Monday, August 3, 2009

Second Annual Blog Celebration Week!

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"She Sells Sea Shells Down By The"...Garden! Well, I do not sell them. But I did make this for our First~
BLOG CELEBRATION Project! Each day this week I will make a new post for this Blog Celebration Week!

My Son Doug loves angel food cake. While washing up the plastic container that it came in, I realized I could perhaps use this as a mold for a stand for my gazing ball. First I placed the gazing ball in the center to see if it fit ~ Success!

Quick Crete/cement (or your choice)
ROUND container* for mixing
Stir stick
plastic mold
Water

*I would use a perfectly round container if you can. Mine was wonky inside and it made for some frustration stirring.

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Mixing up the quick Crete/cement in a recyclable container.

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Scoop out powder into your mixing container
Slowly add water to the powder to get a peanut butter consistency
work quickly once the water is added
poor or scoop out cement mixture into the plastic mold getting it as full as you wish and
Smooth out top as best as you can, and clean up the edges with a rag
Let dry over night
NEXT DAY:
Turn up side down and mold should come out.


Now for the FUN!
Get out your shells bits of sparkle, ballerinas, pearls etc.

You can set your shells etc. out to gather your game plan. ooo! Did I just say "game plan"! Too much sports "muzac" in my life.

Make sure that your gazing ball will fit into the design.
*I left my gazing ball on the cement form while I did my initial design plan.

I found that Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue worked very well! So happy!!!
I am NOT sure if it will hold up in the rain though. So you can be sure of success and use the E6000 Glue in a WELL VENTILATED AREA~ like outside!

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Have fun and add to your hearts content!

on the way~

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HINT: stand back and admire your progress so as to make any adjustments along the way!


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finishing frosting:
I found a sand that had a hint of sparkle to it naturally.
Brush, spread... any way you can... get the glue around the shells a small section at a time and sprinkle with the sand of your choice :)
* I used a shallow box to catch the sand that fell away.
* I used this glass container that I use for paint water to hold the mold during the sanding process.

HINT: stand back and admire your progress so as to make any adjustments along the way!

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This project I have fretted about for MONTHS!!!
Should I go through all of that work?
WILL it turn out?
Will it fall apart?
Will it look... wrong?
Yes, I am a worrier. Even Cailtin said it turned out better than she expected!
In the end, I am sooo glad that I tired it and I do hope that YOU will too!
I am going to figure out how to do a flickr group for this and the other projects for this week. So get busy my sweet friends and let me know when you can show us!!!


Ta Daa!!! ~
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Thank you so for coming by and I will see you tomorrow for more FUN! :)

Hugs,
Mary

12 comments:

Sugar Bear said...

What a wonderful idea Mary! I love how you realized the angel food cake container would be a perfect mold!
Karla

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Mary,

That is so beautiful and what a wonderful idea. I love shells and your creation has come together so well.

You asked who Jane Birkin is?
She was born in 1946, is an English actress, model, singer and film director, who lives in France.

Have a great week
Hugs
Carolyn

Karin said...

Mary...I love it! What a great idea. It turned out beautiful!

CuteStuffInside said...

That is one great project!

S.W.A.K.

Katie said...

So pretty! I love the gazing ball. Will you keep it inside (if we ever get rain again)??

I'm always intrigued with that quickset concrete stuff. . . . maybe a project in my future. Project 1,030 on the list . . . .

Can't wait to see tomorrow's post!

Merci-Notes said...

Oh My Katie!
Have you used quick set before???
This is my first time using it and was so happy with how fast and easy it was!

Thanks for joining in my blog Celebration Week!

Hugs,
Mary

Natasha Burns said...

I love this Mary, it's brilliant! Just gorgeous and using that cake mould is a stroke of genius!!! xo

{oc cottage} said...

This is so cool!!!

m ^..^

Melanie@TheOldWhiteCottage said...

I have never liked gazing balls, but that is AMAZING! I love it!

Kris said...

Oh' how clever and cute. Thanks so much for the detailed instructions. I think I may try this and see how it turns out. Yours turned out so pretty.

Kris

Cassie said...

Hi. This is so lovely!! I love your blog! I am visiting via Tales From an OC Cottage.

Kathy @ Sweet Up-North Mornings... said...

What a great idea using the cake container!! Love the finished product...very cleaver indeed! Would look fabulous on my front porch table, you can see it on my header of my blog... Love your sweet place here, xoxo~Kathy~ @ Sweet Up-North Mornings...Thanks for the nice visit.