Homemade Cards - Block Printing

Mass production of a unique piece of art made by you - block printing. 

This was a new concept for me and a very rewarding one. I received a Speedball Block Printing Kit for Christmas last year, and I've been thinking all year about what I wanted to carve into the block.

I penciled my design on paper, transferred it onto the block, carved out the white space and made my own mini printing press. The carving took some patience and time (and a few cuts on my fingers), but it was very enjoyable overall.

Hot off my press...Christmas Cards for some friends and family who I won't be able to personally spend Christmas with.

They were sent in the mail yesterday coupled with a recent photo of my family.

My work space while the newly stamped cards are drying.

My design carved into the block after being inked.

The stamped card before the top and bottom are trimmed off.

Very fun craft that I'm sure I will be touching again in the future. I love the imperfect look it gives to the cards. Each one is a little unique but they all have enough in common to make me excited! 

Try it sometime!

~ Chelsea ~

Fabric Banners - Simplified with a Pinking Rotary Cutter

I've made a few fabric banners and I tend to love them! I love how they use such a small amount of fabric, how they only take 20 minutes max to make and the cute look they produce over a window in celebration of a party or a season.

I recently purchased a pinking blade for my rotary cutter and it is wonderful, well worth the money for the time and hand muscles it saves. I used my mother's pinking scissors for my first fabric banner and it was less than ideal, but definitely did the job.

I had a hard time finding a rotary pinking blade. I ended up finding one, but a different brand, OLFA, and I was not sure if it would be compatible with my FISKARS rotary cutter. I looked online for answers and it was split about 50/50 with responses saying it definitely would not be compatible and others say they had used them and they worked fine. So, that left me just to try it for myself and I was thrilled to see that it works great. It cuts through several layers of even heavier fabrics with ease.

My mom made this banner for her home that ties a lot of her decor colors together:

Below is my first banner I made for my daughter's birthday party. I've used it since then for a baby shower too. Blurry picture, but you get the general theme.

How we make FABRIC BANNERS:

First I look through my extensive fabric stash and find several fabrics that coordinate and represent the theme desired. I use my simple triangle template and cut around it for all the fabric triangles. Then, I lay out the triangles in an eye-pleasing order on the floor. Then I put the triangles in order into a pile and take them to the sewing machine. I sew across each top and together at overlapping corners (about 1 inch overlap) going aln the way across about 1/4 inch from the top, securing a ribbon/ piece of ric rac to each end for hanging and back stitching each time I overlap two triangle tops. Done. I then hang it up, wash my windows and take pictures of my accomplishment.

Here's another one I made for Autumn Time. 

~ Chelsea ~

Thankful Thoughts

I feel much gratitude for the many simple things in our lives! As I say a prayer with our little 16 month old Grandcutie, I think of many little things to thank Heavenly Father for. Things that she can relate to. Such as: our cups of refreshing water, bowl of oatmeal with apple sauce, our clothes to keep us warm, blankets, toys (and rocks) to play with, books to read, our homes to keep us protected & full of love, a bathtub to help her be clean & parents  that work hard for her.

I'm so thankful for my faith in God. I'm so thankful

for the beautiful plan of salvation that He has given to all of us. I am so thankful for my handsome Honey who loves God too.

(I wish the largest words in this framed art were gratitude & thankfulness! Feasting & Pie are good too though)

 I am thankful for natural beauties all around us! The many creations on this wonderful earth are amazing!

 Have a very THANKFUL THANKSGIVING everyone!

With Gratitude, ~*~Lynda~*~

A Beautiful Heap of Mahogany!

Chelsea's neighbor wanted to restore this old china cabinet, but then changed her mind. So, Chelsea asked me if we would like to have it and I said "sure", of course! I love all wood funiture! Even old, damaged & dirty pieces.

 We have many pieces of furniture come our way and feel that it is such a blessing in our life. Many times I sell the pieces after a good refurbishing and it has definitely helped our income.

 We brought all the pieces home and first glued parts together & fixed hinges. Then a good cleaning with this wood cleaner happened. After deciding to keep the mahogany wood color and not painting it, I applied a lot of dark "Old English". It really absorbed the oil since it had been sitting on the neighbors back porch for many months and the wood was very dried out. Then I took the darkest furniture touch-up marker and filled the stain color in where some of the scratches were deeper and the veneer was missing.

 I'm so excited to keep this beautiful piece of furniture. It's still old and worn looking, but also gorgeous!

 I think the white milk glass and touches of blue decor look very lovely in contrast with the mahogany.

 The only thing that I don't have yet are pulls for the bottom two drawers. I keep looking around for some old ones on a different old piece of furniture, but more than likely, someday, I will just need to buy all new ones.

 I'm so grateful to have this addition to our family room!

~*~Lynda~*~

2 Fun Furniture Refurbs!

 I really had fun painting this old night stand. White with charcoal glaze!

 I also painted the gorgeous pulls with a thin coat of black.

 Sorry, no before pics of these awesome dressers. I decided to try my damask stencil on them. It's super fun!

 I also shabbied them up to give that wonderful old look.

Needless to say, they all sold very quickly!

Love the look! ~*~Lynda~*~

Fun, Fast Manners Placemats

I am a leader of Activity Days in my church for the 8-10 year old girls in my area. They meet at my house twice a month and we learn together and do fun crafts with the major goals of increasing faith, confidence and experiences.

This past week, we made simple place mats by using freezer paper stencils and fabric paint. Idea from this book.

The place mats are from thrift stores from 25-50 cents each. I drew out the design of the stencil, basing it off the idea in the book. Then I cut along my pencil lines through 4-6 layers of freezer paper at once using a box-cutter/exact-o knife. I made 12 stencils, then ironed them to each of the place mats before the girls came.

Since the place mats I purchased all have ridges, we painted lightly and didn't get paint into all the cracks. It gives it a nice look and doesn't use up so much fabric paint.   

The girls loved the project and it was fast enough to have them completed and nearly dry within the hour activity time. We also talked about table manners and phone manners. I would call the activity a success! I hope that these place mats will serve as reminders that consideration and manners are the most important part of the place setting.

~ Chelsea ~

Saved by YouTube - Getting Wax out of Carpet

I made a mistake that resulted in wax from my warmer being splattered all over the top of my entertainment center and over several square feet of my shaggy carpet. Oh my. I didn't take pictures, no time for that.

This YouTube video saved my carpet, my pants and I even used the same technique (very carefully) on the painted wood finish of the entertainment center.
All that was needed was an iron and paper towels. Simple and brilliant, and best of all, it worked! 

That's why I'm sharing. Just in case you ever encounter a situation with wax where it shouldn't be. :)

~ Chelsea ~

Glass Etching PART 2: Personal/Practical Wedding Gift

I enjoyed my first try at glass etching and decided to get brave and do a whole set of Pyrex dishes to give as a wedding gift. I etched their last name and I love how it looks. I assume that everyone loves Pyrex dishes like I do, which may not be accurate, but no one can deny that they are very useful, practical and long-lasting. Having their name permanently etched into the glass will make sure their dishes never get mixed up with anyone else's at social gatherings and it just looks sleek in my opinion. 

I followed the same simple steps as in THIS project. 

~ Chelsea ~

Glass Etching PART 1: Easy & Low-Waste Craft

I dabble into all crafts and that's both a weakness and a strength. I sure like trying new things, especially when the results are fast and look professional. 

I don't like crafts that are wasteful. I like using every bit of my craft paper, my scraps of fabric, each drop of decoupage and other crafting supplies. Maybe that comes from being cheap, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. 

This is one of the reasons I've had some buyers remorse since purchasing my Silhouette machine. The initial and continual costs are high for the products (specialty cutting materials, blades, mats, etc.) and the waste tends to be high too. I won't deny that I have produced a lot of fun crafts with this machine, but there is always that little tinge of regret when I think about that blade wearing dull or my materials being used up in a not-so-efficient manner. I write this in case any of you, like I had for months, are wishing for one of these nifty machines. If you are a cheap crafter, it may not be for you. But that's only my opinion. :)

Anyway, the true topic of this post is GLASS ETCHING. Have you ever tried it? I bought some etching cream yesterday and would like to show you my first completed project today.

Simple picture frame etched glass art
The green color is a scrap of green fabric left after making my couch pillows.

What is Needed:

Glass to etch on

Glass Etching Cream (I got mine from Michael's Craft Store, $8 for 3 oz. with a coupon, which is slightly expensive, but reusable and a very small amount is used each time)

craft stick to apply cream

Contact paper stencil (made by you or a craft cutter) OR adhesive stencils available at craft stores)

a sink
paper towels to dry off

About 5-10 min for one small project.

Apply stencil to glass and press firmly with fingers.

Apply etching cream all over the design with craft stick. Allow to sit for 1-3 minutes.

Remove all excess cream and scrape back into the container.

Rinse with water to remove all cream and remove your stencil. 

Once it's dry, you can see your etched design. 

I love the subtle design that etching produces. And the fact that it's so easy is a bonus too. 

~ Chelsea ~

My Dining Room!

The much anticipated change in my dining room furniture is COMPLETED! I am very grateful for the hours of help and the skill and knowledge added by my parents to make this project a possibility. 

I spent $80 (Craigslist) on this oak dining room table with 6 chairs:

These 3 barstool chairs came from a neighbor's yard sale, I think it was $10 for all of them. They have been waiting for their makeover for about 2 years.

This little random chair was free... the best price, from our neighbors who we were sad moved far away.

So it is a good memory and a perfect place for our Space Saver baby high chair.

The goal - To make all these pieces of dining furniture match this lovely hutch I purchased (Craigslist) about a year and a half ago. I did not paint this, it was already done.

The process began with many hours of deep cleaning, sanding, replacing spindles (using an extra chair purchased at Goodwill for $1 that matched but was in terrible condition), gluing and overall preparations.

Then, my father used his paint sprayer to spray on a primer coat of white free paint, then a final coat of Clark+Kensington Paint, Southern Plantation color. (Total cost for 2 gallons, $55)

After a few days of drying, my mom and I bravely glazed the table and chairs with a tintable glaze mixed with black acrylic paint. It was messy and slightly stressful because of the speed required to get the right look.

How'd we do?

I'm so glad I took on this project and I'm so grateful for all the support in accomplishing it!

~ Chelsea ~