Week 16: Make an Apron

Why I want to make this: An apron is a perfect example of something I have made plenty of times, but never for myself. (Hint: Aprons make great handmade wedding presents!) 

Ideas & Inspirations: What I love about an apron is that it's one of the few items of apparel where it seems more than acceptable to be frilly, girly, cutesy-wutesy, and even downright ridiculous. And I do plan to make one that meets all of this criteria!

What I intend to do with said project: Wear it and make a pie! Seriously, I have recently taken quite an interest in pie-making. All I wanna do is make pie and wear an adorable apron!

Week 15: Create A Bouquet of Paper Flowers

Keep summer alive all year with this paper flower bouquet! These were so easy to make -I'll definitely make them again!

I started playing around with a few different materials and was able to create the white carnation and yellow daisy on my own. For the blue roses and the red anemone, I found a couple of great tutorials: DIY Crepe Anemone by Craftberry Bush & Paper Flowers by Haute to Sew.

White Doily Carnation Tutorial:

Materials:

• 9 paper doilies
• washi tape
• craft wire

Step 1: Fold each doily in half 5 times. Don't be too fussy with your folding. The main purpose is to add texture and dimension.

Step 2: Unfold your doily & poke a small hole in the centre

Step 3: Tape one doily to your wire stem.

Step 4: Layer all doilies onto the wire stem. Poke the wire stem through each doily and slide them up to the top.

Step 5: Secure with washi tape. You can use floral tape also -I just couldn't get it to work for me! I chose to continue with the tape down the entire stem for a fun look.

What I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed creating and designing my own paper flowers. I let the materials I was working with (doilies and twist paper) inspire me and I was pleased with what I was able to come up with.

Next time I would... Invest in some new paper. I just went with what I had in my paper drawer and luckily the colours I had worked. But next time I would like to go to the craft store and carefully select the papers and colour palette I'd like to work with.

Week 15: Paper Flowers

Why I want to make this: This idea started when I was working full-time in a very beige, dull office space that was desperately in need of some colour. Even though I don't work in that space anymore, summer is whizzing by so fast (seriously, where did July go!?) and I figured I should capture the colours of summer to keep all year round!

Ideas & Inspirations: There are so many ideas and projects out there! I've started pinning some on Pinterest if you'd like to take a peak.

What I intend to do with said project: I'm hoping this will be a nice piece for the new place. Did I mention I was moving? Yeah, I've got a little basement suite I'll be moving into in September. A little colour for the new space perhaps?

Week 14: Simple Wall Art DIY

Painting is so not my forte, but I gave it a shot and ended up with this floral, pastel, geometric painting for my wall!

Supplies:

• plywood
• wood stain
• cotton cloth
• washi or painters tape
• acrylic paints
• paintbrushes

Step 1: Prepare the Plywood Canvas
I decided I wanted my plywood to be much darker in order to contrast well with my pastel palette of colours. So I stained my wood a 'walnut' colour before I started.

Step 2: Tape It Using my washi tape, I created some lines in a random criss-crossing pattern.

Step 3: Paint! 
Paint whatever you'd like! I must say that the final product was much different that what I originally had in my head. I expected it to be much more abstract, and much to my surprise, I had to remind myself not to be too detailed.

Step 4: Remove the Tape
Once your paint is fully dry, carefully remove the tape, being careful not to remove any extra paint.

And the tape was quite pretty too!

What I enjoyed most: I enjoyed experimenting as I painted. Being a novice, it was fun to accidentally discover what my brush could do.

Next time I would... Create something much more abstract. I think the wood lines would better compliment an image that was sort of a mish-mash of colours coming together.

Week 14: Paint Something

Why I want to make this: I consider myself an artist but I am SO not the drawing/painting type of artist. I want to do this project to challenge myself and try something I'm a little uncomfortable doing.

Ideas & Inspirations: Instead of using a traditional canvas, I'd like to use some plywood that I picked up at the Reuse Centre recently. I am naturally drawn toward more abstract paintings because I think that's where my brain works best! But we'll see what I end up creating.

What I intend to do with said project: This is the perfect type of project to hang in the craft room! It will serve as a reminder to challenge myself more often. Hopefully it will turn out to be something inspiring for me and not something that will discourage me when I look at it.

DIY Garden Labels

 

Another garden DIY for you! When planting my garden this year, I went on a quest to find some garden labels. I was astonished by the lack of pretty options! I even went to several specialty garden shops. So, naturally I decided to create my own.

Materials:

• wooden rounds with a 1 1/2 to 2 inch diameter*
• drill
• paint (again, I used my $1 mint-coloured mistint jar)
• paintbrush
• fine-point Sharpie
• Mod Podge or other sealer
• 12 gauge wire or larger (coat hangers work too!)

*I couldn't find any cheap wooden rounds, so I made my own by sawing 1/2 inch slices off a tree stick and giving them a quick sand

1. Drill a small hole in the top of each of the wooden rounds. 

2. Paint lines, triangles or other geometric shapes on your wood rounds. I free-handed it (surprisingly!) but use tape if you want more precision.

3. Once your paint has dried, use your Sharpie to print your vegetable names on each label. Go over your writing with black acrylic paint if you want a bolder look.

4. Apply a layer of Mod Podge or a poly sealer over all sides of your label to protect it from the elements.

5. Cut your wire approximately 18 inches long. Make a small semi-circle for your wooden round to hang on and then make a large semi-circle in the opposite direction.

6. Plant your label in your garden with the straight part of your wire digging straight down into the soil

Garden Fence DIY

Now that it's mid-summer, I'm sure many of you already have bountiful gardens that you've been working on for months. I'm an amateur gardener, but I decided to jazz up my little garden a bit this year. So I just thought I would share with you this week a few garden DIY's -like this dollar store garden fence remake.

Materials:

• small garden trellis 
• paint (I used a small misstint jar I bought for $1) 
• paintbrush

I did one fairly thick coat of paint and did my best to cover the overlapping areas. I'm sure it would last longer if I used some sort of sealer to keep the wood in great condition, but I opted for this inexpensive garden project instead. With that said, my little fence is still looking great and it's already been rained on and even HAILED on a few times!