Monday, May 24, 2010

Create Your Own Art Work


So here's an affordable way to get the artwork that you want in your home. I love the country signs that have cute sayings but I just couldn't find one that would fit in our kitchen. I like the say “Good food, good friends, good times." In fact the saying "good times" is something my husband and I use A LOT. So I really wanted to have a sign with that saying on it. Now my kitchen is this amazing blue color (well I think its amazing) and I have accents of brown, tan and orange. Needless to say I couldn't find those colors in a sign so I took it upon myself to make my own. I went to a local craft store to get supplies. I first went to the scrapbooking section to find paper to use as the background. I found this awesome orange paper that had fluffy white flowers and grabbed two of those. Next I headed to the frame department and found a frame that I liked and I was able to use a coupon on it so I got it for half price. I already had cardstock at home for the lettering. I simply tried to line up the two sheets of paper the best I could to cover up the fact that there were 2 separate sheets instead of one solid background. Cut it the size of the frame. Then I cut out the saying using my Cricut© machine with the Jasmine font. Then I simply glued them in place. After letting it dry I just placed it in the frame. Then I bought some cheap berry garland and draped it around the frame. And there you have it. Total cost was about $15. And it’s custom made!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Flower Pots

So I should be studying for my Abdomen board exam but instead I’m doing this. I’m trying to grow flowers from seeds but I’m not having much luck keeping them alive and there is still a chance of frost so I’m afraid to plant them outside but they’ve are grown enough to not be in the starter kit that I bought. Unfortunately I don’t have flower pots or the money to go buy some up so I needed to come up with something that not only could allow the plants to further grow indoors but also look nice as it would be displayed in the house. That is where I decided to make mini flower pots out of stuff I have around the house. I will show you this very simple and pretty way to make a small pot from a tin can. You could really use anything like plastic bottles or bowls too. The supplies you will need include: Mod Podge, scissors, foam brush, scrapbook paper, ribbon, paper trimmer, and the item you wish to plant in (i.e. tin can, soda bottle, cool whip bowl) I also had pliers to push down a part of the can that was sticking up inside to avoid cutting myself as I placed the soil into the can.


First I took the label off the can.


Next I measured the height of the can and cut my scrapbook paper accordingly (I used a scrap piece of 12X12 paper and cut to the height needed).


Then I covered the entire outside of the can with Mod Podge.


Next I wrapped the paper around the can.


Cut off the excess paper leaving some extra and applied the Mod Podge to that and pressed down to secure.


I gave the can a little time to dry before I applied the Mod Podge around the entire outside of the can again, over the paper. This will help it resist water should you spill any as you water the plant. Next I tied a scrap piece of ribbon around the can while the Mod Podge was still wet. Then I allowed it to dry.


Finally I filled it with soil and planted the flower…and that was it. It was really very simple. Happy growing!