Spraypaint Success!

The fastest way to transform something from ugly into updated? Spray paint. :) Here are two projects from a recent Spraypaint Sunday.

The first project took all of about 60 seconds, including the time to hang it on the wall. A somewhat tacky metal Christmas card display "wreath" became a year-round wreath after I removed the metal bow and sprayed it with bright yellow paint. It looks very happy on our office wall. (Now send us lotsa photos and postcards so we can fill it up, okay?)

Here is the wreath before...


...and here it is after!


The second is a set of candlesticks. I haven't decided if they're a centrepiece for the dining room table or a funky bookshelf decoration. Anyway, they're all re-used items. Two of the big candlesticks came from hubby's weird collection of stuff. The other four were purchased from the thrift store for $0.50 to $1.50 each. The tray cost a whopping $0.50, too (ugly print, but a neat shape).

Please try this at home! If there is any wax left on the candle holders, just put them in a freezer for a few minutes and then pop it off with a butter knife. Use a damp rag to wipe off any dust or grease and get to spraying. ;) (Don't forget to wear gloves....remembered that this time! Also, make sure the drop cloth you're using for spraypainting completely covers your work surface. We have black, white and schoolbus yellow patches of grass in the backyard right now.)

Total cost of the 1st project:
$2.00 for the wreath
$1.00 for 1/5 of a can of spray paint
-----
$3.00

Total cost of the 2nd project:
$4.50 for the candle sticks and tray
$0.00 for the candle sticks I found in the basement. ;)
$2.50 for the 1/2 can of spray paint
-----
$7.00

Sheet Music Art

I love the simple graphics and designs on old sheet music. When I came across this particular piece of 1920s schmaltz, titled "Cut Yourself a Piece of Cake and Make Yourself At Home," I was instantly struck with an idea of how to incorporate it into our dining room. (It's hanging right above the piano, of couse!)

The pictures below should make this project pretty simple, if you wanted to try it yourself. Simply cut off the cover (I used my Fiskars paper trimmer) and then slice the actual sheet music into smaller pieces to collage together as a background. I purchased a frame that came with a mat and used double-sided tape to secure everything to the sample picture that came in the frame.



Cost of the project:
$0.50 for the sheet music at the thrift store
$17.99 for the frame (on sale)
-------
$18.49


1. Attach sheet music bits to the sample picture that comes in the frame...
2. Centre the sheet music cover over the collage. Use double-sided tape to secure it in place...
3. Lay the matting over top to make sure you haven't missed covering any visible spots. (No need to tape this part.)

Giftedness

If there's a good part about saying goodbye, it must be in the gifts! I love making presents and while farewells aren't my favourite, at least there's an opportunity for crafting involved.

Last night I whipped up a crochet gift bag to hold a wine bottle. I had seen a pattern somewhere, but I couldn't find it when I needed it, so I did my best. I used Bernat crochet cotton and it took about 2.5 50g balls to make this project. Basically, I worked 2 circles in hdcs and then crocheted the two layers together to make a stable bottom. (See the handy photo.)


Then, after crocheting one round in the backloops only, I continued in hdcs all the way up, joining each round with a slip stich and starting each round with 2 ch. I worked two rounds near the top in hdc, ch, hdc, ch, etc. to give a spot for the ribbon to be laced through.

To make the handles, ch 11 and then skip over 7 hdcs before completing the round. On the next round, slip stich through all of the ch stitches and then just continue on. I did a round of slip stitches around the top for a neat finish.


Finally, the flip flops! Also crafted in Bernat cotton, these only used a fraction of a three different colours. I LOVED making the flowers....I'm envisioning some cute baby caps in the near future with big girly blossoms on the side!

To make the flipflops, I bought a pair of rubber flops at Michael's for $1.50 and wrapped and knotted green crochet cotton around the upper piece. Then, using a sweet pattern I found on this awesome site, I created two flowers from two different colours. Finally, I attached each flower using a safety pin (pin it through the green yarn, the flower, and the green yarn again to give it a good hold).


Estimated cost for the wine bag: $5.00
Estimated cost for the flip flops: $4.50

Gifting and thrifting. ;) There you have it.

What's Next?

I did some cleaning in my office this weekend and was surprised to find that a number of craft items have ended up mixed in with my office supplies! (I was also shocked to learn I have 4 rolls of double-sided tape in the drawer. I NEED TO STOP BUYING DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE!)

Despite the fact that I have several unfinished projects on the go, craft supplies travelling through my hands were all the inspiration I needed to start dreaming of new projects. That, combined with the regular emails I receive from Lion Brand and marthastewart.com has left me making lists of things to make! Good thing summer is coming soon....

Here's two great baby afghans from Lion Brand that would use up some yarn:
http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90233B.html?noImages=
- "Crochet Landscape Throw" (apparently the link is down. I'll have to post this one later...)

Homemade Baby Shower Gifts

This is the afghan I made for my soon-to-be niece/nephew. The pattern is from Bernat's website, made in Bernat Satin Sport and Bernat Satin yarns. I like these yarns for baby projects since they're soft like baby yarns, but they come in bolder colours than the traditional pastel pinks and blues. (The cashier at Zellers was very excited when I bought the yarn and told her it was for a baby blanket.) Since I used a lighter weight yarn than the pattern calls for, I used a smaller hook as well. I can't remember what size it was, though! Update: It was an H hook. I remember this because it was yellow. Gotta love colour-coded hooks!

The final stages of gifting can be the most fun! The mom-to-be is a sewer, so I wrapped the gift in fabric (which is much more forgiving when wrapping a gift with soft, rounded corners). A couple of metres of grosgrain ribbon from the mill end store and a sparkly butterfly that was actually a Christmas ornament from the dollar store and things are looking good.

There's a little trick to wrapping with fabric that makes sure no raw ends are exposed. Basically, you lay the blanket over the fabric and then fold the fabric and blanket together in towards the middle. Flip in the ends and then fold, square-by-square from either end. Secure with ribbon.

I forgot to pick up a card, so a quick raid of my craft drawer left me with the following idea. Write a cute message on a 4x6 piece of watercolour paper using a permanent marker. Draw in a border, highlights and random lines with Crayola watercolour markers. Blend the marker to look like watercolours using a small wet paintbrush. (Be careful not to use too much water....traveling water droplets can mix random colours together!) Let it dry and mount it with double-sided tape to a plain card. (Don't worry if it curls a bit while the "paint" is drying....the double-sided tape will flatten it out again.)

Bootie-licious

You've gotta love a craft project you can finish during the length of a movie! Last night, I let hubby pick the film (Master and Commander) and then focused most of my attention on mastering and commanding the baby bootie pattern I found on Lionbrand.com. I made two small changes to the pattern: I took one row out of of the instructions for the sole and I used a J hook instead of a K hook because I liked the way it looked. :)

I have to admit, it took me three tries to get two booties that looked reasonably symmetrical, but now I think I've got the pattern down and will crank out a few sets of these to have on hand to replace the bow on baby shower gifts. I used Bernat Satin yarn in Lemon Grass to make these tootsie toasters. It takes about 1/4 to 1/3 of a ball of yarn to make them, so it's a great way to use up leftover bits.

Heartfelt Thanks

We wanted a special way to say thank you for all of the help, support and generous gifts we received as part of our wedding. These cards did the trick! We purchased packs of plain cards and envelopes from Michaels and then spiffed them up with a 4X6 piece of scrapbooking paper, topped up with a few pieces of cardstock trimmed to size and a heard cut from red felt (heartFELT, get it?) with a border stitched in pretty blue embroidery floss. Add a couple of hearts to the inside (we used a heart-shaped paper punch and the scraps from creating the 4X6 mats) and you've got yourself a lovely card.

A few brand name products that made the project easier:
- my Fiskars paper trimmer (by far my best papercrafting purchase ever)
- my Sharpie pens (for the {heartfelt thanks} lettering--they don't smudge or bleed)
- UHU glue stick (I glued the felt hearts to cardstock with white glue, but used UHU for everything else)