Comic Book Wine Glass Charms

"Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon." -Rorschach

With The Amazing Spider-Man 2 coming out and it being Free Comic Book Day on Saturday it is time to once again share some comic book/superhero inspired projects.  

I had these charms for a while and was looking for something to do with them. I did not have any wine charms and thought that comic images would make a nice decoration for it.

Materials:

• Photo Charms
• Eye Rings
• Wire
• Wire Cutters
• Comic
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut out images from the comics to fit the photo charm. Place image in photo charm.
2. Hook eye ring though the hook.  
3. Place the wire through the eye ring and create a swirl on each end so they hook together.
4. Repeat for remaining photo charms and attach to wine glasses to tell which one is yours. (I'm going with Wasp!)

The Fault in Our Stars Keychain

"As he read, I fell in love like you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once." -John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

One of this month's book club books was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  This, as many of the other books you have seen on this blog, is classified as a teen novel.  The vocabulary is higher level, but for an older teen I would recommend this book.  John Green brings to life characters that are going through not only the struggles of being a teenager (independence, love, growing up) but also the struggles of dealing with cancer.

The two main characters in the story, Hazel and Gus, use the word okay to convey that they not only care about each other but to check in with how they are handling everything.  For this reason, I made an "okay" key chain.

Materials:

• Black polymer clay
• White polymer clay
• Black puff paint
• White puff paint
• Blue string (because the book cover is blue)
• Key ring

Directions:

1. Make a black cloud and a white cloud out of polymer clay. Poke a hole in the tops of the clouds. Bake in oven at 225 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool.

2. Write "okay?" and "okay." on the clouds.

3. Use blue string to tie the clouds onto the key ring.

You can attach this to your key ring when you drive over to see the movie or to get this book.

Sensory Calming Jar

"Normal people have an incredible lack of empathy. They have good emotional empathy, but they don't have much empathy for the autistic kid who is screaming at the baseball game because he can't stand the sensory overload. Or the autistic kid having a meltdown in the school cafeteria because there's too much stimulation." -Temple Grandin

Although it is almost the end of April, April is Autism Awareness month.  As part of this cause I created a Sensory Calming Jar with LOTS of glitter to help watch to calm down when there is a melt down. 

I got the instructions over at instructables. 

Some advice from my experience: 

• Clear glitter does not work!
• Add extra glitter glue.  Also make sure the glitter glue is more glue than glitter.  I would suggest Elmer's glitter glue if possible.
• Make sure their is a big difference between the chunky and the fine glitter.
• When sealing the jar it uses lots of hot glue!
• It only lasts for 30 seconds, not two minutes so be prepared for lots of shaking!

To learn more about Autism visit autismspeaks.org

Crocheted Infinity Scarf

"Humans often fail to see what is close to them and obvious to others." -The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion was a fun weekend read for me.  It is about a professor named Don with Asperger's who is looking for a wife.  On his search he meets Rosie who is trying to figure out who her father is, and is everything he is not looking for on his list for a wife.  This story focuses on the two of them and Don's growth in knowing himself.

In one of the chapters Rosie and Don are looking to buy a scarf for a friend.  They go through half of the store before settling on the first one they saw. Also, they spent fourteen hundred dollars on the scarf.  I kept thinking, I could make a scarf that is just as good for under $5, oh wait, I have.

Directions and materials are found over at Red Heart.  I tied my ends together to create a infinity scarf effect.  

Spring Painting

"I love better to count time from spring to spring; it seems to me far more cheerful to reckon the year by blossoms than by blight." -Donald G. Mitchell

I had to switch out my winter painting a few weeks ago already for one more suited for spring.  However, I realized my tree painting was more suited for the summer than the spring.  So, the brushes came out and a cherry blossom moonlight picture came to be.  

I started by painting the background by making a large white circle and layering colors out from there.  I mixed a lot of fuchsia and purple with colors such as red, blue, white, and black.  I then used a grayish-brown to paint the branches, while adding darker brown and white highlights to the branches. Finally I mixed pink and purple colors to create the buds at the end of the branches. 

It is definitely more whimsical than realistic, but with this never-ending winter, I am okay with that. 

April Showers and How I Met Your Mother

"To Ted Evelyn Mosby, a man with more emotional endurance than anyone I know. It was a long, difficult road.  Thank God we finally got here." -How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother ended this past Monday night.  The roller coaster leading up to how Ted met the Mother only took nine seasons.  The series finale came with as many twists and turns as the show has always provided.  And of course the famous yellow umbrella helped build a bond with Ted and the Mother.  I made these yellow umbrella earrings a while ago, but with it being April and the end of the HIMYM era, there is no better time to post them.

Materials:

Yellow Polymer Clay

Black Polymer Clay

Earring pin

Earrings

Directions:

1. Form the basic umbrella shape with the yellow clay.
2. Add a handle and a top piece with black clay.
3. Add a earring pin and fish hook earring.  
4. Bake at 225 degrees for ten minutes.

Mushroom Lawn Ornament

"Memories of his childhood opened in his mind and he poured over them, looking for some explanation of how the taste had acquired such appealing and vigorous associations." -David Rhodes, Jewelweed

This past months book club book was Jewelweed by David Rhodes.  Jewelweed is a delightfully interwoven story of burdened and strong characters trying to find freedom within and among themselves.  Jewelweed is a relateable story that involves heartbreak, laughter, and personal growth.  So many different characters and events happen in the course of this book, that I struggled to pick a direction to go with this craft.  Finally, I decided to go with a lawn ornament, in a nod to Bee's mother who had an obsession with them.  This mushroom is easy to make, and would be a great addition to Bee's front lawn. 

A big thanks to my own mother for sending me this picture.  I think this one is her's but I made one just like it.

Materials:

• Glass or plastic green vase
• Glass or plastic clear bowl.
• Glass gems
• E6000

Directions:

1. Glue the bottom of the vase to the inside center of the bowl. Let dry.
2. Glue the gems onto the bowl in a design of your choice.  Let dry.

It is that simple and now can be placed outside (or inside) and enjoyed!