Blast From the Past: Easter and Spring Projects

Hello everyone!

First of all, I want to apologize for not posting lately. I can't believe it's been 1 1/2 months since my last post! Unfortunately, it will probably go on like this for a while still. I just don't have the time or the energy to think much blogging right now. I'm concentrating my efforts more towards finishing my master's, exercising and losing weight and feeling better and more motivated all around, and general housekeeping duties. I hope you will understand, and really I'm sure you will, we all go through this, right?

That being said, I'm not officially going on hiatus or anything. I might still post from time to time when things slow down and/or I get better at managing my time, and feel more motivated to do so. I could seriously write a 2000+ word post about what is going on with me right now, but I'm not gonna do that at this time; I'm still a little too much hesitant about who may in the future read these types of post (read: future employers). I have written many a post like that in the last 6 months but never was quite able to push the publish button. So maybe short and sweet will have to do.

I am still on Facebook and posting updates there more frequently (make sure you interact with me occasionally to keep seeing me in your newsfeed!! Just a simple Like once in a while will do :) ). I'm also, slowly but surely, working on a new blog design, that I'm making from scratch. I just kinda really love that stuff!

I did want to drop by your newsfeed or email inbox today to share with you some fun Easter and Spring crafts I made last year.

(Click on the links to see the full tutorials. I'd also appreciate it if you pinned directly from the tutorials, for others to find them more easily, thanks!)

First there's my Bunny Family Portrait. I made it so last minute last year, but still got quite a bit of positive feedback for it. So I hope more people will enjoy it this year. It was probably the most out-of-my-own-head craft I've ever done, so I'm particularly proud of it, and even still!



These little Flower Balls were quite popular last year!


And this was my spring "mantle" (which is really just the top of the low bookshelf) last year. I'm not sure what's gonna happen this year because I'm thinking of changing my living room around in the coming weeks. But I will have to find some place for all these lovelies, I so need some spring cheer right now!!!


Until next time!



ETA: Just writing this one post gives me a bit of an itch to share something new! So maybe it won't be so long until next time ;)

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Bunny Family Portrait {tutorial}

Can you believe Easter is tomorrow? It seems like just yesterday it was Valentine's Day and I was thinking of Easter crafts but also thought that it was too early. And here we are now and I haven't posted any Easter crafts yet. That's because I realized that time was running out just last weekend, and I quickly finished a couple of projects since.


The one I am showing you guys today is this:



Isn't it cute?! I love it, it turned out really well. Different from what I had in my head, but it works! My original plan was to write SPRING in floral letters inside the tray that would serve as a frame, but then when I saw Allison @ Polka Dots and Paisley's Bunny Silhouette, (and pinned it)my plan changed.

I got this serving tray at Dollarama. I'd been looking for one like this for a couple of weeks, but couldn't find any. This one came out of nowhere, there was just the one on top of some other different trays, as if it was meant just for me!



I spray painted it with the leftover Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze from the Magnetic Pin Dish project.



For the bunnies, I took out some scrapbook paper that would go well for Easter- so pastels. I don't have a ton of scrapbook paper to choose from, but I did want to use what I had. I think it works out, right? The green one I used both sides, which were both green; and also the pink one was yellow on the other side.



I found a bunny template I liked from the Silhouette store and printed it in different sizes. I erased the inside of the bunny to save on ink ;) (that's why it's uneven in the center)



Before cutting into the scrapbook paper, I arranged the cut out templates to see what it would look like.



Only after that did I think it was safe to cut the scrapbook paper. Anyone else always a little scared of wasting some paper by screwing up your project, or is it just me? I traced the template on the paper and then cut it out.



At this point, I found that the bunny cutouts didn't really pop against the blue of the platter/frame.



Good thing I had bought this white contact paper for no particular reason; I just had to cut it to the right shape, which was a little tricky since it was curved, but I managed in the end.



Ahhh that's better! Sticking it was super tricky, though! Had to peel it off a few times...



The finishing touch was little pom poms for the little tails for a little whimsy.



Just glued with my glue gun.



And I used my DUCK double sided tape. I dunno if normal double sided tape is usually that sticky, but this stuff is uber sticky (it's from the window sealing kit we put up last winter). I cannot unpeel it without ripping the paper now.



To hang it, I got this pretty yellow ribbon from Dollarama.



But I thought it would be too wide to use for hanging, so I thought of something different. I cut it in 3...



... tied them all in a knot...



... and braided it.



When it came to actually hang it up, I just used some tape I had lying around. I didn't want it permanent yet so... it's held up so far.

EDIT: It didn't hold for more than a week, even with ducktape. So I hot glued the ribbon to the frame.



And there you have it- my bunny family portrait :)



Cost break down for ya, cuz I like those:
~ platter, Dollarama, 1.25$
~ Krylon Spray Paint, Michaels, 5$
~ white contact paper, Dollarama, 1$
~ scrapbook paper, 3 sheets @ 42cents a sheet, and 1 at 35, so 1.61$
~ Easter colored pompoms, Dollorama, 1$
~ yellow ribbon, 1$

Total: 10.85$ (from scratch)

But considering all but the platter can be reused for other projects as I didn't use a lot, it's really not worth 10$, more like 5$, if even.

More pics of the final project:







I so love the little pompoms :)





I got a bit of a Easter mantle, or fantle,... or bantle (bookshelf + mantle = bantle, yes?) on top of a small (you guessed it) bookshelf in the living room area, which is where it's hanging. I'm just not quite done yet...





I'll post better pics when I can get some better ones. It's really hard for me to take good pictures indoors when the sun is not out and it's late. But thought you'd like to see anyway.

The egg branches in the yellow vase I got at Dollarama for 5$ (1$ for each branch, and there's 5). The vase is also from there, I just painted it yellow like I did my turquoise vase in my bedroom and my pink vase for V-Day.





So there you have it, Happy Easter from my family to yours!




Thanks for stopping by!







Are you new to my little corner of blogland? May I interest you in staying a little while longer, maybe look at my past projects page, or my most popular posts which are displayed in my right side bar? Or if you'd like to know a little more about me, you can always go to that page too! I'd also love it if you left me a message, just love meeting new friends!

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Jute Shamrocks (tutorial)

With St-Patrick's day in just 2 days, I think it's about time I show you the only St-Pattie's craft I got to make. Now, I've NEVER celebrated St-Pattie's Day or anything, so having done one decoration is big for me.

I can't wait to have kids, though! It seems all holidays are more exciting with kids around :) Then I'll decorate like crazy. I love what Love Sweet Love did for her kids last year, I mean, how fun is THAT?!

Anyway, until then...

I made some jute wrapped shamrocks for this year. I got the inspiration around Valentine's Day when I saw the mini-wreath that Kelsey at Tattered and Inked made. What caught my eye was not only the wreath but the super mini jute heart that she embellished it with.

That made me want to make some heart ones, which I did, but I felt silly sharing that 2 weeks after V-Day, so you will have to wait til next year to see them. They are also half finished... so yeah.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to make some shamrock shaped ones as well!



They are a little on the fancier/classy side of things, I find. I made them to hang on my bedroom lamps, as you can see. I like them, they bring a little bit of festivity without clashing too much with my bedroom decor.

Here's how I made them.

Supplies:
~ garden wire, from Dollarama, 1$ (I made 6 hearts and 2 shamrocks with it, and probably around half left; I'm sure it will come in handy for an other project)
~ jute/twine, Wal-Mart, 2$ (again, there's lots left, but I did get it especially for this project)
~ twist ties, or garden twist ties, Dollarama, 1$ for 2
~ green yarn, Dollarama, 1$
~ green shimmery ribbon, Dollarama, 1$

Total: 4$ for 6 hearts and 2 shamrocks and LOTS of leftover!



I printed the shamrock shape as reference since it's a little hard to freehand it. Just shape the garden wire by following the outline.


(If you're wondering: The first time I printed it I found it too small, and then reprinted on the same side instead of backside by accident. Didn't want to waste more so just highlighted the one I wanted and continued.)

I created 3 shapes of shamrocks so that the final shape would be a little thicker. One I did with the knick all at the same place in all 3 wire shaped, but that created a weakness at the point where they all met, so the second shamrock I made it so the knicks would be at different points. Dunno if it really made it that much better, see why later.



They didn't quite keep together that well, so I had to wrap the 3 shapes with twist ties. I was so happy when I found this stuff at Christmas at the Dollarama! It's so multipurpose, and you can cut your own length.

You'll want to arrange the 3 wires so they make a sort of triangle (as in not all in a line, but so that each touches the other 2), and then wrap with the twist ties. It gets a little tricky arranging the shapes, they get tangled up together, but rather do this step than have to wrestle later as you wrap the jute around.



Remember how I said I did the knicks at different points in the shape? Well that backfired a little. See it's really hard to get all 3 shapes exactly the same. So I was left with a bend that the wires didn't quite bend all at the same point, and I couldn't really fix it at this point. It's not the end of the world, but just something to keep in mind. Once it's wrapped in jute it doesn't really show, it's just wider at that point.



Next step: wrap in jute. This is very tedious work and nice to do while watching something so you don't get too bored.





Also, since the bundle of jute will not fit through the hole in the shamrock, you will have to cut a certain length out. I think I did about 5 times my "wing span" (you know when you stretch your arms out and apart). And it's quite annoying pulling the whole length through every time, so I tied it like so:



The corners are especially tricky to wrap. They just wrap all wrong (see in picture below left side?). I found that if you wrapped it once, then let it unravel and wrap it up again you get the best results. It seems easier to wrap it right when you aren't passing it through the center every turn.



After you've wrapped for what seems like an eternity, you'll come to the end, hooray! Of course, the smaller the shape, the easier it is. Shamrocks have a lot of twist and turns which makes it quite long to make. The hearts were much quicker to make.





Of course, you could leave it like that, but I wanted to add a little green. So I wrapped it with multi-green colored yarn. I can easily remove it if I change my mind later since it's just tied with a knot at the back.








As I mentioned before, they hang from our bedroom lamps, just tied it up with some pretty shimmery green ribbon and I was done!





What do you think? Would you have left them with just the jute, or wrapped it with yarn like me, or done something different? I'm up to other suggestions! For my hearts, I'm really indecisive as to how to add some color to them. I don't have red yarn yet, but do have embroidery floss (from my bracelet making days as a kid!). I've tried a few different ways, but nothing seems...right, you know?

As always, thanks for stopping by!!






I party at these parties. If you would like to invite me to your linky party, please do so on my linkies page, thank you!

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