How to Antique Paper and make something special with it

Do you have a dad?

I have a dad.

And boy, is he the HARDEST person in the WORLD to shop for.  Birthdays, Christmas, Father's Day -- it's SO hard to come up with something unique to give him.  I usually end up getting the latest MoTab CD or a framed picture of him and me.  But there is only so much room for photos!  So I decided to get a little creative and make him something special.

Music is such a huge, important, special part of my life.  Not only is a part of my life, but it's a part of my dad and me's life.  Countless nights growing up I would play the piano and he would fall asleep in my grandma's rocking chair next to the piano (or was it me keeping him up with late night piano songs?? I forget!).  One of our favorite Hymns is I Believe in Christ.  I wanted to somehow frame this song and give it to him as his gift.  I found a way to "antique" paper and, using some vinyl and an inexpensive Walmart frame, made this:

This now lives on top of my dad's piano!  I love seeing it there...even when I'm not playing it...to remind me of the special moments we've shared together through music.

Want to antique your own paper?  It is super easy!  Here's how:

Materials

Paper you want to antique

1/3 cup of hot, black coffee
(I'm not a coffee drinker, so I don't have this on hand.  I suggest just buying one cup of to go coffee -- voila!)

One cookie sheet

Basting brush (easy to use on hand in the kitchen, or a sponge brush will work, too)

Paper Towels

Oven

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Crumple up the piece of paper into a ball.  Semi-smooth it out and place on cookie sheet.

Pour coffee over paper. Use brush to cover evenly. Leave some heavier spots for a more unique look.

Let sit for a few minutes. Then, use paper towels to blot up all excess liquid.

"Bake" paper in oven for about 5 minutes. Be sure to keep a close eye on it, so you don't start the paper on fire!

Remove from oven and VOILA! Paper that looks like Ben Franklin himself wrote it.

Have fun aging!

 

Pom Pom Necklace {minty fresh!}

Several months ago, some friends and I got together for a jewelry making craft night. I'd never made jewelry before, but was excited to give it a try. I was determined to make a charms necklace that was super fab and in style. What I ended up with was a dent in my wallet (I spent wAy too much on materials) and an ugly piece of neck wear I'm pretty sure is now living at the local D.I.!! But that failed attempt didn't stop me from trying to make another necklace this month.

I saw this on Pinterest and thought it would be a great beginners project, since it involved NO sewing and few materials. The tutorial I followed is from little miss momma:
http://www.littlemissmomma.com/2010/12/pom-pom-bib-necklace-tutorial-lmm.html

I found some great fabric at Joanns in my oh so fave MINT color! Perfect for summer. I had leftover fabric and found an old hair clip sitting next to me after I finished the necklace. I made one more pom pom and adhered that to the hair clip for a matching barrette.

Super easy! Super cute!

Making Shirts with my favorite accessory

Apple may say, "If you don't have an iPhone, you don't have an iPhone."

But I like to say, "If you don't have a Silhouette, you don't have a Silhouette!!"

This little baby is my BFF.  It cuts just about anything this little girl would need to cut. 

CONFESSION!

Part of the goal of this blog is to prove to the husband that I use my Silhouette SD enough to get THIS little thang:

*sigh* the Silhouette Cameo.  Every crafting girl's dream come true.  12" of glorious cutting and sketching wonder.  One day, my friend, you will be mine.

So what can this little baby do?

I'll tell you.

Right now.

Make really awesome shirts!

I just so happen to be a giant nerd and love all things Harry Potter and the Hunger Games.  So DUH of course when the movies premiere, I have to make a wicked awesome shirt to wear.  Thanks to Silhouette's heat transfer material, I've been able to come up with some that (if I may say so) are pretty sweet.

I made these before Silhouette added Harry Potter shapes to their online store.  Now, there are SO many awesome shapes to choose from.  Too bad all the movies are out!!!  I'm pretty determined to have a HP party of some sort soon, though.

Before the Hunger Games movie came out and it was all the rage, the husband and I dressed up as Katniss and Peeta for Halloween!  I used the heat transfer material (again!) to make the apron Conrad wore, to clue in anyone who couldn't guess our costumes otherwise.

Since I felt slightly concerned showing up to the Hunger Games movie premiere with a hungarian bow and 4-foot solid wood walking stick, I decided to make a shirt TWO shirts.

I used two different colors of heat transfer for the back.

I then used stencil vinyl to make a stencil for the mockingjay logo on the front, and white fabric paint to fill it in.

Seriously, it doesn't get much easier than this, and I loved the results!

Here are a couple sites you can download the mockingjay logo:

MOCKINGJAY LOGO SITE 1

MOCKINGJAY LOGO SITE 2

Burlap Wreath

Burlap.  So hot right now. 

It really is!  I love me some burlap.  Following this fantastic tutorial at Top This Top That [http://topthistopthat.blogspot.com/2012/03/easiest-burlap-wreath-you-will-ever.html?spref=fb/] I created my own burlap wreath.  I kept it super simple for spring, only using some white tulips and my fave polka dot wired ribbon. 

I have been itching to turn it into a SUMMER wreath, since spring is pretty much over (ok, completely over).  To get the creative juices flowing, I turned to the husband for advice on what to use to make it summery.  I asked him what came to his mind when he heard the word SUMMER.  His reply?  "Raging Waters!"  "You could put a wave and waterslides on it..."  Ummmm...yeah...creative juices flowing?  Not quite.  I have yet to have the lightbulb go off for the summer wreath, but this 100+ degree weather is telling me it's time to change seasons.