The Dabbling Crafter

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Our Exciting Announcement!

The Dabbling Crafter is excited to announce our newest crafty endeavor:

Craft Parties & Workshops.

Our craft parties and workshops are custom designed parties where we provide the supplies and instructions and you bring your creativity!

Try some freezer paper onesie decorating at your next baby shower. Create a memorable scrapbook for a bridal shower. Get your bridesmaids together and finish some centerpieces. Throw a memorable children’s party by making some fun and silly craft. Have a unique housewarming party and make some home décor. Host a girl’s night out and rehabilitate some junk finds.

How does it work?

Once you have approached us with your event, we will work closely with you to decide on a project. We welcome ideas you’ve seen around, or we can suggest some as well. Even if we haven’t dabbled in your crafty idea, we are experts at figuring out new fun projects, and have some experts in various fields in our crafty arsenal. Once you have decided on your project, you can choose from two packages.

The Crafty Party Package

This package includes all the supplies you will need to make your project as well as detailed instructions. We will answer any troubleshooting questions you have prior to the event.

The Crafty Workshop Package

This package includes all the supplies and instructions from our Crafty Party Package, but also includes an instructor to teach and assist on your project.

Once you have picked your project and your package, we will provide a detailed estimate on the party cost based on time of instruction and project supply costs.

Party extras are also available. Would you like us to decorate for your party? Cater a lunch or dinner? Provide some wine? We tailor every event to you, so the possibilities are endless.

I run a non-profit group, what kind of deal can I get?

We love to help groups such as mom groups or teen groups. If you have a non-profit group, we will waive the instruction cost. That means you get our Crafty Workshop Package for the cost of the Crafty Party Package.

How can I get more information?

You can contact us at kristambenson (at) gmail.com. I look forward to speaking with you and coming up with something extra fun and exciting.

DIY Sunday: $5.00 Umbrella Stand (& End Table too!)

Hi Everyone!

I am writing this on Sunday, but probably won't submit it until Monday...just so you don't get a blog over load! It was quite a busy weekend with the craft show, but I did get one craft in. And for all of those people out there that ask me how I do this all with a full time job I have two things to say, 1) I don't sleep or clean as much as a should and 2) My husband is super awesome. I get up at 6:00 am, leave for work at 7:00, get there at 8:00, work until 4:30, get home at 5:30, play with my daughter until bed time at 7:00 or 8:00, craft or do a project while my husband studies until 9 or 10, then go to bed. I am a tired girl! Thankfully my husband does things like watch my daughter while I finish something up, paint a display at 10 pm at night or lets me take a nap on the weekends.

This week's project was a necessity for the craft show, but I'll be using it at home too. This was my first outdoor show. I didn't want to get a tent quite yet since I don't know how many outdoor shows I'll be doing, but I still wanted some shade. So, Tami from Cozy Trends had an umbrella I could use, but I didn't have an umbrella stand. So, why not make one? (or two?)

Umbrella Stand

Materials:
Quikrete Quick Set Concrete (The kind in the red bag!) $5.00 per 50lb bag which is good for two stands.
Bucket/Old Planter (I had these sitting around the house. Very easy to find secondhand) Free
PVC Pipe (I had some sitting around. You only need a very small piece) Free/$1.00
Duct Tape (Had sitting around)
Rubber Gloves (Concrete and hands don't mix well)

Optional: Wood Circle, Rocks, Various Pretty things

Total Cost: Less than $5.00

My new favorite product!

Planter we had sitting around...

Bucket and PVC pipe from old photo backdrop display I made a few years ago.

Directions

1. Cut PVC Pipe

Stick your PVC pipe in the middle of the planter. You will want it to be level with or slightly below the rim of your bucket and planter. You can use any kind of saw you want to cut it (I've used hand saws in the past) If you measure before you leave the house or are buying a planter new, the employees at most home improvement stores will cut the pipe for you too. (And if you buy the pipe by the yard/feet or whatever, this is a great idea.)

2. Tape & Center

Use duct tape to tape the bottom of your pipe close. Get a piece of tape as wide as the planter/bucket and tape the pipe into the center of the planter/bucket.

How backwards is this? Black PVC pipe and white duct tape.

Pipe taped into position.

3. Pour & Water

This is why I LOVE Quikrete. You don't have to mix. Put your gloves on. Pour the powder into the bucket around your PVC pipe. Add the recommended amount of water. (About a 1/2 gallon for 1/2 the bag) Let it set. Seriously. That's it! It will harden within 20 minutes and be strong within 4 hours. I only used a half bag of concrete so the concrete only fills half the bucket. If you fill the bucket to right below the PVC pipe, you don't have to do anything else. As it drys, make sure it's smooth on top and you'll have a (heavy) end table/umbrella stand.

This is where you can get creative. If you want to decorate your concrete, let it get drier and put things in the concrete...jewels, carve words, tile...whatever! You could also fill the bucket with a pretty rock or even cut holes on the side to drain and make the whole thing a planter!

Bucket ready for water.

My father-in-law cut me a circle out of wood that is just a bit bigger than my planter with a hole in the middle to match my PVC pipe. (out of scrap wood he had sitting around) I'll just have to set that on top of the planter and instant outdoor end table!

If you use a bucket and you don't need an end table, you can do what I did for the craft show. I just put a piece of fun fabric over the bucket and tied a piece of ribbon around the outside. It's a portable stand too because I can lift it with the bucket handle.

Ignore the ugly duct tape I used to keep it in place and the sloppy job with fabric. I was in a hurry that morning. It's much more pretty!

Umbrella stand finished.

Deck Collapse Be Darned, Pufferbilly Days Goes On!

Hi there!

It's been so fun seeing people out and about during Pufferbilly Days in downtown Boone! We have had some really great feedback and conversations with customers in our booth.

However, our new display didn't come without some of it's own headaches!

On Thursday, I picked up these three bifold doors from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in Des Moines. I also got three hinges. Total cost: $35.00

On Friday night, after my husband got home from a long day of school and work and we put the baby to bed, we decided to actually finish the display since I had to put it up at 7:30 am Saturday.

So, we get all the hinges put on the doors and it's really driving my husband crazy the doors come in three different colors. (different shades of white) He really wants to paint them. I try to reason that since it's 10:30 at night, painting wouldn't be an ideal idea. But he said he would help. So we grabbed a random can of paint we found in our basement (the label indicates that it was mixed in 2005), the only painting tools we could find (a brush and a corner paint pad) and started to paint the doors. I dragged a tall lamp out from our living room to give us a bit of extra light.

Then the deck collapsed from under us. Seriously. The corner just fell in while we're standing on it painting. Apparently, the corner wasn't braced. Then, as if another thing couldn't go wrong, my husband went to move the lamp (which was on a stable part of the deck) a foot so we could get off said collapsed deck and the base of the lamp just crumbled and broke. I couldn't stop laughing. I turned to him and said "I'm pretty sure we're supposed to take the hint that painting these doors were a mistake!"

I did get one beat up coat on the doors, and they worked fantastic. My booth is pretty much there. I like how it's a mix of old and new. That's kinda how I like to decorate. A touch of primitive with new modern twists.

Thank you to everyone that purchased something! I can still take orders online and I will be at the Red Barn Craft Show in Jefferson, Iowa this coming Saturday as well!