craft Archives - Page 4 of 11

How to Save Your Leaves – Leaf Art

May 15, 2013 By Taylor 7 Comments

Last fall my Mom, Sister and I took a girls trip to the East Coast. It was on my Mom’s bucket list to see the leaves change and we came along for the ride :) Here in Texas we have no seasons… we have warm, hot, hotter, warm again then a series of cool fronts for a winter with mild days between. We were in awe with all of the colors and the history of the cities. The locals there told us we “were a week late” to see the really good colors- Of course we didn’t know that! To anyone who lives on the east coast and sees this every year- I think you take this for granted.

I wanted a way to “save” some leaves so I placed them away in a notebook and brought them home. My mom is going to start a gallery wall for her office so I though some leaf art from New England might be the perfect touch. I measured the frame and used craft paper cut the the right dimensions and taped it down.

Then I mod podged the back of the leaves and placed them on the craft paper where I wanted.

I pressed them down a little and then mod-podged the tops. Careful not to get it too thick outside of the leaf or it will dry darker.

Then I added a little trip reminder.

The Mod Podge makes the paper a little “rumply” so I stacked book on top after it dried.

Then frame it. The Mod Podge has sealed in the colors so far so hopefully they don’t fade too much.

So who all is from the East Coast and gets to live in this beauty… and who is with me on no seasons?

Custom Pup Silhouette Art

January 7, 2013 By Taylor 6 Comments

Hi Friends, I’m “back”. I haven’t posted in a few weeks- and it felt good because I spent lots of good quality family time, some inspiring craft time and some crazy Christmas rush “I own a retail store” time. I also was a busy bee making some gifts that I couldn’t share before the holiday, but its back to life; back to reality. So now I can share them all, bring on the late holiday crafts :)

Here is Mack… My sister’s pride and joy. I just hope that one day when she has children- she can like them as much as she loves her dog. He obviously leads a rough life!

She is also starting a gallery wall so I figured this would be the best present ever. The hardest part is getting the silhouette of the dog. It wouldn’t be as hard if the dog is actually yours, but in this case I googled. Mack is half Boston Terrier/Half Pug so I found something a little more squatty and I stretched the image out in Photoshop.

Then I cut out the silhouette using my Cameo and stuck it to a white canvas. I also taped off the sides of the canvas to keep them white, but you could spray them too.

Then I went outside and sprayed it. I used 3 light coats of spray paint. (color is Lemon Grass by Rustoleum)

The best part is always peeling the vinyl off. So gratifying.

Very Mack-like if I do say so myself.

White edges, and a special hidden message on the back :)

Such an easy, custom gift for the dog obsessed sister in your life :) I will be back soon with more holiday presents. Did anyone else make silhouette art over the Holiday?

Embroidery Hoop Art

September 4, 2012 By Taylor 12 Comments

Remember when I jumped on the Embroidery Hoop Bandwagon, well I am still on it folks. And after the latest project, I’m not getting off any time soon. I wanted to add a quote about bikes to my Gallery Wall (random I know). And I needed something round. So, I broke out my trusty silhouette.

I used the clean cut interfacing, ironed my fabric to it, fed it into my machine and let it cut away.

Then I arranged my designed and ironed it down to my main fabric. I found the cute bike file in the Silhouette Store.

I hand embroidered around the words “life is a” to add a little something extra.

I wanted the “vintage” look of a wrapped hoop so I tore strips of fabric and glued them down to the embroidery hoop.

Then I just put my hoop back together, made sure my design was centered and cut the excess fabric off.

And of course in true TaylorMade style I had to rearrange part of my Gallery Wall. I also added something else that I got at Anthro… who can spot it?

Color Washing and A Paper Mache Hippo Head

August 22, 2012 By Taylor 10 Comments

Yes you can believe it, I made a Paper Mache Hippo Head. I guess I am officially crazy now :) You know I love the whimsy. I was a little on the fence with the whole animal bust craze but when I saw the Hippo Bust at West Elm and knew I needed to get on board. Then I saw the paper mache unicorn tutorial at Lil Blue Boo and got to work. Ashley has an amazing tutorial so you can check hers out. And to be honest my hands were way too messy to attempt to take pictures during this project. Paper Mache is messy y’all!

We have lovingly named him ThomNis, which is how Finn pronounces Hippopotamus. I love how he turned out. It’s kind of hard to get a good picture- I guess ThomNis is not very photogenic.

I mounted him on a wooden plaque that I found from Joanns and wanted to keep the wood grain so it would look rustic so I used one of my favorite painting techniques: A Color Wash.

How to Color Wash:
Start with your paint, a paintbrush and a cup of water.

Put a little paint in your cup then add a little water, I mixed 3 different colors of paint. The more water you add the more see through the wash will be; showing more wood grain. Mix and add until you get a good consistency you like.

Then just paint. Mine went on really watery but as it dried the color became more vibrant.

Have you color washed anything? Also do you think I’m crazy for making a Hippo Head and hanging it in my living room? At least Ashley put her unicorn in her playroom :)