Tag: craftiness

One Last Patriotic Project — The Jean Banner

One Last Patriotic Project — The Jean Banner

Happy Independence Day, y’all! I hope you get to celebrate our stars and stripes in good old down-home fashion with food, fireworks, friends and family. We are headed out to our friends’ lake house later today, but only after the local parade, carnival and naps. . . oh, and of course we’ll stop for fireworks along the way.

patriotic project

This is definitely one of my favorite holidays of the year and I love decorating our home with loads of red, white and blue. I just had to share one last patriotic project that I finished this weekend, using a pair of old jeans, cheap material, a bit of jute and a few wooden stars.  I knew I would eventually do something with that stash of jeans in the corner of my craft room.

I simply cut pieces of jeans and fabric using my triangle stencil and sewed them together along the top to create a pocket for the strand of jute. In the meantime, I used my large Crop-a-Dile to poke two holes in each star to mimic buttons and painted the stars white. Before I moved on, I popped the sewn banners in the washing machine and dryer to fray the edges just a bit. After a quick ironing, I sewed the star “buttons” onto each of the banners, ran the jute through the tops and strung it up to my mantel.

Enjoy your Fourth and let a veteran or service person know he/she is appreciated!

I Take My Coffee With a Sharpie Shamrock Mug

I Take My Coffee With a Sharpie Shamrock Mug

shamrock mug

Okay, I’ve wanted to try this Sharpie technique for quite some time now, so with a Michael’s coupon burning a hole in my pocket I picked up a Sharpie oil paint marker in the perfect St. Patrick’s Day shade of green and went to work on one of our white coffee mugs (we have an ample supply, which drives my husband crazy. . . but that’s another story).

I was so excited that this Sharpie shamrock mug project turned out like the picture in my head, and it even made it through the dishwasher cycle as I held my proverbial breath. When my husband walked in and called it “cool;” well that just settled it, I had to share. So here’s how this cute little project goes..

shamrock mug

Materials:

  • Coffee Mug
  • Sharpie Oil Paint pen
  • Contact paper
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Scissors or Die-Cutting Machine with shamrock cartridge
  • Pen and shamrock shape, if you don’t have a machine that will do this for you.
  • cookie sheet
  • aluminum foil

Instructions:

  1. Wipe down a clean coffee mug with rubbing alcohol to take off any soap residue or finger oils. Let dry.
  2. Trace and cut out your shamrock shape on the contact paper, or if you happen to own a die-cutting machine and appropriate cartridge you should definitely go with that. I used my Cricut machine and Small Talk Frames & Tags cartridge (ha, just like it was made for me) set at 3 inches to cut out a contact paper shamrock.
  3. Stick the shamrock shape on the mug in your desired location, burnish the edges with your finger to make sure all the edges adhere to the mug.
  4. Prime your paint pen per manufacturer’s directions and practice making dots before you start on your mug. The pressure you use will determine the size of your dots.
  5. When you’re ready to start painting your mug, start making dots with the paint pen all the way around the edge of the contact paper first. You will want a solid line of dots around the entire edge so that when you remove the sticker you will see a perfect outline.
  6. Continue making dots to fill in gaps and work your way outward. This is where you get to use your creative license, because you can make your dots as far apart and away as you want. Just keep going with the dotting until it looks right to you.
  7. When you are finished painting, remove the contact paper and allow your mug to dry for 24 hours.
  8. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place your mug upside down on the foil.
  9. Place the cookie sheet and mug in the oven, set it to 425 degrees and start baking. It’s important to put your mug in the over before it starts heating; otherwise, your project might crack.
  10. After the temperature reaches 425 degrees, bake for 30 minutes. Remove the VERY HOT mug using a pot holder and set it on the stove top to cool or just let it cool in the oven if you’re not making dinner anytime soon. Let it cure for 24 hours, and it should be ready to go.

I decided to test the durability of my shamrock mug by washing it in the dishwasher after a couple of days, and it actually held up pretty well. I think a few dots washed off (probably because there were so many layers), but it held up pretty well. I since have hand washed it in warm soapy water and it seems to be holding up well. The back of the mug just has a hand-written saying that held up really well in the dishwasher, but I’m just saying automatic wash at your own risk. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the outcome and durability of this fun little project. This is one you might want to give a try.

sharpie shamrock mug

Industrial Whimsy Equals Spring Rustic Wreath

Industrial Whimsy Equals Spring Rustic Wreath

spoolwreath1

DIYspringArtWelcome to my little stop on the DIY My Spring! blog hop sponsored by Hometalk. If you visited yesterday, you know I promised to reveal my rustic wreath made from an old $8.00 metal spool I found antiquing with my sister this week in Oklahoma. . . and here it is!

When I saw this old rusty thing in the antique store, I just knew it would make a cute wreath, and with a little help from Mom (she’s the most awesome bow maker I know) and a few adders from Michaels (all on sale), we came up with this super cute Easter wreath that brings a bit of whimsy to this industrial find.

rustic wreath spool

Here’s what the spool looked like when I found it at The Cranberry Merchant in downtown Claremore. This rusty old thing once housed a medium-gauge wire, known only because there was still a bit left behind. I decided to leave the wire on the spool for authenticity’s sake.

By the way, folks, if you’re looking for a good antiquing destination in Northeast Oklahoma, you should probably give this small town a try. Wills Rogers Blvd is lined with antiques shops, small boutiques, coffee shops and cafes; there are also other shops and good eateries sprinkled throughout town, like The Rusted Rabbit and The Pink House tea room.

rustic wreath

A not-so-quick trip to Michael’s supplied all the other goodies for this wreath, including some grapevine wrapped carrots, cute orange ribbon, a metal painted bunny and a magnetic wooden initial letter. Now let me tell you, picking out all my goodies for this project was by far the most time-consuming and difficult task of this whole thing. Once I got all the parts and pieces home, Mom and I put everything together with a bit of floral wire and a dab of hot glue, and that was all it took.

spoolwreath2b

I picked the orange ribbon because the carrots weren’t orange and that just didn’t seem right. The bow also adds some much-needed color to the project and who doesn’t just love polka dots. The  magnetic initial letter was a bonus since it stuck right to the metal rabbit I found. Of course, it’s our family initial, but I’m thinking some folks might think it stands for “spring,” and I’m okay with that. Although you can’t see much of the carrots, I really like those rustic veggies and think the grapevine kind of mimics the wire on the spool. I gotta say I’m pretty in love with the way this little rustic wreath turned out, but I’m also thinking about how to change it up to suit the next holiday’s décor.

If you are looking for more spring inspiration, you’ll definitely want to visit other bloggers at the DIY My Spring blog hop listed below and watch for the hashtag #DIYMySpring.

 


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