We keep hearing about celebrities donating a million dollars to Haiti relief efforts. I wish our little familia had a million dollars to donate too. But we don't. We have bills, bills, bills.
Even though daily life can be a struggle, it is nothing compared to what these people are going through right now. I know our crafty donations will be a drop in the bucket, but at least it is something!
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 11:54 AM
| Link
| (0) comments
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Guest blogger: Swell Designer!
J'adore Junk Earrings with Guest Blogger Alexa Westerfield
Hey y'all! It's Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner from the Swell Life guest blogging today!! Valentine's is right around the corner and I wanted to get a head start on my crafting, so I made some funky and chunky earrings for the occasion!! If you have visited my blog in the past couple of weeks, you may have seen my Make a Modern Statement Ring. Well, I took that same technique and made these bold earrings! The cool thing about them is that they really can be made with jewelry junk and left over trinkets and supplies!! And I'm kinda addicted. I love making these little collages and spray painting them!!! What can I say? I have fallen in love with spray paint all over again! Anyway, here are the instructions, I hope you LOVE making these fun earrings as much as I did.
J'adore Junk Earrings
Supplies – Capiz shells w/ drilled holes (I purchased mine at Michaels) – Plastic pearly hearts (also purchased at Michaels) – random jewelry findings, jump rings, spacers, rhinestones, etc. – Liquid Fusion glue – toothpick – red glossy spray paint – clear spray sealer – 2 ear wires – round nose pliers – paper plate – newspaper or cardboard surface – tweezers – camera phone or digital camera
Instructions 1. On a flat surface lay out your wooden disk and various findings. Play around with shapes and combinations until desired collage look is achieved. At this point, I took a picture so that I could go back to this arrangement later. 2. Lay out your various findings and disk onto cardboard, laying flat. 3. Prepare area outside or in well ventilated area for spray painting. Following spray paint directions, apply several coats, letting dry in between each application. Make sure to also flip and paint other side as well. Don't overspray...this may cause puddling on your surfaces. 4. Review your composition on your camera and start reconstructing your arrangement. I applied a little dab of glue to the backs of each finding and placed it onto my wood blank. Depending on how picky you are, you may want to use a toothpick to apply Liquid Fusion or arrange your findings using tweezers. Let dry thoroughly.
5. At this point, I actually sprayed another coat or two of spray all over the piece. I then coated it with a shiny spray sealer.
6. Open and close jump rings with pliers and add to capiz shells. Open and hook ear wires to each jump ring and close.
7. Yay! You now have a really cool pair of earrings not just for Valentine's, but something to wear year round! Every pair is totally different and unique!
Thanks Kathy for letting me share my project on your blog and for inspiring all of us crafty folks on a daily basis!!!
Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. "Swelldesigner" is a graphic designer at iLoveToCreate by day and a swell, crafty lady by night. She loves being creative in all ways, from photography and jewelrymaking, to trendspotting and blogging. Connect with her on her Swell Life blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr!
Directions: Sew the fabric scraps together into one panel that is 1/2" wider than the napkin. Hem the edges of the panel.
Iron on the transfer to fabric and use your pinking shears to trim around it. Sew it to the center of the fabric collage panel.
Line up the two panels of fabric (the napkin and the fabric collage), pin around the edges, and sew. Leave a 3" opening so you can insert the pillow stuffing.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 4:01 PM
| Link
| (1) comments
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Last-minute Fizzing Bath Bombs Gifts by Lara Piu
I have another guest blogger this week! Beauty expert, Lara Piu! enjoy!
*
Fizzing bath bomb gifts: Don’t leave home to make it
Feelin’ the holiday time crunch? Not so spendy on gifts? I feel your pain so I broke the code on how to make bath bomb frizzies… without leaving home.
They make great gifts for co-workers, teachers, hair stylists, manicurists, moms, and grand moms. My daughter loves to watch bath bombs fizz, so mine will be tucked into her Advent Calendar (mum’s the word).
Many do it at-home recipes require a hunt of hard-to-find, expensive ingredients, and the week before Christmas is no time for wild goose chases. With creative substituting, make these bathing treasures with stuff around the house for cheap, easy and efficient last minute gifts.Hurrah. Here’s how.
Gather
Mixing Bowl
Small cup or bowl
Two part plastic craft molds (Alternates: Silly putty container, hatching dinosaur egg container, or silicone cupcake molds. Tin cupcake molds work when handled with care.)
Non latex gloves (Optional.)
Fine mist sprayer with rubbing alcohol (Alternate: Witch Hazel.)
2 T citric acid (Alternates: Sour Salt (often found in Kosher food section), ReaLemon, TrueLemon, or any lemon substitute.)
2 T Sodium lauryl sulfate(Optional. Do not add for recipients with sensitive skin.)
2 T cornstarch (Alternates: Borax or any powdered laundry starch.)
1/4 C baking soda (Alternates: bread soda, cooking soda, or bicarbonate of soda. Optional.)
3 T vegetable oil (Alternates: Olive oil or any cooking oil.)
Small or medium nylon sheer favor bags (Alternates: Clear cello bags and nice ribbon, cookie tin with baking cups, small gift box.)
Holiday themed confetti (Alternates: Crushed candy canes, clipped up garland, tinsel, pine cone pieces, cranberries, pretty paper. Optional.)
1 tsp. Bentonite clay (Optional)
Embellishments: Rummage through the house for interesting materials to glue or sew to the bottom of nylon favor bags. Look for beads, sequins, lace, buttons, and anything that inspires. Here unused decorative hair ties and headbands decorate small red nylon favor bags.
Steps
Make sure working area and tools are bone dry.
Combine oils in cup.
Combine powders in mixing bowl.
Add oil mix to powder mix, folding andgently mixing with hands until mixture feels like damp sand. It should not be too damp or too dry.
Place approximately three pieces of confetti into two-part plastic mold.
Pack mixture tightly into mold.
Tap mold lightly to extract ball halves from mold.
Prepare halves to be combined by spraying the side to be combined with alcohol mist about 4 times each.
9.To combine halves and make a ball, push and slide halves together. Do not twist.
10.Hot glue or sew embellishment items on bottom seam of bag.
11.Place bath bomb frizzie in decorated nylon favor bag and pull tie. The decorated nylon bag doubles as jewelry sachet for the gym or travel.
12.Alternate: Place onebath bomb in a clear cello bag and tie (as low as possible) with a heavy, bright two inch ribbon for a modern, fun look.
While you’re at it
Combine leftover mixture with Dead Sea or Epson salt in a zip lock bag and shake. Place the salts in decorated nylon favor bags or cello bags for a fizzing bath salt gift.
Lara Piu sends flowers to people who need hope with proceeds from her FREE daily newsletter on Good things celeb's do, and livin' The Good Life too . Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Right now all the ribbon is on sale at craft stores, I LOVE the wide sparkly stuff. I scooped up this gorgeous gold. Using Cheryl's technique, I used wire to secure my bow, and I added a brooch in the center. For gifts you are going to give away, you can add a button in the center, a charm, a polymer clay or decoupaged design. you get the idea!
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 12:04 PM
| Link
| (0) comments
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Chubby Girl Delight: Andes Mint Tree
This is a design I created in 2004. The funniest thing about this project is my memory of demonstrating it on the live local news. I had it pre-prepared the process in stages, one of which was a tree-shaped Rice Krispie Treat base that I was going to add the chocolate on to. Well, the station had a new anchor, and during the commercial break he walked over, said "I love Rice Krispie Treats!" - picked up the tree with his chunky man hands, and took a huge bite out of it! I squealed in horror and had only a matter of seconds to get my shizizzle together before the camera light turned on. I shooed him away, and quickly smashed the tree back into a tree shape the best I could, and then wiped my gooey hands off on the back on my expensive black skirt. The rest went off without a hitch. He didn't last too long at the station. Ironically, last I heard, he is working as a host for an HGTV show!
Overall, this mint tree project is a snap to create, but I must share a secret . . . I'm more of a crafter than a chef, so I learned the hard way that the Rice Krispies treat mixture is sticky. I was very proud to have molded my tree, but when I tried to remove my hands, they were stuck. I did manage to pull them away, but I took half the tree in each palm. Then I reached for the roll of paper towels, and it stuck to my hands, too. I had to call my husband into the kitchen to come clean me up.
Together, we tackled the rest of the process through trial and error. Our finding: Wax paper makes all the difference.
Chocolate Andes Mint Tree
Supplies:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
10 ounces marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
Wax paper
1 bag of chocolate melts (found in the candy aisle of the craft store)
4 boxes of Andes mints
Red and green M&M's
White cake glitter
Saucepan, mixing bowl, spoon, frosting knife
Directions: Heat the butter and marshmallows in a large saucepan on low heat. Stir until they are melted into a thick sauce. Add the Rice Krispies, and mix until covered in the sauce. Let cool a few minutes, then scoop the mixture onto a decorative dish or cake tray.
Using wax paper on your hands, mold the mixture into a tall vertical tree shape that is smooth around the sides. Let cool.
Empty the package of chocolate melts into a mixing bowl. Heat on high in the microwave for one minute. Remove and stir. Heat it another minute if needed. Stir until creamy. Frost the tree. Set the remaining chocolate aside and place the tree in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has hardened.
Unwrap the mints. Take the tree out of the fridge. Reheat the chocolate in the mixing bowl until it is melted.
Begin to build your tree in circles from the bottom, going up. Take a mint and dab it in the chocolate sauce and place it vertically on the tree. Continue all the way around the base. Add the next layer of mints, making them overlap the first layer. You will be adding fewer mints as you go up because the cone tapers off at the top. Let cool until all the mints are "glued" in place.
Add red and green M&M's to look like ornaments. Sprinkle white cake glitter.
Variations: Use any kind of candy on your tree. Drizzle white chocolate over it for a different look.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 10:35 AM
| Link
| (0) comments
Chubby Girl Delight: Triple Threat Banana Bread
It's Chubby Girl Delights week here at CraftyChica.com! These are splurge recipes that are meant to take to parties, family gatherings, etc. They are far from healthy. After the new year, I'll serve up some calorie-conscious ideas. But for now, enjoy!
I should have let this cool longer before cutting it, but I couldn't wait!!
I've always been a fan of banana bread, but have FGC issues where I must have gooey chocolate in it in order for me to give a wholehearted "Mmmmmm" feeling.
So here goes - the chicafied version of banana bread, which is now part of the official Chubby Girl Delights™ recipe files.
This recipe is highly dense and decadent. To look normal, cut slices into quarter squares for serving. Or if you are all alone on a Friday night watching holiday tear jerkers, just take a spoon to the pan!
Crafty Chica's Triple Action Banana Bread
(Makes 2 loaves or 4 mini loaves)
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cup white sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
6 large, ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 bags of Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Baking Chips (11.5 ounces)
1 bag of walnuts, 10 ounces
1 bag of sweetened shredded coconut, 7 ounces
NOTE: Adjust amounts of chips, walnuts and coconut to your liking!
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your loaf pans.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add in the eggs and bananas, and then the melted butter. Mix thoroughly so it is 100% moist. Don't over mix, just keep folding the batter until all the white powder is absorbed. Add in the milk chocolate chips and walnuts. Set aside a handful of the coconut, and mix the rest in. Pour batter into pans. Sprinkle the remaining coconut on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. You can insert a toothpick in the center to see if it needs more baking time. If it comes out clean, it is perfect! Let cool for 10 minutes before flipping it onto a cooling rack.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 10:28 AM
| Link
| (0) comments
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Lighten Up Lampshade
Don’t keep your creativity in the dark; shed some light with a collage of color! Crafty Chica Tango Permanent Fabric Makers are perfect for taking a boring old lampshade from drab to fab; add spicy accents with Crafty Chica Little Chica Paint Packs and Paint Writers and display anywhere that needs a pop of personality!
Use the Tango Permanent Fabric Markers to draw and fill in blocks of color around the entire lampshade. Let dry.
Squeeze a puddle of the Crystal Paint Writer onto foil and use the flat paintbrush to brush a coat of glitter paint all over lampshade to make it sparkle. Let dry.
Use a pencil to sketch desired wording and designs onto color blocks. Squeeze puddles of desired colors of Little Chica paints onto foil then paint over designs with round and liner brushes. Let dry.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 10:12 PM
| Link
| (0) comments
Monday, November 30, 2009
2009 Holiday Round Up
Looking for ideas for the holidays? Here is my round up of projects I've made over the years. I love bright colors all mashed together with lots of glitter and triple details. My projects express my excitement for life, friends, family - all of it. The more the better!
Head's up - I'm not Martha. I'm not into polished and perfectly pretty. Every time I try that style, I FAIL miserably. My hands shake and I add gobs of more dealybobs. These days I've come to accept my kitschy style.
So take these ideas and make them your own. Go over-the-top like I do, or scale back as you wish!
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 11:32 PM
| Link
| (0) comments
Stamped Sequin Fabric Bangles
I bought a hecka lotta bracelets at Target's Dollar Spot last week. Sequin bangles for a buck each? I scooped up six! I knew I wanted to transform them, but I didn't know how. I set them aside until an idea popped in my noggin. Rubber stamps! Crafty Chica™ Tango Permanent Fabric Markers™ !
Here is how I did it:
1. Admire the bracelet in its naked form. OK, done with that, time to add some crafty love!
2. Using permanent stamp ink, ink your stamp and press firmly and roll it over the bracelet. Repeat until it is entirely covered.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 9:40 PM
| Link
| (1) comments
Crafter's Holiday Wreath
Guess what? I found a festive way to display all my colorful spools of thread!
They look so pretty in my sewing box, I couldn't even think of keeping them hidden, so I slid them on a holiday wreath. Of course, I didn't stop there. I added embroidery thread, golden bobbins, beads, mini-mirrors, gems and all kinds of other doodads I could find.
For the Merry Christmas title, I used a large glittery chipboard sticker I bought at the craft store. The cool thing - I can remove the title if I want and keep it up all year round.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 9:18 PM
| Link
| (1) comments
Shimmery String Candle Cozy
(Photo credit: Scott Wilkensen)
Create a shimmery little cozy for your holiday candles! Turn embroidery thread into festive décor with Aleene’s Fabric Stiffener & Draping Liquid and Crafty Chica Chunky Glitters.
Miscellaneous Glass candle cup Plastic wrap Plastic gloves Scissors Plastic tablecloth Embroidery thread – red – 3 packages Flat brush Paper plates
Instructions
Cover work surface with plastic tablecloth. Wrap the candle cup with plastic wrap.
Wrap embroidery thread around entire cup, including around the bottom and over the top.
Pour a large puddle of Aleene's Fabric Stiffener and Draping Liquid onto paper plate. Wearing plastic gloves, use flat brush to brush a thick coat of Fabric Stiffener over entire cup, making sure to completely saturate embroidery thread. Let dry for 24 hours.
Once dry, cut away the top portion of embroidery thread stretching over cup and slide the stiffened embroidery thread away from cup. Snip away excess thread.
Working on a covered surface, pour a puddle of Collage Pauge onto a clean paper plate. Working in sections, use flat brush to brush a coat of Collage Pauge onto stiffened embroidery thread and immediately pour Rockabilly Ruby glitter over it. Let dry, then shake off excess glitter.
Dab back end of brush into Collage Pauge and dab onto holder. Press desired color of crystal into place on glue. Repeat, adding crystals all over holder. Let dry.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 9:11 PM
| Link
| (0) comments
Affirmation Advent Calendar
This is an idea that Chica from Chica and Jo gave to me, and I LOVE it!! It is super easy and you can personalize it as much or as little as you like.
The concept is to use envelopes as your gift holders. Just envelopes! How simple is that? You can go old school and use basic white ones, and decorate them with stickers or markers, or you can take it up a notch (waves hi!) and take apart an envelope to use as a template and make news ones from glittery scrapbook paper.
As far as what to put inside the envelopes - you can slip all kinds of things like gift cards, coupons, money, bookmarks, jewelry, anything else flat and light.
My version? I'm thinking happy and uplifting. I am going to slip in a different affirmation for each day. Quotes, memories, jokes, photos, personal statements, etc. The most valuable gifts are priceless and come from within.
Sure, you can use this idea for the holidays, but why not all year round? I would love to make one of these with 365 envelopes for each of my kids.
To hold my envelopes, I used a wood cigar box that I embellished with a rubber stamp.
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 9:09 PM
| Link
| (0) comments
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Snuggie Surgery
Arizona Republic reporter Richard Ruelas asked me to participate in a Snuggie makeover feature recently and this is what I came up with!
The criteria was to take a Snuggie and make it more fashionable - but make it still be a Snuggie.
I took two Snuggies and chopped them in quarters, sewed on appliques, added some iron-on transfers and then sewed the pieces back together. We now have two Snuggie mash-ups in the house! I didn't think I'd ever wear one of these, but I must admit, it works great for late night crafting and writing!
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 9:17 PM
| Link
| (0) comments
Friday, November 27, 2009
Advent Calendar Wreath
Today for Inspiration Friday, we have a special guest post from my amigas at ChicaAndJo.com! They run one of the cutest, most resourceful, passionate, happy and innovative DIY sites out there! It is jammed packed with everything from crafting to cooking to organizing! I asked if they would want to contribute to I.F. and look what they came up with!
OK, on to the show! (psst...don't forget: ChicaAndJo.com!) **
Advent Calendar Clothespin Wreath
from Chica and Jo
Hello, Crafty Chica readers! We are fellow crafters named Chica and Jo (no relation!), and we are friends of Kathy's. We are so honored that she asked us to share a project with you on her blog today, and we think you'll really enjoy it. It's covered in glitter, so what's not to love?
Back before Thanksgiving, Jo came up with a really fun idea for making an interactive Thanksgiving wreath out of clothespins, which all of her friends and family could personalize with the reason they are thankful. It was such a huge hit that we decided to expand the idea for Christmas, and make an advent calendar using the same technique.
The results are gorgeous and the project is SO EASY that you can do it in no time at all! Here's how:
Supplies needed:
12" wire wreath frame
about 50-55 traditional wooden clothespins
red craft paint
silver marker
silver glitter
glue
1 or 2 decorative wooden shapes (we used snowflakes)
red and silver ribbon for a bow
Directions:
Start by painting your clothespins bright red with regular craft paint.
Then use a silver marker to write numbers 1 through 24 on the clip end of 24 of the clothespins.
Clip the clothespins onto the wreath, alternating between numbered ones and solid red ones. You should have a gap left that you can fill with four or five solid red clothespins. That's okay, these will be at the top and will look fine.
Apply glue to the tips of the numbered clothespins and to the entire surface of the solid red ones. Then sprinkle liberally with some silver Crafty Chica Glitter. Ooh, so pretty!
Now take one or two decorative wooden shapes and paint and glitter them however you like. You can then add words to them if you like, such as your family's last name and the year. We chose to put "Christmas Means" on them, since this wreath is going to remind us of all the things Christmas means to us.
Tie a bow with the coordinating ribbon on top of the wreath. The wire frame makes this so easy to do!
The wreath is now done and ready to hang on the door. The fun part, though, is using it. It is an advent calendar, after all, so every day from December 1 through 24th, gather your family together and come up with something that Christmas means to you. Then use a silver pen to write that on the clothespin for that day. By the time Christmas comes around, you'll have a great collection of things that will remind you of the spirit of the season and how blessed you really are.
And besides, just look how gorgeous this thing looks on the front door!
We hope you enjoyed this project and big hugs to Kathy for letting us share it with you. May you all have a wonderful holiday season and may it be filled with glitter!
• Posted by Kathy Cano-Murillo, The Crafty Chica, 12:00 AM
| Link
| (0) comments
About Me
Name: Kathy Cano-Murillo
Location: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Mommy, wifey, artist, author, left-handed middle-child Sagittarian. Craft designer, product developer, former newspaper columnist. My first novel, WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER debuts March 1st!
Are you a Crafty Chica? Wear a T-Shirt to prove it!
Note to visitors:
Hola! This site is the archive of all my past projects for Gannett News Service and The Arizona Republic. These ideas are for personal use only. I make a living as a craft designer, so I will be using these ideas in my published works. If you are thinking of selling or using these ideas for profit, please give respect and "twist" them to make them your own - put your own stamp on them to make them different. It will work out for the best for both of us! Thank you and much respect from one creative person to another! — Kathy