arts and craft Archives - Page 9 of 74

arts and craft, autumn fall decor, Crafts, decor, Decorating, DIY, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Tutorial, wreath

DIY Simple Fall Wreath for Less than $10

Hi everyone! Happy Fall!

Today I’m back with this super simple wreath idea that will cost you less than $10 all in! It includes using an inexpensive starburst twig wreath from Amazon and some cattail bunches that I picked up at Dollar Tree for a buck each.

I happened to see this twig wreath from Amazon and it was only $7. I knew I wanted to make a Fall wreath with it. That’s what started this whole project! The nice thing about using twig wreaths is that they help to “fill out” your wreath. You don’t need as many floral/greenery accessories because the twigs add bulk.

I love making wreaths. It’s one of my favorite crafts. Lately, I’ve gravitated toward very simplistic, almost minimalistic looking, wreaths. And that’s how I wanted to design this one.

The cattails add a nice pop of color.

Let’s get started!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Twig wreath
Cattails or other Dollar Store Florals
Floral Wire
Wire cutters

Instructions:

Follow these three simple steps to creating your Fall wreath.

Step 1: Cut off Individual Cattails.

Since my cattails came in bunches, I started off by snipping each individual cattail from the stems. I left a bit of a stem on each one.

Step 2: Use floral wire to attach Cattails to your Wreath Form.

Using small pieces of floral wire, attach your cattails to your wreath form. You can twist the wire in the back to secure each cattail. I wanted my cattails to follow the twisted pattern of the wreath.

You can also try inserting the cattails through the twig wreath wire. Just be careful not to loosen or break the twigs from the wreath.

Step 3: Hang up and enjoy it!

After all your cattails are attached, you just need to hang up and enjoy it!

I like to use a 3m wreath hanger to hang them on my front door. If you have a glass door, you can buy a suction door wreath hanger that comes with a little hook.

These wreath hangers allow me to hang it anywhere on the front door and not block the windows. I like to hang my wreaths directly under our new lion doorknocker.

But you can also hang your wreath indoors. I especially love using wreaths for jazzing up an interior door or wall and I love hanging one from our kitchen vent hood around the holidays.

You don’t have to spend a lot to add some Fall Decor to your home. Dollar Stores are a great place to pick up a few florals and keep the cost low. You can always reuse the twig wreaths too!

For more wreath ideas, check out this modern hoop wreath tutorial here.

Until next time!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

October 23, 2019/0 Comments/by Karen Decor Hint

Aged, arts and craft, Before and After, decor, DIY, Furniture, Goodwill, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, spray paint, Spray paint metal, thrifting, Upcycling

How to Create a Faux Zinc Texture (with Spray Paint)

Want to give something the look of zinc metal without spending money on zinc metal? You can create the look with spray paint and this technique.

How to Create a Faux Zinc Texture (with Spray Paint)

A while ago I was thrifting with a few friends and stumbled across an ugly cabinet at our local Goodwill. The metal chest had extra wide and deep storage, but the worst colors imaginable! The hot pink and mint green were disguising the true potential of the chest. Like a color-blind dog, I was able to see beyond its garish appearance. In my mind, I pictured a vintage metal cabinet with a faux zinc side and chalkboard drawer fronts.

I scooped it up and brought it home. Then the poor chest sat in our garage for months and months until I had a chance to work a little spray paint magic and turned it into….this thing of beauty:

Yes, that is the same chest of drawers! You could do the same transformation. Let’s learn How to Create a Faux Zinc Texture!

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Gray Automotive primer
Rust-oleum metallic hammered metal spray paint (silver)
Craft paper
Painter’s Tape
Rubber gloves
White chalk

Instructions:

Clean off your furniture piece really well. Remove any dirt or debris (I actually had to use a little Goo Gone to get rid of some sticky residue. But, lemon essential oil will also work for this task.)

Spray paint your object with automotive primer. (I prefer the automotive primer because it sticks to metal and can withstand a lot of abuse.)

Let the primer dry.

Adding a Faux Zinc Texture:

This is the most exciting part of the tutorial. I created this technique by trial and error and I’m excited by how well this method works for creating a faux zinc texture.

Getting a faux zinc texture is really easy. Just have some gloves on and use a crumpled up piece of craft paper. (A loose crumple works best.)

Spray paint your object with a thick coat of the hammered silver spray paint, (but not so thick that it runs). Let the paint get tacky by waiting a few seconds.

Then use the crumpled piece of craft paper to blot into the wet paint.

Work in small 1 foot sections and pounce the paper a few times. (Too much pouncing and you’ll lose the large textured pattern.)

Let the paint dry thoroughly. Then enjoy your beautiful faux zinc paint job!

Chalkboard Painted Metal Drawers:

For my cabinet, I chose to paint the drawer fronts with chalkboard paint for a nice contrast.

Remove the drawers from the chest. Tape over the drawer glides and slides. Mask off the drawer sides and insides by covering the drawers with tape and craft paper, leaving only the drawer fronts exposed.

Spray paint the drawers with chalkboard paint. (Use three fine coats of paint instead of one or two heavy coats.) Set them aside to dry.

Insert the chalkboard drawers back into the cabinet frame.

Add chalkboard art to your drawer fronts.

The thrifted cabinet has a wonderful texture now and the black and zinc colors work with any color scheme.

The chalkboard drawer fronts allow the flexibility for me to store and label other items inside.

I’m so thrilled with the results! I hope you try to transform your own object, now that you know how to Create a Faux Zinc Texture.

If you use this tutorial, I’d love to hear about it. Better yet, will you send me a picture?

Share this with a friend! Pin this image:

October 14, 2019/8 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, arts and craft, autumn fall decor, Crafts, decor, DIY, glass paint, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, painting, spray paint, tablescape, Tutorial

DIY Frosted Votive Candle Holders

Hi, Pretty Handy Girl Readers! I’m back today with a super simple and inexpensive project that you can use for the upcoming holiday season. Or anytime, really! These DIY frosted votive candle holders are made from old yogurt jars (Yoplait by Oui jars).

This brand of yogurt comes in the cutest little glass jars and I’ve found so many uses for them, like my fairy jar macrame hangers and cinnamon stick candle holders.

Here’s how to make these DIY frosted votive candle holders:

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Yogurt Jars
Goo Gone (to remove sticker labels)
Rust-Oleum Frosted Spray Paint
Tea candles or fairy lights

Instructions:

Follow these simple instructions to make these pretty votive candle holders!

Step 1: Clean your Jars

Here’s the easiest way to clean the jars. Place the jars in a bowl filled with hot, soapy water. Let them soak for a bit.

After soaking, use a tea towel to dry them and help remove most (if not all of the) sticker residue. Use Goo Gone to remove any remaining sticker residue.

You will find at this point that most of it will just rub right off. If not, put the jars in the dishwasher to get them nice and clean.

Step 2: Spray Paint your Jars

As with all spray painting and painting projects, it’s best to spray outside in a well-ventilated area (and use protective eyewear and a mask).

Spray your jars using light and even coats to avoid drips and runs in your paint. It’s best to go easy and commit to building up the paint over time. This spray paint dries in just 5-10 minutes! You will be able to tell where you might need more spray paint after giving it time to dry. Spray your jars with 2 coats for the best coverage.

I spray painted both the inside and outside of my jars, but that might not be necessary depending on the look you want.

As this paint dries, it becomes more opaque and frosted looking. It’s really cool to watch the paint magic happening before your eyes!

Step 3: Enjoy your Jars!

Once your jars are fully dry, you can decorate with them! I love these frosted jars with tea light candles. But you could also use fairy lights for a unique look.

Buy tea candles in bulk from stores like Amazon or IKEA. You can also pick up seasonal candles from places like Target if you wanted a nice Fall or Holiday scent.

Another idea?

I’m a huge fan of the flameless candles, as long as they are realistic and cast a warm glow (not a fake orangey one!) You can buy flameless tea light candles just about anywhere these days. If you want my personal opinion, Pottery Barn and Luminara make pretty realistic ones and the light is very warm and pretty. Amazon is chock full of options for flameless tea lights.

If you are planning a holiday get together or a party (even a wedding), these candles will be the perfect finishing touch for your tables and decor. Bonus: they are so inexpensive and easy to make.

I hope you guys have fun with this one! And I hope Yoplait never stops making this yogurt because I love these little jars!

For even more ideas, check out these festive votive candle holders right here on Pretty Handy Girl!

See you all next month! Thanks for reading!

~ See More of Karen’s Tutorials ~

Hello! I’m Karen, the creator of the Home Decor and DIY Blog: Decor Hint. I’m a Native of the East Coast, but I currently live in beautiful Seattle with my hubby, our two wonderful children, and our spunky wheaten terrier.

You can usually find me with some sort of craft in one hand and a coffee in the other. And I’m always rearranging furniture or moving lamps from room to room. I have a passion (read: obsession) for decorating, DIY, and gardening. In short, I love making my house into a home.

Like many, I’m inspired by what I see in home decor magazines, but I’m not so inspired by the price tags. Consequently, I love finding and creating beautiful budget-friendly home decor items. In a head to head competition, I bet you’d never know the difference between the designer items and my DIY creations! Many of my DIY projects focus on sewing, crafting, upcycling and organizing. Some of my favorite projects have been making pretty wreaths, sewing my own tassel hand towels, and crafting these trendy wood bead garlands. I can’t wait to inspire you and spark your creativity through my DIY projects.

You can always connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

September 25, 2019/0 Comments/by Karen Decor Hint

accessories, art, arts and craft, autumn fall decor, Ballard Design Pears, Crafts, decor, Decorating, faux painting brick, Home Decor, Paintbrushes, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, pumpkin, ReNew, Tutorial, Upcycling, vignettes

How to Fake a Fake Pumpkin (Faux Painting Tutorial)

How to Fake a Fake Pumpkin

Have you seen those neon orange fake pumpkins and nearly vomited because you wouldn’t dream of decorating with them. I mean—get real—everyone would know they were fake. Ah ha, but have you seen the price tags? $1 – $6? For that price you might just be willing to take a leap of faith with me, wouldn’t you? Awesome, because I’m going to show you how to faux paint a fake pumpkin so you can decorate with them year after year and fool your friends.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Fake pumpkins
Chalky Paint (Folk Art colors: Cottage White, Parisian Grey, Cascade, Spanish Moss)
Acrylic craft paint – Brown and Green
Sea sponge
Stencil brush
Medium round brush
Fan brush
Palette knife for mixing
Container or palette for mixing

Instructions:

Start by painting all the pumpkins with Chalk Paint (use gray, white, green and blue paint.) Allow the pumpkins to dry.

Painting Realistic White Pumpkins:

It helps to look up some pictures of real pumpkins to refer to.

Using the stencil brush, paint a mixture of grey and white on one of the pumpkins.

Before the paint dries, dab some of it off with the sea sponge. (Keep your sea sponge dry, not wet during the process.)

Dip the stencil brush into the white paint and add paint on the outer most bumps on the pumpkins. This is adding highlights.

Dab the highlights gently with the sea sponge to blend.

Use the fan brush dipped in a small amount of green paint inside the pumpkin ridges. Dab the ridges with the sea sponge to blend.

Have you ever seen a truly unblemished pumpkin? I think not. It’s time to add some spots or marks on the pumpkin to truly fool your friends. Dip the end of the paint brush into brown paint and dot it onto the pumpkin. Blot the spot with a sea sponge and maybe even transfer a few new spots with the sponge.

Paint grey around the base of the stem and into the grooves with the round paint brush.

Paint brown and green paint onto the pumpkin stem. Blend slightly with the sea sponge.

Can you spot my fake white pumpkin? Well, of course you can because I just showed you how to paint it. But, it will definitely fool your friends!

Painting Realistic Blue Pumpkins:

Painting blue pumpkins uses the same technique as painting the white pumpkins, only using a few different colors.

Use the stencil brush to paint blue onto another pumpkin. Dab the blue paint while it’s still wet with the sea sponge.

Use the fan brush dipped in gray and brown craft paint to fill in the ridges.

Dab the paint with the dry sea sponge to blend.

Add some highlights with a mixture of grey and white. This serves two purposes. 1) It adds dimension. 2) It tones down the excess blue on the pumpkin.

Paint the stem the same way you learned above.

To truly fool people, set up your fake pumpkins with some real pumpkins and real gourds. Sooo, can you spot the fakes?

How many did you get right? The metallic gourd is simply spray-painted with copper spray paint. But, I did try my hand at faking a green and yellow gourd using the same technique as the pumpkins, but adding green to the top and yellow to the bottom.

Okay, I’ll give you a second shot. Guess the fakes:

How did you do this time? Ha, you can now apply for a job as an art forgery detective ;-).

Now seriously, how many people will be viewing your pumpkins that close? Umm, next to no one. Normally they’ll view them from afar.

Get your paints and palette out and go fake some fakes! It will be our little secret.

Did you like this painting post? Ahhh, then I know you’ll like this Ballard Pear painting tutorial:

Or if you’re feeling like taking on a larger scale project…how about Faux painted bricks!

Or perhaps you’d like to perform some faux zinc painting magic:

You can do it! I know you can.

September 20, 2019/17 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, DIY, Gift Ideas

26 Brilliant DIY Coaster Ideas

Add some personality to your home and prevent those awful rings on your tabletops by making some coasters to place under every drink! Here are 26 brilliant DIY coaster ideas to inspire you and show how you can use a variety of materials to create some really cool coasters in any decor style.

26 DIY Coaster Ideas

Learn how to make these DIY Oilcloth Drink Coasters that you can use both indoors and outdoors.

Use cork and stencils to create these awesome Woodburned Coasters for your table.

If you love beach or mermaid themed decor, make these magical DIY Mermaid Tile Coasters.

Learn how to make these DIY Watercolor Wooden coasters to add some beautiful color to your room.

Add some patterns to your room with these fun DIY Fabric Coasters.

Use some cotton rope to make these amazing Turks Head Knot Coasters.

Do you love words? Create these Scrabble Tile DIY Coasters for your next gathering.

Use small glass tile mosaics to create these modern easy-to-make Mosaic Tile Coasters.

Personalized Rustic Wood Slice Coasters would be so fun for your next dinner party.

Make note of places that you’ve lived or loved with these Geographic Map Tile and Resin Coasters.

gold and marble coasters by pretty handy girl Gold and Marble Coasters would make a gorgeous addition to your modern space.

A fun rustic option would be these DIY Arrow Wood Slice Coasters.

Make these natural looking Faux Agate Tile Coasters with alcohol inks.

Use some old paper or napkins to make these beautiful Decoupage Coasters.

Make some clever DIY Scented Coasters using essential oils.

If you love coastal style, these Copper Patina Tile Coasters would be perfect for your space.

If you have extra tiles lying around, make something like these DIY Marble Coasters.

These Easy to Make Fabric Heart Coasters are a perfect way to use up some small fabric panels.

Create these elegant glass Dollar Store Flower Coasters.

Create something unique by making these Metal Washer Coasters.

Use some gloss glaze to adhere these awesome pieces and create a Beach Themed Mason Jar Lid Coaster.

Make these quick and easy DIY Drink Coasters for your next cocktail party.

Tiles and black paint make the perfect canvas to make these DIY Farmhouse Style Coasters.

Make these DIY Marbled Clay Coasters with any color combination you want.

You will not believe how simple it is to make these chic Concrete Coasters.

Use some rope to make these fun DIY Painted Rope Coasters for your summer parties.

I hope you found some helpful ideas in this roundup of DIY Coaster Ideas to help add some functional beauty to your room or next party. Remember to click over to each site for the full tutorial. Please pin this image on Pinterest to share with your friends!

Hi, I’m Sheri from Hazel + Gold Designs. Here are a few fun stats about me: I ~~like~~ love chocolate and peanut butter (together of course.) If you like stats, I have been crocheting for about 16 years, crafting for 20, and woodworking for about 4 years. I found a passion in making and being creative and began documenting my projects online at Hazel + Gold Designs.

When not working on projects, I enjoy spending time with my husband, four children, perfect dog, and ornery cat. You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Read all of Sheri’s tutorials.

~Find more of Sheri’s projects here ~

August 23, 2019/2 Comments/by Sheri