Ready for VALENTINE Projects?

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

Hi, all. Can you believe it’s almost time for a holiday again? By now, I’m actually glad for another little spruce up opportunity, though. Christmas is gone and with all of Winter’s white, windy weather, things need some sparkle again. But, because it isn’t so friendly outside, now is a good time for one of my EZ-PZ projects.

This one is super easy, using things you’ll already have around the house. AND you don’t need any fancy tools!

SUPPLIES

PAINT SAMPLE CARDS and TISSUE BOXES are two of my favorite recycled/reuse craft items. They have beautiful colors and designs and are a great weight for cut-outs.

This project I also used WRAPPING PAPER CUTOUTS & A RED FELT PLACEMAT from among my post-season stash. The mat had a whopping $0.24 price tag. Though I did use a few punches here, I also did many things the old fashioned way … folding and cutting out larger heart shapes to use.

The wonderful set of punches featured in some of these projects – are not mine. They were on loan from my daughter. I mention this so people won’t be discouraged. Most of my work is done with ordinary, everyday items like scissors, exacto knife and salvaged papers. Same goes for glue. You don’t have to have a hot glue gun or a glue wheel for everything. Less expensive double-sided tapes, tacky glue or elmer’s are available everywhere, and get the job done just fine.

(Not pictured is a small tension-rod for your window. If you don’t have one, they are found in curtain departments and are very inexpensive.)

SIMPLE STEPS:

Cut five pieces of string. I used twine here. A number of things work; yarn, curling ribbon or fish line. You it light weight enough to have a bit of movement as it hangs down. I cut my longest piece at 25”. Two more pieces were cut at 20” and finally, two pieces at 17”.

TIP: You’ll want to measure your window and see how long you want your pieces. REMEMBER that longer is better, so you have enough to tie to your rod, and more is always good because too much is better than not enough.

Here I laid out my string. Tops are held down with fun-tac putty and I’ve added my jingle bells at the bottom to help straighten out the twine. Trying a few dry design placements with my cutouts, when satisfied, I began to glue items to the twine.

NOTE: The paper shapes are all doubled. You NEED TWO IDENTICAL PIECES for each display on your string. When applying, you will lay one cutout FACE DOWN, then place your string over it, and glue the matching cutout over the top. As well as helping the pieces adhere to the string, this gives you a pretty view from either side.

Valentine’s Day is winter of course, so your window will be closed. But you’ll still get movement and in my example, I’ll have lots of movement since this window is above a heat register. In summer, you’ll get breeze from the open window.

Now all I have to do is tie my strings to the curtain rod.

In my Christmas Window Project SEEN HERE I used coordinating wrapping paper to make a sleeve for the rod. For today’s project, I simply tacked some matching ribbon to the front of the rod so I could hang it higher in the window.

See you soon for more fun.

As always, try not to stress about it, just start your project.

Later – Cheryl

This original article “VALENTINE Projects” appeared first on Artzzle.com. No included content or photography can be used elsewhere without specific permission from said originators.

EZ PZ Fall Decor for Whatever … Wednesday #3

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

EZ PZ décor projects this Wednesday. You can accomplish these with everyday items and just 15 minutes of your time – or less!

Autumn is the theme today, as we decorate a grapevine wreath.
But colors and pieces can easily be changed up closer to Halloween,
for all you tricksters out there. This is a Make-Do project for me.

Last spring a friend gave me two grapevine wreaths from a yard sale.
One was huge, the other smaller but a bit misshapen.
You know how I love things that are a little imperfect,
“whonky” if you will, so I’m using the small wreath today.

Last week I cut hips (orange berries) from my fading rose bushes, and I also found some cute mini gourds at a garage sale … 25 cents each or 5 for a dollar. My ribbon stock is slim on Fall colors, but I thought this bright metallic gold would work.

And finally, two sheets of fun patterned paper from my stash.

Which way is up? Now I had to decide how to hang the wreath. A more horizontal position worked better because of its’ “Whonky-ness”

Next the ribbon was secured, winding it through some of the branches,
with the end tab on the back side.

Then, it was easy, wrapping the ribbon around the wreath,

and gluing the two end tabs together, again on the back of the wreath.

Now I played with the berries and gourds,
deciding where I wanted to place them on the wreath.

Continuing, I pierced each gourd with the wooden skewers;

one for the smaller pieces, and two skewers for the larger, heavier piece.

After those were attached, I simply wove in stems of the rose hip berries
wherever they seemed pleasing.

You don’t have to be a florist or packaging genius to make a decent bow.

Here I chose this approach, because I didn’t have a lot of ribbon left to use. If you want a different look, just google BOW MAKING INSTRUCTIONS for oodles of other ideas.

Just follow the pictures. I used twist ties to tighten the ends.
These never hold on garbage bags but they work great for things like this!

Once secured, just play with the ribbon to fluff up the bow.
This is wired ribbon, but the process will work with most other types as well.

After attaching the bow, I wanted to add a bit more color and interest.

Shapes and little flowers in Fall colors, were cut from the paper
and attached with a dab of glue.

Voila, the finished project, hanging on the front door. The photo isn’t true to the paper cutouts colors. They’re more orange and greens. They look dark pink and tans here.

NOW REMEMBER … this is a HOW-TO post and I’m making do with what I have already at home. You may not care for these colors or materials but now you have the process down, and you’ll be using what you have available, making it personal to your style.

At the gourd garage sale, I also found tons of other fun. Like this metallic gold star. I am crazy about star shapes, and not just at Christmas. Just adding it with these glass pieces on my piano, turned out lovely, especially in the morning sunshine!

You may remember the wreath I made last Fall..

Below is the 2014 version.

You can get complete instructions here.

A couple very easy projects here, and the rag wreath for those long, cool evenings that will soon be here!

So don’t stress about it, round up your stuff and start one!
And ya know how I love hearing from you so leave a comment.
Be sure to check “follow this post” so you can receive and see my reply.

Later – Cheryl

Another Easy “Inside Day” Project

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

Hi All.

Artzzle has been building for nearly a year already.

This project was one of the first, and a favorite of mine. Now that I actually have readers and followers, I wanted to share it again. Thought it needed a little more attention.

So ENJOY. And don’t stress about it, just start! This one is REALLY EASY.

With all of the cold and snow of winter, we need lots of “inside day” ideas. This is one of my “Make Do” projects. That’s a – no store shopping, no spending, make do with what’s available -project. My office/studio needed a new bulletin board. So I shopped my house to see what materials I had on hand.

My foam core supply was limited to a couple small sheets but my vision was a much larger board. No more cork rolls either, but in Hubs’ shop I found a huge section of cardboard … poof … a backer board! Nothing big enough in my fabric pieces box, but the remnants bin gave me two pretty options for the cover. And that old, faded quilt I had saved for some reason, was plenty big enough for the lining.

The rest is easy, but just involves several steps

Measure the wall space and decide what size I want for the finished piece
Cut my cardboard to those measurements
My liner must be SMALLER than the backer so I subtract two inches from my measurements, EXAMPLE: My back board is 20″ x 40″ so I cut my liner material at 18″ x 38″.
Centering the liner on the cardboard; I have an inch of cardboard showing on each edge
Next begin taping the liner to a long side of the board

Once that edge is taped, pull it back and put glue all over the CARDBOARD surface
Pull the liner back over the glued cardboard and smooth it out

Now TAKE A BREAK and let that dry for a bit. You can put a few heavy books on top to help press it down onto the glue.

Next finish taping the remaining three sides to the cardboard
Now measure the covering material and it needs to be BIGGER than the cardboard
I added four inches to give myself plenty of extra material to work with EXAMPLE: With our 20 x 40 example, we would cut our cover fabric at 24″ x 44″ (and trim later if desired)
I ironed my fabric, then spread it face down (the side you want to see on the finished piece)
Place your cardboard piece on top of this, so you’re now looking at the raw cardboard back, the liner is in between the finish fabric and your backer, and you see a border of extra front fabric around the edges.

Now begin the final steps, wrapping and taping the raw fabric edges to the exposed cardboard
I like to complete a long edge first, then put just a few pieces on each short side to help position and tighten the fabric
Flip it a few times to see how the front is progressing. You don’t want it too loose on the front, but don’t pul and stretch too tightly either
When you like how it looks, finish taping the short sides and then the final long one

I hung the finished board using two inner screws and one at each corner.

To cover the screw heads I glued some buttons and beads on top.

Whew, that was a bit long, but it really was easy. Start to finish took about four hours.

Hey, I love hearing from you. What do you think? Leave a reply below . . . and let me know!
Later – Cheryl

This original article “Another Easy “Inside Day” Project” appeared first on Artzzle.com. No included content or photography can be used elsewhere without specific permission and/or accreditation.

VALENTINE Projects

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

Hi All. Here’s another super easy project using things you’ll already have around the house. NOTE: YOU DON’T NEED A LOT OF FANCY TOOLS.

SUPPLIES (Not pictured is a small tension-rod for your window. If you don’t have one, they are found in curtain departments and are very inexpensive.)

PAINT SAMPLE CARDS and TISSUE BOXES are two of my favorite recycled/reuse craft items. They have beautiful colors and designs and are a great weight for cut-outs.

This project I also used more wrapping paper cutouts and punches, and a big red felt placemat among my post-season stash. It had a whopping $0.24 price tag. Though I did use a few punches here, I also did many things the old fashioned way . . . folding and cutting out larger heart shapes to use.

The wonderful set of punches featured in some of these projects – are not mine. They were on loan from my daughter. I mention this so people won’t be discouraged. Most of my work is done with ordinary, everyday items like scissors, exacto knife and salvaged papers. Same goes for glue. You don’t have to have a hot glue gun or a glue wheel for everything. Less expensive double-sided tapes, tacky glue or elmer’s are available everywhere, and get the job done just fine.

SIMPLE STEPS:

Now all I have to do is tie my strings to the curtain rod.

See you soon for more fun.
As always, try not to stress about it, just start your project.

Later – Cheryl

This original article “VALENTINE Projects” appeared first on Artzzle.com. No included content or photography can be used elsewhere without specific permission from said originators.

A Wreath for All Seasons

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

At my age, I’ve done too many crafts, DIY and decor projects to ever remember them all. As I searched through HOMETALK the other day, I was reminded of a wonderful rag wreath project we did as kids. This really is one of the best crafts out there, because almost any age can do this, and the beautiful results are foolproof. Supplies are things we all have around the house, or items easily found at any Big Box store. All you need is fabric, a wire frame and scissors, and any decorations or ribblon you want to add. That’s it!

Above is my version of a rag wreath. You can use almost any fabric. As kids we used to experiment with all types of fabrics, including tulle and netting. Today’s project is a Make-Do for me as I’ve had this pretty material around for many moons. I saw it at a garage sale and knew there would be some use for it! And I’m using a wreath form that was on hand (couldn’t come up with a hanger). My form is multi-leveled so I made a double wreath, which is the same process as Claire’s HOMETALK project, with a few alterations.

Cut your fabric into strips that are approximately 6 inches long and 1 – 1 1/2 inches wide. You don’t have to be exact here so don’t worry if some are a bit bigger than that. Now all you do is tie the strips to your form. It’s best to work from the top (front) of you wreath form. On a hanger you won’t have to worry about that.

I’m using the first inside circle and the second ring from the top.

Just slip your fabric strip under the wire and then tie. You don’t need to knot it, just tie once and pull tightly. Do your next and slide it over, and so on.

Remember to have your wreath form face up (back side down) as you work.

Above we’re in progress and this is a top view.
Below shows what the back side of the wreath looks like, on the almost completed wreath.

Finally, we see again the completed wreath, sans decoration.

If you have a few random longer pieces, just give them a quick haircut.

I added some silk accents and burlap ribbon. As you can see flower stem was only $1 at my local Family Dollar store. I’ve had the ribbon for ages so can’t tell you price there. But you know I’m a frugal spender so it couldn’t have been much. You can use whatevery ribbon or trims you like.

And here is the finished product. I think it turned out quite nicely, don’t you!

I didn’t glue my decorations to the wreath. They are wired and I just slipped them through and bent the wire on the back to hold them in place.

I called this a “Wreath for All Seasons” because if you use a neutral or metallic color fabric, you can just change out your decorations for each season.

On her HOMETALK board, Claire featured a “rag wreath”. Hers is made from a different type of fabric, so you get two examples of what can be done. She’s using an old wire coat hanger for a frame. The wire hanger is a hint to how long this cute project has been around, because these days, those are hard to find! If you don’t have one, wire will work too.

Time for my project was a partial afternoon, and one evening in front of the TV. And for a one- tiered wreath, it’s even faster!

This makes a wonderful gift for a hostess, a co-worker or friend, AND kids can make them for grandparents and teachers! Finally, an easy, inexpensive teacher’s present!

Hope you liked this post. I’ll be sharing it on my HOMETALK board too.

I’m LINKING UP with Angie over at KNICK OF TIME

And I shared this with Linda over at COASTAL CHARM. Check out her place!

Thanks so much for visiting. Until next time, remember, don’t stress – just start something.

Later
-Cheryl

No included content or photography can be used elsewhere without specific permission from said originators.

ARTZZLE

Helping with the Pieces in Life's Puzzle of Art and Design

Tag Archives: make do

Ready for VALENTINE Projects?

EZ PZ Fall Decor for Whatever … Wednesday #3

Another Easy “Inside Day” Project

VALENTINE Projects

A Wreath for All Seasons

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