Shabby Gumball Machine

It was awhile since I saw my crafty Oahu besties, so I was really really excited for my last trip home.  We had planned to meet up at our usual meeting place- Royal Garden for some yum yum dim sum!  Love it there since the food is ono and they don't kick us out!  Everytime we go, we shut that place down!  Before I share my project, I just have to share this story of a different time we went to RG... 

One of my besties who shall remain nameless, tells us that she made reservations at RG. So when we get there, she goes up to the host and tells them that we have a reservation under "Lum".  I had to pause for a bit before it hit me that her name is not LUM!  What the heck?  So I look at my other friend and ask her... is her last name Lum?  No right?  Then we both start bus' laughing!!!   So after we sat down, I asked her why she gave them her name as "Lum".  She told us that she always gives a fake Chinese name when going to a Chinese restaurant. She said that most of them always get her name wrong, so it's easier if you give them a Chinese name.. So then why "Lum"?  Because Lum doesn't sound like other Chinese names.  Funny yah?  OMG.. I couldn't stop laughing. Hope I didn't share that story before... Oh well if I did, it's worth repeating cause that's damn funny!

Apparently, she is not the only one that gives out fake names.  Found out my SIL also does that. She said at Starbucks, she always gives them fake names because they always get her name wrong. I don't have the nerve to do that.  I think I would forget what name I gave and forget to pick up my order!  This totally reminds me of Friends- do you know who Regina Falangy or Ken Adams is?  If you do, then you are a true Friends fan!

Ok.. so since I was meeting up with my friends, I figured I would bring Linda's birthday present.  Yes, I know I bought her a crap load of Rilakkuma stuff, but I also had to make her something right?   So I know all the rage now is to alter vintage bubble gum machines.  I couldn't find any, so I decided to make my own. I've seen them at Ben Franklin, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Here's what I came up with...

 It wasn't hard at all, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to glue down the bowl or not.  I asked my friend from work who was headed to Oahu, specifically Flora Dec, if she could bring me back a bag of pearls.  Thanks Marla!!  I really wanted the pearls so that it would look like bubble gum inside the machine.  I decided not to glue down the bowl so that Linda could still use the pearls if she needed them.  This then caused issues with transporting the machine....

So I decided to wrap the machine using tissue paper to hold the bowl on top of the clay pot.  Because it was glass, I didn't want to put it in the suitcase for fear of it cracking, so I hand carried it through security and got stopped by TSA.  The TSA guy asked me if he could look at my bag, which I found weird because I had no liquids, paste or anything in there that I should be stopped for.  So I asked him why he was stopping me and he said its because they couldn't figure out if it was a snow globe or not.  What?  Isn't it an xray machine?

So he then had to unwrap the tissue. I was freaking out because I knew if he unwrapped it the wrong way, pearls would be everywhere!!!  So I was trying to explain to him and to his credit, he did try to be careful.  Then he had to re-run it through the machine again.. not sure why since he now had it unwrapped and could see there was no water in it... by then I was irritated.  He then returns and asks me if I wanted to put it back in the bag. I was so annoyed, that I told him to just put it in.  After I walked away, I thought that I should've taken his offer because he also had a large roll of TSA tape!  OMG that would've been soooooo funny if I gave Linda her bubble gum machine covered in TSA tape!!!!

Anyway, back to the machine... first I painted the clay pots lavender since purple is her favorite color.  Then I added some lace trim to the base and glued on the cover.  To decorate the bowl, I used a Prima pearl butterfly sticker shown here.

I added a large pearl to the lid as the "handle" and then added more flowers by I am roses and Wild Orchid Crafts.

To the base, I added more flowers and prima bling.

On the other side of the lid I added a large Prima butterfly.

Here's another view.

So I guess all that TSA trauma was worth it cause Linda seemed to like it.  Everytime I think about it I crack up!  Of course, if he broke my project I would've had to yell at him.  Don't mess with my craft stuff man!  Happy belated birthday Linda!