My Dollar Store Craft: Blue Angel Votive Candle Holder

Inspired by the fantastic blogs "Dollar Store Crafts" and the Graphics Fairy I present my very own dollar store craft: this charming little votive candle holder featuring a blue angel. I've made a dozen or so of these candle holders as stocking stuffers for my office and now I've been asked to make a special order for my boss's Christmas dinner at home!

Project estimate:

• Graphics Fairy "Best Little Angel Girl", free
• Drinking glass, on hand or $1 and up
• Homemade ModPodge, on hand or $1
• Votive candles, on hand or $1
• Wrapping paper, on hand or $1
• Blue ink pad, on hand or $1
• Glitter ribbon, on hand or $1
• Various glues, on hand or $1 
• Clear nail polish, (optional) on hand or $1
• Nail polish remover, on hand or $1
• Cotton balls, on hand or $1
• Sponge brush, on hand or $1 
• Xacto Knife or razor, on hand or $1 (for razor)
• Scissors and paper edgers, on hand
• Copy paper, on hand 

Now, at a dollar per project item, the price for this candle holder can accumulate quite quickly.  Use what you've got on hand to save on costs. The main things I purchased were the glasses, votive candles, wrapping paper and blue ink pad all sourced from my local Dollar Tree or 99 Cents Only stores. Everything else you see I had on hand but cost either only a dollar (from previous visits to these stores) or was completely free.  Please note: because of the use of sharps (razor or Xacto knife) I don't recommend fabricating this project with children for safety reasons.

Directions:

• Start with making homemade ModPodge recipe by mixing 1 part glue (Elmer's is best -- but not the school glue, the regular glue) with 3 parts water. To make it glossy, throw in a bottle of clear nail polish.  Put all ingredients in a jar, twist lid to close and shake 'til well mixed.
• Pre-cut gift wrapping paper to wrap around the glass. I chose a wedding style gift wrap that was mainly colored white, ivory and gold and then smudged it with a blue ink pad to blend and match the Graphics Fairy "Best Little Angel Girl" subject. It's hard to tell with the golden glow of the candle light in the photo but the wrapping paper background is tinted and mottled with the blue ink. It looks like it was manufactured that way.
• Coat drinking glass with homemade ModPodge. Decoupage gift wrap around the glass.  Allow to dry but check in occasionally to smooth any paper wrinkles as it dries. 
• Print out Graphics Fairy "Angel". I cut mine with Fiskars "Torn Paper" Edger scissors (discontinued). Edge with blue ink pad. 
• Decoupage angel over wrapping paper on the opposite side of the seam. Allow to dry but check in occasionally to smooth any paper wrinkles as it dries. You can smooth by hand or use a brayer if you have one handy.
• Print out the "Believe" label (or for my boss's Christmas dinner print out guest's names for each table setting) with the PegsannaHMK font available for free from Fonts101.com. I simply printed it out on regular copy paper and cut with Fiskar's "Majestic" Edger scissors. At this point you can smudge the label to distress or even edge the paper with the blue ink pad however I chose to let it remain white. Next time I would probably edge the paper just a bit with the ink pad to make it pop. Place label onto angel and then decoupage. Allow to dry.
• After glass is completely dry, carefully trim the top of the glass with Xacto knife or razor blade to remove any paper that's sticking up over the rim.
• Decoupage entire glass once more to seal. Allow to dry.
• Once dry, carefully wipe off any remaining laquer (from the nail polish in the homemade ModPodge) that's on the glass (do NOT wipe the decoupaged papers -- just the exposed glass such as the bottom and the inside upper rim) with cotton ball and nail polish remover.  You want to clean up the exposed glass and make it sparkle. It also helps to make the project look clean and professional.
• Next, apply blue glitter ribbon to the top and bottom edge of glass. Aleene's Original Tacky Glue is the best adhesive for this particular application due to it's "stickiness". That is, it stays put so that the ribbon doesn't slide down the glass as it dries.You could use regular glue but keep an eye on it as the ribbon may spring off or slide so you'll need to press it back on as it dries.
• Insert votive, light and display!

Happy holidays!

Happy Easter from Glamour Bomb

Important: If you are reading this in an RSS reader, you really ought to click through to my site to see the embedded video. I am told it's not showing in the feed.

MGM's Easter Parade was actually released a few days after the 4th of July in the summer of 1948 and was dubbed by the studio: "the happiest musical ever made." It was originally green-lighted as a Gene Kelly/Vincente Minnelli project with Minnelli's wife Judy Garland as the leading lady. But because Minnelli and Garland were experiencing marital problems at home, the studio felt that the couple was better off if they did not work together on the set and replaced Minnelli with director Charles Walters.

When Kelly broke his ankle playing football and was forced to drop out of the production, he suggested Fred Astaire as a replacement for the part. However Astaire demurred citing that he had just recently retired his film career to launch a chain of what would become very successful dance schools. However it didn't take very long for Astaire to change his mind because he admitted that he always wanted to work with Judy Garland. After the release of Easter Parade he would continue to spend the next twenty years making pictures.

The story goes that on the first day of production a friend that knew the two lead actors came to visit with Garland on the set and asked her if she was excited to be working with Astaire. Garland replied that she was an enormous fan of his films and that working with him was a tremendous honor. But she also admitted that she was terribly anxious because she had not yet met the man and their first shooting scene together involved a short but sweet kiss on the lips. The friend promptly took Garland's hand, led her up to Astaire's dressing room, and introduced the two on the spot. With that, the filming of their initial scene went smoothly and Astaire and Garland worked well together throughout the production.

When Astaire was asked what is was like to work with Garland, he replied: "Judy's not primarily a dancer. But she's the best of her type -- an amazing girl! She could do things -- anything -- without rehearsing and come off perfectly. She could learn faster, do everything better than most people."

The film won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. It also received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical. It was the most financially successful picture for both Garland and Astaire as well as the highest-grossing musical of 1948. In subsequent years other projects were planned for Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, however Easter Parade would remain the one and only film they did together.

Easter Parade is chockerblock with seventeen... that's SEVENTEEN... fab-u-lous musical numbers written by Irving Berlin including Astaire and Garland's classic showstoppers: the "I Love a Piano" medley and "A Couple of Swells" hobo routine. It's really worth watching the film in its entirety on DVD which also features a knockout Garland solo number entitled "Mr Monotony" that precedes her spectacular "Get Happy" performance in the film Summer Stock by five years. The "Mr. Monotony" number was cut out in the final edit before Easter Parade was released so all you die-hard Garland fans won't want to miss it!

Happy Easter to all my friends. I'm off to enjoy chocolate bunnies with my peeps!

Digi-Freebie Easter 2010

Hello and Happy Easter! 

I've got quite a little show planned for you, dear reader, coming up later this morning. 

For now, the early bird catches the digi-freebie below

PNG 300 dpi

JPG 300 dpi

Glamour Bomb's Spring Collection 2010: Fascinator Hats

Now available for your fashion pleasure is my spring collection of fascinator/mini hats.

In keeping with the theme of Easter this week  I thought I'd share with you this vintage clip. While my line of fascinators would make a lovely chapeau for the spring break, they are also make quite lovely Mother's Day gifts not to mention derby hats!
Enjoy my spring collection at my Etsy shop by clicking on the image below.

Vintage Easter Greetings!

I don't usually post items I'm selling in this -- my personal blog -- because I use my shop links for items I'm selling either directly or through Etsy. I do this as a courtesy to my readers because who wants to read stuff I'm selling (which is a lot) all the time? I sure don't. Unless I'm in the mood to shop.

But today is going to be different. I'm cross-posting this gorgeous Easter Bonnet/Vintage Hat from my shop by promoting it with a with this trailer from the 1948 MGM classic Easter Parade starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Yes, I think it ties in well with my hat promo!

Isn't this hat bomb? Click it! ➤

Enjoy this clip and if you have a moment, come admire the pretty bombdiggity bonnet I'm selling over here.