Resin Beer Bottlecap Coaster Kits

Shopping for men's gifts is one of the hardest shopping assignments there is. But when my twin nephews celebrated a milestone birthday recently, I knew exactly what to give them: a set of resin coasters featuring the bottlecaps of some of their favourite alcoholic beverages. They were a huge hit! If you find yourself with that male gift shopping dilemma (and with Christmas fast approaching, who doesn't?), then why not consider making your own set of coasters to give to the beer-lovers in your life. If you're the hands-on type of person who would like to make your own mancave coasters, you can now buy the Beer Bottle Cap Resin Coaster kit and have the fun of doing it yourself.  Or if you want a set but don't want to make your own, I'll make them for you! Just send me an email . So here's what you get in the kit: a handmade flexible silicone mould (for easy demoulding) bottle caps to get you started self-adhesive surface protectors fo...

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How to Fix a Less than Perfect Resin Bangle - Pumpkin Glitter to the Rescue

Today's project is going to take a plain resin bangle and dress it in wonderfully sparkly, pumpkin coloured glitter for Halloween. Notice the white spots on the top of the bangle in the photo below? Well, sometimes when you're working with resin, things don't turn out quite like you'd hoped - this bangle was one of those occasions. But those imperfections make it the perfect candidate for this treatment. I won't explain what caused the white spots, but instead, I want to show you a way of disguising them, or any imperfections that your resin project might have. And seeing as it is Halloween this week, an orange bangle is ideal for the glitter treatment. For the first part of this project you'll need a resin bangle, Mod Podge , glitter (I chose a shade of pumpkin), a tidy tray to catch the glitter and a paint brush. Paint the bangle with a coat of Mod Podge working in small sections at a time. The wonderful thing about Mod Podge is that even thoug...

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Bangles for Halloween

You might remember these retro side circle bangles that I cast a few weeks back. In that post I told you that I had a little plan for them and today is the day to reveal that plan. The flat circular areas on the side of the bangles is ideal for gluing on embellishments and these disks which I cast in a paint palette with EasyCast epoxy resin are the perfect fit. Once they were cured, I glued them on with Araldite 5-minute epoxy  for a really strong bond. You can see how to mix 5-minute adhesive properly in this post .  Such a simple but eye catching result and with Halloween just around the corner, the colours couldn't be more perfect. If you're using a paint palette or other plastic as your mould, don't forget to give it a spray with mould release first or the resin will become a permanent fixture in the bottom of the palette! If you liked this idea, take a look at this related project: Pumpkin Glitter Resin Bangle Pin this Project! 'Til...

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Poppy Garland Necklace

This month one of my necklaces appears in Crafts 'n Things magazine.  I thought you might like to have a little look. Poppy Garland features a bold ceramic flower threaded on a garland of Kiwi Sof-Suede lace, square Czech glass donuts and Swarovski crystals. If you'd like to make this striking necklace, you'll find the full instructions in the October issue of Crafts 'n Things . 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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Licorice Allsorts Stack of Resin Bangles

Have I ever told you that I have a sweet tooth? Well, I do. So whenever I'm in Adelaide, I always pay a visit to Blackebys Sweets at the Central Market to indulge my sweet tooth with their incredible selection of traditional sweets and lollies. And my lolly of choice? Why, it's the old fashioned licorice allsort! I love the idea of wearing my favourite lolly. And with a much anticipated visit to Blackebys on Saturday, I was inspired to make some fun licorice allsorts bangles! Aren't they cool - a stack of square bangles that really look like licorice allsorts. But the benefit is, you get all the colourful layers, but with none of the calories! Now I know that not everyone is a fan of licorice allsorts but if you do like them, then you know how much fun it is to peel away the layers, one by one. And in the calorie free version, you can do that too; just switch out one colour and swap it for another - such a fun accessory to add to your wardrobe! Want to learn ...

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Pretty Pastel Cookies

It was raining last week so I spent an afternoon in the kitchen baking. The whole house was filled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked biscuits. Mmmmm...... I use a forcer to pipe these pretty little biscuits. You might know this gadget as a cookie press. It comes with a selection of piping discs which give the biscuits their lovely patterns. Once baked and cooled, all you need to do is mix up a batch of stiff icing, divide it into small bowls and colour it. Then sandwich the biscuits together in pairs. Don't the pastels look pretty on a crisp white platter? This batch travelled with me to Adelaide for my Mum's 80th birthday afternoon tea. They were a big hit and by the end of the afternoon, the platter was empty. I think that's the best compliment any cook can have! 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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How to Decorate a Birthday Cake in 10 Minutes!

What do you do when you have to decorate a cake in a hurry..... in a park..... and without a kitchen? Well, the smart thing to do is to reach for "frosting in a can"! A couple of weeks back we had our first spring picnic for the season. This was more than just a picnic though; it was also a birthday celebration. And no birthday would be complete without a cake; kitchen or no kitchen! If you're a busy working mum then canned frosting could become your best friend. No mixing, no colouring, no flavouring - it's all done for you. Just press the nozzle and out comes the frosting. You even have a choice of 4 nozzles to give you different piping patterns. It's SO easy that a child can do it. And it tastes pretty good too. This is simply the best shortcut to cake decorating that I've seen! So with the cakes frosted, I decorated the cupcakes with chocolate butterflies that I had made the night before.This was definitely the most time consuming part of...

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Retro Style - More New Bangle Moulds!

Today the sunshine is streaming into the studio and the bangles perched on the window ledge are bathed in a lovely warm glow. Sigh..... makes your thoughts turn to summer! And that's a timely reminder that it's time to turn our attention to spring and summer fashions. Bangles and rings are great accessories to bring last year's summer wardrobe up to date so today I'm working with some new bangle and ring moulds that have a retro feel about them. Mod, retro, neon and colour blocking are all buzz words in fashion at the moment and they can easily be translated into resin jewellery. And if ever there was a match made in heaven, it would have to be retro and resin. I mean, what could be more retro than a resin bangle! A little while ago I showed you some very hip square and eclipse bangles and the retro wedge ring and today I'm working with the Classic Wide bangle, the Retro Pyramid ring and the very groovy Retro Side Circles bangle. It's amazing ho...

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