DIY: Martha Stewart Crafts: Tiny Aluminum Dish

I was recently sent some Martha Stewart crafty supplies, & when I opened the box my heart went *pitter-patter* at the sight of her Metalworking Alphabet Stamp Set. I immediately went into brainstorm mode. I LOVE brainstorm mode: Notepads filled with scribbles & doodles....hot cups of tea...plus, candles + music to help expel the crafty joo joo. And so I came up with these sweet little lightweight dishes, celebrating & welcoming my favorite season. But this craft can totally be customized & personalized for anyone, any day of the year.

This supply list might look cray-cray. I'll explain...

• Martha Stewart Metalworking Alphabet Stamp Set

• Aluminum (I purchased a 12" x 30" roll that is .005 thick/36 guage. As an option, you could recycle a pop can. There are loads of tutorials on YouTube to show you how to properly cut a can.)

• Embossing pad (A cutting mat would work too. Just not a hard surface. Something with "give".)

• Small round shape to trace (My cup is 2 3/4" in diameter. Because of the lightweight nature of the dish you'll be making, I would keep the maximum measurement of the item you trace at 2 3/4".)

• Small round bowl for shaping (My bowl of choice is that metal egg poacher. But any heavy duty metal/plastic/wood/glass bowl would work, as long as the base is shallow & will shape your aluminum into a nice shallow dish/bowl shape.)

• Scissors

• Shaping tool (I used the round knobby end of that knitting needle. You want something that is small with rounded edges. I even experimented by using the back handle of those green scissors & it did the trick too.)

• Small hole punch. (1/8" is best!)

• Embroidery thread in your color(s) of choice

• Needle (small enough to go through holes you punch into the metal)

• Permanent marker

• Paintbrush

• Black paint

• Small paper towel or cloth/rag

Ok, now that all your weird supplies are gathered, let's DO this.

Trace your round shape onto the metal using the permanent black marker. Cut out this shape. As an option, you could wear gloves in this step, because the aluminum COULD cut you. I lived dangerously & didn't wear gloves.

These next steps involve the shaping of your flat piece of aluminum.

1. Center your aluminum circle shape above your shaping bowl.

2. With both hands, carefully + evenly push this shape into the bowl. It will buckle & fold all over. That's normal. Don't worry.

3. Again, with both hands, flatten those buckles & folds against the sides of the bowl with your fingers as much as you can.

4. Use your rounded shaping tool to smooth out the buckles & folds. Do this by holding the bowl with one hand on one side, & use the other hand with your shaping tool on the other side. Push & slide the tool all over. I found it easiest to start in the middle & rub the tool to the outside. I went side to side, up & down, in circles, just all over. The longer your work, the more smooth it will become.

Now you can punch holes evenly around the edge of your bowl. My small hole punch (pictured) actually broke. Not because of the aluminum. It was just headed in that direction. So I went out & bought a smaller punch---the 1/8" size. And I LOVE it!! So much better.

We can now personalize our bowl. Think of a word or a letter or something very short (this is a small dish afterall) that you want to stamp on your metal. It is so easy to slide letters onto the Metalworking Alphabet Stamp Set. The little notches make sure you're lining things up perfectly. Just remember: slide your letters in backwards so that they appear in the proper direction when you stamp them.

I actually had trouble using the stamp set at first. I couldn't get it to stamp a full word onto my metal. I even tried using lighter/softer metals, but it still didn't work. After playing a while, I DID have success stamping one letter at a time. Maybe it's just me. I don't know. I saw other crafty bloggers using the tool with no problem. It's me, isn't it? *sigh*

When you're stamping, use your embossing pad. Apply a lot of pressure, with a slight rocking motion. 

At this point, your dish will be a crunchy mess.

All you have to do to remedy that is to insert it BACK into your shaping bowl. Use your shaping tool to smooth out the edge you just punched & any other place on the dish that needs flattening. JUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO SMOOTH OVER YOUR WORDS. Go around the letters you just stamped. 

There. It's all smooth & awesome now.

Ready for the details?

Cut 3–3.5 feet of embroidery floss. (The amount you'll use depends on the number of holes you punched & how big or small your bowl is.) I used the full amount of threads in the floss. Double up your floss, bringing the ends together, so you're left with a loop at one end. This is how I secure my first stitch (as seen in 1). I used the blanket stitch all around the edge of my dish, as seen in the photos.

When you've stitched all around the dish, knot the end, Slide it under a nearby stitch & cut the floss.

You could also stitch it this way. It's more simple: just in one hole, around & through the other, etc.

I wanted the words on my bowl to stand out a bit more, so I smeared black paint all over the letters. 

(You could use any color of paint. Ooh, you could even coordinate with your floss color, too!)

With a flat paper towel, carefully wipe away the paint. The paint on the flat surface will disappear, but the paint that got into all the grooves & dents & crevices of your letters will remain.

On some dishes, I had to do this a couple times because I either wiped away too much paint, or my initial stamping didn't get deep enough into the aluminum. 

And...done!

This stamping set is super awesome & I love it. It's made of sturdy plastic & comes with multiple letters, numbers & symbols.

Here's a sideview to give you a different perspective.

Use your nifty little dishes on a dresser or side-table to hold spare change, special treasures, or rings & things.

Hello Cozy Fall! I have missed you.

Welcome back! We're gonna have a splendid time together...

♥

This post was written as part of a campaign with Martha Stewarts Crafts & their new fall & Halloween crafts + products. I was compensated with free crafty supplies. The opinions expressed in this post are my own. 

Fall's first day

How was your first day of fall?

Mine was happy & lovely & all kinds of warm & cozy.

The crisp, chilly morning was perfect. I wore a happy new sweater to church. I baked 11 mini loaves of pumpkin bread. I sipped hot tea. I splurged on a spicy scented candle. I cooked in the crockpot. I took an evening walk by the river with the fam, where we were sprinkled with raindrops. The girls & I collected leaves on our trek. And then we hit up Starbucks, twenty minutes before closing time, for some pumpkin latte goodness.

The fall fun has only just begun...

♥

Happy First Day of Fall!

Here's a peek at how I spent my day...

The Mr. took me out on a little candle shopping spree yesterday, so I was able to stock up on some lovely new scents, perfect for my most beloved season. (Marshmallow Fireside is my absolute favorite candle!)

I sipped on hazelnut coffee while knitting on the cozy purple couch in my happy socks. 

I even squeezed in a piano lesson for Zoey. (Her first one. She's so giddy!) We're using the same piano books that I learned from about 30 years ago. There are stickers pasted on every page, some falling off from *clears throat* all those years. On the front inside cover are my hand prints, traced in wiggly pencil lines. My piano teacher's red marks are scribbled on every page. I remember that woman too. I think her name was Kathy. She lived behind us on the next street over. She rescued me from an ant hill predicament one time.

Even though the leaves are still on the trees, the cool weather is bound to arrive. And then the leaves will perform their showy tricks of hue & tone, & then come tumbling down. That's just the way the universe works. 

Happy fall my friends!

♥

Pumpkin Bread 2011

Though the weather isn't so fall-ish this week, I'm STILL SOOOO excited that fall is finally here! Yesterday I baked the traditional "first-day-of-fall" pumpkin bread. The family consumed one mini loaf immediately after I took it out of the oven. Oh, it was delicous. And then we had some with our breakfast this morning.

The girls are always so giddy to give their teacher's the pumpkin bread every year.

And I'm always giddy packaging it up. Besides eating the stuff, embellishing it is my second favorite thing to do with it. This year's pumpkin bread decor included a wide strip of vintage plaid fabric tied in a simple knot. I think they kinda look like grandpa's old bow ties. I slipped a tag underneath the bow that reads "Happy first day of fall!" I glued a strip of brown paper along the bottom & then punched out a 1" circle from an old book & drew a heart right in the middle of the circle. I would have rather used the printer to make these, but my printer is out of service at the moment. I know the handwriting makes it look all handmade-y & personal, but sometimes I just can't stand my own handwriting.

Here's a peek at my pumpkin bread in the past. (Not sure what happened in 2008. Looks like I opted for some pumpkin cream cheese muffins instead.)

Fall 2010

Fall 2009

Fall 2007

And, as always, I will share the recipe. Click HERE to find my fellow fall-loving, pumpkin-bread-baking friend, Lisa, over at Polka Dot Cottage. She's got the recipe!

Though I'd rather be cozy in a blanket right now, with the laptop, burning a warm mulled cider candle & listening to the likes of Billie Holiday, I have to work this morning & afternoon. Pooey. But, after I pick the girls up from school & we make our usual Friday library stop, it's home for dinner, & then the high school homecoming football game & s'mores in the fire pit afterwards!!! That sounds more like it!!

Happy First Day of Fall!!!!

♥

Plaid Collage

I'm ready for fall. Like, bigtime.

And I love plaid. Like, a lot.

So I decorated. Like, real quick.

 I've inserted various vintage plaid fabrics into some metal hoops I had. To make things temporary, just in case I get a sudden hankering for polka dots, I used double sided tape to adhere the fabric to the underside of the hoops.

And I had the darndest time getting a good photo of my collage. You see, I have it all hung on a wall leading down to the basement. This particular wall doesn't get much light. Thus, the perfect place for some happy plaid.

The girls squealed.

The hubby likes it.

So, it's stayin'.

27 days until the first day of fall....

*sigh*

♥

Happy 1st Day of Fall!

The baking of the pumpkin bread commenced my favorite season. 4 little loaves are ready for the girls' teachers.

Oh! How I love Fall!!!

The weather forecast is for severe thunderstorms with large hail & damaging winds.

I'll be in my cozy home, wearing comfy striped socks, & sipping a nice hot drink while looking out the window at the one yellow leaf on the tree full of green ones. And dreaming of nippy air. And a crisp chill. And baggy sweaters. And a walk among the crunchy leaves. And fragrances of nutmeg & cinnamon & clove. And all the other things you think of when you think of Autumn.

(Pssst! The ribbon is from Michael's. The woodgrain tags were purchased HERE.)

♥ ♥ ♥

Sweet Tooth Soulmate

Today is Applooza, a festival organized by a local Christian school to raise funds for their children's programs. We took the girls last year for the first time. The event has the usual carnival-type games, bounce houses & lots of activities for kids. Oh, yes, & we waited over an hour in line so the girls could ride a pony for 3 minutes. Good times. There are food booths & bake sales & an overall feeling of Fall & festivity in the air.

It's also where I tasted fried apples for the first time. It was true love when we met.

Not sure what the family's plans are for the day. But MINE include paying a visit to say "hello" to those apples. We only see each other once a year you know.

Have a happy weekend!

♥

Felt Dessert Picks Tutorial

I recently saw some felt cupcake picks in a magazine. Unfortunately I can't remember which magazine it was. They were of the Halloween theme & the magazine suggested using them as party favors/pencil toppers after use as cupcake picks for a party. I thought that was an EXCELLENTLY clever idea. I'm all about useful crafts with a 2-fer-1 design purpose! I put a twist on the cupcake toppers & my versions follow.

You'll need various colors of felt & thread, needle, glue (not pictured), scissors & picks for your cupcakes (I purchased skewers used for shisk-a-bobs, cut in half. Lollipop sticks would work great too!). Optional supplies: decorative scissors & sewing machine.

Here's a peek at what my family sometimes goes through with my crafty stuff spread all over the dining table. They still love me though.

Decide what design you'd like your picks to be. I decided on owls, acorns, mushrooms & cupcakes. Cut out templates from scrap paper or cardboard.

Trace your template onto the felt. You'll need 2 pieces of each design, for the front AND back of your dessert pick. You really only need to trace ONE---you can then fold over the felt & cut out two.

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

I found these really cool felt cupcake pieces at JoAnne's. They were on clearance too!--A pack of 10 (2 of each color) for 25cents! All I had to do was cut out a bottom cupcake "liner" in an appropriate size.

To make the cupcakes, I created a decorative stitch with my sewing machine, to connect the bottom piece to the top piece. This can also be done by hand, or by gluing. (As an option, all of the picks shown in this tutorial can be done with the simple gluing method.)

And then, by hand, I stitched all around the "frosting" part with a matching color of thread & then the bottom part in a matching color. Remember to leave an opening wide enough at the bottom to fit the cupcake pick AND/OR a pencil.

FOR THE ACORN:

Put the two bottom pieces back-to-back & hand stitch (or glue!) them along the edge. Once again, remember to leave an opening at the bottom.

Then, sandwich the two top pieces of the acorn on top of the bottom part. Machine stitch using a straight stitch & just rotate the fabric as the stitches zig back & forth, creating the cross-hatch style pattern. That's it!

FOR THE OWL:

Hand stitch each side separately--the wings, the beak & the eyes--onto the body. Then, place the pieces back-to-back & stitch all along the edge.

I didn't have any cupcakes lying around, so I had to improvise with some Sunday morning donuts. The owlie, I think, is my favorite.

FOR THE MUSHROOM:

Make sure your white "bottom" pieces are a little smaller then the red mushroom caps that will be placed on top. That way, when you stitch (or glue!) around the edge it won't be very bulky & the white won't show through on the sides.

Glue the mushroom caps on.

Handstitch along the edge where the white part meets the red part.

Sandwich the pieces together & sew along the edge.

Glue on white dots cut out from felt.

The owl, acorn & mushroom make for a great woodland themed party. Oooh, picture them on German chocolate frosted cupcakes. MMMmmm....

The owl & acorn would also be special decorations for your Thanksgiving desserts!

I also thought these would make fun teachers gifts as pencil toppers---or sweet little presents for school mates.