Upcycling - Make a Woodland Themed Terrarium

In a throw away world we produce a mountain of landfill so it's good when you find a way to re-purpose the fancy packaging that often comes with our purchases. Today's project takes a Lindt Maxi Ball and upcycles it into an adorable woodland terrarium. In case you don't know what a Lindt Maxi Ball is, it's a large clear plastic ball filled with delicious Lindt chocolates and you usually find them around Christmas and Easter when they're packaged up like a giant bonbon. So, how do you go about turning one into a terrarium? Well, here's what you'll need to make this cute woodland themed terrarium: Lindt Chocolate Maxi Ball   Coloured gravel in your choice of colour Horticultural Charcoal  - choose fine rather than coarse (this keeps the soil smelling sweet which is important as there are no drainage holes) Potting Mix Small piece of fly screen Selection of small plants (all with the same growing/moisture requirements). Mine are all f......

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From Failure to Triumph - a Friendly Plastic Pen Success Story

Workshops don't always go to plan. Sometimes, things go wrong and you end up with a less than successful result. It's always a disappointment for the student but I'm equally disappointed when someone doesn't have success. I had one of those workshops last week. We were making Friendly Plastic Pens. Here's some of the pens which turned out really well. But here are some pen barrels which turned out less than perfect. So what do you do when things don't turn out as planned? Well, I gave it some thought and came up with a Plan B. I decided refoiling the Friendly Plastic would give us a better result. But alas, Plan B was a big failure - the foil wouldn't stick to the tacky adhesive we'd applied to the Friendly Plastic no matter how much we burnished it. So it was on to Plan C - applying an iridescent finish to mask all the previous layers. And the result is spectacular - the ugly duckling has turned into a beautiful swan! Now I have a ......

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Gold Vermeil Earrings

These elegant dangling earrings will add a touch of golden glamour to your evening wear. The lentel-shaped beads dangle gracefully from delicate chains allowing them to move and catch the light, accentuating the lovely soft gold vermeil finish of the beads. Vermeil beads are a little more pricey than gold base metal beads but I'm sure you'll agree, they look fabulous! Here's what you'll need to make these: 6 10x4mm gold vermeil lentil beads ( Feeling Inspired  is out of stock. Try these slightly larger beads ) 6 gold head pins 11cm (4 3/8") fine gold chain 2 6mm gold jump rings 2 gold earring wires The tools you'll need to complete this project: Flat nose pliers Flush cutters Round nose pliers Chain nose pliers String each of the beads onto a head pin and turn a 90° angle with flat nose pliers. Use flush cutters to trim each head pin to 1cm (3/8"). Line the cut end of the head pin in the round nose pliers so that it is flush with the ......

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Stars and Stripes Sof-Suede Bracelet

Red, white and blue....Stars and Stripes. Today I'm putting my spin on Stars and Stripes for the 4th of July. Silver Creek Leather recently added some new colours to their Sof-Suede colour range and two of them are just perfect for the nostalgic feel of this bracelet: Cadet Blue and Cranberry. Combined with Sandy Beach, and you have a soft vintage look. To make this bracelet, you'll need: Silver Creek Leather Sof-Suede Lace: Cadet Blue , Cranberry and Sandy Beach (Michael's is also carrying these new colours) Brass and Crystal Heart Slider (Hobby Lobby) 2 13mm silver ribbon crimps 10 6mm silver star beads 28g silver wire adhesive tape 2 4mm silver jump rings Silver press stud clasp (aka hitch and ball) Tools: flush cutters, chain nose pliers Cut two 8" pieces of Sandy Beach and one piece each of Cranberry and Cadet Blue. Thread one of the Cadet Blue pieces through the heart slider diagonally from the top left hand hole, down to the second botto......

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