Scrapbook Paper on Wooden Letters

This is a very simple tutorial.  I grabbed some scrapbook paper that I liked (I went with a vintage look).   Bought a few wooden block letters from Michael's.   All you need is scissors, mod podge, and some sort of sealant spray.





                                                                                       
I traced the letter's outline onto the scrapbook paper and cut out the shape.
I mod podged the entire letter and placed the scrapbook paper on top.  Make sure you smooth it out to ensure your paper doesn't ripple (this happened with the first set I made).







Let dry.  Coat with a sealant spray (I used matte mod podge spray) - and I gave it three thick coats.  

I think I'm going to continue this project letter by adding these to a piece of darkly stained wood (I chose such a light color and they blend right in with my white walls).











Since I used the word "keys" I also added small hooks to the bottom of the letters (be careful, if you're screwing them in by hand and using thin wood, it can easily crack - you can see by the photos that mine began cracking).  I put a little bit of hot glue into the cracks to keep them together.  

But all-in-all a super easy project that almost anyone can do!  The key is making sure you allow to dry before adding more coating, and also make sure you cut out your scrapbook paper a tiny bit larger than needed just in case. 

- Also, if you decide to take on any of the crafts that I've posted, such as this one - please let me know and send me a picture so I can add it to my page and show how other people's projects turned out!  - 

My Take on an Anthropologie Sconce

Anthropologie has amazing home decor products.  If I had the money I'd probably decorate my entire house from items in their store. If only...   But, since I'm poor, I'm going to continue to create projects inspired by products from stores like this.  

This is the original sconce I viewed that inspired me to make my own.  It was posted on Anthropologie for just under $300.  Much too far out of my price range.

What I liked about this particular sconce is that it almost had a flowery appeal to it.  It really made the traditional sconce into something a bit more frilly and fancy (clearly you won't actually be lighting the candle unless you'd like to see the entire thing lit up).   Also,  I loved the mirror backing rather than seeing through to the wall or having  a patterned backing.  The mirror adds depth.

So, this is how I went about creating my own..  First, I scored a rusty old sconce from a Goodwill store for a few dollars.

I then decided I wanted to go with actual flowers rather than the design on the original, however, flowers are very pricey and I couldn't find enough at a discounted rate to cover the entire piece.... so as usual... I just made my own.

I bought a box of petals for $9.99 and bought a package of rhinestones for about $3.  I then got to work hot gluing them together.  All together I made just over 40 flowers.  

I then began to hot glue the flowers to the sconce itself.  I also cleaned up the mirror (it was in pretty bad shape) and added some new candles to the piece.

Here's the final result:

What do you think?  I personally have fallen in love with this and actually like it better then the original that I saw at Anthropologie, the colors fit my decor better and I have to say I like the look of the double candles much better.

DIY Canvas Art

As you will soon see, the majority of the crafts and projects I choose to do are designed for the less artistically inclined... like myself.   I loved the idea of DIY Canvas paintings since they are so expensive to buy and often they look so simple to make.    

For this project you will just need some acrylic paints, paintbrushes, canvas, and painters tape.

First, I just took my blank canvas and painted on spots randomly of different colors (I used a base color and then made different tins by adding yellow or white).  That way they all looked nice together.   

When you're finished adding as many colors as you would like - let dry (possibly overnight) before applying any tape.

Once dry you can create any pattern you'd like using painters tape.  Painters tape is great because it comes off very easily without removing any paint.  Also be sure to measure out your piece if you're doing something like a Chevron pattern so the lines turn out even (unlike mine!).

Once the tape is on you need to paint over the canvas that is showing in the color of your choice - I chose to do white.   Let dry overnight before removing the tape to make sure the lines are crisp and you don't smear.  

Now, for my chevron piece I wanted the lines to be very thin, however, since I didn't measure each piece out they came out quite uneven and I'm not very happy with the look.

My diagonally striped canvas however, I'm very much pleased with!  I love the way it turned out and the lines are very crisp and clean.   I haven't decided where I'm hanging it yet but love the splash of geometric pattern that it adds to a room.

Glitter Shoes

I have to apologize for my absence.  The flu that is going around is absolutely awful!  Keep your hands washed and stay far far away from those germs!! 

I haven't exactly left my bed/couch for about 4 days now, so I'm quite delayed on posting the projects I worked on last week. 

I am going to post them seperately but will try to post as many as possible today while I'm feeling a bit better. 

The first is the DIY glitter shoes.  This is just about the easiest  craft I've ever done and possibly one of the most stylish!  Soon my whole closet is going to be turned into DIY stuff! (not that I'm complaining...)


So first you need an old pair of shoes (I bought mine for about 3 dollars at Goodwill).   You'll need some sort of brush, mod podge, sealing spray, and fine glitter.

I lost the picture of the shoes after they were covered in mod podge but the important part here is making sure you cover them very thoroughly and remember that any area you miss or do not cover with a thick enough coat will not hold glitter.  Cover the shoes thoroughly and then shake the glitter on the shoes - make sure you lay them on some sort of newspaper so you don't get glitter everywhere!

 After your shoes dry you need to cover them with some sort of sealing spray to keep the glitter from falling off.  I used a matte mod podge spray.  It worked well.  I did three coats (make sure you let dry before applying the next coat).    

Here are a few shots of the final project!  It is going to take a while to get all of the glitter out of the inside of the shoes.  However, I love the way they turned out! Such an easy way to jazz up and old pair of shoes!  

As you can see it is very important to make sure you get all areas of the shoe!  Overall they turned out great.

DIY Painted Canvas Shoes

I have never - and will never claim to be a good artist.   I am a TERRIBLE painter.  Even with the most basic of prints, I will find a way to paint the clothes I'm wearing, my skin, and all over the item I'm attempting to paint!

In this case.. it was shoes.   I love the idea of DIY painted canvas shoes because shoes are one of my favorite things - making a pair custom just adds a cherry to the top!

To paint your own shoes you must first find canvas shoes and be sure that they're nice and clean prior to painting.  I purchased mine for 1/2 off $3.89 at the local Goodwill.   They were in decent shape, although not very pretty.

 

 

 Then get your hands on some acrylic paint, I always have some in the house.

I decided to go with leopard print.  You may paint your shoes any way you desire!

I did the base of all the spots first.  Also - if you're doing a lot of painting, make sure each layer is dry prior to adding more.

 

 

 

 

Next I added the black around the spots.  Leopard print is so easy, somehow I still managed to make it look quit messy!



 

 

 

These are the final product!   Assuming you're a better painter than I am... and that you're not going to take on this project at 2 am out of boredom, you will probably have much prettier shoes than I ended up with!  However, the messiness just sort of goes with my personality so I plan to rock them anyways!  Don't forget to seal your shoes with a matte finish spray (I did three coats, and then topped it off with a waterproofing spray).

 

Happy Painting!

 

 

Taco Crescent Roll Bake

Yummy!  Okay, seriously, you could wrap anything up in a pillsbury crescent roll and it would be a hit! This is one of the easiest meals I've made, not to mention very tasty.  I give it two thumbs up, even the boyfriend approved - and it is not easy to satisfy him,  I wish I could nominate him for the world's pickiest eater award (most days he won't even try my concoctions).

Okay so here's how simple it is..

What you need:
      Tube of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
      Taco Seasoning
      1lb Hamburger, browned
      Taco Cheese (or Cheddar)
      Taco Sauce - optional

First make sure you've browned your hamburger.  Next, mix the hamburger with the seasoning packet following the packet instructions.

Next, use a baking sheet or pizza pan to arrange your crescent rolls.   Make a circle of them, placing them long ways with the points facing outward from the circle and all ends of the rolls creating a circle. 

When you're finished arranging your rolls it should look like a big star.  Next, place your taco meat in a circle on the crescent rolls (towards the middle). Sprinkle the meat with cheese.  When you're done, simply take the end pieces of the crescent rolls and bring them to the middle.  When you're done it should look similar to a wreath (neat presentation!)

Then bake according to crescent roll tube (or 350 degree for 15 min).


Final product should look like this:

It's that easy!  I served this with taco sauce for some extra flavor!  Also, just a side note, I don't recommend cooking on tin foil (I do this out of laziness, usually not wanting to scrub off my pans, but the rolls stuck to the foil a bit too much for my liking!)



Enjoy!  If you have any questions or if you tried the recipe and added any different ideas please feel free to share!

Pillsbury has a similar recipe on their website (the pinterest recipe was linked to this site) however, I'm not a fan of refried beans - but if you try it let me know how it turns out!


 

Beaded Mirror

As I mentioned before, I loved all the fancy mirrors that have been tending across pinterest.  I decided to do a little DIY without much instruction.  I have thousands of tiny beads laying around and a not so fancy 8x10 wall mirror..   Needed to jazz it up a little!

So here's the important stuff.  Mirror - Glue Gun - Extra Glue Sticks.

 

 

Oh!  And the beads, make sure you have lot's and lot's of beads!

 

 

 

 

Personally, I didn't feel like scraping all those little strings of hot glue off the mirror,

so I covered the entire mirror with tin foil (this made for a very easy clean up).

 

 

 

I figured that attempting any design would just be much more time consuming

than I desired, so instead I mixed a few pinches of each color into a bowl.

 

The rest was simple.  All you do is place some glue on the frame and then sprinkle the beads on top of the glue.  I pressed down on the beads to make sure all areas were covered and that the beads were thoroughly placed into the glue.

 

I also recommend doing this project on top of a baking sheet so you can collect all beads that don't stick to your project.

 

This is the final outcome!  As you can see it took THOUSANDS of beads to cover.

 

 

Total time for this project was just over 1 hour and since I had all the materials already, it didn't cost me a penny!  Such an easy craft (one you could even do with the kids) and it's a nifty way to make an old mirror look a little bit fancier.  I put this mirror on my vanity and just love how it adds a little something to the overall appearance.  Definitely an easy project I would recommend!

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, but just a side note.....   if you're using a hot glue gun.. make sure you unplug it.. so that it doesn't stay turned on all night... just melting its way through the plastic plate you had it sitting on.... like I did.... Oh my!