I began first by using some muslin and then whacking out each portion of the winter scene and just using some un-knotted embroidery floss, I just did a few stitches to hold the scene in place before the final sewing was done. Another thing I did while sewing this quilt was to use some wild stitches with my sewing machine around the trees most using a bright mixed colored embroidery floss around the trees to give the effect that moss is growing on them.

The quilt took about 2 weeks to make and is original in that I used not a single pattern but just my imagination to make the winter scene.