Happy Fourth!

In honor of Team USA competing for the World Cup as well as the Fourth of July this week, I've decided to make a festive decoration that's perfect for any American themed party. Happy celebrating!

Materials: wooden crate, wooden stars, wooden letters, star candles, festive ribbon, RWB paint, paint brushes (preferably one small one medium sized--not pictured)

Time: 1-2 hours (including dry time)

I decided to paint the ends blue to put the stars on and the four rails every other red and white. I also painted the letters blue but left a little white for dimension and I painted the stars white. I used the small paint brush to get in between the cracks and the medium sized one

I used a hot glue gun to glue the letters and stars. I think it works better than craft glue or tacky glue. 

I put three stars on one end and three on the other although you cannot see the other side in the pictures, my apologies.

I thought these star candles were too cute to pass up! I put a couple inside the crate and a couple outside to light up the night. Side note: Michael's is currently having a sale on all Fourth of July decorations, I suggest you check it out if you are hosting a party or just love the Fourth.

And the final product:

I know it's been a few weeks since my last post, but I have some very special things coming soon that I can't wait to show you!

Thanks for tuning in!

-K

Calligraphy and Monograms

Recently I've gotten into doing my own calligraphy. It's a lot easier to do than you may think. The secret? Bold the downstroaks. Yes, it is that simple. Every time your pen goes down, that line should be bolded. I learned this from one of my best friends whose blog you can find here.

Here is some of the work I have done:

When writing quotes, you can either write it all in calligraphy or use a different font for the words that don't mean as much. I chose to do the latter in both.

Just recently I've tried a few monograms with this method as well.

These monograms and sayings were just some sketches in a notebook, but keep a lookout for some of them in my future projects!

Thanks for tuning in!

-K

Dressing Up a Brown Paper Bag

This little project is perfect for making a cheap brown bag look fancy.

Materials: plain brown paper bags, white paint, foam paint brush, paint pen, Martha Stewart adhesive stencils.

Time: about 5-10 minutes per bag.

These stencils are amazing because they stick right on and they continue to stick even when you wash the paint off! I loved this pack because it was girly and perfect for this project. This is an easy project because the stencils do all of the work for you!

My stuff is always all over the place when I'm working on a project!

All you have to do is apply the stencil and paint over it. I ended up washing the stencils each time because the paint tends to stick to it if you don't. Washing the stencils each time also makes for a cleaner look the next time you use it. Washing the stencils was the most time consuming part of this project but it was worth it to do so.

I played around a bit with the designs to make them all different as you can see below

Some of my favorites:

I used the white paint pen to write Thanks on mine since I'll be using them for gift bags.

Thanks for tuning in!

-K

A DIY Father's Day

Father's Day is coming up next weekend and it's time to get something for dad that lets him know that you appreciate all that he does. You could get the usual golf balls, new shirts or a card, or you could make him something personalized just for him. Now, you don't have to go all out for Father's Day, it's not his birthday or anything, but it is nice to do something thoughtful for him. 

Personalized Candy Jar

This year I'm making my dad a couple of things. The first is a personalized candy jar for his desk at work. 

Materials: Plain glass jar, oil based paint markers (I used Sharpie brand), and candy of your choice. I used rolos, they're my dad's favorite. 

Time: About 45 minutes to design.

My dad works for Caterpillar so I used yellow and black paint markers for mine. On one side I put the CAT logo because it will be going in his office at work. You can design it however you want. You can see how mine turned out below:

This last design makes me laugh a bit because it reminds me of Charlie Brown!

Finished Product:

Make sure you do not use the markers on the inside of the glass or else you can not put food in it.

Framed Scrapbook Page

The second thing I'm making for my dad is a framed scrapbook page. Instead of just framing some pictures, I wanted to dress it up a bit.

Materials: 12x12 frame, scrapbook paper, scissors (I used a Cricut page cutter for a more accurate cut), tape or glue, and any added embellishments.

Time: About 20 minutes.

You can design your scrapbook page however you want. For this one I stuck to some basic colors because guys aren't really into all of the fluff. I wanted to frame all of my daddy daughter dance photos from Girl Scouts back in the day. I thought he could put this in his office at work.

Below is the finished product:

I really like the idea of framing a scrapbook page, it gives photos a little personalized touch. Making an entire scrapbook is time consuming and this is still a thoughtful gift.

Thanks for tuning in!

-K

The Cupcake Bouquet

It's party season y'all! This is the perfect decoration for graduation parties, bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, or any event you have planned this summer.

Materials: Cupcake ingredients, frosting, rose tip for frosting , Popsicle sticks, Styrofoam sphere used for gardening, and a planter.

First you'll hot glue the Styrofoam sphere to the planter. Make sure the size of the Styrofoam sphere is not too big for the planter you choose. Then you'll stick the Popsicle sticks in the Styrofoam (thin rods or tooth picks might work better) And position the cupcakes around the sphere as pictured.

I waited to frost the cupcakes until they were positioned on the sphere. As you can tell, I used a different tip for the white cupcakes so they look more like filler flowers. I would suggest using the rose tip for all of the cupcakes because it looks more professional and put together.

I did this project for my high school graduation three years ago. The colors of my school were red black and gold and the colors of my college are cream and crimson, so I went with the white and red frosting. Like I said, this same design could work for any baby shower, bridal shower,  graduation, or birthday party.

Thanks for tuning in!

-K

DIY Boards: Dry Erase and Cork

For my first post it's only fitting to talk about one of my favorite projects!

Personalized Dry Erase Boards:
Materials: 2 pieces of scrapbook paper, tape, ribbon as long as your frame (I like to use the medium sized ribbon because it's not too big and not too small either), any size picture frame larger than a 12x12 (I think the longer kind look best, mine is a 12x15), and any other embellishments of your choosing. I got all of my supplies at Michael's but you can also get any of these at a Jo Ann's Fabric Store or Hobby Lobby.

This one I made for myself back in High School. I saw a dry erase board just like it at a small store in Franklin, TN and I decided to try to make it myself because it looked pretty simple. Back then I wasn't really into embellishments and I liked to keep my crafts simple so all I used were the basics for this one. Also the scrapbook paper I used already had a little birdie in the corner and I didn't want to overdo it. I used the ribbon to cover up the spot where the two pieces of scrapbook paper meet. Depending on the size of your frame you may need to cut the paper down or add more pieces. In this one I just layered two 12x12 pieces of scrapbook paper, no need to cut the smaller one.

Make sure when you make these, try to stay away from black scrapbook paper because it would be difficult to read. As you can see in the one below that I made for my best friend , I used a zebra print but I kept it on the small piece so that she could still read the writing on part of it. This kind of went with the theme in her room so that is why I still chose to use it. So if you do decide to use a black print or darker color, try to keep it on smaller piece instead of the larger part of the board. For hers I also used Velcro to stick an expo dry erase marker to the bottom for easy access.

This one I made for my college dorm room freshman year, as you can see, I used a black pattern again but I kept it to the smaller piece. Also as you can probably tell, I like to keep countdowns on mine!

I'm not going to post a step by step of these boards because it is pretty simple. If you would like instructions, please comment below and I can post them or send them to you.

Personalized Cork Boards
Materials: Cork Board (Most craft stores have plain cork boards), paint, embellishments, hot glue gun (I used this to glue on the flower in the picture below).

I made this cork board for my little, Kara, for her birthday last month. I know she likes the color pink just like I do so I used pink paint and a pink flower I found at Hobby Lobby. You can really embellish these any way you like but make sure to leave room so they can pin things on it and not cover up what you did too much. As you can tell, I like to keep it simple and clean. I've also been trying out some calligraphy which can be hard to do with paint and a paintbrush so this was an attempt at that. For longer names you can turn the cork board the other way and write it along the side or you can write it along the top.

Now for the next cork board, it has some different materials that are necessary for the look.

Materials: Burlap fabric, cork board, black paint, stencils of your choice, hot glue gun or thumbtacks.

I saw this type of cork board in a store and I thought it was so cute and that I could make it, which is what happens a lot. I used burlap fabric which was hard to find, I would suggest going to Jo Ann's or Hobby Lobby for this because Michael's does not carry fabrics. If you can't find it in the store it is pretty easy to find online. You can use a cork board like the previous one or thicker. I glued the burlap around the cork board and glued it to the back to keep it on. You can probably use thumbtacks but they may not stay as well. For best results use both. First pin the burlap the to back and then glue over it so it will stay.
Then you can use a stencil however you want, I chose a Chinese symbol and bamboo because it kind of had that feel to the board. Also I used black paint because in my opinion that looks best with the burlap. You can choose another color if you'd like.


If you'd like any further instructions, comment below and I'd be happy to explain more in depth.

Thanks for tuning in!

-K