Peat Pot Tassel Tutorial

Making a tassel is most likely very basic for most of you, but for those few that have just started crafting or those who have never made a tassel, I thought I'd share a very simple project. This is how I made the one pictured, but you certainly may substitute whatever supplies you have on hand to make it work. Using different colors of paint, yarn and ribbon can give the tassel a whole different look.

Supplies:

• Yarn ~ I had a skein of chenille yarn bought on clearance quite some time ago
• Ribbon ~ I used 1/2 a yard of vintage seam binding ribbon
• Peat Pot ~ cheap ones may be found in the gardening section of most stores
• Craft Paint ~ I used Apple Barrel's licorice {black} and Folk Art's maple syrup {brown}
• Craft Glue ~ Alene's Tacky Glue is my favorite {not shown in the supplies photo}
• Scissors
• Something to poke a hole in the peat pot, old dental tool, skewer, etc {not shown in the supplies photo}
• Stiff Cardboard or Mat Board {Mine was about 6" long x 4" wide}
• Paint Brush ~ obviously not my good brush. It's scruffy and has been taped over and over...

  

First, I painted the peat pot with a base coat of black and then dry brushed brown over it to bring out more of the texture of the peat pot.

Next I poked a hole in the center bottom of the peat pot using an old broken dental tool I found in a junk store. It has really come in handy over the years!

Now it's time to wrap the yarn around the cardboard.

Just start wrapping.... and wrap and wrap some more...

And when you think you have enough, wrap some more...

 I stopped when it looked like it was enough to stuff inside the peat pot without any wiggle room.

Slip your ribbon between the cardboard and the yarn...

And knot off very tightly...

Then carefully cut through the loops at the other end of the cardboard.

This is what it will look like:

Using the tacky glue,

glue around the top of the tassel

Slip the ribbon ends up through the peat pot and pull out the top, being careful not to get glue on the ribbon.

Pull the top of the tassel snug inside the peat pot.

Your tassel will be uneven, so using your scissors, trim the bottom as evenly as possible.

It will be a bit messy, especially with chenille yarn!

Tie a pretty bow and this is your finished project:

I chose to leave this one plain, but the sky's the limit when adding all sorts of trims and embellishments.

Have fun!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Take Care and God Bless,

Lana

~*~

Hello :)

If wild daisies don't make you smile,
I don't know what will.

Have a lovely week! :)

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

A Mystery to Me

I found this bangle bracelet in my favorite antique / junk shop years ago. Its tarnished silver, its 25 petite bangles, and its engraved name plate all drew me in for a closer look, and then I bought it.

The plate which holds all the bangles together reads: "1911 Helen 1936". There are a total of 25 bangles, the difference between 36 and 11. I wonder if it was made in memory of a girl named Helen whose life spanned those 25 short years? I did an online search and found a few girls named Helen who lived from 1911 to 1936. I wonder if she was engaged or married? Did she have children? Someone must have loved her to have this bracelet made.

{click the photo for a larger view}

I think it is silver, from the way it is tarnished and the way that one of the bangles cleaned up with silver polish. Can someone tell me, is there a way to tell if something is sterling if it's not marked? I have an idea for it, but I wanted to find out if it was sterling or silver plate. Regardless, I am looking forward to showing you what I do with it at a later date.

Thanks for stopping by ~
Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

***** UPDATE*****
Pam of Kingfisher Farm Teddies mentioned this:
"Lana, I think it is sterling. and I think it was a 25th anniversary gift, 36-11 = 25"

Pam, I never thought of an anniversary gift but it makes perfect sense! Silver was the suggested gift for a 25h anniversary. Thank you! :)

A Prayer on Independence Day

{photo by Michael Manis}

Dear Lord,

There is no greater feeling of liberation than to experience this freedom from sin and death that you have provided for me through Jesus Christ. Today my heart and my soul are free to praise you. For this I am very thankful.

On this Independence Day I am reminded of all those who have sacrificed for my freedom, following the example of your Son, Jesus Christ. Let me not take my freedom, both physical and spiritual, for granted. May I always remember that my freedom was purchased with a very high price. My freedom cost others their very lives.

Lord, today, bless those who have served and continue to give their lives for my freedom. With favor and bounty meet their needs and watch over their families.

Help me to live my life in a way that glorifies you, Lord. Give me the strength to be a blessing in someone else's life today, and grant me the opportunity to lead others into the freedom that can be found in knowing Christ.

Amen

{prayer by Mary Fairchild} 

~*~

God Bless America!

Scooter, again

Remember when I first got Scooter? He was a little thing, set off at my sister's house by someone who didn't want their kittens. :(

He quickly made friends with Sam, who makes a very good snuggle-buddy:

He loves it here, mostly playing on the back porch, pestering Sam, chasing squirrels in the edge of the yard, and sleeping in the barn loft. He has a certain spot in the loft where he sits and watches for us to come out on the back porch. Then he jumps down and runs to the house! He also lets us know when he and Sam are out of food. He pulls the screen door open and lets it slam (!) and then quickly runs away to the other side of the porch, acting all nonchalant. He reminds me of a kid ringing the doorbell and then running away, lol!

He sat {almost} still for me to take some photos a while back. Scooter is such a cutie!

 You can click here to see all the previous posts about Scooter, if you want to see more pet pics. :-)

You can usually tell when it's a slow blogger day here with no news ~ I post about animals!
Same old stuff going on here ~ finishing up one last watercolor for a customer, and working on the house, so there are no new creations to share for a while longer.

But don't forget the SUMMER SALE that I'm having until.... whenever..... at least until I have time to make new things for my shops, which will be a while. Feel free to share the link with others if you think they would be interested.

Have a lovely weekend!

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~