No Hassle Tassel

 Do you ever tussle with a tassel?  

I love beaded garlands to hang on my mantel. Some of them come with tassels, but if they don't, I like to make my own. They're really easy to make, but I received these tassel makers with a beading loom from my friend, Jewels, creator of the Jewelloom and it made it even easier, especially when using yarn, ribbon, or strips of fabric.  Look how much nicer my mantel garland looks with the tassel I made at the center. I really think I need to replace the ones at the ends that came with the garland too....

Here's What I Used

• Red, White and Blue yarn (use whatever you have available)
• Jewelloom tassel maker, or sturdy 5"piece of cardboard (same length as finished tassel)
• AdTech glue gun
• Large White button, or 1 each red, blue and white bead
• Scissors

1. Place about 6" of yarn across the top of the loom.  This will be for the hanger at the top.

 

2. Hold the ends of each color of yarn in place at the bottom of the loom while you wrap the yarn around the loom 5 or 6 times.  The number of times will depend how thick you would like your tassel to be.

3. Tie the piece of yarn you laid across the top to secure the loops of yarn together at the top of the tassel maker. 

4. Cut the loops of the yarn at the bottom of the tassel maker to remove.

5. Cut, then wrap a 10" piece of yarn around the tassel loops about 1/2" from the top. Trim the ends to the same length as the tassel.

TIP: The blue yarn I used was 4 "twisted" lengths, so I untwisted a few pieces of blue yarn for added texture.

You can leave the tassel as is, but here are two other options for the top of the tassel.

    BUTTON OPTION:  Thread the ends of the yarn (for the hanger) thru the holes in the button then tie together to make the hanger. 

 

You could also glue a small red button at the center of the large white button, then glue to the top of a push pin. Create the tassel hanger by tying the ends together to make a loop to hang over the push pin.

    BEAD OPTION:  Thread beads onto the yarn for the hanger. Secure the top bead to the yarn with a little glue. This is the one I decided to use at the center of the garland. 

    TIP:  I often buy strands of plain and/or colored beads at the craft store when they're 50% off.  Plain beads are easily colored with dye, or if you only need to color one or two, I use paint or paint marker.

    Not just for adding to bead garlands, tassels are a great decorative accent for a multitude of crafts. I wonder what you'll come up with......  Enjoy!

Yours truly,

Julie 💝

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Etched Glass Vase

If you know me at all, you'll know I love glass,  so when I saw these red and blue bottles and found a matching clear one, they obviously ended up in my basket for a July 4th home dec etching project.....

 My background is decorative painting, specifically Folk Art because anyone can learn the techniques. I liked painting, but didn't enjoy having to spend time sanding and sealing the wood pieces, which were the primary surfaces used waaay back when......  Then I met Barbee, who owns b&b etchall, at a trade show in the early 90's and I was hooked on using etched glass to paint on!  Etched glass has "tooth", so sanding and sealing was NOT required.  You can also rubber stamp on it, but we can talk about that in another post......  Painting, however is not required for this project.... I needed something quick'n EZ.

Unlike another brand of etching cream, which is really stinky and gritty, etchall has an etching liquid, which I love to use, since I can have an etched piece of glass from start to finish in 20 minutes.  Let me show you the difference the liquid - dip'n etch - makes using these samples.

All 3 glass bottles were the same.  The first is the original; the second was filled with dip'n etch, so the inside was etched leaving the outside shiny, giving it a "milk glass" look; the third was dipped in dip'n etch in a plastic container, so only the outside is etched.  

Here are two more examples:  The vase was etched on the INSIDE with dip'n etch to create the "milk glass" look, then I painted the outside with glass paint.  The second was placed in a plastic container of dip'n etch so the outside was etched and the cherries were painted with regular paint.....

And this, after all that info, is my project for my July 4th decorations....

Here's what you'll need:

• etchall® dip'n etch
• glass bottles*
• small empty plastic soda bottle
• jute
• the paper rope handle you cut from a gift bag to make the wreath rosette project
• pliers
• glue gun

These are the bottles I purchased.

1. Wash the clear, glass bottle thoroughly and let dry.

    *The colored glass bottles were also washed, but they are not colored glass. Colored glass CAN be etched, most colored glass however is simply regular glass with a colored film, so it will not etch. You can however etch the inside by filling with dip'n etch. It does not always work however, since inexpensive and vintage glass may contain too much lead. This was the case with the blue and red bottles I purchased with the clear bottle. 

2.  Cut the top from the small, plastic soda bottle to use as a funnel, then pour dip'n etch into the clear glass bottle. Set the "funnel" aside. After 15-20 minutes you will use this to pour the dip'netch back into its container....  ETCHALL ETCHING creme and dip IS REUSABLE!!!!  

    NOTE: Neither the creme nor the dip smells and the creme is creamy, but this IS a real etching product, so please read the directions carefully before using.  Do not allow to touch any surface you do not want to etch and always rinse the creme residue away from a porcelain/glazed sink to avoid accidental etching. If you have very sensitive skin, you may also want to wear disposable gloves as a precaution.  

3. Using the "funnel",  carefully pour the dip'n etch back into its container then wash the bottle thoroughly under running water. Let dry.

4. Wrap the top of each bottle with jute then secure with glue.  Create the coil by holding the end of the gift bag handle with pliers on a flat surface then tightly coil. Glue the end to finish then glue the coil over the jute at the top of each bottle.

5. Add flags and strung beads for accents if desired and enjoy your Independence Day!

Yours truly

Julie 💝

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!