Category Archives: craft

Stylish New Pincushion With DecoArt Paint

Posted on by
17
Don’t you love coming home and finding a brown paper package on your doorstep? I do! So of course I was thrilled when we returned home from vacation {a couple weeks ago} and I found a nice size box from DecoArt waiting for me! I was like a kid at Christmas, I couldn’t get into the DecoArt box fast enough. 
But when I did, I found lots of crafty goodness! I received several fantastic colors of Americana Paint, which happens to be one of my favorite supplies. They have every shade you can imagine! I also received a few products that I have not used. Two bottle of Decoupage in matte and gloss finish, a bottle of Magikote and a bottle of Gel Stains. All I can say is THANK YOU DECOART!
Here is my first project using one of the Americana paints. It’s a new pincushion for my craft room! Which, BTW, is still in the works. Many of you have asked recently if you’d missed the reveal. NO, I’m just slow! But for now, here is the pincushion on my sewing table.

Here is what I started with – an old oval frame, Americana Blue Mist, burlap and batting. 
I painted one good coat of paint on the frame {no prep needed}.
I planned on distressing the frame after painting, so I really didn’t feel it was necessary to cover the entire frame with paint. I let some of the gold peak through. After the paint was dry, I gently sanded areas of the frame to remove paint. I also broke out the glass of the frame, carefully!

I layered two pieces of batting, two layers of burlap and then the frame. I ended up adding more batting to the center so that the cushion would protrude. . .
like this. 

Once I had the fabric and batting the way I wanted it, I used hot glue around the inner edges of the frame to secure the burlap.

It was a tight fit in the frame, but I managed to close the back and secure it.
What do you think? Definitely an improvement to my cute little tomato, huh? 
I like it! 
A huge thanks to DecoArt for the fantastic products! Stay tuned to see what I do with the rest of my goodies!
{I will say that I didn’t think of this idea on my own. I saw it months ago on another blog and praised her for her creativity. But I can’t remember which blog that was. :(  If it was you, let me know and I’ll give you a shout out!}

This week I’m linking up to these fabulous parties:

http://www.scissorsandspatulas.com/p/link-parties.html

Todays Creative Blog
Visit thecsiproject.com

http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/
Photobucket

Trying Something New – Paper Crafts!

Posted on by
6
I recently started making paper crafts thanks to my MOPS buddy Angie. Angie is incredibly talented in decorating and crafting. She is also a Stampin’ Up demonstrator/sales rep. I’ve been a scrapbooker for years, but Angie introduced me to a whole new world of paper crafting. I’ve recently started making greeting cards, mini photo albums, and a few other paper crafts.

Here are two of the mini albums I made designed by Angie.
{Please excuse the photos. I took these at night so they are kinda dark.}

Materials needed: embossed heavy cardstock, coordinating designer scrapbook paper, envelopes, ribbon, brads, silk flowers, buttons, stamps, ink pads, scalloped or floral punches, a hole punch and scrapbook adhesive.

The first is a matchbook album. This is the front cover which closes just like a matchbook and is held together with a ribbon at the top. 

Inside the book are several pages, each a different style, to hold a single photo. 
The second is an accordion-style album. This album opens like a book and is secured shut with a ribbon.
Inside envelopes are attached to create a vertical accordion which houses unique pages for single photos.
A huge thanks to Angie for showing me how to craft with paper! I know I don’t have the step-by-step tutorial today, but don’t worry, I’ll be making more of these soon and sharing with you exactly how to do it! 

This week I’m linking up to these fabulous parties:
http://www.scissorsandspatulas.com/p/link-parties.html

Todays Creative Blog


Our Day With Daddy and a Giveaway!

Posted on by
50
Wow, what a weekend! We had so much fun celebrating Father’s Day with all the dads in our lives. 
But we were most excited to celebrate the #1 daddy with a special day of fishing on the lake. This was our first fishing trip with the boys so we got poles for everyone and I thought it would be fun to make daddy a tackle box.

I bought a plain ole tackle box from Wal-mart and Little Man #1 picked out orange paint {outdoor paint to withstand weathering}. I painted one hand of each boy and put one print on each side of the box. 

I used my brand new Silhouette SD {whoop whoop} to cut vinyl decals for the tackle box.

I was able to download both images from Silhouette’s online store. 
In the end we had a brand new tackle box for daddy! He loved it!
After a yummy breakfast we grabbed the boat and headed out to he lake.

And while fishing was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed it. . . 

we still only caught one fish! Oh well, better luck next time! 
We finished the day. . .
with some tubing! 
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
And now for the giveaway. . .

I’m sure you all have heard of Thirty-One.

They carry bags of all kinds with beautiful fabrics and custom monogramming. They also have a new line for teens as well as one for kids so there is something for everyone!

My friend, consultant Elizabeth Coles, is going to give one of my readers a $25 gift certificate to Thirty-One!
Head over to the Thirty-One site and check out the new Spring/Summer catalog.


How do you enter? 
*YOU MUST be a PUBLIC FOLLOWER of SCISSORS & SPATULAS to enter*
  • For additional entries, do any {or all} of the following. And if you already do, that’s fine too! Come back and leave me a comment telling me you did or already do. {leave a separate comment for each task}

1. Like Thirty-One on Facebook.
2. Like Scissors and Spatulas on Facebook.
3. Mention this giveaway on Facebook.
4.  Tweet about this giveaway.
{ex: Don’t miss the Thirty-One $25 giveaway @scissorsandspatulas http://bit.ly/kVC76G }

The winner will be chosen at random Sunday evening {June 26} and announced next Monday. 

Good luck!

Decorating for Summer: Front Door Wreath

Posted on by
24
A couple of months ago I shared with you the baby girl wreath I made for my friend Cindi for her baby shower. Well since making the wreath for her, I’ve been wanting something similar for myself. And what better way to decorate my door for summer than with a summer rosette wreath?
Here’s how I did it. . .
You’ll need a straw wreath {I found mine at Hobby Lobby near the grapevine wreaths}, yarn, coordinating fabric, buttons and a hot glue gun.
To be honest with you, I don’t think I’ll EVER do the yarn part again. For my friend’s baby shower I wrapped the wreath with burlap fabric strips which was pretty simple. I like the way the yarn wreaths look but man, it was time consuming! I sat on my couch and wrapped the wreath for almost two hours! Seriously, it took the entire episode of American Idol to wrap this thing in yarn! Maybe it’s because I’m slow, maybe it’s because I’m a perfectionist, I don’t know. It took forever! Anyway, I taped the yarn to the plastic covering and started wrapping it around and around and around. I did three layers filling in the spaces as I went.

Next I made the flowers. I decided to use both rosettes and layered petal flowers for this wreath.Click here for photos and tutorials on making both these flowers. 
Once the flowers were finished I added the buttons to a few and arranged them around the wreath.

I used hot glue to secure the flowers and tied a grosgrain ribbon around the top to hang it.

And there ya go! My new summer wreath! 

DIY Spring/Easter Napkin Rings

Posted on by
83
I was at Hobby Lobby the other day {I know what you are thinking, me at Hobby Lobby, no way!} and found these cute little grapevine mini wreaths. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but they are about 3″ across.
 I started thinking “Hmmmm, what I could make with these cuties?” Then it dawned on me, they are the perfect size for napkin rings!!! So, I threw them in the cart. I kept shopping, and here is what I came home with:

The mini grapevine wreaths, little bird nests and some mini speckled eggs-on-a-stick.
And here is what I did:
Cute little nest napkin rings!!
Here is how I did it: 
I removed the eggs from the wire sticks and used a hot glue gun to glue them inside the nests.
 I then hot-glued the nests at an angle on the grapevine rings.

And this is how they turned out! 
Very easy, very quick, cute Easter/Spring project!

Grapevine rings $2.99 = at 50% off
Nests = 99 cents (each) x 2
Eggs = $2.99 at 50% off.
Total = $5.00
5 bucks!!

You Know You’re Old When. . .

Posted on by
40
you’re exited about crafting on St. Patty’s Day!
St. Patty’s Day is officially over and I did not drink one single green beer! I remember in our younger years {you know, the days before the kiddos} St. Patrick’s Day was one of our favorite holidays. Who doesn’t like to go out and enjoy several a few good beers? Well, instead of going out and celebrating, I stayed in and created a new spring wreath for my door. And you know what? I didn’t miss going out. I could have spent twice the money on green beers with nothing to show for but a headache and a beer gut! Instead, I got this. . .

Here is what I started with:
A large, oval-shaped grapevine wreath and ivory wire-edged ribbon.
{Hobby Lobby – $5.99 and $7.99 both at 50% off}

4 ivory and pink hydrangea stems.
{Dollar Tree – $4}

3 vine sprigs
{Hobby Lobby – $4.99 each at 50% off}
1 moss-like branch
{Hobby Lobby – $4.99 at 50% off}

A box of pink and green speckled eggs
{I bought these last year from Homegoods.}

I started by cutting the vine into smaller pieces. I divided the leafy stems into about 4 pieces and I cut the hydrangea blooms off, leaving about a two-inch stem. I also removed the leaves.

I arranged the vine evenly around the wreath. I secured it using a hot glue gun. The good thing about a grapevine wreath is that you can tuck added pieces inside the intertwined branches and they blend right in.

You can also hide the glue {which can tend to turn colors over time} under the intertwined branches.

Then I glued the hydrangeas in a cluster, leaving some space in between to add the leaves and the mossy pieces. First, I added the hydrangea leaves around the outside of the flowers as well as in between to fill in the empty spaces. Then I added small pieces of the moss branches just to add a little more green.

I created clusters of eggs in a few different spots around the wreath. I applied hot glue to the bottom and back of the eggs to attach them to the wreath.
Like so.

I wrapped the ribbon around the wreath and tied a pretty bow to hang it.
And my door is ready for spring! Now beer would have cost way more than this wreath did! It was just a hair over $20!

My Dryer Eats Our Socks!

Posted on by
44
I know I’m not alone when I say that my dryer’s favorite snack is a sock. Not a pair of socks, but one sock, leaving the other alone and without a partner.  Eventually I find the missing sock, but by then, it’s hard to remember what I did with the lonely one. I found a solution.
A place for misfit socks.
Here’s how I did it. . . 
My mom gave me this antique washboard a few years ago. I spray painted it black and it has hung in my black and ivory toile laundry room since. Plain and black, until now. 

I bought a few different black and ivory scrapbook prints .
I measured the length and  height inside the margin of the washboard frame, 

transfered the measurement to the paper,
and cut the paper to fit the measurements.

I grabbed my Mod Podge and a sponge brush.

I applied one coat of Mod Podge on the washboard then carefully laid the paper inside the margin and used a craft stick to smooth the paper over the board.
I put two coats of MP over the paper, letting the first coat dry 15 minutes before applying the second.
After another 15 minutes I laid the letters (which I cut using my Cricut) and applied one more coat of MP over the letters.

I took the clothespins apart and measured and cut the paper so that it would wrap around one side of each clothes pin. I used the same technique as described above to apply the Mod Podge, (1 coat under the paper, 2 coats on top with 15 minutes in between each coat) and wrapped the clothespin like a present.
After putting them back together they looked like this.

I used a hot glue gun to attach the clothespins to the washboard.
There ya have it! 
Lost and (hopefully) found.

Valentine’s Ribbon Wreath

Posted on by
28

While walking the isles at the Dollar Tree I saw a variety of pretty V-day ribbon. I started thinking about what I could do with it, and for some reason a wreath popped into my head. I had no idea how exactly I would make this wreath, but I started buying materials to make it anyway. And the best part? All the materials came from the Dollar Tree. I take it back, the LOVE came from the Dollar Spot at Target. Point: nothing was more than $1.
4 spools of ribbon = $4
1 pkg. hearts on a stick = $1
LOVE = $1
wreath base – $1
A grand total of $7!!
Once I got home and looked at all my stuff, I figured out what I was going to do. 

I grabbed a can of red spray paint from the garage and went out in the frigid cold to spray my wreath base. It didn’t have to be perfect because it would be covered with ribbon, but it needed to be red.
While the paint dried I cut the ribbon into pieces about four to five inches long. I didn’t measure any cuts. I just eyeballed it.
After cutting the ribbon, I folded each piece in half and twisted the fold so it resembled a knot.

I used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon to the wreath base. I put the glue in the crevices of the wreath then stuck the twisted end of the ribbon down in the crevice. 
There was no rhyme or reason for the placement of the ribbons other than alternating the two different ribbons. After I had gone all the way around, I filled in some bare spots around the inside and outside of the wreath.
Remember these pieces?

I pulled the sticks out of the hearts and used the hot glue right on the ribbon to attach them and LOVE to the wreath. 
When I was finished. . .
It turned out like this!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Scrap Wood Becomes Valentine’s Decor

Posted on by
7

Hubby has tons of scrap wood in the garage. I was feelin’ kinda crafty one day and decided to go dig through his pile to see what I could fine. I came across these two pieces. Hmmmmm, what if I (well, hubby actually) cut them into blocks?
I had hubby cut them into 3″ cubes.
I painted the blocks with semi-gloss white paint which we always have in the garage.

Then, using really large grit sandpaper, I rounded the corners. After that I used a finer grit to distress the paint a bit.
I rubbed each block with some distressing ink.

Using my Cricut, I cut 3″ rounded-edge squares from scrapbook paper. I applied Mod Podge directly to the wood to adhere the paper then sanded the edges and corners of the paper to blend it. Then I applied one coat of Mod Podge over the paper.

Close up of the blocks after sanding. The one on the right tore a little, but once I applied the MP on top, it smoothed and wasn’t noticeable.

While the first coat of MP was drying I used my Cricut to cut the letters “I” and “U.” I placed them on the block and applied one more coat of MP. I glued a painted wooden heart I bought at Michael’s on the other block.

And. . .

.
here they are! My cute little Valentine’s blocks!