Tie Dye Rosettes

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tie dye rosettes

Sometime last month, I saw an image of a varigated rainbow rose that I just thought was stunning. I thought I could achieve it myself, so I did! And the cool think is that I got a rainbow of colors using just 3 dyes! I was super pleased with the end results!

Here’s how you can make your own…

Tie Dye Rosettes

Materials:
– cotton fabric (I used a cut up t-shirt for my material)
– Tulip One Step Ultimate Tie Dye Kit™
– needle and thread
– scissors

Instructions:
1. Cut out a pre-washed 14×14 square of material (or larger if you want your roses to be bigger than mine shown).
2. Prepare dye. To achieve coloration similar to mine, squirt lengthwise strips of color in following order: Fuchsia, Turquoise, Lime, Fuchsia, Turquoise. Let colors blend together. Let dry and launder material. Note: I didn’t get a photo of me doing this, but look in the step by step photo below to get an idea of how I did it.
3. Cut into approx. 1.5″ strips. I eyeballed this, but you may want to be more exact.
Cut strips
4. Thread your needle and do a running stitch along bottom of material.
Sew along bottom
5. Pull thread to gather.
Gather

6. Pinch at one end and roll to create beginning of bud. Stitch along base of gather, pulling thread as tension is needed. Shape as you go. Knot and trim thread.
Sew along bottom of gathering

Create an entire craft project around these roses! For example:
– pins for hats or jackets
– headband accents
– custom fabric corsages
– pillow embellishments
– pretty adornments for purses or shoes

Hope you liked this swell project!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Graffiti Glam Earrings

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graffiti glam earrings

Here’s a quick and easy project I whipped up using gift cards! OK, ok…I admit it, I actually stole these gift cards. I figure it’s not the worst thing I could do; however, you could ask them if you could have them, which is what I’ve done on a couple of occasions. You could also use old membership cards or the like. It’s not that hard to find those plastic cards, ya know?

I wanted to create a fun, recycled project and I love the thickness and clean lines I can create with these cards. Word to the wise, though…cutting into them, I couldn’t get a clean shape (like a star or heart) with scissors. If I had used an exacto, I could have achieved better results. Anyway, here’s what I did to create them!

Graffiti Glam Earrings

Supplies:
– Plastic gift cards
– Tulip Soft Paints in various colors
– Tulip Glam it Up Crystals
– Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool
– Spray paint in desired color
– newspaper
– Straight pin
– Corner rounder tool
– Scissors, exacto, or paper cutter
– Collage Pauge Instant DecoPauge (sparkly)
– paintbrushes/toothbrush
– small jump ring
– ear wires
– round nose pliers

Instructions:

1. Lay plastic cards down on newspaper. Spray one side according to can instructions. Once dry, flip over and spray other side. Let dry.

2. Take sharp knife or scissors and scrape off (sparingly) lines into paint to reveal card design/colors below (kinda like scratch art).

3. Cut card into desired shape. Use corner rounder (if desired) to create contoured corners (this will also help it from poking you while wearing).

4. Load paint brush with paint and flick onto shapes in random design. I actually brushed some on in certain areas and wiped it off to add additional coloration. Let dry.

5. Apply Sparkly Collage Pauge on top to add gloss and sparkle. Smear over all areas with your finger or foam brush. Let dry.

6. Apply crystals in desired patterns using heat setting tool.

7. Poke hole using a straight pin at top of each earring. Loop jump ring through hole and close. Then attach ear wire.

8. Proudly wear your recycled creation!!

Hope you enjoyed this project. It was fast and fun and a great way to get the grungy/glam look that is so popular these days!

Until next time Swellions!!!

Alexa

Upcycled Tins w/ Scrapbook paper and Collage Pauge™

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upcycled tins with scrapbook paper

I created this crafty project for my office. I was pretty tired of these old tins, so I revamped them with some scrapbook paper and Collage Pauge™. Here’s the tins I started out with!

Tins before

Now, I admit they are pretty cool in a nostalgia way, but I’ve been looking at them for the past 5 years and frankly, I’m bored with them. Decopauging them and giving them a new look was so super easy! I decided I wanted each tin to follow a basic color theme, and then I found papers in my stash that I could use (I have a lot of 79¢ sheets that I bought a few years ago with the intention of using them…if you’re a paper crafter like me, I’m sure you can totally relate!). I then cut the papers into strips with scissors the height of each of the tins. If you are more particular, you may want to cut the strips with a paper trimmer. For some of the strips, I didn’t measure them beforehand, so I cut some off after I decopauged and then folded them over the rim. Here’s a pic in progress!

Collage Pauge strips

I used the sparkly Collage Pauge™ to add a little glitz. You can use a foam brush, but I just spread it with my fingers. The tins will look great in my office once I get it all together! I’m admittedly slow and messy. It’s not easy for me people! Ha ha. My office is going to be a colorful conglomeration of all kinds of bright colors! No rhyme, no reason, just colors and things I like! I’m going to feature in the next couple of weeks a lamp project for my office, and I’ll include a tutorial for that one as well!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa