Sneak Peek: Salvation Army Frame

I never thought I would be so excited to find this 3 dollar frame today at the Salvation Army. Stay tuned to see what I'm making with it.

Happy Crafting!
Love, Melanie

Decorative Fabric Balls (Saint Patrick's Day Edition)

I had some fabric leftover from my wreath, so I decided to make some decorative balls for my glass vase. It was the perfect addition to my St. Patty's Day decor.

In order to make this, you will need:

-fabric

-pins

-styrofoam balls

-scissors

First, I cut the fabric into strips. The size of each strip will depend on the size of your balls, mine were 3 inch balls. My strips ended up being somewhere between 0.5 inch-1inch wide, and about 9.5 inches long. I eyeballed these measurements so they were not exact each time. Each ball required 8 strips of fabric, but that will depend on how thin you make them.

Once your strips are cut, you are ready to begin. I began wrapping the fabric strips around the styrofoam ball and using one pin to join the ends. Continue this process until the entire ball is covered.

When your entire ball is covered and you can no longer see styrofoam, you have finished your first fabric ball. Repeat these steps to fill an entire vase, bowl, etc.

Happy Crafting!
Love, Melanie

St. Patty's Day Wreath

This is a project I have been so excited to do! Finally, Joann's holiday fabrics went on sale last weekend, and I was able to begin this fun project. I originally saw a picture of this wreath at The Magic of Ordinary Things blog and it looked like something that could be easily recreated.

In order to make this, you will need:

1 wire hanger

Fabric

Scissors

Ribbon

I used 5 fabric patterns for this wreath, but you could use as many or as few as you'd like. I purchased half a yard of each pattern, and still had plenty of fabric leftover for another project (coming soon).

To start this project I shaped the wire hanger into a circle and cut off the hook at the top. You could leave the hook on if you are planning to hang your wreath from it.

Next, I cut strips of each fabric. My strips were approximately 1 to 1.5 inches wide and 8-9 inches long. I say approximately because I did not measure as I cut, i figured it wouldn't matter for the final product. You may cut your strips any width you desire. If you have more fabrics, you may want them thinner so each one takes up less space. 

Once all the work is done, the fun begins! I began tying each strip to the wire hanger, until the hanger was full and my wreath was complete! The amount of fabric strips you need will depend on how thin you cut your strips. I also added a ribbon for hanging.

Happy Crafting!

Love, Melanie

Heart Bouquet

I whipped this up one day to match my "Love" blocks and heart wreath. I used the wood hearts from the heart wreath to trace the hearts, glued them on skewers, and stuck them in a vase. My easiest project yet! I am very pleased with the final product, so I thought I'd show it off. 

What are some ways you've spruced up the house for Valentine's Day?

Happy Crafting!

Love, 

Melanie

Heart Wreath

Once again, thank you to the Oopsey Daisy Blog for having such great ideas for Valentine's Day. I followed this tutorial pretty closely when doing this project. Let's get started:

In order to make this you will need:

A wreath form

Ribbon

Wood hearts of all sizes

Scrapbook Paper

Wooden circle beads (2 sizes)

Red paint

Mod Podge

Gorilla glue

Hot glue gun

I started by wrapping the ribbon around the wreath form. To do this, I place some gorilla glue at the start of the ribbon and used sewing pins for reinforcement. When that was finished, I began tracing the hearts onto the scrapbook pages, mixing up the sizes and shapes for each pattern.

Once all the hearts were traced on paper, I began painting. I used red paint and made sure to cover both sides of the hearts. I didn't want to be able to see any of the wood, especially because I knew I would be hanging it over a mirror.

While I waited for the paint to dry, I cut the hearts out so they were ready to go.

Next, I glued the wooden beads onto the backs of the hearts using the gorilla glue. I wanted to make sure I had some flat hearts(no bead) and then a variety of hearts with both sizes of beads on the back. You don't need to have the same amount of each, I just mixed it up at random.

When the glue was completely dried, I painted all the beads. Once again, I didn't want the wood to show at all.

After the paint dried, I used Mod Podge to adhere the paper hearts to the wooden hearts. I first put a layer on the wooden heart, placed the paper hearts, and then added another coat to the top to seal it off. More waiting for things to dry....

FINALLY, it was time to place the hearts on the wreath. I placed hearts all over, trying to cover up as much of the wreath as possible. I just kept adding more, and more, and more. I used a hot glue gun for this part, and it worked very well.  I also added more ribbon for the wreath to hang. I am so happy with the finished product!!

Variations:
- would look great with any shapes (circles, squares, stars, etc)
- any colors or patterns of paper would also be nice
- you can do this for any holiday or season

Happy Crafting!

Love Blocks

A while back, when Valentine's Day seemed like it would never come, I found a tutorial for these blocks on the Oopsey Daisy Blog. You may view the original tutorial with pictures here, or keep reading to see how I did it.

In order to make this, you will need:

A 2x4 block of wood (cut into four pieces)

Spray paint

Scrapbook paper and Cardstock

Ribbon

Mod Podge

Glue Gun

I let Adam have a little fun with this one and cut the 2x4 into four pieces: one 6in block, two 7in blocks, and one 8in block. I gave each piece of wood a few coats of black spray paint and sanded the sides.

To make the letters, I picked a font, printed it out, and traced each letter onto cardstock. Since I don't have any fancy machine for cutting, this is what I resorted to. I cut the letters from the cardstock and they were ready to go.

Next, I traced each piece of wood onto scrapbook paper and cut them out. Using Mod Podge, I put the different patterned paper onto each block of wood. Another coat of Mod Podge was used to adhere the letters, and a final coat of Mod Podge went on top.

When that completely dried, I added the ribbon using a glue gun. I followed the tips from Oopsey Daisy and only put ribbon around the sides and top of each block so they would stand nicely. Simple as that! Now you can make one for every holiday.

Variations:
-any colors
-any paper
-any letters

Happy Crafting!

Letter Photo Art

I found a really cool tutorial on the Shanty-2-Chic blog, and couldn't wait to try it! With Christmas right around the corner(when I came across this), I decided to whip up a few for gifts. They were a big hit, and I may even have to make my mom a "Laundry" one.

In order to make this, you will need:

A 2x10 piece of wood

4x6 pictures frames (I got mine at Dollar Tree)

Spray paint in the colors of your choosing

Hot glue gun

Letter pictures

First, I picked my letters be clicking HERE. There are a ton of letters to choose from, and they are absolutely free!

Next, I spray painted both the wood and the picture frames, both needed several coats. Once they were completely dry, I put the pictures in the frames and pulled the support piece off the backing of frame. I then determined the placing of each frame on the wood. When I got it just right, I began gluing. I used a hot glue gun, so it wasn't long before the glue dried and I could see my finished product.

Variations:

- For longer names/words, you may want to use 3x5 frames and a smaller piece of wood.

- A thinner piece of would should be used if you would like to hang you letter art on a wall.

Happy Crafting!