Bottle Cap Necklace Tutorial

Monday, August 30, 2010

26 comments

These bottle cap necklaces are great for boys and girls and they make terrific party favors like the ones we did HERE. I'm telling ya they love 'em!

Before we get started here are a few notes about the bottle cap artwork. The artwork for this tutorial needs to be either printed on a color laser printer or at a local photo lab (like pictures) and it needs to fit in a 1-inch circle. Do not use an inkjet printer!!! The ink will run! You can create art on a photo editing program like Photoshop or you can purchase pre-made designs. A very BIG Thank You to Sincerely Susan for providing all of the bottle cap art for this tutorial.

Materials:

Bottle Caps Drill (not pictured

1/16 Drill Bit

File or Sandpaper (not pictured)

Bottle Cap Art (have this printed ahead of time)

1 inch Circle Puncher

Glue Stick

Diamond Glaze

Small Split Rings

Ribbon and/or Ball Chain Necklace

1. Drill a small hole on the edge of the cap using a drill and the 1/16 drill bit. File or sand the backside of the hole as the edges will be rough and sharp. Set the cap aside.

2. Punch out the artwork using a 1-inch circle puncher.

3. If the artwork was printed at a photo lab peel off the back layer of paper. This will allow the glue to adhere better. Skip this step if the artwork was printed on a laser printer.

4. Apply glue to the backside of art with a glue stick.

5. Stick art to bottle cap. Ensure that artwork is aligned with the hole that was drilled earlier. Wouldn't want it upside down.

6. Apply Diamond Glaze, use the tip of the Diamond Glaze to move glaze around to cover the entire area. Squeeze out more as needed. Pop any bubbles with a straight pin and allow to dry. This will take a while (overnight). Do not shake Diamond Glaze as this will cause unwanted bubbles.

7. Once dry add a split ring through the drilled hole and add a ribbon or ball chain. Note: You can carefully put a flame to the ends of the ribbon to prevent it from fraying. It will slightly melt the ends.

All Done!!! Simple enough right? Enjoy and let us know if you try it.

Linking up at:
S- The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, MThe Girl Creative, MM Party at BNOTP, Making the World Cuter, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping it SimpleT- Coastal Charm, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Hope Studios W- Trendy Treehouse, Blue Cricket Design, Life in the Pitts, Me and My Bucket, Someday Crafts, My Backyard Eden, Room to Inspire, Creations by Kara, Just a Girl, T- The Shabby Chic Cottage, Life as Lori, Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and JellybeansF- A Few of My Favorite Things, It's FUN to Craft, The Shabby Nest, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk InteriorsS- Along for the Ride, I Heart Naptime
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Meet 2 new adoption families!

Friday, August 27, 2010

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We have 2 new families that we are helping to raise adoption funds for. Click HERE for more info about this cause!

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

Hi! We are Jeff, Amber, and our two sons Carson (age 8) and Kolby (age 5).
We are a fun-loving, frog-catching, bike-riding, bug-holding, dirt-collecting, Lego-building, horse-riding, scrapbooking, model train making, sometimes silly, rarely quiet, but always praying, Jesus-loving family who have one thing in common... lots of love waiting for a sister/daughter to make our family complete.

Both of us are teachers. Jeff is a middle school science teacher and Amber is an elementary music teacher. We have been married for 13 years and can honestly say we are each other's best friends! We are both very active in our church- Amber plays keyboard with the band, and Jeff works with the high school youth group. We love serving and just returned from a mission trip to Mexico!

Family is the most important thing in our life and we have always wanted a large family. Although we had no problems getting pregnant with our boys, when we started trying for a third child, it just wasn't to be. We had always thought about adopting internationally and we knew that God was leading us and molding our hearts for adoption. We are currently waiting to be matched with a baby girl from South Korea! Its impossible to describe the joy and excitement we feel!! We know He has placed this in our hearts to care for the orphans of this world. There are 143 million orphans and hopefully next spring, there will be one less. We know the journey ahead will be long and may not be easy. But we know that at the end of our journey will be waiting a special little girl... our daughter. An incredible gift that God had waiting for us all along.

Please visit our blog.... Waiting For You


Brandon and Courtney Thornton
 Brandon and I met as teenagers and were instant best friends. Our friendship blossomed into love, and we have now been married for four years. Even before we married, we knew that adoption was part of God’s plan for growing our family. We expected that this would come later in our marriage, but a few months ago both felt that it was time to move forward with adoption. We both felt an urgency, almost like we already had a child out there somewhere, and that we needed to find that child and bring him or her home. We began praying for direction, and felt God leading us to work with an adoption agency, despite not knowing how we would pay for it.

So far, God has provided everything we’ve needed, exactly when we need it—and in some pretty crazy ways! We are just trusting that He will continue to provide, and we thank you so much for your help!

We are so excited about becoming parents! I can’t wait until our home is filled with the sounds of children’s laughter. Since starting this journey, our love and passion for adoption has only grown. We pray daily for our children, whoever and wherever they are, and can’t wait to bring them home
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Free Printable Lunchbox Bible Verse Cards

Thursday, August 26, 2010

8 comments
Today I have the printable Bible Verse Cards for you! I had to put that last one in there lol, the Colossians 3:20. Hope you like. And don't forget the Note Cards and Joke Cards if you missed them. Thanks for stopping by!

Click on image below to enlarge, click on it again to enlarge even more, right click and save. Print at home (I used card stock) and cut.
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Free Printable Lunchbox Joke Cards

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

7 comments
Hi there, I hope you are having a nice Wednesday! I have some printable lunchbox joke cards for you today. Be sure to get the notes from yesterday and come back tomorrow for the bible verse cards. Here's a thought, have them laminated and then you can just wipe them clean and reuse!

Click on image below to enlarge, click on it again to enlarge even more, right-click and save. Print at home (I used card stock) and cut. Kid jokes can be found HERE.

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Free Printable Lunchbox Note Cards

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

8 comments
Yesterday was my big guy's first day back at school. Can you say First Grader?! I can not believe it! Anyway, one thing we do is pack a lunch almost everyday! Here is a peek at yesterday's lunch.


I love putting notes in his box just to let him know that I'm thinking of him.


Here are a few I created! Character elements are from several of the kits at Just So Scrappy.

Feel free to snag the note cards below if you like and come back tomorrow and the next day to get some lunchbox Joke Cards and Bible Verse Cards!

Click on image below to enlarge, click on it again to enlarge even more, right click and save. Print at home (I used card stock) and cut.

Hope you like them! Let me know if you do. It's nice to know those kind of things. Thanks for stopping by!
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Copper (looking) Frog Ball Tutorial

Monday, August 23, 2010

23 comments
Don't you just need a new piece of junk art for your yard? Whew, I sure did! How about a copper frog ball? Isn't she purrrrrdyyyy?

You can make one too!
Materials:
Bowling Ball - got mine at a thrift store.
Plastic Toy Frogs - Dollar Tree
Scotch Tape
E-6000 Adhesive
Copper Spray Paint - I used this one by Rust-Oleum.

Wash and dry the bowling ball and place somewhere to keep it from rolling around while you work on it.

Take pieces of Scotch Tape and make small rolls with sticky side out.

Use these rolls to tape the frog's little hands to the bowling ball like so.

Cover the entire top side of the bowling ball with the taped frogs. This tape will soon hold your frogs in place while the adhesive is drying.

Add the E-6000, to the bottom side of each frog.

Firmly press the frog to the bowling ball, then let the tape hold frog in position. I did not apply any adhesive to the hands.

Now comes the hard part, you must wait for the adhesive to cure/dry/whatever you call it. I waited about 24hrs.

Once adhesive is dry, flip ball over and repeat the tape/glue process on the other side. Be sure to leave an open area where the ball will sit on it's stand. And the hard part again, wait for the adhesive to dry!

Once the adhesive is all set, remove the tape from the frog hands. It's like shaking each of their little hands, thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to glue your little butt to my bowling ball! lol! Do this for every frog. :)

Spray paint the entire ball with the copper spray paint. Give it a few coats to fill in the groves. I cut a hole in a box to create a place for my ball to sit while I painted it.


Let paint dry and that's it, all done! Simple right? Now place her in your yard!
You can use a gazing ball stand. or whatever else works for you. In the first photo at the very top it is on an old, large fire extinguisher.

Thoughts:
-I should try it on a glass light cover/globe instead of a bowling ball.
-I think I should try rubbing on some dark wood stain or black paint to add dimension to all the groves.
-Next time remove the runaway strings of adhesive before painting. Duh! There was only one though.
-I wonder why my bowling ball did not have any finger holes?
-Man I wish I had an Iced Mocha right now! Oh wait did I say that out loud? ;)

Do you think it's cool? Do you think it's weird, ugly? What are your thoughts?

Linking up at:
S- The DIY Showoff, Under the Table and Dreaming, MThe Girl Creative, MM Party at BNOTP, Making the World Cuter, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping it SimpleT- Coastal Charm, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Hope Studios W- Trendy Treehouse, Blue Cricket Design, Life in the Pitts, Me and My Bucket, Someday Crafts, My Backyard Eden, Room to Inspire, Creations by Kara, Just a Girl, T- The Shabby Chic Cottage, Life as Lori, Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and JellybeansF- A Few of My Favorite Things, It's FUN to Craft, The Shabby Nest, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk InteriorsS- Along for the Ride, I Heart Naptime
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Happy Planting

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

4 comments
We had a couple of small areas that needed a little sprucing up. 

So the boys and I planted.
Nothing like some pretty flowers to make your day! And even better when they are growing in your own yard!
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Home Office Space

3 comments
Okay I know I keep mentioning this office area that I need your help decorating but have yet to post some pictures. Pictures coming soon!

Anyway this is actually a great office space. It's really spacious with tons of cabinets. Cabinets pretty much around the entire room except for one little corner.

It's that one little corner that I'm wondering what to do with. Been thinking of getting one of those nice bistro sets to go there. That would provide another surface area to work at. lol!

On the other end of this office space there is a bar area with great cabinetry, a counter top and a small sink. Hubby thinks it's his bar area but I really need it to be more functional as a work space instead. I look at it as a waste of space if you don't ever use it. If it does end up being just a pretty bar then a bistro set would still be great cause now you have a small sitting area for your pretty bar. Oh yeah then we can just add an espresso maker in that bar and have iced mocha's when desired! Then we'll really get some use out of this bar area.

So what do you say, pretty bar that never gets used or nice functional work space???
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Guest blogging over at Blue Cricket Designs!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

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Come see what I've got going on over at Blue Cricket Designs! It's kinda neat, okay it's really neat!!!

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Chosen Child {Adoption T-Shirts}

Thursday, August 12, 2010

7 comments
Remember my friends over at Worthy of the Prize Ministries? Well they have created the Chosen Child {Adoption T-Shirts} to benefit adopting families!
A 100% cotton shirt with an applique of the shape of your chosen country or state! You can even have a heart stitched over the city or town of your choice!

These shirts are completely custom made. You choose your shirt style and color, country or state, fabric for your country or state and where you want the heart (if you want one)! Available for men, women and children!

The best part...$5 from each shirt sold goes toward helping adopting families raise money for their adoptions!

Think about the possibilities!

  • place that you are or did adopt your child from
  • place that a friend/family member is/has adopted a child from
  • place that you are sponsoring a child from
  • your own home country/state/town, mark it with the heart
Available at 517 Creations, click HERE to order yours today!

And it would be super great if you could help spread the word about all of the wonderful products that help these families.
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Do you workout? (CSN Stores Review)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

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A very heavy package arrived at the door! Want to know what was inside? How about these!
These rubber dumbbells are what I selected for the CSN Stores review. Just a little too heavy for me but perfect for my hubby!
They are great for his workout! Nicely constructed and heavy duty. The steel chrome contoured handles are very comfortable.
But what I love about them is that the ends are rubber! Absolutely no scratching of our hardwood or tile floors!

CSN Stores service was also wonderful! Our order was shipped out and arrived quickly. And we were updated via email with the status of our order! Thanks CSN Stores!
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New Adoption Families

Monday, August 9, 2010

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Hey there y'all! Here are some of the new families that have been added to the adoption cause!

Remember! For every Chosen necklace sold we donate $10 to the adoption agency of a family trying to raise money for their adoption! Even if you don't order the Chosen Necklace we will donate 10% of your order total to one of the families if you mention their name upon checkout!

Worthy of the Prize Ministries is also donating 50% of the proceeds from their Chosen Child Adoption Band to these families!
Matthew and Allison
Matthew and Allison Robinson
We are Matthew and Allison Robinson. We are both very involved in our church. We teach our youth group on Wednesday nights and until the new year begins we will teach 1-3 grade Sunday School. Matthew is now serving as interim minister of music. We both work at the same hospital. He works on computers and I work in administration with our cancer institute. We will be moving to a newer and bigger place soon..very soon...like NEXT week! Even though it is an apartment it is much larger than our one bedroom starter home. We are excited to have a child that we can love and play with on the playground at our complex. Hopefully you can see we have a deep love for children and can not wait to welcome our own baby into our family. We also have two sweet puppies, a maltipoo and a yorkie, both under a year of age.

Visit the Robinson Family blog here.

Trevor and Jennifer
Trevor and Jennifer Chase
Hi! We are Trevor and Jennifer Chase from Carl Junction, Missouri (in the southwest corner of the state). We were high school sweethearts and have been married for 10 years. God blessed our family with a precious baby girl in January 2005 and then again with our crazy little guy in 2007. We thought our family was complete until He spoke to our hearts in November 2009 to let us know that there were more children in our future and that our next additions would come to our family via adoption!!

We have prayed for months about where our babies are and God has led us to adopt from Ethiopia. We are hoping to adopt 2 young siblings and are using Children's Hope International. We are very early in the process and are hoping to be able to bring our little ones home late 2011/early 2012. We feel so blessed to be able to do a small part in living out James 1:27!

Visit Trevor and Jennifer's blog here.

Bryan and Susanne
BryanandSusanne
Adoption is our greatest miracle.  After 10 years of marriage, years of infertility, and two failed adoptions, we were blessed with our beautiful daughter.  She has changed us in ways we can’t even begin to describe.  We love being parents and we love our little girl.  We know Joy coming into our lives is providence, and we can hardly wait to embrace another child.

Adoption has not been an easy road for us, but one that has brought us the most blessings.  We can not imagine our family formed any other way.  We are thankful for amazing birth parents, which make adoption possible.    

We know God has a plan for our lives and we believe that somewhere someone is looking for a family who will love their baby and that, when the time is right, God will bring us together.

Visit Bryan and Susanne's blog here.

Learn more about all of the families here.
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Happy Friday & Bloggy Break

Friday, August 6, 2010

8 comments
I wish you a Happy Friday! Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Also want to say that I'm taking a little bloggy break to enjoy the rest of the summer and spend more time with my family and friends! Don't worry I'll still be here so you'll see me around. I just won't be making posts as regularly.

But you can bet I'll be making more of these!
And spending more time with these guys!

The best thing to spend on your children is time.


ShutterLoveTuesdays
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Need a daily reminder close at hand?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

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How about a Custom Embossed Dog Tag? These are perfect for men and children but ladies love them too! Personalize up to 5 lines with 15 characters each. Say a lot!

Wear it, hang it on your review mirror, keep it close for a daily reminder of anything you believe!

Some Ideas:
 KIDS
• Words of encouragement.
• Help instill morals and values.
• ID Tag (address/phone)

MEN
• Names & Dates (never forget an anniversary or birthday)

WOMEN
• Bible Verses
• Names & Dates

 This one below is for a first time parent to be!
What  would your Custom Tag say?
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Treebee Soap WINNER!

Monday, August 2, 2010

5 comments
Thanks everyone for entering our Treebee Soaps giveaway! And thank you Treebee Soap for a great giveaway!
Lizzy contact me with your mailing address so we can get your prize out to you!
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