Vases are great to have around the house. This is not only because they can be used to hold flowers, both alive and fake, but they also make great decorations. This project is a great way to decorate some of the plain vases you have bought or you can buy plain vases just for this project. A nice this about doing these vases is that you can decoupage any type of design onto them by following the same steps. Once you get the hang of working with these materials you can try using multiple and layered designs.

This month our church enrichment group made these great HOME blocks, they were really easy, that is the only kind  of project I like to do, and they were fun do to as well. We each had 4 cubes that were 4×4x4″ cut from an 8ft length of wood. I think we ended up doing 20 sets, anyway, we just sanded down the wood then painted the blocks whatever color we wanted to use then picked out scrapbook paper of our choice and cut 4 squares of different scrapbook paper, the squares of paper were cut just a little smaller than the 4×4″ side of the block. Next we Modge Podged the paper onto one side of each block. (We are only decorating one side) After the paper was in place we placed the letters on the blocks, if you look close on the pictures you can see the large letters spell HOME, then there is also smaller letters that spell out the saying “Where your story begins” but you can use any saying you like. These letters were all cut out using the Cricut (Chandler Creations now carries a great new product to store your Cricut, take a look below) sorry, back to the blocks, after all the letters are in place we just used our creativity and added embellishments to blocks to match our tastes and home decor. After the blocks were all done, we sanded the edges just lightly so the wood shown through, most everyone liked this finish but some left their edges with the paint on.  These are great photo blocks too, just glue on your photos on all sides or just one or two.

Here is a picture of the new TuckAway storage table for your Cricut, or printer or craft tools, it is pretty cool

http://www.chandlercreations.com/page/629006

More to come

I found those great 9 inch wood letters by Provo Craft and really loved them but just really didn’t know what to do with them so I decided to decorate them and add some black and white photos, something just a little different.  This was a great way to use some of my left over scrapbook supplies. I photo copied some of my grandkids pictures and used the black and white copies.  Please note that if you use photos that you have printed on your own printer, adding anything wet to them will run the ink, so don’t put modge podge on them. Once you have made copies then you can modge podge the photos onto your letters. The rest is just a matter of hot gluing your embellishments on. I cut some pieces of scrap wood for the base and hot glued the wood letters onto the base but you could hang them on the wall.

If you want to use the colored photos just glue them onto the letters instead of ModgePoge, then you won’t worry about them getting wet and the ink running.

(Sorry about that the photos aren’t the best, I am working on my photography skills)

Betty

http://www.chandlercreations.com

I am a whiteboard addict.  I love the ease of leaving a note without looking for something to write on, or something to write with.  What I don’t love, is how much it costs to buy one that is a reasonable size.

Well, here’s a quick, oh so easy, project that will make your old whiteboard green with envy. Here’s what you need: picture frame w/glass tissue paper poster board mod podge velcro whiteboard marker

It’s so easy to make your own write-on, wipe-off surface. Just tear your tissue paper into pieces, and decoupage it onto the poster board. Then, trim the poster board to fit your picture frame. Assemble and hang. If you like, attach velcro to a whiteboard marker, and your frame. That’s it!!! What could be easier?

The board in the pic is in my home, it is huge. Not sure of the frame size, about 42″ x 36″? I LOVE it!!
Plus, I made some window clings to put on it. (Happy face!)

Happy Crafting!

Hello everyone!

This is my first post on this blog, so before I get to the clothespins, I’ll let you know a little about me. For starters, I’m Kate and am in my junior year of college. I write another blog here and I also have an online yarn store, where I sell hand dyed and hand spun yarns. If you are on Ravelry, I’m Mustkeepknitting. If I’m not writing on the blog or dyeing for the store, I’m usually in class, working, or knitting.

On with the clothespins! I wanted my first tutorial to be something fun to make, and I thought these fit that and they are functional!

Materials:

• Clothespins (You can buy a pack of 50 for less than a dollar in the laundry section at Walmart)
• Pretty Scrapbooking Paper
• Modge Podge Matte Mat
• Modge Podge Gloss Lustre
• Paint Brush
• X-acto Knife*
• Paper Towel
• Cup of Water

*If you don’t have an x-acto knife, you can precut your paper. Place down your clothespin and trace around it. Now, carefully cut on the lines of your paper.

Instructions:

1. With your paintbrush, brush on Modge Podge Matte Mat to the front of your clothespin. Place your paintbrush in the water.

2. Place the clothespins face down onto the back of your pretty paper. I like to place mine on one of the edges, so I won’t have to cut all the way around.

3. Wait a minute or two, then slice the paper around the edges of the clothespin with your x-acto knife.

4. Take your paintbrush and dry it off with the paper towel. Now, brush the Modge Podge Matte Mat over top of the design on the paper. This adds a gloss to the clothespin, and also helps keep the paper down.

5. Let dry.

You’re done! Wasn’t that easy! Now you have a beautiful clothespin. But wait, what do you do with it? I love using these as chip clips! They also make great magnets if you put magnet tape on the back. Need party favors? Although these are very inexpensive and easy to do, they are a big hit at bridal or baby showers!

Try experimenting by painting the clothespins first, then adding paper, or just painting on funky designs.

Have fun!

Kate