Luck O' the Irish

There's a quick little story behind this project.  Someone asked in one of the forums I read if we took lots of pictures of our family members or loved ones on Valentine's Day or if we made any Valentine-themed projects.  I didn't, and that made me feel a little sad because I wanted to.  I meant to.  But time just slipped away and Valentine's Day was over before you know it.  So - I looked on my calendar to see what the next holiday would be, and I saw St. Patrick's Day.  

Believe it or not, I'm Irish.  Well, my great-grandparents were.  I've even been to Ireland where I kissed the Blarney Stone!  So I thought this would be the PERFECT holiday to prepare for.  I am getting a jump on it and have already started creating my holiday decor.  And I have pictures in mind and WILL be taking them on St. Patty's Day (no matter how much my kids moan and groan about it)!

I've got to tell you, I am LOVING my wall decor:

Here's why I love it so much (besides the fact that it is pretty darned cute!):

1.  I upcycled an old wooden planked piece of wall decor that was destined for the trash pile because it was tired, old, and broken; and

2.  I challenged myself to use fabric and paper on my project.  Each wood plank is covered in brown polka-dotted fabric that I sprayed adhesive to.  I also used burlap remnants that had been sitting around forever on my four-leaf clover; and

3.  I scrapped my stash.  I used papers from my outrageously large Fancy Pants stash.  The papers on my wall hanging are mainly from the Road Show Collection.  Yes, they are that old!  I loved that collection so much I just kept buying it.  It's finally time to use it up and make way for something newer.

To add even more texture to my four leaf clover, I glued a lot of buttons to one of the burlap sections:

The hat and jar/cup decoration were cut out using my Silhouette.  I used primarily the Fancy Pants Park Bench Collection for these.  They were quick little projects but cute nonetheless!  

This little hat could be used as a cupcake holder, a party hat, or the cover to a jar full of goodies.  Isn't it adorable?

That's it for me this fine Monday.  As they say in Ireland - Slainte!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR PROJECT AND TUTORIAL

I have a confession to make.  I love Christmas and making Christmas projects, but every year I fail to get them all completed.  I always think I am going to have so much more time than I actually do!  And, I fool myself into believing I can get ____ number of projects done, clean my house from top to bottom, plan activities with my family and friends, bake, wrap gifts, bake some more, put up decorations, bake a little more - whew!  Makes me tired just typing about it.  

This year I decided to get creative and re-purpose a few of those unfinished Christmas projects into, well, non-Christmas ones.  This is my first one.

I had an unused branch cut from one of the bushes in my yard that I spray painted white some time during the first week of December.  It has been sitting in my garage ever since (don't judge).  Christmas may be past but Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I thought this white branch would be perfect to hang handmade Valentine's ornaments from.  

Of course, I needed Valentine's ornaments and, being the ambitious girl that I am, I created a few simple Silhouette cutting files so I could make 3-D hot air balloons and hearts.  The link to these free cutting files is available at the end of this post.

Three dimensional objects, like these balloons and hearts, are actually very easy to make.  And they look so cute!  I dug into my scrapbook supplies and used the last pieces of paper from one of my all-time favorite lines (seriously must have bought these papers 4 or 5 times when they came out) - PINK PAISLEE'S Daily Junque Collection (from back during their House of Three collaboration).  I also used a little bit of Pink Paislee's Parisian Anthology (also from their House of Three days).  And, just to keep things interesting, I used bits and pieces from the Hey Kid and Color Wash Collections.  They all blended together like they were made for each other!  This is how my project turned out.  Pretty cute, don't you think?

I am going to use this as a centerpiece on my table for the next 6 weeks.

(a little Color Wash mixed with Daily Junque)

(more Color Wash and Daily Junque)

(Parisian Anthology and Hey Kid)

(more Parisian Anthology and Hey Kid)

(Note: my clouds are not 3-D.  They were simply made with my cloud punch.  I glued two pieces together with a piece of twine in the middle.)

Want to see how I made these?  You do?!  Okay - here you go - a little video tutorial made by yours truly:

And here is the LINK to the Silhouette Cutting Files that I created for this project.  These files are free, so all you have to do is download them.

Let me know if you have any questions and, of course, comments are ALWAYS appreciated! 

Happy crafting!

Home Decor - My Way!

Happy Monday!  And it IS a happy Monday.  Want to know why?  Because I am on the Pretty Little Studio BLOG with a home decor project that is done  - MY WAY (echo echo echo echo)!  What does that mean?  It means I took this:

...which was cute but a little too redtastic for me.  And, under the {intense} watchful supervision of Cross-eyed Pete, who loves all things arts and crafts, especially if he can get his paws on it:

as well as the help of Mod Podge, a little spray paint, and the Pretty Little Studio NEAPOLITAN COLLECTION, I turned it into a calmer, pastel-ier this - intended to hold my pin cushion and pins for sewing:

I love being able to alter things so that they look exactly the way I want them to.  It's nice when things go...my way.  *smile*