Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Thanksgiving Centerpiece with Gesso and Perfect Pearls

My coworkers all laugh at me, because I'm always picking up bits and pieces of things they are going to throw away. This was an apple cider jar one of my coworkers brought to a recent fall-themed potluck. As she was about to chuck it into the garbage, I stopped her and asked if I could have it. She looked at me confusedly, but handed over the jar! Woot! Normally this blog is all card making, all the time, but I had to share my finished Thanksgiving centerpiece. 




The first thing I do when starting a project is to look for inspiration from challenges. The fabulous Oscar de la Renta is being paid tribute over at Runway Inspired Sketches. He will be much missed and left an indelible mark on the fashion industry. I loved his ability to create such light, airy, girly clothes that flattered every figure. I'm not really sure if it's a card making only challenge because the rules don't really say, but I'm going to find out. ;) I chose this image to inspire my design:



 It's bold and graphic and shimmery, but isn't too hoity toity (notice the sneakers?) That's the look I was going for with my creation.

In my last post, I wrote about my first experience using gesso on cards. Did you know you can also use it to paint on glass? I began by slathering my jar in gesso.  It took three different coats! Here you can see the progression. 


  

I've also written many times about my love for Perfect Pearls because those babies are so versatile! (If you want to see many of the ways they can be put in action - check out my post A Walk Down Memory Lane.) I wanted to make the leaf motif on the jar really stand out, so I mixed some Perfect Copper with water to form a pasty paint. 


My camera was cooperating quite well and you can see the shimmery copper accents. I painted the leaves and the stem of the jar and then added Perfect Gold, which is a slightly lighter shade to accent the veining on the leaves. 


I let everything dry, and voila!!


It looked lonely there all by itself, so I ran to Hobby Lobby and grabbed some burlap flowers, berry sprigs, and a little glittery cardinal to add some cheer. 


I hope my dinner guests will like it as much as I do! The next time you think about throwing out a cool glass jar, why not upcycle it into something truly lovely? 

I'm also going to enter it into the following challenges:
Eclectic Ellapu - Leaves 
Mixed Media Mojo - Thankful (because it's for Thanksgiving dinner)

Thanks for stopping by! Follow my blog and leave me a comment and I'll be sure to do the same for you!

24 comments:

  1. Beccaaaaa woooooww this is amazing
    you are really creative
    I love the image as you choose for your inspiration and I can see the inspiration on the jar you made..cool ..creative and I love the idea...yeah go girl I am proud to know you..and see my last post..it has some challenge anything goes maybe you can join there too...
    hugs..Monika

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  2. Well done, Becca! I have not attempted such a crafty project! This turned out beautifully! What a showpiece!

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  3. Beautifully done, Becca! Love how this turned out, and so festive with the gold!

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  4. You sound just like me Becca, I'd have done the same with this jar! You've made a wonderful job of altering it....a real showpiece. Carol x

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  5. This is great and I pick things up too. My mom made faberge style eggs (she was fantastic-a true artist in her field) and she collected everything including peach pits(never found out what she was going to do with that). She also had large amounts of pistachio shells and i know she could make boats or turtles or whatever came into her head. You should take a pic and show the woman you work with what you did...I bet she will be amazed:)

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  6. WOW Becca your center-piece is so lovely - I love the cream and gold tones perfect for Christmas.

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  7. OMG, that is gorgeous! I love that you get those looks too - and seriously, you HAD to rescue this pretty jar!

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  8. what fabulous upgrading Becca. You have really outdone yourself on this one.

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  9. This turned out so pretty Becca!! What a clever idea to transform the bottle into a beautiful center-piece for flowers! I was looking to buy a new vase, but perhaps I should look around my home a bit more! LOL!! Thanks for the inspiration! HUGS :)

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  10. Fabulous project and fun tutorial.

    Hugs Diane

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  11. Another amazing piece and what a way to upcycle! I do the same thing and my fellow employees have started to give me random "junk". Thanks for playing with us at Mixed Media Mojo! ~Niki

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  12. this turned out beautiful. Krylon makes a spray gesso that I have used in the past that covers things in one coat.
    thanks for joining us at Mixed Media Mojo.

    Barb Housner (DT)

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  13. That looks awesome :) so very creative of you!

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  14. Such a lovely centerpiece! Beautiful vase and wonderful texture! Thanks for sharing with us at Mixed Media Mojo!~kim

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  15. That is one lovely center piece! You are very creative, and I like your interpretation of the runway challenge.

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  16. This is fabulous! I have often looked at those little jars and could not think of how to repurpose...but this is a fantastic idea!

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  17. Gorgeous, what a transformation :)

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  18. So beautiful! Although we usually only have paper crafting entries, this project clearly corresponds to the inspiration pic, and totally qualifies! Great job...your arrangement is awesome. Thanks so much for honoring Oscar de la Renta with us on the Runway!

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  19. Wow--now that is what I call UP-cycling! Truly gorgeous, Becca!

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  20. WOW what a stunning uplift you gave that bottle!!
    Cheers
    Dr Sonia
    Cards Crafts Kids Projects

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  21. This is gorgeous and love your color combo. Thank you for sharing with us over at Eclectic Ellapu this month and do hope to see you in further challenges. x

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  22. What a beautiful jar. It looks wonderful in those colours and wouldn't it be gorgeous in reds and gold for Christmas. or maybe silver and white.... or maybe...... hmmmm, I can think of a million colour combinations. Thanks for sharing your project. I clearly need to add a tub of gesso to my ever growing stash.

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