WAWW • Package Delivered

It's a "What About Wednesday? Wednesday" kind of day!!  I am so super excited because my custom order magnetic snaps came in today!  Wahoo!!

It felt like I was opening a long awaited Christmas present, and I am super happy with the way they turned out!

I would really like a new camera!  I'm sure you can at least tell it says "Snappee Turtle."  They look much better, so I guess you'll just have to place an order and see the real thing! ;)  Don't forget to enter the giveaway and you might just win yourself a pretty cool set!

Now that I finally have my snaps, all I need is some quality craft time to get orders assembled!  I'll finally be listing fun stuff on Etsy in the coming weeks for the first time, as well!  Did I say that I am excited?!

Thanks for sharing in my excitement ;)

Eva

Turtle Tuesday • Grand Opening Giveaway Rules

Please see the newest post with the official rules of entry.  Do NOT comment on this post for the giveaway.  

It's time for the Snappee Turtle Grand Opening Giveaway Rules like I promised!

It looks like "The Stella"is in the lead for the flower Snappee of choice to be given away for the Snappee Turtle Grand Opening Giveaway!  However, I am going to extend the voting through the Labor Day weekend, so be sure to check out this post and then head over to the Snappee Turtle facebook page to vote for your favorite!

Along with the flower Snappee that receives the most votes, I will be giving away a coordinating 5 petal satin flower Snappee and a either a magnetically interchangeable satin covered headband or two magnetically interchangeable coordinating elastic headbands that are coming soon!


The Grand Opening Giveaway winner will be announced during next week's "Win It Wednesday" blog post!


WAYS TO GET ENTRIES INTO THE GIVEAWAY:
1.  LIKE Snappee Turtle on Facebook
2.  FOLLOW this blog on Blogger (see the widget in the left sidebar)
3.  FOLLOW this blog on Networked Blogs (see the widget in the left side bar)
4.  FOLLOW Snappee Turtle on Twitter


REQUIRED TO ENTER

Once you've done one or all of the options above, leave a comment in the comment section of this post (you don't have to have a blogger account to comment) with the following:

• where you heard about the giveaway by stating "Coming over from..."
• state whether you are a "new" or "existing" Facebook/Blogger/NetworkedBlog/Twitter fan.  (For those who are already a fan/follower of any of the above, you will not be entered in the giveaway if you do not leave a comment, that way I know who is actually participating).  
• who the headband and flower Snappees would be for if you won the giveaway (if not for you, the age of the person who will receive the giveaway items)
• your name

NOTE:  Please make sure I have your email address so I know how to contact you if you win the giveaway!

Your comment may look like this: 

"I'm a new Facebook/Blogger/NetworkedBlog/Twitter follower coming over from (insert friend's name here)'s Twitter tweet.  If I won the giveaway, I would give it to my daughter who is one.  ~Eva Taylor"

or

"I'm an existing Facebook & Twitter follower, new Blogger & Networked Blog follower, coming over from the Snappee Turtle facebook post.  If I won the giveaway, I would keep it for myself.  ~Eva Taylor"

Other ways to get more entries:
1.  Tag @Snappee Turtle in a Facebook post, and mention the giveaway.
2.  Mention #SnappeeTurtle and this giveaway in a tweet.
3.  For each new entry who says "coming over from (your name)'s Facebook post/share link, Twitter mention or blog" will give you an additional entry.    
Please mention in your comment that you tagged or mentioned Snappee Turtle, so I know to look for it!

HOW THE WINNER IS DETERMINED

A random number generator will be used to come up with the winning number.  Who that winning number is will be decided by assigning a range of numbers to each comment, depending on how many qualifying entries that person who commented had.  Numbers will be assigned starting with the first comment.

For example:
The random winning number is 11.

The first comment was from Suzie Sewsalot who is a follower on Facebook, Blogger & Networked Blogs (3 entries).  She also tagged @Snappee Turtle on Facebook (1 entry) and 2 other commenters said they were coming over from Suzie Sewsalot's Facebook post (2 entries).  Suzie would have a total of 6 entries, so she would be assigned numbers 1-6.

The second commenter was from Nora Needles who is a new Facebook fan (1 entry).  Nora would have a total of 1 entry, so she would be assigned just the number 7.

The next commenter was from Betsy Bobbin who is a follower on Blogger and Twitter (2 entries).  She also mentioned #SnappeeTurtle on Twitter (1 entry) and one other commenter said she was coming over from Betsy Bobbin's tweet on Twitter (1 entry).  Betsey would have a total of 4 entries, so she would be assigned numbers 8-11.

Besty Bobbin would be the winner with the random winning number of 11!

READY, SET, GO!!!
I hope this makes sense, and I look forward to seeing who wins!

Best regards,
Eva

Make It Monday • DIY Wreath Ideas

Scouring the blogosphere, I came across some really neat wreath ideas.  I shared with you a couple weeks ago how to make the tissue paper star wreath out of a wire hanger, which was my original idea.  However, the ones I am going to share with you are someone else's idea that I'd like to make myself sometime.  I thought I would share them with you!  You can click on the links provided for the full tutorials.

Paper Umbrella Wreath

Source: jaderbombs.blogspot.com via Eva on Pinterest

Cupcake Liner Wreath

Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via Eva on Pinterest

Men's Tie Wreath

Source: goodhousekeeping.com via Eva on Pinterest

Felted Ball Wreath

Source: pickles.no via Eva on Pinterest

PVC Pipe Wreath

Source: todaysnest.com via Eva on Pinterest

Magazine Pages Wreath

Source: ragandbone.com via Eva on Pinterest

Balloon Wreath

Source: 247moms.blogspot.com via Eva on Pinterest

Button Wreath Ornament

Source: buttonsgaloreandmore.com via Eva on Pinterest

Aren't these fun?!  I want to make a few of them, for sure!  If any of you make one or come across any other cool wreath ideas feel free to share a link in the comments!!

Warm wishes,

Eva

Fab Idea Friday • Vote for the Giveaway

My custom magnetic snaps are on their way, and I will finally have them in my hands next week!!!  I am so excited to finish assembling my pre-orders and get them out to all my fans!

I am so super excited!  So excited, that I will be hosting an official Snappee Turtle Grand Opening Giveaway!

I will be giving away one fabric covered interchangeable headband of the winner's choice along with two interchangeable flower Snappee's (up to a $37 dollar value + free shipping).  One of the Snappee's will be the winner's choice of one of the five petal satin flowers, and I need your help choosing what other flower Snappee to give away.

Which Snappee would you like to receive if you won the giveaway?  Head on over to the Snappee Turtle Facebook Fan Page and vote for your favorite Snappee flower in the poll!  The Snappee flower with the most votes will be the one given away!

The official rules of the giveaway will be announced on Tuesday, August 30th, but you can get a head start by liking the Snappee Turtle Facebook Fan Page, because that will be a requirement to enter.  There will also be other ways to submit multiple entries, so stay tuned.  While you are at our Facebook page, don't forget to vote for your favorite flower Snappee!!

I hope you'll join us for our first giveaway!

Warm wishes,

Eva

Thrifty Thursday • Star Themed Party

This last Saturday was Stella's first birthday party.  We didn't want to have a huge party and overwhelm her on her big day, but I still wanted to put time in to planning her special day.  I did most of the decorations myself, keeping it thrifty by using things I already had or borrowing some things.  Anything that I did purchase, I kept it at a minimum.

Choose the colors for your party based on a central object that will be in the room.  Since Stella was going to be the center of attention for the party, I based the colors of her party on her tutu.

Digital card created using Photoshop and My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up!

Tips to keeping it thrifty:

1.  Use your home or a room that you can get for free.  In our case, we reserved a room at the church where I work.  I even was able to borrow the white table linens for free.  I just have to wash them before I return them.

2.  Keep the menu to snacks and light refreshments.  Cut up your own veggies, fruit and cheese cubes.  Prepackaged trays are always way more expensive.  I wanted to make little star sandwiches, but again...time was not on my side (because I procrastinate!)  So if you really want to go all out with your star party, you could make turkey and cheese sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly (whatever you wish) and cut them out with a star cookie cutter.

Individual Photos by Mary Ann Slinn

3.  Make as many of the decorations as you can.

• I had some of my own vases and borrowed the rest from a friend.  I used tissue paper I had saved from all of Stella's baby showers last year and turned them into pom-pom flowers, just like I did to make this star wreath.  I put them in the vases to add some color.  Even if you had to go out and buy tissue paper, you would only need to buy one pack of each color.  Most packs of tissue paper come with 10 sheets, and one sheet would make at least 4-8 pom-pom flowers to fit in the vases.  

• I actually didn't make these hanging decorations, because I ran out of time.  For a pack of 3, it was only $7 at Party City.  You could make these, but you would need to use a whole pack of tissue paper just for one and follow the same directions to make the mini pom-pom flowers, just bigger.  All in all, I would have saved myself about $3, and I justified buying them because it would have taken me more time to make them than it was worth.

Photo by Corey Willoughby

• I had 6 round tables in the room.  On each table there were 2 picture frames with a picture of Stella from one of the first 12 months of her life.  The frames were bought at the Dollar Tree for a buck a piece.  I ran out of time, but my plan was to make little table cards that stated which month the picture was from with a list of all her milestones she had met in that month

4.  Make your own cake to go along with the theme, and that acts as part of the decorations, too!  My grocery list:

FOR THE CAKE TIERS
$2.50 for 2 boxes of Betty Crocker Confetti cake mix
$1.80 for a carton of eggs
$3.20 for vegetable oil
$7.50

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM ICING
$ 1.25 for 1 bag of Domino's powdered can sugar
$ 5.00 Wilton's meringue powder
$ 4.00 Wilton's butter flavoring
$ 3.30 Vanilla Extract
$13.55

FOR THE MARSHMALLOW FONDANT
$  5.45 for Crisco shortening (I bought the larger tub for future use)
$  2.50 for 2-10.5oz bags of Kraft Jet Puffed mini marshmallows
$  5.25 for 4 each colors of Wilton's icing coloring
$  2.50 for 2 bags of Domino's powdered cane sugar
$15.70

If you have absolutely none of the above ingredients, your TOTAL COST would be:  $36.75
You could easily skip the fondant part and just color the butter cream icing, and your cake would only be $26.20 (you would still need to buy the food coloring, so I didn't subtract that amount).

Most of you will already have some of these items in your pantry, so you'll save even more than I did!  At least for the next cake you make, you will have the vanilla extract, butter flavoring, Wilton's icing coloring, Crisco shortening and meringue powder.  That in itself will save you $23 dollars!

For your next cake, it would only cost you $13.75 or $3.20 if you skip the fondant!!  You can't buy a cake for that cheap!


5.  I purchased a pack of 10 sunglasses in an assortment of colors for $2.00 at WalMart to give to the other kids as favors.  I got the sunglasses idea from my friend, Heather, who did the same thing for her son's first birthday.  Half of pack of sunglasses were shaped as stars and the other half were hearts.

Photo by Corey Willoughby

6.  Balloons.  A great way to add color to the room for a good price without having to buy too many.  I purchased balloons in 5 sets of 3.  One for the buffet/cake table, one for the At Party City it was 15 cents per helium filled balloon.  TIP:  Buy the balloons the day of the party.  Save yourself $10 or more from not having to buy the Hi-Float.  I was going to make my own balloon weights by wrapping up some glass marbles in tulle and tying it off, but Party City just happened to have star balloon weights in lime green and pink!  They were $2.50 a piece.

7.  Oh, yea!  Don't forget the matching plates, napkins and plastic ware!  I also had matching buckets to keep the ice water, as seen in the very first picture.

Well, that's all I have for ya!  Stars are so much fun, aren't they?   I hope you enjoyed our star themed party! 

Party on,

Eva  :)

Linking up with:

Make It Monday • Birthday Fondant Cake

This post has moved to:  http://snappeeturtle.com/make-a-fondant-birthday-cake/

Thrifty Thursday • Wire Hanger Star

I was searching the internet lately for some ideas for party decorations.  Surprisingly, Google was not my friend in finding star decorations.  We are having a small "Stella" party for her birthday, which means we are having a "star" party.  Most of the star themed party ideas I've come across are for rock star parties or movie star parties.  Not really what I am looking for.

We have a lot of extra wire hangers, and of course I have a whole bin full of gift bags and tissue paper from all the baby showers for Stella last year.  Remember, I keep things I think I will reuse!  So...I came up with the idea to make hanging star decorations out of the wire hangers and tissue paper.

Hanging on Stella's closet door (it matches her room for after the party)

I'll hang the stars from the ceiling for the party.

What you will need to make one star:


one wire hanger
8-10 sheets of tissue paper
about 40 inches of craft wire
hot glue
scissors
fishing wire or ribbon

First, let's make the wire hanger star:

1.  Start out with a wire hanger.  

2-3.  Use your thumb and fore finger to straighten the top bumps to form the top of the star, so that it looks like the picture in #3.

4.  Find the center point of the bottom of the wire hanger, and bend it inwards as shown in the picture below.  This will make the bottom indentation of the star.

5.  Start rounding out the two ends of the wire hanger.
6.  You will work the two pointed ends of the hanger to point inwards, making the ends of the wire hanger now the two side indentations of the star.
7.  Work with the wire to make the five points of the star as sharp as you can, so that it looks more like a star than a flower.  I guess, you could always leave it as a flower, too.  Just round out the top point of the star, so that it is like a petal.

Now your stars are ready to be dressed up!

I was inspired to use tissue paper to dress up my wire stars from this awesome blog post, where you can learn how to make the tissue paper pom-poms.
To get the same look for your star as mine, you will need the following sizes of tissue paper rectangles to make your pom-poms:

Star center (fuschia):  cut out 8 rectangles for each pom-pom flower (5" x 3.5")
Star legs and points (light pink & hot pink):  cut out 8 rectangles for each pom-pom flower (3.5" x 2.5")
To utilize the most out of your tissue paper, I folded my tissue paper sheet in half 5 times to get the 5" x 3.5" rectangles and 6 times to get the 3.5" x 2.5" rectangles.  Make sure to cut open the folds, so that you have individual loose rectangles.

*NOTE:  You want the pom-poms for the points and legs of the star to be smaller in size, so that you can tell it is a star and not a flower.  I made the center flowers larger to add some fullness to the star.

Now, for embellishing the wire hanger star:

1.  Stack your tissue paper rectangles for your pom pom.

2.  Fold them accordian style about 5 times.
3-4.  Wrap your craft wire around the center (you only need about 1 1/2" of craft wire per pom-pom, since these will turn out to be fairly small).  (I snipped the wire off of the bead bouquets that I use for the center of my Snappees that I found in the bridal section at Hobby Lobby)

5.  Round each end with a pair of scissors.  This will make your pom-poms look more like a flower.

6.  Fan out the accordian fold as shown in picture #6.

7-8.  Start separating the tissue paper layers from each other, fluffing it up to look like a flower (TIP:  be very gently when separating the tissue paper, so that you don't tear it apart)!

9.  Hot glue your tissue paper pom-poms onto your wire star, by placing the dab of glue on the center of the pom-pom where the wire is wrapped around.  

10.  Turn the star over, and wrap the tissue on the back side around the wire, pressing the tissue together to glue the whole pom-pom in place.

11.  Glue the bigger pom-poms on the 5 inverted points of the star first.  Then glue the rest of the smaller pom-poms on.

12.  Bend the hook of the hanger to make more of a circle for a nicer look.  

13.  Attach fishing wire to hang from the ceiling or some matching ribbon to hang it on the wall, and you're done!

I'd love to see your creations if you make one!  Feel free to post a link to a picture in the comment section if you do!

I think these would be cute to make around Christmas and New Year's with festive colors or red, white and blue for the 4th of July.  Hey!  Labor Day is coming soon!!

Thanks for joining us!

Eva

Linking up with...

 

Match It Monday • Birthday Girl's Headband

Stella is turning one a week from today!  I decided to make her a matching head band for her tutu.  Did you see her tutu I shared last week?  If not, you can see it here.  Otherwise, it's beneath the wooden star in the picture below.

Big girl also got her first pair of tennis shoes yesterday from the same shoe store her daddy got his first pair.  She of course had to show them off today! 

 Shoes:  Stride Rite
Head Piece:  Snappee Turtle  

(tulle rosettes on a crocheted band)

The matching Snappee is really to go with her tutu, but it happened to match the outfit she already had on (and her cool new kicks!)

Thanks for joining us for Match It Monday!

~Eva  & Stella

Feature Friday • Snickering Bison

Stella is turning one on August 22nd!  Crazy to think how fast her first year has flown by!  Well I wanted to get a fun tutu for her to wear on her big day and of course for some fun pictures.

A friend of mine from my hometown, Stephanie Colson, has her own handmade business called Snickering Bison.  She makes these really cool crocheted monster hats.  I definitely want to get one for Stella for the winter, and I kinda want one for myself.  :)

Here are a couple of my favorites...

Mr. Monster hat

by Stephanie Colson
Snickering Bison

                                                                

Mr. Hootie hat

by Stephanie Colson
Snickering Bison

                                                                     

She crochets lots of other items, too.  When I was browsing her website, I saw that she also made tutus, and I knew I had to get one for Stella.  I contacted her last week, and she had it done in no time.  She was coming in the area for the weekend, so I got to meet up with her this past Saturday to pick it up.  It is SO stinkin' cute.  Stella loves how fluffy the tutu fits around her waist.

I can't wait to post more pics of Stella prancing around in her awesome new tutu!  Be sure to check out Steph's awesome handmade items at Snickering Bison!



Happy Friday,

Eva

Thankful Thursday • Linky Parties and Blog Buttons : Google It

I know.  Who doesn't love Google, right?  Well, I am the type of person who likes to self teach myself.  I like the fact that I don't have to go to a class with an instructor to hold me by the hand.  Although, I will admit that I could benefit from that for certain things, but I really like the fact that I can sit on my bed, couch or at the table on my lap top...and it's FREE!  Thanks to Google and it's wealth of tutorials and brilliant bloggers out there!

Since I am new to the craft blogging world, I have been prying around out in the blogosphere to see what I like and don't like.  What's everyone doing?  I want to make my blog more unique (without reinventing the wheel).  More my style.  I am no web designer, so I love that I can just type in to Google what I am looking to do and Voila!

For example, I wanted to make a button for my blog.  Did you notice it on my right side bar?  I also wanted to create the text box under it for those who want my button to put on their blog to be able to copy and paste the html code.  I came across this great tutorial on how to make a blog button at Oikology 101.

Why do I want a button for my blog?  I started participating in some linky parties, and I have been grabbing everyone else's buttons for their blogs, that I thought, "Hey!  Maybe someone will like my blog enough to grab my button!  Plus, I've said before I love buttons!  This is just a different kind of button, but cute all the same!

I am new to the linky party business, and I love the concept!  For those of you who don't know what a linky party is, I'm sure you could google "What is a linky party?"  Or I could just tell you :)  A linky party is where a blogger hosts a party called a linky party for other bloggers to contribute content their blog.  These other bloggers can post a picture with a link to their own blog post on the blogger's site that is hosting the party.  This gives exposure to these other bloggers' blogs.  In return for getting exposure, the other bloggers will "link back" to the party host's blog by adding the party host's button which has a link back to the party host's blog embedded in the html code of the button.  Why does all this matter?  1.  It gives the other bloggers exposure, and 2.  It helps the party host's blog's SEO (search engine optimization).

Back to why I'm thankful for Google.  Since I am new to the linky parties, I wanted to know, "Is there linky party etiquette?"  I saw that all the different linky parties had rules to follow for those participating, and one in particular said it was tacky to participate in more than one linky party for the same blog post.  Oops!  Guilty!  I wanted to see if that statement was common knowledge, so I googled "linky party etiquette."  I came across a fabulous analogy at the blog CrafterMinds that helped me understand much better!  The author relates a linky party to a dinner party.   Clever!

Linky parties are fun, especially when everyone follows directions and doesn't just link up on people's parties to show off their stuff and not visit anyone else's blogs that have linked up.  Plus it's a great way to meet other crafters, get inspired and find things I want to pin on Pinterest!  Check out all the linky parties I participate in.

With all that being said, I am thankful for Google for once again teaching me something new.  I'm sure I'll be thankful for Google a lot as I learn the in's and out's of craft blogging!


Thanks for reading,

Eva

WAWW • Crafter in the Making

When I was thinking of the different days of the week that I would have a themed post, I never really decided on one for Wednesday.   I was telling my sister what I was calling the other days, and she asked me "What about Wednesdays?"  That's when we came up with WAWW.  The What About Wednesday, Wednesday.  I am going to dedicate Wednesdays as my random day, where anything that catches my fancy will be shared with you all.

For our first WAWW, I just had to share my little crafter in the making.  My craft room is also our laundry room.  It's a pretty nice size room, so on one half sits the laundry machines and the other half sits a nice kitchen table with my 60" long sewing mat atop.  Also on top of it is one of those cube shelves which hold my fabrics, papers, and all sorts of other crafting supplies.  I would share a picture, but it is so NOT organized right now!  Sometimes I get working on more than one thing, that I don't have enough room on my table.  Hence, the reason my sewing machine was on the floor.

Stella loves to follow me into that room.  Tonight the first thing she was drawn to was my sewing machine, since it was so easily accessible.  This was too cute not to share!

Stella Rose would like to show us all how to thread a machine (or should I say UNTHREAD a machine)!

I love watching her use her cute little fingers.  She just loved pulling on that thread!  

It's like she was saying, "Mama, I'm going to be one year old in a couple weeks.  I think I'm ready for this kind of stuff!"  ;)  She is so much fun!  I love this age, but I do look forward to when I can really teach her how to sew and make other fun, crafty messes!  Dada will surely love that!  ;)

Best wishes,

Eva...& Stella Rose

Turtle Tuesday • New Snappee: The Linda

Miss Turtle would like to introduce a new Snappee to you all!  Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for another ANNOUNCEMENT!!

The Linda

A friend of mine from high school, Linda, got married this past weekend.  Unfortunately, we missed the ceremony, because I goofed on the time zone.  I thought where we were traveling to was an hour behind us, but it wasn't!  We were early to the reception, though.

I wish I could've taken more pictures, but we were too busy chasing our little munchkin around.  Stella was wearing her first pair of hard sole shoes, and she just loved the sound they made on the tile floor!  All she wanted to do was run around.  The reception was beautiful, and Linda even did mostly everything DIY.  The bridesmaids' dresses were cobalt blue, and they carried hot pink flower bouquets.  I loved the colors together!

Linda had mentioned her wedding colors on their wedding website prior to the wedding.  When I know what the wedding colors are going to be, I always love to make a matching card.  As I was making her card, I was inspired to create a new Snappee!  Since my snaps won't arrive until the end of the month, I decided to make it into a pin and attached it to the card.  I didn't have any pin backs, so I had to use a safety pin.

It was fun to make, and I love when something simple inspires me to create something new!


Miss Turtle would like to announce that all Snappees can now come in your choice of a pin, an alligator clip or magnetic snap!  There is now a drop down menu to choose from when shopping on the Facebook store front.


Toodles,

Miss Turtle
& Eva

Make It Monday • Polymer Clay Button Tutorial

Last week's Feature Friday inspired me to bust out my package of polymer clay that I bought a couple years ago that I never used.  We all know I love buttons, so I thought I would make some cute buttons out of the polymer clay to use as embellishments, for the centers of some Snappee's, to make more button magnets or simply just because I love buttons!

Disclaimer:  I am no polymer clay artist...this tutorial comes out of basic trial and error!  :)

Before we get started, be careful to use a surface that won't get damaged by the polymer clay.  I chose to tape wax paper down on my table, so that I could just throw it away when I was done.  You can also use aluminum foil.  It's recommended that you don't use kitchen utensils as your polymer clay tools, but if you choose to do so just make sure to not use that utensil again for food!

Let's begin...

1.  Tape down your wax paper and get out your polymer clay!  I am using a Sculpey variety pack I picked up at WalMart.
2.  Gather some items from around the house that can imprint your polymer clay to make different textures.  For this tutorial, I used a bobby pin, pen cap, toothpick and a rubber stamp.
3.  Break off a small chunk, and knead it until it's really soft.
4.  Then start rolling it in between the palms of your hands or with one hand and a flat surface like the table until all the creases are smoothed out.

5.  Start flattening the ball of clay out with your thumbs.

6.  Flatten it until it's about an 1/8" thick, or however thick you will want your button.

7-8.  Start using your items you found around the house to leave impressions on the clay.

9.  I used the tip of a toothpick to make my own texture designs.

10.  Using a button as a template, use the toothpick to leave marks where the button holes should be.

11.  Use your knife (the purple one comes with the Sculpey variety pack) to cut out the button.

12.  Peel the button out.

13.  Turn your button over to make sure you poke the button holes through from the back, too.

14-15.  Use rubber stamps to make different texture impressions.

16.  You could leave your buttons like this, or make them with a ridge around the edge as you will see later.

 MAKING A POLYMER CLAY CANE

17.  Take two balls of two different colors of polymer clay and roll each of them out to make 3" long rods.  The thickness of your rods will determine how wide it will flatten, which determines the length of your cane.  The length of your cane will determine how many buttons you will get out of the cane.  

18.  Flatten each of the rods until they are the width you desire (you will get one button for every 1/4" wide you flatten your clay).  My clay is flattened to 1/2" wide, which will end up making two buttons.

19.  Stack the flattened clay on top of one another, alternating colors.  (Another way to get the same result would be to make one long rod of each color rather than two shorter rods of each color.  Flatten and stack them on top of on another.  When you roll the clay in step 21, it should achieve the same result.) 

20.  Trim the edges to make a rectangle with straight edges.  

21.  My rectangle is 3" in length and 1/2" wide.  If you want to make a longer cane, your length should stay about 3" and it is your width that needs to be larger.

22.  Start rolling your polymer clay rectangle tight from left to right to get the swirl look.

23.  I used a piece of thin craft wire to slice my small cane in half so that it wouldn't flatten the top of my cane.  

24.  Lay your sliced piece of clay flat, and use the other end of the knife tool that comes with the Sculpey variety pack to make the button ridge around the edges (if you choose).  Just press lightly, enough to make a smooth indention.

25.  I used my toothpick to poke the holes in the button.  Make sure to turn the button over to make sure the holes poked through the back and that the clay is flat.

26.  I hate to waste anything, so I took the excess polymer clay that was trimmed off of the rectangle to make another button.

27.  Roll it smoothly into another ball.

28.  Flatten it out, and repeat steps 24-25.

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and bake your buttons on a glass surface for 15 minutes.  I used the outside of the bottom of a glass baking dish.  Make sure the backs of the buttons are flat on the glass, so the polymer clay doesn't harden with a bend.  

Let the buttons cool, and use your buttons on something fun like my "HI" card shown below!

Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your polymer clay buttons!  I'd love to see them!

Thanks for stopping by,

Eva

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