Here Kitty, Kitty....

For all the animal lovers out there this is a quick and easy project to make a treat jar for your beloved pet(s). I started with an old jar I already had around the house and used templates I found on another craft site for the paw prints and wording. I didn't like the cat images the craft site provided so I took matters into my own hands and found a Victorian image more to my liking. I also didn't have any spray adhesive on hand so I used a quick set tacky glue to secure the image to the glass jar and it worked perfectly.

Once I had the image in place I put two coats of Mod Podge on the image as a sealer. Using the templates I found online I taped the images to the inside of the jar and with a fine tipped pen traced the paw prints and wording onto the jar. Please allow proper drying time as it will take some time for the ink to dry on the glass surface. The entire project took less than an hour and was created from a jar I already had around the house! I loved the way the cat treat jar turned out so I intend to make another for dog treats as well once I find the perfect jar.

Finished product.

Here's the image I used.


Here doggy.....

  Treat jar for the dog.

Image I used for the doggie treat jar.

Yeah... my pets are pretty spoiled, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Baby You're A Firework....

Wow... I've definitely been a bad craft blogger for the past two months. Actually, I've been a bad crafter for the past two months. After Easter I really didn't have another holiday to create any decorations for, but that recently changed when I realized the 4th of July is upon us! It's not only been a lack of holiday's though. There have been some major happenings in the household lately. My mother was recently diagnosed with cancer so between the shock, chemotherapy, and anticipation of starting radiation I haven't had much time to think, much less create. However, one night while she was resting I remembered a craft I had seen a while back of a paper fire cracker and feeling inspired I got out my crafting paper, mod podge, and fired up the Cricut. Presenting Victorian Fireworks!

Although I didn't take progression photos (I know I promised, but I always get in the craft zone and forget) this project is very easy. All you need is card stock paper, glue, images of your liking, floral wire, and tinsel. I have already decided that this upcoming Christmas season I am going to load up on Christmas tinsel. I'm running out and Christmas is still 6 months away. What ever will I do!? Hopefully I'll make it to October which when shoppers usually see the first of many holiday items hitting store shelves.

Back to the fireworks.... First you form your wire to look like a firework smoke tail. The bottom needs to be a connected circle, for stability, and then you simply twist the remaining wire to create a spiral. Cover the wire in tinsel, so far I have used gold and silver, and viola! You have the smoke tail for your firework.

Next you take a piece of card stock paper and roll into a tube shape. Glue the back seam and let dry. Once dry you can decorate the tube with stripes or stars (as seen in the picture  below) and take a patriotic image of your choice and glue to the front. I happen to like Victorian images so I always use those. Once I have the image glued in place I like to add a layer of mod podge. One it protects the image, but it also makes the image pop with a hint of gleam. For the top cut a circle from your card stock paper and slice it to the middle. Roll the circle into a cone shape and glue to the top of the tube. Once the tube is completely dry you take the tinsel smoke tail and glue to the back inside of the tube. So far I've made two, but I intend to make a third, slightly smaller than the smallest one I have so far and then I will have a complete centerpiece that will look great at any 4th of July event I happen to throw or attend. Just wait until you see the dessert I have in mind. :) Hopefully it won't be another two months before I update again, but until next time.... Happy crafting!

 

Made the third and final firework this evening during a thunderstorm. Storms bring out my creative side. I think the three look very good together. Now I have a complete centerpiece!

Top o' the morning to ye!

I have decided, after much careful consideration, that I will not be posting progression photographs with all my craft projects unless I happen to obtain followers that are looking for step by step instructions on how to create some of the things I make. I know my blog is in its infancy, and I shouldn't expect to have a ton of followers since my blog is centered around Victorian crafts and antiques, but perhaps as time goes on I might gain a small following and someone may ask for instructions for the crafts I create. At that time I will happily start with the progression photos again, but until that time I find it easier to sit down and complete a craft project, start to finish, without having to stop after every step to take a photo. And in all honesty the crafts I create are so simple that I can easily explain the steps when showing the finished project.

First I want to share an update to an earlier craft I made, my Easter tussie mussie. The more I looked at the pictures, the more I noticed that something seemed "off." It was almost as if the tussie mussie was lopsided. In person it wasn't as noticeable, but in pictures the off center rose at the bottom didn't seem to complete the look in a balanced way so I simply added two leaves. Just those two leaves made all the difference and gave the tussie mussie a more balanced look.

As a fan of holiday decorating it never occurred to me to create something for St. Patrick's Day. Sure, it's a fun holiday that involves pinching and green beer, but when it comes to decorating ol' St. Patrick doesn't get many options. Some people decorate for St. Patty's Day parties, and it's always a fun day at the office, but at home it's really a forgotten holiday so I decided to create something special just for St. Patrick's Day. No tussie mussie this time. St. Patrick's Day was getting its own personal, one of a kind, craft. Presenting the 'Pot O' Gold' trinket box.

I started with a plain white crafting box that can be purchased at any crafting store. Mine was similar to the one shown, but slightly smaller.

To start I covered the bottom edges with fine crafting glitter. I began with a light base coat in light green and went back to add contrasting stripes in a pretty Kelly green and vibrant gold.

For the bottom I simply cut a piece of green crafting foam using decorative scrapbooking scissors. The foam was peel and stick so all I had to do was remove the backing, stick it to the bottom of the box and contrast the edge with fine white glitter. Some of the gold and green fell onto the edge, but it adds overall depth and character. I'm not afraid of a little boo-boo here and there in crafting.

On the lid of the box I cut a piece of green foam and adhered it to the top. I also covered the top in the fine white glitter to create a contrasting decorative base for my decorations. (FYI: I'm not really a fan of undecorated foam in crafting. It comes in handy to add dimension, but it can also look cheap so I always embellish crafting foam for a more finished look.) I lined the top edge of the box with small green tinsel that was left over from Christmas, hot glued two bells, one gold and one green, to the center of the lid for easy opening. To add further contrast I glued two bells to each front corner of the box as well which you can kind of see here. Sorry it's sort of blurry.

 

For the lid I first cut two contrasting shamrocks from two colors of green foam to add a three dimensional look. On the top shamrock I added a Victorian image I found online that I printed on the textured paper I've mentioned in past blogs. Because the textured paper is matte in appearance I simply painted a thin layer of Mod Podge on the image to create a shiny appearance. I lined the image on the shamrock with green tinsel. The bottom St. Patrick's Day banner was also found online, printed on the same textured paper, given one layer of Mod Podge, and cut out using my handy X-Acto knife. I used adhesive mounting squares I found at the Dollar Tree to lift the image from behind to create a 3D appearance. I did the same on the top back of the large shamrock and that last step concludes the making of the St. Patrick's Day 'Pot O' Gold' trinket box.

Will you be my Valentine?

My desire to craft began with Valentine's Day 2010. I have always enjoyed decorating for Christmas and had tons of Christmas decorations, but come February I realized I had none for Valentine's Day. I scoured the local shops, mostly walmart and various dollar stores, but they really didn't have much of a variety when it came to Valentine decorations. I  don't live in an area that has many specialty shops so I realized my shopping had run it's course and there would be no Valentine decorations for my apartment. Sadness.

That's when I got inspired. My mom has always had a crafty spirit and often saves things she thinks could be used in crafting projects. It just so happened she had saved a couple chocolate heart boxes from a previous Valentine's Day. I grabbed them and sent her after crafting supplies while I brainstormed. She came home with two bags full of shiny hearts, pretty ribbon, and various paper items. I grabbed the glue gun, some scissors, and printed some Victorian images from the internet. I pondered, and snipped paper, and crumpled ribbon, and eventually I walked away from my first crafting project with two valentine wall hangings and a vintage valentine bucket that I put a small electric candle inside.

Front View

 

Back View (Notice the vintage valentine's in the pockets.)

 

Hanging View. (The garland around the door was another Dollar Tree find.)

And thus began my new found love of crafting. I've found another easy way to decorate your home for various holidays, which I absolutely adore to do, is by simply printing a holiday themed image from the internet and placing that image inside a frame. I personally prefer Victorian images, but you could use any that were themed for the current holiday. 

 

I purchased the frame at the Dollar Tree, but it only came in black or brown. I enjoyed the vintage design of the frame itself, but not the color. I thought it was nothing a little paint couldn't fix and for one dollar you can't really go wrong. So once home I found a picture I liked, printed it off, and chose a complimenting color for the frame. I painted the frame with a dry brush to create a slightly antiqued, shabby chic look so that just a smidgen of the prior black coloring shown through. I added a hand crocheted doily, my vintage crafted bucket, and a small heart candle to complete the look.

 

This frame was given to me from a friend. It has the old, antique look I love, and I change the pictures inside depending on the current holiday. This is the valentine version. I promise the frame itself isn't crooked, but I can't say the same for the photographer. :) Again, this is an easy and inexpensive way to decorate your home for any holiday and the best part is that the entire project was free! Victorian images are easily accessible on the internet and because the Victorians loved postcards and paper ephemera there are hundreds of images to choose from. Simply choose your favorites and get to framing.

Fast forward to Valentine's Day 2011. Within the past year I have created a handful of designs for various holidays, but today I'm sticking to the Valentine designs. Never fear... I will likely share my prior projects at a later date, but for now I'll focus on one holiday at a time.

In keeping with the Victorian theme I love I printed several different block images of the valentine variety for a simple and easy block project. I purchased three small styrofoam blocks from the Dollar Tree and covered them in tissue paper for a smoother finish. You could use any color tissue paper because the block will be completely covered, but I used red. I cut the block images to size and used Mod Podge to adhere the images to the different sides of the tissue covered blocks. After the blocks dried I took a paint brush and painted thin strips of tacky glue to the edges and covered them in chunky red glitter. (For future projects I promise to keep a conscious effort to take progression photos.) This is the end result.

 

After finishing the blocks I moved on to one of my favorite Victorian themed crafts to make... paper tussie mussie cones. They are simple crafts to make and can be filled with small treasures, trinkets, candies, or the intended flowers. I have used them in gifting baskets before, but mostly I make them to use as decoration. You can find various size tussie mussie templates online by using your favorite search engine. I tend to make smaller tussie mussies to conserve paper. Of the size I tend to make I can get 4 tussie mussies from one standard size piece of scrapbooking paper. Just follow the steps for creating the cone shape and grab whatever you'd like for decorating. For my Valentine tussie mussie I used my mom's Cricut to create the Happy Valentine's Day wording and tag on which I glued the Victorian image I printed from the internet. To embellish I used white feathers, two types of Valentine themed ribbon, and a small metal tag on which I glued a vintage floral image to hang from the bottom. Presenting my tussie mussie....

I cannot, and would not, try to take credit for the following craft. Most crafts can be interpreted from images or things we have previously seen, but putting your personal touch on them makes them somewhat original. I can't personally say I thought of the tussie mussie idea, but I can say the above is an original of my own creating. The following craft is not an original of mine. I got the idea from a vintage crafting site and printed off the images and templates they provided. I used two images of my own, but the others were provided to me on the crafting site. My variation uses red tinsel, not plain cord as the site suggested, and golden vintage buttons, not plain beads as suggested. They called the hearts, Kissing Dangles. I made them to hang in a very small window in my apartment. I covered the hearts in Mod Podge to create a sturdier finish. Overall I think they turned out well. (Ignore the dirty window. lol I was so excited to take a picture I forgot to clean the window first.)

Last but not least I created a 3D cupid valentine box. I took a a heart shaped box I had purchased at the Dollar Tree and covered the bottom portion with a piece of iridescent valentine ribbon because I didn't like the original foil look of the box. The top portion I covered in simple white tissue paper. I cut one long pieceof tissue paper to attach to the side edge and cut a frayed design with scissors. To compliment the top line of the fray I added a piece of silver tinsel. To finish the top edge I used a piece of simple red ribbon. For the 3D design I printed the cupid on textured scrapbooking paper for a vintage feel. I used an X-acto knife to carefully cut the outline of the cupid from a full postcard design. Under the paper heart doily I added a piece of pink paper for contrast. I glued the cupid to a fanned piece of valentine tissue paper, again for further contrast. Once I had the major portion of the centerpiece completed I had to stand the image. I used heart picks, with long bamboo handles, purchased at the Dollar Tree to support the image from behind. To cover the support I simply fanned pieces of tissue paper and covered the columns. It isn't nearly as pretty from the back, but at least it has a more finished look. (I will try to add a picture of the back later.)  To complete the desired look I embellished the top with small paper roses (printed on the same textured paper as the cupid and cut out with the X-acto knife) added a scrapbooking tag with the word "love" and secured to the bottom of the cupid image with ribbon. An outline of fine grain silver glitter covers the top edge of the box and a Happy Valentine's Day banner printed on the textured paper completes the top view look of the box. Here are a front and top view.

 

Front View.

Top View.

So how does it all come together to create one cohesive look?

I purchased this shelf at a local hometown festival in the fall. It has the shabby chic/antique look that I am constantly looking for and it compliments my crafts nicely. The "Home Tweet Home" hanging is one of the few mass produced Valentine decorations I have found that I liked. I purchased it in 2010 at K-Mart. The small Valentine frame, with a picture of my sweet cats, was another Dollar Tree find from 2010. I'd also like to recommend the Lemon Icebox Cookies candle shown here from the Swan Creek Candle line. They can be found at various retailers or online. It smells delish. :)

This is the small window I mentioned earlier. You can see one of my first Valentine hearts hanging in the top left hand corner and of course the Kissing Dangles in the window. On the sill I have some simple blocks, a small Valentine basket I'd gotten years earlier from a co-worker, and a candle. On the outside you can see my small Dollar Tree bird feeder. I think it's important to help feed the outdoor critters in the winter. :)

Because I hadn't intended to create a crafting blog until recently it never occurred to me to take progression photos. However, now that I intend to continue with this blog I do hope to remember to take progression photos to help anyone that may like to try their hand at any of the crafts I make. Remember that I am an amateur crafter and I am certain that anyone could easily make any of the crafts I present on this blog. Most of them will use simple supplies, like paper, and a lot of the supplies will be purchased on the cheap at places like the Dollar Tree. If you'd like any further instructions on something I have made here please don't hesitate to ask. Happy crafting folks.