Wednesday, July 30, 2014

How to Make Bottle Cap Wine Charms and FREE Image PDF Download!



I'm kind of on a roll with the holiday themed projects right now, so please bear with me as it works through my system.

Super inexpensive and lightweight wine charms for your next holiday party? How cool is that? And what's even cooler is they're so inexpensive and easy to make!

Here's what you need to make them:
- Flat bottle caps with split rings attached
- Glamour Dots epoxy stickers
- Glamour Stickies, adhesive circles
- Printed images, like this festive and FREE PDF image download from TeterCreek.com
- Colorful ribbon

You may also need the following if you don't already own them:
- 1" circle paper punch
- Paper burnisher/paper creaser/bone folder (it's all the same thing)

These supplies can be found at  www.anniehowes.com

Here's how to make them:

  1. Punch the images you want to use. 
  2. Place a Glamour Dot on top of each image. 
  3. Turn upside-down on a smooth surface, and using the paper creaser, press the paper onto the Glamour Dot. Turn over and if you see any silver spots (trapped air), address those areas with firm pressure.
  4. Next, remove the backing from one of the Glamour Stickies and press that onto the back of the decorative paper you just finished gluing to the Glamour Dots. Press firmly and remove the protective paper from the other side of the Glamour Stickies. I use an X-acto blade to help me do this, but you might have a fingernail that gets the job done.
  5. Press into the bottle cap.
  6. Take a piece of ribbon and trim it to about 3-4 inches and tie to a wine glass stem. BOOM! You're finished!

You can also embellish these further, if you're so inclined. Or sit back, relax, and pour yourself a glass of wine to celebrate your craftiness. That's what I'd do.

xo,
Annie



New tutorials page and an updated website


It's beginning to look like I take on the task of complete website overhauls on a yearly basis, so would it be correct for me to announce that the First Annual Annie Howes Website Redesign is now complete?

*whew*


The new and much improved online store now includes a list of all tutorials, a measurement chart, an FAQ, all in one convenient place. Plus, all of the videos are on the tutorial page which means you don't have to go to YouTube to watch them (and possibly be distracted by cute baby animal videos).


Also, I'm pretty excited by the Shop by Tag feature which allows you to browse the store using the descriptive of your choice. Click the button on the left sidebar and just look at all those tags. Be prepared to be overwhelmed as I might need to pare them down a bit. Or not. There's still a search feature, but sometimes you just want to browse words, and I've supplied plenty of words to browse.

VIP Club members heard about it first. And as a bonus for receiving an email from me about it, VIP's received a valuable coupon code. Coupon codes are my way of saying, "Thanks for listening to me ramble on about the things I find interesting that are somehow related to making jewelry." This has been a comfortable arrangement. If you'd like to receive coupon codes on your jewelry making supplies, then you should really be a VIP Member.

I've gotta run. I have a new VIP Coupon code to send.

I'd love to hear from you!

xo,
Annie