Oxidizing Brass

The brass findings I buy in bulk generally come in raw brass form, so I've been wanting to oxidize them myself to give them an antiqued bronze look. I've searched in the Etsy Forums for instructions and figured I would try the ammonia fume method. This weekend was my weekend to experiment. It worked like a charm and is so easy! So here are the items and steps I used:

thread, Glad plastic container, clear ammonia

First I washed the findings with soap and water to get rid of any oily residue. Then, I strung the brass findings onto the thread.
Then I poured some ammonia into the plastic container and then held the threaded findings across the top. Making sure the thread is taut, I snapped the lid on. Remember, ammonia fumes are toxic, so be sure to do this in a well ventilated space.
After about 1/2 hour to an hour, I took the brass findings out of the container and let it air out a bit. The longer you leave it, the darker it turns. The bottom picture of the locket shows what happens when it touches the ammonia. It turns almost black with a green verdigris. The only thing I have to do now is seal it. I read that I can just use spray lacquer which is available at your local hardware store. So after trying this, I think I put way too much ammonia in the container. It was a small one, so only a little bit is needed since those fumes are pretty powerful. So good luck and have fun!

How to make tent weights with PVC pipes

If you do an outdoor craft show, you'll need a tent and weights for the tent so that it doesn't blow away in windy weather. People come up with many different ways of weighing them down with either dumb bells, gallon jugs, cinder blocks, etc. A pretty popular method is creating weights using PVC pipes. I decided to make my own in time for the Inman Park Festival.

Things you'll need:
Four 3" PVC pipes
Four end caps
Four eye hooks
cement
Bucket to mix the cement
Mix the cement with water according to the directions on the bag. I thought it would be a creamy mixture, but it's very rocky and grainy.
I just took a plastic cup to put the cement into the pipes. I actually ran a little low for the last pipe, so I just mixed in rocks from the yard to fill it up. Then just stick the eye hooks into the cement and leave it outside to dry. It takes about 24 hours to solidify. Then voila! just hook them to your tent with some bungee cords.