DIY: How to make faux starfish

Hi guys!

As some of you may know, last year at around this time, I gave birth to a second beautiful baby boy. It's been a true blessing to be surrounded by so much pure joy and love. Alas my return to work was inevitable, and so a new life has begun.

Other than my return to full time employment, a lot has happened since I last posted. We planted our garden and worked on our yard a lot. We visited the zoo and spent some quality alone time together as a family. I also had to slowly integrate my 1yo to daycare (my heart just shattered right there), we took turns being sick (ugh!) and dealt with loss. It's just been a rough few months and we're not out of the woods yet.

On a happier note, both of my boys celebrated their birthday this month, so I spent a lot of time in decor & food projects. As I'm sure a lot of you can relate, not all of my projects worked out quite as planned.

First, there was the beach look-alike cake I tried to make. I made a white cake and crumbled it so it would look like sand. I put the pieces in a cake mold to cover half the space, then I added a cookie sheet to put blue jello on the other side (you know... water). The cake ended up super dense because I pressed it too much, and the jello ended up soaking the edges of the cake. Anyway, it was a complete failure, but we ate it anyway!

Then there was the fire mantle which I thought would look awesome painted gold. It does not. I mean, it doesn't look bad, per se, but it sure as hell don't look like I thought it would. It just looks too gold. You know? Anyway, it's going to stay like that for a while because with my full time job, amongst everything else, I just don't have time for the details.

I also made a kind of starfish/flower birthday crown for my baby. It looks OK, but it's not fabulous. To be honest, I probably tried to be too fancy with my ideas. Sometimes simple is best.

I made a ton of other things with random materials and props, like fabric, cardboard, flowers, paint, shells, faux starfish, glitter, glue... and I will be sharing those which I had time to photograph.

For the projects that didn't plan out, I'll be posting some of them anyway since they technically still are good ideas. I might give them an update in the future, see if I can make it work better. Who knows, it might inspire someone!

Without further ado, here is how I made faux starfish with polymer clay for my littlest's beach themed party.

Materials

Polymer clay (I used Sculpey, but I prefer Fimo)
Acrylic paint

Tools

Exacto knife
Toothpicks
Cookie sheet
Paint brush
Paint palette

Steps

1. Warm up you clay by working it with your hands.
2. Make a ball then flatten it.
3. With an exacto, make 5 triangle incisions & remove the extra clay.
4. Round off the edges with your warm hands.
5. Using a toothpick poke little holes over the surface of your faux starfish.
6. If you plan on hanging them, push a hold through one of the arms. (Optional)
7. Bake according to the manufacturer's instructions.
8. Paint as you see fit; I mixed white and orange together to make my starfish a pale orange-y color.



There you have it! Beautiful starfish using clay.

I used these in a number of projects so stay tuned, in coming posts, I'll be showing you a few things you can make with your beautiful faux starfish!

DIY: Easy doily garland

I've been in a festive mood lately. With my sister's wedding coming up and my son's 2nd birthday soon after...so I've been making garlands! I also took this opportunity to add to my home decorating project by making a doily garland for my son's bedroom.

I still have a few different kinds I'd like to make. So many different creative ways to make them...you can play with color, texture (feathers, glitter), tools (glue, thread, punches, scissors), materials (paper, plastic, felt, cloth, tissue paper) and accessories (beads, crystals, leaves, straws, sticks).

Anyway, enough with the dreaming and on with the tutorial. Here's how I made the doily garland.

MATERIALS:
Doilies
Ribbon
Kraft paper


I bought the doilies for $1.50 at the grocery store and the ribbon at the dollar store. The kraft paper I bought at Michael's.

TOOLS:
Glass (to trace a circle)
Pencil
Scissors


1. Cut the doilies in half.
2. Trace circles on the kraft paper and cut then in half as well.


3. Lightly glue your kraft paper half circles to your doily half circles.


4. Sew all your pieces together onto the ribbon, or glue them.


You're all done! I find it adds a festive touch to a room or any special occasion. This is a super easy project and it's quick too. If you're ever stuck inside on a cold rainy day, this is definitely a project for you. :)

Have you made any garlands for your home?