DIY: vintage frame table numbers

With our Wedding and Valentine's market now underway, I've been perusing the wedding blogs as of late looking for simple little d.i.y.'s to share here this month . If you are having a vintage, romantic, barnyard or even a traditional wedding, these frame table settings are a perfect accent for the big day. I even like them as gifts, favors, or decor! Find this DIY vintage frame table number project at Project Wedding.

Chakra P. Tutorial: Words as art

Today we are pleased to introduce the first of a few posts featuring D.I.Y.'s (or how-to's) from the talented Rikkianne of Chakra Pennywhistle. Rikkianne as you many of you know, is well-known for her beautiful eco-friendly products from pillows, accessories, and children's wear. She has an amazing eye and style, and a great ear (follow her on blip.fm, we do!). She has some awesome ideas to share here, and we hope you love her first one today, "Words As Art", we think it's an awesome idea to make for Valentine's! Visit Rikkianne at her etsy shop here!

I found this project on the Mint Design blog. Meghan from Mustard and Sage made the loveliest painting for her husband using a Neutral Milk Hotel tune. When her painting popped onto the screen, I had one of those moments where you almost fall out of the chair because you realize how beautiful it is and that you might just be able to do that yourself! That is the reason why I had to share it with you. Be sure to check out Meghan’s process. While mine is a bit different, both tutorials share a simple project that actually says quite a lot.

The hardest part is picking out what to say. I am a music lover and I immediately knew that I would never complete the painting if I had to pick one song. I decided to use a quote that my husband and I have kept close to our hearts for the nine years that we have been together. My quote is taken from a Time Out New York interview with Julia Child. I have kept the clipping for years and this project allowed me to showcase it in the most perfect way.

Supplies:

Artist Paints: I used gouache for my painting. I happened to have some in the studio and tried it out. I liked the effect. It is a bit thicker than acrylic and leaves a more textured/aged look. Acrylic is easier to stamp leaving a smooth print. You can even use an inkpad. I have provided examples of all three styles.

Paint Brush: To apply the paint to the stamp and also nice to have on hand for touch ups.

Foam Letter Stamps: You can find different sets and fonts at your local craft shop.

Stretched Canvas

Pencil / Ruler

Process:

1. Take a ruler and draw a horizontal line across your canvas. This line will be your stamping guide.

2. Paint color on your stamp with the paintbrush. I found that this was easier then dipping the stamp. It makes for a more even print.

3. Place your stamp on the canvas and press.

4. Continue for each word, all the while using your horizontal pencil lines as your guide.

Below are the different stamp effects …

Top: Gouache
Middle: Acrylic
Bottom: Inkpad – Mine was rather old and dry but I think that you can get the gist.

That’s all there is to it! I hope that you enjoy this tutorial. If you decide to make one of your own, please share what your words would be!

I made this for you... vol.3

shauna doesn't exactly have a green thumb but, she's managed to keep our small crop of plants alive for more than a year now. we've had a trip planned for a while so she's been worried about how her plants would survive while we're gone. last night, i decided to do a little research. as it turns out, there are many options for self irrigation. the simplest... plastic water bottles! it was super easy, all you have to do is add a small pin hole in the top of the cap, fill the bottle with water and securely place it upside down into the soil about two inches or so. the final touch, add another pin hole to the bottom of the bottle (this relieves the pressure) and you're all set! now her plants will have top notch care while we're gone.

D.I.Y. Projects

Standing in line at the check out last night I started flipping through Better Homes and Garden's Do It Yourself magazine and loved these two little projects I saw inside. One on this headboard using fiberboard and thick insulating foam and the other, a re-do of an old rickety cabinet where they added crown molding. And as an added bonus, fellow blogger, Sfgirlbybay's San Francisco apartment is featured in this issue also!

DIY Pillows from Out-dated Clothing

Totally loving this DIY project to create pillow covers out of out-dated clothing by Jess Chamberlain of Sunset Magazine who's grabbed the baton from me today over at Design Sponge's guest blog. Click here to read.

Homemade Peeps!

Love this! DIY Homemade Marshmallow Peeps! From Twig & Thistle. (Via twitter.com/crowandcanary.

Recycled Wood Project - d.i.y.

There's a Canadian daily daytime show here called Cityline where they cover everything from Home & Garden, Food & Entertaining to Fashion & Beauty. And they always have top talent on with various projects/how-to's. Although I missed this segment, I found a post about it via a blog I came across today called, Crafter-Holic, out of the UK (go figure). This d.i.y. seems like a rather easy looking project and with spring just around the corner even if you live in the city, there must be heaps of neighbors pruning trees for the materials needed here, no?, Click here for the instructions.

Transform your entryway

This is a great little weekend project (if you have one of these closets just hanging around) from Hallmark Magazine (Feb/Mar issue). Using blackboard paint they tranformed this vintage cupboard into a great hall storage closet. (Photo's by Scott Gibbons, Photostylists - Zoe Karro). To see a step-by-step transformation visit hallmarkmagazine.com

Make it! Hooped Faux Tapestry Wall Art

While browsing through the fabric store just before Halloween for costume notions, we came upon this fun faux tapestry fabric and instantly stopped. Nearby were these embroidery hoops and voila - instant art!

This is such an easy and cheap way to make some wall art! Great for gifts, or your own wall. We also saw similar fabrics with horses, birds or flowers. The strip of fabric cost $10 (and made these three pieces). The hoops ranged from $1.50 - $2.50. Total $16.

Fabric and hoops from Fabricana.

arts & crafts

We know Jinnie of Lilacmoon for her polaroids and Poladoodles, and she also likes to make things with rubber stamps. We came across these fun little crafts she made using stamps and asked if she’d mind sharing with our readers. You can see more at her blog, blog.lilacmoonstudio.com. Thanks Jinnie!

lilacmoonstudio.etsy.com
lilacmoonstudio.com

Clipping Mask Tutorial

Today I'm going off a bit of the beaten path and offering a wee tutorial on making a clipping mask in Adobe's Illustrator CS3. It's one of those things I always wanted to know before I knew how, and the fact that it's so easy, I thought I'd share it here. I made a cover for last week's newsletter using a clipping mask, and so I'm using that as the example. Thanks to Dallas Shaw for the use of her image (of her beautiful new vintage key series) and to dafont.com for (Bleeding Cowboys) courtesy of
lastsoundtrack.fontspace.com. I may not do it the correct way, but this is the way I do it. Here it goes:


1. Open a new document to the size specs you need. Place the image you wish to use onto your document.

Read more...

make it! downloadable letters to make vinyl decals

Download a letter pdf file here (includes A to Z), print it out on your printer. Cut out letter and tape onto contact paper reversed so when flipped over it reads properly. For the contact paper choose a favorite color or faux bois. (Note: The contact paper is removable). Using a craft knife cut out traced letter onto contact paper. Stick above hooks (an initial for each person) for a nice organized entryway or use wherever!

Thank you readers! Here's a lemony treat! (a free downloadable poster)

To thank you, our readers, we have created a downloadable art print just for you. We really appreciate you visiting us, and just wanted to send out something. Using the eye chart idea, we put the phrase, "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy" into a downloadable pdf print. It's 8.5" x 11" so everyone should be able to print it out on their printer instantly and frame (if you so wish)! It fits well into an Ikea RIBBA (12.5" x 16.5") frame. Hang it in your office to inspire you when you run into a challenge or great for a kid's room too! Click here to download. It's a lemony treat!

make it! a cool new clock

I thought this d.i.y. up over the weekend for my newsletter and can hardly wait to pick up the ingredients. Inspired by a canvas grandfather clock I had seen here (thanks Fiona), I came up with a smaller version that you can make yourself pretty easily I would think. Here's the how-to:

Supplies Needed:

1 illustration of a clock fotosearch.com (8.5" x 11")
1 t-shirt transfer avery.com
1 canvas cloth or (preferably just the cloth so you can iron onto it and then stretch it onto a frame) opusframing.com
or 1 framed canvas (this will just be trickier) opusframing.com
1 frame for canvas (if you go the cloth way) opusframing.com
1 clock mechanism kit michaels.com

Instructions:

1. Download a clock illustration you like from one of the great image banks out there (this one is from fotosearch.com) or scan one in from an old book if you like. (Try to make sure the hands are not on the face, or photoshop them out if you have to).
2. Print it onto a t-shirt transfer
3. Iron the transfer onto the canvas.
4. Stretch canvas onto the wood frame unless of course you have a pre-framed one (just trickier).
5. Attach the clock mechanism to the place where the clock hands should be.
6. Voila! A cool new clock you made!

book lamp

such a cute idea for a lamp coming out of the june/july issue of bust magazine. it's their 15th anniversary coming up and i just got a sneak peek of this. i'm looking forward to finding it on the newstand, so i can see how they drill holes in these books. i found this online tutorial from canadian living which doesn't make it look too hard.

felt pendant diy @ d's

amazing little do-it-yourself coming from design sponge's with these felt covered ikea pendant lamps by kate from tape design.

upholstery - decor it yourself!

meg has done it again! this time with a great d.i.y. on upholstery project. she does an amazing slip cover on a foot stool!

julia rothman at d's guest blog

design sponge has a great guest blogger this week, illustrator, julia rothman. being a huge fan of hers, it's going to be a fun week to see all her finds and things. i just had to link up to her little how-to she first posted about today on a design trick, which is so generous of her to post about as well as brilliant! click here to see!

cute d.i.y. at d*sponge

if you haven't already, check out this d.i.y. project over at d*sponge today. cute canister makeover by kate pruitt, an artist based in oakland, california. (they're made from an old anthropologie tablecloth and their knobs).

pattern print book cover project at bkids

loved this little d.i.y. project posted over at bloesem kids by canadian artist, arounna Khounnoraj of bookhou design. using kraft paper and a lino block, she makes it seem so simple, i may even try it! click here to see how.