Rainbow Bling

One of the side-effects of being in a burlesque troupe is having buckets and buckets of rhinestones laying about. I had wanted to have this necklace finished in time to give to Jewels before the Pride Parade, but sadly life got in the way and I'm only finishing it now. As you can see in my inspiration picture above, the necklace that inspired this one is also rainbow-themed, but I wanted to take it in an over-the-top direction more suited to Jewels' style.

[Edited 6/23 to add] Of course, if you'd prefer to just buy a pretty necklace like the inspiration necklace, you can find them at SparkleBeastDesigns on Etsy!(thanks to the Offbeat Home community for locating the source of the inspiration necklace!)

For this project, you will need:

Sheer fabric(I used .77/yard tulle from Hobby Lobby)
Rhinestones(also from Hobby Lobby)
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Ribbon

I also used a quilting hoop to stretch the tulle out on, but this isn't strictly necessary.
First, lay out your design. I began with the outline in large clear stones, and then filled it in with rainbow gems.

I began gluing my design by beginning with the center-line. I glued the bottom center jewels first, and worked my way up.

Then I began branching out on the upper edge.

If you accidentally glue something in the wrong spot, don't freak out! Just hold the hot tip of the glue gun against the back. This will reheat the glue and the jewel can be lifted and repositioned.

I completed the outline by adding the lower edge and the drop jewels on the bottom.

I then took my large rainbow jewels and placed them first, trying to space them more or less evenly.

I began filling in the smaller rainbow jewels. It's okay if they don't fit exactly like they did when you planned it out, just fill in where ever you can.

Add any accent jewels you like. Voila! Our design is now backed by sheer fabric.



Carefully cut the design out, giving it a wide margin on the fabric. Here you can just barely make out the outline of the tulle, like a halo around the rhinestones.

Go back and carefully trim close to the edge of the upper outline, leaving a tab of tulle on each corner, but just skim the bottom edge of the lower accent jewels since they're sort of floating.

Here is what the back of the piece looks like. You might think that looks awfully scratchy to wear. You'd be right. So we're going to cut out some small bits of felt to glue to the backs of the larger jewels.

Here's what it'll look like backed with felt. I have sensitive skin and found it to still be somewhat itchy. Next time I would use a sheer organza instead of tulle and back it with soft flannel instead of felt. But if you don't have sensitive skin, this may not be an issue for you.

The last step is to cut your ribbon and sew it to the ends of your necklace, where we left those tulle "tabs" when we were trimming.

It is now ready to wear. When worn on the skin, the tulle disappears into the background, making the necklace appear as though it is hovering on your skin, like an "illusion" necklace without the wire.

It can also be worn lower, as a decorative neckline on a tank or blouse, though light tulle will show up against darker fabric.

Some other things you can do with your new accessory:

Be the world's most bedazzled stage-coach robber!

Attend a costume party as a blingin' garden gnome!

Have the shiniest headscarf ever!

Give your pooch a Lady Gaga cape!

This "Ice Cream" is Bananas!!!

Can you spell "ice cream"?
B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

In today's Pinterest Challenge, I took on the banana "ice cream" recipe. Mr. Bear's favorite treat is ice cream, and since he recently developed lactose intolerance we've been looking for a substitute. Both Tofutti Cuties and Rice Dream have met with disapproval, so I thought I'd give this a shot.

The recipe I used as my inspiration is the Ultimage Vegan Ice Cream from (never home)maker.

For my version, you will need:

A blender
3 ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs chocolate syrup
3 Tbs peanut butter.

Really, you can add anything to taste, these are just estimates.

First, slice the bananas into thin rounds, then toss in a freezer bag and freeze several hours or overnight(I did overnight). Then, add your frozen bananas to the blender and process. I first used the "crushed ice" option until I felt it was fine enough to use the puree option. The blender is slower than a food processor, so be patient. I repeatedly had to stop and squish my frozen banana down with a spatula. It looked about like this(please excuse the poor pictures, I used my 1st generation iPhone):

...and was the consistency of frozen yogurt. At this point I added my peanut butter, vanilla, and chocolate syrup. After a few more minutes of pureeing and squishing back down, it finally became soft enough for the blades of the blender to pull the mixture down itself, which you can see in the lovely pinwheel pattern here:

Since I felt it was mixed and smooth enough for me and Mr. Bear, I ceased processing and transferred the mixture to a 3-cup Gladware container:

As you can see, it only filled about three-quarters of the container, so if you were aiming to make a lot of banana ice cream, you'd need quite a few more bananas. Now, if you prefer the soft-serve consistency, the ice cream is ready to eat now. However, I put the container in the freezer to set up to a more traditional ice cream consistency. After about 4-5 hours, it was ready! I scooped it all into a bowl and shared it with Mr. Bear, who loved it!

Success! Next time I will add crushed Oreos and see if I can replicate his favorite cookies n' cream ice cream.

Displaying Your Pasties

My friend Crystal is hosting a burlesque art show at the bar she works at, and while others in the troupe have done actual paintings inspired by their performance art, I went a different route.

After a show, all my pasties tend to just get tossed into a ziploc and end up on the closet shelf. Very occasionally I'll reuse a pair for another act, but since I usually make a new pair for each act I do, I've ended up accumulating quite a collection. I think they're quite pretty, what with all the rhinestones and glitter, and it seems a shame to hide them away. Much better to put them on the walls!

To make my display, I first assembled the burlesque paraphernalia I wanted to show off. In this case, a stack of pasties and a novelty ticket from the last show.

 I bought four frames from the dollar store and used a matte black spray paint we already had to paint them.

 Next, I took some sticky-back foam, which I also already had, and cut it down to fit inside the three smaller frames.

 I peeled off the backing and stuck them to the cardboard backs of the frames.

 Then I played with the arrangement of the pasties inside the frames, making sure they would fit how I wanted them.

 I used hot glue to place them, removing one pasty at a time and using the remaining pasty as a gauge for placement. Once they were set, I popped the back into the frame and secured it with the little metal tabs built into the frame.

 The ticket I simply folded to fit the frame and popped it in. Easy peasy!

After the art show is taken down at the end of September, I'll be hanging these on my wall, along with a selection of other large props and photographs from the shows. Burlesque pride!

DIY Melted Crayon Artwork

 So, the most amazing pictures keep popping up on Pinterest of these richly colored melted crayon canvases. Mr. Bear and I, being rather handy, decided it looked like a fun project and we set about recreating it as a wedding gift for our lovely friends.

We bought a pack of canvases and a box of crayons from Michaels. After I removed the crayons I didn't want to use(all the browns, white, black, and gold), I organized them into more or less rainbow order and arranged them on the canvas to make sure I liked how they look.

I used my trusty glue gun to affix the crayons to the canvas, leaving a border around the edge to accommodate the eventual frame.

 The canvas, all glued up:

 We set the canvas up on some cardboard to protect the deck from the wax, and I used a heat gun of Mr. Bear's, but I've seen other tutorials where they had success using a basic hairdryer.

 You're welcome for the product plug, Steinel.

I set the gun to 4.5 and played with the distance until I found a spot that melted the crayon without burning it or splattering it everywhere.

 I worked back and forth along the crayons until I was pleased with the drips and the color saturation.

 And took a break to assure Ponyo that I didn't love the heat gun more than her.

 She's a very neurotic dog.

Pause for some beauty shots.

 Now we're getting somewhere.

Here's the finished canvas. Some of the ones I've seen took special care to make all the crayon melts stream straight down. As you can see, I took a more freewheeling approach. I like the way some of the colors mixed.

 Mr. Bear built the frame by getting a long piece of molding and some decorative accents at the hardware store, cutting the molding down, and spray painting them a flat matte black.

 He arranged the frame on the canvas and when he was pleased with how it was fitting, he attached it to the canvas with wood glue, then clamped it to dry.

 He's so handy.

The finished project turned out pretty gorgeous, all told. I want to make a super big one to hang in our living room. I'm happy to report that our friends liked their wedding gift, as I am constantly worried that I'm the only one who prefers gifts that are made rather than bought. I foolishly didn't take a pretty picture of it all finished, but maybe they'll be accommodating and let me take a picture once they've decided where they want to keep it.

We didn't keep track, but I estimate that all the materials cost us under $20(not that we were trying to be cheap, but, hey, recession) so this is a really affordable project for adding some drama and interest to your walls.