Stars and Stripes Patriotic Wreath

 I don't know about you, but anything patriotic gets me in the mood for a great summer!
To make this fun wreath, you will need the following:

8" Ruled Smoothfoam Wreath*
Red and blue craft paint
Paint brush
Patriotic fabric cut into 1" x 12" strips.

Use the handy ruled indents on the wreath to decide where you want your stars and stripes to be. Then paint those sections. When the paint is dry, start tying your strips of fabric. I alternated between tying the knots on the top and on the side of the wreath. This way you easily add volume to the wreath while covering up any bare paint spots.
For the stars, I used  15 strips of cloth.
For the stripes I used 40 strips of cloth. 

When done, tie a extra long strip at the top and hang for all to enjoy!
Visit here for more Smoothfoam wreath inspiration!

This post was sponsored by Smoothfoam.

Smoothfoam Photo Display

I created a photo display out of Smoothfoam.
Check it out here!

Faux Chocolate Easter Eggs

Looking for a fun way to fool a friend or add to your Easter decor?
How about Foil wrapped Easter eggs?
Check out the full tutorial here... :)

How to Make a Mexican Folk Art Frame

Learn to make your own traditional Mexican folk art the easy way!
See the full tutorial here.

Pretty Glittery Cupcakes!

Today I am featured on the Smoothfoam blog.
You can see how I made these glittery cupcakes here!

Creative Gift Toppers!

Here's a gift that can be used all year long!
Monogrammed Magnets.

7 Creative Holiday Crafts

Here are 7 last minute projects to make this Holiday season. See them here!

Tissue Paper Ornaments

Looking for a great way to make professional looking ornaments with just a few craft items?
Visit my post here to see how I made these! :)

Christmas in July Holiday Wreath!

Today I am joining other artists, combing fun shapes from Smoothfoam and Holiday papers and embellishments from The Robins Nest.

For my project I made this Holiday wreath. It was so simple and fun to make, a easy afternoon project!

Materials: 

From The Robins Nest -

• Ace of Diamond Dew Drops
• Gold and Silver Dew Drops
• Black and White Holly cardstock
• Red Snowflake cardstock
• Black and White Pine Tree cardstock
• Christmas Words Glitter cardstock
• Glitter Snowmen
• Rusty Rose Ribbon
• Pistachio Archival Seeds

•  Smoothfoam 2" x 1 ¼ x 14" Wreath
•  
• Red acrylic paint and foam brush
• White chalk board pen
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Glitter gel pen
• Foam and double sided tape
• Wire to hang

 Instructions:
1. Paint top and sides of wreath with red paint, set aside to dry.
2. Cut the snowflake design from the cardstock. One 12x12 sheet will give you 4 strips for the the outside of the wreath and 3 strips for the inside.
3. Attach the strips to your wreath using the straight pins.
4. Cut out the holly shapes and attach with the pins, leaving space at the bottom of the wreath open.
5. Randomly glue the metallic dew drops and seeds to the wreath. Color in some of the seeds with the gel pen.
6. Embellish the sides of the wreath with the black diamonds.

7. For the pine needles, cut the paper as shown below using the back side of black and white pine tree. You will need 6 sprigs total.
8. Dab the chalk pen at the edges of the pine needles for a 'snow' effect.
9. Pin two pine sprigs each on both sides of the bottom of the wreath, then attach the third for each side with 2-3 layers of foam tape.

 10. Cut out 2 snowmen and round their bottoms. Attach the scarf (ribbon) to one snowman with double stick tape.
11. Pin one snowman in place then attach the second with foam tape.
12. Trim the words Merry Christmas from the christmas words cardstock. Adhere to some black and white pine tree paper.
13. Attach to base of snowman with foam tape.
14. Adhere some wire to the back of the wreath for easy hanging.

Now you have one less wreath to worry about for the Holidays!

 

Now on to the Giveaway!

For your chance to win, just leave a comment on any blog(s) in the hop, the more you comment on, the more chances you have to win!.

 The prize is a amazing selection of products from The Robin's Nest and Smoothfoam, valued at $85.00 (available to ship within the US only). 

Visit the DCC blog to hop through everyone's links and good luck!

 Deadline to enter is July 28th.

Kick off Summer with a Star Spangled Wreath project!

You can see the full tutorial here. :)

Smoothfoam Patina Owls

For the month of April, I created these adorable and easy to make Patina- Owls.
Head on over to the Smoothfoam blog to see the tutorial!

Faerie-Land Cupcakes!

For this month, over on the Smoothfoam blog, you can find my tutorial on these Whimsical Cupcake Gems.
Enjoy!

Valentine Table Top Decoration with Smoothfoam!

Looking for a romantic table top decoration?
Visit the Smoothfoam blog to see how I made this dazzling decoration!

Making Art Stamps with Smoothfoam!

Learn how to make your own Art stamp with a few simple tools and Smoothfoam!
See my tutorial here.

Make it with Smoothfoam!

 I recently attended a Craft and Hobby Association trade show, also known as CHA.
 There I had the privilege to demo for Smoothfoam!
I absolutely love working with Smoothfoam. The possibilities are endless in what you can dream up.

 Between answering questions about the product and demonstrating techniques, I had a blast!

 Here are 2 of the 3 succulents planters I brought for display. You can view the tutorial on how to make these here.

Look at all the amazing projects on display!

 Remember my Creepy Voo-Doo Spider Dolls?

 What about My Spooky Halloween Tombstones?

 More samples to share.

 Loving this SteamPunk piece.

 Some of the Holiday ornaments you see in the photos can also be seen here.

 New Smoothfoam frames...on sale soon!

 12x12 decorated squares. So so cool.

 All the displays tutorials can be found on the Smoothfoam blog!

 I even ran into friend, Lisa Fulmer. She's the author of this book.

It's full of anything and everything you wanted to know about working with different types of craft foam. So many inspirational ideas. You can purchase her book here.

Everlasting Mistletoe

Today I am featured on The Smoothfoam blog with this "Everlasting Mistletoe".
See the tutorial here.

Bejeweled Holiday Ornament

It seems every year my ornaments become more and more sparkly!
I love how the light catches on the jewels, glitter and gold!

To make this ornament, you will need the following materials:

3" Smoothfoam Ball.
1" decoration ball or large bead with hole all the way through.
12"-15" of  24 gauge gold floral wire
Tacky glue
3 buttons
Gold acrylic paint
Foam brush

Jewelry pliers
Assorted Dew and Diamond Drops or flat backed gems.
Diamond glaze or clear sealer.

Directions:
1. Paint the  Smoothfoam ball with at least 2 coast of the gold paint. Let dry completely.
2. Push a paper piercer or ice pick all the way through the ball.
3. Fold your length of wire in half and insert the folded bit through the small ball.

4. With the loop sticking out, carefully pull up the loose ends of the wire and push them through the loop. Bring them down the ball and twist at the bottom with the pliers to secure.
5. Thread wire through large ball and secure the 2 balls with glue. Let set before the next step.

6. Thread your 3 buttons onto the remaining wire. Add glue between the ball and the each of the buttons. Let glue set completely.
7. With your pliers, twist the wire.

8. Make a hook and trim off the excess wire.
9. Glue end of hook into the top button.

10. Starting in small sections, add glue to the top of the ornament and place your embellishments.
Make up a pattern or apply randomly.

11. When all of the ball is covered and the glue is dry and clear, cover the ball with the clear sealer.
Let dry completely before hanging on a tree.

Thanks for coming by, I hope you liked my ornament!
Comments welcome!
See more Smoothfoam ornament ideas here!

Smoothfoam Photo Holders and Table Setters

Check out my DIY (November) post over on the Smoothfoam blog!
You can use them for photo holders or table setters!
Super easy to make!

Its a Smoothfoam Giveaway!

As a Thank You ....Smoothfoam is giving away Holiday shapes for you to create with!
You can enter for a chance to win on their Face Book page or blog.
Good Luck!

Creepy Voo-Doo Spider Dolls!

Welcome!
I hope you like Creepy things because these spider doll heads are all that!
I was inspired a little bit from Toy story 2 where the mutant toys come out from under Sid's bed- you remember the doll head? Yea, that one....
Then also a little bit of inspiration from Pirates of The Caribbean 2- when Jack Sparrow was the village king, remember his eye's?

 The materials for this craft are pretty easy to come by.
You will need:

• 3 Smoothfoam 2 1/8" Baby Heads  Smooth off the ridges with medium grade sandpaper.
• Neon Folk Art paints in Green, Purple and Orange. - I found these in Walmart.
• Gloss Luster Mod Podge
• White and Black acrylic paint
• Metallic Chenille stems
• Fine glitter
• Googly eyes
• Craft sheet, double stick take, tacky glue, (3) 3" pieces of 26 gauge wire, foam brush, a fine tipped paint brush, plastic cups, plates, tooth picks and a extra foam block.

 Pierce the bottom of the doll head with the toothpick and paint with a neon color. Set toothpick with doll head into foam block so paint can dry easily. Its takes approximately 2 coats of paint to cover the heads.
 Do this for all the colors.

Coat doll heads with Mod Podge then hold over a cup while you sprinkle glitter.
 Pour excess glitter back into container.
Place in foam block to set.

 While the doll heads with glitter are setting, work on the spider legs.
Gather all 4 chenille stems and fold in half. Then twist them a few times in the middle and add some double stick tape.

Go over each doll head with one more coat of Mod Podge to seal in the glitter.
When they are no longer sticky, carefully attach the legs.

Place some tacky glue onto bottom of the doll head and add your spider legs.
Bend the wire piece into a "U" shape and push into the doll bottom around the tape.
When the wire is half pushed in, twist, then push into the tape as shown. This helps secure the legs.

 Add your googly eyes with the tacky glue.
Paint extra eyes or designs with the black and white acrylic paint.
Don't forget to add the fangs!
Bend the legs as shown.

 This is my Jack Sparrow take off.
Don't the eyes totally creep you out?

 I was going for a Voo-Doo spider doll on this one.... can't you hear the African drums beating?

 Spiders have 8 eyes, so I thought this was pretty cool.
Plus I love purple!

 I can't wait to see these under a black light!
What do you think?

Feel free to check out more Smoothfoam idea's here.
Then while you are at it, check out more  Halloween creations with the Designer Crafts Connection!

Designer Craft Connection
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