Showing posts with label crafty. Show all posts

another crafty week~

Posted by Casey // dreams and bones. on Thursday, January 19, 2012. Filed under: , , ,
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there's been this image floating in my mind 
for a couple of weeks now

I have this vision for a banner at our wedding
used in a few specific places
with my newest love..

scallops!

what's a scallop, you say?

scallop garland via Sew, Mama, Sew!

I would love to show you the scallop house trim I adore
the scallop side table that won awards at a design show recently
and the scalloped shoes I just saw

.. but Google Images and I just aren't getting along at the moment.
so the garland will have to do.

but man.. I just have this in my head
and yesterday I spent a long time trying to figure out 
how to make it come out.

Here are the results:


first I cut the flags (a few days ago), and sprayed them with fabric stiffener.
then i cut scallop shapes out of my yellow fabric.


then I laid my idea out.. but it didn't seem just right. so I grabbed my dark mustard colored fabric and laid the burlap on top of it. 

but it didn't seem just right -- BUT I wasn't scrap that idea just yet.


so then I just held my yellow scallops against the mustard fabric. I did like that.. but I wasn't ready to omit the burlap.

then earlier today, I saw on a wedding blog that a girl did burlap flags 
exactly how I have mine cut out (minus the scallops), so I feel less worried about that
and I'm excited to brainstorm the use of both mustard and burlap flags. :)


but in other news.. five of these little guys showed up.
and they are ready to be used in centerpieces!


coming soon.. i am really excited to announce a new project i'm working on.
simple for some, complicated for me!
i will be starting my own "real simple" food challenge!
gotta shake things up with the eating 
and get myself prepared to be a wife!
starting next week, i'll start my seven day challenge
 and bring you all along for the ride.
if you'd like to join in, comment with your blog link (or join in on twitter)
 and we'll have to do our own little blog party. :)


DIY: How To Transfer An Image To Canvas

Posted by Casey // dreams and bones. on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Filed under: , ,
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Remember that project I talked about earlier this week?
. . . . . 
It's HERE! And I'm going to show you how to do it!


Pin It

First.. go find yourself a photograph that you love. 







Recently, this image has been floating around Pinterest
and it makes me so dreeeeeamy.
So I printed it out and made this project!

Let's get started. First: go on Photoshop (or whatever image editing software you have) 
and reverse, reverse! 
No, only reverse one time. 
But make sure you do it, because I definitely 
did not the first time and it didn't work out. 
At all.


Now get a gel medium (I used Mod Podge. It's really inexpensive and you can use it for everything!) 
and a paint brush or a sponge brush. Paint the medium on thick - but not too thick!

Next: Lay your image face down on the canvas.


Now get yourself a spoon. or a butter knife. Or both, if you're me.
Do you see those air bubbles? 


Use the spoon and flatten out all of the bubbles.
When most of them are gone, leave the project to dry overnight.

Come back the next day, use a spray bottle and spray the entire piece until your image shows through. 
Now peel (very gently) from the edges or the corners. Be careful not to lift your image off of the page. The paper is layered, and you are peeling the initial layer off.

It looks a little like this! 
(sorry for the poopy picture but the cat was priceless)

You will need to let the image dry for a few hours, or if you're impatient, get a blow dryer. 
When you come back it's going to be almost completely white again. 
Spray it until it is completely wet, and continue to peel the layers away.
When you get to a stopping point, let it dry again. 
Then repeat!

For this project, it only took me 2 or 3 times to revisit before it was done.
Don't worry if you get cracks or rough spots. That adds to the rustic look.. it's good!

When you decide you are done, brush one more layer of Mod Podge
over the entire image to seal it. 
All done!


DIY "Upcycle" ~ how to prepare your everyday jars for crafting.

Posted by Casey // dreams and bones. on Thursday, November 10, 2011. Filed under: , , , ,
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Happy Thursday everybody!

I am really excited to share this little tutorial with you. Mostly because if you do this upcycle, you'll save yourself tons of time scouring thrift shops for overpriced old jars. Don't get me wrong, there's an unmatchable charm to those old thrifted jars. But when you have perfectly good ones sitting in your refrigerator or recycling bin waiting to be used, there's no reason not to make the best of them!

Here's a little bit of background: not only do I hope to use mason jars for our centerpieces, but I want each and every guest at our wedding to have one to enjoy their beverages. I just love the aesthetic of it, and it really suits our laid-back barn theme!

It didn't take me long to realize that we were using a lot of jars every week: for salsa, pasta sauce, jam.. even pickles! With decent thrifted jars often priced between $1-6 a piece, and our really small wedding budget, I knew I had to get creative. So I started soaking and peeling labels off of each and every jar when we were finished with it. As a chips and salsa fiend, they have certainly added up quickly. Along with using these jars came an irritating consequence: I couldn't always get the adhesive off of them! Then I figured it out. A simple method our grade school science teachers have always taught us: enter a little oil (to lift the adhesive), add some hot, hot soapy water, and scrub.

Ready to see what happens?


 Here's what you'll need:
1. Two bowls
2. Oil (I chose vegetable oil)
3. Dish soap and hot water
4. Something rough to scrub with (I used Scotch Bright Scrubbers)
5. Jars stuck with adhesive!

Step 1: Fill the first bowl with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil. Fill the second bowl almost full with hot, hot water and sudsy dishsoap. It will help to soak your jars in hot water first, or run them under a very hot water faucet. This will loosen the adhesive to begin.

Step 2: Dip your scrubber in the oil  (If this DIY isn't the easiest ever.. I don't know what is!)


Step 3: Scrub every bit of the adhesive as hard as you can with the scrubber.


Step 4: Once your adhesive is completely covered in oil and you've scrubbed as much as you can, place it in the bowl of hot soapy water. Now rinse your scrubber out, and scrub as hard as you can- again! Make sure you are running your fingers over the areas you're scrubbing to see if the adhesive is off.


When you're done, rinse each of them under the faucet with very hot water, and place them in the dishwasher. (Or, if you don't have one.. wash by hand.. I'm sorry!)

The result will be several jars without any adhesive on them. And you'll be one happy crafter, ready to make a jar-lamp, a snowglobe, or a mantle piece. Aren't you excited to see what you can do with your new, clean, upcycled jar? The DIY you will see next week is going to feature a couple of fun projects with jars.

What's your idea of a fun jar craft project? Or-  what's another easy upcycle you like to do? Leave me a comment here to share your ideas! Also-  be sure to check back in a couple of hours when I reveal a very useful tutorial - "how to pay off your debt"!

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