DIY: Hand Embroidered Card

So, we don't know about you, but our Christmas shopping extravaganza starts right about now.  We love making homemade things for friends / family, so the earlier we can get a start on it the better.  These hand embroidered cards may be just the ticket for a few friends!  Use them for just about anything!! Mr Handsomface's blog is filled with these fun crafts - so check them out!

What you'll need:

1. Pencil for drawing your design
2. Piece of thick cardboard
3. Embroidery floss
4. Sheets of blank paper
5. Embroidery needle and a pin with a head
6. Blank Card

Start by drawing out your design on a piece of thin blank paper. It's best to keep it simple unless you're super awesome at embroidery. Tape your design on to the card or secure it with a couple paper clips.

 I transferred the design on to a sheet of card stock so I didn't put holes in the original.

Now you can start poking holes along the lines using the pin with a head. A push pin will also work, you just need something to hold on to. Put the piece of cardboard behind the card so you can poke the pin all the way trough. The holes will be your guide when you start the embroidery.

Now comes the fun part! Oh, did I say fun part? I meant painful part! Seriously though, I haven't done any embroidery in a while so my fingers got pretty sore. Be careful not to pull the thread too tight or you'll tear the paper. I used 4 strands of thread for my stitching. I found that the whole piece of floss was too hard to pull through and less than 4 strands showed the holes too much.

I just used a back stitch for my whole design, but you could get really creative here with different stitches. Just carefully tie knots in the back to secure your stitches.

Once you're done, admire your work!

The back didn't look too bad, but I wanted to cover it up anyways.

I just cut a piece of white paper just a bit smaller than the card and secured it using a bit of glue along the fold.

There are a million possibilities for this project, so let me know in the comments if you decide to give it a try. I'd love to see your work! You'll notice in the photo with the supplies, I also have a card made from black shimmery cardstock. I have plans for that guy, and I'll show you the photo when I'm done!

DIY: Cork Board using an Upcycled Frame

Simply Emily's blog has a wonderful way to not only upcycle your used wine corks, but also that old frame you were debating tossing out!  Check out her blog for more DIY!

I have been collecting wine corks for a long time and for the most part just storing them in two large glass cookie jars, but have been wanting to make something with them for awhile (which is why I collect so many.) I made a coaster a few months back and I do plan to make more of those but this time I used a good amount of the corks up on these "cork" boards for our kitchen.

I have had these pictures for quite a while and they have served their purpose but now I found a new purpose for them. They are a good size and as you'll see below the detail on the edge of the frame lends itself to a classy bulletin board, right. :)

So armed with some black acrylic paint and tons of corks I went to work. I thought it would be a good idea to paint over the whole picture in black in case any of it showed thru the corks it would be more uniform that way.

Here they are all covered.

Then I started to arrange the corks, not as quick and easy as you would think if you want it to look good. I arranged them all make sure they fit well and looked good and then I started gluing.

Here they are all arranged and ready to be glued.

gotta love the glue gun. :)

I would take a few out at a time so I wouldn't lose the arrangement I wanted them to be in and glue each one individually.

all done. Don't they look GREAT. I would say start to finish the project probably took 2 1/2 hours most of the time spent gluing each cork down of course.

looks good.

DIY: Hanging String Balls

Who knew that with a balloon, glue, and some string you could make such a fancy home decoration?? Honest to Nod gives a step by step tutorial on how to bring this wondrous project to life - so be sure to check out her page for other fun crafts!

Whattya need?

• Balloon
• String
• Scissors
• Glue
• Jar

How do I make glue string balls?

Step 1: Hang inflated balloon from ceiling.

Step 2: Put string and glue in the jar with a hole in the lid. Next, pull string from hole while wrapping around the balloon.

 

Step 3: Wait until dry (try to contain yourself). Pop and remove balloon.

DIY: Party Animal Candle Holders

The Sweetest Occasion has come up with such a cute idea and it's so easy we can't believe we haven't seen anyone else do this before! We can see these being in ANY color.  Having a princess party?  Make them pink with glitter!  A dino party for a little boy?  Make them blue and you could even hand stencil their age on them!

Supplies -

• plastic animals
• plastic candle holders
• drill with 1/8″ drill bit
• pliers
• gold spray paint

For the plastic animals, you can use any kind you can find. Keep in mind the size of the cake or cupcake you are sticking it on. I used the animals with a flat back, so it is easier to stick in the candle holder.

Hold the animal with the pliers and drill a hole straight down, being careful not to pop out the other side. The hole just has to be deep enough for the holder to fit.

Spray paint the animals in a few light coats, rotating them to cover all sides. Note: I used gold (w/o primer) and it worked fine for both the nicer plastic animals and the dollar store ones. I wanted a pop of color but some of the animals didn’t take to regular spray paint, be sure to use a plastic spray paint or a primer for plastic and always test one first.

I also painted the candle holders to match. Let dry.

That’s it. Party on like an animal! Rawr.

DIY: Plastic Spoon Rose Jewelry

This wonderful tutorial from Cut Out + Keep shows a way to recycle / upcycle your plastic spoons.  We think that this would also be beautiful with color spoons from parties, barbecues, or other events!  Think of all the fun you can have being creative with this one.

Instructions 

1. 1
   

   You can use any colour spoon you want or you can also spray paint them afterwards.
   see picture
   - cut off the handles using scissors
   - when you have 17 (10 for outer petals, 5 for petals around the 2 in the middle)

   
   
2. 2
   

   - Light the candle
   - Take your needle nose pliers to hold the spoon.
   - Try not to keep the spoon too close to the flame as it will cause blackening of the plastic.
   - Melt the bowl of the spoon and heat the underside.
   - let it cool down a bit but while it's still warm and bendable shape the petal by pulling the tip and bending it backwards with your fingertips.
   - You could speed the cooling down up by blowing.
   Repeat- this step for all 17 petals.

   
   
3. 3
   

   - Beginning with the 10 outer petals take two spoons and melt what's left of the handles. Fuse placing them next to each other and smooth out the melt until the handles stick together. You could use the needle nose pliers to do this since the melted plastic is incredibly hot!
   - Repeat this 4 times so that you have 5 sets of 2 petals.
   - Now melt the handles of 2 sets and stick them together.
   - Repeat this step until you have the 3 pieces of the rose.
   This will take a while to figure out which is the right way to assemble all pieces.

   
   
4. 4
   

   - Glue the pieces together with a glue gun or by melting the bottom side of the petals.
   - Insert the 5 petals into the 10 petals and the 2 middle petals into the 5.
   See picture.
   Now that your rose is finished melt the bottom of the rose and push it flat (I used a saucer to push it flat). Once it is flat enough melt the plastic again and push a safety pin into it and secure by laying a small piece of melted plastic over the safety pin.
   Optional:
   Pendant - hang it onto a long jewellery chain.

DIY: Bubble Blowing Wall Art Project

52 Weeks Project has an unbelievable blog filled with fun!  We just adore this bubble blowing art project they've come up with...and how amazing would this look in your own home?  We have seen bubbles at the dollar store and same goes for the jar.  Watercolors are pretty inexpensive at Michael's or Joann's if you use a coupon!

Get a watercolor pad here!

PACON CORPORATION PAC4910 ART1ST WATERCOLOR PAD

Time: 1 hour
Materials:  watercolors, watercolor paper, bubbles, jars