Showing posts with label frame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frame. Show all posts

Saturday, February 14, 2015

A Valentine Love Renewed: Recycled Crafting.


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!



I wanted to share one more valentine decoration before the day passes by.



Frames seem to be a weakness of mine.
When I see them at yard sales or second hand stores,
if they are unique and sturdy,
 I tend to want to pick them up for future projects.



 This frame held a unique piece of artwork: a paper crafted quilt (maybe paperclay?)

It was dated.
 It reminded me of when my sister loved making quilts back when we were teenagers in the 80's.
It was hard to think about just throwing it away,
so I thought I'd try to revive it for Valentines Day.




Using markers, I started carefully changing the quilt colors.
(Wouldn't it be nice if we could do this so easily with real quilts when they fade or our color scheme changes?)


I also painted the mat and background bright colors to go with our living room.





The finished quilt in a frame was set on one of the living room tables.



This addition was a lot less work than creating a new piece of artwork;

and it is kind sweet to think that somebody else's lovingly created piece
is given a second time around to be loved.



Thanks for stopping by!




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Monday, February 2, 2015

Valentine's Day Decorating: True Love.






For some reason, Christmas seemed to go too quickly this year,
and the thought of taking the Christmas things off the mantel was disheartening.

I was ready for my everyday things I had in the summer.

So I thought we'd make the winter a bit more fun with some Valentine's Day decorations.



 I noticed that my kids seem to learn verses better when they see them around the house,
so I thought I would create something from some wonderful verses I wanted them to know in 
I Corinthians 13.

 


To create the verse hearts, I started by folding a paper in half
and drawing half a heart shape on it,
pushing the pencil hard so that the pressure of the line would go through.




I then outlined the lines of the heart to complete it.



Depending on the verse I was going to work on,
I used fatter hearts for ones that needed more wording in the middle of the verse,
or thinner hearts for verses that were shorter and could be broken up more.


I lightly drew some lines with a ruler to help keep me somewhat straight while lettering,
and began trying to place the wording in,
(this took several tries, not such an easy task)
 using letters at the beginning and end of words to make curls and swirls
to form the outside edges of the heart.

When I had the verse the way I liked,
I rubbed charcoal pencil on the back of the verse page,
laid it onto a larger sheet of good art paper,
traced the letters so that they would copy onto the good paper,
and then worked the lettering with red copic markers.



 

 The largest one, I did on a canvas with paints because it had a lot of wording in it,
and I knew it would be impossible for me to try to fit them all on smaller paper.

When finished, I took pictures of each so I could shrink them to whatever size I needed
and then printed them onto cardstock paper.



 

I had picked up frames from yard sales, the charity store, and an aunt who was getting rid of some,
so I used gold rub-on gilding paint from a tube to turn the two that were different colored into gold
and to touch up a few chipped spots on the others.
(I also rubbed it onto the decorative hearts also on the mantel).


 The other pieces on the mantel were all things we found at the second hand charity store for a very small price.
(I was actually going to paint the birds like peacocks since I have a thing for them right now,
but  my daughter liked them as they are.

It's nice to have the daughter's impute...sometimes. :) )




I have one more simple project I did to decorate the living room for Valentine's Day,
so I'll try to post that in a few days.


Thanks for stopping by!


(If you would like to use these verse prints below for yourself for decorating or cards,
I am happy for you to copy and print them;
just not for resale, please.)


 








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Thursday, October 3, 2013

My Recycled Frame Fall Wreath.



It's fall!



Who doesn't love to see something seasonal on the front door?
I enjoy looking at what people have at their front entrance:
there are so many creative people behind those festive doors.


I decided it was time to create some "fall" on our front door.

I had a picture frame that the glass broke on,
so I decided to try using that as the base for my "wreath."


I picked up a few supplies from the second hand charity store.
It is great to know that when one shops at these stores,
not only are useful things being saved from the landfill,
but the money they make goes toward helping those in need.


They have a little "craft" section with a fair selection of recycled craft supplies.
I found the piece of upholstery material for $.25,
the bag of leaves on stems for $1.99
(I thought they were fake, but after looking at them, I think they are real ones that have been chemically dried).
The fake greens and flowers were $1.69,
and the box of apples was $.99 (I actually just wanted the box to use for something else,
but then realized the apples might be useful in the wreath).

I also used some floral wire and about 5 glue sticks from the glue gun.

That brings the total to about $5.



 I started by cutting the material in half, and then in quarters.

I glued the long edges on both sides to give a finished "ribbon" look.
I did this with two of the four quarters.
Then I wrapped them around the frame, and glued them together on it.


It was loose but I wanted it that way so that I could put the greenery in it. 





I then cut one of the other quarters into about 4 inch squares.
This gave me 12 squares.

With each of these squares, I put hot glue down one side,...




 and then pulled up the opposite corner toward it.








I curled this under and stuck the right side down onto the glue to make a cone.





When I finished making the cones, I decided to hot glue them around a center base.






I used the plastic bag that the greens came in as my base.
I folded it up and taped it.
(I was just using what I had on hand:
I always have this crazy goal of making as little garbage as possible,
because it's a good thing to do
but also because I don't much like cleaning up).







The finished group looked like a circle of cones.






I used one of the other quarters of the material to make slightly smaller squares,
about 3/4 inch smaller.





and then glued them to the top of the other cones in a counter pattern to the first ones.
 




Finally, I cut the last quarter of material that was left in half longways,
making two 1/8th pieces from the original piece of material.

I cut these strips into small squares...






and made cones of them.



I used up all of the rest of the material on the top layer,
filling in the center as well.
(This whole process really did not take that long.
My kids were watching an evening cartoon while I worked on the floor near them.)



So that I could see what it was going to look like,
I set the ring of cones on the wreath while I placed the greens into the loose material ribbon.




 Then I added the flowered sprigs and wired them all down with floral wire.



At this point, I liked the way it was looking, so I wired the ring of cones on as well.


 A few springs of the leaves were placed in with the greens,
and the apples, which were styrofoam so were easy to stick with wire,
were wired in place.


My "wreath" is not really a round wreath shape,
but I think it will be a fun change to see...



and I'm thankful all the pieces worked together.


Happy Fall!
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Friday, March 15, 2013

Painted Stained Glass


Do you have an old frame you aren't using?



Here is a simple fun project anybody can do:

You'll need some glass paints: I used Martha Stewarts Gloss Opaque Glass Paint
and her Liquid Fill paint.



After removing the picture,
I picked out an image I wanted to use from the Graphic Fairy


and printed it to the size I needed for this frame.*


After I taped it to the back of the glass,
I used some black opaque paint
and squirted it onto the glass along the lines of the flower I wanted to highlight
also creating some outward lines to give it a pieced glass look.
I let this dry well for about 2 days.



I used some of the paints straight and others I mixed the colors to give more variety.
I mixed liquid fill with them to thin them some.




 Here is the piece all painted in and set aside to dry.




When it dried, the painted edges cracked some.
I didn't mind on this piece as it was just an experimental piece.
For my next larger piece I used the paints specifically called "liquid fill" paints to prevent this from happening.
(I'll show you that piece as well...soon)



It makes for a nice bit of color in the bathroom window.


A fun use of an old frame and there is plenty of paint left for other projects.




*This is how I use transfer images for me to use:
1. Open up Microsoft Word on your computer.
2. Click on the image you want to transfer, and it should pop up in a new window.
3. Right click on the image, and click "Copy Image"
4. Click back onto the open Microsoft Word window.
5. Right click again, and click on "Paste".
6. The image should now appear on your Microsoft Word page.  It can be shrunk to whatever size you want by clicking on it, and then place your mouse in one of the corners, click, and drag the image to the size you want.
7.  Place the image on the page where you want it, and print it up.


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