Inchies Halloween Hanger

Inchies are 1"x1" art used for swapping- I created these inchies  on card stock using rubber stamp and painting with acrylic paint, I used scrapbook paper to frame each inchie, sandwiched  a piece of ribbon between two inchies using 4 sets or 8 total to create the hanger below (front and back are shown)

I finished the ends of the ribbon with decorative beads

Craft Storage jars with chalkboard labels

Like many crafters I am always on the look out for craft storage, recently I stumbled upon these jars and just knew they would be perfect for storing all those small craft pieces that I have strewn all over the place.

I knew I wanted some sort of label on the jars to help identify content, size, etc. after a 

little bit of thought I remembered I had a jar of chalkboard paint that had been waiting 

for a suitable project. But how was I going to keep the paint from scratching off the jars? 

Glass etching cream of course, and so my chalkboard labels became a reality 

And here's how I did it

first I created a template that I could trace around that was the size and shape I wanted my labels to be (to create my template I use packaging plastic, you know the packages that you need scissors or a knife to get into.I always save the packaging to make templates and patterns of things I am going to make in quantity.) 

Next I used  double stick tape on one side of my new plastic template to hold it in place while I traced around the template onto the jar  using a permanent marker.   I removed the template and any glue residue that may have been left by the double stick tape being careful not to erase my newly drawn outline

Using  an old brush and the glass etching cream I carefully filled in the drawn outline with glass 

etching cream and allowed it to sit for 5 minutes (follow the manufacturers directions for

the appropriate time and safety precautions)

After the five minutes is up I rinsed off the glass etching cream  and any remaining

permanent marker outline under running water and dried the jar thoroughly  

Using the chalkboard paint, I painted over the glass etched label (this may took 4 coats of paint to get a good coverage) 

I allowed each coat to dry  1 hour and 24 hours for the final coat  I then conditioned the chalkboard  according to manufactures directions.

There you have attractive, functional jars with labels that can be changed quickly as the jars contents change.

Angry American Plaques

This plaque was a part of a www.craftsters.org challenge, craft a song,
After some thought and the purchase of a simple wooden plaque,and star hook
inspiration struck with the help of Toby Keith's Angry American, A little
acrylic paint and some polymer clay this is what I came up with:

The dog tags contain the lyrics:

Justice will be served and the battle will rage
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage

And you'll be sorry that you messed with
the U.S. of A

Star hook was painted with acrylic paint.
The relief was created in polymer baked then attached to plaque