Interchangeable canvases

Here's a tutorial for a new project I spent the day working on...

I started out wanting to make just a set of canvases for my bedroom... but as I was working, I realized that with the b&w colour palate, I could actually use these for multiple occasions, and switch them up every once in a while... and so the Interchangeable Canvas idea was born!

Materials:
- 3 canvases (I found mine in a 3 pack at the dollar store)
- scrapbook paper (I used 4 different sheets)
- double sided tape, regular tape, and glue
- photo corners
- laminating plastic (Also found this at the dollar store)

Steps:

1. Start with your blank canvases... so much potential here!  Use your creativity.  My bedroom happens to be black & white damask, with 3 bright fuchsia walls, and one grey wall.  I had some damask paper in my collection that I had specifically bought to be some sort of bedroom decor, so I used that.  Use whatever tickles your fancy, but make sure it's something that you really like, because it'll be the "permanent" part of the interchangeable canvas.

2. Gather your paper and cut down to size.  My canvases were about 4 inches square, and I also cut 1 inch strips for the edges of the canvas (the 1 inch leaves a bit of overlap so that the edges look a bit smoother).  The paper I chose was a black on grey Latin (I think?) script.  I thought it was a nice complement, while still staying within a neutral colour scheme.

3. Apply your double-sided tape to the 1-inch strips.  Expose the other side of adhesive, and stick to the edge of the canvas.  I left the paper long enough to wrap around two sides, and did a traditional gift-wrapping type corner on the canvas.  If you need to, you can actually use a dab of glue or even tape to help the paper stay down, because it will be covered by the main canvas paper.

4. Glue your scrapbook paper (which has already been trimmed to size) onto the canvas.  I just used a regular ol' glue stick here.  Cut your laminating sheet down to size (mine was about 6.5 inches square).  Then, peel the backing from the sheet, and making sure you're working on a clean surface, lay it down, sticky side up, and lay your canvas, right side down, on top of it.  Smooth out any bubbles, and wrap it around the edge of the canvas, all the way to the back.  You can use staples into the frame of the canvas if you want to secure it a little bit more.  At this point, you're pretty much done!  The canvases can be hung as is, or you can add some artwork to them.  I added stuff, so I'll keep going with that step...

5. So, I had some photos that I took on my last trip to NYC, with my Diana+ lomography camera... since they were shot on film (and I have no idea where the negatives are, since moving), I didn't want to glue them down, or glue anything to them.  I secured them to pink scrapbook paper using photo corners, and the "N" "Y" and "C" are only glued to the scrapbook paper, not to the actual photos.  The art is stuck to the canvas with just tape... and the tape peels away from the laminate easily, so whenever the mood strikes, I can change up my canvases and have some new art on my walls!

Now I just need a hammer and some nails to actually get these things up on my wall.
Like this tutorial?  Try it?  Leave me a note and let me know!

Mad about Mad Men

I'm not really sure if I've ever talked about my Mad Men obsession on here... but it is just that.  I am completely obsessed.  Sadly, it is going away for a while, as the season finale airs tonight on AMC.
I may have to start watching from Season One again, just to get through the downtime.

One other thing I did to get through the downtime... I did Mad Men Crafts!  Now I have the most adorable little mini-figs on my fridge!  Here they are, and here's how I did it, just in case you want Don Draper on your fridge too (and really, who wouldn't?)

I also have an obsession with fridge magnets.  I think it has something to do with the fact that we never had magnets on our fridge when I was a kid.  Anyway, I digress.  

First... you'll need to gather your supplies:

• Dyna Moe's minifigs
  
• scissors
• craft glue
• magnetic sheet
• markers (if you're going to colour the minifigs, rather than print them in colour, as I did)
• Krylon Low Odor Clear Gloss

 Next, you'll need to colour your mini figs and cut them out (easy as pie, right?)
After they're all cut out, arrange them on your magnet sheet.  Try to fit them as close together as possible.  Use your craft glue to glue them down.  Then cut them out from the magnetic sheet.

Arrange your magnets on some scrap paper, newspaper, paper towel, whatever you have lying around.  Hold your can of gloss finish about 20-25cm (about 10 inches or so) away from the magnets, and spray lightly.  Try not to be too forceful, otherwise the ink will run.

Let them dry for at least a half hour, and then they're ready to adorn your fridge!  (This project can obviously, easily be adapted for any sort of printable magnet project - let your imagination run wild!)

Happy Mad Men-watching.  Last week's episode, Don showed us his brilliance.  I wonder what will happen in the finale!

Birthday Treats!

So... I'm a pretty big fan of baking - especially when I can bake and bring it into work for my coworkers, so that I don't end up eating the entire batch of whatever I make.  And I think my coworkers enjoy it too ;)  I'm back on Battle of the Blades again this year, so there are plenty of mouths to feed with treats.

This past Saturday was my birthday, and on Blades, we work through the weekend (Saturday is rehearsal day, Sunday and Monday are show days).  I got home early on Friday night, so I decided to whip up a batch of my favourite, and the easiest truffles ever - from the amazing Bakerella website.  I had tried these before, dipped in white chocolate, but I found them too sweet.  So this time, I dipped the truffles in bittersweet chocolate, and I thought they were perfect.

I wanted to make them a little more special, with a bit of character... so I decided to give them a mouse shape.  They have almond ears, and pretzel tails.
I think they're pretty darn cute.  And I got so many compliments on them throughout the day.  I think I made a little more than 50 of them, and they were completely devoured.  Here's the first batch, chilling in the fridge overnight.

There were further birthday treats for me, when my awesome coworkers surprised me with a cake, (and singing!) in the studio by the rink.  I'm not really someone who's easily surprised (I can usually tell when someone is prepping something like this!), so this was definitely one of the best birthday surprises I've ever received. 

So, I have Tuesday off from work, since I work through the entire weekend, and even though it was a full 3 days after my birthday, I couldn't let it go by without a party with my friends.  And, I don't know if this makes me really weird or not, but I decided that I had to bake my own cake.  And further to that, it had to be a super awesome cake.  I decided I had to make myself a castle.  Haha!

Now, keep in mind, I am FAR from a professional baker, and this is my very first layer cake ever... but this is how I did it.  First, I baked.  I decided on vanilla cake, and I made two 8-inch square pans, plus four cupcakes.  I had originally wanted the cupcakes to be the four pillars on each side of the castle, but I thought they looked too big, after I assembled everything.

 - The bottom layer of the cake is just as is.  (I didn't even level it off, because the only serving dish I had was a plate, and I thought turning the cake upside down and letting the dome sit in the curved area of the cake would make it sit a little better)

- The second layer, I levelled and cut about a half inch off each end. 

- The third layer is actually the part that I levelled, cut into quarters and stacked.
- And the top layer is one of the cupcakes.
- For the pillars and door entrance, I used some of the scraps from the second layer.

After assembling all the pieces together, I "glued" them with rainbow-chip frosting and put the cake in the fridge to set a bit.  After about an hour in the fridge, I created a "crumb" layer of vanilla frosting.  It's a thin layer to help seal in all the crumbs that you might get from frosting the cake after it's been cut like this.  And it made me realize how difficult it is to frost around "pillars" ... man this was hard!   So after I finished this layer of frosting, I put it in the fridge to set again.




The next part was my favourite.  The final layer of frosting, and then piping on some details!  I used the same frosting as the crumb layer, and for the piped bit, I just added some food colouring.  I was originally going to do pink, but at the last minute, I decided to do turquoise, to match my apartment! (Yes, I am that much of a geek)  The windows and doors are made of graham crackers, and the little posts are marshmallows.  Here's a look at how the cake turned out:

 

Again,  not a pro baker here... it may not be the fanciest cake... but it was delicious, and my friends loved it, so that's all that matters, right?! :)

How To: Digital Inspiration Boards

So, I don't know if I ever officially mentioned it on my blog or not, but I bought a condo a few months ago.   (!!! Still very excited!)  As soon as I saw it, I immediately had ideas of what it would look like once I got my decorative touch on it.  I had a pretty long closing (3 months), so I had a lot of time to think and browse for various decor ideas.  I put them all together in various inspiration boards for each room, which were a definite hit when I posted them on my facebook/flickr pages - so here's a tutorial on how to do it.  This does take a little bit of knowledge on using a photo manipulation program like Photoshop.

The first thing I did was create a folder on my computer called "Condo Decor Ideas" - and within the folder, I created subfolders for each room in the place.  I already knew that I wanted a black & white bathroom, a pink & black damask bedroom, and a turquoise/teal & neutral kitchen/living area (it's open concept) - so I began searching the web for different items that fit my vision.

While searching, I would save any items that I thought I would like into the subfolders.  If I came across any pages that didn't allow me to right click on the image, I would screencap it (ctrl + shift + 4 on a Mac) - I tried to capture the price on the image whenever possible, that way I could reference it later as well.  And when I saved the image, I would name it including the website where I found the image (ie "waterfall_curtain_urbanoutfitters.com")

Once I had all the items saved that I thought would make a room complete, I began to open them up in Photoshop.  I began with a blank canvas (about 1200x1200, and then scaled it down later).  I opened each individual item up, and deleted the background (either using the magic wand tool, or the eraser - very patiently - depending on what the background of the item was).

Once the backgrounds were deleted, I would drag the image over to the main canvas.  I'd add a text note of what the item was and what website I found it on.

I tried to scale items to what their approximate size would be in the room (IE, the bed is larger than the lamps/picture frames, etc), and I also tried to keep them in the relative location that they might be found in the room (ie, chandelier is on the "ceiling", bed is on the "floor")

When I was satisfied with the placement of everything on the design boards, I scaled them down to a size that wasn't too gigantic, but was still legible (the full size "Girlie Bedroom" board is actually 839x1032 pixels)... added a border and a name, and voila! All done!

I'm a very visual person, so even though I could picture this in my head, I found it a lot easier when shopping to remember exactly how these items worked together.  I even bought several of these exact items for my place, so I can't wait to see how it compares to my design boards once I get it all decorated!

I have a couple more design boards in my "Journey To Home Ownership" album on flickr, right here!
Feel free to post any questions in the comments, I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

Valentine's Shadow Box Tutorial

Valentine's Day Shadow Box

So, I'm hosting a "Crafty Valentine's Day" party this weekend, where all the attendees are going to make handmade cards for someone else at the party, and I have a vision of my basement turning into a pink, red and white heart-filled paradise. I've been creating all sorts of little decorative touches, and this is one of them.

Materials:

• shadow box (I had mine stashed away somewhere, and the glass was actually broken, which is how I came up with this idea)
• paint
• paper
• tissue paper
• foam-core
• stamp & ink (and embossing powder/heat gun if you wish)
• gems
• glitter
• fuzzy yarn (you'll only need a small bit of this, so whatever you have around the house will work)
• tacky glue
• glue gun
• Mod Podge

Method:

1. Trace a heart template out of a scrap sheet of paper (I do this by folding a sheet of paper in half, and cutting half a heart, so that both sides are symmetrical. Take your template and trace onto the foam core, and cut out your heart. It doesn't matter if the edges are a little ragged, because they'll be covered by the fuzzy yarn, but try to get it fairly decent looking.


2. Trace the background of your box onto the scrapbook paper of your choice (mine was a dusty rose, subtle print). Once you've cut it to size, use your tacky glue to glue it down into position.

3. Go back to your foam core heart. Stamp your quote (or whatever you choose) in the centre. Mine is a cute little quote from one of my favourite songs ever. I also used a bit of red embossing powder, and fired it with my heat gun for a few seconds, to give it some texture.

Then, take your yarn and glue gun, and in small areas, begin to glue down the yarn to the outside of the heart until you make it all the way around. Cut off any trailing ends you may have.

4. Take your paint and paint the frame of the shadow box (I used a shade of pink that is darker than the scrapbook paper I chose for the background). After it dries, cut a heart out of red tissue paper. Use Mod Podge to glue it down... it doesn't matter if it's crinkly, it'll mostly be covered up... and it gives it a bit of texture, that I kind of like.

Add some glitter around the edge of the red heart.

5. After it's all dry, it's time for the finishing touches. Glue the foam core heart into place with your glue gun. Add some gems for some sparkle... and you're done!

Pretty piece of artwork, using mostly materials that you'll have on-hand (maybe? Is it just me that happens to have all these things kicking around in my basement craft room?)

Anyway... let me know if you try this! It could be used for all sorts of occasions, not just Valentine's Day... just change up the colours and the shape in the middle.

Envelope Wall-Hanging Tutorial

Okay, so this is a tutorial for a wall hanging that I made to display my hundreds of postcards. (It won't actually hold a hundred, so I'm going to have to make another one... LOL). Sadly, I don't have a picture of the final version, because I haven't got around to hanging it on my wall yet - but it's coming soon. Hopefully, you'll be able to visualize it... but if you have any questions, just ask :)

For this project, you'll need:
- envelopes (Anywhere from 4-7) of the same size
- collage materials
- stiffer paper/cardstock (I reused the inner tube of a dollar store giftwrap package)
- decorative brad
- string or ribbon
- scissors/glue

1. First, assemble your envelopes. They all have to be the same size, and they have to be able to fit your postcards. I used 5 envelopes, but you could use less (maybe more, but not too many more, because it'll get too heavy to hang).

Arrange them in a vertical line, and glue the flap of the bottom envelope to the "front" (what most people consider the front, but it won't end up being the front for our purposes) of the envelope on top. Keep going until you get to your top envelope, and just leave that one free.

2. Next, you'll take the images that you've cut out for your collage, and begin gluing them onto the envelopes. Be sure to leave all the flaps open, as that's where the postcards (or whatever items you choose) will be stored. I chose pretty travel-inspired pictures, mostly from National Geographic, but you could use any magazine, scrapbooking paper, etc to go with your decor. Keep going, all the way up to the top.

I also cut my pictures a little bigger than I needed, and stuffed them into the pockets, so that they slightly overlap. If you anticipate having a lot of items to fill your pockets, you don't really need to worry about this, but if there's going to be a gap, it's always nicer to see pictures, rather than just white envelope. By the time you're done this step, there should be no envelope seen on the "pocket" side of the hanging.

3. Next step - flip your hanging over, so that you see the back of the hanging (the flaps glued to the "fronts") which should be white. Take your cardstock/heavy paper and cut it to the size of your hanging. Use a whole lot of glue, and stick the cardstock to the envelopes. This is just to reinforce the envelopes a bit.

This is what my hanging looked like at this point. To the right is the full length of the hanging, all covered with images. To the left is the bottom pocket, filled with a few postcards. (Notice how you don't really see the images behind the pockets when they're full... the cityscape is all but invisible back there... so use your favourite images on the actual "pocket" part):

4. The final step is to attach your brad and string. I used a cloth covered brad (super cute, and I found it at the dollar store! Can't beat that!) ... I wrapped the string around the brad before I closed it up. One other thing I did after the fact was reinforce this area with some clear packing tape. I thought that maybe I made my hole a little too close to the top and it would need a little bit of reinforcement. This is more of a judgement call - if you feel like your hanging needs some extra support, I think this is the way to go (or if you have other suggestions for reinforcement, let me know!)






And, you're done! Gorgeous, pro-looking wall hanging that can contain almost anything (you could use it to organize receipts... school assignments... notes... whatever!), and you get to recycle and be creative. Can't beat that!

If you like these kinds of posts... leave a comment :) I'll do more in the future if there's interest in it. I do projects like this all the time.