crystal pendant tutorial

Crafting with friends is one of my favorite things in the world. Stacy may not be a regular contributor to this blog anymore, but she's still our dear friend, the crafting queen, and a major inspiration to us! We got together with her for some crafting this week and made these gorgeous crystal pendants. I couldn't believe how easy they were!


Crystal or Glass Tile Pendant Tutorial

You will need:
-a crystal pendant (this one is from Connie Crystal-Stacy bought it at our local Ben Franklin) or glass tile
-a pair of scissors
-patterned paper
-a pinch bale (Stacy bought ours at Ben Franklin)
-A clear crafting glue like Diamond Glaze, Crystal Effects, or Glossy Accents
-a chain (any length you like, we chose 24")
-a pencil

First, pick out a patterned paper that you love. The possibilities are endless; you should have seen us trying to choose one! Once, you have chosen, trace the pendant on the paper and cut it out with scissors.


Add some Diamond Glaze / Crystal Effects / Glossy Accents glue to the back of your pendant. Use sparingly, if you add too much it will bleed out the edges after you press the paper on.


Now press your paper face down on the back of the pendant so it can be seen through the other side. Press firmly to release any air bubbles.


Once it it firmly in place, you can trim any excess paper from the sides with a pair of scissors or Exacto knife, and then file with a nail file to make sure there is no paper sticking out. Be careful not to file the crystal--it will scuff easily. To protect the paper, we suggest applying a thin layer of Diamond Glaze to the back of the pendant as well.


Once, the glue has dried you can pinch your bail through the hole in the pendant. If you're using a square glass tile (you'll find these from tons of sellers on Etsy), use some Diamond Glaze glue to attach a glue-on jewelry bail like these.


Hang your pendant on a chain and you're done!


You can also make an adorable necklace with square or oval glass pieces, which can be found online at Etsy. I made a bunch of these on a girls weekend last year and they are wonderful! I love that I can pick one to match many outfits and they also make fabulous gifts! You can make these following the same steps above and gluing a glue-on bail on the back.

KENAPA HARUS BERBURUK SANGKA???

Kenapa kita berburuk sangka? Tentu hal ini tidak mudah dihilangkan sepenuhnya dari pikiran kita. Hampir setiap pikiran orang dihinggapi hal positif dan negatif, tinggal bagaimana kita mengatur keduanya bisa selaras dan terarah sehingga nantinya dapat menghasilkan kepada sesuatu yang berakibat baik tentunya. 

LINX Exchange

Hi Brother boleh kita tukeran link, please tulis nama blog brother and alamat atau your URL pada kotak "Mister Linky's Magical Widgets" and please tinggalkan pesan setelah brother isi kotak linky's, ok brother...thanks

Silahkan Copy Link "OK BROTHER" dibawah ini:

<a href="http://ok-bro.blogspot.com/"><blink>OK BROTHER</blink></a>

"Ok Bro" akan selalu mengecek sobat-sobat exchange Linknya. Jika Link "OK BROTHER" Tidak ada di Blog Brothers maka  dengan Berat hati link Brothers akan dihapus dari Blog "OK BROTHER". Deal....agree

LINK BROTHERS

altered window message board {tutorial}

Since I am seriously organizationally-challenged, I try really hard each new year to work on getting myself to clean up and declutter. And it's hard. But it's a little more fun when I can craft something to get organized! I created this message board to keep all the clutter off my fridge--wedding invitations, baby announcements, cute pics. Now they are enjoyed in the hallway while we hang up our coats. It's so fabulous. And super easy!


This vintage window frame originally had glass panes (similar to this one) and was going to serve a difference purpose, but while I was inside getting painters tape to tape off the glass before painting it, my little one decided to prance on the glass (or should I say through the glass?). I'm just thankful he had shoes on. It didn't turn out to be the worst thing in the world--I love this bulletin board more than my first idea!

Catch the full tutorial over at Make and Takes where we're guest posting today and get organized!

valentine's day ideas

I have a stack of fun stuff to start making Valentine's projects with, but for those of you who really like to plan ahead, we set up a page (link is found at the top of every page) showing some of our favorite Valentine's projects and treats from the past couple of years. Check it out!

ORANG TUA SEPENUH JIWA

Orang tua adalah ibu dan ayah kita yang bak lentera dalam kegelapan,  yang mencurahkan hidupnya untuk buah hati yang diharapkan dapat menjadi orang yang berguna yang mampu memberi manfaat untuk kehidupan orang banyak suatu saat kelak. Anak adalah sumber inspirasi dan motivasi agar kehidupan dalam keluarga lebih berwarna dan mempunyai arti penting dan bukan sekedar untuk mengejar materi belaka. Adalah suatu kebahagiaan yang tak berhingga bagi orang tua ketika buah hatinya mampu menjadi seperti yang diharapkan yakni yang mampu memberi manfaat bagi kehidupan orang banyak meski bukan berarti anak harus menjadi seorang yang berpangkat ataupun konglomerat. 

KETIKA PERASAAN DIHANTUI HUTANG

Pernahkah saudara berhutang? Tentu kita semua punya hutang, kepada sahabat, kerabat atau siapa saja lebih-lebih hutang kepada orang yang telah membangun dan memberi dasar kepribadian pada kita, yang tak akan mampu kita bayar dengan harta maupun tahta, Siapa yang dimaksud??? Ya orang tua kita.

Ketika hutang menjadi beban yang teramat berat untuk dipikul dalam batok kepala kita, apa yang harus kita lakukan!!! Tentu bukan dengan hutang untuk menutup hutang, karena nilainya sama secara materi tetapi disisi lain apabila jalan yang terbuka memang itu maka lakukan dengan niat baik untuk meringankan sebagian beban yang kita rasa berat. Akan tetapi bila memang ada yang harus kita lakukan tanpa harus hutang dibayar dengan hutang maka segera lakukan jangan ditunda lagi. Karena dengan demikian sebenarnya kita sudah meringankan dan menyenangkan dua pihak yaitu kita dan orang yang memberi hutang kepada kita.

menu planning saves me money at the grocery store {true story}

Since I know we're all still thinking about resolutions for the new year, here are some awesome menu planning ideas from Jennifer that will help you get organized and save money. This would work great in conjunction with our weekly dry erase menu board!

Menu planning saves me money at the grocery store. I love grocery shopping. I especially love going to upscale grocery stores like Whole Foods and Central Market. My favorite aisle is the fruit and vegetable aisle, I love seeing how they are displayed. My love of grocery shopping usually overcomes my food budget and I gather everything that looks good to me into my cart. Recently my budget has been protesting about all the extras that I bring home. Sometimes I have so many fruits and vegetables that we can’t eat them all before they go bad. Something needed to change. I have tried several different meal planning methods over the years, but this time I found something that the whole family could live with.

Our family usually eats at home every night, we only eat out once a month or so. Here is how I plan my menus to save time and money at the grocery store.

*To have seven meals worth of dinners I discovered that I needed to cook 5 nights. The other two nights were leftover nights.

*I chose themes for our meals, something broad enough that everyone in the family would like it. The themes that we are using right now are: breakfast for dinner, Mexican, Chinese/Thai, soup (winter)or salad (summer), and beef or chicken.

*I organized all of our favorite dinners into one of these categories and put them all in a tabbed notebook.

*When its time to go grocery shopping I look through my notebook and choose 1 meal from each category. I add what I need my shopping list and voila, I have a week's worth of menus planned and a shopping list in about 10 minutes. I used to have a night for each theme, but I discovered that I needed more flexibility. Now I just have a list of meals for the week (sometimes I do two weeks at a time) and I usually decide in the morning what we are going to have that evening.

I have found that just this few minutes of meal planning saves me tons of money by buying only what we are going to eat this week, not what looks beautiful. This method gives me plenty of flexibility to try new recipes. I usually try something new at least weekly and sometimes several times a week. If we love the new recipe, I put it in my notebook behind its tab and we eat it again. If we didn’t like it, I just throw the recipe away. A couple of tips:

*When someone loves a recipe I write on the recipe who liked it and the day we ate it so I can make sure to have it again and put it in the notebook. This has brought several new family favorites into our dinner rotation.

*I usually clean out the fridge and check the freezer and pantry just before I choose my menus. This gives me a better idea of what I already have on hand so that I don’t buy things I already have. I stock up on things that we eat all the time when they go on sale. Things like beans and pineapple tidbits. I know that they will get eaten and they taste better when they are on sale.

*Leftover nights are really fun at our house, I either take all the leftovers out of the fridge and put them on the table and let everyone make up their own dinner or I tell everyone that I am too tired to cook and its “nuts and berries” night. On “nuts and berries” nights they forage in the cupboards and the fridge and come up with their own meal.

We hope this system will help you reach your goals in 2011, or at least save you a little more time and money for crafting!