Christmas Craftiness

Each Christmas I like to make a special present for my cousins' kids. I pretty much adore them, so I enjoy showing them love in this way. This year, I went for the canvas/name craft. It's similar to this canvas I made for my cousin for her birthday, but I added my own background this time.


How to:

Take an 8x10 canvas (or any size you'd like).
Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge.
Place sheet music or Bible pages (or whatever other page you'd like) onto the canvas and smooth it out (it won't get completely smooth).
Apply another layer of Mod Podge onto the top of the page.
Let it dry COMPLETELY.
Once it's dry, take adhesive letters and set them onto the canvas to figure out correct placement (for the shorter names, I used 3" letters, but for the longer names I had to use 1" letters, and I did their first and middle names).
Apply the letters to the canvas.
Paint over the entire thing with whatever color you'd like.
Let it dry (but don't keep the letters on longer than necessary).
Carefully peel the letters off.
Apply yet another layer of Mod Podge to the entire canvas.
Enjoy!

I made nine of them, but here are a few close-ups:

Here they all are!

And here are a couple of pictures of the kiddos opening them on Christmas Eve Eve.

Craftiness Strikes Again!

I've seen this idea on Pinterest a time or two, but I decided to take it and run with it. I absolutely love giving gifts, and I wanted to make something special for my cousin for her birthday, so I was quite excited to tackle this particular project.

Take a look!

Step 1: Find an awesome picture at Goodwill or another thrift store (preferably one with a neat frame). This one is a canvas.

Step 2: Tape off the frame to prevent paint from bleeding onto it.

Step 3: Get some good adhesive letters of the appropriate size to match your picture and saying.

Step 4: Cut closely around the letters and set them (don't stick them yet!) on the picture to get an idea of correct placement.

Step 5: Peel the back off of the letters and attach them (well!) to the picture.

Step 6: Paint over the entire picture with your desired color (sorry, I didn't take a picture of that step!).

Step 7: Let it dry (just enough!) to the touch (you don't want your letters on there longer than necessary).

Step 8: Peel off the letters!

I LOVE how it turned out! What do you think?? 

Craftiness!

Confession: I LOVE being crafty.

Confession #2: I'm not very good at it. 

I mean, really, I just used a hot glue gun for the first time a few months ago. Aaaand, I can't even sew. At all. Imagine the possibilities if I could sew! I should take a class... 

Ok, that's all beside the point....

Last weekend I decided to be a bit crafty, but I knew I had to start small. 

What could be smaller than a light switch plate? Is that what you call them??

STEP 1: Gather your supplies: light switch plate (either from your wall or from a hardware store); Mod Podge (I used the matte kind); an Xacto knife; some sort of paintbrush or sponge; whatever paper you're going to use to cover the plate; a magazine or some other surface you can use to cut on.

STEP 2: Have your paper ready (I chose to use a book page for this one), and cover the front of the plate with a nice layer of Mod Podge. Oh! And make sure you protect the surface you're working on! I used wax paper.

STEP 3: Press the plate face down onto the paper (not onto the side you want showing--did that. oops!) Flip the plate over and press down and smooth out the paper for about 30 seconds or so (let's be real, I didn't time myself--just press it down until it feels like it's sticking!).

STEP 4: Flip the plate back over, cut a slit from the corner of the paper to the corner of the plate. Put a bit of Mod Podge on the back of the plate and fold over each side (pressing down until it feels like it's sticking). Then, when it's "dry", trim off the little corner edges that are left.

STEP 5: Add a couple of layers of Mod Podge to the front of the plate (letting each layer dry before adding the new one). Sorry, I guess I don't have a picture for that. I'm sure you can figure it out.


STEP 6: Get a magazine (or some other surface that won't be super damaged when using an Xacto knife. Flip the plate over to the back and cut out the holes where your light switches go. Flip it back over the front (as shown below) and cut out the holes where the screws go.

NOTE: If I were to do this again, I'd do this step slightly differently. With the plate flipped over, I'd cut an X across the space where the light switch goes. Then, I'd simply fold over the extra paper onto the back and Mod Podge it like I had done with the rest of the paper. (Hope that makes sense--sorry I don't have a visual.) Just cutting out the rectangle made for some imperfections that I wasn't a huge fan of.

STEP 7:  Let dry and mount back on the wall!!! Below is one I did with a book page. The book pages are a lot more fragile than other paper, so this one ripped a bit when I was trying to get a bubble out of it. Oh well, little imperfections are still neat looking!

Here's another one done with a book page.

And, yet another one.... This was actually the first one I did, so I learned a bit from my mistakes. 

And, finally one done with scrapbook paper. I think this one turned out the best, although I LOVE my book-page plates!

Being crafty is fun (and can be easy!)!! Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Bleach Pen Bonanza

This Christmas boasted quite a bunch of bleach pen t-shirts. I decided to make a few for my cousins' little ones (whom I just happen to adore).

This wasn't my first go around with the craft. I've written about my experiences here. I quite enjoy my own bleach pen T, so I hoped the little ones would as well. I picked out relevant verses for each one of them and got to work.

I found it interesting that the different fabrics took the bleach in such different ways, but I think they all turned out fairly interesting.

What do you think? Be sure to click on the link above for directions on how to make your own bleach pen t-shirt!

Bleach Pen T-Shirts

I have made bleach shirts in the past, but never with a bleach pen. I decided to embark on a new adventure this weekend--bleach pen t-shirts. I bought a black shirt and a bleach pen at Target and whipped out this bad boy on Saturday morning:

(Part of Psalm 139)

I was quite please with how it turned out, so I couldn't just stop there.... 

For those of you who would like to embark on this bleachy fun filled activity, I'll walk you through it step by step.

You will need:

* A t-shirt of some sort (I decided to bling out some of my gym shirts instead of buying anything).

* A bleach pen (you may want to keep some extras on hand because you'll want to do this again).

* Magazines or cardboard or wax paper or something to keep in between the layers of the shirt.

* Chalk (optional)

*And....

* A window you can crack so you don't pass out from the fumes.

(I used magazines because they were right there and provided a nice solid surface)

Let the games begin!

1. Trace a design on your shirt with chalk (some say that it helps the bleach from running; some say it helps you know where to put the bleach--I say it's a waste of time). 

 
2. Give the pen a few shakes and test it out on a paper towel (do this periodically throughout the process to keep the bleach at the tip of the pen and hopefully prevent bubbles).

3. Begin tracing your chalk design with the bleach pen, keeping the tip of the pen off of the fabric like you would puff paint (or, if you're not using chalk, just start free-handing it).

4. Continue until you are please with the design and wait!

5. Before long, you'll start seeing the fabric change colors.

6. Let the bleach set for 10 or 20 or 30 or however many minutes you want... (it differs depending on the fabric, but you'll notice when it has changed).

7. SOME people say to then rinse out the shirt in cold water, but I say that's another useless step--just march that sucker to the washer, drop it in for a short wash (maybe a second rinse), and BAM!

There you have it!

I really have no clue why the spots where I actually placed the bleach stayed purple and the areas surrounding them turned pink, but it looks cool to me. 

Aaaaaand, like I said, once you start, you won't want to stop. :)

Here is another gym shirt I transformed shortly after the first....

No chalk on this bad boy---I just went to town.

 You can really see the colors of this one turning...

And BAM! Here it is after the wash! 

Again, I'm not sure why it stayed blue where the bleach was and turned white around the edges--it must be the kind of fabric--I bet I couldn't do that on my own if I tried. :)

Go ahead---run your little self to Target right now and get your supplies. I'd love to see your finished products if you so dare. 

Oh! And one last thing...

May the odds be ever in your favor.