Friday Flowers: Coffee Filter Bouquet One day I’m going to write a post called 100 unusual ways to use Coffee Filters They are absurdly useful. The fiber quality on these suckers is so amazing it’s hard to believe they are Dirt Cheap. And I just love making flowers because, besides being beautiful, this is one of those projects where messiness only enhances the final result. You don't have to be nimble fingered to be proud of what you made. If you have little ones at home, I suggest you check out some of the many similar tutorials aimed at kids. This project is not new. That's right: The Mantel. Right there next to the ash tray and the wax grapes and the painting of a Parisian bridge on black velvet: My Flowers. Y’all, I’m not even joking. Anyway...Mustache Man had been there for months. To my logic: People who like mustaches + People who like pork rinds + People who like tambourines + People who like Kafka = People who will buy my flowers. An empire was born. Hallmark: call me. color your coffee filters 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
paper crafts for gifts: mini book photo tutorial Mini Book Photo Tutorial My advanced bookbinding class last spring took on the big project of coptic stitch books and so to reward them for all their hard work and patience as I worked out the kinks of teaching a group of people a very tricky stitch, I made everyone in the class these fun little accordion books! Here’s a step by step photo tutorial. Details on each step after the photos. You’re welcome to re-post this on your blog if you kindly link back. Click the Photos for a larger size. Materials: • Scraps of thin decorative paper for covers,• filler paper (this can be regular computer paper or sketch paper)• thin cardboard for the covers (the kind on the back of a sketchpad will work fine)• glue (I use PVA but any white glue would work fine) 1. 2. 3. 4. Visit link →
Tutorial: Rolled Paper Flowers Now that you've had a couple days to dye your coffee filters, I imagine that your crafty little fingers are itching for more coffee-filter-fun... First, plug in your glue gun and make sure you have plenty of glue sticks. Grab your favorite pair of scissors, and a big pile of your lovely coffee filters (or any paper of your choice) Since coffee filters are so thin, I usually layer and roll 2-3 at a time. For this flower, I'm using 2 filters. If you are using something other than coffee filters, you'll want to cut out a circle. Next, cut a spiral out of your coffee filter. and we're cutting... This is what your final product should resemble. The place where you started cutting will also be where you start rolling the flower Starting where you started cutting, roll your filter like you'd roll up a area rug. I had trouble getting flowers started with my big fingers, so I found it easier to fold down a tab as shown above to have more to hold on to. Finished rolling. And here's your flower.
Backlit Canvas Art Do you have one project that you've been longing to do, but just haven't found the time yet? This is it for me. I call it my Backlit Canvas Art and the inspiration piece has been pinned in my "Crafts to try" Pinterest board for ages. My "pin"speration is an artist's piece made from metal that has hand cut flowers all over it. So I decided to give it a go and create my version. There are two main differences between the two: 1. 2. The idea of the canvas is that during the day (ie. with the Christmas light off) you have a beautiful sculpture while at night (you guessed it, with the Christmas lights on!) How about a tutorial? Supply list Mounted canvas (mine is 10"x10") cardstock to fit on your canvas (mine is 12"x12") stamps ink pad X-acto knife light source* *I wasn't sure if I wanted to use a single bulb or Christmas lights so that is why both are in the above picture. I decided to go with the same flower theme as my inspiration piece. I randomly stamped various flowers across my cardstock.
DIY storybook paper roses | DIY Wedding DIY storybook paper roses You’re going to love today’s DIY project so much that you’re going to want to start tearing pages out from old books tonight! Remember the storybook roses in Shanna + Richard’s wedding? <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-17711" title="diy-paper-flowers-1" src="<a pearltreesdevid="PTD650" rel="nofollow" href=" class="vglnk"><span pearltreesdevid="PTD651">http</span><span pearltreesdevid="PTD653">://</span><span pearltreesdevid="PTD655">www</span><span pearltreesdevid="PTD657">. <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-17712" title="diy-paper-flowers-2" src="<a pearltreesdevid="PTD715" rel="nofollow" href=" class="vglnk"><span pearltreesdevid="PTD716">http</span><span pearltreesdevid="PTD718">://</span><span pearltreesdevid="PTD720">www</span><span pearltreesdevid="PTD722">. Step 2: Cutting.
Friday Flowers: Coffee Filter Daisies and Dahlias For someone who spends so much time with flowers, you would think my favorite would be something exotic or interesting. Nope. I like daisies best. Actually, I like anything yellow and happy looking. Now that we are nearly at the end of the series of coffee filter flowers, I'm hoping to show a different way to assemble your flowers in hopes it will spark some ideas! For the lantern above, I just hot glued a bunch of dahlias to the surface of an old lantern. 1. Daisies use the exact same process, just different shaped petals. Wouldn't these look lovely glued to the top of a box. Happy weekend! oops, I nearly forgot!......
Packing Tape Image Transfers I love image transfers. It’s something I’m always using in my journals but there are so many other fun uses for them. All you need to make a transfer is a photocopy of an image or words and packing tape. You can also use printouts from a laser printer or magazine pages. Inkjets will not work because they are not heat based toner. So take some photos to the copy machine or tear some pages out of your favorite magazine to get started. First, take a strip of packing tape and place it over the images you want to transfer: Then use the back of your scissors or the side of your fingernail to make sure the tape is adhered firmly: Next, dip the tape and paper into a bowl of water to wet the back: Using your fingers, start to rub off the paper from the back of the tape: Like magic….your image is left behind on the tape! I like to use the transfers to wrap special letters before I mail them. It’s like having custom tape: Another idea is to take a small canvas and use the images for artwork: P.S.
Coffee Filter Roses Back in my failed former days as a window dresser, I got some good advice from Tanja, the Grand Dame of the cosmetics department. Originally from Romania, Tanja was widely renowned for her eyebrow waxing skills and had arrived at a point in her career when she only had to take one appointment a day, then happily dragged it out all afternoon. Most of the time was spent smoking and laughing and singing gypsy folk songs about beet salad, then more smoking and dispensing advice about important things like men, business, and unwanted hair. Of the many things I learned from Tanja, there are three golden nuggets that stand out; Never brush your teeth with blue toothpaste.Men with excessively bushy eyebrows are likely to cheat on their wives.Women will buy anything wrapped in roses *Women married to men with excessively bushy eyebrows should expect a lot of roses. A week after Tanja dropped that old chestnut, my new boss gave me the task of revamping a central display table. SHAZAM! Materials: 1.
DIY Wood-Grain Laptop Wrap When I was wandering through the dollar store the other day I came across this super amazing wood-grain contact paper. and was completely smitten! I knew I needed to find something to cover it with - pronto! Enter, my lapytop. So, I had plenty of photos of the entire process, but my camera is also an old and quirky beast and has taken to randomly deleting photos, which it decided to do half-way through the whole DIY process, so sorry! So, to start, go ahead and power off your laptop and take out the battery so you're free to work on it without any worries. Now, unroll your contact paper, and lay your computer on top with the grain going wichever way you want, then cut around it, leaving a large boreder on all sides (you'll trim it down later). Now, you can decide what you'd like to do about the logo on your cover. After you cafefully remove the backing, lay it gently on top of your laptop, careful to line-up where your logo cut-out is, and smooth the contact paper out.
Friday Flowers: Centerpieces for $3 in 5 Minutes When I started posting about these coffee filter flowers, I got a lot of questions and feedback from brides-to-be looking for alternative centerpieces. Thanks to all y’all who reached out and showed interest –you made my day many times over :) Ladies: this one is for you! It’s also for everyone looking to make some specials accents for a party or shower, or even just an arrangement for your home or office. Today I'm showing one centerpiece, "the Shirley Temple" that is super economical and easy to make, plus two other options that are similar in cost, with a couple extra special flourishes. Now, before we get started, I need to introduce you to my little friend: THE CRIMPER. Handheld crimpers go by many names, and you can get them three ways: * Buy one on line. * Buy one at a craft store with a decent floral supply section (30% success rate on this method). * GET ONE FREE by taking part in my first giveaway! Sooo, are you interested? $3 and 5 minutes: Shirley Temple 1. 5. 9. 11. 13. 15.
A Matching Game (A Tutorial and Download I’m starting to think about holiday gifts…and so I’ll be sharing a bunch of ideas for handmade holiday gifts over the next few weeks. I made this cute little matching game using wood craft disks and Citra Solv. It’s easy to make, inexpensive and the recipient will love the handmade quality! It’s a great game to throw in your purse for on-the-go entertainment….for all ages. The cute little animals are from a free (personal use) font called Pixel Farms. You can download the font an create a template but I also uploaded my template at the bottom of this post to make it easy on you. I put the game in a muslin bag. It’s like your typical “memory” game…..all the pieces go face down: And each player gets a turn to flip them over until a pair matches: Click here to see the entire Citra Solv transfer tutorial…..but basically you print the template out using a laser printer or photo copier: Apply Citra Solv to the back of the paper and rub the image off onto the wood: A finished transfer:
Making DIY Coffee Filter Flowers: The Complete Guide Hello lovely readers, Apologies for the delayed post today. This post was originally one sweet little DIY tutorial all set to go live at 9am this morning then I got immersed in the intoxicating world of coffee filter flowers and ended up adding another and another until I was up to my eyeballs in coffee filter tutorials and inspiration! So it took waaay longer than expected but I do hope you’ll find it useful. If you’re looking for a cheap, simple and pretty DIY project for your wedding, coffee filter flowers could be just the thing! photo via Just Simple Designs Who knew coffee filters could look so pretty? The great thing about coffee filter flowers is that they can be used in so many different ways, from decor (they’d make a mean ceremony backdrop) to centerpieces, place settings, wreaths and, if done in miniature, they’d look so sweet attached to escort cards or favor boxes! You could even create a bunch of them, attach them to ribbon wrapped florist’s wire et voila! Dying Coffee Filters