Cupcake Liner Holder

I am so excited about this project for a few reasons. One, the price is right. Two, it is so creative, clever and adorable. Three, it is about cupcakes, and who doesn't love cupcakes??
I got part of this idea from www.dollarstorecrafts.com. You should check out this site for great, frugal project ideas. I had a problem with my finished product because I had purchased a piece wrong so I had to improvise which turned out to be a blessing, and led to the painted part. This is the cutest thing!
All you do is go to the Dollar Tree store, or your local "everything is a dollar" type store. You buy a glass candlestick, a tall vase, and the little three pack of glass prep bowls. If your store does not sell these then shop around for a bowl that will fit on the type without falling off. You are at $3.00 now. Then I went to my local Hobby Lobby shop. They have a great assortment of drawer knobs. I was fortunate to find a red one that looks like a cherry. You could buy a different one and paint it red, or you could come up with your own cute idea, like maybe your knob is a cute decoration on top of the cupcake. Probably the only real tricky part to this project is that if you pick a knob with the screw in it, it will need to be sawed off to glue it to the top. I am fortunate in that my husband has a machine at work that will do this, but he said a saw will do. The knobs were half price the day I went so I am at $4.50 total!!!! I already had some paint and glue.
Now you just glue the vase to the top of the candlestick. Then you glue the knob onto the top of your glass bowl. Let all of this dry. I used E6000. Then you take your glass bowl and fit it onto the vase to see if it will fit well. If it seems to want to slip off easily then just see where the inside of bowl rests on the vase and run a line of glue in that spot all the way around the bowl on the inside. Let this dry. Then it should not slip off because it will catch on the glue. I was showing this dilemma to my husband after I realized I had bought the wrong vase. The one from the other site had a rim around the top, so look for that kind first. My Dollar Tree did not sell that kind. Anyway,  he was the one who came up with the idea to paint the outside so the glue on the inside wouldn't show.
 After all of this is dry, you paint a cupcake! I am not a painter by any means, so I was worried about this part. It ended up being really easy. I used down strokes to paint the liner (yellow part). That kind of gave it the lines that are on the real liners. Then I painted the icing (pink part) with little swipes. I kept repeatedly going around it making small backward "C" swipes. The white part which could be another color of icing or whip cream, I made by making small "U" strokes all around it. Then the knob represented the cherry on top, but like I said another knob, say a flower, would look like a decoration on the cupcake. You artists out there may have a different way to paint the cupcake, so feel free to use your own creativity. When the cupcake part dried I sprayed it with a Krylon gloss finish to give it a little shine.
Honestly this is a really easy and adorable project. Have I said "adorable" a few times already? Ha Ha!
If you make one of these, which I suspect you will, please post a picture so I can see all the different ways the cupcakes on top are painted. I will most likely be selling these on Etsy. It would also make a great candy holder!  Now, last but definitely not least, put your liners in your holder!

Cupcake Liner Holder

Cabinet How To

I wanted to follow up with the instructions on how to apply the faux finish to the cabinet I finished. If you look at the post called "Cabinet Update 2", you can see the products that were used. First I applied a strong oil based primer, then Valspar paint called "Eclipse". It was the color called for to do the "Taste of Italy" faux finish. After the paint had dried I applied Valspar Brushed Pearl to it. You can see the picture of it in my other post. I purchased it at Lowe's who also had the pamphlet on how to apply this type of finish.
I had to also purchase a wash brush along with a trowel. To apply you take a few foot section, take the wash brush and make X's. When this becomes tacky you take the trowel and make circular motions over that area. Then you repeat this on another section until it is all finished. I was very upset when it dried because it did not look like it does on the pamphlet. I decided to apply a second coat using the same technique. This made all of the difference. I was very happy then with the finished look. It definitely reminds me of some of the buildings in Italy.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask! Here is the better photo I promised!

My Son

This should definitely be in the label "personal note." I'm pinning a picture of my son who passed away so that I can pin it to Pinterest. It's a week away from the anniversary of his death and I miss him terribly.