It was actually a lot easier than I imagined it would be and I love the finished look!

Supplies:

• 6 x 6 inch Darice Cork Squares with Mounting Squares - I used 3 packs
• Foam Core Board
• Frame
• Paint
• Compass Cutter Tool
• X-Acto Knife
• Fabric
• Straight/Push Pins
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Staple Gun

To begin, you will want to remove the glass from the frame.  This step was done for me since I had trashed picked mine from a neighbor–I love that the rescued frame makes this project a little “green,” too!

Depending on the frame that you chose, this is where you should paint if you desire.  I used three coats of Sherwin Williams latex wall paint to cover my frame, allowing about 20-30 minutes between coats for drying time.  I let it sit for another 3 or so hours to make sure all of the nooks and crannies were dry.

Next, I measured my foam core board and used a t-frame ruler to cut it with an X-Acto knife to perfectly fit it into the back of the frame.  I left about a millimeter of space around the perimeter so that it would not be too tight to fit into the frame once I wrapped it with fabric.

Next, I laid the cork squares down on the foam board using the included mounting tape that came with the cork.  It is important that you use either mounting tape or some kind of double stick adhesive.  Cork is obviously very porous and therefore not ideal to use with glue or a glue gun (this equals a mess). Once you have the foam board covered entirely with the cork squares, once again use your X-Acto knife to cut off the excess cork that is overhanging the side and bottom.

Now, you are ready to add the fabric.  I used a technique that I found to be very easy and almost foul-proof.  I laid the foam board cork-side down on the backside of the fabric, being careful to lay evenly on the pattern so it wasn’t traveling diagonal down the board or skewed to the side.  Once I was comfortable with the placement, I used straight pins to hold it in place on the foam board.  I moved around the board, making sure it was pulled nice and tight.  (These colored top straight pins also looked cute as push pins when I was finished).

Once it was completely pinned, I did one last check to make sure that: (1) It fit into the frame and (2) the fabric was lined up evenly with no bumps or gaps.

Once I was good to go, it was time to get permanent.  I removed the pins one at a time and hot glue gunned the fabric onto the back of the foam board, going around the edges only.

Finally I placed the fabric-covered board into the frame and secured it by going around the back perimeter with a staple gun.

I simply hung the frame on the wall, and my new fabric-covered corkboard was ready for organizing notes, photos, and all of those other little pieces of paper.  No more clutter in my kitchen!

Today I want to share with you a quick, easy and colorful project, one that you could easily enlist the help of children for.

(I made these for my daughter’s room, but now I kind-of want to keep them for myself!)

Let’s get started!

Here are the supplies you will need:

•  Three (3) Studio 71 3×3 inch Mini Canvases (white) (These come in groups of three when you order them at ConsumerCrafts.)
• Victoria Lynn White Pearl Floral Spray
• Queen & Co. Bling Pearls (white)
• Core’dinations Cardstock (white)
• Glue Dots Craft Adhesive
• Studio 71 Wooden Mini Easel (optional)
• 24 Count Crayola Crayons
• EK Success Large Butterfly Punch
• Multi-Purpose Heat Tool
• Scissors

The first thing you need to decide is your color palette. I chose the whole rainbow! I split the spectrum into three sections: Red/Orange, Yellow/Green, and Blue/Purple. I found it worked well to use 3-4 colors per canvas to get a good variety of color.

Peel back and discard the paper on the crayons you wish to use.

Take off and discard the plastic coverings on your canvases.

Place a piece of scrap paper underneath your canvas, to keep your work space clean.

Here we go!

Hold your heat gun over the top of the tip of your crayon, and allow it to start to melt.

Let the drips from the crayon cover the canvas as desired.

Keep in mind, the heat from the heat gun will keep the crayon on the canvas liquid, and the drops on the canvas will spread.

Add additional colors as desired.

This is where it starts to get fun!

Keep adding color, and let the colors mix and swirl.

While the crayons are still molten on the canvas, you can tilt the canvas, and allow the crayons to mix and drip. I let mine drip right off the side of the canvas!

Look how cool the texture of the canvas is with the melted crayons!

Let the canvas dry, and the crayons harden.

Then you can add color splatters to the canvas.

Heat the crayon away from the finished canvas. This will keep the color already on the canvas from re-melting.

When the crayon starts dripping, hold the dripping crayon over the canvas, tap it, and allow it to splatter!

Are you having fun yet?

Repeat with your other canvases, and your selected colors.

Let the canvases dry. It doesn’t take long.

Using white Core’dinations cardstock, and a large butterfly punch, punch two butterflies per canvas.

Trim the antennas from the butterflies.

(I would like to thank my eight year old daughter Mikayla, for assisting me. She was my photographer, and the hand-model in the next photo.)

(We both clearly need manicures!)

Take a glue dot, and stretch it out to cover the body of the (bottom) butterfly.

(Designer note: make sure your working area is free from stray crayon residue, or you will be punching a bunch of extra white butterflies to replace the ones that inadvertently got colored while you worked on them. Just saying.)

Trim two strands of the pearl sprays from the bunch, and place them in the (stretched) glue dot.

With your second (top) butterfly, bend the wings upwards at the body section, and adhere it to the bottom butterfly, using the stretched glue dot.

Add a strip of adhesive Bling pearls down the center of the butterfly body.

Adhere the finished butterfly to your finished canvas using glue dots.

Trim those pearl spray antennas as desired.

That’s it!

You can choose to display your creative, artistic, FABULOUS canvases on easels:

Or on the wall:

Either way, you might have to sign the bottoms of those canvases, because people aren’t going to believe you actually made them yourself!

We came across this gorgeous Doily/Lace Lamp from Dos Family and couldn’t help but share it with you! Using only a few supplies, including doilies, a balloon and wallpaper glue, you can create a chic and timeless decoration for your home! To see the tutorial on how to make this doily lamp, CLICK HERE.

Note: we would suggest using an LED light instead of a regular light bulb.

CLICK HERE to check out our great selection of doilies!

I am a huge fan of pennant banners. I have used triangles, circles, and traditional pennant shapes. By simply mixing up the materials and themes you can make one for any occasion. When I saw the Darice Chipboard Alphabet Letters I knew that they were meant to be on a Valentine’s Day pennant banner.

Supplies:

• Natural Burlap Fabric Piece – 22 x 35 in
• Mod Podge – Gloss
• Martha Stewart Crafts Glitter Multi-Pack 24 Count
• Darice Chipboard Alphabet Letters – 3 in
• Twine
• Foam Brush
• Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue

I grabbed 4 of the chipboard letters and spelled out “LOVE.” I love the shapes and style of these letters so much.  I spread Mod Podge over the fronts of the chipboard letters and sprinkled some red glitter until they were completely covered. Once it was dry I added another layer of Mod Podge to seal in the glitter.

Then I cut out four pennant shapes out of the burlap. For the most part, I just eyeballed how big I wanted them to be and cut away. They measure about 5 inches across and 7 inches down. Once I had a rectangle shape, I cut an inverted “V” into the bottom of the pennants.

I attached the glittered letters to the middle of each burlap pennant with hot glue. I also attached some twine to the tops of the pennants. I folded over the tops of the burlap just slightly so it would wrap around the twine and then I secured it by hot gluing the twine to the burlap. Just make sure that you evenly space each pennant as you’re gluing.

Now all that’s left is finding a place to hang up your new Valentine’s banner. Make sure to leave enough twine on the ends so you can securely hang it.

I love how the sparkly red letters look against the rustic natural burlap. It’s the perfect mesh of old and new!

It’s such a simple project but makes a huge statement in your home. If you like, you can mix up the colors to match your home’s style and décor. The burlap is easily paintable and the glitter comes in an array of colors. The possibilities are endless!

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Thank you to Courtney from A Diamond in the Stuff for this guest post! 

Supplies:

• Core’dinations 12″ x 12″ Paper – WhiteWash Collection – Color: Barn Siding  – Pack of 20 Sheets (available through our customer service department at 1-888-552-7238)
• 10” Straw Wreath
• Poly Satin Ribbon in Ivory
• 6″ White Sparkle Tulle
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue
• Spray Adhesive
• Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter

I used my paper trimmer to cut the 12″ x 12″ sheets into four equal 6″ x 6″ squares.  I then made a template of a circle on each one (I traced around a CD, but it doesn’t need to be exact by any means).  I then tore out the circles by hand.  Because the paper has a color core, it gives a great antique look when torn.  For an even more antiqued look, sand the circle to distress it and reveal more of the Core’dinations ColorCore center.

To turn these imperfect circles into flowers you want to start at the outer edge and carefully rip them into a spiral.  It is helpful to keep the size of the spiral consistent, so you might want to pencil in the spiral shape before you start tearing.  This process took a while, but it’s an easy one to do while you catch up on some TV.

Next you can start rolling the roses.  Start rolling the flower beginning with the outside edge.  Roll as tightly as possible, keeping the bottom edge aligned at all times.  You can either roll the white or the deep red side toward the inside.  I did both and mixed them up.

When the flower is rolled completely tight, carefully pinch together, then let it go and it will spring into shape. 

You can experiment with how much you want it to open up and manipulate it to how you like.  When you get the rose to its desired size, hot glue the base together.  For more rolled paper rose techniques, click HERE.

Once you have all of your roses assembled, line them up on a piece of newspaper or a drop cloth and lightly spray with the spray adhesive.  While the roses are still tacky with the adhesive, sprinkle them with the Martha Stewart Glitter.  I love, love, love Martha glitter so I used a heavy hand.  Obviously the glitter is not necessary, but even if you don’t glitter them, you will want to give them a little spray just to keep the roses in place.

Next, while your roses dry (about 15 mins) wrap your straw wreath with the satin ribbon.  I like the one I used by Darice, because it is not slippery – it is more of a floral ribbon.  Hot glue the ribbon into place.  Warning- the wreath will shed some, don’t be alarmed.  The ribbon will keep it from continuing to shed. 

Start to assemble your roses onto the wreath.  This part is like a puzzle.  I just kept fitting them in and once I found a spot I liked, I hot glued it in.

Continue to place roses until you have the desired fullness.  You will be surprised by the weight of the overall wreath (that’s a lot of heavy cardstock!).  Overall I used about  75 roses on a 10” wreath.  I added a white tulle bow to hang and finish it off beautifully!

Voila!  This wreath is not only perfect for Valentine’s Day but versatile enough to stay up all year-round!

Completed Canvas

Artograph projector

Supplies:

• Artograph Projector
• Porcelain Paint Well
• Darice Short Handle Flats
• Darice 16×20″ Prestretched Canvas
• Studio 71 Acrylic Paint
• Pencil and Image of Your Choice

Image projected on canvas

 Use a pencil to trace the image.  If you want to get really creative, you can use watercolor pencils to trace the image.  Use colors that coordinate with the paint you intend to use.  The watercolor pencil lines will blend in with wet paint.

Image traced on canvas

First stroke on canvas

Partially painted canvas

 The Artograph is truly an awesome tool and the possibilities are endless!

You will need:

• Tim Holtz Adirondack ColorCore Collection
• Paper Trimmer
• Star Craft Punch or Template
• Circle Craft Punch or Template
• 6″ Circle Template
• 4″ Circle Template
• Scoring Board 
• Darice Polka Dot Embossing Folder
• 1 to 1 1/2″ Wide by 8″ Long Ribbon of Your Choice
• Sanding Disc
• Adhesive
• 8×10 Photo Frame, with a 5×7 Photo Opening

Select three colors of green cardstock from the Tim Holtz Adirondack ColorCore Collection.  From the dark green cardstock, cut a 6″ circle. Cut a 4″ circle in the center of the 6″ circle to create a ring.  Set aside.

Using a template or craft punch, cut several 2″ stars from all three colors of green cardstock.  Adhere part of the stars to the cardstock wreath to cover.

With remaining stars, score a line from the top of each point straight down to the inside point, as shown. Repeat for each of the five points.

Sand each star to reveal the lighter core.

Pinch each star tip to create a 3-dimensional star.

Adhere 3-D stars to wreath, applying adhesive to each corner on the underside, to allow stars to remain 3-dimensional when attached to wreath.

Select dark red cardstock from Tim Holtz Adirondack ColorCore  collection.  Using a circle punch or template, cut several 1/2″ circles.  Adhere circles as desired on wreath.

Tie an 8″ length of ribbon into a bow, and adhere to wreath.

Select dark brown cardstock from Tim Holtz Adirondack ColorCore  collection, and cut it to fit the entire back of the photo mat.  Cut a second piece of dark brown cardstock slightly smaller (approximately 4×6″) than inner opening of the photo opening.  Using the polka dot embossing folder, emboss the smaller piece, and sand it to reveal the lighter core color underneath.  Adhere this second piece to the inner opening of frame.

Adhere wreath to outside mat.  Place inside frame, with the glass removed.

Supplies:

• 10” Grapevine Wreath
• Darice Pom Pom Maker Set
• 3-5 Colors of Yarn
• Tapestry Needles
• Craft Wire - I used 26 Gauge Brown
• Assorted Miniature Flocked Deer

Begin by choosing how many colors of yarn – I wouldn’t recommend too many colors.  I chose three pretty colors that were perfect for a fall wreath.

Choose your pom pom size- The Darice pom pom maker set I used came with three tool sizes – small, medium and large.  I used a combination of all three.  (There is a review and a video tutorial on how to use them HERE.) I did feel the medium was the easiest to use.  It was kind of hard to get the fullness I was looking to achieve with the large.   To fill my 10 inch wreath nice and full, I made around 40 pom poms total.  Bonus: this was the perfect time to catch up with my DVR!

The Darice pom pom makers were very easy to use once I got the hang of it.  It only took a couple before I was cranking them out.  Basically, you wind the yarn through the notches on the plastic, then wrap like crazy around the middle.

*Hint* the thicker you wrap = the fuller the pom pom.  Tie off ends that you had notched and use sharp scissors to cut up the side of the plastic. 

Remove and “puff” out.  So easy, I had my 9 year old doing quality pom-poms too.

Attach pom pom’s one section at a time by tying onto the wreath using the longer yarn pieces that you used to tie off the pom pom.  On some of mine, these weren’t long enough so I poked craft wire through the pom pom and attached to the wreath by twisting the wire.

Once the wreath is at your desired fullness, you can add your flocked deer.  I did this by poking the back of them with the tapestry needle threaded with craft wire.  I pulled the wire through and wired them into the desired place on the wreath.

Need some more inspiration?  Here are a couple more wreaths that inspired me:

Nature’s Heirloom Fall Pom Pom Wreath

The Yokoo Soopa Pompom Christmas Wreath by Urban Outfitters

And don’t forget that we also have a tutorial on how to make a Pom Pom Garland, too!

You will need:

• 3 Glasses – We used a Wine Glass, a Champagne Glass and a Fluted Champagne Glass
• 3 Glass Tea Light Holders
• Orange Acrylic Paint
• Black Viva Décor Pearl Pen or Any Other Type of Paint Marker
• 5/8 inch Green Ribbon
• E-6000 Adhesive
• 3 Black Battery Operated LED Tea Lights

Squirt a generous amount of paint inside the glass – while holding the stem with one hand, hit the bowl of the glass with your other hand to make the paint go up to the rim.  “Swirl” around until glass is completely coated.  Set on paper towels or wire rack until dry.  Tip: You may need to thin paint out with a little water.

Once the orange paint is dry, use the black Viva Décor Pearl Pen to paint /draw jack-o’-lantern faces and dotted lines on each glass. 

By putting both bottoms together, glue the tea light holders to the bottom of the glasses using E-6000 adhesive.  Let dry overnight.

Finish your pumpkins off by adding a small green bow above the faces with glue.  Drop in the black LED tea lights and they’re all set!

Supplies:

• 3 paper machè pumpkins
• Acrylic paing – white, burnt sienna
• Glaze Base – used to thin out paint without diluting the color
• Petaloo Chantilly Collection Mixed Blooms – Browns
• Petaloo Chantilly Mixed Blooms – Purples
• Petaloo Chantilly Collection – Mixed Velvet Hydrangea – Violet
• Petaloo Chantilly Collection – Mixed Velvet Hydrangea – Violet
• Rusted Wire 22 gauge
• Darice Rhinestone Setter Heat Applicator Wand
• Darice® Hot Fix Rhinestone- Peridot- 4mm
• Awl
• Hot Glue Gun
• Gold Buttons – various styles, shapes and sizes
• old cloth

The paper machè pumpkins start out looking like this. Not so glamorous!

Paint them with 2-3 coats of white acrylic paint. Multiple thinner coats work best. A heavy layer of paint may cause the paper machè to bubble and get lumpy.

Mix a little of the glaze with the Burnt Sienna paint and coat a section of the pumpkin making sure to get into all of the nooks and crannies. Wait just a minute or two and then wipe away some of the paint with an old cloth. Continue onto another section of the pumpkin until it is finished.

Repeat until all three pumpkins are finished.

Let dry thoroughly. Over night is best.

To create the rusted wire “vine” simply cut off a piece of rusted wire to 6-8 inches and wrap loosely around  a pen or pencil. Slide the curled wire off the end of the pen or pencil to remove.

Poke a hole into the top of the pumpkin with an awl (or the wire), add a bit of hot glue to the wire and then quickly insert it into the hole.

Add flowers to the tops of the pumpkins with hot glue.

Decorate the pumpkin from the flowers out with the peridot rhinestones.

Display on your table or mantel and enjoy!