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!

Bow Ribbon Clock - Back to School Time

Hi everybody!  It's Gail @Purple Hues and Me and I'm over on Bowdabrablog showing you how to make this oh so cute bow ribbon clock! 

Do you realize it's that time of year to start getting ready for back to school.  What better way to start off the new school year by being on time!  Why not make an adorable bow ribbon clock so your kids will have no excuse to be late! Have fun putting one together using Bowdabra bows!  So hurry on over and get all the details in my step by step tutorial! 

It's the perfect creative addition in any little girl's room!
 

 

Foam Pine Tabletop Xmas Tree - Christmas in July

Welcome to the final week of our Christmas in July Blog Hop where a group of talented ladies featured awesome holiday ideas every Wednesday of this month. I've truly enjoyed participating and having all of you share with us in this event!

The Christmas project I'm sharing with you this week is quite easy and inexpensive to make! It's what I call a faux pine xmas tree made out of foam sheets! Yes, foam sheets!  I love making crafts using foam sheets. You can easily manipulate the foam into something beautiful!

Here's how I made it:

The base is a 14" cone shaped cardboard you can either buy or make, like here. I already had one on hand, so I just painted it with green acrylic and let dry.

I used two - 12"x18" foam sheets that I divided into 8 - two inch wide strips and cut out.

Then I made small slits in the strips, leaving a border at the top.

To speed the cutting process up, because it can get drawn out, instead of cutting eight, 2" strips, I cut four, 4" strips and folded over each one and cut the slits toward the fold. Once finished cutting the slits, cut along the fold, separating into two inch strips.

Lay the strips on a medium warm flat griddle or an iron propped up for a flat surface, just for a few seconds for the slits to curl.

If the strip is too long, lay on partially and lift up each section once curled, until complete.

*If there is too much curl, turn strip over on opposite side for a few seconds to relax the curl a bit.

Begin hot gluing the strips on the bottom of the cone, going round and round .  .  .

moving toward the top.

Stop about three rows from the top and begin gluing on strips curling in the opposite direction or upside down .  . . 

continue until the top is filled in and the tree is completely covered into a frilly little pine!  Hot dang!!!!

For a festive look, randomly add stick-on rhinestones!  

Makes for a lovely tabletop holiday accessory!  And only for a few dollars!

Be sure to check out the rest of the group's awesome Christmas projects:

2 Crochet Hooks

Across The Blvd.

SewCraftyCrochet

The Boondocks Blog

One Mama's Daily Drama

My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies

Stone Cottage Adventures

Purfylle

Olives-n-Okra

And join the party by linking up your favorite Christmas post!

An InLinkz Link-up

Decoupage Napkins on Paper Mache Vases

I was so excited to make paper mache vases and decoupage them with purple paper napkins. I wanted to imitate porcelain vases. You know the kind you see everywhere in blue and white.  Why don't they come in purple and white?   I looked all over the net,  no such luck. So I decided to make my own. 

I thought it would be easy with awesome results. I've decoupage before. Most of the time my projects turn out okay, but not this time.  All I can say is ugh, ugh, and ugh for the texture! Too many wrinkles! But I love, love, love the design!

Lets start from the beginning.  I blew up two balloons. One, into a regular oval balloon shape. The other balloon, I pushed the center into the balloon to grab the bottom end, pulling it up and tying both ends off with a string .  .  .

making for a cute round donut shape.

Next, I painted mod podge over the balloons and began adding strips of newspapers .  .  .

 

until the entire balloons were covered. I applied seven layers, using different types of paper, and drying between each layer to make it very sturdy.

Once all of the layers were applied and dried, I popped the balloons.

Then I centered cardboard tubes over the middle knot and traced the vase opening. Carefully cutting out the opening, and attaching the tube with masking tape.

Then I applied mode podge and newspaper strips over the tubes, as before, making sure to cover the rims. 

 

I cut off a portion of the cardboard tube for a shorter neck on this one.

For the donut shaped vase, I added twine to the rim to make a lip .  .  .

and covered it with paper and glue.

Then, I spray painted both with a white primer and let dry.

You can see that the finish is not smooth, although I did try to sand the lumps out.

I decided that the flaws were part of the finish and continued on. I started tearing the straight edges from the napkins .  .  .  since torn edges blend in better in decoupage.

The white backing layers of the napkin pattern were separated .  .  .

and a light layer of mod podge was applied to the vase and the napkin pattern was patted in place using a brush dipped in water. 

I used plastic wrap to help smooth out the wrinkles (like I did here) but that didn't help this time.

And I continued on .  .  .  out of frustration.

After covering the entire vases with napkins and mod podge, and allowing them to dry, I applied a final coat of mod podge to seal.  Then I applied a layer of Tripe Thick Glaze to give it a hard glossy look, wrinkles and all.

The vases blend in with my décor. And look great from a distance!

BUT .  .  .  Lesson learned! Flaws and all! But great designs!

I think next time I might try stenciling on the paper mache instead!

What do you think?

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!