Painting Method - Using Potatoes & Yams

Another fun idea from THIS book... in which I very much enjoyed.

I stamped a picnic blanket (a large piece of brown home decor fabric I had leftover from this recovering project) using potatoes and yams sliced in half. Using potatoes and yams for stamps isn't a new idea, but it was for me. It was the first time I have ever carved my own stamp and it was good practice. 

Here are my stamps that I made using the cutter tool.

And the fabric after being stamped (very wrinkly, I know. I avoid ironing at all costs.)

I feel like the blanket turned out fun and I learned a lot from this project and have ideas to improve future projects using this same technique. 

I think kids would enjoy this too.

~ Chelsea ~ 

Painting method - Make a Stamp & Ink Pad

I received a really neat book for Christmas from my brother. It's called Print Workshop, Hand Printing Techniques, Truly Original Projects.

I've tried out a few ideas in this book and I have enjoyed them thoroughly. 

The first one I attempted was making my own stamp and stamp pad using a small block of wood, string, piece of glass (from a 4x6 picture frame), a small piece of felt, paint and table salt.

The paint is on the piece of glass. The table salt is added to the acrylic paint to thicken it. It gave the painting a shine too. Then, the felt is placed on top, creating a stamp pad.

To make my stamp, I wrapped some random leather string from a jewelry making kit around a small block of wood. In the book, twine is used and produces a much more subtle design.

Here are my patterns on card stock paper and a canvas (the white one).

I then made the canvas one into the piece of art below. I painted the record with a foam brush and used aluminum foil for the metallic details.

I've used the papers for a few different projects and cards. 

This was fun and I will be doing it again with variations in my string, patterns and mediums.

~ Chelsea ~

Funny Free Craft for Kids - Lunch Sack Babies

Shea, my 3 year-old, had one of her best friends over and I wanted to have some fun activities for their creative minds to enjoy. Every idea I thought of needed special materials that I didn't have. 

Then, I stumbled across this simple idea in this book...

And adapted to what I had in my crazy craft box.

Materials needed:

small paper lunch sack

a few pieces of newspaper/ads

short piece of string/yarn

markers, stickers, ribbon, etc for kids to "decorate" their baby

Construction paper to make arms and legs

Tape (I used clear packing tape)

Basic Idea: Stuff the newspaper lightly into the bag. Tape the top closed. Tie the string around the middle to make a neck. Attach arms and legs with tape. Decorate and give the baby features like eye,s nose and a mouth. Play and pretend with your new friend. :)

Shea and her friend worked on their babies for about 45 minutes and had a great time chatting together as they colored and stickered their babies. 

Great inside-the-house craft, not too messy and best of all - FREE! 

~ Chelsea ~

Sprocket Pillow

I enjoyed making this pillow and I want to share the tutorial that I followed from Cluck Cluck Sew.

I love crafts that use scraps patched together into a little bit of loveliness. 

One more addition to my family room.

~ Chelsea ~

Wooden Produce in My Family Room

What is it about fruit and veggies that get them into decorating so much? I never intended to have a basket of produce as part of my family room decorating, but it was purely impulse when I saw a baggy of these wooden guys at Goodwill on 1/2 off Saturday. I love the uniqueness of these fruit and vegetables and now I really like them after my paint brush got a hold of them.

Before:

After:

The metal basket holding the fruit was another treasure found on that same thrift store day. I like how the colors of the fruit can be seen through the basket sides too. 

~ Chelsea ~

Pillow Shams

I was inspired by a tissue box to add some yellow to my family room redecorating plans.

Slowly, more and more touches of green, turquoise and yellow are being added to give this room more life. 

This past week the pillows got in on the fun!

Pillow Shams are a simple and inexpensive way to give pillows a fresh look. Not only a fresh look for now, but even after a few months of kids hands, sippy cup spills and who knows what else, since they are removable and washable! I am so glad I thought of that this time around while restyling my couch pillows. 

Yellow pillow purchased at Target. Other two shams, I made.

See More and Learn how to make a pillow sham by clicking "Read more" below...

Making Cards - Using up Paper Scraps

I have labeled myself a "cheap crafter", because I don't like wasting any little bit of my crafting materials and really don't buy a whole lot of them to begin with. I love creating things on a low budget, which works out great, since my crafting budget is pretty low! :)

I was asked by a friend to make some cards for the mothers in her life. I started by seeking some inspiration online and then went through my gallon size ziploc bag of paper scraps, some from a decade ago. I sorted the scrap pieces into piles of coordinating colors and patterns. Then, I went to town. 

Here are some of my scrap paper card creations.

Happy Mother's Day to all women out there! 

~ Chelsea ~

My Little Dresser

I decided to have some fun with this free dresser.
A lot more work went into it than is visible in these photos, like making the drawers function better, cleaning out and lining the inside of the drawers, filling many holes and getting my dad's assistance with cutting off edges and adding to the rear of the table top.

Before:

After:

Knobs (brand new) purchased at a thrift store.

Tabletop edge trim created by my dad from some scraps.

Patterned wrapping paper found at Target.

Cream and Black paints I already had.

How I used decoupage to adhere the wrapping paper to the dresser top and drawer fronts:
1) I decided to use wrapping paper since the surfaces I wanted to cover were large and I didn't want to buy more than a dozen scrapbook paper sheets and have to align them to follow a pattern. The wrapping paper worked great for how I wanted it to look (not perfect and a little shabby). But, if a smoother more perfect surface is wanted, a thicker paper is better and leaves less wrinkles and small bubble bumps.
2) Cut out paper a little larger than surface.
3) Quickly coat entire surface with decoupage with a foam brush.
4)Quickly align one edge of paper on the surface and work across, smoothing with hands to get the paper covering the entire surface with minimal bumps, wrinkles and bubbles.
5) Apply a coat of decoupage with foam brush on top of the paper and allow to dry completely. I've discovered that applying the top coat of decoupage before the under coat is dry creates a smoother surface once it is all dry.
6) Use a box cutter or exact-o-knife to (carefully) trim any edges that are too long.
7) Use fine sand paper to sand all around edges to give it a shabby look, especially on corners.
8) Look over any edges/corners that may have lifted up and secure and coat with additional decoupage as needed.

I am loving this new space to organize my mounds of fabric!
I was a little hesitant to go with such a bold pattern, but I love that it is more interesting and artistic than most of my projects.

~ Chelsea ~

Using Wax - Smooth Sliding Drawers

I am always amazed at how well wax works to make drawers open and close smoothly and quietly. 

I'm currently working on a little old dresser that has the basic wood drawer guides. Those drawers were so hard to open and close and loud too! So, I rubbed the wax over the areas were the wood rubs together and now it glides open and closed wonderfully. 

I also used this method to solve loud, squeaky drawers on these nightstands.

Here are the points both on the drawers and the dresser body that need to be rubbed with wax to improve gliding. 

One of the drawers.

I am excited to make this free-off-the-side-of-the-road dresser cute and functional as a perfect place for my excessive amounts of fabric in my craft room/office. I look forward to showing it to you once it is done too!

~ Chelsea ~

Scrap Wood Art

What can you do with a warped, water-damaged piece of bead board? 

For my 16th birthday (long ago), I was gifted a beautiful Mesa Temple filet crochet (Wow, it took me forever to find what it was called online!) I have always wanted to display it somehow, but could never find a square frame that would work for it and my budget.

My dad cut out a square of old weathered bead board (above) and I sanded and painted it. Then I used the easy spray starch technique to attach the lace-type fabric to the painted board. 

I created a simple hanger for the back using ribbon and thumb tacks and hung it on a single nail up on my wall. I sealed the ends of the ribbon with a lighter. 

I love using spray starch to attach fabric to flat surfaces, like walls. I have used this non-permanent and no-damage method many times in my home now (HERE and HERE).

HOW TO USE SPRAY STARCH: Just place the fabric where you want it and spray the starch right on top of the fabric just enough to moisten it. Then use a damp sponge to wipe away any excess or drips. Use your fingers to press lightly on the fabric to secure it to the wall. Then allow it to dry. 

~ Chelsea ~

My $1 Thrift Store Clock

Before:

After:

I enjoyed this little project making this little clock so cute. It now is on the wall in my little girl's room. I made the clock face using Silhouette software and then using the Print and Cut feature. It worked great and gave me so much freedom in creating the numbers, colors and shapes. 

Clock face printed on white cardstock paper.

Brush-painted white and lightly distressed.

I hope to find another cute (and cheap) clock to beautify someday.

~ Chelsea ~

Shutter Hair Clip Display

If you've been looking at this blog for a while, you may remember this little shutter back when I made it into a picture display using small clothes pins. 

Well that shutter now has a new life and purpose as it hangs in our guest girls' bathroom. 

So many little hair accessories in this house! This is about half of them... the ones that get used the most often. 

They're just clipped right on to the shutters. It works perfectly and I love how it looks in there.

No more getting squished or forgotten.

~ Chelsea ~