DIY Faux Blackberries Fun Accent Piece

Welcome to July's Pinterest Challenge hosted by Alexandra @EyeLoveKnots. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate us to actually make something that we have pinned! This month's challenge topic is Tutti Futti - a fruit themed challenge!

What is it about having fruit on display that makes a home extra special? I think we are just naturally drawn to fruit - whether real or fake! It's a fun accent piece! They can look very real if artificial! Also, displaying fruit can add a special vibe to everyday decor. It gives off a wonderful feeling - and sometimes a fresh from the garden look - just perfect in arrangements or baskets! 

I'm particularly drawn to any fruit with a hint of purple! Lol! There are so many to choose from, but in terms of creating something handmade, blackberries are at the top of my list for being easy to make with it's deep purple and black hues! 

I was inspired by this pin showing a picture of blackberries that were obviously handmade in clay (I think) - and actually looked rather cool. But the photo went absolutely nowhere as far as I could tell. No tutorial or explanation. Or maybe it did but the site was foreign and I didn't understand any of it. Never the less, I was intrigued to make a few blackberries of my own - so let's begin!

Materials Used:

Foam Beads

Floral Stem Wires

Acrylic Paints/Brush

Toilet Paper Sheets

Hot Glue

Gloss Mod Podge

Crepe Paper

Leaf Pattern (online)

Scissors

Fabri-Tac Fabric Glue

Floral Tape

Iron

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

First thing, pour some of the foam beads (Dollar Tree) into a bowl. Be careful as they can get away - like floating in air! Next take a sheet of toilet paper and fold in half, then tear it on the fold .  .  . 

folding the half sheet twice. Next, add hot glue just before the end edge and place the tip of a stem wire on top.

Roll the toilet paper with stem wire, adding glue along the way. 

Seal the end of the rolled toilet paper with more glue. 

Then add glue all over the top, sides and bottom of the roll and insert into the bowl of foam beads.

While the roll stem is in the foam beads, squeeze roll to shape beads around the toilet paper to shape into a blackberry. Be careful, it's HOT!

Add additional foam beads, if needed. Or remove any beads out of place while the glue is still warm.

Make additional blackberries using the same method.

Once the foam and glue cooled off - time to paint the blackberries! I mixed a couple of drops of black paint to a very dark purple acrylic to mimic the color of blackberries. 

And painted each blackberry .  .  .

and let dry.

Once the berries were dry applied gloss Mod Podge to seal. 

To make the sepal to go on the bottom of each blackberry,  Fold a small squaresheet (2"x2") of crepe paper in half  to form a rectangle with the fold at the top and the open end at the bottom. Then fold each side corner down towards the center to form a triangle. 

And take the left corner and fold it over so it meets the right corner creating a smaller triangle. 

Use scissors to cut out a small piece diagonally and down across to the left edge. 

Unfold and pierce center with end of stem wire, pushing sepal up to bottom of blackberry.

Next, stretch out and smooth down crepe paper to cut out leaf patterns. Use iron tip to imprint leaf lines. Sorry, no picture available.

Coat edges of stem wire with fabric glue to secure to leaves.

Use floral tape to wrap around stem wires .  .  . 

and to attach blackberries.

Cute, real-like blackberries - super chic with a fresh look

Are you a blogger interested in joining the #pinterestchallenge blog hop? Join the Pinterest Challenge Group on Facebook for all the details.

PLEASE VISIT ALL OF THE HOSTS TO SEE WHAT AWESOME INSPIRATIONS THEY CREATED!

Treasures Made from Yarn | Purple Hues and Me

Southern Sunflowers | My Slices of Life

Pandora's Box | Our Good Life

EyeLoveKnots | On Rockwood Lane

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Create A Holiday String Box

 I have always loved seeing  handmade string wrapped balls and string wrapped cone shaped trees for the holidays.  They are quite popular and easy to make for Christmas decorations! You can find lots and lots of tutorials on making them! But I'm having difficulty finding an easy to make tutorial for string wrapped boxes. You see the boxes everywhere - indoors and out - for the holidays - and can't you imagine how many different ways they can be decorated, too  - perfect in any holiday decor! 

Welcome to our monthly Blog Hop Challenge hosted by Beverly @ Across the Blvd. The theme for this month is Christmas in July! And I'm sharing an easy to make tutorial on how to Create A Holiday String Box.

A trendy and classy Christmas Decoration!

You can easily make your own with an empty Tissue Box, Plastic Wrap, Crochet Thread, and Aileen's Tacky Glue. So let's get started!

Take an empty tissue box .  .  .

and drape it in plastic wrap .  .  .

securing the plastic completely around the box.

Next, the easiest way I've found to wet the thread and at the same time remove excess glue while wrapping the box - with no mess or string tangling - is to take a thin, but strong upholstery needle and thread it with the end of a ball of crochet thread. Then take a small bottle of Aileen's Tacky glue (from Dollar Tree) and .  .   

punch the lower portion of the bottle with the threaded needle .  .  .

pulling the needle and thread through the bottle. Then remove the thread from the needle and .  .  .

secure the end thread to the box. Begin wrapping the tissue box with the thread while holding the glue bottle as you wrap - first vertically and .  .  .

then horizontally .  .  .

alternating how you wrap .  .  .

until .  .  .

you're satisfied with the look.

If you want, you can add additional tacky glue over the thread by dabbing more on with a sponge. Secure the end of the string with a string that's wrapped on the box and cut off the excess. You can store the glue bottle with the hole in a ziplock bag for future projects. Just add more glue, as needed. Let the wrapped box dry for several hours or overnight on a surface that won't stick or simply hang up with a bit of excess thread until dry.

Once the string box is thoroughly dry, cut a flap on the narrow side to remove the cardboard box. 

Use scissors to carefully cut the box into pieces to .  .  .

pull out and remove.

Turn box upside down to place flap on bottom.

Decorate with ribbon .  .  .

bow and trim!

You can insert remote control twinkle lights for a cool, festive and .  .  .

colorful look!

Click on the links below to see how the co-hosts met this month’s challenge!

Beverly @ Across the Blvd - DIY Christmas Sign 

Gail @ Purple Hues and Me - Create A Holiday String Box

T'onna @ Sew Crafty Crochet - Christmas Tree Scarf

Carol @ Comfort Spring - DIY Cone Christmas Tree

DIY A Purple Chalkboard

 

I am not a lists maker - except when it comes to craft ideas that I get and immediately have to write them down, lol!  But I have never had to write down a grocery list - except for getting recipe ingredients. Previously, I could go to the grocery store and remember what I needed. But now, as I get older, I find myself forgetting items I need to buy. 

So it's time to make a shopping list chalkboard - perfect for this month's DIY Challenge which is all about Chalkboards! If you're coming over from Carol @ Bluesky at Home wasn't her Chalkboard sign with chalkart adorable!  For me, this challenge is not just in your regular blackboard style either - but one done in my favorite color, purple! And would you believe, the chalkboard paint is homemade too! And the best part, you only need three ingredients to make chalkboard paint - acrylic paint, Plaster of Paris, and water! How cool is that!

Materials to make a Purple Chalkboard:

Unfinish wood board 

Painter's tape

Paint brushes

Acrylic paints - white/purple

Plaster of Paris

Water

White chalk

Damp microfiber cloth

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

Let's begin with a unfinish wood board. I already had an unfinished wood framed board (20"x10") in my stash, but you can turn just about anything into a chalkboard these days!

Next, tape off the frame with painter's tape to paint the frame white (my cabinets are white) and let dry for an hour. Then apply a second coat and let dry for a couple of hours.

Once the frame is dry, it's  time to mix the chalkboard paint. The ratio of mixing the ingredients to make chalkboard paint is:

 

             3 parts acrylic paint 

            2 parts Plaster of Paris

            1 part water

Easy, isn't it! Since the acrylic paint comes in small 2fl oz. bottles, I started mixing 3 tablespoons of paint (Americana Dioxazine 'Dark' Purple) with 2 tablespoons of Plaster of Paris and 1 tablespoon of water - stirring well until nice and smooth. It's quite easy to make more for additional coats in case I don't have enough to cover the board, using the same measurements.

Next, tape off the frame area and begin painting the board .  .  .

until .  .  .

the area is completely painted. Apply at least two more coats - drying between coats for a nice chalkboard finish! 

Then, the chalkboard needs to be seasoned once it is completely dry. You have to season a newly painted chalkboard because if you don't there will always be a faint image of whatever you first wrote on the board. And it's quite easily done by covering the whole surface with chalk, first vertically .  .  .

and then horizontally .  .  .

wiping it clean with a damp cloth afterwards.

Then attach command strips to the back and hang in your favorite spot!

The only space I had in my kitchen that would work was on the side of a cabinet.  I would have liked to put it on the side of my fridge, but the area was not wide enough. The good thing about using command strips is that I can remove the chalkboard whenever I like.

Now, time to make a shopping list and a little bit of dooling!

Don't think I'll be forgetting to buy anything from now on!

Welcome to our monthly DIY Challenge hosted by Terrie @Decorate and More with Tip! On the first Wednesday of the month, Terrie hosts a DIY Challenge with a group of talented bloggers who love to create budget friendly décor for their homes. For the month of July we were tasked with a Chalkboard Challenge! 

Next up is Tammy @Patina and Paint sharing her tutorial on how to make a hanging blackboard! To see more chalkboard ideas, click on the blog titles below to checkout their awesome creations: 

 

Decorate and More with Tip

Cloches and Lavender

Kelli's Olympic Nest

Bluesky at Home

Purple Hues and Me

 

Patina and Paint