Teacup Candles

I love making inventive things you don't find in stores, it's what I strive for in all my crafting. My latest little projects have been just that if I do say so myself. Teacup Candles! Yep I took teacups I found at second hand stores and gave them new life.

First I paint the teacup. Then I glue a wick tab and wick inside the cup. Mix in dye and fragrance into soy wax. Let the candle cure. And finish it off with a cute tea tag. Of coarse you will have to cut the wick before you burn the candle. But I think these are one of those candles you never really burn because they are so darn cute.

It harder than you might think putting stripes on a teacup. The tape you put down on the cup likes to crinkle and when using spray paint, the ridges in the tape become very apparent, so I had to go over them with acrylic paint.

I am very proud of this little pink number.

When I first started crafting I drew up all kinds of stuff that I wanted to make in my cherished little notebook. One of my first craft drawings was a teacup candle with "Tea Time" written in curly cursive on the side. I pictured it being bright pink with black polka dots. Now I don't get to see my drawing come to life very often, but this one did. I am so happy with how it turned out.

Now this is probably my most impressive teacup candle yet.  See I kind of have a problem with sticking to just one style (which is something I'm going to have to do one day to start a business).  But the idea was just to awesome to pass up. So I made a steam punk teacup candle. And if you don't know what "steam punk" is, you should look it up. It is a very interesting style. 

For some reason I obsess over random things. Teacups are my current obsession along with cupcakes and bumblebees. I'm interested to know: What is your current obsession?















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Pea Pod Charm Tutorial

So I've seen these cute little pea pod necklaces quite a bit. I've figured out how to make them. They are actually quite simple. Here's what you will need:

Wire
3 beads that look like peas
a pair of jewelry pliers
1 head pin (about 2 in. long)
Wire cutters or an old pair of scissors

First get you head pin and wrap the wire tightly about 1/4" from the head of the pin.

Then you slide on your beads.

Pull the wire along the beads to the other end of the pin and tightly wrap the wire around pin closest to the beads like so:

Then pull the wire down the other side of the beads and wrap it around the first end. You can already see the pea pod coming together!

Now you are going to continue wrapping the wire up the sides and around the pin until you are satisfied with the results. The wires are going to try to overlap one another, so try to hold them in place when you are wrapping the wire. And make sure you stay consistent with the direction you wrap the wire around the pin (across the front of the pin, around the back then down the other side of the beads). If you don't stay consistent with the direction you won't get the pretty braided look of the wire.

When you get to the back of the beads you are going to pull the wire into place so it can cover the back. The back should look something like the picture on the left.

Now at this point you probably only have a tiny portion of the head pin sticking out of the top. It is to small to make a loop so I just used my jewelry pliers to bend it toward the back. Sorry you can't see it very well in the photo.

Now you are going to press the wire in to hug the beads with your fingers.

Now cut the wire that it attached to the top of your pea pod to about 2 or 3 in.

Wrap a loop with your pliers at the top of the pea pod.

Then you are going to tightly wrap the wire around the base of the loop 3 or 4 times until you cover up the folded-over head pin.








You can stop there and trim the wire. Or you can curl the extra wire to make a curly vine. As pictured below: 

 Slip the charm on a chain to make it a necklace or bracelet. Put it on your key chain or attach them to ear wires to make cute earrings. So many possibilities!



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Upcoming

Hello all, sorry for my long absence. I am adjusting to going back to work after my beloved maternity leave. In my absence I have been squeezing as much crafting into my free time as possible. I've been making some teacup candles (super cute) and a ball candle of all colors. I'm not finished with them yet,  but I'll post pictures when I am done. 

What I have dedicating most of my time toward is making purses. I'm have some really cute and unique purses in store. I'm aiming to make them really cute, colorful, and something that you probably haven't seen before. So check in every once in a while to see what I'll make next.

  

Fabulous Famer's Market

My maternity leave has sadly come to an end and next week I start the ever-so-dreaded work again...*sigh*. Well it was nice while it lasted. So I decided to do my last little free woman hurrah  and take a nice litttle trip to Grass Valley (California) to have dinner and go to the local Farmer's Market.  I saw some amazing things which gave me great photo ops. So enjoy!

We had dinner at this Mexican restaurant, unfortunately I can't remember the name but the decor was awesome. We sat outside and they had these garland with cutout paper designs flapping in the breeze overhead and white roses going everywhere. They had religious icon statues and old doorway that lead to nowhere. 

There were these super vibrant bird cages hanging on the stucko wall.  

ooo... and a Lion head fountain.

After dinner we walked up the street to the Farmer's Market. They had all kinds of produce, crafts, and even live music... After I took this guy's picture he looked up at me and winked.

The produce there just looked mouth-watering. The cherries really caught my eye.

I found a booth run by an old man who made charming bird houses.

 I think my favorite one was this one made out of corks... how inventive!

A lady there did all kinds of glass art. But she got mad when I snapped a photo of her work...oops.

Then there were these cute little button cuffs.

The most photogenic of all though were the flowers.

 So much color!

 Here is the craziest looking bunch of flowers I have ever seen. I have no idea what they are. If you so happen to know please tell me!








 What an amazing day! Definitely go to your local farmer's market, you might be surprised at what you find.

 

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