Sunday, February 22, 2015

Crystals


This is how it ended






Why are we fascinated by crystals?




Beautiful sparkles





Joined together by strings






Stunning...







Last week I posted about my crystallized napkin rings





These are the remnants...crystals that formed on the strings






I enjoy basking in their beauty



But this is where it began, an experiment, strings soaked in water.  You can read more about it here





Strung together




A beautiful end



Never be afraid to do different...LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Crystalized Napkin Rings













I got this idea from my nephew Denzel whom I dubbed "The Mad Scientist".  

Some of you may have heard of the relationship between Borax and Crystals. I never knew of it until I visited my family in December and my nephew showed me one of his experiments. I just knew I had to play around with this when I got back home.

A lot of thoughts ran through my mind but I decided to stick with something simple...napkin rings.  

I took some burlap fabric and an old metal napkin ring.  I cut and rolled the fabric around the napkin ring, to get the correct size, and then stapled it on one end to keep it closed.  I later fringed it, which left me with lots of string to play around with (that's another post for next week).





I boiled some water, removed it from the stove and added 1/4c Borax for each cup of water. (you can probably add less).  I then stirred until the solution was dissolved.

I sat my makeshift napkin rings in the water and was especially careful not to let them touch each other.  I had lots of space so I placed the strings on the other end.  Then I let them sit to work their magic.  ;-)



After a few hours my crystals began to form.  You can decide if you want your stuff to continue sitting in water or you can remove them.  




Isn't this beautiful!




The rest is history  






There were a few loose crystals, so be sure to shake gently.










If you want to see more click here.

A special shout out to my nephew Denzel  for arousing my curiosity ... LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Silver Tray from Light Shade










It started as a light shade...









FRONT





BACK



I puttied the hole





This is where I forgot to take pictures  I primed the back and then painted it  with a metallic bronze, I later protected it with a semi-gloss polyurethane.




I used silver leave for the top


SILVER LEAF 


I then glazed it with a burnt umber to give it that tarnished finish and once again used a semi-gloss polyurethane to protect it.








I topped it off with candles and colorful gemstones 







BEFORE





AFTER

I can't believe it's not glass...




LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!