Crafts Archives - Page 2 of 2

JOY Crafting

December 1, 2012 No Comments

I just couldn’t wait any longer, couldn’t allow myself to be distracted any longer. I had.to.get.crafty!!

I love the word “JOY” all year long, but especially at Christmas, and I have been loving the decorated letters I have been seeing around the blog world. So, I decided to give it my own spin. I started with MDF letters from HL, some jute, scrapbook paper, spray adhesive, mod podge, and of course some hot glue.

First the J. I figured this would be the easiest to cover with the jute.

So, I hot glued the end on the back and started wrapping. It was a little tricky in spots – where the curves and corners were – so I just put a dab of hot glue wherever necessary to cover the board underneath. I didn’t worry about the back since it wouldn’t show.

And voila!! Love how it came out.

Next the Y. (I’ll come back to the O) I found some paisley printed scrapbook paper that I liked.

I put a light coat of spray adhesive on the top of the letter, then pressed the whole piece of paper on top. I allowed it to dry for about 30 seconds and then I used a utility knife to cut away the extra paper. {An exacto knife would have been easier for that task, but I couldn’t find mine in my not-so-organized craft closet – project coming in January.} The edges were a little frayed so I used a tip from Thrifty Decor Chick and filed the edges. Then, a thin coat of mod podge just to make sure it was stuck and for a protected finish. I decided it needed a little something – so I pulled out my brown stamp pad and ‘aged’ the edges.

Done 🙂

Last the O. I simply used a berry garland that I already had for the O.

I curled it up in a circle that was the right size for the J and the Y. Then I took some ribbon and tied it together with a bow.

Perfect!!

Here it is all together.

And here it is in it’s place.

Love it when a project comes out just like you imagined it!! This cost me less than $5 total since I already had the adhesives and the garland. Awesome!! You can see how it looks on my mantle here (you may notice I changed out the greenery for some ribbon – I had to have something to hid the blocks of wood the JOY was sitting on but the greenery covered too much ;))

“For You are our glory and joy.” 1Thessalonians 2:20

Linking up with some fun linky parties – be sure to click over and check them out for some Christmas crafting inspiration!!

Holidays

Our Thankful Tree

November 7, 2012 1 Comment

Hello all!! Last year when I found pinterest I found these cute trees – “thankful trees”. I loved the look and the idea so I duplicated it. And this week our “Thankful Tree” went up again.

Counting my blessings is one of my favorite activities. Truly I have soooo many things to be thankful for. I know sometimes I get caught up in the aggravation of day to day living and I forget to take a moment and remember all the things in my life I have to be thankful for. God has brought my husband and I on incredible path over the past 18 years of marriage with many twists and turns and bumps. Sometimes (when we have a quiet moment just the two of us) we like to walk backwards through the path and connect the dots. When you are in the midst of the mess it doesn’t make sense and we wonder “what in the world?” But, when you are through it, and on the other side of it you can look back and make that connection. Those “oh, I get it now” moments are my favorite. God is amazing and He always knows what’s coming next, and next, and next. Back-tracking and putting the pieces together helps me to remember that. It’s an awesome peaceful feeling to know that no matter what He is on the throne and in control.

So, I really want to instill this thankful attitude in my kids as well. I didn’t have much participation from the teenagers last year so this year I have asked everyone to add one leaf to the Thankful Tree everyday for this month, and they cannot repeat themselves. 🙂 If you have teenagers or pre-teens you know the constant mode of self-centeredness that they live in. It’s not their fault, they can’t help it, that’s just where they are developmentally….right? Anyway, I hope that this will let them see how blessed they truly are, and right before Christmas when the lists start rolling in…

God has been really pricking my heart lately and stirring me to do more for the unloved. I’m still praying and working through how all that is going to look exactly but I will most likely be sharing a little bit here. Mostly I am just convicted that it is not someone else’s responsibility to take care of these people, but as a follower of Christ it is mine. I know I am only one person, but added to another one person, and another. Well, you get the picture.

By the way, I snapped this shot of my entryway/mudroom this morning before the kids left for school. Here it is in action!! Loving it!!

Praying that you take a moment to count your blessings, back-track over your life and put the pieces together to see God’s hand. Try it, you will be amazed.

DIY

Kids Art Gallery {Pinterest Inspired}

October 30, 2012 No Comments

Today I thought I would share with you one of my first projects inspired by Pinterest. Yes, I am a Pinterest-aholic. Did you know they have a Pinterest App? Yes, yes they do and to me looking at pretty things is a much better use of my time than angry birds. 🙂 Anywho… I digress!! Here are the pictures I pinned

littlenannygoat.blogspot.com

lessthanperfectlifeofbliss.blogspot.com

I liked the idea and look and had the perfect place for it. See, there is this awkward little piece of wall in the corner of our L-shaped hallway that is in between the bedrooms. It’s too big to leave blank but I could never figure out what to put there. This worked out perfectly.

I did this project before I was blogging so there are know how to pictures. But, the links with the pictures are good and they give tutorials. (Yes, I am still working on painting the doors in the hallway- shhh)

I used some old frames I had in my closet that I was no longer using, I painted some blue and left some black, I removed the glass in the frames to make room. Then I took some foam core board I also had left-over from a previous project and covered it burlap using hot glue to secure it.

Then I bought these really cool clips and attached those to the burlap piece with hot glue. TIP: put the burlap piece in the frame before mounting the clip so you can make sure you have it in the right place.

I had a shelf that I was no longer using and decided to incorporate that as well for those lovely pottery items and 3-D art. I was going to paint the bottom to match the frames, but I thought the color blended enough that I decided not to.

I decided I wanted to give this wall a title of sorts. Hence the cleverness at the top “Greenwood Gallery.” 🙂 I bought a cute scrolly wooden G from HL and painted it to match the blue frames and then painted the rest right on the wall. I printed the words from my computer and then transferred them to the wall by rubbing pencil on the back of the paper and then “tracing” over the letters on the front – by pressing hard while tracing the pencil that you colored on the back will come off on the wall. It wasn’t a perfect science but it was good enough for me!!

My kids couldn’t wait to choose their artwork to fill it up and we all love having it on display. A hidden bonus is it keeps people from piling junk up in this corner!!

I’m linking up with Carmel at Our Fifth House and Young House Love for

Go and check out many more projects and get yourself inspired!!

DIY

Happy Fall!

August 25, 2012 4 Comments

This has been an INsanely busy week for me at work!! So I am looking at a very long list of to do’s for the weekend. Hopefully I will make it through the not so fun stuff so I can get to the fun stuff.

With the cooler weather I have been itching to start decorating for fall. It might be a touch early for that I know, so I decided to work on making some cute decor items. I have pinned many on Pinterest and last weekend I took some time to make my own version.

I have seen many different burlap pillows floating around Pinterest. But, it is kinda itchy so I didn’t really want to have them inside. But I thought they would be great outside. This glider bench is on my tiny front porch. These were super easy to make!!

I started by cutting the burlap to the size I wanted the pillows. I didn’t worry about being exact about the cutting because I knew I would trim it later, and because I didn’t really care if it was perfect 🙂

Then I found a font that I liked and typed my phrase “Happy Fall”, positioned the paper under the burlap and grabbed my orange sharpie. (I used a piece of poster board that I had on hand to place under my work so the sharpie wouldn’t get on the table where I was working.) This part went really fast.

Then I decided I wanted to line the burlap with something so I couldn’t see the stuffing through the burlap. So, I searched through my stash of fabric and found some white cotton. I cut it a little bit bigger than the burlap pieces. Then I got my sewing machine out.

I chose to use a zig zag stitch that was wide and pretty close together, and of course orage thread. I sewed almost all the way around, then I trimmed the edges with my pinking shears, stuffed and sewed up the hole. Easy peasy!!

But then, my perfectionist kicked in. Ugh. All those little frays from the burlap were driving me crazy. So…I decided to pull them all off to make a fringed look. Love it!!