Time to prepare for Christmas!

I have my last show of the season today and I'm still in the process of moving. But in the meanwhile I thought I came up with an awesome project to show you. Recently I participated in an ornament exchange and one of the people who was in the exchange was Misty Orlove and she had brought in a unique item that I used the idea for in my project. Instead of an ornament made out of a gourd like everyone else she had a better idea and brought in a very large Christmas bell.

While I was trying to come up with something to pass along to you, I thought why not a Christmas bell like the one that Misty had made? I was at the house that I'm moving from and was limited in what I had on hand, but tops cut from gourds was not one of them. (smile) I liked the bell that Misty had made so much that I decided to make a door hanger with two gourd tops and here is what I used in this project:

Proxxon Jigsaw
Proxxon Delta Sander
Proxxon Drill
Red Acrylic Paint
Gold Acrylic Paint
Extreme Glitter Paint in Red and Gold
Black Metallic Acrylic Paint
Lots of Red Glitter
Decorative Spray
Wide Red Ribbon
Large Jingle Bells
Wire
Wire Cutters
2 Gourd Tops
Paint brush
Sealer

I started out with two tops that I had picked out of my big scrap pile. After cutting off the stems, I re-cut the tops with my Proxxon Jigsaw to the same height and sanded the edges with the Proxxon Delta Sander. I then painted all but the inside edge with the Metallic Black paint. When that was dry I then took my Red acrylic paint and gave each top a good coat of paint.

When that paint was dry, I coated the tops with the Extreme Red Glitter paint and sprinkled Red Glitter liberally over the paint while it was wet.

(Now that's some sparkle!)

Now this paint and glitter took a while to dry so I just let it set overnight. Before I got started back on the project the next day, I made a bow out of the wide ribbon and put it together with the decorative spray that I got to go with it.

Once the glitter and paint was dry I sprayed the gourd tops a couple of times to seal the glitter to it. I then painted around the bottom edge of the tops with Gold Acrylic paint and then with the Extreme Gold glitter paint. I didn't put extra glitter on that part.

Once everything was good and dry I drilled a hole in the top and side of each of the bells, threaded gold wire through two of the Jingle Bells for each of the tops and used wire to put the two tops (bells) together and string the Jingle Bells into each one. I then used the wire to attach the bow and decorative spray to them also. Here's the end result:

I think this turned out so well that I will take this project to the new house this weekend and put it on the front door! You don't have to buy all of the things that you decorate your house for Christmas with, you can make quite a few of them yourself.

Barbara

Tea Light Holder

With Christmas just a few short weeks away, I'm beginning to think about holiday decorations. One of my favorite things is arranging beautiful table settings for our Christmas dinner. This year I created these tea light holders to grace each place setting.

For this project I used:

• 1/4" MDF
• Folk Art Shaker Red (#38907) Milk Paint
• Folk Art Milk Paint Finishing Oil
• Proxxon Scroll Saw DS 115/E

I began by printing the pattern and adhering it to the MDF using painter's tape and spray adhesive.  I covered the surface of the MDF with painter's tape. Next, I sprayed the back of the pattern with spray adhesive, and put that on top of the painter's tape. The spray adhesive holds the pattern in place, and the painter's tape makes removing it a breeze.

Next step was to cut out the two pieces using my Proxxon scroll saw.

It cut so smoothly no sanding was required, so I moved right on to painting each piece. So I could paint all the surfaces at one time, I pushed a heavy corsage pin into the notch on each piece. I used the pin to hold the piece while I was painting it, and I clamped the pins to suspend the pieces while they were drying.

After painting, I used soft cloth to gently buff on Folk Art Milk Paint Finishing Oil.

I'm looking forward to using these tea light holders to brighten my holiday table.

You can find the pattern for this tea light holder on the Scrollsaw Workshop website.

Carole

Personalized Jewelry Charm Locket

 Hi everyone! Tammy here today with a tutorial on how to personalize charm lockets with the Proxxon Glass Engraving Tool. I purchased one of these charm holders, and I decided to personalize it with my initial. Here is how I did it...

Supplies:

Proxxon Glass Engraving Tool

Glue Dots Removable

Printed "T" template

Paper punch .75"

Charm holder

Directions:
Print the initial to match the size of the space where you will be engraving. My space was a little under .75"

Use a paper punch to cut out the initial.

Place a removable Glue Dot on top of the template

Place the template face up on the back of the glass.

Use the Proxxon Glass Engraving Tool to etch the initial onto the glass.

Carefully remove the template and dust off any remaining dust from engraving. Fill in any missing areas of the engraving.

Add charms and a chain.

I love how this turned out so much that I think I may be making some of these for my friends for Christmas! (shhh don't tell anyone)

I hope this has given you another unique idea on how to use the Proxxon Glass Engraving Kit. This is one of my favorite tools from Proxxon!

Let’s be friends!

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Christmas Shadowbox

Hi everyone Steph Ackerman here today with a Christmas shadowbox.

As we approach the holidays, I love to create projects I can display or give as gifts.

 

I picked up some wood boxes on clearance after Halloween and decided to upcyle one into a Christmas shadowbox. 

 

 

Using the Delta Sander, I sanded the box.  I love the shape of the head of the Delta Sander because it gets into the corners of boxes.  I painted the interior with Plaid Milk Paint in Petticoat then sanded the box again.

 

Next, I used  modeling paste through a stencil to create a brick effect.  A little bit of red paint provided a faux brick.

 

 

Onto the details.  I added burlap along the bottom edge for the hearth.

 

 

Pattern paper was added to the background to simulate wallpaper.  I created a fireplace mantle and hung the  die cut stockings with care.  In the corner I adhered a Christmas tree and assorted packages.

 

And finally, a trio of reindeers was added to the corner.

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

Smooth Foam Cross

 Hello friends. Larissa here with you today. Having a lot of medical issues lately on my mind brought this project to life.
I wanted to cut a cross out of wood. Our weather has been full of thunderstorms the last few days so instead of cutting wood I decided to try a piece of smooth foam.

Supplies you will need: 

• Smooth Foam 12x12x5/8
• Proxxon Thermocut Hot Wire Cutter 
• FolkArt ® Milk Paint™ - Cabinet Maker's Blue, 6.8 oz.
• FolkArt ® Milk Paint Brushes
• Black Sharpie Marker 
• Ruler 
• Spatula
• Modeling Paste
• Plastic bowl for mixing 
• Black Cardstock Die Cut Word "Believe"

What did I do: 

I started out drawing a cross on a piece of 12x12x5/8 piece of Smooth Foam and cutting it out using the Proxxon Thermocut Hot Wire Cutter. 

I smoothed the edges of the smooth foam.
 

I added a thin coat of Modeling Paste to the top of the cross to make it look like rough stone.

Once the Modeling Paste dried I added a thin coat of Milk Paint. 

Once the Modeling Paste dried I added a thin coat of Milk Paint. I added a little Milk Paint to the Modeling Paste and mixed it together. 

Once the Modeling Paste dried I added a thin coat of Milk Paint. I added a little Milk Paint to the Modeling Paste and mixed it together. Like icing a cake I spread out the colored modeling paste on the top of the Milk Paint. 

Once it was completely dry I added the word Believe to the cross with a little liquid glue. 

I hope you enjoyed my post today. Have a wonderful day friends.
Larissa Pittman 

www.muffinsandlace.com

Domino Christmas Decoration

Some time ago I found a great set of dominoes at Tuesday Morning. At the time I purchased them, I didn't have a particular use in mind, but they turned out to be perfect for this Christmas project—a standing ornament.

For each domino ornament you will need:

• 2 dominoes
• 1 small decorative piece
• 1 eye pin
• Decorative beads of your choice
• Napkins for collage
• Mod Podge
• Small paint brush
• 1 small nail with a head
• Strong adhesive, such as E6000

I used my Proxxon Professional Rotary Tool combined with the Micromot Drill Stand and machine vice to drill the necessary holes. As you'll see, this combination of tools allowed for precision placement of the dominoes to ensure accurate drilling.

I marked the drilling points on each domino, and placed them in the machine vice.

This is the vertical domino anchored in the machine vise and positioned on the drill stand, ready for drilling the hole for the swivel. I also drilled a small hole in the top of the domino for the beaded finial.

The horizontal domino was drilled, and the hole for the swivel nail was countersunk on the bottom of the domino using a grinding bit. The nail swivel was glued in place with a drop of E6000 adhesive, and set aside to dry.

On the plain, flat side of the vertical domino, I napkin collaged the Santa image directly onto the domino. On the reverse side—the side of the domino with the pips—I cut a piece of cardstock to size and napkin collaged onto the cardstock. Then, adhered the collaged cardstock to the face of the domino. (You can watch these directions for napkin collaging.) 

I used a dot of E6000 to glue the eye pin with the beaded finial into the hole that I previously drilled in the top of the domino, and to add the small clay Christmas tree decoration. (You can learn how I made the Christmas tree with Creative Paperclay®.)

The last assembly step was to  position the vertical domino on the nail swivel.

Side A

Side B

Can't wait for Christmas to get here, so I can display these in my home—and, or course, give some as gifts.

What's a "Thunder Gourd" you Say???

Well it's a gourd which, after being prepared and transformed, makes the sound of thunder when it's shaken.

Items needed for this project are:

Your Proxxon Jig Saw
Your Proxxon Belt Sander
Your Proxxon Rotary Tool
Glossy White Spray Paint
Alcohol Inks
Stone Texture Spray Paint
Painters Tape
Drum Head
Spring with Bead attached to the end
Special synthetic drum head which heat shrinks and becomes tight
Black acrylic paint mixed with some school glue
Suede lace

Super Glue

The main thing to remember about this project is that the gourd must have the bottom cut off to attach the synthetic drum head and spring to, and a hole or holes put on the gourd to let the sound out. The decorating can be done in many ways. This is just one way of doing it.

 You need to choose a gourd that has somewhat of a handle to it. You need to clean the outside of the gourd and get rid of any dirt or mold on the exterior.

 Once the outside is clean you need to use your Proxxon Jig Saw to cut the bottom of the gourd off flat and not at an angle. When you get the bottom cut off you need to clean out the inside of the gourd. Make sure you leave nothing on the inside of the gourd that could flake off at a later time because it will fall down inside the gourd and end up on the drum head you will be attaching to the bottom.

 For my sound hole on this gourd, I cut the top off of the gourd also. It does make it easier to clean out the top by doing it this way too. I used my Proxxon Belt Sander to sand the top of the gourd and get rid of any marks. I then painted the inside of the gourd with the black paint and glue mixture and let it dry.

 I had about four thunder gourds going at the same time and took a picture of this one that I used blues and green alcohol inks on. I just used the painters tape to tape off the area that I wanted to color, sprayed the glossy acrylic paint and then used the alcohol inks. Once that was done and sealed, I blocked off the alcohol ink part and sprayed the textured stone spray paint on the rest of the gourd. I then sealed the whole gourd.

 Here's the first one that I finished and as you can see, it was done in different colors. I then drilled holes on both sides of the top of the gourd using my Proxxon Rotary Tool and strung the suede lace through it to use it to hang the thunder gourd up.

 I then glued the synthetic drum head to the gourd and once it dried, I trimmed it off and heat shrunk the drum head until it was tight. You then take your spring and poke a hole in the drum, put a tiny drop of super glue on the hole and thread your spring into the drum head.

 Woo Hoo! You're done! Now you just hold the drum by the neck of the gourd and shake it. The sound that comes out is remarkably like the sound of thunder.

I hope you like this tutorial and leave some comments for me. Go to www.proxxon.com and check out these wonderful tools too!

Barbara