Been busy creating

So in all honesty, I totally forgot I had a craft blog and on numerous occasions int he last couple years I've wished I had a platform to show people my crafts (other than Facebook friends)...when I discovered BLOGGER finally had an app, it made my non internet home life a little easier to catch up on my dating blog (found at kristinaking.net) and with the first login, I learned I had my craft blog already started! :)

While I won't go back and blog about all the crafts I've done in the last 2 years, I will try to blog about current and future projects!

I am currently in the process of transforming my BFFs daughters room. From pink and cream baby stripes to a more grown up mermaid tavern, this little 5 year old is thrilled.

Last weekend we painted all her furniture white and the walls in the room were painted a light greyish blue (her favorite color at the moment). Last night I painted starfish on the ceiling in the same color blue as the walls. I will be adding dots to the starfish tonight in white. I will also by drawing out and painting sitting mermaid silhouettes  on either side of the bed with a large B for her name right above the headboard. A small ornate shelf will be nailed to the wall high above her headboard with some sheer fabric stapled underneath and cascading down and pinned to slightly cover the bed and around the edges of the headboard.

Her closet will be covered with chalkboard paint with octopus swirly tenticles stretching downward and around to frame. A few extra swirly touches around her vanity and then some sparkly pillow to finish the room...

pics to come!
:)

Future Projects and Inspirations: Part 3

It happened again, I used Stumble Upon iPhone app and found some great craft ideas that I can't wait to do myself or inspire someone else to do them!

 

 

 

I've done chalk on walls, chalk on furniture but chalk on wine glasses is GENIUS! Much better than those little cheesy charms for a party...now to have a party!

Using twigs direct from nature and a few screws is a delightful way to bring in the outdoors and display your jewlery in a beautiful way.

A ribbon caddy is a MUST HAVE for crafters like me! If you have ever wrapped a present, you know that those rolls of ribbons can get out of hand quickly! So no matter if you only wrap christmas and birthday presents or use ribbons all the time, this is a super quick and SUPER easy craft to keep your other crafts well organized!

A cheap and easy way to create beautiful expensive looking art. All it takes is a canvas and some puffy paint!

Once I get a house and a backyard worthy of such a project, I will be hitting up my dad to bring home some pallets from his office to make this awesome table! It seems like such a no brainer once you see it, but who would think to use shipping pallets as a base for table making?

I will be making these someday very soon! Modge Podge, some lazerjet images and letters, some fabric or printed patterns...a little time and viola! You have an instant crowd pleasing, personalized gift for any occasion! (You can paint a layer of a rust color and do some sanding to give them a vintage feel)

A great idea in a time of chargers and gadgets, and best of all it looks so simple to make! A little fabric and a sewing machine and you could pop these out in just a few minutes a piece and sell them to family and friends or for your art booth for the next fair...

I more than likely won't be doing this project myself, but I thought it was soooo cute and fun for a play room or little boy's room!!! I am all for anything anti tv, video games or electronic in general for children!

You can usually find old shutters in thrift stores, at garage sales or antique shops...look outside the window, if you will and use a shutter to display cards, photos, mail, etc. great for all year round!

Another round of successful craft blog hunting! Can't wait to get crafting!

Middle School Craft Gets Adult Makeover

Remember making friendship bracelets in middle and elementary school? They were always the simple knot, 2 or three color embroidery floss accessories that took mere minutes to create? Well, I have found a new obsession that takes the idea of the original friendship bracelet and twists it into a current trend with an adult feel!

After babysitting two girls (ages 6 and 9), and teaching them how to create the original bracelets I remembered from my childhood, I went home and googled the craft to see if there had been updates since...uhh...1991!

To my surprise, there are a ton of patterns online...thousands, in fact and there in lied a challenge for me!

I had to learn how to read the patterns first, but after a few youtube videos, it was much more simple than they first appear! (Example below)

So I guess I have been out of the world of friendship bracelets for a long time now but I am back! :D

So, I have tried many patterns from THIS WEBSITE, which you can search by number of colors, number of strings and level of difficulty! Very useful for those just starting out!

So, since this craft had me longing for the old days before text messaging, cell phones or facebook, I sat and actually wrote notes for some old friends who have moved away (either emotionally or physically), and snail mailed them the note with a friendship bracelet to let them know I was thinking of them. I think a little nostalgia is good for everyone! :D

I have gotten a little risky by adding beads and such but take a moment to learn how to read the patterns and you can do any of them. Once you know the patterns, you can add beads wherever you want!

 After about a month or so and wearing several of my own bracelets, I came up with an idea with a layering effect by creating one long bracelet that wraps 2-4 times on itself using different patterns for each layer...it is complicated to work with the long strings at first, but you get used to it.

 I also used nuts instead of regular beads for this one...get creative! Look around the house for things you can thread through to add to your bracelets...let me know what you use!

256 Memory Ram = Geek-Sheik Necklace

After finding some miscellaneous old computer parts (I use to build my own computers), I decided to put to my crafty talents to use and make a geek-sheik necklace.I suppose there is a method to my 'saving everything possible in hopes of creating something new with it in the future' madness! :)

I love it because it incorporates both silver and gold (which the memory stick already has on it, with the green. It will go with lots of articles in my wardrobe but I think it best to pair with simple jeans and a solid colored tank since it is such a statement on it's own.

Items Used: Memory Ram stick, a few random chains I had laying around, jump rings, random broken jewelry parts, rhinestones, super glue and pliers

Garden Mural

I've been doing a lot of babysitting lately and with that comes oppurtunity to market my mural painting. Luckily for me, one of the families chose to have me design and paint some garden themed vines/flowers in their girls' room to match a painting they have and the furniture....I had a blast and the smile on the girls' faces made the long, hot 11 hours totally worth it! :D

Nail Art

I have a renewed love for nail art after joining Instagram on my iphone and seeing the amazing artists' images on there. Last time I played with nail polish, I was in high school and hadn't honed my art skills yet. I stuck to single colors and attempted french tips with messy results. A few years later I craved the artistic, steady hand of a manicurist to pay $2 for a single flower on my big toes.

A couple years ago they came out with nail polish pens and while I tried using them I found the tips to still be too cumbersome to really do any real nail art. I wanted the thin brushes they used at the nail salons, but they only sold them to licensed pros. I was left to using colored sharpies which didn't work too well.

I then went through an all black nail phase followed by an all natural nail phase.

During a recent trip to the Dollar Tree store, I found nail art pens! The thin brushes perfect for line drawing on nails! wha-hoo! A little reluctant since they were at the dollar store, I only purchased white and black. I had gotten burned before with the gimmicky marketing and I wasn't absolutely sure these were what I had been wanting....

But they were! Ever since I have been on a nail art binder. Trying new techniques, new patterns, color combinations...I have been having a blast!

My favorite nail art vids on YouTube are from 'cutepolish', 'YesIambeautiful', and 'Love4nails':D

Futre Projects and Inspiration: Part 2

 Transforming a closet into an office and/or craft station. Someday...someday!

 Re-usable bags are all the rage...why not take it one step further and re-use your old t-shirts too?! AWESOME!

 beautiful doily lamp with just a balloon, doilies, wallpaper paste and patience!

 sticking to the nail art theme, newspaper nails!...I want to try it with comics!

gorgeous book mobil. It would ruin a perfectly good book but in a shaby chique kid room where you want to stimulate the power of learning and reading, this would make a great addition over a cozy book corner.

 I found these through an iphone app "StumbleUpon" ...some great blogs and images and DIY sites! You plug in your interests and the app will guide you through the internet to sites you will love!