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Hearts Around the Corner

February 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A little late for Handmade Monday myself, altho everyone should still go check it out. But it’s still not too late to make a last minute Valentine’s gift for someone. I actually made this over the weekend, and should have gotten it up on the blog sooner. However, I didn’t. It’s very simple and I was able to make it completely from things I had in my craft stash. Some of you might not have everything on hand, but I bet many of you do. If not, you might be able to substitute something else.

Now, if you really want to get this done in time for Valentine’s Day I really need to stop talking about it and tell you how to make a Valentine’s Day Frame. Just click the link. 🙂

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Changing Horses Midstream

August 13, 2012 By 21 Comments

This post doesn’t have anything to do with horses, but the title is apt.  I was going to Mod Podge the frame as a gift, and didn’t pay enough attention when I bought my materials.  I was disappointed to discover that the glass didn’t come out but was affixed permanently and so I was going to have to work around it.  In addition it wasn’t “glass” but some sort of plastic or acrylic, so it wasn’t going to be as easy to clean without scratching or ruining.  Wonderful!

I’m not going to go into great detail, since I didn’t take photos along the way and most of it was just tedious stuff and things I don’t really like doing.  I had to cover the glass so I could spray paint the wood frame, as I was afraid it would soak too much Mod Podge.   I used the paper that came with the frame and cut it in pieces to fit in the front “glass” areas.  Then I sprayed 2 coats of black paint on the wood and let that dry overnight.  I ended up leaving the paper over the “glass” while I did my Mod Podging because I figured that would be a real mess to get off of the plastic.

After that was dry I let my husband cut the paper out with an Exacto, (I could have done it but he offered and he has s steadier hand).  As it was, the edges weren’t very neat on the inside, so I had to “change horses midstream”.  I hadn’t planned to do anything on the inside of the edges, but they didn’t look very good.  I decided to use hot glue and put some gold piping I had in my stash around them.  Another tedious thing, but it turned out “okay”.  Of course I got hot glue all over the “glass” which was a minor pain to clean off.

Finally done, but I won’t do another one with glass that is not removable.  I’ll check from now on.  BTW I do love the paper I used for this.  It’s actually a Christmas tissue paper I got about 10 years ago and it’s almost all gone.  I love it because it ends up looking very Americana instead of Christmasy.  Oh, and I almost forgot.  I sprinkled a little glitter onto the frame after each coat of Mod Podge and let it dry.  I love the glittery look.

 

And now, on to Handmade Monday!  I’m sure everyone there planned out their crafts better than I did.  Let’s go see.  🙂

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Getting Back to Normal

January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

I always find it difficult to get back to “normal” after the Holidays, does everyone else?  We haven’t had Handmade Monday for the past 2 weeks since Mondays have fallen on the BIG Holidays (Christmas and New Years Day) and so, I have been pretty lazy.  Not that I didn’t do anything, but I didn’t write about it.  🙂  However, here is something I did do, and I thought I would share it.  I didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel here, but I thought I came up with a fairly clever way to mount this glass piece simply and economically, with the additional advantage that it will also be easy to remove and change if the recipient later decides they want it mounted in a different way.

This little frog “tile” is one of the very first fused glass pieces I did –if not the first–I think it probably was, but my memory is about as old as I am.   It was simply slumped into a mold at a glass shop where I went to take classes, but it came out pretty cute.  The problem, of course, is that I was always afraid it would get broken, and I wasn’t really sure how to display it easily.  When I found out I was going to have a new GrandSON I thought, Boys/Frogs, PERFECT!  So, my husband and I (he’s so good to bounce ideas off of for this sort of project) came up with a way to frame and mount this little amphibian that I think will be really stable and cost very little.

The frame was on sale (and frankly, I think most of us have frames around the house we could reuse, OR I see them at thrift stores really cheap all the time too).  The napkin I used for backing was from an after Thanksgiving sale.  I had to buy a set of 4, but the others actually are ones I can use as they go with my “decor” at least until I cannibalize them for another project!  The art board was a couple of dollars.  And the Super 77 adhesive was a little pricey, I admit (I think about $12.00) HOWEVER, I still have a nearly full can and it is AWESOME!  I will use it for a lot of things.

Well, lets get on with this.  Oh, and please, don’t tell my son and daughter in law, this is a gift for their baby.  Let’s just quietly go see How to Frame a Frog, shall we?

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Waste Not…

April 11, 2011 By 6 Comments

More fun with things you would probably just throw away for Handmade Monday. Even before it was cool to recycle and reuse I always saved things and did other things with them. No really. I don’t know why, I just always hated to throw things away if they might possibly be useful. Of course, that probably also gets into the realm of pack rattedness. But, we really do just toss things into the trash in far too cavalier a manner. I’m not making a political statement, just a statement of fact. And I’m as guilty as the next person. But I do love to make something from “trash”.

This is another project from that really wonderful paper mache recipe. I decided it would be great to make something without having to buy a form to put it over, so I imagined using throwaway cardboard from packaging. I used a box that I retrieved from the recycling bin. The most difficult part was cutting the hole in the middle, however I did a pretty fair job.

But, it’s boring to sit here and read about that, let’s get on with it. Head to Make it and read how to make your own Little Gold Frame. And don’t forget to check out all of the awesome things everyone is doing for Handmade Monday. It’s such a great and diverse crew of crafters, there’s pretty much something for everyone!Finished Frame

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Framed!

March 14, 2011 By 10 Comments

Here we are again, it’s Handmade Monday! I intended to put this project up over the weekend, as I had already finished it, but I admit I was glued to the television watching the horrible news out of Japan. And I just couldn’t get myself geared up to get this blog put together. And the news just kept getting worse. Before I go further, please say a prayer (or if you are opposed to that, at least send some good thoughts) for all of the people affected by such an enormous disaster. I can’t even wrap my mind around the size and scope.

So, I’m glad I made something cheerful. A little frame, made from recycled paper. This is part of the paper mache I made previously. Now, follow me over to Make It and let’s take a look at how to make a Pressed Flower Frame.

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Projects Sometimes Take on Lives of Their Own

February 13, 2011 By 12 Comments

Sometimes I start with an idea, and maybe I even think I know where I’m going with it.  But somewhere along the way it takes a detour because either the idea I had really isn’t working out, or because I didn’t plan really well, or I thought of something better, or, well, whatever.  There are a million and one reasons.  I don’t really care, as long as the finished product is something I like and I had fun.  This frame is one of those things.  Thankfully I think it turned out better than I originally even envisioned it.

When my youngest son and his wife visited in January I took a photo of them that I really liked and I wanted to send it to them.  But I decided I wanted to frame it.  At some point I decided I would make a frame and blog about it (of course!) and since this whole Handmade Monday thing is causing me to have to come up with something, I thought, yes, ok, that’s what I would do this week.

At first I thought of doing a decoupage frame with paper of some sort. Then I thought something beachy would be better.  I have done some really fun shell frames in the past, although I was not up for doing a whole one of those yet, because they are very time consuming and there was no way I could start one on Sunday and have it ready for THIS Monday.  So, anyway, this whole thing evolved.

But, I think you will like it.  I’ll show you how it grew from a bare idea into a finished product.  Let’s just head over to Make It and take a look at the Beach Shell Frame.

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