Thursday, January 28, 2021

3D Puffy Heart DIY

Give your friends and fellow crafters something to talk about with this sweet 3D Puffy Heart shaped craft! They won't believe you just need a sheet of glitter foam, scissors, hot glue and ruler to make! It's such an easy project to celebrate Valentine's Day or any romantic occasion, for that matter! Adding bits of Valentine cuteness around the house - looking pretty anywhere you decide to display them!

Supplies:

Glitter Foam Sheets
Scissors
Hot glue gun/glue sticks
Ruler
Embellishments (optional)

Instructions:

Let's begin by cutting the foam sheets into a square shape. This one is 5"x5"

Next, fold the square in half (right sides together) to form a triangle. Begin making five cuts at the fold, with approximately 1/2" width between cuts. You can "eye" the length of the cuts, but the first cut should be the longest, with the next cut shorter than the one before.

I measured the cut lines at 3 1/2", 2 1/2", 1 1/2", 1", and 1/2" for this one.

Then, flip the folded triangle over, and cut five more lines at the fold about the same lengths as the first group.

Then open the cut square . . .

and place a ruler along the center of the non-folded area and cut across, forming to separate pieces.

Next, begin adding hot glue to the tip of the smallest cut triangular shape, folding over to the edge, and gluing in place.

Continue adding glue to the next triangle tip and folding over to cover the previous fold, matching tips and gluing in place.

Make sure to fold the triangle over the previous triangle after adding the glue . .

matching tips while gluing in place. Each tip should be on top of the previous one.

Next, take the sides and bring the middle edges together.

And begin adding glue to the edges . . .

bringing the glued edges together . . .

to form one side of the puffy heart.

Once the glue has dried, use thumb to push top center in.

Repeat previous steps for the second piece.

To connect the heart pieces, place a dab of hot glue in middle of top . . .

and press the two matching pieces together - holding centers together underneath until glue is dry.

then add glue along one edge side to glue heart together and then the next side.

How cool does this look!

I made a couple more - this one, using an 9" square foam sheet, for a much larger heart . . .

and this one using a 6.5" square. I used strips of stone embellishments to cover the edges, front, back and sides.

These puffy heart shaped decorative accessories are perfect for romantic occasions and also provide unique Valentine's day ideas in gorgeous glittery colors creating an unforgettable impression.

Welcome to our first monthly Creative Craft Blog Hop for 2021 created by Chloe @ Celebrate & Decorate and Andrea @ Design Morsels! I've teamed up with a talented group of creative bloggers to bring you lots of wonderful ideas and inspirations!

If you're following the blog hop, up next, is Carol @Bluesky At Home sharing lots of wonderful ideas for handmade Valentine cards!

Be sure to have fun and get inspired by all of the wonderful creations this month by clicking on the links below!

Celebrate & Decorate

Design Morsels

Sustain My Craft Habit

B4 and Afters

Home Is Where The Boat Is

Purple Hues And Me

Bluesky At Home

My Hubbard Home

Chas' Crazy Creations

The Painted Apron

My Thrift Store Addiction

Raggedy Bits

Paper Mache Suitcase Update

1:00 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me thrift store challenge 4 comments

It's that time again for the monthly Thrift Store Upcycle Challenge, hosted by Angela @ Simply Beautiful by Angela! where a group of creative bloggers come together to share their lovely transformations of a thrift store item. Who doesn't love thrift store upcycle projects - whether it's actually creating one or admiring how an item from a thrift store was transformed!

The Rules:

Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
There's no monthly theme.
There's no budget to stick to.

Because of the pandemic, I had to shop my home for this challenge. It didn't take me long to find something from Goodwill that I've had for a number of years - a paper mache or cardboard suitcase - it was $2 back then. I know most of you will probably say why would you want to change that lovely pattern? Well, I've had it for over ten years and I've been reluctant to do anything with it. It is a pretty design but it just doesn't go with anything I have. It's been in a closet all this time.

I had been using it to store old photos and now it was time for a makeover - or so I thought!

You can see from the pictures that it's in good shape - both outside and inside.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. I had envisioned painting it and then either decoupaging something on it or painting a stencil or design on it. Time was not on my side. I started painting the case . . . one side at a time . . . letting

it dry between coats. I applied three coats and the finish still looked awful! Splotchy in areas. I could see the variations of the flower pattern - especially where the colors were darker. Then the paint began to lift. Oh boy! I know you're asking what type of paint did I use. Anita's All Purpose Acrylic. And yes, it's a craft paint I got from Hobby Lobby. But what I liked about the paint is that it's made by Rust-oleum. The label stated that it is a "high quality waterbased paint for general craft use and decorative painting. For use on wood, artist's canvas, plaster, clay, metal, fabric, bisque, and more. Permanent. Soap and water cleanup while wet." What more could I ask for?

Update in Progress:

After I managed to get a somewhat even paint finish I stopped working on the suitcase. I couldn't go on - after testing a corner, the paint still lifted and time ran out for me to complete the suitcase for this challenge. Now I have to re-think this project. But in the meantime, this is how it looks:

The color is perfect for my decor.

But I'm not sure where I will place it, though.

All I can say is, stay tuned!

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Meet the Hosts

Angela | Simply Beautiful By Angela

Beverly | Across the Blvd

Gail | Purple Hues and Me

Marci | Stone Cottage Adventures

Our Thrift Store Upcycle group of bloggers is always looking to expand -- and we need your help! Why not consider joining in our thrift store upcycle challenge on the last Thursday of each month? Make some friends while having fun and share your love of DIY with the world. It’s a win-win! Sound like something you’d be interested in? Just leave a comment at the end of this post with your contact info and a link to your blog. Someone will get back to you right away. We can’t wait to meet you!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Woven Newspaper Tubes Heart

4:00 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me Do It Over Designers Blog Hop, woven newspaper tubes heart 19 comments

During these times I've been a bit reluctant to venture out, so as a result, I had to look long and hard around the house to come up with something to make for this month's 'Do It Over Designers' challenge. In case you've forgotten, 'Do It Over Designers is a group of talented bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY, hosted by Anne @The Apple Street Cottage.

It's all about taking something old and/or unused and 'doing it over' into something new. Anything from fabric, old dishes, and decor to dressers and hutches. Items found in closets, barns, garages, yard sales, thrift stores, you name it! Sounds like fun, doesn't it!

Well, I didn't have to look too hard! It was right in front of me! Newspaper!

I've been subscribing to a newspaper since I was out on my own. My dad got me into reading the paper each day when I was growing up. Now I can't do without my daily routine! So why not put them to good use after reading, by recycling or repurposing into something fun and crafty! There are tons of things you can create with newspaper - just look on Pinterest! As a crafter, newspaper is a great source for recycling and making something unique and creative!

Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner and love is in the air, I want to show how to make an adorable woven newspaper tubes heart.

Materials:

Newspaper
Skewer stick
Quick grab and dry glue
Parchment paper
Painter's tape
Acrylic paints/brush
Heart template/cardboard
Heavy duty scissors

Let's begin with making the newspaper tubes - you will need to roll about thirty tubes to make the heart.

1. Fold a newspaper section in half and fold again so you have four sections.
2. Cut out the four folded sections and open length-wise.
3. Take a thin skewer stick and place on the corner edge of paper at an angle, as pictured.
4. Place the end tip of the paper over the skewer and start rolling the paper with fingers pressed down on the table first. Once you've started rolling the paper, lift up the tube so your left fingers are controlling the roll while your right hand is rolling the stick and tightening the tube.
5. Just before finishing the roll, add glue to the corner end tip and continue rolling until reaching the end to seal.

Then place the tubes about 1/2 inch apart on parchment paper and tape down the top ends. You will need two sets of newspaper tubes - about twenty for the purple color and about half that amount for the white tubes. You can make one in whatever colors you like!

Begin painting the tubes, first one side and let dry.

Turn the tubes over and paint the opposite side and let dry. You may need a couple of coats to cover the print for each side. Repeat for the white tubes.

While the tubes are drying, copy and paste a free heart template or make your own by folding paper in half and drawing a half heart shape along the folded edge of the paper and cut out the heart.

With the purple tubes still taped down, begin weaving with the white tubes, over and under each purple tube, using your fingers to move the weaving white tubes closer together.

As you add more weaving tubes, it will be easier to pick up every other purple tube and use your hand to hold the tubes up, in order to add the white weaving tubes. Doing it that way made it really quick to weave.

When the desired size of the weave is reached for the heart template . . .

add glue to the back of the heart and . . .

apply to the woven newspaper tubes, lining up the white tubes symmetrically with the heart shape -

Once dry, carefully cut out the heart shape weave. You may need to glue down a few stray tubes, but it should look perfect to use as a decorative piece. Sorry, I thought I had taken a picture of the front just after cutting it out. I guess I was too excited to see it finished and forgot to.