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My name is Melody M. Nuñez, and I’m an artist and a writer. Please look around my website and make yourself at home. I post new blog entries weekly, and hope you’ll subscribe to my blog and come back often! To learn more about me, please view the “About” page…SUBSCRIBE
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Category Archives: crafts
Bic Markers Giveaway Winner!
Congratulations, Sandra Strait! You won a set of Bic Mark-It Permanent markers! Please contact me with your mailing address so I can send them off to you.
Thanks to all who entered. I enjoyed reading your comments with your favorite colors, marker tips, and your feedback on my giveaways.
Speaking of giveaways, stay tuned – I’ll be announcing another giveaway later this week. Back to back – woo hoo!
Warm and colorful regards,
Melody
Bic Markers Giveaway!
It’s time for a giveaway, and this month I’m giving away a set of Bic Mark-It marker pens!
Markers are always good to have around the house for labeling boxes, addressing shipping envelopes, and so on. And if you’re an artsy or craftsy person, this set will be even more appealing. It has 36 colors to choose from. Nice! I decided to purchase a set for myself, and also bought a set for this giveaway since I love my readers. :]
The package says they’re fine tip markers, but they can definitely mark with a thicker line if you hold the pen a bit more to the side. Here are some of the product details for these markers:
- Ultra comfy rubber grip for comfort and control
- Fade resistant, acid free, vivid ink
- Fine bullet nib, line width 1.1mm used for art and craft activities, labeling, classifying
- Permanent alcohol-based ink, low-odor, quick-drying, plastic barrel
- The range features: Original color collection, Paradise pastel collection, Earthly expressions collection
How To Enter
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To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this blog post with at least one of the following:
1. Your favorite color
2. A tip you may have for using markers in art/crafts, or around your home
3. Share which giveaways you’ve been most excited about here on my blog (gift cards, books, art/craft supplies, etc.)
The winner will be drawn at random, and will be announced this coming Tuesday, April 30th – so enter today!
Warm regards,
Melody
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Also posted in art, art supplies, giveaway
Tagged Bic Mark-It, Bic Mark-It markers, marker pens
21 Comments
A New Crocheted Wreath Variation: Spring!
I’m continuing to modify the crocheted wreath I created back in December – it’s so easy to do since the doilies are just pinned on! Thus far I’ve shared two versions: Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Today I’m showing my newest version: Spring!
I used crocheted doilies and floral pot holders in purples and yellows, and love how the wreath turned out. Two of my favorite flowers are irises and daffodils, and the color scheme of this wreath reminds me of those two flowers.
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I didn’t make this a “strictly Easter” wreath since this version is likely to hang until June, when I’ll work on creating a 4th of July-themed wreath. So this wreath uses spring colors, but doesn’t include bunnies, chicks, or eggs – though I was tempted because I love all three of those things!
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Spring begins tomorrow, so I’d like to wish you a Happy Spring a bit early. If you live in a cold climate, I hope you enjoy nicer weather. :]
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Warm regards,
Melody
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Also posted in DIY, holidays, vintage
Tagged celebrating spring, doilies, Easter, spring, St. Patrick's Day, vintage crocheted wreath, vintage doilies
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Estate Sales: The Thrill of the Hunt
Do any of you frequent Estate Sales, or is it just me? I’ve been to a handful or so in the last year, and I have to confess that I can’t get enough of them. In fact, this may be a new addiction – uh oh!
For me part of the fun of an Estate Sale is the hunt. Not knowing what I might find – peeking and peering around in search of things that I consider treasure. Treasure, for me, includes vintage photos, buttons & notions, and linens. I look for inexpensive crafting supplies for my at-risk art journaling students. I’m now looking for more jewelry and findings that I can make necklaces with, and have also been known to pick up a vintage mini tart mold or two.
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Do I need any of this stuff? No – these items are purely recreational, and are intended to appear in some of my creative projects. That said, collecting and creating keep me out of trouble, and it’s a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment all things considered.*
Example: on a recent Saturday morning I visited two Estate Sales, and had a few hours of fun looking around. My purchases for the day totaled $10, and I ended up getting four vintage photos (including one in a frame), one handkerchief, a knitted baby sock, two doilies, a thread spool holder, metallic thread, a vintage star cookie cutter, and two clipboards. The next bit of fun is figuring out what I’ll make some of these items into. :]
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Do you have any tips or tricks when it comes to shopping Estate Sales? I’m curious about whether or not folks like to go on Friday when the sale first opens (for the best selection), or if they prefer to go on Saturday when prices are often half off. I’d love to hear about your Estate Sale tips and tricks, and what you like to look for when shopping, so please post a comment if you can.
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Happy Hunting!
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Warm regards,
Melody
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Also posted in antiques, art supplies, inspiration, life in general, vintage
Tagged doilies, vintage handkerchief, vintage photos
8 Comments
My New Etsy Store
Happy Wednesday!
I’ve just opened a shop on Etsy, and wanted to share the news so you can pop on over and take a peek via this link! I listed my first 22 items, including 19 necklaces, vintage pen nibs, and 2 sets of photo note cards. I hope you like my initial offerings! Here are a few photos to whet your appetite:
I hope you’re all having a great week! Thank you in advance for checking out my Etsy shop. :]
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in art, art supplies, vintage
Tagged cork necklaces, Etsy shop, jewelry, upcycled jewelry, vintage pen nibs
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An Artistic Upgrade: Paintbrush Holder
Hello there, dear readers! Just a quick post to share a recent artistic upgrade in my world. I love to find everyday things, inexpensive ones, that I can use in a different way. In this case I found an old, glass flower frog and thought it might work well for my paintbrush collection. I was right!
I used to have my paintbrushes in a white ceramic container that someone had given me. It was certainly inexpensive and functional, and I used it for several years, but it was kind of clunky.
Before
After
This glass “frog” is much more streamlined, and looks much better in the upper right corner of my desk. It needed a good scrub, but cleaned up nicely, is a great upgrade in both form and function. Price? One dollar. Yippee!
Do you have any storage containers or tools around your home that function in an innovative way – doing something other than what they were originally intended to do? Please share!
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in art, art supplies, inspiration
Tagged floral frog, glass flower frog, paintbrush holder
4 Comments
Crocheted Valentine’s Wreath
Hi, y’all!
Remember when I shared that Vintage Crocheted Wreath back in December? The one I hung for Christmas? Well, in that post I mentioned that it would be easy for me to modify the wreath for different holidays or themes throughout the year. By pinning my doilies and potholders on instead of gluing, it was super easy to take some of the pieces off and add new pieces to create a Valentine’s Day wreath. This version is all red, white, and cream, and I think it’s darling.
I’ll likely make a new version of the wreath for the spring, and will share that new wreath with you in a month or two. In the meantime, do you have questions, comments, feedback? I’d love to hear from you…
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in DIY, holidays, vintage
Tagged Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day wreath, vintage crocheted wreath
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DIY: Cork Pendants
Corks are pretty awesome. Not only can you stamp with them and make them into place card holders, you can make them into jewelry as well. What’s that, you say? Jewelry? Yep! I decided to try and make some pendants from wine corks, and am very pleased with the results. I think this project is incredibly versatile, and I love the idea of up-cycling.
Plus, you can likely use little bits and pieces of your existing creative stash (provided you’re into arts and crafts) – small pieces of your favorite papers, ribbons, fabrics, and a few other goodies. I only had to buy one thing (screw eyes), and bet you can make these pendants primarily from things you have on hand already, too.
Suggested Materials
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Corks – I used real corks from wine bottles (versus plastic/foam corks)
Paint, gesso, or acrylic ink
Paint brush
Ribbon
Fabric
Thin Decorative Paper
Wire
Beads
Sequins
Sequin Pins
Screw Eyes
Straight Pins
Cord, ribbon or chain to hang the pendants from
Directions
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- Apply color to cork, if desired. (I used black acrylic ink, purple acrylic ink, and white gesso) Let dry. Wipe some color off with a dry paper towel when the cork is nearly dry if you’d like a slightly mottled surface.
- Select materials to embellish your cork with, and decide on how many “decorative bands” you’ll have.
- Cut materials to proper size. Corks are 2″ long on average. If you’ll have just one type of decorative material, cut the piece slightly narrower than the cork is – end to end.If you’ll have two different decorative bands, cut each piece to 1/3 the length of your cork. If you’ll have three different bands, cut your strip to approximately 1/4″. Each strip should be long enough to wrap around the cork twice, which is approximately 6″.
- Pin one end of your ribbon/paper/fabric down with sequin pins, wrap the remaining length around the cork, and secure the ends with more pins. You can add sequins or beads onto this “closing pin” if you’d like to add a bit more pop.
- Embellish the bottom by affixing a bead or bauble with a straight pin.
- Attach a screw eye to the top. This will allow you to hang the pendant from a chain or cord.
Attaching the ribbon to the cork with pins
Pinning the ribbon closed, with sequins added
A bead and silver finding are attached to the bottom with a longer, silver straight pin
After the screw eye is attached at the top, the pendant is strung with a ribbon hanger
VERY Versatile
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Not only can you use these pendants in different ways – by wearing them, hanging them from your car’s rear view mirror, or using them as ornaments, you can also make them in very different ways.
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MILAGROS & COLORFUL FIBERS
* In this variation I drilled a hole through the pre-painted cork, threaded it onto some cool fibers, tied some extra fiber pieces into a tassel at the bottom, and added wire and milagro charms as the cork’s embellishment.
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* GOAL PENDANTS
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I made these two corks into Goal Setting & Reminder Pendants. I’m a big believer in setting goals and taking action, and I thought that writing my goals and working it into a pendant would be a great way to stay focused on that goal. Wearing the pendant is a reminder of what I’m working towards – a way to keep my aspirations close to my heart. Literally. :]
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*I made these two corks into Goal Setting & Reminder Pendants. I’m a big believer in setting goals and taking action, and I thought that writing my goals and working it into a pendant would be a great way to stay focused on that goal. Wearing the pendant is a reminder of what I’m working towards – a way to keep my aspirations close to my heart. Literally. :]
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To make these Goal Setting & Reminder Pendants you’ll just need to write your goals down, and attach your text layer to the cork when you pin down your ribbon/paper/fabric. Just make the paper that you write on a bit shorter than the decorative/outermost layer that goes on top of it.
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PAPER & BEADS
RIBBON & BEADS
INFINITE POSSIBILITIES!
There are so many ways to modify and customize this project. I’m glad I have several more corks to work with! Questions? Comments? I’d love to hear from you, dear readers…
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Oh, and by the way, I’ll be launching my Etsy shop soon and will be listing some Cork Pendants for sale. So, if you like these pendants, would like one of your own, and know that you won’t get around to making one for yourself, please keep an eye out for my shop’s launch announcement! :]
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Warm regards,
Melody
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Also posted in art supplies, DIY
Tagged cork crafts, cork pendants, DIY pendant, Goal Setting & Reminder Pendants, making things with corks, pendants, upcycle
6 Comments
Making Button Bracelets
I’ve been wanting to make button bracelets for the longest time. Why? I love buttons, and love the idea of making jewelry out of them! I also may have a small of a collection to choose buttons from, so it’s a great way to make use of one of my favorite things.
Okay, so I actually have a photo box full of buttons sorted by color. But really, who doesn’t?! Kidding. Yes, I have a thing for buttons. (The glass bowl in the upper left corner contains buttons I bought last week but haven’t sorted by color and put away yet.) I finally got around to ordering a few different types of bracelet blanks, and made my first two button bracelets.
There are many tutorials about how to make these bracelets online, so I won’t go into super explicit detail, but here’s an overview.
Materials
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Buttons
Bracelet blanks (I purchased mine online, here – two different types)
Aleene’s Jewelry & Metal Glue or a similar permanent adhesive
Wire cutters
Sand Paper
Directions
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- Select the buttons you plan to use, and get them ready for gluing. If your button has a shank on the back (like the the buttons on the bracelet left did), cut them off carefully with the wire cutters. If any of the shank remains, sand the bottom of the button on the sandpaper until the bottom is level.
- If you’re going to layer buttons (like the buttons in the bracelet on the right) glue or sew them together before glueing the bottom buttons to the bracelet blank.
- Decide on the order you’d like the buttons in, and glue them on. Let set if need be – depending on the type of the adhesive you use.
- Wear and enjoy, or give as a gift!
Do you have any questions, dear readers? I hope you like my first two Button Bracelets. I can’t wait to wear them, and to make some more!
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in art supplies, DIY, vintage
Tagged bracelet blanks, Button Bracelets, vintage button bracelet, vintage buttons
4 Comments
Vintage Crocheted Wreath
Back in October I saw a super cool wreath idea on the blog 20 North Ora. ”Ms. Ora’s” wreaths were made with vintage crocheted potholders and doilies, and I just loved the idea of using beautiful needleworked items in a wreath. So clever! I found the doilies and potholders I needed to make the wreath on eBay and followed the directions on the 20 North Ora blog post with just a few exceptions.
1. I did use a straw wreath as instructed, but covered it with inexpensive white acetate ribbon instead of lace. The wreath I selected is 13″ in diameter at the outer edges.
2. I didn’t use any glue, I just pinned the doilies on with T pins. I like the idea of being able to take this wreath apart and re-make it in a different color scheme/pattern if I want.
Straw wreath covered with ribbon
Crocheted pieces laid out, ready for pinning
Pinned, before the bow was attached
I think vintage needlework is lovely and am pleased with how well the three round pieces and three square potholders came together on this one wreath. I just added a simple bow of aged and tattered lace to finish it off, and it was ready to hang. What do you think?
Personally, I really love that this wreath idea is so versatile. By mixing different colors and patterns you can make themed wreaths for any occasion – Christmas, Chanukah, Valentine’s Day, Spring, 4th of July, and more. Or just choose colors and patterns that will appeal to you year-round and skip the seasonal reference!
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to have any vintage crocheted potholders similar to those on my wreath, aren’t using them, and want them to go to a good home, please keep me in mind! I’d be happy to adopt them. :]
Warm regards,
Melody
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Also posted in DIY, inspiration, vintage
Tagged crocheted doily wreath, crocheted potholder, crocheted potholder wreath, doily, wreath
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