Autumn Magic

I love to see all the handmade things on diffrent blogs. One item in particular caught my eye. It´s this beautiful autumn light from Twig and Toadstool. When I saw it I instantly wanted to make it myself. But first I had to gather some beautiful red leafs, a glass bowl and some glue/coat. I found some wonderfull leafs and pressed them between a pile of books for a couple of days. Next I went to the secondhand shop to buy a glass bowl. I bought different coat then Twig and Toadstool, because I couldn't find any Mod Podge here. Maybe I should have waited and try and get it, because now my lantern is a bit stripy and I don't like it, but hey it was my first try! It's still turned out lovely, but I think I painted to thickly with my coat.

It begins!

You have to paint a layer of coat on teh bowl itself. Then put the leafs on it. I think it's the best to let the first layer dry a bit, because if you put the second layer on it to quickly, the first doesn't have enough time to dry. Maybe this is different if you use Mod Podge... The coat is first very white, but when it's dried properly, it will turn out transparant. I used a mat coat, because I didn't want it to be too shiny.

First layer of coat and leafs. I don't have a picture of the coated leafs.

After this stage you paint another layer of coat over the leafs, so they will stay put. Let it dry and this is what it looks like in the end: ta-daa!

And voilà, my magic autumn lantern.

And a close-up. I love close-ups!

Maybe some of you already know. I'm planning on opening an Etsy shop, somewhere soon. For the people who never heard of Etsy: click
Mostly all teh things are handmade, but people also sell vintage stuff. It's so nice to see al; the handmade stuff, and it inspires me so much to make things. Some years a go I made myself a pen case from felt. I've made it all my hand, even the sewing, and it turned out lovely. Now I wanted to make another one, to sell on Etsy. The autumn inspired me to make a squirrel/toadstool case. Again it's made of felt, and all the sewing is done by hand, because it's to small to do it with the sewing machine I think. The tiny toadstool is made from selfdrying clay, painted with acrylic and covered with translucent nail polish.

The squirrel side.

And the toadstool side.

And a close-up of the toadstool lucky charm.

Hopefully you can buy it in my Etsy shop soon. But I have to make more stuff before I open it. I'm now making a tiny owl wallet. I have lots of ideas, so this winter I'm cutting and sewing.