Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Paper Roses - Repost



I can't believe they're not roses.

These are amazing. They seem so real and are so versatile. I found the instructions for these beautiful flowers  at  http://www.ellinee.com/blog/paper-rose-bouquet/. This site is incredible and you must stop by to see all that she has to offer. What an amazing designer she is and how gracious to share her secrets. 
  
As you can tell by the pictures above I made a few of these but I wanted greener leaves and more color variety. Instead of buying different colored paper, which gets expensive fast, I had quite a few cans of spray paint that my husband and mother-in-law (enablers to my crafting habit) have given me over the past year or so. I thought I would experiment and here is what I came up with. My mind is full of the possibilities with these. I am sure these will reappear in many upcoming crafts projects soon.
 
 Thanks for stopping by!

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Turning Trash Into Treasure




 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  

Transformation is an amazing thing. As we start to devote our lives fully to God we become a new creation. The picture above is that of a cross made from trash, actually old toilet paper rolls, probably the worst kind of trash out there.  You may think something in your life has left you unworthy of God's love, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to keep Him from loving you. No matter how trashy you feel, how trashy someone has told you that you are, God does not see you this way. He sees your potential. He knows your heart. He can take the trash of your soul and by grace change it to something beautiful. 

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2 Corinthians 4:16
 "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."

 We see time and time again in the Bible where even the worst sinners were transformed by their Faith in Jesus. In Luke 7:37-50, "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment." 

This woman's faults were pointed out to Jesus, her worth was questioned. However, Jesus knew right away what her true worth was. He was able to see past the trash, the sin and see her potential even though she was a sinner. Jesus said to those who questioned her, to those who felt she was worth nothing: "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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Have faith in God! Give your life to Jesus. Surrender your sorrows, your worries, and your trash. He will take all of it and create something beautiful. 


* YouTube Video by user  http://www.youtube.com/user/mpw19962001

CAN---dy Corn and Mummies



Fall is upon us. Halloween is coming. Use up your scraps and tin cans to make something fun.

These were quick and easy. My supply list included:

  • Tin Cans (Soup Cans)
  • Yarn and Tarn (T-shirt yarn)
  • Googly Eyes
  • Glue
  • Wire
  • Drill or Awl 


Step 1: Peel the label off of your can, wash and dry it thoroughly.

Step 2: Use your 1/8 or 1/4 inch drill bit or awl to poke one hole on each side of your can if you want to put a wire handle on it. 

Step 3: Start winding the yarn or tarn around the can. For the mummy it is okay to overlap it and in fact you want to end up with a raised "X"  pattern in the front of the can. '  For the candy corn either one layer or multi layer the yarn.



Step4. Tuck the yarn under when you are finished. You can use a small amount of Elmer's glue if needed. I would not use hot glue with the yarn. It is a mess...we found out the hard way.

Step 5: Apply your googly eyes with tacky or Elmer's glue.

Step 6. Cut a desired length of wire, curl it around a pen or pencil and insert the ends into the can where you drilled the holes. Pull the curls apart a bit to give you the size handle you want.

Step 7: Fill your mummies or Can-dy corn cans with goodies and hand them out, or use them as vases, display items etc.



Thanks for stopping by. Have fun crafting this fall season.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Recycled 4th of July - Water Bottles and Cardboard Rolls

Happy Independence Day! 


Recycled Cardboard Rolls made into a festive garland.

Supplies:

Rope
Cardboard Rolls
Beads
Glue

Make the flowers according to the directions here.

Cut a small cardboard roll into 4 pieces to use as the chain between the flowers.

Super easy!

Supplies:

6 -16 oz plastic water bottles
1- 1/2 gallon plastic jug
Paint
Stapler

I am working on a tutorial and will post as soon as I can. 


Hope you have a wonderful 4th of July!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

30 Days of Flowers - Day 17 - Recycled Aluminum Can Outdoor Decor


Well, I guess you could consider this a "rednecky" kind of craft. No offense to anyone out there, but our backyard pool area is covered with this cane fencing over the wood. Then my husband put up all his license plates he has collected over the years.
These cute little flowers fit nicely in between those and add to the charm. His favorite place in the world is a junkyard and this backyard oasis of sorts makes him feel right at home. I have to admit, it has grown on me too. Why not. It is cheap, green and shiny too : )


These are a piece of cake to make. 

Supplies:
  • Aluminum cans 
  • Scissors 
  • Pencil 
  • Gloves/Goggles (For safety, if you wish)
Step 1: 
Carefully cut the top of the can off just below the ridge where it starts to straighten out.

***If you want to attract bees in your garden, leave the sappy goo inside the can***
 I guarantee you when you hang these little flowers in your garden the bees will come.
Otherwise, now is a good time to rinse the can out completely. 

Step 2:
Trim off any sharp edges

Step 3: 
Begin to make strip cuts down towards the bottom of the can leaving approximately 3/4 of an inch.


Step 4: Use your pencil and curl each strip around it all the way to the end of each cut. Curl one forward and then one backwards.

 Step 5. Once you have all the curls, push the forward facing curls into the middle of the can. You can also add extra curl strips in the middle if you like.




Then just hang them up. Here in AZ they catch the sun and shine so nicely, so I use them outside, but they could be painted and hung inside or used with a tea light on your counter top.



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Have a great day!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

30 Days of Flowers - Day 16 - 5 Minute Thrift Store Makeovers


5 Minute Thrift Store Fun

 


Goodwill had their 50% off sale today and I just could not resist. Of course, I had my 4 year old and my 12 year old with me. Most of the $16.00 I had to spend went to him, but I still found some fun crafty stuff. Keeping with the theme of Flowers, I bought up some old silk flowers and what looked like an unused sunflower swag. I had also purchased a few old embroidery hoops a couple of months back for $.50, so now was the perfect opportunity to use one of them.



Cost: $1.75
Cost $.50




I simply took the swag and wrapped it around the embroidery hoop. Then hung it on the wall. I could have added a bow or some other embellishments, but it looks nice natural, I think .





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With the other mauve/pink colored flowers I took them apart, spread them out a bit and applied them to an old peanut can. This would be pretty in your craft room for paintbrushes or on your vanity for makeup brushes.








That is it. These really only took 5 minutes. Keep your eyes open when visiting thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets. Even if you don't have an exact project in mind, it is a good idea to buy little bits and pieces. You never know when they might come in handy.

Have a wonderful weekend!




Friday, June 15, 2012

30 Days of Flowers - Day 15 - Crafting with Legos



Legos are everywhere in our house. You will find them under and in the couch, lurking in the corner in the middle of the night when we get up to get a drink of water (ouch), in the garden?? in the pool?? everywhere. My 4 year old and even my 12 and 14 year olds...heck..even my husband...love these little blocks of joy.

So, we figured we would try to make some flowers with them to fill up one of our 30 Days of Flowers.  Here is what we came up with. I would love to see your pictures too.

Make a planter





This would actually be a fun gift for Mother's Day, Grandparent's Day. You could possibly even do a variation for Father's Day and make it into a pen/pencil holder or photo holder if you put a stake in the middle of the planter.





Today was just a fun day. We used what Lego's we had and tried to come up with as many flower variations as we could. If you really want some inspiration click the link below for some amazing Lego Flower Ideas. 





Thanks for stopping by. I hope this inspired you in some small way and at the very least it allowed you to spend some time playing. Rest is good every now and then.

I would love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below.

Have a great weekend.


Thursday, June 14, 2012

30 Days of Flowers - Day 14 - Origami






Today I am compiling a great list of 3 styles of origami flowers for you to try. Although this takes quite a bit of time, the end result is well worth it.

I have found that you can use old magazines (thank you Avon lady) and some heavier newspapers to also do origami, although the traditional paper is relatively cheap on sites like eBay
 (If you are willing to wait for it to come from Asia.) I paid less than $2.00 for 1,000 sheets.



The following pictures and links belong to each individual site.
____________________________________________________________
1.

Traditional Buttonhole Flower 

source:
http://www.origami-resource-center.com/traditional-buttonhole-flower.html
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2.

Kusudama Ball

source: 

Image is the property of Folding Trees.com

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Lotus Flowers

(source: Bloom4ever.com)
3.



Once again, thanks for stopping by and joining in our 30 Days of Flowers. We will be back tomorrow with something new. Please join us.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

30 Days of Flowers - Day 13 - Tin Can Flower LIghts









Certainly some of you have the same problem as I do; what to do with those silly soup cans that have that mean ridge around the top. 

You know the one that cuts you when you slip your hand inside of it? Well, I just couldn't bring myself to let go of these things. I was sure they would find favor in my crafty life someday somehow. Today they are the stars.

I have been wanting to make can lights for some time and since I am on the flower theme this month, this is what we ended up with this afternoon.
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Supply List:

  • 6 Soup cans
  • 1 mushroom can
  • 22 gauge wire
  • Hammer
  • Small Philips screwdriver
  • Large Flat head screwdriver
  • String of lights.
  • Misc. embellishments
  • Tacky Glue
My husband took his drill with him today, so I used the good old fashioned method of tapping a hole in each side of my cans with a small Phillips screwdriver and hammer.

After each can has a hole in it, string them together with your wire and tie and twist it off in the last can. *Use caution, the tin cans are very sharp when cut*









Now you will need to tap a hole in the bottom of your cans to place the lights into. I did this by first tapping with the smaller screwdriver (Phillips) and then going back over it with a large Flathead screwdriver and twisting it. It gave me a nice circular space to put the lights into.

I pushed the excess wiring into the middle space of the cans and then used heavy duty tape to hold them in place on the bottom of the can.









Now use your can opener to remove the other side of the smaller can (mushroom can) so that both side are open. Place this can in the middle of the other cans pushing the excess wiring into it, to help balance our the flower shape.


I then used tacky glue to help all the cans stick together better. Also, I placed clips during the drying process on each can.







Also, I had some metallic ribbon that I glued around the cans on the outside to hide the wire and for some color, I did not want to use paper or cloth because of the heat from the lights. Although, they are low heat, there is always a chance of fire, so the metallic ribbon worked nicely. I used small pieces of the same ribbon scrunched up in the cans to add color on top fo the lights as well.
To top off the middle of the flower, where there was no risk of the lights touching anything, I placed one of the paper roses I made on Day 1 of 30 Days of Flowers.

There you have it. Cheap recycled lighting with a little class. 


That is it for Day 13. Until tomorrow....
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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

30 Days of Flowers - Day 12 - T-shirt Flowers

This was one of my first blogs last year. I made these T-shirt goodie bags and made "flowers" out of contrasting material for each one. 

I used the scraps which were each about 12 - 16 inches long. I rolled them into a rough circle and sewed them together. Then I took an even smaller strip approximately 4 -6 inches long, rolled it up tightly and placed it in the middle of each flower. We then sewed them to each bag. 









While I did not photo document my method that day, I have found a couple of really great tutorials that I would like to share with you.

  ***The following are not my photos or my tutorials. ***

***They belong to the site you are being re-directed to.***


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 Emily's Little World

Delightfully Noted 

No Sew T Shirt Flowers 


Thanks for stopping by. We are almost half way through 30 Days of Flowers. I would love to have you guest blog or submit your links and photos. I may run out of ideas....never.... Please leave your comments below.