Plant Labels from Wine Corks

Inspiration

Finished Product

Step One: Collect wine corks.
Step Two: Use your cork screw to poke a hole into the cork about 1/3 of the way.
Step Three: Insert a wooden skewer.
Step Four: Use a permanent marker to label the plant name.

Display Your Baby's Shoes

Inspiration

Finished Product

Step One: Purchase a shadowbox frame. I found mine at a flea market for $3.
Step Two: Paint your frame if desired.
Step Three: Glue scrapbook paper or fabric to the back of the shadowbox. Paper can be adhered with spray adhesive. For fabric use fabic glue or modpodge. Let dry.
Step Four: Attach shoes to the backing with hot glue. Let it dry.

Melted Crayon Art

Inspiration

Finished Product

Step One: Peel off crayon wrappers.
Step Two: Snap crayons in two pieces depending on the size of your canvas.
Step Three: Sketch or freehand design with pencil onto canvas.
Step Four: Place crayons onto design and hot glue them down.
Step Five: Once all the crayons are hot glued onto the canvas, spread newspaper out in your work area.
Step Six: You can use a hair dryer on a hot setting to melt the crayon or I used an embosser. Hold heat over tips of crayons and angle your canvas the way you want the wax to drip while holding canvas in one hand and the heat source in the other. Heat in sections and let dry before rotating your canvas.

Canvas with Quotes

Inspiration

Finished Product

Step One: For this project you could use a white canvas or a shoebox lid. I used a white canvas that I bought in a pack from Hobby Lobby.
Step Two: I tore scraps of scrapbook paper and Modpodged them to the canvas. Let it dry overnight.
Step Three: Buy vinyl adhesive letters from Hobby Lobby, or in the boating section of Home Depot.
Step Four: Place letters on canvas. Rub down each letter so paint can't seep under.
Step Five: Paint over the entire canvas including the letters with any color craft paint.
Step Six: While the paint is wet, peel off vinyl letters carefully. Use a toothpick if necessary to help lift the edges of letters.
Step Seven: Let canvas dry overnight.

Upcycled Picture Frame

Inspiration

Finished Products

Step One: Buy old picture frame from Goodwill or Flea Markets. Look for frames with great detail.
Step Two: Spray paint frame any color.
Step Three: Find ribbon that matches your freshly painted frame.
Step Four: Hot glue the ends of the ribbon to the sides of the frame.
Step Five: Buy mini clothes pins from a craft store. Spray paint clothes pins any color you want.
Step Six: Print out pictures and attach with mini clothespins.

Picture Frame Tray

Inspiration

Finished Product

Step One: Disassemble a picture frame from Goodwill.
Step Two: Spray paint frame desired color. Once paint is dry, spray with a clear coat.
Step Three: Glue scrapbook paper, maps, book pages or fabric to the backing of the frame.
Step Four: Once glue has dried, reassemble picture frame.

Pawprint Art

Inspiration

Finished Product

Step One: Select your subject, preferably a willing dog.This will be crucial to the success of your project.
Step Two: Use a small artist brush to paint black craft paint on your model's paw. You will need an assistant to hold the model.
Step Three: Bring a piece of copy paper to the paw and press lightly. I found that this worked better than having the dog step onto the paper. Don't worry about small smears or smudges, you will fix these in step four.
Step Four: Use correction fluid (white-out) to "correct" or "erase" any stray black marks.
Step Five: Place this paper once dried on glass of copy machine and copy to white cardstock. This way the corrected places will not show.
Step Six: Print out your dogs name onto white cardstock and place on a small square of black cardstock.
Step Seven: Frame using a black mat for contrast.

Button Lampshades

Inspiration
 

Step One: We gathered our supply of buttons and purchased some new buttons matching our color scheme from Oriental Trading.
Step Two: We bought plain white lamp shades
Step Three: We started by gluing larger buttons on first with Tacky Glue.
Step Four: We then filled in the gaps with small and medium sized buttons. (It requires more buttons than you would expect).
Step Five: Work in sections to prevent the buttons from sliding. Allow each section of the lampshades to dry over night before beginning the next section.

Finished Product

Map Picture Frame

Inspiration

Step One: Disassemble picture frame.Step Two: Paint the backing black or use cardstock.
Step Three: Cut or tear strips from an old map.
Step Four: Paint the front and back of each strip with Modpodge and wrap the strip around the frame using as many strips as needed to cover the frame.
Step Five: Hang your picture frame on a nail or hook to let both sides dry completely.
Step Six: Spray frame with gloss finishing coat.
Step Seven: Use hot glue to attach a bull dog clip to the backing.
Step Eight: Assemble the completed frame and add your picture.

Finished Product

Birdhouse from Books

Inspiration

Step One: Gather a selection of old books in colors of your choice. You will need 5-6 books. Two of the books will need to be the same height.
Step Two: Use a utility knife to cut the front and back off a book that will the front and the back of your birdhouse.
Step Three: Use a drill bit to cut a one and one-half inch hole in one panel.
Step Four: Use hot glue to attach the front panel to the books that will form the left and right sides.
Step Five: Glue the back panel on the books that will form the left and right sides.
Step Six: Glue the "house" to the book you have chosen for your base.
Step Seven: Glue the roof on to the house. If the pages separate, brush with a coat of Modpodge and hold with clothes pins until dry.
Step Eight: Cut a piece of cardboard to fit the small opening under the roof in the front and back. Cover the cardboard with scrapbook paper or a page from an old book. Glue into place.
Step Nine: Optional: Glue on a dowel rod perch if desired.

Finished Product

Wood Pallet

This pallet was very time consuming! It was a gift and the receipient loved it so it was time well spent!

Step One: Find a pallet and take apart. Pallets are often available on Craig's List for free.
Step Two: We used a wood planer to strip down each piece of wood. You can leave it more distressed if you would like.
Step Three: Optional: We drilled holes in the top and bottom corners of each slat and connected them with copper wire. You could also use leather ties for a more country look.
Step Four: We nailed 2X4 boards on the back of the slats to help hold all the wood pieces together and also allowed us to attach it to the wall.
Step Five: Paint the pallet whatever color you want.

Step Six: We used a stencil to paint on our Bible verse, freehanding the word LOVE.
Step Seven: Attach to the wall using heavy duty anchors because it will be pretty heavy.

Tackle Box Succulent Garden

Inspiration

We found an old tackle box in our basement that we decided to use.

Step One: Using a drill, drill about five holes in the bottom of the tackle box for drainage.
Step Two: Put a layer of pebbles or pottery shards on the bottom
Step Three: Fill with a potting mix
Step Four: Plant a variety of Succulents. I found a great selection at Lowe's and Kroger.

Our Finished Product

Chalkboard and Corkboard Frame

Inspiration
 

Step One: We found two matching frames at Goodwill.

 

 

Step Two: We spray painted each frame a different color.

Step Three: We removed the picture and glass on one frame and painted the cardboard backing of the picture with chalkboard paint.

Step Four: In the other frame, we used adhesive cork board to glue to the picture.

Step Five: We inserted the new cork board and chalkboard in each frame after spraying each frame with a clear top coat.

Step Six: You are ready to put your new creations to good use!

 

 

Finished Product

Button Monogram Letter

My Inspiration



Step One: I bought a cardboard letter from Hobby Lobby for about $3.
Step Two: I painted the letter black
Step Three: I found an assortment of buttons I liked. We always look for buttons at yard sales and Oriental Trading is a great source for inexpensive buttons.
Step Four: Hot glue buttons all over the letter. I overlapped and layered my buttons to add depth.

My Finished Product

Glitter Silhouette Canvas

Here was my inspiration:

Step One: I went on Google and found an image of a dancer I liked.
Step Two: I saved the image and edited it in a Photoshop document to make it into a silhouette. I then changed it into the size I needed.
Step Three: I printed the Silhouette and glued it to a piece of black cardstock.
Step Four: I then cut out the silhouette.
Step Five: I painted my canvas. I wanted a chevron pattern as my background but you could paint it anyway you like. If you choose a chevron pattern, use painter's tape to tape off the chevron pattern.
Step Six: Then I painted my silhouette with modpodge and sprinkled glitter over the top of it.
Step Seven: I proceeded to shake the remaining glitter off and hot glued the silhouette to my dry canvas.
Step Eight: I sprayed my canvas with a clear enamel top coat so that the glitter would not flake off and get everywhere.

My Finished Product:

License Plate Wall Art

Here was our inspiration

 

 

 

 Step One: Find License plates with the letters you will need. We checked Antique Malls and Flea Markets for ours.

Step Two: Use tinsnips to cut each individual letter out. Be careful and wear gloves, the edges are sharp.

 

Step Three: We used a block of wood and laid a washcloth over it to flatten our letters with a rubber mallet.

 

Step Four: We drilled holes in the top and bottom of each letter using a small drill bit and inserted brads. The brads were for decorative purposes only. We then used E6000 to glue our letters on a piece of wood.

 

 



Step Five: We waited for the letters to dry overnight then added a wallhanger to the back of the piece of wood.

Step Six: DONE, hang your new wall art.