Headed to SNAP

Posted on April 19, 2012 by jessa

As you read this I am on a plane with my lovely friends Joanna from Baked By Joanna and Amy from Pink Bow Bath Boutique headed to Utah for the SNAP – Creativity at Your Fingertips conference. And I am so freaking excited!

We will be meeting up with Katie from Sweet Rose Studio, Sara from Mom Endeavors and Sara from Clever Pink Pirate and heading to Thanksgiving Point with over 320 other creative blogger peeps for a weekend of fun, great speakers and some amazing sponsors..

There are going to be a lot of different workshops to take and I’m dying to take all the photography ones. I’ll be posting pictures and updates. Eeeeeeeeee!! So excited!!

Layered Mirror Wall Art

Posted on April 18, 2012 by jessa

So back in December, I made a little gallery wall in my dining area where I displayed my collection of vintage Soviet New Year’s post cards. And I just took it down. Okay, I took it down last month. So yeah, basically I had Christmas decor up until March. I have no excuse. None. The only thing I can say is that I have had no idea what to put up there. I want to add color, but what? And how?

So until the stars align and I find something colorful that I like, I need to find something to fill in that space. So instead of color, I chose layers and reflection.

I picked up various sizes of mirror tiles from craft stores, used the Ikea frames that I already had and got to work making my little pieces of art.

Here’s how..

Supplies: picture frames, chip board or cardboard, various sizes of little mirrors, adhesive (I used E6000)

Remove the glass from the frame, put it in a safe place in case you want to use the frame for something else later. Cut a piece of chipboard or another sturdy board to fit in the place of the glass.

Put the frame back together with the chipboard on top of the back of the frame. Take your little mirrors, and play with them, layering them in the frame. Once you kind of see how to make the little mirrors fit start gluing the mirrors down. Of course make sure you are in a well ventilated space, that glue is some nasty stuff. I also suggest cleaning the mirrors first and avoiding smudges.. I didn’t do either and boy it’s kind of a pain to clean.

To make the mirrors extra secure, I tucked the edges of the mirrors under the edge of the frame. Keep gluing the mirrors down and layering them to make sure all the chipboard is covered. Unfortunately many of the little mirrors had chip on the corners, so I did my best to cover those chips with other mirrors.

The glue takes 24 hours to cure. So don’t touch! It did seem that the mirrors would move a little bit, so for the first hour check them periodically to make sure they don’t slide out of place.

Each one is different and I love the way the light is reflected. I’ve made four so far and I want to make a few more pieces and try to find a unique way to update my gallery wall.

Stay tuned…

Linked to: Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors,Today’s Creative Blog

Making Letters

Posted on February 29, 2012 by jessa

A long, long time ago, I wrote a post about alphabet walls, and how I wanted to make one for the kidlets. And then I found other things to do and as time went on I kind of forgot about the idea. But lately I’ve seen some really cute ones and now I’m motivated again to do this project.

via BHG

The one above, from Better Homes and Gardens, is one of my favorites.

via Spearmint Baby

And I’m in love with the texture and colors of this one from Spearmint Baby.

Unfortunately, it would take quite a bit of time and possibly a small fortune to round-up a bunch of cool, vintagy, found letters like I would like to. So instead I’m using a variety of my favorite fonts for the letters, to decorate however I choose.

I made the letters above using my Silhouette machine, Elmers Foam Board, an X-acto knife, a pencil and a steady hand.

There are so many free fonts on the internet, so I’ve been collecting them. I then chose what I liked and cut them out on to cardstock using the Silhouette. Then I just traced on to the foam board, and carefully cut out the letter with the X-acto knife. It didn’t take as long to cut out as I thought it would, maybe an hour for the four letters. I smoothed the edges with a sanding block and now they are ready for decorating! Noticed there is no ‘D’ yet..The ‘D’ and the ‘R’ are going to be extra special since they are the first letters of the girls’ names.

Only 22 more letters to go!

Linked to: Tatertots and Jello, I Gotta Create, Serendipity and Spice

Paper Flower Lantern

Posted on February 6, 2012 by jessa

The moment the Christmas season ended began the start of my creative funk. For the past few weeks I seriously thought I had lost my creative mojo. It was awful. I attempted a couple different projects and played with a variety of mediums, but each time was a complete fail. I couldn’t even make a Valentines project work. I’ll spare you the details, but it was pretty bad.

So the other day I was perusing Pinterest (the greatest time suck I’ve ever known), and came across this lovely photo..

via Pinterest from Manuel Canovas

Ahh, those colors! So fresh and springy, perfect for the Sparkletots’ room! I pulled out my large collection of cardstock and started playing with the blues and greens.

Then..well you know how it goes. One thing led to another and I ended up with this..

Here’s how to do it…

Supplies: cardstock, hot glue gun, paper lantern, a cutting machine, some sparkly rhinestones, baker’s twine

Using my Silhouette machine I cut out some of their 3D Ruffled Flowers, that I downloaded from the online store. Okay, not just some flowers, but 56 ruffled flowers. Each ruffled flower has six pieces. If you are a little crazy and have lots of time, I suppose you could cut all these out by hand, but your hands would start to hurt after a while.

Crumple up each layer individually in the palm of your hand, then glue the layers together. You can glue a rhinestone in the middle, if you’d like.

Grab your lantern and start gluing the flowers on. I used a 99 cent paper lantern from Ikea. Start gluing at the bottom of the lantern, working your way up and keeping the flowers even. I didn’t do that and I ended up having to reposition some of the flowers. Not so fun.

Hang the lantern using your baker’s twine and enjoy the colors!

Linked to: Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Today’s Creative Blog, Creative Jewish Mom, Blue Cricket Design, Lil Luna, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Uncommon Designs, I Gotta Create, Remodelaholic, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, I ❤ Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Serendipity and Spice

When Life Gives You Grapefruit..Make A Salad!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by jessa

It’s time for another When Life Gives You Grapefruit post! I spent some time researching salads with grapefruit as an ingredient, and was amazed by all the creative food combinations that I probably wouldn’t have thought of myself. Grapefruit and beets, grapefruit and blue cheese, grapefruit and lobster! Come on, don’t tell me you aren’t intrigued!

Honey, Grapefruit and Banana Salad (with mint!) via My Recipes

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with spring fennel. I love fennel! via The Kitchn

New Ambrosia (with Buttermilk-Coconut dressing) via My Recipes

Celery and Grapefruit Salad with Parmesan via The Kitchn

Lobster and Grapefruit Salad if you’re fancy. via Foodnetwork.ca

Ruby Grapefruit Salad with Roasted Chickpeas via Lawfully Wedded Wife

Beet, Endive, Grapefruit and Blue Cheese Salad..yum! via Mango & Tomato

So..which one are you going to make??

When Life Gives You Grapefruits…Make Vinegar

Posted on January 18, 2012 by jessa

My first project in my When Life Gives You Grapefruits.. Challenge is some Grapefruit and Rosemary Cleaning Vinegar. I usually use some diluted white vinegar for cleaning. It’s natural, very affordable, and does a great job. The chemicals in cleaning products have always irritated me and I don’t want the Sparkletots around those chemicals if I can help it. I personally like the way the vinegar smells, it smells clean to me, but others in the house don’t like it. To help cover up the vinegar smell I add some grapefruit and rosemary fragrance to make the house smell clean and delicious.

Supplies: canning jar with lid, wooden skewer, distilled white vinegar, grapefruit peel, fresh rosemary sprig

Thoroughly clean your jar and lid and put it in boiling water (especially if it has been used before, to get out any residual odors). Heat up enough vinegar to fill your jar, on the stove until boiling.

Rinse off your grapefruit before peeling it. Peel the grapefruit, then scrape off the white insides of the peel (pith) so that it looks like the picture above. I started using a serrated spoon to scrape the peel, but I found it was easier just using my fingernails. Tear the peel so that it the pieces will easily fit in the jar. Then stick them on the wooden skewer and place the skewer in the jar. Break off any part of the skewer that sticks up out of the jar.

Rinse off your fresh rosemary sprigs and stick them in the jar with the grapefruit peels. Once the vinegar is boiling, remove from heat and carefully pour it into the jar. You will instantly start smelling the infusion of grapefruit and rosemary. Let it cool for a couple minutes then put the lid on the jar. Let sit for two to three days.

Once the infusion is done, remove the peel and rosemary and throw them away. Strain out the vinegar using cheesecloth or a coffee filter to remove little particles. If the fragrance is too strong, dilute with some water. Pour the vinegar into your sprayer and get cleaning!