Tips 'n Ideas

 RUSTING TECHNIQUE

Remember those pre-primitive crafting days when it was rusty, ya tossed it out? Never more! Try this recipe for rusting your bells, safety pins, 'n such. Remember to always use caution with this and keep out of reach of children and wear rubber gloves.

 1/2 c. white or cider vinegar 

1/2 c. bleach or peroxide

 1 t. salt (heaping)

 Combine all ingredients in an old quart jar. Add items you want to rust (safety pins, bells, pins, needles, etc), and cover loosely. Tip: Leave those safety pins closed, trust me on this. You'll have a bugger of a time getting a rusty tip through material later.

 The silver looking safety pins work best, the gold/brass ones just turn pink! 

 Place this is a SAFE spot away from children and pets!

 Let it sit 2 days. Due to the smell it emits, I highly suggest a safe outdoor spot. And don't hang your nose over this to watch the immediate reaction of the chemicals!

You can ooooh and ahhhh looking through the side! Now after watching your little concoction for 2 days, ya know ya can't help yourself.... line an old cookie sheet or tray with paper towels. Remove items from mixture.

 Tip: A quick and easy way for me is to use an old strainer and pour mixture from one container to another, catching your items in the strainer. 

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, pour this mixture down your sink! Dispose of it where children and pets won't come in contact. Don't reuse. Place your tray in the sun. They will begin to rust as they dry. Turn them over, to dry on all sides. 

Tip: I find it helpful to do a nice sized batch, or two jars.... for those times when the sun hides from us for awhile in winter. If they aren't as rusty as you prefer, just repeat the procedure. Ta-Da! You've made your first, of many, batches of primitive rusting goodies!

 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

CLIPPING  CORNERS

 When you read patterns and they say "clip corners", how do you do it? Well my days of trying to clip teensy triangles with a little pair of scissors are long gone. A simple, easy and fast way is to use Pinking Shears! I use them to go around all the edges of my sewed pieces before turning and it works wonderful!! Now, if you're doing open doll fingers, depending on their size, get as far down between them as you can without snipping the stitches. Then use tiny shears to snip a line down closer. 

 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~