Paperweights Tutorial and Sister Fun

This weekend I spent a good part of Saturday with four of my five sisters.  Can you believe it, not one picture was taken of us together.  We missed our sister Becky who lives in California.  This was a Birthday brunch for our sister Lynda but we also had a time of being creative. 

We made these fun paperweights.

Michele's Believe with several little treasures that shake around inside

Sherry (see the Bless You hiding under the buttons and beads)  I took the picture before the glue had dried so the white around the edges is gone now.

Lynda's has the word Peace hiding inside, she says that shaking it to find the word is a peaceful thing to do.

Michele tried another, with shells this time

Raydine's has the word Faith inside along with buttons, a needle, beads and a little bird.

How did we make this fun little project?

I found it in a great book called

"between friends"

by Charlotte Lyons

I purchased this book a few years back and have tried other projects in it.

This is the page where the project begins.

We gathered materials, beads, buttons, papers, charms, trinkets, words, stickers, etc.

Look at thrift stores for tea light holders, small glass dishes, ashtrays without rim indentations.

Cardboard and felt  for backing.

Trace around outside of glass and cut one cardboard, one felt and one paper the shape of your glass.

Glue paper to one side of the cardboard and the paper to the other side.

Add any items you will not want to move around and glue them in place.

Arrange the items you will want inside on top of your paper to see how much you will want moving around.

I then placed them inside the glass dish.  Then you will run white glue around the glass edge.  Place your cardboard piece upside down on top of the glue.  Don't slide it around because if you get glue in the center your movable items will get stuck in one place.

Part of the words are hidden but if you shake the beads to the other side you could read the rest. 

 These paperweights would make great "place cards" at a table with the name of your guest inside.  Old stamps, a ticket to a special play, a scrap of fabric, a broken earring, we kept coming up with ideas of what we could put inside.  I am going to be looking for dishes of all different shapes and sizes.  Isn't it fun to make something pretty and useful from a simple glass dish.  What a transformation.

Let your imagination go and have fun, that is exactly what we did.

I will be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on

the Porch

and Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter