Category: Gifts

Friday Faves #97-5 Favorite Heat Gun Crafts

4/5/2019

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Recently, I told you about a new tool/toy that my husband picked up for me! It is a heat gun! My husband purchased my heat gun at Harbor Freight, but there are many choices of brands and styles on Amazon. This one is similar to mine. I needed one to do some chemical wood burning with the Scorch Pen. I've had so much fun with that, that I have been scouring Pinterest for more things that I can use my heat gun for. I haven't tried them all yet, but I thought for Friday Faves #97, I would give you a little heads up about some of the things I am thinking of trying! If you have any craft ideas that I can use my heat gun for, let me know!

Chemical Wood Burning These are the garden markers I made with the Scorch pen. You can read that post here. There are so many other wood burning projects that I want to do! The heat gun will also burn wood without the chemical, giving an aged or stained look. Using the chemical, you can create texture and depth. It is going to take practice, and I am excited to start practicing.

Embossing on Fabric Of course I've heard of embossing on cards, but I wondered about doing it on other materials. I thought fabric might be cool and I have tried this just a little bit, but I am excited to do more. The above pot holder was my first attempt. It is so cool to watch the embossing powder start to bubble under the heat of the heat gun. I found the red pot holder at Dollar Tree, so I figured if I messed up, I was only out $1. It is polyester on one side and neoprene on the other. I had a few problems, but I think I know how I can make it better. But, the rubber didn't melt like I was afraid it would. When I perfect this technique, I will be sharing exactly the best way to do it with you here on the blog. You can see that I am still using the Disney motif as we prepare for our family reunion, but there are so many ways you can use this technique to personalize things to give as gifts!

Emboss on Wood or Cork Aren't those ornaments adorable? I found them on Addicted 2 DIY. You can also use other wood shapes to do this simple project, or wooden spoons or picture frames, the possibilities are endless! I feel like I am becoming obsessed with embossing. Does it show? Well, I have one more embossing project for you...

Embossing on Ceramic! Yup! It works! I found these ceramic bowls on clearance at my local grocery store. They came out so cute! Remember the glass etching Maddy and I did with the Disney motif? This is another option. But, that isn't all! Look at this!

That red bowl is plastic melamine from Dollar Tree! The embossing worked great and the bowl didn't melt. (It helps that my heat gun has a variable temperature and I can set it a little lower.) I think that these will be perfect for our Disney trip for my little grandchildren to eat out of. No breakage!

My search for heat gun projects doesn't stop there! Like I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I would love to hear your ideas of crafts to try! And, if you try any of these, let me know how they come out for you! Thanks! Below I am listing some supplies you may need to get started.

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Handmade Monthly-Glass Etching Gifts for Disney Lovers

3/28/2019

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Madalynn had a great idea to make Disney themed dishes to use on our Family Reunion trip to Disneyland next year. She is all about the details. I had only done glass etching once before, so I was excited to try it with her. It ended up being such a fun and simple project and very inexpensive. If you know someone who loves Disney, (or any other motif), a set of dishes or dessert plates would be such a fun and appreciated gift! Here are the things that we used:

Classy Coolers

I love the shape of these glasses from DollarTree! They really do look classy, and they have nice flat sides that are easy to stick a stencil to and do the etching on. You can order them in a case of 24, so that would be 3 sets of 8 or 6 sets of 4 to make and give as gifts! Wow! 6 gifts for only $24!

Clear Glass Dessert Plates

These clear glass plates are also from Dollar Tree and you can order them 12 per case! They have a nice wide, flat bottom to place your stencil on for etching. Wait until you see how these turned out! I love them. They will make a "sweet" dessert plate!

Glass Bowls

I purchased these bowls at Dollar Tree as well, but I can't find them online. They did have many of them in our store so go check! We etched on the underside of the bowl because Maddy and I thought it would be nice to finish eating your cereal or ice cream and then see the cute Mickey or Minnie image at the bottom of the bowl!

Salt and Pepper Shakers

I picked these shakers up at our local grocery store. They have smooth sides that lend them to easy etching as well! It is hard to see on these with the salt and pepper in them, but one has Mickey and the other has Minnie on them. The photo in the collage above is a little easier to see.

Armour Etch

This is the compound that you use to etch the glass. I picked it up at Michael's, but here is a link to get it on Amazon. I don't remember what I paid at Michael's. While you must apply this Armour Etch on liberally, it really goes a long way. We did two complete sets of these dishes, bowls and glasses, plus the salt and pepper shakers and we still have A LOT left to do much more!

You will also need peel and stick vinyl to use to cut out your stencils. My Daughter-in-law cut ours out for us on her Silhouette cutter. She went to the Disney site and found some designs that she used with her cutter. If you have a Silhouette, you will know what I mean. If you don't have access to a vinyl cutter, here are some stencils you can purchase on Amazon. They need to be adhesive stencils.

Here are the easy steps to etch your glass items:

First, be sure that your glass surfaces are clean. You will need a cup of rinse water, the etching cream and an old paint brush. You may want to wear gloves when working with the etching cream.

Finally, when the cream is all dry, rinse it off under running water. You will want to use a scrubbing pad or rag to get all of the cream off. Then, remove the stencil and look at your amazing results!

*My first attempt has one or two mishaps. Sometimes the coverage was spotty, so I went back and tried the cream again. But, I learned that if I was patient and went over the stencil liberally with the cream and rebrushed it a couple of times and then let it completely dry, the results were much better! It really doesn't take very long for it to totally dry.

Maddy and I are so happy with the results!

I love the cute Minnie and Mickey plates!

What do you think?

Now I have to get busy making more! I can think of so many fun applications!

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Handmade Monthly-A Kitchen Scarf

2/21/2019

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Hi everyone! It is that time again to make something giftable with our own hands here on Handmade Monthly. This kitchen scarf makes a perfect gift! How do I know? Because I received one as a gift and I love it!

This isn't a scarf to wear in the kitchen to create a chic addition to your wardrobe, although these can be pretty cute. This scarf is so practical and absolutely genius! Of course, by dear friend Anita is the one who taught me about them and gave me one! Anita always comes up with and/or finds absolutely genius ideas. She also gave me permission to share this pattern with you.

You can see her in the collage, and here is my favorite picture of Lindsey modeling the kitchen scarf for you!

Anita introduced me to these before Christmas, so I was able to make some for my sisters and some friends last Christmas. I am going to make more this year for the people that I missed. (Even though these are a quick project, I still couldn't get to everyone!)
Here is the beauty of the kitchen scarf:

You wear them around your neck, so you won't be misplacing your kitchen towel as you bake.
They are handy to use to move something a little too hot to handle bare handed.
You can make them in colors to match the kitchen of the cook!
They are super inexpensive to make. They only require 1/4 yard of fabric and 1 kitchen towel!
They whip up really quickly!
They make a much more impressive gift that just a plain kitchen towel! And, when you get the colors or prints that match the person's kitchen or interests, they feel the love you are putting into this project.