Crafts Archives - Page 20 of 45

arts and craft, Crafts, Gift Ideas, gifts, glass paint

Budget-Friendly Customizable Etched Glasses

With summer right around the corner, summertime barbecues and pool parties aren’t far behind! When a friend takes time to plan an event, Jacque and I always try to come up with a unique idea for a party gift to bring them as a thank you! Since summertime tends to bring with it, a slew of parties, we decided to come up with a creative, inexpensive host or hostess gift. As luck would have it, on a random trip through Home Goods, we found a nice set of glassware for $6. With a little help from our vinyl cutter we could create custom stencils and make these glasses the budget friendly gift idea we had been looking for!

Tools:

Vinyl Cutter
Small Utility Knife
Small Paint Brush

Materials:

Glasses
Vinyl
Transfer Tape
Etching Creme

Instructions:

To begin, you’ll need to choose some artwork. If you’re using a Silhouette or Cricut vinyl cutter, consider browsing their graphics libraries for ideas. Or if you like what we came up with we’ve included our custom downloadable Relax stencil file (you’ll need a DropBox account to download the file, but the good news is that DropBox is free ;-).)

Use your vinyl cutter to create your stencil. (Since there are a number of different cutters available, I won’t get into the instructions for each machine.)

Once your artwork has been cut into the vinyl, remove all of the excess material and cut the artwork into individual stencils. Read more

May 14, 2014/1 Comment/by Matt Knowlton

accessories, arts and craft, Contributor, Crafts, Gift Ideas, gifts, painting

DIY Colorful Coffee Stirrer Keychain

Hello Pretty Handy Girl readers, Jaime from That’s My Letter back again to share a fun craft project. Today we’re making DIY wood keychains using coffee stirrer sticks.

If you love coffee just as much as I do, what could be better than a nifty craft made from coffee stirrers!

The pattern possibilites are endless, stripes, diagonal, rainbow, chevron and on and on. And what a great gift or favor idea for a party – you could paint them to match the party color scheme.

I may or may not have borrowed a few wood coffee stirrer sticks from my local coffee shop with a green and white logo. Of course, I let my daughter do the dirty work but you only need about 5 sticks for one keychain. Or more appropriately you can purchase coffee stirrer sticks or thin wood craft sticks from most craft and hobby shops.

The painted coffee stirrer sticks are sealed with clear gloss varnish which gives a super hard finish that will hold up to everyday wear and tear while protecting the wood and paint.

Try one and I guarantee you’ll be hooked — then you’ll be making different styles and versions for everyone you know in a school or team color scheme ;-).

Materials:

5 wood coffee stirrer sticks
acrylic craft paint
small paint brush
basswood (purchase one stick at 36″ l x 3/32″ thick x 2″w)
super glue (gel version is best)
scissors
rubber bands
clear gloss varnish (Americana DuraClear or similar)
sandpaper
clear gloss polyurethane spray (optional)
drill & small drill bit
keychain hardware

Instructions:

Step 1: Paint wood coffee stirrer sticks desired colors using acrylic craft paint. Paint the edges too but not the back. Read more

March 19, 2014/12 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

art, arts and craft, bathroom, Crafts, decor, framing

How to Cut an Art Mat Like a Pro

Want to save some money and mat your own prints and artwork? It’s not hard, but having the right tools will really help you cut a straight, clean and beveled mat.

I’ve been giving the boys’ bathroom a little updating and one of the things that I wanted to do was add some artwork. Because the bathroom has predominantly blues and whites, I’ve been sticking with a coastal theme. I decided to create my own art using photos of the ocean.

I found two photos that I took of the boys from past vacations and emailed them to myself. Then I saved them to my phone and ran them through the Waterlogue app (only available for iPhone right now.) The app turns any photo into a beautiful watercolor painting. I’m seriously addicted to this app right now.

After running the photo through the app, I emailed myself the new photo. Then all I had to do was open it on my computer and print it onto Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper. The paper has a watercolor paper texture and produces beautiful images.

And viola! Instant meaningful art!

Luckily I already had frames on hand to use for this project.

Before cutting the mats, I painted the frames with Annie Sloan Paris Grey and finished them off with Miss Mustard Seed’s Linen. Then I distressed the edges of the frames.

Now, about matting that artwork…

How to Cut an Art Mat Like a Professional:

First, choose a firm and flat surface to work on. Hopefully you have a self-healing cutting mat to cut on top of. If not, you can use thick chipboard or scraps of linoleum, but be careful that you can’t cut through to your work surface.

Materials:

Colored Mat
Artwork
White Artist’s tape (you can use masking tape or scotch tape, but it might discolor your print over time.)
Logan Mat Cutting System
Extra Mat Cutting Blades
Self-healing cutting mat
X-acto knife
Ruler

A Note about Cutting Blades:

When cutting mats it is imperative that you have a fresh blade. I sometimes have to use 2 blades per mat. So, don’t be shy about swapping that blade out. If a tip breaks off, it’s going to drag on the mat and won’t give you a clean cut. (Discard old blades by wrapping them in tape to avoid personal injury.)

If you don’t own a mat cutter, you can cut your mat window with an x-acto knife, but you won’t achieve a good clean bevel. Typically, if you cut 2-3 of your own mats, your tools will pay for themselves! The Logan mat cutter I use runs about $50 for the guide and cutting handle.

Instructions:

Perpetual Menu Board

We were recently in North Carolina visiting with Matt’s family. While we were there I took the time to visit an old dear friend of mine. This girl has known me for years! In fact I just realized it’s been 21 years since I first met her. Needless to say it’s important to catch up with friends like this whenever you get a chance. While visiting her, I noticed she had an adorable menu board in her kitchen where she keeps track of all of her meals for the month. Since “What’s for dinner?” is one of Matt’s favorite things to ask me, I knew I had to make one of these menu boards.

Materials:

12×12 Frame
Clear Plastic Calendar Page
Scrapbook Paper
Magnets
Dry Erase Marker(s)
Printer Paper or Card Stock
Printer
Laminator or contact paper
Sheet Metal
Magnetic Paint
Tin Snips
Safety Glasses
Gloves

Instructions:

Start by measuring the inside of the frame. (In my case that measurement was 12″ by 12″.) Using a marker, mark a dot 12″ down from the edge onto your sheet metal. Repeat this on the opposite side.

Use a straight edge (or carpenters square) lined up on the dots and draw a line. This will be where you make your cut.

Valentine’s Day Garden Flag from a Placemat

I love making unique garden flags. My go-to material for these outdoor accessories are Dollar Tree placemats! You read that right. $1 fabric placemats! But, if you don’t live near a Dollar Tree and you have old placemats, you could upcycle them into a Valentine’s Day garden flag!

A few years ago, I made this Let it Snow flag:

Although it doesn’t seam to convince Mother Nature to bring us some white powder, it has held up nicely in the cold and rain. I’ve since set out to create a garden flag for each season. I have a Fall themed flag and a Summer flag. So, why not a Valentine’s Day flag?!

Start by collecting some supplies. Feel free to substitute what you have on hand.

Materials:

Dollar Store placemat
Ruler
Soap sliver (pencil or disappearing fabric marker)
Letter stencils (I chose a set by Martha Stewart Plaid)
Round paint brush
Tulip Fabric paint (white and black)
Tulip glitter fabric paint
Tulip glitter transfer sheets
Fabric scraps (red, pink and white)
Polyester stuffing
Scrap fabric, towel or rag (for ironing the glitter iron-ons)
White thread
Scissors

Begin by ironing the fabric you will be using (including the placemat). Use caution when ironing the placemat, the DollarTree ones I bought are polyester and needed a cooler iron. Read more

February 10, 2014/12 Comments/by Brittany Bailey