Repurpose Beer Can Flower and Leaf Wreath

This post was featured in "10 Recycling Craft Blogs to Follow" 

I recently found a wonderful site called Terrain that's an offshoot of Anthropologie.  Briefly, Terrain is a celebration of nature and design that highlights a fabulous collection of unusual earthy items. There were so many  things on the site that caught my eye, but I was truly taken with their lovely metal flower and leaf wreath. 

OMG!  Anytime I get a chance to do a knock off of some sort, especially using a freebie like cans - I go for it, as seen here and here.   Oh yes!  So here is how I made my version of their wreath.

Materials:

Aluminum cans

Rustic vine wrapped wire

Utility knife/craft knife

Scissors/pencil

Flower/leaf template

E6000 glue/hot glue

Primer spray paint/acrylic craft paint

Floral stem wire

• Gather aluminum cans - beer or soda.

• Find leaf and flower templates (large to small) online, print, and cut out.
• Carefully cut off the ends of clean cans using  a utility knife. Make a vertical cut with scissors. Cut an even edge, removing any slivers or jagged edges.  Smooth out the curve of the can by rolling on the edge of a table or countertop. You may want to wear gloves for this!

• Trace the outline of the flower and leaf templates with a pencil .  .  .

and cut out.

• Leaf texture can be added by placing cut-outs on soft corrugated cardboard (cushion backing) and drawing on lines with a dull pencil point.

• Do the same for making flowers, cutting out gradually from large to small.
• Spray primer paint on cut-out and let dry.

• Then paint cut-outs with an array of acrylic craft paints.

• Add texture to flower petals by rolling and shaping with a skewer stick.

• Assemble flowers in layers gluing on with E6000.
• Glue on short floral stem wire to leaves.
• Shape rustic vine wrapped wire into a 15 inch circle wreath. 
• Arrange and glue on finished flowers and leaves onto the wire wreath.

After trying on more flowers (different color) and leaves, I went for a cleaner look with fewer leaves and flowers. 

What a great repurpose use of beer cans! I love how this looks .  .  . and if I hadn't told you, no one would think the flowers and leaves were made from beer cans!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

Batiful Halloween Decorations

Thinking about Halloween?  This is Gail @Purple Hues and Me and I'm on Bowdabrablog today showing you how to make "flying" bat decorations using your Bowdabra!  Head on over and check it out! They are super easy to make and will be a hit at any Halloween celebration.  And the best part - they are absolutely BATIFUL!

Enjoy, Have Fun  

and

Keep Crafting with your Bowdabra!

Logo Inspired Recycle Newspaper Vase - A Hometalk Challenge

I love Hometalk! As a craft blogger, it's my favorite DIY home and garden community site on the internet!  I enjoy the interactions and the responses I receive from my postings, and as one staffer stated, "it's a certain friendliness, willing to help .  .  . and of course, a cozy-homey-ness!"  You just can't get any better than this! So I guess you can imagine how excited I was when the email came  from Hometalk asking us to help with decorating their offices with our diy creations.

We were asked, if possible, to incorporate some element of Hometalk like the color teal, the word, Hometalk, or the logo into our decorative item.  I was inspired by the logo and color.  The five sided design reminded me of a popular weave pattern for a handcrafted newspaper vase, and I kept thinking about using different shades of teal - the gradual blending of different colors into another - that would be perfect for the many tubes involved in making this kind of vase.  A light bulb had gone off, and I knew I had an item I wanted to make.

Materials needed:

Newspaper/skewer stick

Cardboard

Scissors

White tacky glue

Hometalk logo

Acrylic paints - ombre colors

Brushes and or sponges

To Make the Newspaper Tubes:

1. Fold and cut newspaper section into four parts.

2. Open the paper section and place a thin wood skewer stick on the bottom  

    left corner at an acute angle.

    Wrap paper edge over stick and begin rolling the paper with your fingers. 

3. Just before reaching the end, brush on white glue and roll end closed to

    secure.

4.  Make 75 tubes and divide into five different ombre color paint groups of 15 

     tubes.

5.  Place plastic cover over work area and paint the group of tubes in different
     colors.

6.  Let tubes dry completely.

To Make the Vase:
Cut out a four inch Hometalk logo and trace two on cardboard and cut out.

1.  Place one cardboard logo on working surface.
2.  Take five tubes and place on each corner of logo. Place an additional tube  
     on top of one tube.
3.  Glue tubes in place and let dry.
4.  Glue second cardboard logo on top and let dry.  Take a sheet of paper and 
      outline the logo 1/2 inch larger, cut out and glue on bottom.
5.  Cut out corners of paper at each tube.
6.  Apply glue to cut-out edges and fold over, gluing in place.
7.  Glue Hometalk logo on opposite side.
8.  Paint bare side with color of tubes. Let dry.


To Weave:
On painted side of logo, bend the extra tube along edge of shape and over next tube. Take that tube and bend over next tube, and so on.

Continue bending tubes over the next tube along edge, moving around the design.

When tubes become short, simply add glue to tube end and insert new tube into end and let glue dry.

Continue weaving tube over the next tube using one color group at a time until all the colors have been woven into an ombre effect and you are left with short tube ends.

To finish, apply glue to end of last short tubes and insert inside of weave, hiding ends. Cut off any excess ends.

Can you still see the logo in the weave?

How cool is this?

The vase can be sprayed with a sealant to protect the finish.

This is how the bottom looks - after adding the sealant.

I really love how the vase looks and hope the folks at Hometalk love it, too!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

DIY Faux Ornamental Cabbage

With September just around the corner, my thoughts are on creating fall décor. If you're a regular reader, you might have discovered how I love making things out of foam sheets!  The material is so versatile and is easily manipulated with a little bit of heat, texture and color into wonderful inexpensive projects.

Ornamental cabbage is a favorite of mine for fall.  Its' intense shades of purple and green makes a colorful and lasting addition to any decorative arrangement.

See how easy this ornamental cabbage was to make using foam sheets.

Materials:

 White foam sheets

Leaf templates

Scissors

Acrylic paint - purple and green

Sponge brushes

Hot griddle or iron

Hot glue gun

Skewer stick or large tooth pick

Round objects (measuring spoons or small balls)

Soft sponge

Foil

Terra cotta pot/styrofoam/rocks

Make leaf templates in four or five different sizes, from 4 inches to  1/2 inches. Trace on foam sheets and cut out using a ruffle or wavy line effect.  You'll need about thirty petals - five to six in each size.

Lay the petals on a medium heat griddle or iron for a few seconds until the middle fluffs up and curls.

Place foam petals on soft foam and press centers with round objects.

 Curl and manipulate edges with fingers for a wavy, ripple effect.

Paint petals and edges with acrylic paints, beginning with the smaller petals,  in purple and then adding green and purple in variations .  .  .

using small sponges or foam brushes.

To assemble the cabbage, squeeze a small sheet of foil into a ball .  .  .

and hot glue on the small purple petals, covering the foil.

Then, begin gluing on the remaining petals, from small to large, in a clockwise flow, overlapping the layers.

 And finally, add hot glue in bottom of a terra cotta pot and insert foam and filler rocks.

I put paint on the bottom edge of the pot that was suppose to mimic moss .  .  .

and inserted a small wood skewer in the bottom of the faux cabbage and into the foam in the pot, securing with hot glue.

 I'm on my way .  .  . slowly easing into the season, getting ready for fall!

How about you?

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Fall Crafting!