Thursday, January 30, 2025

BFF Open House

 


Happy Friday Eve all and here we are at the end of the first month of a new year. Perfect timing for the start of the Lunar New Year, right? This year is the year of the snake which, if I'm being honest, I'm like Indiana Jones in my feelings about snakes but in this context where the snake is associated with intelligence, resilience, and love, I'll make an exception!

I didn't make any snake projects but here's what I did share this week:


Before we officially start "Love Month", let's take a look at some of the ideas shared at last week's party.


Crazy Little Love Birds shared how to transform a chocolate box into a Beautiful Hanging Heart


Artsy Va Va shared how to use water slide decals, Sculpey, and gilding wax to make a Canvas Heart beautiful for Valentine's or anytime! 

My Thrift Store Addiction shared her fun, retro, Vintage Tinsel Valentine's Tree


Finally, these Valentine Raspberry Sandwich Cookies from The Kitchen Is My Playground would make a perfect addition to any Valentine's table! 

Thanks to all who linked up and can't wait to see what you've got in store this week! 








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Monday, January 27, 2025

Valentine Arabesque Tile Ornaments

 


I've had fun making ornaments for my little Valentine Tree. Let's just say I bought a surplus of these arabesque tiles when they became popular a few years ago. Like many of you, I made several Christmas ornaments so they were perfect when I was thinking of ways to decorate this tree. 

Supplies:
  • Ceramic Arabesque Tiles (I think these are from Lowes)
  • Black Glossy Vinyl
  • Self Adhesive Rhinestones
  • Ribbons

They do come in different sizes and slightly different shapes. Several sizing charts are available on Pinterest to ensure you get the dimensions right when you size in your cutting machine software. I chose these two images in Cricut Design Space, sized, and cut from glossy black vinyl. 


Clean your tiles. You can use window or all-purpose cleaner or I just used alcohol to remove any residue. 


After you apply the transfer tape to the vinyl, position on your tile before using a scraper to apply. Once applied, time to embellish! 


I grabbed some rhinestones (the dog worries that I'll embellish her some days) and applied as shown. Then to finish, I used one of the aforementioned size charts to cut out the backs for the ornaments from faux leather. 


I covered the back with quick dry tacky glue and applied to the back of the ornaments. Finally, I made some bows and used bakers twine to create the hangers. And of course, one more rhinestone!


Sunday, January 26, 2025

Valentine's Day: From Dollar Tree Fillable Containers to Keepsake Ornaments

 


I've never been a pink person. Maybe it's (sorry Mom) having had a pink room or being inherently contrary and disliking what I'm supposed to like. I spent enough time in my pink room and in pink ballet tights etc. that it took me until recently to decide there's a shade of pink I do like and it's this pale pink, ironically called Ballet Slipper by Waverly. But since they're used to me being in black 24x7, I can take a bit of ribbing. This shade of pink goes well with black so there!

After Christmas, I found a pale pink tree at JoAnn for 80% off which inspired these ornaments since I had no Valentine's ornaments. I'll be sharing a couple others I made for the tree. 

Supplies:
  • Heart Shaped Fillable Containers (Dollar Tree)
  • Coffee Filters
  • White Glue (Elmers)
  • No Prep Paint in White and Ballet Slipper (Waverly, Walmart)
  • Paper Crowns
  • Self Adhesive Rhinestones 
  • Ribbon
  • Small Flower Embellishments



I found these fillable heart containers at Dollar Tree. I saw ornaments! See that last one with the string and tags inside? Didn't even take them out since I knew I was covering these and used my new favorite technique of coffee filters. While the no prep paint could have gone straight on the plastic, I like texture.


I squirted some glue onto the heart, covered a section then applied some of the coffee filters which I'd crumbled up and torn into usable pieces. 


Repeat until all of your hearts are covered. I like to let these dry overnight before painting. Once dry, I applied a coat of the white Waverly no prep paint.


You can see how it looks like a texture paste. Once all of the hearts were painted and dry, I went over with the Ballet Slipper Waverly paint.



I was fine with some of the white peeking through. Once the pink coat was dry, I dry brushed a little silver on and then to add more bling, I used a translucent glitter paint to give it a final coat. 


Time to embellish! I grabbed some things from my stash. I thought I might use both the wings and crowns shown here but ultimately went with the crowns. 


I tacked the crowns down with a glue stick and then went over with a quick coat of glue. And because I'm a bling girl, I had to add some rhinestones! Sparkle sparkle! 


I had some snowflake ornament hangers from my Christmas stash I thought worked with these since we're still in Winter. I grabbed these pink mini-flowers from my stash and added them to the center of the snowflake and then applied the rhinestones as shown. To finish, I made bows from black satin ribbon et voila!

See? I even did pink nails!


I have two more ornament projects I made for my tree which I'll share this week! 

Thursday, January 23, 2025

BFF Open House

 


Happy Friday Eve all. Once again I'm going to say I can't believe how fast time is flying...how did it get to be the end of the third week of January already?! It's been cold here in the desert but I am kept humble by our son who lives in "real cold" in Chicago where with the wind chill it was minus nineteen degrees with the wind chill so he's paying me back for when he'd claim something was extreme and I'd come back with a "Oh yeah, well..."

I've been having fun with Valentine's Projects and shared three this week! Starting to wonder if I shouldn't incorporate Dollar Tree into my blog title. 





Love is in the air and we are getting closer to "Love Month" and Valentine's Day. Let's take a look at some great ideas shared at last week's party! 


Crazy Little Love Birds shared a Valentine Shadow Box that's perfect for Valentine's season or anytime.

Penny's Passions shared her beautiful Valentine's Mantel. What a great way to bridge the seasons from Christmas to Valentine's!

Blue Sky At Home shared these lovely Air Dry Clay Trinket Dishes. What a great idea to make for friends for Galentine's Day! 


Sonata Home Design shared a fantastic method to achieve "Luxe for Less" with this DIY Crackle Glass technique. Give a glow up to plain glass vases with minimal supplies! 


Thanks to everyone who linked up! Stay warm and creative. 













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Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Valentine's Or Anytime Decor: Dollar Tree Tile Heart Topiaries

 


I'm late to the Dollar Tree Embossed Tiles even though I've had some in my stash. I used one to make these two "topiaries" (fauxpiaries?) since I don't know what else to call them! 

Supplies:
  • Dollar Tree Embossed Peel and Stick Tiles
  • Dollar Tree Faceted Bottles
  • Waverly White No Prep Paint (Walmart)
  • Bamboo Skewers
  • Hot Glue and Glue Gun
  • Scrap Cardboard


So let me say up front, that based on the size heart I used as a template, you can cut two hearts from one tile but you won't be able to do it an center everything so if you're OCD, use two tiles. I didn't think about it until I'd already cut them out and despite my inner Virgo screaming "UGGGHHHH" I stayed the course because I didn't want to waste the tile!


I grabbed my Waverly No Prep Paint that goes on ANYTHING and spounced some on the cut out tiles using foam paint spouncers. I wanted a very antiqued look so I wasn't going for opaque coverage. 


Since the tiles are thin and I knew I needed them to stand up I used the same template to cut out some cardboard to back my hearts with. I saved several shipping boxes from Christmas to repurpose in projects this year. This earned me a "What are you doing NOW" comment from Mr. Chocolate when he woke up one morning to find me on the floor cutting down a box. 

I painted the cardboard hearts with the same paint.


I've mentioned I'm working on using stash items that have sat in my craft closet so I pulled out some cup chain I had from a previous jewelry Design Team stint and hot glued around the edges.


Dollar Tree has upped their game lately and I found these smoky faceted glass bottles on a recent trip. 


I took out the corks (and saved them for another project of course!) and then trimmed bamboo skewers (I debated between these and chopsticks) to the cardboard side. Then placed them in the bottles!