Okay, THIS is my new favorite wreath

Do remember in this post, when I said this was my new favorite wreath.

Well, I lied was wrong.  At the time it was my favorite wreath.  I still love it.  It sold really quickly so I only had it around for about 2 days before it went to it's new home. 

Well, the last couple of weeks has been a mad rush to finally make all these projects I had stuck in my head and use up my stash before my first craft show.  So...I have made about 25 wreaths of all different kinds {i.e, don't be surprised if you see a couple more wreath post in the upcoming days}.  I started out making some book page wreaths.  I've made book page wreaths before {as you can tell by the picture in my header}, but this my favorite... so far. 

After the madness of the craft show is over, I'm going to make one with a pink coffee filter and a breast cancer ribbon in the center for my Mom.  She's a breast cancer survivor and I'm so proud of her!

I used a book that was already falling apart {i.e. no rare or well conditioned books were harmed in the making of this project}.  It is very, VERY inexpensive to make BUT very time consuming.  As in 2 hours, or MORE.  But I adore the way it turned out.  If you haven't made a book page wreath before, it may take one or two tries before you really figure out how to do it without it being too large or crooked.

This is what I use as my base:

Yep that's a round piece of thick cardboard {Ala frozen pizza}.  So, that was free.

I used Modge Podge on one side of the cardboard and covered with some book pages from the same book I am using to make the wreath out of.  Allow to completely dry.  This side will be the back side of your wreath.  Note:  You do not have to do this step, but I think it makes for a more polished look.

This next step takes the longest.  Start rolling your book pages into cones and hot glue closed.  I cannot give you an exact number of cones you need...it always varies depending on how big you make your wreath and if you do 2 rows or 3.  I would say make about 50 cones to start with and go from there.

Now pick out a ribbon or twine you would like to use to hang your wreath and hot glue it in place where the inside of the wreath will be {i.e. the unfinished side, then your cones will cover up where you hot glued}

I always lay out my first row of cones before using the glue,  This lets you decide how big {in diameter} you want your wreath to be and more the cones up and down to get the size you want.

Start gluing baby!  Once your outer row is done, start on the inner row, placing the cones strategically between the gaps in the cones from the outer ring.  You shouldn't be able to see any of the cardboard base.

If you want a third row {like this wreath has}  then go ahead and keep gluing.
*  For the second and third row, I tend to have to flatten out the tip of the cone with an eraser end of a pencil as I hot glue to allow it to lay properly

Now you can finish off the center of your wreath.  I love the The Graphics Fairy and usually find an image there I want to use.  On my this French Fleur De Lis wreath, I used a brown coffee filter with two overlapping images from the Graphics Fairy in the center.  You can use anything you want to finish off the center:  fabric rosette {like the one in my header}, printed images, ribbon, lace, crepe paper flowers or ruffles, etc.

Here is another book page wreath I made that same day.

I used a 25 cent thrift store that I painted white and aged with a brown glaze.  I love this bird stamp but had never used it so I decided to break it out for this project and stamped some burlap.

Have a great and creative day!

Linking to the parties on the sidebar and those below:

No Minimalist Here House Party

Crazy wood tranferring technique

Once Upon a time {about 4 years ago} in a land far away {a local craft store} I learned of a mysterious and crazy sounding technique for transferring printed images onto wood. 

A few years ago I stopped in the craft store to get something or another and while waiting in a ridiculously long line I starting chatting to the lady behind me.  You know, about what we were planning to make with the things that we were patiently waiting in line to buy.  Now, I have no idea what I bought that day or what I was planning on making and I had even forgotten the amazing story that she had told me until THIS weekend! 

Last week I stopped in Hobby Lobby, and of course headed straight for the 80 percent off clearance section.  I a small rectangular plaque marked down to $1.20.  I wanted to paint it and stencil some sort of design on it for my kitchen.

Well, this weekend my little 2 year old terror munchkin went to Memaw and Pop Pop's for the weekend so I got out that plaque and primed it with white spray paint.  While I was waiting for it to dry I picked out an image from the Graphics Fairy that I thought would be perfect.  I added in the phrase EAT and printed it out.  Then looking at it I thought about how hard it would be to cut out and stencil the design.  All of the sudden a lightening bolt went off and I suddenly remembered that fabled image transfer technique that I had heard years before.

The technique story goes something like this:

1.  Using Elmer's Glue and a sponge brush, coat a piece of printer paper with a thin but even layer of glue and let dry completely.

2.  Print out your image of choice onto the {now dry} glue covered paper.  Cut out design leaving a decent amount of space surrounding the image.

3.  Coat your wood with an even layer of Modge Podge in the area that you want your image and then place the paper image side down onto the wood.

4.  Let dry for 24 HOURS!

5.  Place wood with paper still attached in a pan of water and let soak for at least an hour.  Then begin peeling and GENTLY rubbing the paper off of the wood.  Ladies DO NOT use your nails to scratch away at the paper or glue.  Continue soaking and rubbing until the paper is all gone.

The result is an image that looks wonderfully old.  It looks like it was cast in plaster decades ago.

This has been my first and only attempt with this technique so I'm not certain how consistent the results will be.

If any of you give it a try, let me know how well this technique works for you! {Molly brought up a good point...while, I didn't have any problems with residue or sticking on my printer, I would not print using a warm printer.  In other words, make sure you haven't used your printer in a while so that the printer is not hot.}

I'm NOT a jewelry maker

Having said that, I did  make some jewelry.  It kind of happened by accident.  Well, as much as you can make something on accident.  It happened when I was cleaning my craft room/guest room (which you can see here).  It was a disaster.  On a side note, I am sad to say it is a disaster again.  Ugh.  Anyway, as I was cleaning I came across this cool old little box of vintage scientific slides that I bought for $1 at a yard sale this past summer. 

the now empty box

I had no idea what I was going to do with them when I bought them but they were too cool to pass up.  But when I came across them this time it hit me.  Glass Pendants.  I've seen those long glass tiles that they sell at the craft store  (24 for around $6) that you decorate with paper or photos and then slide into the metal frames with built in hoop (3 for $6) for an instant pendant necklace.  I thought there must be a way to make a pendant necklace from these vintage scientific slides.  I would have just bought the metal frames but my slides were about 1/4 inch too long.  Drats!  So I played around and did some jewelry research. I definitely stepped out of my crafting comfort zone on this one but I'm glad I did.

                                                              

These were a little time consuming but I like the way they turned out...so I'm going to sell them ( I really don't need around 80 glass pendants).  Of course I'll keep some for myself and I already gave one to my mom.

This is how I did it:

1. Clean the slides with soapy water.

2.  Decorate:  I went the fast and easy route with this step so I used some tissue tape by Tim Holt.  It runs about $9 (but of course I used my 40% off coupon).  It came with two rolls.  One was dictionary like page writing and the other sheet music.  Just right for me.  This stuff is great. It sticks right to the slide and easily tears off and looks great overlapped.  And you get a lot...I have plenty left over.

3.  Seal the pendant.  You can use Diamond jewelry sealer that you can get at the craft store or just use Modge Podge like me.

4.  Warning:  This is the step that takes time, at least when you are making 80 of them!  You will need to get some Aluminum foil tape wrap (found at the craft store).  It has adhesive on one side so you can stick it right to the tile.  The hard part is getting the tape to line up just right so that it wraps around the front and back of your tile evenly and stays straight. 

5.  After your slide dries you need to attach your bail so you can actually use it as a pendant.  This is where my research helped.  You need to get some Aanraku style bails.  I went to Amazon (because I had a gift card) but Etsy also carries them.  You will also need E 6000 glue (this stuff can easily be found in a craft store or even Walmart).    Just put a THIN amount of glue on the flat part of the bail and a THIN amount on the glass tile where you will be attaching the hook.  Wait about 2 minutes then press the bail and slide together. 

Aanraku style bail

6.  Wait, wait and wait some more. 

      You need to let the glue cure about 48 hours before you can wear the pendant.  But, I think the wait was worth it.

You may not have vintage scientific slides but you can buy the 24 slides for $6 at the craft store and make some for yourself.  They were easy and the possibilities are endless with how you can design them.

I'm also linking up to Jen at Craftomatic:  http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/2011/02/craftomaniac-monday-link-party_07.html

altered clipboards

I have had  two clipboard in my craft room for a while and I had always meant to alter them so they would be photo display worthy.  They were your standard looking clipboards.  Like this one:

One is legal size and one is like a mini-clipboard.  Well, we are having a bit of a winter storm here in St. Louis.  We arlready have about 1" on ice on the ground (and it's still falling as I type) and the ever reliable weather guys are calling for buckets of snow as well.  So, I decided that this was the time to finally do something with them. 

Like ususal, I started with sheet music.  I simply Modge Podged the sheet music right onto the clipboards and allowed them to dry.  Once dry I applied a thin layer of Modge Podge to the front of both clipboards in order to seal the sheet music. 

I then used stamping ink to distress the edges of the clipboards.  I dug out my ribbon and lace and played around until I like the way it looked and simply hot glued it right onto the clipboards.  I finished with some scrapbooking typrography stickers that I applied with Gorilla Glue.  I love that they look like old typwriter keys.  I didn't want those stickers to pop off.  Finally I added some hand distressed, stained and altered tags and a couple of paper scrapbook accents. 

I thought "vintage love" was perfect for me.  All this sleet and snow we're having has me thinking about last year when I took (my then 1 year old) little punk outside to play in the snow for the first time.  I dug out a couple of black and white photos of that first snow playdate and clipped them on.  Perfect.

 I'm really crushing on them now.  I want to hang them on the wall but I need to find just the right spot.

I'm linking up to The CSI Project's typography contest.



I hope you all stay nice and warm.

Ugly Buffet?

In my last post (which was way too long ago) I said that I wanted to take advantage of nap time and get my creative juices flowing again.  Well, I have been busy but mainly making decor, invites, etc. for my daughter's upcoming 2nd birthday party.  I will wait until after her party to post about all those items. 

Today I wanted to show you what I did with  my Labor Day weekend (my parents were nice enough to take our daughter for the weekend so I could get some much need cleaning done).  I wish I could say I accomplished more with my time...but...well, I mainly caught up on sleep. 

But I did create a buffet for my dinning room out of a $10.00 thrift store dresser.  My husband HATES it.  I get that it's funky, shabby and won't be everyone's tasted but I LOVE it!  I forgot to take a before picture but it was rough.  It had a veneer top that was coming up everywhere so I thought it would be easy to rip up...I was WRONG!  That my friends was a pain in the butt.  I primed it, painted it, distressed it and Modge Podged the top using pages of a 1930's book I found at a garage sale for a quarter.  I finished with a coat of poly.

Do you think it's ugly too?  It's okay if you do.  <3

 

I had so many pages left from the vintage book that I decided to make something out of some of them.  I decided it would make an equally funky/shabby wreath.  So here it is...