Tuesday, August 30

Lots of cards!

I am back to making some cards again.  Sometimes I want to do a craft but I want something easy and fast.  Especially since I have started babysitting and school has started for the kiddos so I don't have as much time.  I needed to make a birthday card for my mother-in-law who turned 28 years old again. ;)  So I ended up making a total of 4 cards and a cute little bag to put some cookies in.  Who doesn't enjoy cookies?    




Also- The giveaway for the bracelet is closed and I the winner is:  Follower - Tara & David!  Please email me with what color of bracelet you want.  You can see the colors in the picture below.



Thanks for all of you that follow this blog and for the comments. I hope to do another give-away when I reach 25 followers.  

Last but not least- Check out this really cute pumpkin that I made using the tutorial on Under my Umbrella  she has some awesome ideas for the holidays.  I will be doing more of her crafts. 
Enjoy crafting!



 

Monday, August 22

2x4 candy corn!

I love projects that I can make with little effort and little cost.  My husband always has scrap boards around from various projects around the house.  So when I think of a craft that I can use these scrap pieces of wood it makes me happy - or as Kai Lan says - it makes my heart sing.   Sorry for the reference but my little girl is obsessed with Kai Lan lately. :)   

Last year, I made some cute christmas ornaments using scrap 2x4s cut into a triangle and painted like christmas trees so what else is a triangle and is a decoration for my favorite holiday??? - Candy Corn!

I used the 2x4s and cut them with a chopsaw with a 15 degree angle.  I didn't cut the triangle with sharp edges but left a little bit of a flat edge to make it more like the candy.  Then I just got out my paint and got to painting.  Just like the candy- I painted 3 stripes of orange, yellow, and white.  I then used a rag to paint on some beige paint to antique it and distressed the edges with sandpaper.  I had some hemp twine and I added some for the middle candy corn.  I figured I am going to sale them in the booth my sister and I have in sets of three.  I think that I will have to make some more for me though.  Tell me what you think!



I would love to see any other projects you have made too that are from scrap 2x4s.  


I also mentioned on my last post that I would be doing a give-away this time.  I will be giving away a metal flower bracelet that you can see in the post before this.  I will let the winner tell me what colors he/she wants the bracelet to be.  The rules are:  You need to comment or be a follower.  If you want double the entries than do both!  I will close the give-a-way next Monday 8/29/11.  Good luck and may the crafting force be with you. :)

On a total random thought- don't you love it when someone has the same sense of humor as you?  I was reading a book called "Hexed" by Kevin Hearne and in it there are witches, werewolves, etc.  When a witch calls him he sets up the ringtone for "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles.  I laughed because of my Halloween sign for the witch has the lyrics behind it too. 

Have fun and don't forget to enter into the give-away!

Tuesday, August 16

Weaved rings and Soda can flowers!

Today's post is all about trying out things that I have on my to-do list from the many blogs I follow. 

First, I found this post from The Perfect Pear for a leather wrapped ring.  I had to try it.  I have to admit that mine did not turn out quite as cute as hers but this was a first for me.  My sister Tara over at Craft Affection is the jewelry maker in our family.  I wanted to try something different too so I added some beads to the ring too.  As you can see on the second picture (excuse my lack of a manicure). 





I also found a post for Flowers made from soda cans and since I have an addiction to Coke - I figured I had the material for this craft. :)   If you are interested in making these here is the link with the tutorial.  Crissy's crafts

I wanted to put it on something and so I made the popsicle bracelets from Craft Affection and put it on there.  Love it! 



 Let me know what you think!  I will be giving away a popsicle stick bracelet on my next post.  The rules are:  You either need to be a follower or you need to leave a comment!  Enjoy crafting today!










Thursday, August 4

Halloween Decorations!



I love Halloween and I get soooo excited when it starts to creep up on us so I usually start thinking about it at least a month before it comes - or in this case- 2 months.  I have mentioned before that I have a booth in a cute store and so I thought I would make these decorations for the booth.  What better reason to start so early on the decorations if it needs to be available to sell right?  

The Witch sign:

I found a pattern on a website for a witch pillow  on http://www.creativehomeartsclub.com/projects/articletype/articleview/articleid/914/witch-boot-pillow and I thought that the pattern would work great for the sign.  I cut out the boots, legs, and buckles using that pattern with some Halloween paper I have in my scrapbooking stash.  I had a piece of wood hanging around and decided to use that too.  I painted the sign black and when I put the witch's boots, etc on it I thought it looked drab so I decided to put a background on it.  I found the lyrics the "Witchy woman" from the Eagles and put them on a Word document over and over - highlighting the word "Witch" using orange.  I then ripped the paper and inked the edges.  I then started Mod Podging like crazy!!  After all the layers were on the sign I drilled 2 holes and used gold tulle for the hanger.  Look at how cute it turned out:


Supplies for Witch sign:
Modge Podge
Board
Black paint
Dark Heritage Gray cardstock (boots)
Spooky circles/ black swirls paper from Pebbles inc. (legs)
twinkle twinkle little boy paper from My mind's eye (letters)
Orange distress ink
buckles and top of boots- paper unknown
gold tulle

The Monster Sign:

Once again I had a board leftover from some of my husband's gate and decided to make a monster sign.  I found the lyrics to "The Monster Mash" and did the same as the witch sign above.  I painted the board a citrus twist color and then Modge Podged the lyrics to it.  I put the borders on it and then found a cute graphic of a monster on the internet to put on it.  I added googly eyes and colored some of the monster. 
Here is the finished product:


Supplies:
Board
Citrus twist acrylic paint
Black and orange ink
green and orange marker
Monster/circle paper from Best Creations inc.
Modge Podge


I hope you find these as cute as I do and join me in getting ready for Halloween!




Monday, August 1

Painted "old" signs for fall

I love fall and I love the look of old items.  I wanted to make some new signs using the idea of vintage labels for the fall.  My husband just finished making a gate for the side of our house and had some leftover cedar fence slats and I have some acrylic paint so the idea was born and FREE!  Like I have said before - you have to love free crafts. 


I cut 4 pieces of the cedar slats 11" long and used 2 for each sign.   Then I searched on the internet for vintage labels and used then as a guide for how to paint the sign. 
I knew that I wanted to make a pumpkin sign but I looked at some other vintage labels and found one for Apple Cider so with that being an appropiate fall item I used that as the second sign. 

On the Sweet Cider sign I painted it red with the acrylic paint, let it dry, and then painted it with a crackle medium.  I left a border around it and painted the rest a country tan color.  
I then used my Cricut and cut out an apple and the words.  The words were around 1 1/2 inches.  After stenciling and adding some free-hand accents to the apple - I used a acrylic paint called goose feather and glazed the sign and sanded the edges.  Here is the finished product:

On the pumpkin sign I used the same size of cedar slat in 2 pieces too.  I painted the base the country tan color and added a border on the top and bottom of it using a color called Honeycomb.  It really doesn't show much.  I then used a picture from the internet of a pumpkin to trace and reference.  I used on the pumpkin 2 colors of orange (citrus twist, autumn leaves) and used some green (ticket) and some of the goose feather color.  The labels I made using the Cricut again.  I stenciled the top using red paint and the bottom using black paint.  I then glazed this sign with the goose feathers to age it.  Here is the finished product:

I have to say - Not too shabby!  I can't wait for the fall and to find a place to hang these.  I am connecting them using a shim on the back and I am thinking of finding some iron work to make the hanger.  Not sure.  I might have to make more for the booth in the Signs and Wonders store in Spanish Fork.  My sister and I have a booth there that tries to help fund our hobby. :) 
Have an enjoyable week and enjoy crafting!