Paint Chip Wall Art

(I am moving this post over from a blog I started a looooong time ago, and then forgot)

I have wanted a paint chip art piece since I saw a tutorial for it on Ion's craft show She's Crafty. I thought it was a neat idea, but not quite big enough to use at the time, Then I saw the paint chip mosaic tutorial by Jennifer over a Hope Studios. It was exactly what I needed! Her tutorial was so helpful and just plain awesome.


Here is my finished product:
-My mosaic measures 20x24 inches and the frame is for canvas art so no glass needed.

- I used regular paint chips, but also a few metallic chips and some granite samples to add some texture.

- I had to use the puzzle saver modge podge because both I and the store were out of regular so it's a little shiny in some spots.

- I wound up being 5 tiles short of making the whole thing so I cut up some scrap book paper scraps to fill in the gap (the stripes), but it also matches the canvas I made earlier in the month.

-I did stain mine but very lightly because of the paper.

-The smaller rectangles are placed to cover up the words on the samples. I didn't mind being able to see them, but Jimmy said he couldn't focus on anything else when he looked at it.

The tutorial on Hope Studios can be found here.

Mini Fruit Pizzas

 (Moved this post over from a blog I started a loooonnnng time ago and then immediately forgot)



We had some of out couple friends over a few nights ago for dinner. I had dinner all planned out but was stumped on a dessert. One of our friends is allergic to chocolate and the other doesn't like candy/cakey food. So to try and combat these things I came up with fruit pizzas. My family loves Fruit pizza and we make them full size for birthdays, and holidays. But, since we were a small group this night, I decided to make this mini version so I could make exactly enough for everyone without having a ton leftover. If you have the ingredients on hand, these are great to whip up for a snack too. I found I really like doing the pizzas individually because they get soggy after a while in the fridge. Here is how we made them:

Ingredients:

SOFT Sugar cookies ( I bought the boxed dozen kind at wal-mart)
Whipped/Spreadable cream cheese ( I used low fat)
Pineapples- I used chunks, but you could use a ring or even crushed sprinkled over top of the other fruit
Kiwi
Mandarin Oranges
Strawberries
Grapes
Or any fruit you like and want to include

Directions:

1. Lay out cookies one at a time on tray or serving plate. Smooth a moderate layer of cream cheese on cookie (enough to hold fruit in place).
2. Place fruit in any pattern you with around cream cheese. Save a round fruit for the middle because even though you are placing it in the cream cheese they still tend to roll off.
3. Enjoy!

I forgot to take an 'after' photo the night I made them, but I made some for breakfast the next day. Yours should resemble this, possibly with better arrangement.
Fruit pizza is so delicious!

Refashioned Pillow Before & After

 (moved this post over from a blog I started a looonnnng time ago and then immediately forgot!)



We have had these toss pillows for YEARS. I never used them for anything as they never matched anything I own. But I bought several different styles on clearance for $1 each, with the intention of someday using them. Today was the day.


Before:
Originally, the pillow was 18" (not counting the border) and kinda flat from being stored all this time. So I took a few inches off and cut my fabric 15"x15" (14" finished size) so the stuffing would better fill it up. I wound up with a small handful left over. Not bad!


Fabric Choices: After:
The pillow looks kinda lumpy in the picture, but I think it's because of the camera angle. It looks pretty flat in real life.

I am really excited about using these as accent pillows when we're finished decorating the bedroom. In addition to a pair of pillows like the one above, I want to make a roll pillow out of the backing fabric. I found some great pillow tutorials over at Sew 4 Home while looking at different styles. I was a little intimidated by the skill on a lot of the pillows I saw but I figured a basic square was a great way to work up some courage.

New Life to an Old Chair

(moving this post over from a blog I started a loooonnng time ago and them immediately forgot)

So the next step in our office decorating was to cover our chair. I have a love/hate relationship with this chair. It's comfortable and the perfect height for my tall table. But the fabric is bad. BAD-BAD. The fabric is hot and itchy and staying in it for a long period of time is pretty well impossible.

So we decided to change all that. The only thing I purchased for this project was a staple gun. I've never used a staple gun before and was a little skittish at the beginning, but by the time I was finished, I was a natural.

The hardest part of the whole recovering was getting the original staples out. I don't own a staple puller and have no clue if they'll remove this kind of staple, BUT I did have a teeny tiny screw driver and pliers. That's how I removed all the staples.

I removed the old fabric and pinned it to the new, then cut around it to get the general size I needed. I first staple a double layer of craft batting on both the seat and the back for a little extra cushioning and then followed suit by stapling the fabric on top of that.

Can you tell I cleaned between the two pics? lol

Detail

Overall, for my first try reupholstering something, I think it went pretty well. I can't wait to try something else.

Thanks for looking!

Lamp Redo

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Our office/craft room has no color. It's black, white, and occasionally silver. Blah.  So in order to bring color to this room we decided to go all out and use BRIGHT! COLORS! through the whole thing. When I whipped out pink and orange and green and purple for Jimmy to look at, he was kind of hesitant. But as he has seen things start to take shape, he is getting more into it. The first project I took on was probably also the easiest: The lamp shade. Start to finish, I maybe spent 30 minutes decorating the shade. I'm still iffy on whether to paint the base (it's black) or not, but for right now, I am very happy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj1MdKcy0_W9xonb-qXnjJ7gi2swlJ30mmtRVAgHRxOHYxsC62j22NcmhfANjTDHgCqQ77uE16YJLUiL12JFUauc-p3bRbsvTMtCR-Wx2vpsutKATWroesKw9MU13KHkt7bKFZ6NoQs5B/s1600/lamp.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503418943411483170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj1MdKcy0_W9xonb-qXnjJ7gi2swlJ30mmtRVAgHRxOHYxsC62j22NcmhfANjTDHgCqQ77uE16YJLUiL12JFUauc-p3bRbsvTMtCR-Wx2vpsutKATWroesKw9MU13KHkt7bKFZ6NoQs5B/s320/lamp.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I love lamp!</span></div>
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Originally the shade was a red textured fabric. I covered over it with a fuschia fabric first. Then I took strips of wired striped ribbon and cut 8 lengths to cover the lamp and then wrapped around one at a time, using the wire to hold position. I secured with my absolute favorite adhesive for just about anything:  sticky strip (tacky tape). That's it!

Easter Wreath

I've been seeing all kinds of beautiful wreaths made with deco mesh lately and I wanted to try it out. I had a piece wrapped around the handle of a big Easter basket photo prop from last year, so I grabbed it and tried my best to make a poufy adorable wreath.

Only I didn't. No matter how I tried to wrap the mesh, I could not make the pouf. So I did something else instead.

....And I think it's adorable. I used a wire wreath form I already had on hand, and just wrapped the mesh around it. Then glued some little eggs to the side and made a bow and tails and a place to hang it. I think it's perfect on my side door.

Mac Monday #2

This past week, we have spent almost all of our free time outdoors. Cleaning off the side and front porches, mowing the lawn, weeding the driveway, painting furniture and terra cotta pots. It has been a fruitful and time consuming few days. As much as Mac loves going outside there is no way I could leave him in during all this, watching as we painted and pulled and mowed.

This past weekend, it has been cold and rainy and we have not been very keen on spending much time outdoors. So, any time either of us go within several feet of the door there is lots of frantic barking and whining. Heaven forbid you leave the door open for light, because then you have to answer to this face:
We cannot wait for more sunshine.

Dinner Is Served: Pizza Ring

For the past few months we have been on a diet here in my house. One night each week however, is cheat night. Cheat Night can be any night of the week but has to be at least a few days after the previous CN. No falling off the wagon here (hopefully)!

Anyway, last night was out cheat night. We were planning on ordering pizza, a unanimous favorite in our house, but when I found this post over at Pocket Change Gourmet I knew we had to try it.



I didn't follow the recipe exactly ( and forgot a few things at the store, honestly) but it came out great! Here is what I did:

I rolled out the crescent rolls just like on the Pocket Change Gourmet blog. Instead of sauce (the forgotten ingredient) I melted a little butter, garlic powder, and oregano together and used a basting brush to brush on the bare crescents. Then I layered all the ingredients on one at a time: Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Olives, Banana Peppers, and then topped with cheese. Finally, after rolling up per directions, I brushed the tops of the rolls with more of the butter mixture and sprinkled on a little more cheese.

Forgotten ingredients and all, this was a fabulous dinner and the recipe is going in my keeper file. I can see all sorts of cheat nights dedicated to the Pizza Ring.

Mac Monday #1

When I was working, I had a wacky schedule. But no matter how crazy my week was, I was always home on Monday. My dog knew this pattern and would always be a very good boy that day. And Clingy. And Bark-y. But, it made for some great photographs. I got into the habit of taking pictures of him on Mondays and still carry on that habit. So, onto the blog they go and Mac Monday is born.This is one of my top 3 favorite pictures, if not the favorite, so far. Mac doesn't usually sit still for very long and every time I pull the camera out and get down to his level we spend our time fighting over whether he gets to lick the lens or not. This was a rare, calm moment in our house.


Have a pet? Post a pic on your blog, then link back in the comments. I would love to see your pets!

Tutorial: How to Make a Fabric Wreath

The birds are chirping, frogs are croaking, and the first green stems have started poking out of the ground. I want to plant things, build things, take care of things. The spring crafting (and nesting) bug has hit me again. I used to work in a mom and pop style gift shop, and made wreaths as part of my job, but I never had one in my house. So I decided it was high time to do something about it!

I have never had the wall space for them, nor the decorating savvy to incorporate them into our decor. Then one night last week I was cruising around Pinterest and this wreath (originally from Etsy) caught my eye. It was similar to what I wanted, but the wrong colors. I have a ton of fabric on hand so to the stash I went to find the colors to make this project. I don't know other techniques of doing this, I just kind of made it up as I went along and thought I would share.

This project also could be described as a dollar store type craft. Dollar Tree actually. I got all my supplies except the fabric at the dollar tree. Excluding the stuff I had on hand already, this wreath cost $3 to make!

Supplies Needed:

Fabric
Wreath form or wire
Embellishments (optional)
Hot glue and glue gun
Floral tape if (using wire)
Rotary cutter and mat, or measuring tape and scissors
Ribbon


To make this wreath:
Start by making yourself comfortable...you are going to be at this for a while. If you have a cutting board and rotary cutter, use them. Cutting out large stacks and multiples will be a breeze. Scissors and a measuring tape can also be used. Cut fabric approximately 7 inches by 1 1/2 inches. An even 1 inch is also okay, but at 2 inches the fabric becomes very hard to tie.



Next, form your wire or lay out your wreath form. I used gold floral wire I found at the Dollar Tree. It was six feet, and I just doubled it over, for sturdiness, and used the loop formed from the bend to twist the ends around. Shape the wire into a circle. Don't worry if it isn't perfect.



Next, I wrapped green floral tape around the whole form to reinforce the wire. I got this item from the Dollar Tree as well. A word of warning: It may not be sticky when you bring it home. i just rolled with it, and just a dab of hot glue here and there and it worked just fine.



After you have wrapped your form, attach your ribbon hanger. 1 strand didn't look right on my form, so I used 6, in varying widths. My plan had been to braid it, but the finished braid looked kind of odd so I put them on straight. I attached them by gathering the strands together and using hot glue to secure around the wire.

Lay fabric out in the order you want to tie it to your wire. Alternately, you can be a rebel like me and just slap it on any old way. My dog jumped in my pretty piles so 6 became 1. He's so cute I couldn't be mad!

Now, start tying the fabric onto the form. I made a basic knot, but you could also tie the pieces like you would on a tutu, though it may change the measurements of your fabric strips.


Tip: I used two strands of the same color fabric at a time to make my ties, for more volume. If a fabric wasn't double sided (almost white on the back) I faced them toward each other before I made a knot and when done, the right side was facing up.

Work all the way around your wreath, sliding knots closer together as you go for maximum fullness. Include the spots connecting the ribbon to the wreath.


Once you have tied all your strips, you can decorate it if you wish. I put a few spring flowers near the bottom. To attach the flowers, I snipped the excess green piece off of the flower back and used hot glue to attach directly in the middle of the fabric tie the decoration would be in front of.

I love it! I will definitely be trying this technique again, though next time, I think I will use a wire form which has 2 areas for tying, making the wreath super full. For my side door though, this was perfect.

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I will try my best to answer them.

About Me/This Blog

I love crafts. LOVE them. Want to run off to a desert island and spend every day with them kind of love. I have been making things since I was old enough to use a stapler. Now, as an adult I have a love/hate relationship with my sewing machine. And glue gun.

Here are a few relevant facts about me:

I am a studio photographer by profession, and a crafter by nature.

Currently, I am taking a sabbatical from work (meaning I'm burnt out).

My mom has always been, and will always be, my hero.

My boyfriend and I are perpetually engaged and working on making our house a home.

We are Pomeranian parents to the loudest, sweetest, craziest Pomeranian pup I've ever seen.

This blog is a means for me to chronicle my successes and failures from crafting, photography, and sometimes, life.


Thank you for stopping by, hope you enjoy the ride.