Etched holiday votives with the Proxxon Glass Etching Tool

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today. 

As we approach the holidays, I love to create decorative elements to either use or give as gifts.  Today, I'm working with the Complete Glass Engraving Set to etch some glass votives.

Begin by stamping  a design on scrap paper and then tape it inside the votive.  My first design is a set of snowmen.

 

My second design is holly and berries.

Using the Glass Engraving Tool, just follow the lines of the stamped images. 

 

Carefully fill in certain elements of both designs to finish the pattern.  I added some "snow" along the bottom of the votive, then filled in the brim of the hats which are usually furry, as well as the letters to make them stand out more.

I filled in the holly and berries to make them more prominent.

 

 

Once they were finished, I realized they would make nice shot glasses too!

 

What will you etch today?

 

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

 

 

Let it Snow

Hello friends. Larissa here today with a snowman made from wood.

Supplies Used:
Proxxon Scroll Saw
White, Red and Green Paint
Chalk Paint in Licorice and Blood Orange Sorbet

Drill
Sandpaper
Paint Brushes

I cut the snowman out of a piece of thin plywood.  I then drilled holes around the edge of the snowman because I planned on putting lights in them.

I took a piece of sandpaper and went around the edges really quick just to make sure there were no rough edges. Then I painted the snowman and hat using some paint I had on my shelf. 

I have tried 3 different light sets I had here in my studio and have had no luck with them working. So tomorrow back to the city I drive to find me a set of lights that will work. :)

Hope you enjoyed my post. I know you can do this too. I didn't use a pattern for the snowman I just drew it out on the plywood before I started cutting. 

Have a wonderful day friends. 

Creating a Gourd Tree with Proxxon Tools!

As everyone knows, I'm in the process of moving, but I'm also gearing up for the Fall Shows that I participate in. I wanted to make something for this project that might use up gourd pieces which I had on hand and yet incorporate some of the wonderful Proxxon Tools that I get to work with into the process. I rarely if ever throw away a gourd piece because I have found that they can be all used in one purpose or another, whether it's to use them in another piece or just to use them to practice a technique on. I make quite a few bowls and use a lot of different techniques on them such as wood burning, weaving, carving, painting, etc. Whether they have a useful purpose or a purely decorative one, I make a lot and also use a lot in the classes that I teach.

Items needed for this project:  
I used 5 gourd tops for this project
1 Dowel Rod
1 Wooden base
4 pcs of pvc pipe to be used as spacers between limbs
Glue ( I used gorilla glue for wood)
Brown Acrylic paint
Green Acrylic paint
A spray acrylic sealer
The Proxxon JigSaw
The Proxxon Delta Sander
The Proxxon Drill
Cleaning tools
Respirator

 I know that I've shown you the bottoms of the gourds before they've been cleaned, but these are some tops in all of their nastiness. All of the insides have to be cleaned out and you need to wear a respirator when you do so. Inhaling gourd dust can damage your lungs, just like inhaling fine wood dust can do.

 After cleaning the insides of the gourd tops, I improvised and used a saburr burr in the Proxxon Drill to drill a partial hole in the wooden stand to insert the dowel rod into. Once that was done, I glued the rod in the hole with the Gorilla glue for wood.

 I then proceeded to use the Proxxon Drill to make holes in the tops of five gourd tops to slide down the rod with spacers which I cut with the Proxxon Jig Saw.

 I also used my Proxxon Jig Saw to cut random curved edges around the bottom of the tops.

 After which I used my Proxxon Delta Sander to sand off any rough edges. I then proceeded to paint the trunk of the tree brown and the limbs green. Once everything was painted and dry. I glued all the pieces together and this is the result!

 A very folk artsy tree that can be decorated for Christmas in whatever way someone might want to. I'm going to try and make several to sell at the shows I'm going to in the next month. You can do so many things with Proxxon Tools that you really owe it to yourself to check them out if you like working with tools.

Barbara  

Personalized Christmas Ornament With The Proxxon Glass Engraving Set

Hi everyone! Tammy here today with a personalized Christmas ornament that I engraved with the Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit. I love to make Christmas ornaments for the members of my family every year. I love to base them on what is currently going on in their life. This year is the first year that my daughter is a cheerleader, so I thought it would be fun to make her this ornament. Here is how I made it.

Supplies:
Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit
Glass Christmas Ornament
Cheerleader silhouette
Removable Glue Dots
Sequins
Ribbon
Plastic gem
Black fine point Sharpie pen

Directions:

Print out the silhouette that you would like to trace with the Proxxon Glass Engraver and secure it to the back of the ornament with a couple Glue Dots. 

 Trace the silhouette with your Proxxon Glass Engraver tool.

Add sequins to the inside of the ornament.

Add a plastic gem to the top of the ornament with a Glue Dot.

Add a piece of ribbon to the loop at the top of the ornament so you will be able to hang it on your tree.

I also used a fine point Sharpie marker to outline the engraving so it would stand out more with the sequins inside.

My daughter loves her ornament so much she already has it hanging on her bookshelf in her room :) She told me she is looking forward to hanging it on the tree this year! It is so easy to make personalized items with the Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit, I hope you give it a try today!

Let's be friends!

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Spoon Rest

I love kitchen gadgets, so when I found this pattern for a wooden spoon rest on the Scroll Saw Workshop blog, I knew that I could make it using my Proxxon micro tools. I started with a length of bubinga. The bubinga tree grows in equatorial Africa, reaching heights up to 150 feet with three to six foot diameter trunks. It is denser that any domestic woods—about twice as hard as white oak.

I began this project by adapting the pattern to meet my own needs and for use with a table saw rather than a scroll saw.

Original	Adaptation

You can see that I shortened the spoon rest from five to three slots and redesigned the supports. I also merged two spoon rest patterns, since using the Proxxon Table Saw FET required different cutting techniques than those used with a scroll saw.

The first difference is how to achieve the grooves where the utensils rest. With a scroll saw you simply cut out the pattern outline. You can see from my adaptation that a vertical cut through the center of the pattern will result is two spoon rests. But, I still needed to cut the grooves, and a table saw only cuts straight lines. I decided to cut the holes with a hole saw drill bit. You can see the holes here as I get ready to cut the spoon rest on the table saw.

After the two bottom of each spoon rest was cut, I positioned the wood in the saw to cut the two halves.

To cut the notches, I adjusted the blade height to make a half inch cut. The wood was positioned with the bottom on the spoon rest on the bed of the saw. The first cut was made in the center of the notch, then a series of parallel cuts made to the right and the left, very close together. The end result was a notch 1/2" deep on the bottom of the spoon rest. (Sorry, no photo. I didn't have enough hands to hold the wood and snap the pic, and didn't have a photo buddy. BTW—if I'm the photographer, which is most of the time, the saw is in the OFF position. I love my fingers and want to keep all of them :) )

When all the cuts were made, it was time for finish sanding using my Delta sander. This wood is so nice to work with, it required minimal sanding.

To sand the grooves on the spoon rest, I devised my own version of a drum sander. I used E6000 adhesive to adhere a piece of sandpaper to a 3/4" dowel rod, which I mounted in my Proxxon Micro Woodturning Lathe.

Here are the pieces cut, sanded, and ready for assembly. You could glue the supports onto the spoon rest for a permanent kitchen piece, or you could leave them separate and assemble on an as-needed basis. Either way this makes a lovely addition to any kitchen.

Creating Halloween projects with the Proxxon Glass Engraving Tool

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today.  Have you seen the Complete Glass Engraving Set?  This set comes with the tool, the bits, a glass and several patterns to get you started. 

Since we are nearing Halloween, I wanted to create a gift for a friend.  I found this purple glass mug and knew it would be a perfect Halloween gift.  Using a large stamp from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps, I stamped a tree on scrap paper then taped it inside the mug.

Using the Engraving Tool,  I traced the image on the glass following the pattern.

And this is the result.  The Engraver is extremely light weight and easy to use.

 

As this is to be a gift, I placed some glitter beads in the mug. 

Rather than wrapping the mug, I used the Bowdabra to create a bow and tied it to the handle.

 

 

I love how this turned out and can't wait to engrave some more gifts.

 

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

 

 

 

Refinishing an Antique Mirror

For this project you will need:

An aged mirror
Proxxon Delta Sander
Embellishment
Chalk Paint
Brush

Right now I'm in the process of moving and so I was looking for a simple project to do that would fit into my schedule. I came up with the idea of refinishing an antique mirror that I had picked up some time ago.

This was the original mirror. As you can see it was at one time part of a dresser. My guess is the dresser was gotten rid of long ago.

It really didn't take very long to sand the mirror down with my Proxxon Delta Sander and I've got to say that it is a very easy tool to use. Easy to hold and doesn't put a lot of stress on your hand.

Once it was sanded down I glued a couple of metal embellishments that I had to the top and bottom and then painted over them as I painted the rest of the mirror.

Can you see the embellishments at the top? Here's a little close up of the top.

I've decided that once I clean the glass of course,haha, that I'm going to find a pretty cord to hang it in my bedroom. I just love how it turned out. See it's so much easier to refinish something when you have the right tool for the job and Proxxon tools !

Barbara

Halloween Mini Halloween Recipe Album Featuring The Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit

Hi everyone! Tammy here with you today with a fun way to use your Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit! Normally you wouldn't think power tools and scrapbooking go together. Well it does when there is acrylic involved! Did you know you can engrave acrylic with the Proxxon glass Engraving tool? I have used it many times to engrave acrylic scrapbook albums just like this one from Clear Scraps. 

How I did it:

Supplies:

Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit

Sentiment

Acrylic piece from scrapbook album

Glue Dots

Directions:

1. Print a sentiment that you would like to trace with the engraving tool. 
2. Place Glue Dots on top of the sentiment.
3. Place sentiment under the acrylic so you can see the sentiment through the acrylic.
4. Trace the sentiment with your Proxxon Glass Engraving Tool
5. Attach the acrylic piece to the album.

 I love how this piece turned out! For a complete tutorial on how I made the rest of the album, check out the tutorial on my blog.

Let's be friends!

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