First Project for Fall Fun: Toilet Paper Leaf Art

I loooove to decorate for Fall, so here's a confession:  I made this artwork 2 weeks ago, while it was still August.  (hanging head)  I can't help it if Fall's my favorite season!  :-P

Anyways, I was inspired by a beautiful craft idea I found on Pinterest awhile back.  (You can click here to see the original idea.)  I modified this idea and used only 1 canvas instead of 3.  It's a creative and inexpensive craft idea that can stay up all season long.  :)

I used:

* a white canvas (bought a pack of 3 at Walmart)

* twigs that will lay flat when arranged on the canvas

* a toilet paper roll tube

*scissors

*glue gun + glue sticks

* acrylic paints for the leaves - your choice of colors 

(I also used white paint for the background.)

** I completely forgot to take photos of each step in the process...sorry!  I'll do my best to explain how I made this project.

Instructions:

1.  I painted the background with lots of white and a bit of brown mixed in to give it a textured look.

2.  While the paint was drying, I took a trip around our yard, looking for twigs I could use that would look appealing and that were flat enough to glue onto the canvas.

3.  Once dry, I arranged the sticks and glued them to the canvas w/ the hot glue gun.  (You could also maybe wait to glue this when you're ready to glue the leaves.)

4.  Fold the toilet paper tube in half and cut it into thin strips to create the leaves.  (See photo below.)

5.  Once you've arranged them how you want them, use your finger to dab a dot of your acrylic colors onto the canvas into the middle of where you want each color of your leaves to be.  For example, I did my brown leaves first because it was the darkest color and I wanted to even it out throughout the project.  I used my pinky and dabbed a dot into the areas where you can now view brown leaves.

6.  After I did this for each color, I painted each piece of the tube according to the color where it would be on the canvas.  These pieces will dry quickly.  Add a second coat of paint, if you want to, and be sure to paint the edges of the tube.

7.  When these dry, use the glue gun to carefully apply small dots of glue where you want to attach the leaves.

8.  Finally, paint the inside of each leaf according to its color.  You may need to add a third coat of paint.

Enjoy!  :)

Preserving Jack-o-lanterns

I know Halloween isn't for another month-and-a-half yet, but a friend shared this on Facebook from another friend's post today.  (I wasn't able to identify the source or link to him/her.)

This will be helpful for keeping our pumpkin fun fresh this season!

After you scoop out and carve your pumpkin, dip it in a large container of bleach and water (use a 1 tsp:1 gal mix). The bleach will kill bacteria and help your pumpkin stay fresh longer. Once completely dry, (drain upside down), add 2 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a quart of water. Brush this solution onto your pumpkin to keep it looking fresh for weeks.”

Paper and Ribbons and Jars - Oh My!

I had a lot of fun decorating my apartment for Spring, so I'll share my photos of it with you.  :)

Since I had hardly any counter space, this was my coffee table.

This was my goody basket, which had been a plain straw basket.  I glued ribbons to its exterior, painted the top edges white, and glued a happy butterfly to the side.  :)

The next 3 images I found on Pinterest here:  

http://pinterest.com/pin/178525572700677535/

http://pinterest.com/pin/178525572700677557/

http://pinterest.com/pin/178525572700677589/

For the image above, I colored in some lettering with markers, and then I cut up some polka dotted paper into various shapes to frame it within the frame.  The faux Scrabble letters spell "Coffee for us", in case you're not familiar with German.  :-P

For these 2 frames, I again colored with markers.  I took apart a photo frame, taped the above image to orange paper, taped that onto the the standing part of the frame, and...

...then used the actual frame for the next image.  I used more twine to hang it on my wall and then tied some bows in the corner.  Easy peasy.

For the former apple sauce jar in the background, I inserted scrap paper and decorated the outside with twine.

For the former salsa jar in front, I taped ribbon and scrap paper to the outside.  I had the tea light candle propped on by a plastic spool on its side, and the glitter ribbon that had been on the spool was surrounding the tea light.

This was my bookshelf in my living room.

I cut paper doilies in half and used them for visual interest on the edge of my shelf.

Left:  I glued lace to a jar.                                      

Middle:  Candy jar filled with pretzels and trail mix

Right:  I wrapped ribbon and twine around a jar.

This was on the other side of my living room.

I had made 2 types of friendship notes for my friends - die-cut messages (floral papers) or little notes that I stuck in flowers made of toilet paper tubes.

Finally, one more jar wrapped up in scrapbook paper and twine. 

More Fun with Frames!

In the spirit of fun with photo frames, here are a few more ideas I came up with last year on my limited budget:

 

1. Paint a picture frame. 2. Glue pearls onto it and let dry. 3. I framed a pretty napkin with tulips and glued lace on its edges, inside the frame. Voila!

Use nail polish to brighten up white or other solid color photo frames! I used a shiny fuschia to create polka dots.

Here are both frames on my kitchen table.

One last idea:  Tape or glue patterned paper onto the background of a photo frame, and glue/tape felt shapes or images onto it.  I found this wrapping paper at IKEA and the butterfly stickers at a craft store.

So easy!

Frame the Coffee!

I'm a SEVERE coffeeholic, so I wanted to incorporate coffee into my decor, somehow.

I would buy these drinks at the store but really didn't want to throw away the cups, as they were a very sturdy material and could be reused in some way.

I ended up finding some more unwanted photo frames from another fellow teacher, and my eventual display in my apartment kitchen looked like this:

Here's what I did:

1.  Rinse and dry the coffee cup.

2.  Carefully cut off the back part.  (See photo below.)  I cut off less than half of it, because if I cut exactly half of the cup off, then the cup wouldn't pop out in the frame as much; it would look like it was sinking into the photo frame instead.

3.  Tape colored paper to the background of the photo frame.

4.  Use to tape the inside of the cup to the paper.  Glue could help with this, too.

This is seriously one of the easiest - and cheapest - ideas to use for decorating your home, and you'll be sure to get compliments from your friends.  :)

I also reused them in Spring on my refrigerator:

DIY Jewelry Displays

Last year, when I taught at a missionary school, I had an extremely limited income.  I lived overseas and wasn't able to bring my jewelry boxes with me, and I didn't know how to organize my jewelry.

Another teacher had 2 perfectly fine photo frames to get rid of, so I took them, hoping I could do something great and useful with them.

Here's a photo of the white frame and how I created a jewelry display out of it:

It was super easy to make and only required twine and thumbtacks!

I measured the length of the frame and cut the twine a few inches longer than that, because I ended up having to make a few knots at either end of the pieces of twine so that the thumbtacks would hold the twine in the frame. 

Make sure you pull it taut, because if you don't, the jewelry will cause the twine to sag and, eventually, collapse.

Here are the 2 frames I rescued.  (I didn't have a surefire way to organize the jewelry draping on the corners of the frames, but this was good enough for me.)

I love giving trash a second chance at life!  :)

What are YOUR ideas for thrifty jewelry displays?