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Hand Painted Ceramic Vases for a One of a Kind Mother’s Day Gift

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May 6, 2018 By Rebecca D. Dillon

These hand painted ceramic vases are incredibly easy to decorate. Simply paint, cure and bake and you have a unique, one of a kind Mother’s Day gift she’ll always treasure!

My friend and roommate, Bambi, had several days off last week. Our weather was unseasonably hot for spring last week with highs in the 90s and a pollen count through the roof. So rather than spending time outdoors, we decided to tackle a craft project indoors.

I still had ceramic craft vases that I bought from the Handmade Modern Collection at Target last year that were still in storage. With Mother’s Day right around the corner, we decided to dig these vases out of storage and paint them with ceramic paints. These hand painted ceramic vases make great succulent planters. However, they are also perfect for storing extra craft supplies on your desk.

I’m also pretty crazy about this ceramic geometric hanging succulent wall vase that can be painted as well.

DIY Hand Painted Ceramic Vases

We painted our vases using Liquitex Glossies, a ceramic paint that bake onto the ceramic, which Bambi still had in craft stash. Unfortunately, this particular paint was discontinued in 2016. A suitable substitute for this type of paint would be the Porcelaine 150 Ceramic Paints.

Getting started is easy. Once you have your ceramic vase and decide on a design, all you need are the paints and brushes to get started! We used paper plates for paint palettes as I misplaced mine somewhere during the last move. Pint glasses were also filled with water for rinsing off our brushes between colors.

How you design your hand painted ceramic vases is really up to you. There’s no right or wrong way. I painted my vase with layered blocks of overlapping colors.

While Bambi chose to paint lined shapes and large blocks of color for her hand painted ceramic vases. (She painted two vases!) Once we completed the designs on our hand painted ceramic vases, we set the vases aside to cure for 24 hours.

We then baked our hand painted ceramic vases according to the paint manufacturer’s instructions. Once cool, we removed the ceramic vases from the oven.

I chose to use a gold calligraphy paint pen to add gold accents to my vase.

And there you have it! It’s really that easy to craft your own hand painted ceramic vases! Whether you give your vases as handmade Mother’s Day gifts or decide to keep them for yourself, you now have a unique and functional vessel that’s perfect for your home!

More to Make and Gift for Mother’s Day

If you enjoyed this creative Mother’s Day craft project, then you may also enjoy making these easy DIY needle felted wine bags for Mom this Mother’s Day. Or try one of these other beautiful DIY Mother’s Day gifts.

Can’t squeeze in the time to make your own handmade Mother’s Day gift? Shop from this collection of lovely handmade Mother’s Day gifts on Etsy instead. I’m particularly partial to this floral zipper pouch from Apple White Handmade as well as this Vanilla Escape Organic Skin Care Set from Dab & Dabble. (Both pictured above.)

Discover More from Soap Deli News

For more gift worthy craft projects as well as homemade bath, body, beauty and soap recipes, be sure to find and follow Soap Deli News across all of your favorite social media platforms including G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram as well as subscribe to Soap Deli News via email for future updates, DIY projects and recipes.

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Holiday DIY, Homemade Gift Ideas Tagged With: ceramics, crafts, diy, easy, gift idea, gift ideas for women, Mother's Day, Mother's Day gifts, painting, planter, tutorial

DIY Halloween Tombstones from Upcycled Cereal Boxes

October 17, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn how to craft your own DIY Halloween Tombstones using upcycled cereal boxes and add a faux graveyard to your outdoor Halloween decorations!

As a new step-mother I am freshly reminded of how much waste a family of four can make. And while my city has a recycling program, I love that this project utilizes common cereal boxes and turns them into lasting outdoor Halloween decorations. Not only is it nice to create something lasting from trash out of the recycle bin, but hopefully this project will also inspire your own creativity by encouraging you to find new ways to make use of craft materials you may ordinarily toss out.

Making your own DIY Halloween tombstones is both easy and fun. And because this project doesn’t require any technical skill, the whole family can join in on the fun!

DIY Halloween Tombstones

What You’ll Need (for Each Tombstone):

large cereal box
Krylon Natural Stone Decorative Aerosol, Granite Finish
Tim Holtz block Upper Cling Foam Stamps, optional
craft paints
craft glitter, optional
clear outdoor sealer
liner paint brush
masking tape
two 12″ wood skewers
strong craft glue
pen or marker
scissors

What to Do:

Begin by cutting off the top front and back flaps of your cereal box. These are basically the flaps you use to close the box. Make sure to leave the side flaps intact.

Next, using a pen or marker, draw a half circle about 1-2″ down from the top of the box on the front of the cereal box. It should form a tombstone shape when it meets the edges of the box. (Be sure to draw the line so that when the sides of the box are rounded over the top of the tombstone, they meet or overlap in the middle.)

Carefully cut off the top front portion of the cereal box along and above the line you just drew.

Save the portion of the box you cut off the front so you can trace it onto the back of the box. Then cut off the top back of the cereal box.

Now round the sides over the curved edges of the box you just cut until they meet in the middle.

Then tape the sides of the box down onto the edges of the tombstone shape you cut.

Follow with more tape, taping the sides of the box all the way around the curved tombstone top.

Now carefully open the bottom flap of the cereal box. Cut two lines vertical lines on either side of the back bottom flap. Then cut two more small horizontal lines off each of the vertical lines you just cut and fold the flaps you created over. Now cut a small square out at the top of each flap, just big enough for your skewers to fit through.

Place your wooden skewers inside the cereal box and tape them in. Then close and tape the bottom of the box up with the skewers sticking out. Reinforce with more tape as needed.

Now spray paint your tombstone on all sides using the decorative stone spray paint. Once the first coat dries, apply a second coat. Spray excess paint in some areas, then use dried leaves or paper or even your fingertips to distress the paint so it looks like weathered, chipped stone.

Apply additional paint as needed once the second layer dries if desired.

Once the decorative stone spray paint has fully dried, you are ready to add details to your DIY Halloween tombstones. To do this, use a strong craft glue on your foam letters in your desired message. (I used E6000 craft adhesive.)

Then use craft paint to add details to the lettering as well as to paint a border along the front edge. I found a liner brush and black paint worked great for this.

Now lightly brush on red accent paint as desired. In addition to using a brush for this step, I also used my fingertip to apply additional paint in areas.

Next, lightly sprinkle glitter into the wet paint as desired. (I used iridescent and red glitters for this step.) Blow off any excess glitter you don’t want.

Finally, spray on a layer or two of clear outdoor sealer. This will help to not only protect the craft paint you added, but also help keep the glitter in place. Once you’ve made your DIY Halloween tombstones, all that’s left is to display them!

To do this, simply insert the skewers into the ground to hold the tombstones in place. Use your fingers to push the skewers into the ground as far as you can as pushing on the top of the tombstone can cause the skewers to come loose inside.

You can then add leaves and even Halloween lights and spiderwebs around the tombstones as desired to set the scene.

If you enjoyed my tutorial for making your own DIY Halloween tombstones, then you may also like my other DIY Halloween crafts including my moldable 3-D DIY pumpkin spice soap, my DIY Halloween cream eyeshadows, my DIY preserved organ Halloween jar decorations inspired by American Horror Story and my free printable vintage Halloween apothecary labels.

Also be sure to check out my guest post at The Nourished Life blog for making your own DIY Halloween grease paint makeup. This DIY is a must try if you’ve been disappointed with both the quality and ingredients found in store bought Halloween cream or grease face paints in the past. Additionally you can find more Halloween crafts and decorating ideas on my Halloween DIY Projects & Ideas Pinterest board.

Do you have other creative ideas for upcycling your recyclables or for making Halloween decorations? I’d love to see what you come up with! To share your DIY Halloween projects and creative recycling ideas with me, be sure to tag your photos with the hashtag #soapdelishowoff when you share them on instagram so I can take a peek!

In addition to following me on Instagram, you can also find and follow me G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Blog Lovin’. Or subscribe to Soap Deli News via email for future updates, DIY projects and recipes.

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Holiday DIY Tagged With: craft project, crafts, diy, fall, Halloween, Halloween decorations, holidays, recycled, tombstone, tutorial, upcycled

DIY Cactus Ring Holder to Brighten Up Your Space

August 14, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn how to make a DIY cactus ring holder! Made using polymer clay, this easy cactus ring holder offers a safe place to stash your rings! Molded onto the top of a decorative jar lid, this DIY cactus ring holder has space to stash your rings both inside the jar and out!

You’ll be using the same fun cactus silicone mold for this project that I used to create my DIY cactus soaps with eco-friendly biodegradable glitter.

I hope you have as much fun with this project as I did! I think this cactus ring holder would not only make a cute home decor accent piece in your own home, but it’s also perfect for gift giving!

DIY Cactus Ring Holder

What You’ll Need:

Darice 7 oz. Glass Craft Jar (1095-98) with Metal Lid
Blush Cactus Silicone Mold
White Original Sculpey Oven Bake Clay
Krylon Clear Sealer or similar
craft paints
craft paint brushes

What to Do:

Begin by kneading the polymer clay until it’s soft and pliable. Then press the clay into one of the cavities of your cactus silicone mold.

Clean any excess from the top of the clay in the mold.

Then carefully remove the polymer clay from the mold cavity. If you have trouble removing the clay cactus, set the clay aside for a bit to allow it to firm back up a bit before trying to remove it from the mold.

Now, using additional clay, cover the top of the metal lid to your jar. Try to keep the clay on top of the jar lid about the same thickness as your clay cactus.

Once covered, scoop out a small hole in the center of the clay on the jar lid that the base of your clay cactus will fit into. Place the clay cactus into the hole on top of the lid and use your fingers or a utensil to move the clay to hold the cactus in place. The clay covering the jar lid and the cactus on top should become one piece.

Leaving the clay attached to the jar lid, bake the lid and clay together in a 275°F oven for about 30 minutes on a baking sheet. Then remove the cactus lid from the oven and allow it to cool.

Once the cactus lid has cooled, use craft paints to paint the cactus and base as desired.

When the paint on your cactus dries, spray it with a clear acrylic sealer to protect it.

Now all that’s left is to fill the inside of your jar with rings or knick knacks and screw on the lid! You can also place additional rings on the arms of cactus! And that’s it!

I hope you enjoyed my project for making a DIY cactus ring holder. I know it’s not soap, but it does give you another fun use for your silicone molds!

If you enjoyed my DIY cactus ring holder project, I hope you’ll also check out my DIY cactus soaps! This fun soapmaking tutorial will walk you through creating your own colorful, glittery cactus soaps using a melt and pour soap base!

Want a cactus ring holder to spice up your space but don’t have time to make your own? You can shop for handmade cactus ring holders on Etsy here! I’m kind of sweet on this super cute cacti ring dish from Chicko Craft. But there are so many great ones to choose from!

For more DIY projects like this one, be sure to check out my Jonesing for Crafts Pinterest board. Or simply follow all of my Pinterest boards here.

You can also follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Handmade Home Tagged With: cactus, crafts, diy, easy, fun, gift idea, handmade home, home decor, how to, jewelry storage, organization, organizer, polymer clay, ring holder, storage, summer, tutorial

Pokemon Inspired Bath and Body Video Tutorials

July 17, 2016 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Whether you’re a Pokemon Go fan are have Pokemon Go fans at home, these Pokemon inspired video tutorials for making your own Pokemon Pokeball Soaps and Pokemon Pokeball Bath Bombs mean more fun for the entire family.

Pokemon Inspired Bath & Body Video Tutorials

These DIY Pokeball Pokemon inspired soaps are sure to make bath time more fun the kids. Watch this video tutorial from Describe in One Word DIY’s to learn how it’s done. Then for more melt and pour soap recipes, visit Soap Deli News blog here.

Even if you don’t have Pokemon fever you may still get a kick from this DIY Pokemon inspired Bath Bomb tutorial. Make taking a break from Pokemon Go almost as much fun as playing with this video tutorial from SofiaStyled. Then be sure to check out more homemade bath bomb recipes from Soap Deli News blog here.

And, while not Pokemon inspired, you may also like this video tutorial from Describe in One Word DIY’s for making your own DIY Chocolate Bath Bombs.

If you are also a Star Wars fan by chance, then be sure to check out my Star Wars inspired bath and body recipes here. You’ll find several bath and body recipes for making your own natural baking soda free spray on and stick deodorants with fun printable labels as well recipes for melt and pour soap and jelly soap!

Of course, to make all of wonderful bath and body products, it will require you to put down your phone and stop playing Pokemon Go for at least an hour or so to give you time to prep, create and clean up. Of course, you can also always hold out for a rainy day.

For even more ideas and bath and body recipes, be sure to follow my boards on Pinterest. You can also find and follow me on Blog Lovin’, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, G+ and Instagram.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath and body, bath bomb recipe, crafts, diy, melt and pour soap, melt and pour soap recipe, pokemon, soapmaking, tutorial

Homemade Winter Body Balm Recipe

December 5, 2015 By Rebecca D. Dillon

This homemade winter body balm recipe contains ingredients that work together to help promote healing for damaged skin while also locking in much needed moisture. The end product of this winter body balm recipe makes wonderful homemade gifts for anyone who suffers from persistent skin conditions.

It’s also appreciated by anyone who washes their hands continuously throughout the day such as hair dressers, crafters and teachers who work with children. Check out my homemade winter body balm recipe below to learn how to make it. You’ll also find a tutorial for creating your own homemade labels after the recipe.

Homemade Winter Body Balm Recipe

Ingredients:

1 oz. beeswax
.5 oz. traditional emulsifying wax
1 oz. mango butter
1 oz. coconut oil (76° melt point)
.5 oz. lanolin
.5 oz. 100% neem oil
.5 oz. carrier oil (liquid at room temp)
2 mL (approx. 40 drops) rosewood essential oil

Instructions:

Using a digital scale, begin by weighing out the waxes and mango butter in a glass Pyrex measuring cup. Then heat in the microwave at 50% power until the waxes and butter have melted completely. (Alternately you can use a double boiler.)

Next, weigh out the coconut oil and lanolin. Stir into the melted wax and butter mixture until these ingredients have liquified completely. (If you are allergic to coconut oil you may substitute the coconut oil with shea butter.)

Now weigh out the neem oil – learn more about neem oil here – and your carrier oil and mix into your previously melted ingredients. (I used my homemade chamomile infused olive oil as my carrier oil. A calendula infused carrier would be equally nice. However, it’s not necessary to use an infused oil. you can simply use any carrier oil you prefer as long as it’s liquid at room temperature. Good options include hemp seed oil, olive oil, rosehip seed oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, sweet almond oil or avocado oil.)

Finally, using a graduated transfer pipette, measure out the rosewood essential oil blend and stir into the winter body balm recipe ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly. (Pure rosewood essential oil is terribly expensive as rosewood is endangered. A rosewood essential oil blend – which is a combination of essential oils that are blended to smell like rosewood – makes a nice alternative and will completely cover the smell of the neem oil without being overpowering. Alternately, you can use any other skin safe essential oil of your choice.)

Now simply pour your completed healing winter body balm into containers of your choice and allow the product to fully solidify before placing the lid onto your container.

I chose to use eco-friendly 1/2 ounce brown paperboard jars from SKS Bottle & Packaging as my winter body balm containers. (This winter body balm recipe will yield ten .5 oz. jars.) Alternately you can also use any other container(s) of choice. A 4 oz. Ball jelly mason jar from the grocery store – like the ones I used for my homemade cranberry body butter recipe – also works great for this particular product.

This winter body balm recipe yields 5 oz. of product. To determine how many containers you’ll need based on your container choice, simply divide 5 by the number of ounces your containers hold.

To create the labels for my winter body balm containers, I purchased Winter Snowflake Clipart from Lilmade Design on Etsy. (She offers several lovely variations of snowflake designs that you can choose from that work perfectly for the lids of round containers including her Nordic Snowflake Clipart and Snowflake Galore Clipart.)

I used OpenOffice to create my labels using the clipart from Lilmade Design. I use OpenOffice as it’s a free open source program similar to Word. However, you can also use Microsoft Word if that option is available to you.

To create your own sheet of custom labels begin by creating a new text document in OpenOffice. Now format your page with three columns by clicking on Format > Columns.

As I was using 1/2 ounce jars with a diameter of just over 1.25″ I increased the spacing to 1.60″ which made the width of my column the size I needed (1.24″) to fit onto my lids. Now hit OK. (Adjust this as necessary based on the diameter of your own container lids.)

Next you’ll simply import your image(s) by clicking on Insert > Picture > From File. Choose the image you’d like to use and click OK.

Your image will appear on the page in the size needed without you having to rescale the image size. With the image selected – you’ll see the green boxes around the image – hit COMMAND C (on Mac) or CTRL C (on Windows) to copy the image. Now click just below the image and hit the enter bar. Then hit hit COMMAND V (on Mac) or CTRL V (on Windows) to paste the image again below the first one. Repeat this until you have the number of images needed for your containers.

Finally, print out your page of labels you just created onto a full label sheet -I get mine for a great bulk price from World Label – then cut them out and adhere to the lids of your containers. (You can find other easy to follow instructions for creating your own custom labels on my tutorials for making homemade chocolate body butters, custom wedding soap favors and DIY mix tape soap favors.)

If you like my healing winter body balm recipe, then you may also enjoy my homemade chamomile balm recipe.

Also be sure to follow me on Pinterest to discover more of my own homemade bath, body and beauty recipes you can make for your family or as homemade gifts as well as some of my favorite beauty recipes from around the web. You can also find and follow me via Blog Lovin’ and Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, G+ and Instagram.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Homemade Gift Ideas Tagged With: body butter recipe, christmas gifts, crafts, diy, dry skin balm, easy, gift idea, healing balm recipe, holiday labels, lanolin, neem oil, printable labels, salve recipe, skin care, stocking stuffer, tutorial