I’ve been wanting to build a fairy garden for some time. So with lots of time on my hands in quarantine I started the project. I looked to Pinterest for some inspiration and took it from there.
Lots more to create…more to come
Since my travel wings have been clipped, I’ve been getting back to my crafty roots. I was inspired by the many painted rock ideas I saw on Pinterest so I thought I would get back into it after letting my project sit for a year. My goal was to complete enough rocks to decorate my front garden. I’m a few rocks shy of completion but I placed them all outside to see how the finished products look. Overall I say not too shabby. I used paint pens for the art which allowed for better control. I finished up by spraying them with Modge Podge acrylic sealer so they will weather the elements. Hope you are inspired to try painting some yourself!
Next up: DIY Fairy Garden
The Christmas season always inspires me to dip into my craftiness arsenal in order to make gifts for family and friends. Pinterest is where I go first to look through my endless list of DIY ideas. I was particularly drawn to a link for mason jar terrariums. I decided to do my own take on the project and now have three nice gifts I can share with some friends.
List of items needed:
I put some base rocks into the bottom of the jar. I kept the cactus in the plastic pot it came in to contain the dirt and help retain water. Using the long handled tongs, I positioned the plant in the center of the jar. Then I used the magazine page to create a tube around the plant. This prevents the rocks from piling onto the plant.
Then simply add the different rocks or sand as you desire to get a layered effect. When using smaller rocks or sand, you may get some pieces falling into the other layers, but overall I like the finished products. Happy crafting friends!
I finally got a chance to get back to some Pinterest-inspired projects. Today I decided to tackle making decorative paper flowers. The link on Pinterest made it look very simple. Items needed – magazine pages in various colors, shredding scissors, bamboo skewers, tape, floral tape. First challenge – no shredding scissors and couldn’t find them anywhere in Nuremberg (not exactly a crafty place I’ve learned). So I improvised and used a short pair of scissors and made the many cuts by hand. I also did not have bamboo skewers and could not find them in the market, so I used paper straws instead. The process of rolling the cut paper around the straws proved to be challenging. I had many failures and I’ve posted a few below. Once I finally got the hang of it, I think they turned out pretty nice. Now I have a decorative piece for the bedroom and one for the living area. These would make a lovely centerpiece for a bridal or baby shower – or simply a nice way to add a little color in your life!
Original Pin
Gathering the magazine pages
Folding and cutting the paper
Failed attempts
Success
Flowers for the bedroom
Flowers for the living area
I had a sample piece of wood laminate (from my last shopping trip to SCRAP) and it happened to fit perfectly into one of my unfinished frames. I was looking for a project for a while and stumbled upon this PIN on Pinterest showing a framed giraffe silhouette cut from decorative paper. It sparked many ideas and I began sketching them out. I happened to need a bit of wall art for my bathroom, so I landed on the idea of a sand dollar. Instead of using decorative paper, I decided to make the sand dollar out of felt with a bit of embroidery detailing. I painted the frame a nice aqua color and then glued the finished piece to the wood laminate backer. In very little time, I now have a nice piece of handmade art for my bathroom wall.
Original PIN inspiration
Painting the frame
Wood laminate piece inserted into frame
Starting to create the sand dollar in felt
Finished piece
While on Pinterest a few weeks ago, I came across a pin that was really inspiring. The idea for a project has been sitting in the back of my mind for a while. Now that I am more settled into my apartment, I took some time to get creative once again. I have an alcove in my main hallway that was begging for some color in the form of art. I decided to try my hand at felt and embroidery to make some framed fiber art. I am very happy to see the finished project hanging in the hallway – added that bit of color that was missing.
The original inspiration pin
Sketching ideas for my approach
Gathering felt colors
Painting frames – base silver color covered by dark brown
Start of the gerber daisy
Start of the poppies
Start of the allium
The finished projects hanging in the alcove
Back in January, I attempted to follow a Pin I found on Pinterest. The Pin showed how to revitalize old tees by adding bleach graphics to them. The first attempt at three different t-shirts failed. I have since discovered that only the Clorox Bleach Pen for WHITES works. The other bleach pens are not strong enough to bleach colors. This time I only attempted one t-shirt to see if it would work. The bleached out color was a surprise, but it did work. Now I can use this technique on other things – old canvas bags, placemats, tablecloths, etc…
Original Pin inspiration
Clorox Bleach Pen for Whites
Prepping the tee using paper & wax paper underneath
Drawing the design
The bleach doing its work
Water bath to stop the bleach
Ready for the washing machine
out of the wash…
Finished t-shirt
Every time I open a can of veggies or soup, I think about the many project ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest. After collecting a bunch of cans, I thought it was time to give one of the projects a try. I was drawn to the visual on one pin I found. However it didn’t have a project associated to it. So I made up my own version based on the inspiration. The finished products can be used to store office supplies or make-up brushes or anything you can think to store in them.
Supplies:
Original Pin inspiration
Cans and the papers to cover them
Use the sponge applicator to apply glue to can
Cut paper to size and wrap around can- I used a two-handed twisting motion around the can to ensure that the paper adhered completely & applied extra glue at the overlap seam
Adding the center band
The brown center band applied
Applying the antique gold Rub’nBuff – I love this stuff!
Adding the metallic finish to the top and bottom edges and blending on the paper
I made paper flowers that are finished using the antique gold and metal brads
I glued the paper flower direct to the finished can
The completed trio
The completed cans in use
As I was perusing Pinterest last week, I came across a project to revive old t-shirts (or at least give them a new lease on life and maybe wear them again!). The premise was simple – use a Clorox Bleach Pen to draw graphics on the t-shirts, rinse off and wash/dry. I found 3 t-shirts that I almost never wear and rolled up my sleeves to get to work. I decided to draw them freehand after making some doodles in my sketchbook. I was really happy with the two bolder looks and let them sit to supposedly bleach away. When I checked on the progress 15 minutes later, I was sad to see that there was no change in color. So I let them sit another 15 minutes. After more than 30 minutes, the bleach still wasn’t working. I thought perhaps the content of the t-shirts may have something to do with it. Two of them were mostly cotton with a touch of polyester, but one was 100% cotton and should be affected by bleach. I decided to rinse them off and chalk this up to a lesson. But I’m still trying to figure out the lesson….t-shirt content? Bleach strength? Color of dye? This will require a trip to the store to look at the different bleach pens to see if there is one specifically for whites (and therefore a higher concentration). To be continued……..
Original Pin
Supplies
Prepping the t-shirt with waxed paper and newspaper
Simple first design on brown tee
A little more creative on tee #2
My favorite design (that sadly washed away….)
I have never been fond of knitting. I am self-taught under duress. When I was a senior at Drexel University, I decided to design sweaters and a knit skirt for my senior collection. I was able to use a knitting machine for the sweaters (which I loved!), but the yarn for the skirt was just to curly and loopy to work on a machine. So I bought a book and spent many hours knitting and unraveling and knitting again. I finished the skirt, but decided that knitting was not for me. That was until I discovered this on Pinterest. It is called arm knitting and you use chunky yarn. I made a scarf and actually had fun doing it. The total project took 20 minutes. Fun and fast? That is a win!
Original Pinterest inspiration
Chunky yarn
Casting on
Starting the rows
The knitting progresses….
The Finished scarf
Ta-dah!
Flirting with Creativity 