Crafts for home decor: How to Make a Ceiling Fan – Fun!

  

Crafts for home decor: How to Make a Ceiling Fan – Fun!

This fan is in my oldest daughter, Kelly’s room.  Her room is nothing but a museum right now, a testament to who she was and aspired to be.  She is 22, graduated from college and not living at home anymore.  I went into the room the other day and happened to look up.  I smiled as I remember painting the fan with stripes when we first moved in.    This was a project that was included in my book, Instant Decorating.

Painting a ceiling fan is one easy way to add color to where it is most often neglected – on the ceiling.  Ceiling fans are wonderful to help the air circulate, but can be eyesores when they don’t fit into the decorating scheme.  When we moved into a previous home and my daughters were little, there was a dark-brown ceiling fan with antique brass fittings in each room.   We couldn’t afford to replace them at the time, so to make them look less obvious, I painted each white to blend in with the ceiling.  When I was decorating their room with a color theme, I continued the palette by painting each blade in a different color of decorative stripes.  When we moved into our current house, my oldest, Kelly wanted her new out of the box white fan, painted with the stripes again.  I happily obliged.

Kelly liked lots of color in her room as you can see from the neon green walls with the the colorful border of equestrian event ribbons she won.

Gather

Ceiling fan with white blades

Pencil

Roll of 1-inch-wide masking tape

5 colors of 2-ounce bottles acrylic paints , one color for each blade

1-inch foam paint brush

Water-based sealer

1. Remove fan blades from fan and clean thoroughly.

2.  Starting from metal ornamental edge, use a pencil to make marks at 1-inch intervals along both edges of the blade.  Repeat on all blades.

3.  Place first piece of tape between first and second marks and around sides of blade.  Then place tape at every other mark.  The tip should have masking tape over it.  Repeat on all blades.

4.  Paint fan blade with two to three thin coats of acrylic paint in unmasked areas, remembering to paint sides of the blades.  Let dry between coats.  Repeat with a different color on each blade. Let dry.

5.  Remove tape.  Brush one to two coats of water-based sealer on entire surface and side edges of blades.  Let dry.  Put blades back on fan.

Read More

Crafts for home decor: Yarn Lamp Makeover

Mimi’s Lamp Makeover!

 Crafts for home decor: Yarn Lamp Makeover

 

Started with this:

The lamp base, the lamp shade, some yarn, an embellishment strip and spray paint…

and as you can see I love the colors.

After the paint dried I started to SPRAY glue the yarn horizontally all around the lamp shade. I sprayed as I went, little by little, section by section.

This step took me somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes…

If you do this project DON’T PANIC if you see glue all over the shade…

by the time you are done it will be all covered…

Cute, huh?

{Third}

I added the  pom-pom strip… You can find it at any fabric store.

I got mine at Wal-Mart with the yarn.

{ I love that the yarn has the three colors}

OK, back to the Tutorial…

So, all I did was to spray the glue carefully around the bottom edge of the shade to glue it…

{ Fourth }

It was time to sit back and enjoy the view…

So here it is

Read More

Embroidered pictures for home decor: spring button flowers tutoriral

Embroidered pictures for home decor: spring button flowers tutoriral

Today we are turning buttons into flowers and making a cute handmade display-piece! Enjoy :)
You will Need:

• Buttons that feel "Flowery"
• Neutral Fabric (mine was a fine linen colored cotton)
• Embroidery Thread (I used a few greens for the stems & yellow for the flower centers)
• Small Needle
• Scissors
• Pencil or Invisible Marker
• An embroidery hoop to be used as a frame

Step 1: Space out your buttons on the fabric and mark a little pencil dot where you want each one. Like the example above, make sure to leave room for the stem below each button.
Step 2: Sew on the buttons all at once with one color of thread. Visit this post for tips on how to start and end your stitching.

Step 3: Stitch a straight dashed line below each button, starting just under the button and ending at an 'invisible horizontal line'.

Step 4: Frame your fabric in an ornamental embroidery hoop, hide or trim the fabric overhang in behind (I taped mine on the back).
Step 5: Hang your new artwork :)

I hung mine above my desk at the Studio :) This project would be fun as a button swap with friends (you could even do it on a teatowel)! Try it :)
Interested in another Button Craft? Check out this Cork Frame Project :)

Read More

If you're on Pinterest, there's a really good chance you've seen these melted crayon works of art.

Art and easy crafts for kids: Crayon Art & Crepe Paper Flowers - a tutorial

The boys and I made our pictures before I bought the frames.  I would suggest buying the frames first, so you know just how far the crayons need to be from the edges to fit in the frames.  I had to do some serious sanding on my frame, and the boys could have added another crayon to their pictures.

We were so excited to try this, that I forgot to take pictures (again!), but it's really easy.

What you'll need:

Canvas

Crayons (enough to cover 1 edge of your canvas)

Elmer's Glue

Blow Dryer and/or Space Heater

Wax Paper or newspaper

Small jar

1.  Put your canvas in your frame.  Use painter's tape to mark the edges of the frame on your canvas. 

2.  Take the canvas out of the frame & using more painter's tape, meet the edges of Step 1's tape.

3.  Remove the tape from Step 1.  You now know where you can put your crayons.

4.  Pick out your crayons.  We used 21 crayons for ours.  It was the perfect number for my frame, but we probably could have squeezed in a 22nd crayon for the boys.

5. On your work surface, line up your crayons the way you want them on your canvas.  Then, start applying the glue to your canvas, and add your crayons.

6.  Introduce your kids to some of your favorite big band songs, and dance around with them while waiting for the glue to dry.  It doesn't take long, about 10-15 minutes.

7.  Lay down some newspaper (we used a hand towel with some waxed paper on top), and prop the crayon side of your canvas up on your short jar.  With your space heater and/or blow dryer (make sure you have it on your lowest setting so it doesn't splatter the wax), start melting your crayons.

8.  Once the crayons start melting, you'll want to stand the canvas up more.  We did ours on the floor, so we just propped them up against the wall.

From left to right: Mine (when I did mine, I just had my canvas propped up on the jar, which gave me fatter drips), Awesome's (he picked his colors by how he wanted to see them mix, then wanted it hung horizontally to look like a machine gun!), and Bug's.

Now for the Crepe Paper Flowers

What you need:

Crepe Paper/Streamers

Glue

Scissors

 

 

Oops!  No Picture!

Stick your flower onto the glued area, then cut away the excess.

Read More

Unique clock for your home: recycling paper ideas

  

how to make a clock from junk mailhome

What You Need

Materials:

• approximately 24 sheets of junk mail: this can be magazine sheets, grocery store ads, newspaper, whatever you'd like, as long as they are all the same size
  
• pen or pencil used for rolling guide
  
• scissors
  
• tape (invisible works best)
  
• long needle (a yarn needle works best)
  
• embroidery floss
  
• two clear CDs (the kind that protect your CD 50 packs)
  
• round cardstock circle with hole punched in middle
  
• battery-operated clock mechanism with hands

Instructions

1. To make a clock, 24 of these tubes will have to be created. Start by taking your pencil or pen, and use it as a guide to roll up your sheet of paper around it.

2. Tape each end of the tube with preferably invisible (matte clear) tape.

3. Fold approximately one third of the tube towards the other end, as shown above. As mentioned before, you will make about 24 of these, and its pointed tapered end will help create the round effect needed for your clock.

4. Take a long, thick sewing needle, (a yarn needle works best) and thread your embroidery floss through. Pierce the folded pointy end of the folded tube. Color doesn't matter for the embroidery floss--it won't show.

5. Thread the floss through the first end again, creating a "knot" that will prevent the thread from slipping through. Don't pull too hard! Next, begin to sew the additional 23 pieces onto your clock.

6. Take one of your clear CDs and place the middle hole above the hole that forms naturally in the center of the starburst. This will be the back of the clock, so choose whichever side you'd like to be the back.

7. Take your battery-operated clock mechanism and place the rod that holds the hands into the starburst and clear CD holes.

8. Flip the clock over and place the other clear CD above the hole on the other side.

9. Take your pre-punched paper circle and place on the mechanism. You may be wondering why this piece is necessary...it keeps all of the parts together and allows the nut to be threaded onto the rod. The hole of the cd has too big of an opening to keep all of the parts together tightly.

10. Screw on the nut tightly. Almost done!!

11. Add your hands!

12. AND VOILA! You have a totally unique recycled atomic starburst clock that's green and swanky!!

Read More

Buttons arts: Amazing Button Crafts from Around the Web

A sheep that's cute as a button!  Hmm.  What pertinent information can I tell you about this sheep?  The buttons are sewn onto this lucious green fabric, as are the felt head (and ear).  The legs and outline are basic embroidery.  The frame measures 6 1/2 inches square.  You can hang it on a wall, or it also has tabletop-sitting capabilities...I spared no expense when selecting this frame for my loyal followers. 

Okay, here's how to enter:

1.  Leave one comment on this post.

2.  I'll close the giveaway at 6:30am (PST) on Wednesday, September 22nd..

3.  I'll use a random number generator to determine the winner.

4. I will notify the winner via email, so make sure that's available to me either through your blog or your Blogger profile or leave it in your comment.

5. I will ship internationally, so everyone's welcome to participate.

Read More

 

Lamp Revamp

What can I say......this lamp is UGLY!!! Does it not scream thrift store 70's special! I am sure you have all seen something like this at your grandmas back in the day.  But for $5 I thought I would take it home...hey it worked and we all know a little spray paint can go along way!
But that shade had to go it not only had the look, but the smell of the 70's!....... I was not going to be putting that on my bedside table!

I found this new shade for $1 it was a nice shade but just not the look I was going for.

After washing and sanding down the base, I sprayed it with Krylon in brushed metal.  I ripped a part the shade and added some ivory polyester fabric.  I cut out leaf shapes and frayed the edges then I started attaching them to the shade to look like flowers, I like how it gives it some texture.  It's a little hard to see the detail in this picture ....again my photography stills are lacking.

You can see the detail a little better when it's all lit up.  I didn't expect it to look like this when turned on, but its kind of neat.  It's a little small for the scale of my large bed, it will be going in the guest room.  But not bad for $6 (I had the fabric and paint).

Read More

Crafts for home decor: Paint Projects – stenciling tutorial

Here’s a quick tutorial for adding a stenciled design to a hutch. You can search for a similar piece, or use this project as a springboard for your own ideas for a piece you already have.

For this project, you’ll need semigloss paints, stencils, stencil adhesive, a stencil brush, and paper towels. Creative positioning of stencils is what makes this design one-of-a-kind. Notice how the cherry blossoms seem to grow right up the back of the hutch and over the doors.

1. Base-coat the hutch with semigloss paint and let it dry.

2. Spray a thin coat of stencil adhesive on the back of the stencil, as shown here, and position the stencil on the hutch.

 

3. Lightly dip a stencil brush into paint, dab off the excess on a paper towel, and brush in the open areas of the stencil using a pouncing motion. Work from the inside of the stencil toward the outside, making sure the stencil is stuck down tightly so the paint won’t bleed under. It’s best to apply the paint in two or three thin layers rather than one thicker one, but there’s no need to allow the paint to dry completely between coats.

 

4. Carefully remove the stencil and reposition it, or choose another of the stencils in the set, and continue stenciling until you have a grouping of motifs that you like. Remember, you can use a stencil upside down, backward, or any way that suits your design.

Read More