Sweet Sentiment

It's that time again to get together with a couple of my dearest sweet friends and I always love putting together something small for them to show them how much I love their friendship. Originally I was going to decorate some paper mache cupcake boxes that I had, but found they were much to small to put a little something in, so I came across a couple paper mache cones that I had and the lids of the cupcake boxes fit perfectly and looked just like ice cream cones and gave me much more room to put a little surprise in each.

The following are the steps I took to create my "Sweet Sentiments :

I first painted both lids to match the color tulle I would be using. I decided to make one pink for strawberry ice cream and the other brown for chocolate (of course)....

I did not have brown tulle ruffle so I had to stain the tulle. I used Lindy's Stamp Gang Dark Truffle Brown and Sandra Dee Sepia. Be sure to use gloves or tongs, this step gets really messy.

Next step I used a product I sell in my Etsy shop, it is Chocolate Mesh fabric...somewhat like burlap. I used a 9"x9" square piece and applied it to the cone using Fabri-Tac.

Using my glue gun I started from the bottom of the lid and glued the ruffled tulle around the lid all the way till I reached the top. This took 6 ft. And to complete my ice cream cone, I glued a red glittered pom pom on the top for a cherry.

This was just the perfect little project to make to wrap a couple little surprises in for my two buddies.

I took a couple of my tea stained tags from my stash (tutorial post for tea staining) and stamped an image from Oxford Impressions "Fairy Sweet" collection, distressed the edges and stained them and added some tiny white flowers to the corners... and there you have it... my sweet sentiment to my sweet friends.

 

 

The following products can be purchased in my Etsy shop :

 

Creamy White Paper Roses

#8 Manila Tags

Chocolate Mesh Material

Double Ruffled Tulle Trn

Tag Your It

I love making tag art.. it's quick, allows you to make that mini masterpiece. I have used them for gift tags, placed in my art journals, and have them all over my inspiration wall. They are a wonderful tool to use if you are involved in many of the challenge blogs on the internet, or if you want to try out a new technique it allows just the perfect amount of space to work and then you can write on the back of the tag what steps were taken to acquire your look. My style of art is vintage, worn, distressed so the tea stained tag works perfect for me. I try to keep a big apothecary jar full of these tags all ready for use. Here are my steps that I take to prepare my tags .

Large pan full of water and add about 30 tea bags... ( I know that sounds like a lot, I buy the store brand so it's not too expensive) You can also use instant coffee for this technique. Boil until you get a deep rich tone to your water.


 

Using tongs, separate the tags in the water so the tea is distributed properly. The circular reinforcements will drop off, but there is no need for these



Lay your tags out to dry

 

The next step is optional because you might want  completely flat surface to work on. I love the texture of wrinkles so I make the majority of my tags with the next step. But I do keep some on hand that are completely flat for those projects that call for that look. 

While still damp, roll your tag in a ball and squeeze tightly, unfold and lay back out to continue drying.

 

 

I love the old look the wrinkles give to the tags and applying whitewash or Distressed Inks is so easy to accomplish an old look.

 

Once again, the next step is optional but I love the technique of leaving a cup stain on some of my tags. Your tea or coffee mixture needs to be very dark in order to get a nice tea stain.

 

And the final step that I apply to some of my tags is rolling the edges with a skewer, pencil... etc. to give it that funky old look. Make sure your tags are still damp because when they dry the rolls will be set.

Then you have a whole lot of little canvases ready for your art. I know there are many tutorials on the internet for these techniques but you can never have too much inspiration. The plain manila tags can be purchased at my Etsy shop @ https://www.etsy.com/listing/94773701/manila-tag-number-8?ref=shop_home_active_6&ga_search_query=tag

Happy Crafting..... xoxox Toni