Cardboard Canvas

I am back on the birthday bandwagon tonight!  The other day I started wondering what am I going to do with most of the stuff I make for Tay's birthday.  Don't get me wrong, most of it cost hardly anything to make.  But I hate to spend money on things that probably won't be used again.

I wanted to make some signs to put up around the house and in the front yard for the day of her birthday and since my Dad took his saw back I can't cut any of the wood I have in the garage and then I remembered I threw away a cardboard box yesterday.  So I proceeded to dumpster dive and fish it out!

It's cute and basically free!!

I cut out my cardboard to fit a frame I have in my collection.

I painted the cardboard white with craft paint and a foam brush, be sure you do several lite layers or else your cardboard will get mushy.  I used my Cricut to make some stencils and painted away.

Sorry about the white on white :(

I sanded my faux canvas down, I want it to look more like it belongs in a field than in my dining room!  I used the Doodlecharms cartridge to cut out the watermelons and foam dots to adhere it to my cardboard.

I am going to go get some nails with large heads on them and add them to the corners for a little bling!  I think it turned out really cute and maybe I won't feel so bad getting rid of it when we are done with it because it's only cardboard, unless someone else has an amazing idea on what to do with the b-day stuff when we are done!  I can't wait to make some more!

4th of July Decor....Finally

I finally found the time quit being so lazy to make 4th of July signs for my front step post things, click here and here to see them in the making!

I used a 1x4 for the following project.  I cut a piece 11" long, another piece 4" long and the last piece 7" long.  I set the 4" piece aside and cut the other 2 pieces into thirds.

I didn't really have to cut the boards into thirds, but it made it so much easier to paint the stripes, I didn't have to tape anything off!

After I gave my paint approximately 3 minutes and 48 seconds to dry, I glued it back together using wood glue.  After letting the wood glue sit for approximately 4 minutes, I took it out to the garage and sanded and glazed it.  I kind of wanted it to look dirty and old.

Dirty and old?  Check!  Next I cut a few stars out of vinyl to finish my flag!  The little wood block is supposed to be a firework, I was running out of time before the girls woke up from their nap, but at least it passes the red, white and blue test!

At least my front step is ready for the 4th of July!

Mother's Day Gift,

Mom.....if you are reading this stop right now!  Avert yours eyes, close the lid on your laptop and walk away!!  If you aren't my Mom please feel free to check out my latest project!  My Mother's Day project!  I love receiving hand made gifts and I like giving them even more!  This is one of the traits my Mom passed on to me, every Christmas she would make us a hand made gift! From pajamas to cross stitch hangings, to porcelain dolls!  So this year I wanted to make something special to sit on her desk at work or display in her house!

Me, My Brother and Sisters!  Me & Mom!  Kie & Tay!
A fun little picture display!  I started with a crappy plaque from the dollar store, it had some hideous flower picture on it, so I tore that baby off, not sure if I needed to or not, but I wanted my paint to stick.  I painted the outside edges with my antique white craft paint and waited for them to dry and then painted a black coat over.  I added a beige piece of card stock and then layered one of my favorite Hobby Lobby papers over the top.

I sanded the edges with my sanding block to distress it a little bit.  I used 20 gauge jewelry/craft wire around the 4 edges and tacked them into place with upholstery nails I found at WalMart.

Next I used my cricut and vinyl to cut out the word love and made a little tag/embellishment with a scrap piece of card stock.  I used my scissors to rough up the edges and glued it on.

I made flower paper clips, click here if you want to see the tutorial on how to make the flowers.  I used the paper clips from the picture above and hot glued the fabric flowers on. 

I printed out some of my favorite recent pictures and hung them from the wire.  I also made her these!

I used some of my favorite scrap book papers, upholstery tacks, beading wire and ink!

 I had made some for Kie's birthday, you can see the little tutorial here.  Anyway my Mom's birthday is 4 days before Kielyn's and she had mentioned a week later that she would have liked some for her birthday...so a month and half later and they are done!  Happy Mother's Day to everyone!  I hope you have an amazing day!
What did you do for Mother's Day?


 

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Trash-tastic Craft!

So I finished my project!  And my brother was here so I got to visit with him while I created!  When I got home from work this afternoon I had another yellow plastic bag on the doorstep...Another phone book.  I suppose phone books still serve a purpose but it is the 3rd one I have had waiting on my doorstep in 2 weeks.  So I cleaned out the phone book drawer (3 phone books, 2009, 2008 and 2006, I know de-clutter, but I hardly ever use them and they just pile up and I grab the one on top when I need it) to make room for the new ones.  I threw the old phone books in the trash can (awful right, it's called recycling).  I went back in the laundry room a while later to fold a load of clothes and I happened to glance over and see the old phone books and thought I can make something with those!

Cute little books to put on display, and once again the best part is that it cost me absolutely nothing!  Here is what I started with.

Yes this is the phone book for my town, teeny tiny, I know.  There is no way you can use these for a make shift booster seat.

Supplies.....

• Wrapping Paper left over from Christmas
• Adhesive Spray
• Stinky Black Marker
• Sharpie Poster Board Marker in Silver
• Sanding Sponge
• Ink Pad

First I used my stinky marker to color the edges of the phone book, I don't know about yours but some of the page edges were green and some where red.  Then I took the silver sharpie marker and randomly marked the edge, I then took the black marker and colored over the silver marker to dull down the silver.

I cut my wrapping paper large enough to wrap the phone book with some extra along each side.

 I used the spray adhesive to attach the paper to the book.  This is what it looked like after I glued.

 Next I wrapped the excess paper around the edge of cover, I didn't use any more glue because the paper was still tacky from the spray glue.  Here is what it looks like finished from the inside, I didn't worry about how pretty it looked when open because I really hope no one ever picks it up to read it and if they do hopefully they are astounded by my crafting skills that turned a phone book into a pretty decorative book!  Just make sure that you have a nice crisp seam on the corners!

The last thing I did was use a sanding sponge to rough up the edges and distress the paper, I was going for the worn look not the I just made my debut 30 mins ago look!

I think I could stand to add some sort of embellishment or title, but since I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do I will leave it alone for the time being.  I do believe this is a Trash-tastic Craft!!

Scraps to Fabulous!

So here is the crafty post I promised last night.  I am still obsessed with making decorations for Kielyn's birthday(thank goodness it's Saturday and I am running out of time).  I really wanted to make something cute to add to the cupcake display or put on the present table.  So as I was rooting around in the garage, scouring every corner for something I could paint, I stepped on a scrap piece of the trim that we used around the fireplace.  As I hopped around saying some not so nice things inspiration struck and look what I made!

Love them!  And the best part was that it only took me about 20 minutes to make since they were already painted white.  Here is what I started with.

And here are my project supplies.

• Scrapbook paper
• Sanding Sponge
• Ink
• Marker Tip thing (found it in the ink aisle)
• Permanent Tape Runner 

I started by roughing up the edges of the wood trim with the sanding sponge, sanding down to the real wood.  I then took the ink pad and wiped it across the larger areas of the trim, wiping it down in areas that the ink was darker than I wanted it.  I used the marker tip thingie, to get into the smaller areas that I couldn't reach with the ink pad.

 Next I cut my scrapbook paper to fit the middle of the trim.  I took my sanding sponge and sanded the paper, really roughing up the edges but distressing the middle of the paper as well.

 Next I taped the paper onto the trim, you could use Modge Podge and decoupage the paper on, but since I was making this for her birthday party I figured I could peel of the pink paper and reuse the trim with other papers for holidays or something that matches my house.  I used the ink again to ink the edges of the paper, probably would have been easier to do before I taped it on!  Duh!!  The last thing I did was tie some ribbons on and voila it was finished!

I also found another little piece of trim that I made to match the house and embellished with stickers and ribbon.

Tomorrow I have 96 cupcakes to bake and decorate, good thing Gramma has 2 ovens at her house!  I hope everyone has an amazing weekend and I will try to post pictures of the birthday party on Sunday.  Have a great weekend!

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