Crafting Archives | Page 8 of 14

DIY Inspiration–Fabric Covered Console Tables

May 9, 2014

Fabric…It’s Not Just for Curtains Anymore!

Ever since I saw this amazing fabric covered console table by Timothy Corrigan at the ASO Showhouse, I’ve been smitten with the idea of covering a table of my own.

Not only does a fabric covered table stand out as a unique design element but the texture and visual punch it adds to room is really dramatic.

When you think about all the fabric options out there, this fairly easy diy project is a great way to create a custom look for your home.

Even though I didn’t need any more inspiration, I went looking for some and came across these looks and ideas…

Sometimes a room just needs a bit of natural texture and covering a table in grasscloth can add the touch needed.

via

You can never go wrong with an animal print and this python print turns simple stacked console tables into a stunning look. I also like that a coat of Mod Podge was added to give the fabric a more durable surface.

via

A mini chevron pattern is subtle but interesting. With a print like this you can go neutral in color or create a table that adds a pop of color.

via

Even tables with a design detail can be covered in fabric. This silhouette is perfect for the finishing touch of nail heads.

via

A bold fabric choice on a stylized console table would look great in a foyer.

via

Even the big box stores (HomeGoods) is getting in on the look with this navy fabric covered table and silver nail heads.

via

If you’re a diy’er and want to give this project a try, here’s a great tutorial on the process. And if you can’t score a super cheap parson table at your local thrift store, here’s a couple of budget friendly tables to check out.

Northfield Wall Console Table via Amazon $68.50 Also available at Target for $66.99

Parsons Console Table via Home Decorators $152.10

American Heritage Console Table via Target $113.99

So, are you as smitten with the idea of a fabric covered table as much as I am?

Gift Wrap Inspiration: Handmade Paper Bow

April 10, 2014

I almost always accent my gift with ribbon and 9 times out of 10 I add a ribbon bow. That’s it until I got crafty and made my own paper bow.

Now I’m loving the idea of wrapping all my gifts with handmade paper bows.

…

Read the Post

A Uniquely Crafted Gift

April 8, 2014

I love to give gifts and when I can give something that is unique and unexpected that makes gift giving even more fun for me.

This gift is going to my brother who recently moved from Kentucky to Washington DC and is without some key household items that can make life easier. One of those items is a sewing kit.

As a professional who is on the go constantly and doesn’t always have time to run to the cleaners or an alterations person, I thought it would be nice to make him a sewing kit for when he needs to mend a hem or sew on a button in a hurry.

And of course I had to do a little crafting to make his sewing kit uniquely his.

I painted the top of a wood box, purchased at Hobby Lobby, in a stripe pattern. I used different shades of grey and added white to keep the look masculine. The base of the box is solid grey.

Once painted I used the Mark Montano by Craffiti Direct Vintage Scissors stamps and created a label for the top of the box. The ABC stamp set was used to spell out the words.

When I was all done decorating the box I filled it with essential sewing supplies like pins, needles, thread, buttons and stitch witchery.

Easy as pie–I had a uniquely crafted sewing kit to give to my brother.

There are so many creative ways to use stamps when crafting so head over to the Craffiti Direct website and check out the full line of stamps.

To see all the Mark Montano stamp designs head here.

Happy Crafting!

Products Used (click on photo to buy):

Decorative scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby

Sewing supplies from Wal-Mart

DIY Glitter Striped Notecards

February 26, 2014

Next week the Design Bloggers Conference is taking place here in Atlanta and I’m excited to attend and hear some of my design idols speak. In preparation for the conference and as part of rebranding my blog I had some new business cards made. I decided to move away from brighter colors and go with a black and white pattern that feels classic and modern.

After receiving my cards (thanks Zazzle) I was so thrilled with them that they sparked a creative project. I decided to make a set of notecards that have the same classic design but reverse the color focus with gold stripes and a black message box.

Notecards are one of my favorite paper products and creating my own is something I love to do.

To make these cards you’ll need to following supplies:

Blank Notecards and Envelopes–available from any craft store or Paper Source

Chalkboard Stickers–You can punch your own using this chalkboard adhesive paper and this scalloped punch or you can buy these pre-made chalkboard labels.

American Crafts Glitter Tape (also available at Michael’s)

How to:

Once you have all your supplies you need to decide the number of stripes you want on the front of your card, cut you tape and adhere to notecards. Once all your stripes are in place add your chalkboard label to the center of the card.

The chalkboard label allow you to customize the card for whatever occasion you need–Thank You, Happy Birthday, Thinking of You or even a name.

After my notecards where made I decided to make a storage box for them. I painted a paper mache box using Martha Stewart gold metallic paint.

To finish off the box I added a ribbon tie to the front using May Arts black and white chevron ribbon.

And because I wanted a little something extra I made some stickers to use as envelope seals.

To make the stickers I attached a piece of vellum paper to double-sided adhesive paper. I then punched circles and glued a decorative image, cut from an old catalog to the front of each circle. Because the paper is double-sided you simply peel the paper from the back to use your sticker.

Chic notecards to go with my chic new business cards!

p.s. You may have noticed that I also updated the header for the blog to coordinate with my business cards and made some changes to the sidebar. I’m trying out some new things and will be making even more changes in the months to come.

To learn more about the importance of branding your business here’s a great article.

Let’s Get Crafty: Fancy Straws

February 13, 2014

My hubby typically doesn’t eat breakfast during the week but since Valentine’s Day is Friday I’m planning a simple little treat for him made even more special because of a little crafting project I completed.

On the menu is a fruit cup, his favorite muffins and a fruit smoothie.

I thought it would be fun to create special straws for us to drink from, of course made with love.

Supplies:

Fancy Paper Straws

Martha Stewart Heart Punch

Colored Paper (I used paint chips from the hardware store)

Valentine’s embellishments

Scotch Tape

Scotch Mounting Tape

Punch hearts from your colored paper (or free paint chips)

Cut 1/4″ wide paper strips long enough to fit around the straw, tape strip ends to create a paper band

Attach Valentine’s embellishments to hearts using mounting tape

This is what the paper band will look like.

Slip embellished hearts over straws and enjoy your beverage.

After breakfast slip the embellished heart off the straw and throw the used straw away. The embellished heart is ready for the next celebration! {Valentine’s cocktails}!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Gift Wrap Inspiration: Paper Lace Band

January 29, 2014

During my recent trip to the CHA show I had the opportunity to see lots of really cool crafting machines. One of the machines that stood out to me was the Fiskars AdvantEdge Punch cutting system. I’ve seen this crafting machine in the stores for a few months but never really took the time to learn how it worked or what type of craft it produced. After getting a demo of the machine at the show all I can say is I love this machine.

For my latest gift wrap inspiration post, I decided to use the Fiskars AdvantEdge Punch machine to create beautiful paper lace bands. The decorative borders that the AdvantEdge machine cuts are fabulous for gift wrapping and there are multiple design cartridges you can use to create different looks.

For my Valentines gift wrap this year I am using a fun polka dot paper and the “Celtic Knot” and “Flower Garden” Fiskars punch designs.

Traditionally Valentines is all about the colors red and pink so the chocolate paper with dots and the pink lattice paper I wrapped my gifts in give my gifts a modern spin.

For my paper lace bands I used a gold metallic paper which adds an elegant touch to my gifts.

When you wrap your Valentines gifts this year get creative with your paper and embellishments. And if you love paper crafting, the Fiskars AdvantEdge Punch machine should be part of your craft closet!

Sun, Sand and Crafting

January 21, 2014

Hello there! Today I wanted to share my trip last week to the CHA show in Los Angeles. I had an awesome time and it was the perfect new adventure to start the year off. The Craft and Hobby Association show is like the super bowl of crafting. All of the industries leading product manufacturers, designers and craft talents come together for a 4 day show that’s all about the creative and crafting industry. Major companies like Plaid, Fiskars, Cricut and Scotch are there with new product introductions and demonstrations on all the crafting items they sell. In addition to the these heavy hitters, there are paper companies, scrapbook companies, rubber stamp companies, jewelry supply manufacturers and anything else related to the craft industry.

I had the great pleasure of being asked by Craffiti, a leading rubber stamp and embossing plate manufacturer here in Georgia to attend the show as their creative artist. I’ve created projects for Craffiti for a few months and was thrilled when they extended the invitation.

Once we landed in Los Angeles, Sheila, Christy, Amanda and I headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Anabella, a cute boutique hotel which is located right next door to the convention center and across the street from Disneyland. It was the perfect location and the surrounding area was so pretty.

The street in front of the hotel was lined with beautiful palm trees and at night you could see the Ferris Wheel at Disneyland all lit up.

The booth set-up was next on our agenda.

The display included this giant board featuring examples of the stamp and embossing products Craffiti makes and some cards and gifts tags I created using their embossing plates.

The pink tutu table skirt was a big hit at the show!

Once the booth was set up we had a few hours on our hands and decided to head to the beach for some lunch and a walk in the sand. One of the things I was hoping to do this trip was to walk in the sand and put my feet in the ocean. After living on the west coast for so many years, I miss the beauty of the Pacific Ocean. Huntington Beach, the 80 degree weather and the SUN was heavenly!

{oh, I forgot how cold the water was on the west coast}

The CHA show started on Saturday and boy was it a crafting fest.

Scotch had all of their Expressions washi tapes, masking tapes and packing tapes on display. So many cute designs to choose from.

My favorite ribbon company May Arts was there and I got to check out their entire ribbon line. Such goodness!

There were so many creative craft projects on display. This wreath, using Jillibean Soup Wood Sprinkles was one of my favorites.

Just one of the many beautiful paper collage art pieces I saw. So inspiring!

One of my favorite crafting companies, Me and My Big Ideas had a new line of Mambistick stickers that are awesome. I can’t wait to use them in a project. I’m envisioning a fun gallery wall something like this.

How cute is this wreath using decorative paper cards?

There were hundreds of booths at the CHA show and some of them really stood out to me. I loved this space set up like a crafting room.

Spellbinders had one of the most amazing booths at the show. It was decorated like a vintage parlour with stunning displays featuring Gilded Life jewelry products.

This banner has me thinking about a burlap and bling Christmas theme for 2014 🙂

A Gilded Life necklace. We were able to make a similar one for free during the show.

In addition to seeing so many great craft projects and ideas, I also loved checking out new crafting machines and tools. This Ad Tech glue gun is on my shopping list. It’s a dual function glue gun that operates both with batteries and electric and it has a built-in stand that allows the gun to stand upright.

And then there was the Fiskars AdvantEdge Punch System. After seeing this machine in person I’m in love. It uses decorative cartridges to create a continuous border punch. I’m using this machine for my next gift wrap inspiration post that will be coming up later this week on the blog.

And if crystals are your thing, CHA had them on display in full force. A company called Crystal Ninja turns everyday items in to works of art using their crystals. You have to check out their website to see more of the amazing things they create.

So can you see what I mean by crafting super bowl? The CHA show was such an awesome experience, representing Craffiti, being creativity energized and connecting with new people. I look forward to attending the show next year but until then I’ll be using many of the new items I saw at the show in my crafting post throughout the year. I’m ready to get crafty, how about you?

Festive and Easy DIY New Year’s Decor

December 27, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well almost! I can’t believe how fast 2013 has flown by but I’m excited about welcoming a new year, new opportunities, new experiences and new friendships! I can tell already that 2014 is going to be stellar year and I can’t wait until the stock of midnight to celebrate!

I typically don’t decorate much if at all for New Years Eve but this year I thought I’d do a little something to welcome the year. I’ve rounded up a few easy DIY ideas that I’m considering and wanted to share them with you in case you want to add a little celebration to your celebration.

source

This table-cloth is out of this world gorgeous and calls for a big party. Since that’s not happening in my home, I’m liking the idea of a couple pennant and circle garlands to celebrate under. Not only would this be a quick and easy project but it’s something that can be used year after year.

source

A celebration is not a celebration unless cupcakes are involved. These fun tinsel toppers would be a great way to add a little cheer to the holiday treat.

source

I love the idea of turning tin containers into new years party packages by adding a paper clock face to the top. These little cans could hold treats or wishes for the new year.

source

One of my favorite party décor items is paper medallions. Using a black, silver and gold color combo along with the addition of paper clock faces turns these into fun new years party décor.

source unknown

Wow. Who’s up for adding a little glitter to your champagne bottle. I love the idea but wouldn’t want to open such a pretty bottle.

source

Another fun and simple new years garland can be created using paper stars. Run them through the sewing machine to create lengths of festive stars and you’ll be able to welcome the new year under the stars, literally!