Hi all - Carmen here :) I must apologize straight away for my photos on this post - I'm fighting with sun glare or a dark, dark house at the moment :)
I use loads and loads of scented candles and have lots of these little glass jars from candles I buy from the pound shops - you get them in all the cheapy pound, 99p type places.
I hated to throw the jars away because, even though I've yet to work out how to get the dregs of wax out, I still liked the shape of the jars and lets face it... us crafters, we're born hoarders aren't we?
The other day I had a brainwave and decided to try and turn the lids into stamps. I drew around the bottom of the lids onto mount board - any thickish card stock would do - and attached to the bottom of the lid to give me a flat surface.
Then I got out the tub of foam shapes that we bought in Hobbycraft years ago - it's always in use and has lasted ages, am pretty sure it was quite cheap too. Knowing me it must have been!
I found 3 butterflies of the same size and layered them one on top of the other just to make sure there was a bit of space between the card and image. The shapes are self adhesive which was a big bonus making this a really quick little project. Stamp number one done.
I'm quite pleased - I've now got two new stamps that I'm more than happy for my girls to mess around with and I love the images too. The knobbly handles make it easy for my youngest to hold and they have a nice rocking motion on them. I've got some dragonfly foam shapes left in the tub and I may cut some circle shapes out of the bigger bits of foam to make some button stamps too :)
Time to go buy more candles methinks ;) Thanks for stopping by everyone.
Carmen x
Great idea, I have a pot of those foam shapes somewhere.
I particularly like the skull stamp.
Posted by: Lynne V. | June 25, 2010 at 07:07 AM
Brilliant idea Carmen, I know my mum is a fan of foam shapes, she uses them for her grandchildren, will have to go and raid her stash lol.
Posted by: Debbie Roberts | June 25, 2010 at 07:11 AM
Born hoarders? You're not wrong, but if it means you come up with a fab idea like this, well, keep on hoarding I say. Oh, and go here to find out how to get the last wax out
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Wax-out-of-a-Jar-Candle
E
xx
Posted by: Eleanor | June 25, 2010 at 08:46 AM
Woah that's really inventive!
Not that I'll get round to doing any of it- faaaarrr too much on my list already lol
*hugs*
G xx
Posted by: Gail R | June 25, 2010 at 06:21 PM
Wow what a great idea. I've sheets of that foam stuff and keep looking at it thinking I should bin it! Not now though!
As for the glass jars, I have a little row of them in my bathroom taking up precious toiletry space, so guess what I'm going to be doing this week?? Thanks for sharing. xx
Posted by: Happy Days | June 26, 2010 at 09:10 AM
What a great idea, and I love the skull...
Posted by: Helen Lindfield | June 26, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Loving the skull hun, fabbi idea! As for the wax, boiling water! Works every time.
Posted by: Jenny | June 26, 2010 at 03:54 PM
What a fab idea ... is there no end to your talents X
Posted by: Linda Elbourne | June 27, 2010 at 02:28 PM
Great idea Carmen. I'm thinking I might use my new stencils on the foam rubber too. Thanks for the motivation/idea. x
Posted by: nicky | June 27, 2010 at 08:23 PM
Ingenious - thats what you are Mrs! x x
Posted by: Sandra Hall | June 28, 2010 at 08:21 AM
Great idea Carmen, we have a tub of those shapes in the cupboard so I might give this a go!
Posted by: Sam | June 28, 2010 at 10:26 AM
I missed these before soz xxxx
Great idea x
Posted by: jayne | June 28, 2010 at 10:19 PM
FAB idea Carmen I can ruby running about the house with them, hopefully not stamping anything that stays still long enough :) If you put the almost empty candle jars in the freezer over night the wax will come out real easy.
Posted by: Paige | July 01, 2010 at 07:50 AM