An Old Globe that Can Hold Just About Anything

You can tell when it's craft fair season from the types of posts I write.  This one is a little something that displays my soda can butterflies.  Although, now I'm finding that people are noticing the display piece more than butterflies, hmm...   At any rate, it is a fabulous little piece and it really could be used to house just about anything around the house.  Before I used it at a craft fair for the first time, it sat on my kitchen counter collecting receipts.  You could use it to collect mail, too.

Here's how I made it.  First gather your supplies:
1.  The Southern hemisphere of a globe (I picked up a globe from Goodwill that had a smashed stand, it's cardboard and easily pops apart along the equator)
2. Adhesive (I used silicone because it leaves a nice thick bead that would cover more surface area of the round globe but exopy would likely work as well) 
3.  Something to use as a stand (mine is a smaller urn style planter, but you could use a larger candle holder - just use whatcha got)
4.  Finishing tape (I'm using a foil tape that is used to finish the edges of stained glass but you can use that scrapbooking tape as well)
5.  Old Maps (or newspapers or magazines)
6.  Decoupage glue and a foam paint brush

This one really doesn't need all that much explaining so I thought I'd try to do in one step, here goes:

To use this as a planter, I popped a round Chinese food takeout lid into the bottom of the globe.  It provides a nice flat surface for the plant to sit on and catches any moisture from the plant.  I recommend removing the plant to water it and letting it dry in the sink a bit before returning it to the globe.

How will you use yours?

A Little Upcycled Height for Your Craft Show Display

I've really had a blast this year making my patio-sized bird baths and feeders! Hauling and displaying them at craft shows has proven to be a bit more of a challenge, however, than my paper bead jewelry. While I can't do much about the hauling aspect of this new obsession, I was determined to find a way to add a little height to my bird bath/feeder display. I'm still working on finding additional ways to achieve the height that I'm looking for, but I did upcycle this old plant stand into a display stand for my smaller feeders:

All I needed to make this into a proper display was a few mirrors and epoxy. It really is as easy as mixing and applying the epoxy to the frame and setting the mirror onto the frame:

 

TIP: I use plastic lids for mixing my epoxy. Any excess will peel off the plastic once it's dry so I can re-use the lid over and over again (for crafting, I wouldn't use it to cover a container that has food in it).

Once your mirrors are dried into place, add your display pieces. I'm showing it with bird baths here but I think I might use it to display jewelry when summer is over.

 

Besides serving as the upcycled display I was looking for, what I really love about this stand is that it is somewhat collapsible making for easier packing into my tiny car. I had to apply the mirror pieces a bit off center but once the piece is open you can't even tell.