Pumpkin Carving with the Proxxon Jigsaw

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today.  Tomorrow is October 1st and that means Halloween is on it's way.  It's time to begin decorating and nothing screams Halloween more than pumpkins.  I decided it was time for pumpkin carving and the Proxxon Jigsaw made it so easy!

I used the jigsaw to cut the top off the pumpkin.  I wasn't careful about how I cut the top since pumpkins come in a wide variety of designs and styles.

 

 

I also used the jigsaw to create the face.  I found the Jigsaw was very light to hold and easy to maneuver.  It was so much fun to create my designs easily and quickly and I definitely have more projects in mind.

 

The jigsaw easily cut through the pumpkin. And now that the design was cut, it was time to start decorating.

 

 

I used Plaid's Milk Paint in Petticoat to paint the pumpkin.  Then I used assorted inks to ink up the pumpkin to add color and to create an assortment of  designs around the pumpkin.   And because I found some lovely bling, I just had to finish with some bling swirls.

 

Happy Halloween.

 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Halloween Wooden Wreath

Hello friends. Larissa here with you today. So I am still workig on Halloween decor. Today I made this fun wooden Halloween Wreath. I will explain what happen as I go.

For this project I used:
Proxxon Delta Sander
Proxxon Scroll SawWooden Bats
Thin piece of wood for the wreath
Paint: Orange, Black, White, Light Pink
Different sized brushes
Hot Glue

So to start out I used my Scroll Saw to cut the wreath. Unfortunately I did not have the ability to take a picture of this since I was working on it by myself and no one was home to help me take photos while I cut.:)

I used the Delta Sander to smooth the edges of the wreath and the bats.

The edges were pretty rough and since the wood is really thin I didn't apply very much pressure as I was afraid of sanding too much off.
I then painted the wreath with two coats of orange acrylic paint and the bats with one coat of black.

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Once the bats dried which really didn't take that long, I added the faces with a detailed brush.

I attached the bats to the wreath with hot glue. And it fit in the spot I was hoping it would on my wall. 

I hope you enjoyed my project today, even though I left a few pictures out. I am still shaking my head on that one. :)

Have a wonderful day friends.
Larissa Pittman www.muffinsandlace.com

An Easy Gourd Birdfeeder

List of materials needed for project:

Proxxon JigSaw
Proxxon Drill or Rotary Tool
Acrylic Paint
Sealer
Dowel Rod
Outdoor Mod Podge
Gourd (of course)
Leather strip to make hanger out of

This is what my gourd looked like after I cleaned the outside and drew the window cut-outs onto it.

The first thing I did was cut-out windows in the gourd to have a place for the birds to eat out of.

This is what the window opening looked like. As soon as all the windows were cut out I had to clean the insides out and then I coated the inside of the gourd with the Outdoor Mod Podge. Make sure you have a decent time allowed to let the inside dry as the instructions call for the Mod Podge to cure for 72 hours before putting the item you've used it on outside.

I then drilled evenly spaced holes in the bottom of the gourd to allow for drainage in the event the feeder got rained into. Once the drilling of drainage holes was finished I then painted the gourd with the Acrylic paint that I had picked out. I used an Acrylic paint for outdoors and then also spray sealed it.

I then drilled holes in the top of the gourd to put a dowel into that I tied my leather strip onto and also drilled a hole under each window cut-out to put a dowel into for the birds to sit on while they eat. Small birds can actually perch on the window itself to snack on some seed.

Don't you like my fuschia color? I plan on taking the feeder with me and hanging it in the backyard of the house I'm going to be moving to very soon. I hope you like this project and that you will use some Proxxon Tools to make one for yourself. All you need to do is bring the feeder in at the change of seasons and clean it and give it another coat of sealer and Outdoor Mod Podge to keep it ready to use for several years.

Barbara

DIY Engraved Halloween Party Glasses Featuring The Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit

Hi everyone! Tammy here with you today with a fun tutorial on how to use the Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit to make these cute Halloween party glasses. Here is how I did it...

Supplies:

Proxxon Complete Glass Engraving Kit

Champagne glasses from the Dollar Store

Ribbon for decoration

Feather hair clip for decoration

 Directions: 

Start with a Dollar Store champagne glass and an image you want to engrave on the glass.

Place a couple of Glue Dots on top of the image and place image, facing out, inside of the glass

Use the Glass Engraving tool to trace the image.

When the image is all traced, remove the image from the inside of the glass and correct any missing spots on the engraved image on the glass.

Tie a bow to the stem of the glass for decoration.

I added a feather alligator clip to add a fun decoration to the bow. I recommend you use removable decorations, so you can easily wash the glass after the party. I really love how these glasses turned out and I can't wait to share them with my friends at my Halloween party :)

Let's be friends!

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Engraved River Rock Jewelry

Making incredible pieces of jewelry using smooth river rocks is easy with the Proxxon Engraving Set.

I started with this smooth rock that I happened to find in our driveway. 

When drilling and engraving rocks and stones, keep a container of water at hand. Frequently dip the rock into the water to rinse away drilling debris and to cool the rock. Here's my set up:

I hold the engraver in my right hand and the rock in my left, with the rock supported on a towel. The towel absorbs excess water from the frequent dippings and provides a cushioned surface to work on.

You can draw your design on the rock with a pencil or freehand it. For this simple design, I chose to freehand it. Slow and steady is the key. The power of the engraver comes from the rotation of the bits, not from undue pressure. I used the corundum grinding bit that came with my engraving set. Corundum is second only to the diamond on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Even so, it does take patience to carve all the way through a rock.

This stone was about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and it took me around eight minutes of drip in the water/drill, drip in the water/drill, and repeat to complete the top hanging hole. The three shallow holes will seat crystals—it just wouldn't be "me" without a bit of bling :)

With the drilling and engraving complete, I polished the stone with beeswax, using my Proxxon Profession Rotary Tool with a buffing wheel,  (Note: You can also use the rotary tool with appropriate bits to engrave and carve rocks.)

After the buffing, I used E6000 adhesive to set the crystals. Notice that I use a precision tip to dispense the tiny amounts of glue needed.

I'm quite pleased with my engraved river rock, and will be on the lookout for more appropriate stones to engrave and carve.

Carole

Creepy Halloween Tombstones

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today.  With Halloween creeping up on us, it's time to create some Halloween decorations.

It's always fun to create something different and using the Proxxon Hotwire Cutter, you can create some amazing projects.

 

I started by drawing 2 tombstones on a 12" x 12" panel of Smoothfoam.  I cut them apart so I could easily work on each tombstone independently.

Smoothfoam cuts like butter with the Hotwire Cutter.

 

Each tombstone was painted with black paint.

 

White glossy paint was added to the cross on this tombstone.

To make them a little spooky, I added spider webbing around the tombstones and placed spiders on top.

 

They will look great in front of the house this Halloween.

Thanks for stopping by.

Steph

Boo Decor

Hello friends, Larissa here with you today. With all the holidays coming up I have decided to begin my DIY decor. Today I took three wooden blocks I previously had cut to make a Boo decor piece.

Using the Delta Sander  I sanded the edges smooth. 

Using a Gel Medium I painted on a thin coat on the block. 

I pre-cut 3 pieces of Halloween theme pattern paper and laid them on top of each block while the Gel Medium was still wet. I did the blocks one at a time since the Gel Medium needs to remain wet.

Once all three blocks were finished and dried and all the bubbles were out I took some black paint and paint the letters on each to spell the word BOO.

You can stack them on top of each other or side by side. I did not have the correct ribbon but I really wanted to wrap them in black tulle or ribbon and tie a bow at the top. Who knows I may end of doing it before it sits on my table for the season. :) 

Hope you enjoyed my post. Have a wonderful crafty day.

Larissa Pittman 

Hills and Valleys Woven Gourd

While at the Texas Gourd Festival a few weeks ago, I took a class on weaving hills and valleys on a gourd. The class was great and I decided I would try a gourd on my own now that I was back.

The Items needed for this project are:

Proxxon Jig Saw
Proxxon Delta Sander
Proxxon Rotary Tool
Brusho Crystals
Gourd
Reed Spokes
Reed
Yarn
Paint (brown)
Glue
Kamar Varnish

I really learned a lot in this class but I'm just going to primarily concentrate on the Proxxon Tools that I used in making this woven gourd.

To begin with I found what I thought would be a thick gourd and I marked the line to be cut and used my Proxxon Jig Saw for Gourds to cut it with.

This Jig Saw has become my go to saw when it comes to cutting a gourd. I then cleaned the inside of the gourd and painted the inside with brown paint mixed with glue.

The bottom wasn't quite level so I used my Proxxon Delta Sander to smooth out and level off the bottom.

I then colored the outside of the gourd with Brusho crystals and sealed it with Kamar Varnish. Once that was finished I used the Proxxon Rotary Tool with a drill bit that fit the size of the reed spokes to drill holes all around the gourd, which were spaced evenly.

I've got to say once again that I really enjoy using the Proxxon Rotary Tool! It makes it pretty easy to drill the holes at the right angle. I then glued the spokes into the gourd and let it set overnight to dry.

The next day the fun part began! I wove with reed and yarn around the gourd and finished up the ends of the spokes with beads glued onto the ends. I thought it really turned out beautiful and this one is going to be given as a gift.

What do you think of this latest project? Do you use any Proxxon tools or have you checked out the tools that Proxxon has to offer?

Barbara