Decoupage Bird

I recently went to Michael's craft store and had a mini shopping spree. One of the things I purchased was an unfinished wooden bird. Here's a video on how I stained and decoupaged it.

Here's how my final bird came out. I used some berries and leaves from a pick I purchased awhile back and glimmer misted a Prima flower and hot glued them into place. 

Pinspiration Sunday: Earring Frame

THIS WEEK'S INSPIRATION:

I found this cute gift idea on Pinterest quite awhile ago for a framed burlap earring holder. And now I’m in love with this project! And it’s going to be a Christmas gift for someone and I know if she sees this she will know right away that it is for her...but I had to post this. This project cost me $1.75 to make. I will repeat that…ONLY $1.75 TO MAKE!!!! WHOOOOOOO HOOO!!! The only items that I did not have on hand were the frame and spray starch. The frame I bought at a thrift store for only 25 CENTS and the starch was $1.50! Here is a list of what I used:

Thrift store frame
Acrylic paint (I used mint green and black)
Acrylic spray sealant
Hot glue and gun
Prima flowers
Tattered Angels glimmer mist (I used jingle bells and peach delight)
Burlap
Spray starch
Iron and ironing board
Cricut Craftroom Software and Jasmine Font Cartridge

Let’s get started. Here’s the original thrift store frame with the glass and backing removed:

I was originally planning to buy spray paint for this but I hadn’t gone to the store so I just decided to go with the acrylic craft paint I already had. I also have a plastic frame that I could use for this project and for that I would use spray paint. Using the craft paint on this wooden frame took 3 coats to get good coverage. I allowed that to dry then sprayed it with the acrylic sealer.

Next I went through my Prima flowers to see what I could use in this project. Now the original post showed a burlap and felt flower which I was going to try to make myself but I love the Prima flowers I have and I’m always looking for an excuse to use my glimmer mists. After I sprayed the flowers, I allowed them to air dry (you could use a heat tool but as I’ve said in the past, every project I do gets done in shifts. With the flowers I had to go to work so I let them air dry overnight)

Meanwhile I sprayed the burlap with starch and ironed it according to directions.

Next I used the Cricut Craft Room software to make the letter B. I knew my frame opening was for a 5X7” frame so I just made sure the letter was within those marking on the cricut mat and cut it out with cardstock. I placed the paper remaining from the cutout on to my burlap and used a sponge brush to stencil the letter on.

Then I used the glass to cut the correct measurement for the burlap.

After that I hot glued the burlap and flowers into place.

And there you have it. It’s a great personalized gift! Although it took me a span of 3 days to make this, I could have easily made several in one day. It was a very quick project and I’m sure I will be making more in the future.

***To get some good tips on using glimmer mists with Prima flowers, you gotta check out Marion Smith. Everything I learned about them, I’ve learned from her. The large yellow and orange one was made by first spraying the entire flower with jingles bells, then with a wet paint brush I dipped into the peach delight and just touched the tips of the flowers with the brush. The color bleeds well from there.***

Final Pay It Forward Gift

So it took me all year but I finally finished my last pay it forward gift. I just sat down today after getting home from the doctor’s office (I’m still very pregnant, but induction is planned for next week…whoo hoo!) and the creativity was flowing…I really like the way this mini album turned out. I used products throughout from Prima, Tattered Angels, Tim Holtz and Marion Smith. I also bought the book The Doodle Formula awhile ago and tried doing some doodling in this album. The layout of this album was from an album that Marion Smith had done last year. You can see that album on you tube at this address: http://www.youtube.com/user/APieceofCraftdotcom#p/u/81/5tlFBWRjaCU
That’s really all there is to explain. I hope you like this album as much as I do and hopefully Angela will love it too! Enjoy!

Front & Back Covers:

Womb to the World

Well I'm now 38wks preggers and we are impatiently awaiting Grayson's arrival. I've worked on his album as much as I can. I seperated each page as one month of pregnancy and it will included his birth and coming home. I thought I would show you what I have done so far. The album I used I bought from marionsmithdesigns.com. As I have shared before, I love her work and she sells great products. This is what the album looked like before I tore it apart.

 

Here are the inside pages...the whole book is made of heavy chipboard

I used paint to cover the pages, seperating each trimester by color. I used a variety of papers, prima flowers, ribbons, bling, buttons, glimmer mists ect. And item's designed by Marion Smith and Tim Holtz. Here's the album so far...

This pull tab is great! Learned it from Marion Smith! Check out how to make it from her video on ustream

This leaf we found at our Maternity photo shoot and we took a picture with it next to my belly...I love fall and I loved that picture...I saved the leaf and mod podged it to my page

I embellished this book with lots of flowers and other items with 3D dots which made it too large for the original binding. So I had to cut the covers off and I just bound it with ribbon then embellised the binding with the birdcage and pin. I really like the way this book is turning out...now we just gotta get this little guy out so I can finish it! Thanks for looking...hope you like it too!

Birdhouse Ornament

So I've really been slacking on this blog...but honestly I never have time to do any crafting now that I'm working...but today, since it's Christmas Eve (and I'm on call) I thought I would try out this template I purchased from Marion Smith Designs....she has the most amazing ideas! This was her birdhouse she posted awhile back but now dressed for the holiday season and made it an ornament...so cute! I bought the template last night and made this today...all I used was some scrapbook paper, prima flowers, glimmer mists from tattered angels, hot glue, the pink ATG gun, and some beads I had from another project....hope you like it!