Shotgun Shell Vials....Inspired By Lynne Simon Suprock

I was looking through my pictures to see if there was anything I had missed sharing with you.

I realized I did not share these.

I gave you a taste of them when I shared the post for over dying silk strips.

Today I wanted to show you all of them.

Lynne Simon Suprock is an amazing artist.

You can find her blog here: Simply Pretty Stuff.

Or follow her on Facebook.

Her original pieces first appeared in an issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.

I made my own after I tracked down the right size tubing.

Because my shotgun shells were not brass, the etching did not work the way I wanted.

I do like the patina I got on mine.

I love filling each little reliquary.

That is half the fun.

I also like determining what the rest of the necklace will be like....

Old hardware, crystals, silk strips, polymer beads, patinaed chain....

It is all good.

I gave a makeover to cheap mall jewelry chains with mad scientist patinas.

Because I do them myself, each has a whole different look.

I even stamped some of the vials with StazOn black ink.

Uh-oh!

Sometimes when I revisit something I made, it gives me an itch to make some more.

I am definitely feeling itchy...

Hope you have been working on something that inspires you too.

                       Thanks for stopping by...

                 Linking up with these great blogs.

Mason Jar Monday #1 Christmas Snow Globes

Last week I was inspired to start Mason Jar Monday from now until Christmas.

I am a long-time collector of Mason jars.

I love all colors, sizes and styles.

For today's project, I am using wide mouth quart jars I picked up at the grocery store.

I started by gathering painting supplies for the lids.

I gave each lid a quick coat of DecoArt Chalky Finish Paints.

I love the colors in their line.

Then I gave each lid a light sanding to distress them a bit.

Now onto the insides.

First I glued the lid and ring together with a couple drops of hot glue.

Then I hot glued a Christmas tree and a little rusty tin moose to the inside of the lid.

I added the puddles of glue and let them cool a bit for the moose.

Then I pushed the moose feet into the glue and held it in place. 

 I added a little more hot glue and held it until the glue was cool and hard.

I added some opaque white glitter to the bottom of the jar.

I did another jar with just one tree that was a little larger.

Instead of the glitter for snow, I used a piece of Styrofoam that I had grated.

I really like the snowy consistency of it.

I added a little to the bottom of the jar.

I also put together and assembled two more jars.

I added a little knob or crystal to the top of each with some glue.

This crystal came from the boxes my husband got for me this summer.

  I used a metal hardware ring to hold the glue and the crystal.

The crystal had a chipped bottom so I had to hold the crystal until the glue cooled.

For photography purposes, I set the jar on a mercury glass painted candlestick.

I think I will actually glue them onto some candlesticks because I love the look.

This little guy works from any angle because there is no front or back to the tree.

That is something to consider however when assembling your snow globe.

I did not think of that while I was gluing them together.

For this jar, I got lucky.

The moose lines up in between the designs in the jar.

I like this little snowy tree.

All the glitter and Styrofoam snow cover the glue at the bottom of the snow globe.

Here are both of the snow globes with the crystal knobs.

I used two trees in this globe.

One was a little too tall so I bent the tree slightly.

When you are screwing the whole thing together, shake the snow to be sure none of it gets pinned between the top of the tree and the top of the jar.

I used a little wooden knob for the top of this one.

I may paint the knob to match the lid color.

I used a variety of tree styles.

There were some trees and shapes that I did not use because they were too tall or too wide for the jars.

Be sure to check yours before you use them.

These were great fun to make.

They would make really fun Christmas gifts...

This is a proud part of 99+ Handmade Gifts...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...

Bonus Points For the Husband!

My husband called from work at lunch time.

His friend had some things he was going to sell and thought I might be interested.

So I hopped in the car and headed over.

What did he have, you ask....

3 boxes of chandelier crystals...

I am not kidding.

Would I be interested?

YES!!!

I forgot to take pictures of the boxes before we unwrapped them.

But here they are after....

Lots of the long dangly ones.

I have never had any of these....

I am thinking they will make amazing Christmas ornaments.

And I am making a couple wind chimes for the fellow that sold them to me for his mom and grandma.

One whole box was the smaller pieces.

They are all pretty grubby.

They have been in those boxes for a very long time in someone's basement.

Since the 1950s or so....

I know that because as I was unwrapping them I noticed the newspapers they were wrapped in...

They were almost as much fun as the crystals...

After we unwrapped them all, I read my husband the papers.  

Here are some of my favorites. 

 I did my best with the photos.  

They were so old and brittle.

 I really wanted to save them.

Let me show you some...

I wanted to show the date...June 1953 ...The Evening Bulletin from Philadelphia...

The article below was so sad...

The daughter supposedly stole a candy bar from the grocery  and Mom used a little too much corporal punishment to discipline her...

Check out the best sellers back then....

I love the old advertisements.

$4 for a dress!

There were also papers from Temple University from the late 1940s.

President Johnson welcomed the freshman class...

Old car advertisements...

No price...

 Love the picture....

Charm school for young women...

Can't say that would be a bad idea now.

This new-fangled dishwasher seems like more work to hook up and load and unload than washing the dishes would be.

Check out the headlines...

I wonder if someday our advertisements will make people nostalgic.

Those hats were quite the fashion statement.

Doesn't she look fancy?

Taking Arthur Murray dance lessons could make you popular on vacation...

New luggage, anyone?

Meat prices...

I saved my favorite for last.

A tuition increase for fall.

Ready for it?

$380!

Up $34 from last time.

If only.....

I flattened them all out and sandwiched them in a big book to try to save them.

The wrapping was as much fun as the crystals.

Good Job, Husband!

Mega points for you!

Thanks for stopping by...