CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--ESPRESSO BEAN TOPIARY

Before I talk about today's craft project, I have a little shout-out for author Lois Winston because it's really all about me. For those of you eager for a little taste of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, Lois has launched her newly redesigned website, and you can now read an excerpt from Chapter 1. Just click on over to http://www.loiswinston.com -- AP


Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post:


Did you know that July 24^th is Coffee Day?  Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love my lattes, but I’ll bet you didn’t know you can craft with coffee, too. Here’s a quick and easy project in celebration Coffee Day. 

ESPRESSO BEAN TOPIARY

Materials: 3” x 6” craft foam cone; 6” cinnamon stick; dk. brown acrylic paint; satin finish acrylic sealer; ¾ cup espresso beans; tacky glue; 3” clay pot; floral foam; Spanish moss; 1” foam brush; 4 strands raffia in color of your choice.

Note: Allow paint, glue, and sealer to dry between steps.

1.  Poke a hole for cinnamon stick in bottom of cone.

2. Paint cone with dk. brown paint.

3.  Glue cinnamon stick into hole in bottom of cone.

4.  Beginning at bottom edge of cone and working up, glue beans side by side in rows around cone.

5.  Apply sealer to beans.

6.  Glue Spanish moss over floral foam.

7.  Tie raffia into a bow and glue to front of pot.

Since Coffee Day falls on a Saturday this year, why not throw a Coffee Day party? Invite your coffee loving friends. Make one Espresso Bean Topiary for each guest.  Group the topiaries in a row down the center of your table as a centerpiece. After the party, give one to each guest as a gift.  Tomorrow Cloris will have a to-die-for dessert you’ll want to serve at your Coffee Day party. And of course, it’s made with coffee.


Have you ever used an unusual material in a crafts project? Let's hear from you. 

CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--WELCOME! AND A PATRIOTIC TOPIARY

Welcome to the launch of Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, the blog of Anastasia Pollack (that’s me!), crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth.  You can read all about how I became a reluctant amateur sleuth come January with the release of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.  I’m allowing author Lois Winston to tell my story because frankly, between dealing with my day job, my dead husband’s loan shark, and a household that includes my crazy communist mother-in-law, my eccentric Russian princess (in her mind) mother, two teenage sons, Ralph the Shakespeare quoting parrot, Mephisto the Demon Dog, and the corpulent kitty Catherine the Great, who has time to write a book?  Certainly not me.  I rarely have time to wash my hair these days.

Anyway, even though Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun doesn’t come out until January, I’m launching my blog now so that you’ll all get to know and love little ol’ me and the rest of the gang.  Besides, May is both Creative Beginnings Month and National Book Month.  Bet you didn’t know that, did you?  See, stick around and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn here.  Not to mention having loads of fun and getting lots of free stuff (see below.)

Since I haven’t yet figured out how to clone myself, blogging every day was so not going to happen unless I enlisted the aid of my fellow editors at American Woman magazine and an assortment of interesting guests.  Besides, I know crafts and killers, and I figured you’d enjoy a bit more diversity.  So as you can see from the schedule on the sidebar, I’ll be offering all things crafty on Mondays -- sometimes tips, sometimes free projects, and sometimes surprise guests.  

Tuesdays will feature recipes to die for from food editor and my personal Dr. Watson, Cloris McWerther.  On Wednesdays drop by for decorating tips and all things green with former flower child and decorating editor Jeanie Sims, savings tips from our money guru Sheila Conway, or healthy living tips from our health editor Janice Kerr. Thursdays will feature beauty editor Nicole Emmerling, one of our revolving-door fashion editors, or travel editor Serena Brower.  Look for the occasional guest on these days as well since these editors are often off at photo shoots in exotic locales while the rest of us bottom feeders toil away back at the office.

On Book Club Fridays I’ll be featuring murder and mayhem with guest blogs from mystery, suspense, romantic suspense, and thriller authors dropping by the American Woman Book Club to talk about their latest books.  Some, like our guest author coming up this Friday, will offer a free book to a lucky reader who posts a comment to the blog that week. 

As you can see, my fellow editors and I have planned a site with something for everyone, but we’d like to hear from you as well.  Have a question for one of us?  Drop us a line at anastasiapollack@gmail.com, and we’ll answer it in a future blog.

PATRIOTIC TOPIARY

Materials: metal, wood, or ceramic container or clay pot, approx. 6” x 6” x 6”
15” long 5/8” wooden dowel
6” white Styrofoam® ball
1 yd. 1” wide blue print ribbon
3” x 45” piece blue gingham
scraps of red, white, and blue fabric
floral foam, enough to fit inside container
straight pins
green excelsior
hot glue gun and glue sticks
tacky glue

Note: Use hot glue for all gluing except where tacky glue is indicated.  Model shown made with red glitter metal container purchased from crafts store.

1.  Insert dowel halfway into Styrofoam® ball.  Remove dowel.  Dispense glue into hole in ball.  Reinsert dowel.

2. Glue floral foam inside container.  Insert dowel into center of floral foam.  Remove dowel.  Dispense glue into hole in floral foam.  Reinsert dowel.

3.  Apply a thin coat of tacky glue to dowel.  Wrap ribbon around dowel to cover.

4.  Tear fabric into 1-1/2” x 6” strips.  Place two strips wrong sides together and tie a knot at center.

5.  Insert a straight pin into knot.  Dip pin in tacky glue and quickly insert into Styrofoam® ball.  Repeat until ball is completely covered.

6.  Glue excelsor over floral foam inside container.

7.  Tie blue gingham strip around container.

My ghost writer Lois Winston is also an accomplished designer.  Check out her Plays in Dirt cross stitched apron in the June issue of Create & Decorate magazine; her Circus Fun bib and bloomers in the May/June issue of Just CrossStitch; and her Rose Wedding Sampler and Go Confidently Sampler in the June issue of The Cross Stitcher.


And don't forget, those of you who post a comment this week are entered for a chance to win a book from our guest author on Book Club Friday.