Altered Vase - First Shabby Chic Decoration for my New Craft Room

Hello everyone! Today I took my first couple of steps toward my new craft room. I cleaned out a desk and shelves from one corner and then needing some rest I decided to sit down and redo an old, heavy, sandy vase. The vase used to hold a Christmas tree on my front porch, but got blown over, wrecking the tree and chipping the vase. So this afternoon I gave it new life and it will become part of my Shabby Chic craft room transformation.

The vase was very dark. It looked good outside in the sun, but without light shining directly on it you could barely see the pattern. I had to lighten up the photo in Picmonkey just to show it here. There were also areas that were chipped and a big chunk was missing from the corner. I didn't repair the corner because I think it adds character.

Below are the steps I took to change the look of my vase, but the very first thing I did was wipe it down to remove any dirt. This vase is very grainy/sandy and made it difficult to clean. By the time I was done I had a small pile of sand. This was another reason I felt painting it would be a good idea. Coating it with paint keeps it from shedding sand everywhere.

After my vase was clean and dry I mixed two craft paints, Scallion in a satin finish by Martha Stewart and Mediterranean Blue by Craft Smart. Once I got the color I wanted I just brushed blue all over the vase. I was not being careful and wanted some of the dark color underneath to stay exposed.

After I finished applying the first layer of paint I took baby wipes and wiped paint off as I rubbed it around the vase. What I was trying to achieve was a very thin layer of the turquoise color that was a little heavier in the nooks and crannies. After wiping it down I used my heat tool to dry the remaining paint.

I applied white Kilz once the turquiose colored paint was completely dry. I would not suggest using this without open windows as the fumes are very strong. I don't have chalk paint or the money to make my own, so I found Kilz in the garage and thought it was the next best thing since it has a very chalking appearance. I dry-brushed the white Kilz lightly to lighten up the undercoat and accentuate the design.



I'm so happy I stumbled across this vase by my garage and surprised my husband hadn't thrown it out. I think it turned out really nice and will make a great addition to my new craft room. I will show how I filled my vase in the reveal of my room.

Happy Crafting!

Copyright © 2014 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted

All Rights Reserved

Moss Vine-Wreath with Bird's Nest and Initial

Hello Everyone!

Although it rained we are still having excellent weather here in western PA. I was very happy the rain clouds moved on just in time for me to take some pictures. I wanted a wreath that was very natural, but with a bit of whimsy. Hence the green flowers with butterfly-like petals. Too bad I didn't have a green fairy, but maybe later. I would also like to add some mushrooms. Heck that can be another whole different project for another day. I think I'm loving this as it looks really cute on our red door and white house with green shutters.

I seem to be short on birds so I stole the bird off another project. I will just replace it later. I love the nest because it had two twigs out both sides that I could place into the vines. Therefore I didn't have to stick it at the very bottom and hot glue myself to it.

The only thing I wasn't sure about was the initial, but when all was said and done it goes well and makes the entire project that much more cute.

To keep with the natural theme I used burlap for the bow. In the center I tied rope and then covered that with floral tape.

BEWARE that cutting this particular Moss Roll will leave little pieces of metal in your clothes. It hurts and cannot be easily removed. I found this out the hard way

I mixed fake and real moss to give more shades of green. I decoupaged the Initial.

I assembled the entire wreath and then hot glued everything together. The initial is not connected to my wreath but hangs separately behind it.


Happy Crafting!

Copyright © 2014 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted
All Rights Reserved

Altered Box: Loving Blue, Brown and Green

  

I wanted to give an altered box a try and I'm so glad that I did. I had been storing my lace pieces in an ugly box. No matter where you sit it or how you stand it, it's ugly! So I gathered my homemade paint sprays and glitter mists together, some Gesso, modeling paste, cream colored, yellow and white flowers, brown ribbon, a birds nest, a blue bird and got busy. 

 Before

  

The Result is Fabulous!

I'm so excited! I am now hooked on altering boxes and I'm looking at all those other ugly boxes I have that I'm storing my craft items in. This would make a great gift and/or gift package too.

Steps I took to make my Altered Box:

1. Apply Gesso to the entire outside of the box in thin coats (I used my heat tool to dry the coats of Gesso quickly). You can also use paint instead of Gesso, but I used Gesso to get more texture).

2. I used my home-made paint sprays and glimmer mists to color the box and my heat tool between colors to keep them from mixing too much. I also sprayed enough some of the time that I could get the colors to run which I think is a nice effect.

3. Use your ink stamps to decorate the box as you wish. I didn't do a lot of stamping, just a few here and there.

4. Using a template with modeling paste allowed me to create the leaves and flowers on the sides and top of the box.

5. You can decorate your box with silk flowers, make your own flowers or use something else such as Christmas decorations, etc. Just let your creative juices flow. I used white, cream and yellow silk flowers and sprayed them with my blue glimmer mist. Since the flowers were different colors they came out different shades of blue and the yellow flowers became green.

6. After the flowers dried I began arranging them with the bird and nest on the box. I used a hot glue gun to adhere them to the box lid and each other.

7. I wanted some sentiments (a little inspiration) so I found some foam letters and placed words on my box that could be read from different directions since it sits on an open shelf.

That was it. It took me just a few hours to make. I let the modeling paste dry overnight before going to the next step.

Give making an Altered Box a shot and please share as I would love to see them.

Burning Aleene's Tacky Glue to Make Paper Look Like Metal

     I came across this video (link below) on YouTube while looking for a new craft to try. I did a couple of things a little different from the video. The first difference is that I used white card stock since it was what I had on hand. The second difference is that I did not have gold paste to bring out the texture so I used a gold mica powder. A shiny Dollar Tree eye shadow like L.A. Colors would give the same effect.

     One problem I had was finding the right candle that was not burned down too far. If your candle is not brand new it is difficult to generate the heat to get the glue to burn. Possibly I'm just impatient, but I didn't have all day to sit and wait for the glue to heat up. I resorted to using a small lighter which worked since I could get the flame right on the glue, but I kept burning my fingers no matter how careful I was. The lighter also made it difficult to hold the butterfly glue-side down as I had to turn it on it's side to keep from burning my hand holding the lighter and to see what I was doing. Your best option would be a candle stick in a holder or possibly even a tea-light candle. Your next best option would be a long lighter if you don't have a candle (used for lighting your outdoor grill) or of course a new candle in a jar, but even my newer candles had the wick too low to get the glue to burn.

     I consider the first butterfly I did (the one on the right) as a fail. I put too much Aleene's Original Tacky Glue on the paper thinking I would be able to get more texture from it. Instead, due to the extra glue, the glue was able to settle flat. No matter how many times I pinched and pushed it into the shape it would return to flat with no texture what-so-ever. Another problem I had was using too little glue. With too little glue you can not get any texture and just end up scorching the paper. The plus side of having too little glue is that you can always add a little more to that spot and that is exactly what I did.

     I'm currently making a canister and decided to try the burned glue technique on the lid. I'm extremely happy with the result (above). I would recommend to people who love to craft to try this technique because it's an inexpensive way to get some beautiful texture.

Note: To get my butterfly shape I typed in Black and White Butterfly Templates in Google images, picked a shape I liked, copied and pasted the image into Word, made it the size I wanted and then printed it out. I then used the template to cut the shape out on card stock. Of course if you have a paper punch and it's the size you want then you're good to go.

Creating the Look of Metal using Aleene's Original Tacky Glue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGsefNXGmCw

Window Turned into Built-in Shelf

Hello peeps!
Did you ever have one of those moments when you realized you didn't think ahead enough? My husband's and my big idea was to make another room in our home by enclosing part of the front porch. The room build went great, but then after feeling elated that we had another room I plopped down on the sofa to see a window to no-where. We sure as heck didn't want to have to re-do the wall. What to do?    

   Money was tight after buying wood flooring, a new front door, drywall, a huge window and so forth so we really didn't have the money, energy or patience left to deal with this. Then it hit me. The window trim was still in really good shape and matched the other windows in the room. Uh huh! There wasn't enough floor space for a shelf for family photos and I didn't want to stick more stuff up on the walls. So here it is. Our built-in shelves specifically design for holding photos. I couldn't have asked for a better result. I still have some painting to do and the curtain hardware to remove (should have removed that and staged the area for a photo), but it's mostly done and usable.

Now for the rest of the house. Hmmm.

I used two packs of the wood plank tongue and groove paneling from Home Depot. The entire project only cost $35.00.  

Copyright © 2013 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted
All Rights Reserved

Wreath Craft: using outdated metal wall decor.

I wanted to try making my own wreath for quite a long time before I actually tried it. I wasn't sure what to use and after an exhaustive web search I realized I could use whatever I wanted and I didn't have to run to the store and spend a lot of money.

I ripped an old wreath apart that had seen better days, gathered some fake flowers (some of which I got thrift shopping, some I had) and finally found a use for those metal vines and metal hummingbirds. To make the metal look less dated I added some sticky gemstones from my scrapbook stash, a couple glass rocks and intertwined the metal pieces with the fake flowers. I used hot glue to hold it all in place.

I also added a little basket that allows people who stop by to leave a note if I'm not home.

I love the way it turned out and the nice thing about the metal flowers, birds and leaves is that they sparkle in the sun and show up when the moonlight hits them. Couldn't have asked for more. I look forward to making my first Christmas wreath.

This project can be free to make if you have items in your home to re-purpose. If you need to buy materials, purchase them from a thrift store or yard sale. An ugly wreath from a yard sale is only ugly before you've ripped everything off of it and made it your own. Places like Goodwill will often have flower bunches for under a dollar. Everything I used for this was originally purchased at a thrift store.

 Happy Crafting!

Christmas Craft: using mismatched earrings

     Don't throw those earrings away when you lose one and if they're special to you, what better way to have them then on display instead of in the back of a jewelry box. I used a lot of sparkly earrings and the light that comes off this little tree is gorgeous. Unfortunately my camera found the sparkle a little overwhelming and faded everything out, but you get the idea. I decided to use burlap in contrast to all the shine, but this might be something you could try doing on a mirror or foiled background if you want to make the most of the sparkle and reflection.

   Give it a shot. I would love to see what you create.

"At Sea" Mixed Media Collage

Hello and welcome to Heartedly Handcrafted! "At Sea" is my first mixed media canvas collage and my first major piece of arts or crafts anything. I had been watching YouTube videos for craft ideas and fell in love with this art form. Then I decided to start this blog to share it with you. I think YouTube had created an arts and crafts monster. I'm obsessed and want to try it all.

Everyone has a junk drawer, garbage, broken decorations, etc. Some people have an earring without a match, an old watch, seashells from that beach vacation, old fake flowers, kids small toys (like Lego), a drawer knob and so forth. These can all be used to create your mixed media canvas collage. 

You don't even need an actual canvas. A scarp piece of wood, metal, old picture frame, a box, book, anything that you can stick stuff too will work. What you will need to by is some strong glue such as E6000, Mod Podge which you can get at Walmart now, Gesso and some craft paints. 

I purchased inexpensive crafts paints at my local craft store. I also made some sprays. How to create your own sprays can be found under the blog tab Craft Supplies, Ideas and Tips or you can just google it and decide which idea you like best.

The people who became my inspiration, their blogs/websites and one of their demonstration videos for two of them:

Anna Dabrowski - Finnabair  
Leanne of Luvlee Scrappin (video). 
Gabrielle Pollacco (video)

Happy Crafting!