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Spin Art into Wall Art

Crafting, DIY Projects, Project Gallery, Simple DIY Projects, Uncategorized No Responses »

Apr 252012

My son received a Crayola Spin Art set as a gift this past Christmas and really enjoyed creating some unique art pieces with it. I really loved all the different splashes of color and told him that I thought it would make a great little art piece if we found a way to put them all together on display. Of course, a million different things have happened since then to keep me from getting to this little project, but it is finally done and on display on our “art wall”.

This was super easy to create and only took about 10 minutes (not including paint drying time). I started with the frame, cream thick art paper & the artwork.

First, the art paper was cut to the size of the frame. Then using a round object (a lid from a jar was perfect for these) I traced out five random circles onto the paper. Once the circles were drawn out I used a small rotary cutter to cut them out smoothly. After all the circles were traced out I took it outside for some spray painting. I wanted the mat to match the art rail, so it was sprayed with some leftover “lagoon” paint. The art paper comes in many different shades, so the spray painting step could easily be eliminated if the right shade of paper was found.

When the paint was dry it was time to tape down the art to the back of the mat. I had it flipped right side up first, so I could get a visual of the circle placement before taping anything down. Once I found a layout I liked, it was flipped over and the little circles were taped into place. The lid I used for tracing was about a 1/4″ smaller than the spin art, so I didn’t have to worry to much about getting them perfectly center.

With taping complete, I flipped it over just to double check everything before sliding into the frame.

It all looked good, so into the frame it went and is now proudly on display over the art rail in our dining area. It is the first official permanent piece on the new art wall. The plan is to go through some of their other art pieces from the past few years and create a collection to hang permanently above the art rail, which has a continuously rotating display of current works.

Cost Breakdown:

Frame: $9 (Micheal’s w/coupon)

Art Paper: $0.99 (on clearance)

Spray Paint: $0 (on hand & completely optional)

Total Cost: $9.99

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DIY Paper Mache String Christmas Ornament

Christmas, Crafting 2 Responses »

Dec 112011

These guys were inspired by my friend, Scarlett, and a post she shared about Paper Mache String Pumpkins in October. My immediate thought when I saw this project was that these would make some really cute Christmas ornaments. You can find her complete how-to here. My only deviation was to use nylon twine instead of embroidery thread. Also, if I were to do it again I would not pop the balloon until after painting. Our ornaments got a little squishy during the painting process and I think the balloon would help retain the proper shape while wet.

Ready, set, paint!

My kids love to paint so this was definitely their favorite part of the project. I actually experimented with rolling the string into paint squirted onto the plates. It helped get paint into some of the cracks and crevices that the paint brush missed. We used 3 different shades of Metallic paint from Folk Art and had very little leftover by the time both ornaments were fully covered.

My daughter’s finished ornament. She was definitely a little rough with her ornament during the painting process and it dried a little misshapen, but she loved it and that’s all that matters.

My son’s finished ornament stayed a little more true to shape and turned out really beautiful. His touch was quite a bit softer than the 4 year old and it definitely made a difference in the final product.

Both ornaments are now hanging on a special row of lights and garland hanging in the living room dedicated to ornaments they’ve created and collected.

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Crazy Simple Tree Skirt

Christmas, Crafting 3 Responses »

Dec 102011

This tree skirt is so simple and easy to make I had to share. Originally I planned a burlap tree skirt more along the lines of some my favorites (shared here), but with my must finish before Christmas to-do list growing by leaps and bounds everyday I figured quick and easy was the way to go.

Here’s what I used:

2 yards of burlap (*recommend 3 yards for better coverage under the tree – but more than 2 rolls of ribbon will be necessary)
2 rolls of ribbon (30 ft each)
1 roll 1/2″ stitch witchery (fusible basting tape)
Iron

I purchased the burlap and ribbon at my local Hobby Lobby. Used a 40% coupon for the burlap and the ribbon was 50% off, so I only spent around $8 for everything (had the stitch witchery on hand).

Now here comes the really difficult part (not really), find the finished edge of the burlap and lay it out on your ironing board. You’ll want to use this as the edge of your skirt, since it won’t unravel. Starting at one end of the burlap, begin rolling out your stitch witch along the bottom edge. Leave about 2 inches of overhang on that end, so that you can wrap the ribbon over the edge later. Then place your ribbon on top of that and iron in place. Once you have all the ribbon ironed in place and have reached the other end, clip the excess ribbon and stitch witch leaving about 2 inches of each extending past the end (just like you did at the start). Now flip the piece over and wrap the excess ribbon and stitch witch around the edges and iron in place. **If you don’t have the stitch witchery on hand, you could also use hot glue or fabric glue. I preferred the stitch witch simply because it keeps everything really smooth – no glue lines.

That’s it your done. Told you it was crazy simple.

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10+ Play Food Sets and Tutorials

Crafting, Sewing 1 Response »

Dec 042011

Construction will begin soon on a play kitchen (the stove is #2 on this list if you want to check it out) for my daughter and it just dawned on me that she doesn’t really have any play foods to go with it. What good is a play kitchen without the food? Luckily, I realized this before Christmas eve and still have time to get a few things ordered before it’s too late. Etsy has some really cute sets with reasonable prices, but I’ll have to move quickly to ensure Christmas delivery.

I also did a little browsing on Pinterest to see what others have found and came across some great links to tutorials and another possibility from The Land of Nod. I most likely won’t have time to get to any of these before Christmas, but I know my daughter will want to continue to expand her pantry over time.

This link actually takes you to a long list of FREE felt food tutorials.

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Alida on Pinterest

Really cute set, but you do have to purchase these patterns…

Source: youcanmakethis.com via Alida on Pinterest

Wooden Food Sets. This particular bunch can be found at The Land of Nod. I like the idea of wood. Very durable.

Source: landofnod.com via Alida on Pinterest

Now to warm up my paypal account and make a few purchases…

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25 Days of Christmas Blogshare – Day 1 – Advent Calendar

Crafting 2 Responses »

Dec 012011

The first guest post of this holiday inspired blogshare is from Karen with Totsandme.

25 Days of Christmas

As we get ready for Christmas we, as a family, try very hard to emphasize the importance of the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. This starts at the beginning of the month with an observance of Advent, focusing on the joyful anticipation of his coming. Quite a few years ago I decided to create a countdown chart that would ultimately focus on this true meaning of Christmas. I originally saw this idea on a Christmas card and decided to incorporate it into our celebration.

I started by painting a Christmas tree onto poster board:

Click Here for the Rest of Story…

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