Book Page Leaves And Fall Garlands

Loving your fall garlands but ready for a bit of a refresh? Add book page leaves to punch them up with great texture and neutral color. It's easy!

I am always on the lookout for autumn leaf garlands at thrift stores and yard sales. And there is always the Dollar Store! Then I add leaves cut from book pages to give them a little extra decor kick. You probably have everything you need on hand already. 

Here's how to do it...

Make a template from one of the garland leaves. We used cereal box cardboard. Trace the leaves on pages of a book you don't mind using. We used a 25 cent paperback that was ruined by water on one corner.

You can layer the pages and cut up to six pages at a time. Use a smaller pair of scissors, such as manicure scissors, for this task. It makes it easier!

Use a glue stick on one leaf. Add a long 8" stem of florist wire then glue a second leaf on top. Putting glue on the second leaf helps to make a secure bond.

Add your leaves to your garland, twisting the florist wire around and around the existing garland for a good hold. Curve your leaves just a bit. The wire inside them helps hold the curve and makes them look more pleasing then just flat leaf shapes.

See how the book page printing gives interesting texture to the colorful garland? I like this alot!

I love the way the new book leaves punch up this garland.

For beautiful table decor use a garland as a runner and add other book page accents. So pretty!

They look great against my muslin curtains. But then I couldn't leave well enough alone and so I added....

twinkly lights!

Ooh aah.

This is a fun and easy project. Plus, cheap. 

Try it out!

I'll be joining these fun linky parties. Drop on by!

http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2015/10/pj-299-an-upcycled-link-party.html

http://www.littlemisscelebration.com/2015/10/02/best-of-the-weekend-6/

Faux Antique Book Storage Boxes

I saw a project on Pinterest where a crafter cut apart actual good books so she could glue the spines to a storage box. She chose the books for the look of their spines. To be clear, I've cut up and recycled books when they are so decrepit that they won't hold together for reading but it makes me sad.

BUT, I truly do like the idea of some nice book themed storage, so here's what I came up with. And not one book was destroyed in the creation of this project!

Ooooh aaaaah!

And here's the best part....I didn't need to buy anything to do this project. I already had everything on hand and you probably do, too!

Here's the list of materials you will need-

A good sturdy cardboard box that will fit your shelves.

Inside rolls from gift wrap, paper towels or toilet paper, depending on your box size.

Hot glue

Tissue paper or printed napkins for texture.

Mod Podge.

Craft paint.

Sharpie marker.

Spray sealer.

Cut the cardboard tubes into roughly thirds. Flatten slightly so that they measure about 2" across. These will form your faux book "spines."

Measure the height of your box. In this photo I've covered the box with crumpled tissue and painted it white.

Cut off the flattened tubes to the correct height. At this point start fitting your  spines across the front of your box. Cut some narrower to make the design more interesting or you can keep them all the same size, it is up to you!

Use hot glue to make dimensional stitching and decor across the fake spines. Look at photos of old books for spine ideas.  You can also add other designs with the hot glue, such as  fleur de lis, capital letters or numbers.

Tear the tissue or printed napkins in small pieces and crumple up tightly then smooth out. Spread  Mod Podge on the spines you have made. You can paint the spines or cover them with printed paper as I have done.

Hot glue your finished spines to your chosen box. Remember not to glue them down flat but leave them a bit curved for the realistic book look. Here are two of my book spines glued to the box. As you can see I ended up painting the box black on this side so if it showed between the books it would blend in..

Cover the sides of your faux book storage box with glue and crumpled tissue or printed napkins to match the books on each end. Smooth with a soft brush but not too much, as the crumpled tissue will tear. It will give you a wonderful antique texture so it's worth it. Let dry completely.

I

 Dry brush the edges and spines black contrast color sparingly until you get the look you want. If you get too much on your project just wait for it to dry and do a coat of white over it to tone it down. Remember you are going for an antique look to your fake books!

You can use the Sharpie to add more details if you wish. 

 Ta da! Look, you've made a clever storage box for your shelves that looks like you've collected a set of antique books! You can also choose to make your book box look like a set of matched books. It is entirely up to you.

My faux book box looks great with this shelf of restyled books I've made. Yay for saving old books in new ways and making your own book themed decor!

 I tell you, the possibilities are endless with this project and the best part is, you probably have everything you need to go do this RIGHT NOW. You'll have fun doing it, I know!

Succulent Wall Art

Succulents are everywhere these days. I have loads of them in my garden plus I have a stash of fake succulents in my studio Here's what I made with those faux plants, a wooden frame and a little ingenuity.

 I love how it turned out!

I got the idea from a gift catalog which listed art like this at a hefty price. I was able to make my version much more affordably.

I started out with a wooden frame that had just the one inch depth I needed. I cut the Oregon state shape out of foam board. 

The BEAUTIFUL planks are scrapbook paper! 

How I wish I'd bought alot more of this paper. On the reverse side it has the painted boards you see on the left side of this project.

I covered the foam board with that gorgeous paper then cut out the Oregon state shape.

Using thin cardboard, I hot glued a one inch strip all around the inside of the Oregon shape on the back side of the foam board.

Here's how it looks from the front. Now I have a place to  put my fake succulents!

I cut florist foam from my stash and hot glued it into the space I'd just made.

Then came the fun part!

I selected a nice variety of fake succulents and put them in place. I hot glued them into the florist foam once I liked the placement. The Oregon state shape got harder to recognize when it was done, but as a pretty art piece with beautiful contrasting colors and textures,

 I call this a win win!

This became a Christmas gift for my daughter and her little family to remind them of home. It turned out so sweetly that I'm going to make another one just for myself!

Come join me at these Linky parties.

http://akadesign.ca/weekend-retreat-link-party-116/

THAT Dollar Store Contact Paper

Here's the contact paper I'm talking about.

That one print in the Dollar Store's inventory of faux wood and fruit and boring looking contact paper. It's been a regular item there for years, even tho the rolls are not quite as big as they used to be. The black and white toile print  looks a bit vintage, a bit shabby chic. It's a nice clean graphic and goes with just about any style.

See? You DO recognize it! 

I've discovered it goes so well with my book paper and black and white printed craft room boxes, and I've gone a bit crazy using it. 

So many labels are printed on the plastic containers now that covering them up is the best option. ALSO, if you cover them up you do not have to deal with the mess of removing the labels and the sticky residue.

No container goes uncovered in my craft room. Especially if they have red or black lids.

I try to have a couple of rolls handy all the time, especially since I rearrange my supplies as I use them up. Here's an important tip that will save you no end of frustration... 

LABEL EVERY CONTAINER!

Chalkboard labels are cheap and hey, I just found chalkboard contact paper at our local Dollar Store.

That's what I call a win win!

DIY Garden Art Glass Garden Balls

I LOVE blue glass of all kinds but especially in my garden.

Years ago my family got me a big cobalt blue gazing ball for my daisy flowerbed and I knew I wanted more, more, more! But hey, those gazing balls are surprisingly fragile. Basically they are just giant glass Christmas balls and they break if they fall over. Also, they only come in solid colors. Plus, $$$$$!!

What to do?

I made my own original garden ball using a thrift store bowling ball and glass gems from the Dollar Store.

I LOVE how this came out!

 I used Silicone II adhesive for half of the ball and E6000 jewelry adhesive for the other half. I prefer the jewelry adhesive.  The bowling ball cost me $4 at a thrift store and I used about 6 bags of glass marbles, more or less. A 40% off coupon from Michael's snagged the E6000 and voila!!! My first blue glass garden ball for about $14. I was hooked!

 

I snagged this round glass light fixture for 25 cents and knew it would be my next ball project. Dollar Store half marbles and garage sale finds gave me the blue glass I needed. I decided to go with this Amazing Goop silicone adhesive because it was CHEAP. It is basically the same formula as the E 6000 and the Silicone II. The total cost on this pretty ball is less than $10.

This is definitely an OUTSIDE project since all the glues I've mentioned are incredibly smelly. 

Even outside I have a fan blowing across my work area to avoid the fumes. I settled on my front porch and started gluing. Put a small blob of glue on each individual marble, you do not have to goop it on. Smear a layer on your big ball and put your marble in place. I twist them a bit to make sure they stick together.

IMPORTANT! The adhesive does not set up quickly so you will have to do small areas of your ball and let it dry for several hours then turn it over to do the other sides. Try to skip this step and you'll have glass marbles falling off all over the place! Don't ask me how I know.

And DONE!

Here she is (of course she's a lady! LOL!) nestled in a soft bed of creeping Jenny. A hot pink petunia will join her soon. I love the bright blue glass against my blue deck railings and house color.

Oooh aaah!

I've found loads of half marbles at thrift stores and yard sales so my garden ball projects are getting cheaper and cheaper to make. 

Pallet Wood Planter Covers DIY Part 1

Gardening season is almost here and I was eagerly looking for some big vintage style wooden planters for my garden.

Dang! Big planters are SPENDY!

So look what we did...

Here's our solution using FREE wood salvaged from pallets and really cheap tree pots from our local nursery.

This 23 gallon planter is 24" across and 14" high. It was only $6 and it is plenty big enough for loads of flowers or veggies.

But yikes! It was ugly.

But here it is NOW.

Oooh aaaah!

It has just the perfect vintage vibe I was hoping for!

Look at this lovely FREE wood we salvaged from old pallets. 

We did not have to pull the pallets apart. Some of them were already falling apart and the others we just cut between the support boards. Two old pallets gave us got plenty of lumber pieces long enough for this project. 

Ahem. The Welding Man cut them to length with his big manly saw.

The boards are a mix of fir and cedar and have not been chemically treated, so the sawdust was not a hazard.

For this project we decided to go under the rim around the top of the planter. We laid out a few boards  and marked them before cutting off any of the ends that had nails sticking out.

Laying the planter on its side, we fastened the boards with a slight gap between them at the top because of the angle on the pot. We totally eyeballed the spacing so it isn't perfect. Then we used my favorite power tool of all time...the handy dandy air powered brad nailer.

 Kachunk! LOVE that brad nailer!

Ahhhh! Loving how this project is coming together As you can see the brads are sticking through to the inside of the plastic. The ends are easily bent down by hand or with a pair of pliers. If you cut them off you lose some of the fastening power of the brads and the boards could come loose.

 

The cost for these two vintage style beauties? $12 total for both of the pots. The pallet wood was free and we already had the tools and the brads.

We didn't even have to sand the boards!

I like them alot! 

Tomorrow I will do a  bit of dry brushing to the boards with the turquoise blue paint from the deck and maybe a bit of white. Don't know yet if I want to paint the black rims at the tops. I'll let you know and post photos if I do.

Don't you love it when an idea becomes a project and it works and it's just so darn CHEAP?

As promised, here is part 2

htmlhttp://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2016/02/pallet-wood-planter-covers-part-2.html 

I call that a win win!

I'll be joining these linky parties, come visit and check out all the creativity online.

http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2015/03/pj-270-an-upcycled-link-party.html

http://craftdictator.com/2015/04/23/craftfrenzyfriday87/

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2016/03/link-party-palooza-25-target-gift-card-giveaway-march-16.html#more-79342