Metal Embossing Project

For our next homeschool co-op, we are going to be studying Inventors. We chose 3 inventors to study; the inventor of steel, the printing press and alternating currents. And, as the Art Projects Coordinator, I get the task of coming of with projects that go with these topics. Oh boy. I thought the Titanic Unit Study was hard? This is absurd. And, of course, the summer days are flying by and I am constantly being reminded that I have accomplished nothing for art projects.

I'm just going to have to wing it this time. As long as we are having fun and learning something new... that is all I can do. I have decided for one of the projects, since we are studying steel, I would teach metal embossing. How can I teach something I've never done myself?? I don't know... but one step at a time. Deep breath. It will be fine. I hope.

I have some books and videos on their way to me to teach the steps of metal embossing and that will be helpful in teaching the students, but I am one of those people that just dives in to a project and figures it out as I go along. So I'm just going to give you the low down of how I did it... I won't attempt to explain every step because I'm sure I'm not doing it "the correct way". There are some tutorials on YouTube that were helpful to me and as I practiced on a couple of designs, I got better and better at it.

It is quite a fun craft to do and the design possibilities are endless! For my project, I chose to do my initials.

I found online through a google search and downloaded an art noveau font. I printed it out on my computer, and enlarged it. I figure it's about a 4 x 4 inch size.


Now you have to trace your design on tracing paper.


And next I turned it over to the backside and taped it down on my metal. You want to trace the reverse image. I kept forgetting to reverse it. Walnut Hollow has a great metal embossing kit with several tools for around $25 I think. Take the stylus tool and trace over your image. You do not have to push hard.


Once you've traced the image, it will look like this on the back.



This is where a YouTube tutorial would be helpful. The process takes a little time, you have to go over the lines on the front and flip it over and emboss the back and do these steps several times until you get the desired look.
When I was in grade school and did this project, I remember using liver of sulfur to age our metal. I'm not messing with that stuff... so I just used a black acrylic paint and painted it on with a paintbrush and then wiped it off with a rag.


A final step, one that I personally did not do out of my haste to just get done with it, is to turn your design over to the back, and fill the embossed crevices with diamond glaze. It keeps your embossing from losing it's shape.

Here are all three of my initials completed.

Ok, now I purchased a ready made frame and had a mat cut.

I want to jazz up the frame a little bit so I purchased some rub-on decals. I want to put it on the glass, not on the mat. I used painters tape to tape a border around my openings. You'll see why in a minute.

Now I begin rubbing the transfers onto the glass.

And when I remove the tape, I have a perfect border setting off my artwork.

And here it is finished!

Amazing Knock-offs!

2 of my absolute favorite places to shop would have to be Anthropologie and Ballard Designs. Anthropologie has a store in Lenox Mall up in Atlanta and I got the chance to go this past weekend and I treated myself to some items they had on sale for my downstairs bathroom. I purchased a ruffled shower curtain, a pretty green rug and bath towel to match, a couple frames and then some door knobs and drawer pulls. When I got home, I put all my new stuff in the bathroom and I have to say I love it. It's so feminine and pretty. I still have a few things to get like a toilet lid cover and a new mirror which is on its way. When I had put everything together, I had a blank space on the wall next to my new frames. Of course I wanted something that would coordinate with the new frames so I decided to try to make something rather than just go and try to find a picture to put next to it.

I had this oval gold frame which matched the gold that the new ones had in them and so I removed the glass, got out my scrapbook papers, flower embellishments, glue gun and sequins.

...and this is what I came up with! I even did some freehand drawing - really easy stuff but it made all the difference. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is really pretty on my bathroom wall next to the Anthropologie frames I purchased. Everything here I had in my craft room already, so it really didn't cost me anything to make this. Here are LOTS of close-ups! :)

Here are all my picture frames on the bathroom wall. The picture didn't come out as good as I wanted, but as soon as I finish redecorating, I'll post some more.

And the next project I did today was an attempt at an expensive slipcover I had seen in Ballard Designs catalog.

When I saw this parsons chair cover, I thought to myself "I have to have it for my craft room." I almost didn't care what it cost, but it really was too much - $130. I couldn't justify spending that for a chair that would only be left up in the craft room. Fortunatley, they had some plain slipcovers in their catalog for only $40 so I ordered one. It is a twill or maybe a white denim fabric and very nicely made. I figured I could do something to jazz it up a bit.

I picked up some of Martha Stewart's butterfly stickers at the craft store...

...enlarged them on my photocopier and printed them out on fabric transfer paper...

...cut them out and ironed them on the back of my slipcover.


Here are the before pictures of my slipcover:


and.... Ta Da! Here is the finished product. I LOVE my knock-off slipcover I made for less than $50!

Now I'm off to figure out how I can make those Limited Edition throw pillows on page 58 of their catalog that sell for $75!

Happy Easter!

John 11:25-26 Jesus said "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. "

Paper Mache Hot Air Balloons

Check out these hot air balloons I made this past weekend. I used the large paper mache eggs from Hobby Lobby and cut it in half then covered it with scrapbook paper and embellished it.

I was going to use just the bottom half of a box for the basket, but I happened to have a bird nest lying on my table when I was making these and I couldn't resist! I'm so into hot air balloons and bird nests right now. I hung these in my craft room. They are so cute!

Happy Easter!!

My sorta new craftroom

There's no better incentive like a repairman or, in my case, a carpet measuring guy, coming over to make you clean up your messy room. So, with the threat of someone coming in my craftroom, I spent all of Sunday cleaning, which turned into a reorganization, which turned into my painting an accent wall, which turned into my purchasing and hanging some new curtains. It turned out to be about a 15 hour job! I absolutely love it now! Let me give you a tour...

In this corner of the room under the large window, are my drawer units that hold our tax records and previous years' homeschool records and work.

On the wall beside the larger window is a little shelf that holds my grandma's music box collection.

On the other side of the wall that the music collection hangs on is my grandma's old dresser that holds some of my craft tools. I've had this dresser for years but it was too big for my daughter's room and too girly for my son's room so I didn't know what to do with it. I would not part with it for anything. They don't make furniture like this anymore, but even moreso, it's sentimental to me. I moved it into my craft room this weekend and it's I think it has found the perfect home.On top of the dresser are crafts I've made, some jars with ribbons, and some suitcases with fancy trims.

In the dresser drawers I keep all my journals that I fill with my craft ideas, inspiration and lists. I am a list maker. I make lists all the time.... I hardly ever finish checking off my lists, I don't know what that means, but I still make lists.

Here's a drawer full of lace doilies. I think they're vintage so it's hard for me to use them in my crafts but they are so pretty.

In another drawer I keep my paper trimmers and cutting boards, rotary cutters, and rulers.

Here I keep my tub full of adhesive letters and chipboard letters, a bin full of chipboard and a tacklebox full of things like eye hooks, and lanyards, keychain rings, etc.

This drawer has all my die cut machines and dies.

Here's my glue guns, glue sticks, clothespins, some paint brushes, heat gun...

Here's a drawer designated solely for my favorite glue in the whole world! Coccina glue from Italy? or is it Paris? I don't know but I love it!

Next to that area is a full wall of shelving units from Ikea. I keep my jars of buttons, brads, charms, some ribbons, glitter, pipe cleaners, craft paint...

and inside the cubbards are all my craft magazines and decorating books. The bottom 2 shelves are for my kids to store their reading books. My grandma was the same way with her magazines. She had more than me, though.

Then there's a small window and a tv unit and then another wall unit where I keep... more magazines, and some of our homeschool texts...

And next to that is all my scrapbook paper. Inside the toybox are toys the kids no longer play with but I'm going to store some fabric and such that I don't use too often.

and next to that is the door to my closet, where you'll find....

more crafts! I may have a problem. This is just one wall in the closet. The wall to the right has shelving too.

Then on the other wall I have an armoire that I use for my gift wrapping station and on either side of it, I have more shelves. This one has my binder clips, tacks, and staples, some die cuts, some of my ephemera, some flowers and the kids markers and crayons.

Here's my very messy, unorganized gift wrapping station. That is another project for another day. I just haven't had the inspiration yet nor found the hardware I need to install the rods and such.

On the other side of the armoire is another shelf that holds some felting material, and my rubber stamps and ink pads. next to that is my gift wrap until I find a way to put it inside my armoire.

I am such a messy crafter that I gave myself some much needed table space. Beside the long table is a smaller table that my son is sitting at using the computer. It's not that big of a table, and it folds out larger if I needed it, but it really does help when I need to spread out because I've worked myself into a 4 inch by 4 inch space in which to craft in.

I am loving my new room. Now... the carpet guys will come to install the new carpet and all this stuff has to come out! I should try to remember to take pictures of that mess. Atleast I know where to put it all back to.

Springtime Box

I'm so glad spring is finally here! Friday was the first day of Spring and also my husband's 42nd birthday. Today was my mom's 67th birthday. I am feeling soooooo old. But, I always try to look on the bright side of things... we may be getting older, but we are all still here and able to enjoy another year together. I don't know what the rest of this year will bring, but for now, I am enjoying life!

I did a little crafting today and this is the end result...

Titanic projects

I'm still working on my projects for our new co-op. I'm having so much fun learning about the Edwardian era and coming up with projects for all the kids to make and show their creativity with. This is called a lapbook. A lapbook is a creative educational tool to help students learn about a specific topic. Basically you take a file folder and glue mini-books that contain information about the topic to the inside of the folder. The lapbook then serves as a method to review the subject as your children refer to it later. I have really never done a lapbook and mine is by no means comparable to the really creative ones I have seen online, but mine does include alot of information. I included things like vocabulary, the timeline of events the night of the sinking, famous passengers, quick facts, why was the Titanic considered unsinkable, new laws that were passed because of the Titanic tragedy, and pictures of staterooms, maps, icebergs, etc.

This is what it looks like when you open it up...

I was asked to come up with an idea for a passport. I thought about it for a long time and then said to myself, I'm thinking too hard about it... just make it look like a real one! When I went to the craft store, I found some blue textured poster board which was a nice substitution for the leather like cover of a real passport. I took a gold paint pen and decorated the cover...

...printed out the inserts on my computer and put it all together.

The last project I have to show is a toy that Edwardian children used to play with. It's called a Ball and Cup toy... not a very original name, mind you... but it's actually kinda fun to play with. I found the idea through some internet searching and figured it would be pretty easy to make.

Here are the parts I used to put it together, all found at the hobby store:

I'll have them put together already, and let the kids paint them however they wish.

Crafts for our Titanic unit study

Here are the latest crafts I completed for our Titanic unit study classes.

The first picture is a gentleman's pocket watch. While the girls will make the victorian fan in my previous post, the boys will make this. I'll show you how I did it down below.

Another craft the boys will do is this shadowbox. We'll show them how to make a simple sailor's knot and they'll paint the life preserver.

Here's how I made the pocket watch...

On my trip to the craft store, I picked up the items below: wood discs, chain, sticker clock faces, jewelry bale, lanyard hook and a metal disc I found in the scrapbook section to go around the face of the clock.

I attached the bale to the back of the wood disc and painted it gold. Then used a split ring to attach the chain to the bale.

Then I applied the clock face sticker (it was a raised sticker with a glossy coat on top, which was perfect for the face of a watch) and glued the metal ring on top. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have found the wood disc, sticker face, and metal disc that were all the PERFECT size and did not have to be reduced or enlarged. I love it when things work out that way!!

For the sailor knot shadowbox, I had a shadowbox that my Martha Stewart Rotary cutter came in so I used that for my mock-up. I love the size and shape but I can't buy these so I'll have to purchase another kind of shadowbox for the kids instead.

I went to my local hardware store which sells curtains and curtain rods and I found a package of white wooden rings. Yay! I don't have to paint them white!! I unscrewed the clip from it (really easy) and I also picked up some white nylon rope and then at the Office Supply store, some gold foil labels. I had some antique looking paper in my stash so I used that for the background of the shadowbox.

I painted the stripes on the preserver, handwrote "Titanic" and hot glued the rope around it and finally glued it to the back of the shadowbox.

I ran the labels through my printer with "Edwardian script"... ...and used a permanent marker to make some faux nail heads on either end of the label. I was surprised at how much it looked like a real brass plate! Then I tied the knot with the nylon and hot glued it in place.

I test all my crafts on my own kids and my son can't wait to make these in our co-op classes!

Handmade Paper Victorian Fan

Contrary to what it may seem like, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth! Between homeschooling and the co-op class I'm teaching, and all the other little things in life, my blog has been sorely neglected. BUT... some exciting news for me! I have been asked to serve on the staff of a new co-op that is starting up in April. I have been asked to be in charge of the Arts and Crafts Projects! I am soooo excited. It's different from our current co-op, in that we will be doing unit studies and basing all of the history, geography, literature, science and arts around the unit we are studying. AND... I won't be just picking out projects for one age group like I do now, it will be for all the age groups, from Kindergarten to 12th grade! Oh boy. I keep thinking "what have I done?" But then I feel like this is the most exciting thing for me right now. I couldn't be more thrilled. So, in addition to my current jewelery class with the 4th and 5th graders, I have been working on projects for our new co-op.

The unit we chose was the Titanic. I have worked on several projects so far, but am not ready to show them yet, as they aren't completely finished. The first one is a Victorian fan. The craft store had the prettiest scrapbook items that were perfect for the time period we are studying.

Here are some close-ups of the fan I made. I stamped, glittered and glued this sucker till I thought it was just too adorable!

This is a file folder the kids will decorate and create a lapbook. I have not finished the inside information, still working on that part.

Some other projects I'm working on for this unit study is a Diorama depicting the sinking of the Titanic, a gentleman's pocket watch, victorian brooches, and a Sailor knot shadowbox. So, stay tuned...

Nicole

Whimsical Wooden Jewelry Box

What a crazy time it has been since Christmas. I haven't had any time to keep up with my blog and have so many new bloggers that have posted that I need to go visit. I have been out of town, sick, starting school with the kids or getting ready for my co-op class which started yesterday.

Which brings me to the picture above. I am teaching a jewelry making class with a friend of mine and our first project was a jewelry box. This a sample of what our 4th and 5th graders did in class. I got the idea from this fabulous website I found around Christmas time. If you get a chance, visit this blog and check out all her whimsical creations http://windlewood.blogspot.com/. I just about fell over when I saw her Christmas tree decorated with clock faces. Definitely have to try that next year.

Tea Container

I have been saving this container for a while, not knowing what to do with it.

Until I was thinking of what I could make for a family friend who loves to drink tea. So I repurposed it to this:

And, as a result, tomorrow, I will be cleaning up this:

I'm so excited!

Wow. What can I say but "wow!"? I am so honored and well... totally excited that I was featured on Today's Creative Blog. WooHoo!!!! Thanks Kim! Now I guess I have to get off my butt and start posting more often because I usually only get a handful of people (15 or so) that visit my blog. By 12:30 today, I already had 155. That's amazing! So, to everyone visiting from Today's Creative Blog, thanks so much for stopping by and thank you for your comments and thank you again Kim! I told you that you made my day, but really, you made my week!

So I better get crackin' on some new crafting posts. Truth is, I have been so busy just getting through the days until Christmas that I haven't done much crafting. There have been dentist appointments, eye appointments, Lego Robotic competitions, Gymnastics classes, homeschool field trips, Christmas parties, Christmas plays, Christmas shopping, Christmas cleaning, Christmas wrapping, Christmas decorating, Christmas cooking... ok, you get the picture. You know exactly what I am talking about too! But, it will all be over in a week and I feel like I haven't had a chance to really enjoy it.

But I do have one project that I have been holding out on! I remember as a little girl that I had this book called All About Me. It had questions on every page about what color hair I had, what color eyes I had, how many teeth I had... it even let me draw a picture of myself on one of the pages. I loved that book so much that I would erase my answers and keep changing them over the years. What I would give to have that book today and see how I answered all the questions. I would probably roll over laughing.

So, I thought how neat it would be for my students in my co-op class to make one for themselves. Their parents loved it and I am planning to give my mother one from each of my children for Christmas to keep on her coffee table.

What I did was take 5 envelopes and glued the flaps to the other envelope which created an accordian like the one below with pockets.

The first pocket was a blank card for my daughter to draw a picture of herself. Isn't it cute?

So each slot had a theme. One was About Me - she answered questions about what her name is, how old she is, how much she weighs, how many teeth she has, anything about her. The other pockets were "About My Family", "About My Friends", and lastly "My Favorites".

I decorated the pockets and then here I show you how it folds up. Fold one in, next one folds back, etc.

I attached brads to the front and back that allow me to use a rubber band to close it and keep it all together.
Isn't it adorable? And something special to keep forever. If I had the patience for scrapbooking, I think this would make a cool insert to a page layout. :)

Handmade Advent Calendar

We've been getting in the Christmas spirit at our house. The Christmas tree is up, I even have some presents underneath it... the kids have each decorated their own Christmas trees (because mom won't let them touch hers!) ... and every room has some kind of Christmas decoration in it. I don't decorate for Halloween, I really don't even decorate for fall, so this is my chance to really go all out. The tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving and stays up until the 1st of January. I love Christmas! I love that I get to make it fun for the kids and that my husband and I are the ones who are giving them memories that they will cherish forever. I want them to always remember their Christmases as a child.

The one thing I never did as a child was have an advent calendar but I think it is such a fun idea. We've had them given to our kids in years past, but they've always had just candy in them. I wanted something that would be a little more meaningful than just a candy filled calendar.

This year I made my own.

It may not look like the "traditional" type of advent calendar, where all the numbers are lined up in order, but for me the purpose is to make family memories, to remind the children of the reason we celebrate Christmas... not necessarily to count down the days until the big toy opening frenzy.

Here's what I did. I purchased 25 heart and star shaped paper mache boxes and covered them with Christmas paper and glittery pipe cleaners and then punched a scallop circle and added the numbers to the front.


I then punched a tiny hole in the top of the bottom half of the box and inserted copper wire, added some beads and finished the top of the wire with a swirl so it could be hung on a mini Christmas tree like an ornament.

And placed inside each box, I will not only have a small treat for my children, but also each box will have something for us to do as a family that will create some very special family memories. Some ideas are: go ice skating, go look at Christmas lights, make a visit to Santa, make smores and sip hot chocolate by the fire, make popcorn and watch the movie Elf, read the story of Jesus' birth, purchase a toy for a needy child or family, make a gingerbread house, make a Happy Birthday Jesus card / cake, and so on.

It's really adorable sitting on my entry table and the best part is, I can pack it away and bring it out year after year, fill it with candy again and new things to do to make lots more family memories!

Furniture Stenciling

I recently stenciled an armoire that I have in my living room. It was a nice piece to begin with, but very big and plain and I wanted it to be "the focal piece". I really love the look of handpainted furniture that I see in the catalogs but, of course, they're way out of my price range!

So I thought I'd try stenciling it. I didn't tell my husband what I was planning to do - he probably wouldn't have let me touch it. I purchased the stencil online and it only took me a couple hours to complete. I chose a blue colored stencil cream because I'm trying to bring more of a french country feel in my living room. The colors in my living room now are red with a creamy gold on the walls. The room needed a pop of color.


I had previously painted my dining room a real pretty blue and since it is directly across from my living room...



...I wanted to tie the two rooms together somehow. I thought maybe bringing in some blue accents would do the trick. I am still looking for a pretty blue fabric to make some pillows with and some new curtains, but that will have to wait until after Christmas. Anyway, I'm really happy with the way it turned out. For about $50, I feel like I have a new handpainted piece of furniture.

Another Sweet Birdcage

I made two more birdcages last night. One is for my daughter. Since she loves tiny things, especially tiny birds, I put two sweet little birds on a swing in her birdcage.



I took her advice and added the "No kats allowed" sign to the both of them. I think that may be my favorite part of the whole thing.

She really liked it. I think it's so cute.

The other one I made was very similar to the very first one I made, only a little bigger. I gave this one to my mother.

I chose different colors for her bow and beaded feet. Pink and green are one of my favorite color combinations.

Here are some more closeups.