Map Love i love maps...and look at all the amazing things made with them... i can't remember how i found this site....but i love, love, love all the map goodness going on there...especially that heart broochand, of course, i had to include the union jack.check out more herenote....they have a great etsy store, too! 3D Picture I know you are invited to at least one wedding this summer. Bring your camera. This is a neat way to present a special wedding picture. It's an old paper trick call a tunnel card. I like to frame it in a shadow box and give it to the married couple. You might even get away with not having to buy one of those expensive items on their gift registry. Materials: 4 copies of a photo that has a fore, middle and background. shadowbox frame mat 2 pieces of cardstock glue stick Tools: scissors In this sample, the frame and mat are 8" x 10". Leave one photo as is. Glue the pleated card stock to the back of the mat. You should have a photo that looks like this one.
Spring Scrapbook Paper Tree Hello fellow crafters! Tristin and I were invited to be today's featured guest blogger over at Everyday Mom Ideas! We were thrilled with this wonderful opportunity, and wanted to share with the readers over there one of our trees from the collection we're currently doing. This second tree is very similar to the first one. (Since this is a guest post on a different blog, and the concept is similar to the first tree.. Thanks, Julia, for having us on your blog!
Glow Stick Jars After seeing some of these on Pinterest, Boo and I bought some Fourth of July glow sticks and broke into them early. We cut off the ends and dumped the contents in, and shook the jar to coat the sides. (It’s non-toxic.) An instant glow stick lantern: We mixed the red, white and blue together and it made a pink/purple-y color. Update: I’ve heard from several readers that adding water to the jar helps to keep the glow! P.S. Coffee Stirrer DIY Wall Art Last week, I posted a preview of the simple, inexpensive wall art my mom and I created. Now I’m excited to show you how you can make a one-of-a-kind coffee stirrer masterpieces too! I’m big on projects that anyone can do. And this is one of those projects. If you can smear paint on wood and use scissors, you can make this easy art. (Don’t you dare say you’re not “creative!” Here’s all you need to get started: 1. Additional Supplies: 5. Okay, first things first. So, once you’ve got your palette, it’s time to paint your frames and your coffee stirrers! My mom and I did our painting as the sun was setting, which is always a questionable decision. I was going for the reclaimed driftwood sort of look. Once your coffee stirrers are painted, it’s time to trim them to fit into the frame(s) you’ve chosen. I found the quickest way to do this is to measure one stick to be the length you need it and then use it as the guide for trimming all the others. What’s left?
Earring Display This fun little shabby chic earring stand, made from an altered picture frame, is a great way to hang and display all your beautiful, dangling earrings. I had the idea for this project after we talked about my love affair with dangly earrings and how to display them. I don’t know about you, but I just love seeing them all hanging in a row! The next day I made this earring frame, and it was so quick, easy, and inexpensive to put together, I knew I had to share it with you! Cost: Less than $10 Time: 30 mins Supplies: picture frame, 12′ of picture wire, acrylic paint & brush, staple gun (or nails/tacks, etc) I started out with a black 8×10 picture frame from Walmart, $3. Since the frame wasn’t real wood, I was a little concerned with how it would turn out once I painted it. But as you can see from the above images, this little inexpensive frame did great! I gave the frame a couple coats of paint with this almost-but-not-quite white acrylic paint using the brushes pictured. And that’s IT!
City Map Paper Cut Out It’s rare you find someone who doesn’t at least find fascination with, if not flat out love, a map. They’re so informative; they’re proof of where we’ve been and where we’re going. More than that, they’re pretty good-looking! They come in all sizes, shapes, colors, varieties and of course, locations. One of the fun things about maps is collecting ones of all the places you’ve been, and all the places you want to be! When we came across this DIY project on how to cut out a city map out of paper, we knew we had to share. Would you do this project? Images: Just Crafty Enough via Apartment Therapy
Candle Holder I was messing around with different materials trying to dress up a little LED tealight, and this is one of the versions I ended up liking (plus it’s dirt cheap since it’s just thread!). I love me some textures. This may be useful for those with wedding venues that don’t allow real flames. Finding these* at the dollar store is what started this mess… 1) Get your hands on some thin cardboard that you’ll be recycling anyway. 2) Find some wrapping plastic (try to use something you’ll toss anyway!) 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 13. You can make different sizes and shapes. … and configure it however you want! * Batteries were included, and they lasted for many hours. Happy crafting! Mrs. Location: Sacramento Occupation: Tea Analyst Wedding Date: August 2008 Venue: Vineyard on the Delta
Rosewood Wreath I have seen various versions of Faux Rosewood Wreaths in just about every store and catalog for the upcoming season; most with a price tag running upwards of $40 or more. Some are crafted of paper and other of real wood shavings. Last year I made a few rolled flower gift toppers from recycled book pages and they remind me so much of the curled wood roses I thought they would make a good substitute. {with a much lower price tag} Materials Needed:Foam Wreath FormRecycled Book PagesLots of Hot GlueRibbon to Hang The full step by step tutorial I posted last year can be found {here}.Basically you layer three book pages together and draw a spiral circle. Starting with the outside of the spiral, roll the paper inward to create the flower shape. Give the wreath form a light coat of white {or light color} spray paint to help camouflage any see-through spaces. It seriously takes quite a few roses to fill the entire wreath, however I think the finished project has such a unique look. {Simply Lovely}
Wrap String Bottles I drink a lot of wine. And end up with a lot of empty wine bottles that are oh so pretty, it breaks my heart to have to junk them with the raddi- walla. I've been trying to find all sorts of utility excuses to hang on to them - wate bottles, plant holders and what have you. And now I have the perfect non-utility excuse to collect some more! Used: Coloured raffia from Le Papier Empty clearglass wine bottles (Sula Zinfandel -which is incidentally my personal favourite) Heavy duty glue (I have this stick of industrial glue that solidifies when it cools but I guess Fevicol would do as well) Starting at the bottom (cos the top's a bit tricky) starting winding the raffia tightly around the bottle, pausing to add a bit of adhesive every now and then. Edited to add: A couple of months later some more string arrived. And about half a dozen wine bottles later, here's what happened:
Crayon Art they are all over pinterest....(i still am not signed up for pinterest because i don't have time for one more thing but browsing is fun!) so we made one. i took a box of 64 crayons and took out the blacks and browns.i used another small box and doubled up on the good colors i liked and hot glued them to the top of our canvas. then we turned our blow dryer to hot on high. not long after you set the hair dryer by the crayons they get shiny and then the wax starts to melt! and it dries really quickly too. seriously. what could be happier than this?? GREAT project. loved it today is the first FULL day with ALL my kids in ALL day school.yeah...i am smiling as i type that. it's good. it's quiet. i am rockin' it. removing wallpaper.....making code for craft weekend stuff.....doing my hair....going to lunch..... it's all good. hooray for school!
Plant Tree Hello sweeties! I had the morning to myself and didn't want to go outside, so I've decided to make something beautiful! I have been seeing these wonderful vases made of lamp bulbs all over pinterest for some time now. They looked so appealing! However, I stopped using this kind of bulbs years ago and the new ones (CFL) contain mercury and they are totally unsuitable for the task! In fact they should never ever, I mean EVER break. Yesterday, I discovered that the last remaining traditional bulb I had in my balcony, had died and thought of giving this tutorial a try. It was a bit harder than I thought to take all the glasses and inside parts of the lamp out, mostly because my bulb was really small. I think I love my new vase!!!