Modern Crafty Wreath

Handmade Wreath

Two White Birds :: For our Two Boys

Bird Detail :: Handpicked by our Little Man at a local craft store

Leftover Yarn Detail :: Randomly Wrapped by our Boys

Tweet! Tweet!

Hello there.  Today I want to share with you the wreath we made with our boys.  It's a super simple project you can do with your kids, in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

:: Materials ::

12 inch round styrofoam 

fabric scraps, cut lengthwise

stray yarns

raffia (or ribbons, if you prefer)

birds, or choice of accents

:: How To ::

wrap fabric scraps around styrofoam (pin or glue to secure)

randomly cross over some yarn

tie raffia or ribbon and make a bow

hook or tie your choice of accents

:: All Done! ::

Now step back and enjoy your one of a kind, handmade wreath.

Style Saturday: DIY Skinny Jeans

Eye Candy: PRPS Skinny Jeans from Italy, $617.

My eight-year old $7 flare jeans turned skinny!

 

DIY Skinny Jeans

Hello friends. It's Saturday and that means I get to have a little time to pull up my feet, relax and browse through some designer eye candies.  Today, I was into skinny jeans! 

For some of you who have been following this blog, you know by now that I'm huge on 'do-it-yourself' projects.  I've been a fan of designer Donwan Harrell for quite some time now, and the way he re-engineered the must-have jeans.  Harrell's PRPS (short for 'purpose') jeans are understandably pricey because each one is 'rare and premium' and designs run in limited editions.  A true wearable art!  That inspired me to re-design one of my old forgotten jeans, instead of breaking the bank.

I wish I took photos in the process, but it was a bit tough with two energetic toddlers ready to conquer the weekend fun.  It's actually pretty simple if you have a little experience in sewing.  There are a lot of videos you can watch out there on how to turn any pair of jeans into a skinny one.  The one I found the most helpful is by ModCloth.

It took me twenty-five minutes to finish mine, and very happy with how it turned out, especially the fit.

There you have it!  If ever you decide to alter your own jeans, share your photo.  Have fun! And thanks for stopping by again, and thanks ModCloth for the video.

Recycled Bottles Wall Art

How cool is this?  

Recycled perfume bottles turned wall art.

by Peter Fernandez and Jim Quinones

A former colleague of mine had this awesome idea to turn his collection of empty perfume bottles into a  wall art.  His nephew built the frame, primed and painted it before assembling the bottles as a glass collage.

Who knew, right?  Love the ingenuity of this project!  I'll never look at perfume bottles the same way again.  Thanks for sharing it with us guys!

DIY Handpainted Envelopes

DIY Handpainted Envelopes

This is a fun project you can do with your kids indoors on a rainy or cold spring day.

As I was finishing the thank you cards for our son's first birthday, I realized I ran out of envelopes.  Instead of packing all the kiddos to drive out in the 40 degree weather just to pick up some, I thought of making our own since we only needed few.

I used an old envelope as a template, cut and glued the sides.  And the fun part began.  Both our toddlers, 1 and 3 year olds had fun painting to their heart's content.  They didn't have to paint all the envelopes, I taught big brother to press other envelopes on the ones he already painted to make prints on the rest.  The result were one of a kind, colorful envelopes.  

The hardest part was making my boys stop.  Make your own too, and have fun!

Do It Yourself iPhone Sleeve

It's official!  You can now get your very own DIY iPhone sleeve.

Get it from UrArtist.

Send me a photo of your own creation and I'll feature it here in my Blog.

DIY Paper Luminaries Tutorial

Finally, here it is!

My long overdue tutorial on how to make your own Paper Luminaries.

Materials:  

plain paper lantern (battery operated, for portability)

colored tissue paper (used ones will do)

round disk template (I used a CD cover)

scissors

permanent double sided tape (or glue gun if you prefer).

I like the tape, less messy and safe for little fingers (for little ones).

Step 1:

Using your round disk template, trace and cut circles from the paper tissues.

Short-cut Tip:

Fold the papers together for multiple cut-outs.

Step 2:

Fold each circle in half then glue or tape the middle in the paper lantern randomly.

Step 3:

Keep going until all circles are folded and taped/ glued to the lantern.

 Here, I'm halfway through.

Step 5:

Turn it on (make sure your batteries are new) and admire your luminary.

Step 6:

Make some more!  And have fun. 

DIY Paper Luminaries

I made these for my friend's wedding recently.  Plain white paper lanterns (from dollar store) transformed into floral ball luminaries.

Here's the yellow version.  Want to make yours?  Stay tuned for the tutorial I'll be posting pretty soon.  


Thanks again for stopping by and sharing my morning.

Paper Garland - Part 2

Remember the paper garlands I made last week? 

I made pink versions of it for our friends' wedding.

We used the white ones as entryway accents at the dinner reception.  

The soft lighting made the threads in the garlands seem invisible.

Click here to make your own paper garlands.  

Enjoy, and don't forget to share your photos if you make some.

Brush vs. Hammer and Drill

Step 1 to 5 Completed. Twenty five steps to go!

Instead of brushes, I chose the hammer and drill today. After months of searching, I finally found the perfect shoe rack for our mudroom. We scored this Ikea TV stand on a clearance sale. 70% off. If you haven't put any Ikea furniture together, let me warn you that it requires tons of patience.

Big help from our little man.

He enjoyed handing out the lightweight pieces to me.

There are no words in the instruction manual, only photo illustrations. The screws, bolts and nuts are all packed together, without separate labeling. You've got to figure it out which piece matches the one indicated on the manual.

All done! Repurposed IKEA TV stand serves as shoe rack.

After almost four hours of hammering, drilling, screwing and awkward bending, I finally finished putting it together (with extra help from my little man and my mom).

Now, we're able to walk in the mudroom without tripping on piles of shoes. It's low enough for our boys to sit on and if it can hold the weight of a flatscreen tv, it should be sturdy enough to occasionally sit on.

My next project will be to put a cushion on top. So, tune in. In the meantime, I'm headed to reward myself with a warm, lavender bath.

- Posted from my iPhone

ABCs of a Tea Party

With clear skies and nice weather, summer is the perfect time for tea parties. I'm not talking about the political 'tea parties'. This is after all, an art blog.

I recently held a tea party for the kids in our family. I want to share with you my ABC's for preparing a budget-friendly tea party for the little ones and the kids at heart too. I marked the photo above for your reference.

a - For the table napkins, I bought 2 yards of linen fabric and hand drawn the leaf prints with fabric pens.

b - My favorite flea market find! Twenty two set of white and silver vintage china in perfect condition. I wanted my little guests (and the not so little) to have a genuine experience using real tea cups.

c - Set of wooden bowls from Goodwill. Tough and durable for little hands.

d - For my flower centerpiece, I plucked some Nikko Blue Hydrangeas from our yard and set it on vintage blue wine glasses (another flea market find!).

e - No tea bags for that day, only loose leaf teas brewed in IKEA cafe presses.

f - Freshly squeezed lemonade mixed with mango juice, for refreshment.

g - Perfectly warmed tea bread and pastries from our local bakery.

And since my little guests know I'm an artist, I gave them their own 'art kits' complete with sets of paints, paper canvases and brushes from the dollar store. We let them express their creativity painting whatever subject they fancy.

Do I think they had a great time? The smiles from my tiniest guests say it all.

There you go! Have fun hosting your own tea party. Share your photos, I would love to see them too.

Heather Grey Laptop Sleeve

Heather Grey, the newest addition in the

Laptop Sleeves collection.

Even the new label is entirely handmade.

I'll be posting a tutorial on how you can make

your own label, so stand by.

Click here to see more images of the new laptop sleeve.