I am trying to age as gracefully as I can.  However, given that I wasn’t that graceful to begin with it is difficult to ascertain how well I am doing. Adding to the confusion is the question of whether or not one should, in fact “act their age” or, “embrace their inner child.” Which of these is the more graceful path I wonder?

In the absence of a clear answer to that question and for the purpose of this post we will go with option B the inner child answer, because, well it is the funner answer isn’t it? Therefore, it will probably always be the preferred answer.

All of this yammering is just a prelude to prepare you for how a 53 year old can still delight in making silly and frivolous things. The fact that this craft may make a suitable project for a slumber party is just cover. As I write this I am wearing my favorite creation from my recently created collection. I call it the three tiered wedding cake ring and while it may not be making me any more graceful it is quite enjoyable just to be able to type the words three tiered wedding cake ring. Can you imagine the effect of wearing such a childish thing? Why, I can actually feel the wrinkles in my face disappearing and the sag in my……….well, everything lifting. Perhaps, if you are 53 or some other age that you don’t feel like acting right now, you might want to try this project out for yourself. It might even inspire you to invite your girl friends over for some wine and craft therapy.

You will need:

• pliers
• scissors
• tooth picks
• hot glue
• pull tabs from soup and vegetable cans
• bottle caps
• magazines

optional materials

• E6000 Glue
• Spray Paint

Step 1 – Bend the pull tab to a 90 degree angle using the pliers.

Step 2 – Glue the pull tab to the bottle cap.

Step 3 – Optional: Spray ring base with metallic spray paint.

Step 4 – Pull out your old magazines and tear out the pages with lots of color. If you come across an article regarding “How to age gracefully” in More Magazine please feel free to share your pearls of wisdom with me.

Step 5 – Cut the strips of color to double the finished width and fold the paper in half lengthwise to make it colored on both side.

Step 6 – Use the toothpick to quill the paper strips into your desired shapes. If you don’t know what quilling is, well it’s fun. I am not an expert but if you do a google search you are sure to find some beautiful inspiration. You can also view my quilling tutorial video here. 

Step 7 – Glue shapes into the bottle caps.

It’s just so silly I can’t take it off.

Is it just me or do my hands really look like elephant skin?

Stay young my friends.

Happy Upcycling,

These items are for sale. See the listing on EBay here .