Painting Glass Paperweights

Applying paint to the bottom of your paperweights is a brilliant way to frame your artwork in color.  In the example paperweight (PhotoWeights: Heirloom Square), I painted the field of glass around the display area with metallic gold paint.  The gold instantly transformed the clear glass into a splendid frame for the rose artwork. Here's how I did it: Clean your paperweight with a good, streak-free glass cleaner or rubbing...

Photographing Pets

I wanted to share the following article from the April 17, 2011 issue of Woman's Day.  I hope these tips will help you take more incredible photographs of your pets. Better Pet Portraits -Brooke Nevils Take pet photos that are the cat's meow with these tips from Steve Grubman, photographer of Friskies and Alpo ads and author of Orangutans Are Ticklish. Turn off the flash  It can frighten your animal.  Plus, there's no easy way to get rid of red-eye, says Grubman.  Instead, shoot in a place with plenty of natural light. ...

Fender Guitar Pick Paperweight

It's easy to display small mementos in your paperweights.  In most cases, you'll just need a background to attach your item(s) to. I have to give my husband credit for this project.  He was playing his guitar in his office this morning when I asked him if he had an idea for today's blog post.  He grabbed a package of Fender guitar picks, a royal blue presentation bag, and an Heirloom Rectangle paperweight kit.  The result is...

Pinned to My Heart Paperweight

This paperweight was designed around a single object, an antique stick pin that came with an old needle cushion I picked up at a tag sale last fall.  The stick pin has some depth to it, so the generous bottom recess of the heart paperweight was the perfect fit. Here's how I made it: I started by covering the mounting board with a scrap of antique linen.  The mounting board is self-adhesive, so glue isn't needed for this...

Cheese Graters as Votive Covers

This is an idea I absolutely love!  It was taken from the November 2010 issue of Good Housekeeping.  (Styling by Laura Fenton, Photo by Andrew McCaul). How have you repurposed cheese graters?  I remember using one of my grandmothers old, flat graters to hang my earrings when I was a teenager. var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; ...