Woman in a Can

A companion for the Tin Can Man

1. Coffee can, cookie can, tuna can, wire, hot glue
2. I had all of these keys and so I thought I'd make a skirt for 
    Tin Can Woman  (TCW)
3.  Key skirt
4.  Premature Tin Can Woman.

 Back to the drawing board

I used spoons, wire, keys, old jewelry, nuts, bolts, electrical tape, mini Altoid tin, craft chain, discarded man's ring and silver paint.

To give it a uniform look I sprayed it with silver paint.  It also covers up some of the glue. Very pleased with the outcome.

That's it***

No More Wristlets

 ...for a while.

I've turned my handbag crafting and sewing to cross body bags. I'm going for a "boho" style or another way of saying Bohemian.

Here are 5 of the eight purses I prepared for a craft show that took place this month.
 In the world of small purses when carrying the merest of essentials, cross body purses seem to be the preference. If I plan to make any sales, I've got to give the people what they want.

Here in Alabama, football is a MAJOR focus. You must declare a team once you step across the state line.  Alabama and Auburn are the main teams.
I've never been a sports fan of any type but, numerous  friends suggested that I make a few cross body bags for the football fans out there. I took their advice.  Here's the first one I did featuring  The University of Alabama.

I didn't use everything below but, some or none.

                                                                 NEXT UP

 BLUE and GRAY and Beige tapestry with beige cording cross body strap, silver button closure, decorative button and stitching on the back
                                                    ***

 ORANGE, GREEN and DUSTY ROSE cross body bag with silver chain strap.
                                                 ***

Another Alabama bag with cream faux leather, hand stitiching on the side, Alabama "A" cheerleader on the back with rhinestone and ruby pom poms, tulle skirt, button and tie footwear. Black chain strap. Black, silver and while beads and trinkets.
                                                ***

GREEN BROCADE with raised gold threading throughout. Gold cord and chain cross over strap. Velcro closing

I have to admit, the green one is my favorite.

Below is my first attempt at posting my own video.  I'm only showing my table of crafts. You'll notice that I also have door/knob pillows left over from Christmas.  I wrote about that in a previous post.

That's it***

Beads, glass, keys, trinkets????

What do you do with all of the beads, broken jewelry and other trinkets in your craft stash? This is what I did.The inspiration(below) came from Crafts by Amanda   to which I subscribed for future inspirational ideas.

Copied from Crafts by Amanda

Just about all of the "stuff" I have was given to me. Once friends and acquaintances know that you enjoy crafting from "junque" (that's the fancy spelling) you will get all kinds of goodies whether you want them or not. Below is a sample of some of those goodies.

There's broken jewelry, plastic beads, glass marbles, keys, lenses from glasses,earrings.

Those paper clips are good for keeping beads in place.

The cascades are done and ready to be attached to the pitcher. I didn't want to use my store bought jump rings so I made my own from wire I already had.

I really wanted a metal tea pot or coffee pot for the cascades to hang from. Thrift stores are not as thrifty as they once were. What I wanted cost $6.99. I bought the pitcher you see for $2.99 and also got a seniors discount since it was seniors day.

The paint was left over from a 75 cent vase I'd sprayed to look like mercury glass. 

I had to sand it a bit so that the paint would adhere.

I'm pleased with the paint job though it didn't come out with a mirrored finish. I realized afterwards that the mirrored finish would only work on glass. (Duh?)

It reminds me of a vintage milk pitcher. I sprayed a top coat of lacquer on it also. I expect it to rust and age after being out in the weather and that will only add to the character of it.

Time to put in the holes. I probably didn't have the right bit for the drill, so I made pilot holes and then finished by using a long screw, screwing it in until  I had a decent hole and then unscrewing it counter clockwise. Thank goodness for cordless drills. I didn't soften the holes so anyone touching it may get a cut. But, no one is supposed to be examining it anyway.

I have five  holes but seven bead cascades. This is where you ask me, "How do you spell lazy?"


Yes, I know the bed needs to be weeded but that's not the focus right now.

 VOILA'

I expect  the neighborhood cats to tear it down. It will have lasted for a short while.
That's it ***

More Keys

Sometimes you TRY something out and then you get on a roll and become addicted. So is the case with the abandoned keys I have around the house. You may remember this one from an earlier post. VeCl saw and admired it so I told her I'd make one for her. I asked what color she'd like and the response was orange. As with a lot of my projects I try to employ more than one method of doing things so that I can see which works the best.

I'm using acrylics, sandpaper and decoupage sealer (not shown).

First I wash and sand the key so it'll have some traction for the paint.  I mixed the orange with some yellow to achieve the right color to match the decorative bits I have in orange below.

I like to dump out what I have in the colors I may use onto a palette (read as: piece of paper), then choose what I want. The shiny cut glass gem was what I decided on.

I painted two keys. These keys have numerous coats of paint. At least three on back, front and sides. One key I painted with the acrylic and one with the glitter paint. The glitter paint didn't cover the surface as well and I ended up painting it orange. NOTE: Future endeavors will have me using a solid base color and then topping with the glitter paint.
 I dipped both keys in decoupage and hung them by a toothpick stuck in a foam block so that they could drip dry. I let it hang for 24 hours.
It gives a great finish. I'm sure I would have gotten an even better finish with Dimensional Magic. It supposedly gives items a resin finish. I didn't have any and I haven't tried it yet so I used what I had.

I placed a few single orange stones down the shaft of the key. Filigree from other jewelry served as leaves on the side. 2 tortoise shell colored beads on a gold elastic cord completes the necklace.

VeCl was very pleased and said she received many compliments.

 I've been asked to display some of these at an arts and crafts show so I guess I'd better get started. I plan to make ten. You will see them in a later post.

That's It***

BIB NECKLACE with TEE SHIRT SCARF

Feast  your eyes on all of the broken jewelry that has been given to me. Now that it has become known that I will recycle and repurpose just about anything this is where old costume jewelry comes to get a lift. 75% of what you see is from friends giving me ziplock bags of discards. I'm grateful to them for it because I enjoy trying to figure out a way to use it.

Amid this clutter was the makings of a bib necklace.  I'd planned to do a cloth necklace with some pieces I bought when Sis and I went to the Jasper Wal-Mart.  The cloth necklace didn't turn out the way I wanted but I salvaged portions of it anyway.


back and front of bib necklace before decorating

 I cut an arc from heavy cardboard and covered it with the fabric using school glue. After it was dry I put several coats of decoupage sealant on the front and back allowing each to dry thoroughly.  I took my cordless drill and placed two holes on both sides.








Be careful not to cover the holes

On the other side I hot glued trinkets from broken earrings, necklaces and etc. In the center is a fabric flower I made from some of the fabric. It looked too plain so a glued in a center.








Again, be careful not to get glue in the holes

 As added protection for the seed beads I placed a thick layer of sealant over the areas I felt were a little fragile.
















If your camera says 'change the batteries', do it or else you get dusty looking pictures



Using jump rings and chain I looped the chain through each of the holes and then attached them to larger jump rings.



Things got a little out of hand because I was watching Downton Abbey
and trying to keep my hands busy.

 Attach jump rings to the fabric and t shirt and medium chain. Put on a lobster clasp and you're done with the necklace.  Yes, there's a lot on there, the fabric, the tee shirt beads, etc.

BUT WAIT THERE"S MORE!

You know I couldn't stop with just the necklace. It had to have a matching tee shirt scarf. You can  wear either the scarf or the  necklace or BOTH.

It looks like a lot but it's been doubled.

Feeling adventurous? Strut it then.

THAT'S IT***