Valentine's Day : Blasts From The Past

Yay! I have my laptop back and didn't lose anything and I'm so happy! Have some photo editing to do for some things I've worked on recently and have to re-install some stuff,  but in the meantime, thought I would take a trip down memory lane and re-up a few Valentine's Day home decor and card projects from past years.  Projects are linked in the titles. 

Home Decor

Valentine's Lanterns:

Easy Valentine's Canvas: 

This is a really quick way to add some Valentine's decor that can actually stay up all year long and not look out of place. Neutral colors make it versatile. 

Easy Blingy Love Letters

This is another thing that you can leave up all year long. 

Easy Vinyl Charger: 

I actually did this in "traditional" Valentine's colors ( primarily since it was a stash bust from an extra charger I had from Christmas)

Cards 

Mizuhiki Cord Valentine's Cards:

Handmade cards using Mizuhiki Cord (found w/ Origami supplies)

Metallic and Bright Valentine's Day Cards:

Vintagey Valentine's Cards

Valentine's In Gray and White

Hope you've found some inspiration!

Valentine's Lanterns

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. Products in this post were provided to me. Project and opinions are mine.

Yikes. How is it almost Valentine's Day already?  Time to get busy with some new decorations right? Fortunately I get to work with Oriental Trading Company and with their selection of  decor and craft items, was able to come up with some new  pieces I now have up not only for Valentine's Day  but as part of my decor all year round! 

Since I tend towards neutrals and metallics, I fell in love ( no pun intended) with these silver metal lanterns. I decided I'd make some altered candles to put inside them but since I knew I wouldn't light them, I chose battery operated flameless candles. They look great lit or unlit and no risk of burning down the house! 

Never one to leave anything plain, I used a Love Letter background stamp to make candle wraps for the candles. 

I stamped on plain white cardstock then tore the edges and went over with a metallic gold rub-on to give them an aged look. Adhered them to the candles with a strong double sided tape. 

Still not content to leave my candlewraps alone, I cut a couple of hearts from some scrap glitter vinyl. And of course, STILL not content, had to embellish some more! What goes better with hearts than more hearts and keys? 

I adhered the large keys with foam dots,  wrapped gold and white Baker's twine around each candle a few times  ( this also keeps the keys in place) and finished with heart charms and a rolled paper rose made w/ scraps from my stamped candlewraps. We makers don't wastestuff  do we?!

Once my candles were done, of course I needed to add some embellishments to the lanterns themselves. Using scrap glitter paper , more Baker's twine,  charms , and paper roses did the trick! 

When lit, the candles give of a calming soft glow. I miss just sitting and looking at the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. I think I've found a solution! 

Supplies Used ( unless otherwise stated all are from Oriental Trading Co) 

• Metal Lanterns
• Flameless Candles
• Heart and Key Charms
• Gold and White Baker's Twine
• White Scrapbook Paper
• Love Letter Background Stamp
• Gold metallic rub on (my stash)
• Strong double sided tape ( my stash) 

Happy (almost) Love Month!!

Winter Blues Wednesday @ DIY by Design

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring

Rustic and Glam: Layered and Gold Leaf Christmas Slat Sign

This is  a sponsored post. Materials were provided to me. Project idea and comments are mine. 

The team at Oriental Trading Company provided me an opportunity to play with some of their great products to come up with a Christmas project and needless to say I had too much fun. 

I created this layered piece using a plain slat board , a wood tree shape , a plain frame and Christmas themed scrapbook paper but the most fun part of this piece was the gold leafing! Foil and shiny is so popular right now ( wouldn't matter if it wasn't, I love shiny things). I also love marrying the most basic and  rustic supplies and the glam (for example, my Christmas tree includes Swarovski crystal ornaments and a tree topper made using a toilet paper roll). 

Here's what I started with: 

Plain Slat Sign

Unfinished Christmas Tree

Traditional Christmas Scrapbook Paper Pack

Gold Foil Leaf

DIY Unfinished Frames

Acrylic Craft Paints

Gold Leaf Sizing ( I used Mona Lisa brand I had on hand)

The unfinished tree is actually meant to stand up but since I never use things as intended, I glued the stand to the back of the tree to give it some dimension. 

I painted the sign using black craft paint and then dry brushed it with cream paint. I did the same for the unfinished frame. 

I traced the tree onto a piece of the scrapbook paper , cut out, and used Mod Podge to apply it to the tree. Once dry, I lightly sanded the edges.  

I cut the "Love Peace Joy" sentiment with my Silhouette from gold glitter vinyl  and applied it to a slat board piece I had in my stash ( also painted black and dry brushed cream. 

Now for the fun part! If you've never worked with gold leaf before don't be intimidated. Do be prepared that it's messy. It's like glitter and once you start to brush it off it gets everywhere so plan accordingly or plan to walk around picking tiny flakes of leafing off of yourself. But, there's nothing like it so it's worth it. 

You need a good glue and I've had success using Mod Podge or PVA glue but really you should use a glue made for gold leaf which is what I used.  I didn't want complete coverage so I just randomly dabbed my glue here and there. It sets up in about 30 min. 

You can see here the random way I did the gold leafing. When your glue is set you lay a sheet of the leafing on top and then use a stiff brush ( stencil brushes work well) to pounce it onto the glue. It will adhere to wherever the glue was and then pieces of it will break away. I save my excess to use for other projects. 

I did the same to the frameand then used more of the scrapbook paper under the glass as shown and cut a gold glitter vinyl reindeer to go on top of the glass. Once all my pieces were ready I glued them to the sign and done. 

Stay tuned! I will have a couple more projects using the supplies I received!

Happy Haunting Entryway

NOTE: This is a sponsored post. Supplies were provided to me. Opinions are mine. 

Halloween is one of my favorite decorating holidays. Over the years I've matured my decor, moving to a more "elegant" ( I hope!) and Gothic look. Each year I've either made or added a couple of new things so I didn't have to invest in a makeover all at once. 

These items from Oriental Trading Company fit right in with my transformation! 

This year I wanted to focus on my entryway and entryway  table. 

The Spiderweb candleabra was a perfect addition with these creepy crawly but not too scary spiders! 

My favorite item I used this year however was this Spiderweb table topper. I absolutely love this thing and need to get a couple more! 

The other thing I chose and with which I'm totally in love is this "Happy Haunting" sign. 

I knew I wasn't going to have a lot of time to make things this year so this is ready to go and can be placed on a wall, table, mantel. Easy peasy. 

I also re-did my railings keeping them simple with some tulle I've re-used over the years but adding Canvas Banners painted with chalkboard paint and hand drawn letters. But to make it stand out I added a gold glittered tulle bow and tied this together with my entryway table by adding the same bow to it. 

I re-purposed some tinsel trees to hold Poison Bottle ornaments. These are square Christmas ornaments with drips of paint inside, scraps of washi paper / tape and embellished with Enamel Labels from OTC. 

Happy Haunting! 

Girlfriend Gifts : Gold Foiled Herb Pots

I don't get together with friends that often, so when I do I like to bring a little something. I think as makers, it's in our nature. 

I had the opportunity to work with some goodies from Oriental Trading Company to make these little Herb Pots. 

OTC Supplies used for these: 

• Unfinished Square Flowerpots 
• Patterned Texture Paper Pack
• Dictionary Tags

Other Supplies: 

• Mona Lisa Brand Gold Foil Simple Leaf and Adhesive
• Misc Craft Paints
• Mod Podge 

I painted the unfinished pots with cream acrylic craft paint. Once dry, I added strips from the patterned paper pack as shown. 

Once the paper strips were dry, I applied the gold foil adhesive to the top and side edges.  The adhesive takes about 20-30 minutes to dry to a tacky state. Once there, I applied the gold leafing randomly. I wanted to match the pattern in the paper so I didn't want complete coverage. I even roughed it up in places. 

I wanted the Dictionary Tags to coordinate with the pots so I applied scraps of the paper I used on the pots along  gold glitter paper and stickers from my stash. 

Since I am not much of a gardener or green thumb ( unless it's green glitter!) I was thrilled to find these all in one herb kits at Target. I included two of these in the pots. 

I wrapped the completed pots with strips of tulle, and finished off with the tags.

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Lavender and Gold Birthday

The  Mumster's birthday was last week and before knowing that we were losing The Purple One, Prince, I'd made some things for the other Purple One, my mom. She truly could have given Prince a run for his money with her love of purple. 

I'd picked up the lavender beads at Michaels without really having a plan. The plan came together when I found the lavender, gold, and silver handmade paper which gave me the inspiration for the necklace and bracelet I made. 

The bracelet and necklace combine the lavender beads with antique gold. For the pendants, I used antique gold bezels (Darice, avail at JoAnn's) , gold glitter paper (Michaels) and glass domes (CraftFantastic.com).  

The necklace is gold chain with sections of lavender and gold beads. 

I used the handmade paper to make some altered candles ( plain candles, Dollar Tree) and finished them with strips cut from rhinestone sheets ( DCWV) ribbon, and charms.  I used a leftover scrap of paper to cover the box for the jewelry. 

What's a birthday without a card? 

The crackled paper is from Oriental Trading company. I'll have a post later in the week featuring more OTC goodies. The flower is suede paper I picked up when I found the handmade papers. I used a Tim Holtz die to cut the flowers. 

I had some beads and charms left over from the candles so I used them to make a few ribbon bookmarks. One for my mom and a couple extra as gifts. 

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