Valentines!!

monday, january 11, 2010

Heart Felt Wreath

Also, I am always surprised which posts get the most comments! I LOVED that there were so many self-proclaimed list junkies!! Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed getting to know some of my readers a bit better! And the fact that I am not as crazy as I might have thought!



This wreath is so easy to make but can be a bit time consuming. My hubby was recently out-of-town on business. So, over a couple of evenings I was able to watch some chick flicks and put together this wreath.



I bought my heart shaped foam wreath at JoAnn's. It was $4 and I used my 40% off coupon. I also purchased 3/4 yard (off the bolt) of a nice "velvety" colored red felt. I also picked up a package of straight pins.



I used a cup from my cupboard to make a 3 inch circle template. Then I cut SEVERAL 3 inch circles out of the felt. No I did not count them. Then I took a circle and folded it in half to make a half circle and folded it in half again like my little assistant is demonstrating.



Then take a straight pin and pin it through the bottom of the point. Then stick the pin with the felt into the styrofoam. Continue doing this placing each folded circle close together filling in the spaces. Continue the process for the whole wreath.



You will not need to do this on the back of the wreath. Then I took a peice of ribbon (about 8 inches) and folded it into a loop and pinned it several times into the back of the wreath to hang it from. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!! In fact, I liked it so much I came up with some other projects like it. Stay tuned tomorrow for those!

Jumbo Candy Corn

Jumbo Styrofoam Candy Corn

I am soooo excited about this post! I giggled out loud twice when I was making these. (Would that be GOL?) I've been frustrated, too, as I lost my camera cord!!! I went out this afternoon and bought a card reader. You know what's destined to happen now? Yes, I'll lose the card. Let's get goin' with the good stuff, shall we?

I bought two sets of two cones at Walmart~cost $7, (these are 7-8") then I carved the sides off and gently rounded the ends using a steak knife. Next, I made a batch of plaster (purchased for 49¢ on clearance from Michael's-woot!) A shout out to Marianne from Songbird is in order, I purchased the plaster after I saw her very cool post on using plaster to coat fabric flowers.

I mixed it up on the thin side and poured it over the carved styrofoam. (Giggle out loud #1 when this worked well!) There were a few places when the plaster dried that had hollow bubble spots. I would suggest for those spots to use spackle. (I tried putting another coat of plaster over the first and it didn't work out that well.)

After they dried overnight, I painted them traditional candy corn colors.

faux canvas

My supplies:

12x12 photos

12x12 boards

black spray paint

Mod Podge

Foam brush

Sand paper

Drill

Screw (to hang photo on)

I started with a 3/4" 2x2 birch plywood board and cut it into four 12x12 squares.

Then I spray painted the edges black. I also wanted a little on the front of the board in case my photo didn't quite cover the entire surface.

Then I flipped the board over and drilled a hole in the back so it would hang flush against the wall.

Then I got out my handy dandy Mod Podge and a foam brush and painted the surface of the wood. I set the photo on the board and smoothed it out. After it was dry, I sanded the edges of the photo to help make them more flush with the edge of the board. Then I took my foam brush and painted over the photo in a horizontal motion with more glue. Before the glue dried I painted in a vertical motion (without applying anymore glue this time). This gives the photo a great canvas texture.

be careful about how much glue gets on the brush. It's can be thicker in some places and wont dry evenly.

3-D wreath

Here’s what you need:

A round wreath form — mine is 12 inches with a flat top and sides. I found it at Hobby Lobby.

Ribbon (about 9 yards for a 12 inch wreath)

Gorilla Glue

Paint that matches your ribbon

Small Dowels or wooden beads.

Round Wooden Craft Circles (also found at Hobby Lobby) I used 2 packages – approximately 30 circles of different sizes

4 different patterns of decorative paper

Glue gun and sticks OR Superglue

Decoupage medium (I used Outdoor Mod Podge since my wreath is going to be outside - this stuff rocks!)

Here’s what you do:

• Put a dab of Gorilla Glue on the back side of your wreath form. Put one end of your ribbon on top of the glue and pin. Then wrap the wreath form with your ribbon tightly, overlapping the edges until the entire wreath is wrapped. End the ribbon in the same way you started – by applying a dab of Gorilla Glue and pinning it until it dries.

• Take your circles divide the circles into four equal piles with the same sizes of circles in each pile. Trace the circles from each pile onto your four different papers. So you end up with the same number of circles and sizes for each of your four papers.

• Cut out all of your circles.

• Cut your dowels to three different sizes — 1/2 inch, 1 inch and 1 1/2 inch. You only need about 5 of the 1 1/2 inch sizes, then evenly split the 1/2 inch and 1 inch sizes to match the number of circles you are going to make. I used about 30 circles on my wreath. **note — you do not have to use dowels, you can use small wooden beads too. I used two different sizes of wooden bead – one was 1/2 inch and the other was 1 inch. I then cut a dowel for the 5 taller circles using a chop saw.
  

• Glue the beads or dowels onto the back of the wooden circle. Once dry, paint the backs of the circles and beads the color that coordinates with your paper. let dry.

• Mod Podge your paper onto each of the circles. I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to each of the circles and then to the back side of the paper. When I had done all of the circles, then I put a top layer over all of the circles. Let dry. **Let me just say that I love the Outdoor Mod Podge! It is thicker and very durable.

• Then lay your circles out on the wreath to see what you want your placement to look like.

• Glue your circles onto the wreath. When gluing, hold the dowel straight onto the wreath for a few seconds until it is cooled or dry (depending on whether you are using Superglue or hot glue).

• Cut 2 different coordinating ribbon and wrap it through the wreath and tie at the top.

Nob Pictures

BEFORE~

AFTER~ AND THIS IS what I TURNED THEM INTO!

YOU COULD EASILY pick up some wood at the hardware store and knobs and make these yourself.

STEPS:

prime wood~ two coats

paint wood~ three coats white paint

paint knobs~ acrylic paint

glaze knobs, wipe off with paper towels

finish knobs with clear acrylic sealer "gloss"

do a outer glaze paint to plaques, wipe off glaze with

paper towels.

use a stencil and brissel brush to stencil

"No." and numbers

whole punch card stock paper

glue pics. on

add twine, tie knots hang pics.

Paint Chip Mural

Paint Chip Mosaic Artwork.

Supplies:

Plywood or a pine panel (my board is 20x20 inches)
Paint chips
Spray adhesive
Acrylic paint
Mod Podge Matte-Mat
Stain

Instructions:

I began by painting the sides and edges of my board black. I used a pine panel, because I had it cut out to use for a frame already, but plywood or MDF would also work. (For some reason, I began this project at nightfall, so the photos are on the dark side.)



Here is my paint chip collection, but you could easily cut squares of scrapbook paper for a similar effect. To get the randomness right, I simply shuffled the chips several times like a deck of cards:



I laid out the cards to get an idea of spacing:



The next step is to simply spray a line of adhesive and stick on the paint chip squares. Now repeat, again, and again:



See? All finished! Now, let this dry well. Go over it once in awhile to smooth any edges that might begin to come unstuck.



Once the adhesive was dry, I touched up any sticky spots on the painted edges with more paint to even out the color.

Now, apply 3 coats of Matte Mod Podge to get a nice smooth surface.



Let dry overnight, then rub stain over the whole piece with a rag. Make sure to really get it into all the cracks and seams so they look darker and defined.

Cloth MP Frame

This tutorial is for creating a 8x10 mat that holds a 5x7 picture.

MATERIALS:

• a rectangular piece of cotton fabric approx. 11x13 in. or a bit bigger (it doesn't have to be cut perfectly)
• a 8x10 mat - you can either purchase a pre-cut mat or cut your own out of mat board
• spray glue -nothing beats 3M Super 77 found at Hobby Lobby or hardware stores
• a scissor - one you don't mind getting glue on
• a sheet rocking knife with a thin blade... an x-acto knife/craft knife will work, too
• Mod-podge
• small foam brush

THE PROCESS:

1.With all your supplies laid out and ready to go, spray the back side of the fabric and the front of the mat with a generous coat of spray glue (outside).

2.Lay your glue covered fabric on a table, glue side up. Carefully place your glue covered mat face down onto the fabric. Make sure to center it, leaving equal portions on each side. Press down firmly all over the back side of the mat. Check the front of the fabric to make sure all air bubbles are out.

3.Cut off the corners of the fabric with scissors... careful to leave only a tiny margin by the corner of the mat (see close-up pic)

4.Pulling firmly, starting next to the corner, pull the fabric up over the mat, one side at a time. Press down, smoothing out all air bubbles.

5. With your knife, cut the interior of the fabric diagonally out, starting in each corner -creating an X. Trim edges.

6. Again, pull fabric up over the edge of the mat, starting in the corners. Pull firmly to ensure that the fabric is tight, especially in the corners. Use Mod-podge on your foam brush to help adhere, if fabric doesn't stick. Once all edges are in place, use Mod-podge to go over the edges of the fabric for extra security and to prevent any fraying. Also pay special attention to the outside corners. These will need a dab of Mod-podge, smoothed down with your finger, also (second photo shows how corner should look before smoothing down).

7. Let dry thoroughly and place in frame!!