It's a handmade Christmas here at the Thompson's. Thought I'd share my most recent project, a decorative cloche for my folks.
Cloche (yes, also the name of popular winter hats) means 'bell' in French. However, growing up, I'm pretty sure I just thought of it as a container for cheese ball spread at Christmas time. I bought this one at a thrift store for $1.99 and am kicking myself for passing up another one earlier in the week. Then, I also purchased a glass candlestick holder from a dollar store, which would soon become a pedestal.
I like to refinish with a good bit of dimension, this time using three shades of acrylic paint. First, I lightly sanded the base and painted it and the candlestick black, using a foam brush.
After it dried, I used a cotton rag to paint on a coat of light turquoise. I tried to allow some black to show through. After that layer dried, I did the same using a tan paint.
When, the color looked the way I wanted and dried, I sanded the edges a bit, even on the candlestick.
Now, I chose to NOT permanently attach the candlestick. I will include some putty with the gift, that way it can be used at different heights.
You can fill a cloche with many different things: seashells, Christmas lights, ornaments, balls of yarn (great for knitters), and just about any small objects. I got this bag, of what looks like sugar-coated fruit, at the thrift store. I still have leftovers I will use in creating other gifts.
The trick to filling a cloche is to fill it full, and fill it upside down.
And, there you have it. You could do the same in even fewer steps. Maybe you even have a cloche at home that hasn't been getting much use. It's an inexpensive gift, even if you need to buy one. I am thinking of how fun it would be to have a collection of cloches!!! I'd like to give special thanks to the blog that inspired this project, from The Speckeld Dog:
http://thespeckleddog.blogspot.com/2010/12/makeover-gets-makeover.html. Blessings!
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