Creative Chaos

Pink Saturday Tutorial..........

Because Pencils Should Look Pretty Too!

 

Here is a super easy and fun project sure to make all your pencils and paint brushes happy.  Not to mention help the environment by recycling!  You can’t ask for much more than that! 

First, gather up some clean empty cans.  These are a standard size fruit/vegetable can. You can put a layer of gesso on but it’s not required.

Next gather up all those little scrap pieces of vintage wallpaper and scrapbook paper. You know…. The scraps you can’t bear to throw away, yet keep piling up because you’re not sure what to do with them?  Yep….those.  Now they have an important purpose….To brighten up a pencil’s day, and more importantly Save the World!

 

At this point you can either just tear the paper. Or, as in this case, I just cut them into squares and rectangles and glued down onto the can.  Don’t worry about a pattern or being perfect.  The beauty of this project is simplicity and randomness.  Just have fun with it!

 

Keep gluing all your pieces until you have covered the can completely........

 At this point, it’s time to paint……

I painted the inside of the can with gesso as well as the edges.   I then painted the edges of the wallpaper with a white paint to give it a “grout” effect……

Once you’re satisfied with the level of paint, let it dry while gathering some tulle and flowers.  Of course, you can use ribbon or whatever else you have on hand. At the last minute, I decided to put a silver pipe cleaner around the rim……

Glue the tulle in place along with some flowers on top and you have a pencil holder fit for display! 

 

 

Happy Pink Saturday!

 

Pssst.....Looking for a fun giveaway full of vintage goodies?  Well, just click HERE!  

Good "Monday" Morning........

Or, is it it still Sunday....No. Wait. I dropped Carlos off at school this morning so it must be Monday......Oh, forget it. I have no idea what day it is today. Or, yesterday. Or, the whole weekend for that matter!   I got this comment from Heather yesterday about how she was "waiting for the tutorial. It's Monday" .....of course, I just laughed and thought "wow!  Everyone is SO excited for my tutorial they are coming a day early!  This is sooo great.  Looks like it might be standing room only."   And then I thought that I better email Heather and let the poor gal know that it was Sunday not Mon..........WAIT a minute. Just wait a darn, pickn' glitter filled minute here.  It was Monday.  Oh my gosh.  I'm pathetic.  Although, I would love to blame it on the fact that my family was in town over the weekend.  I'm sorry to say that the same thing probably would have happened sans guests.   

So anyway.....where were we......Oh yes.....getting ready for glitter!!!!  I've got everything glued down and ready to go.....

I like to use couple different glitters.  For the edge of the crown and the outline of the diamond I use a silver or in this case a lavender silver glitter.  For the outline of the "it's my party" and butterflies I use a fine white glitter.  Around the little pink flowers I use a ultra fine diamond dust glitter just to give some subtle shimmer.

I like to "paint" the glue to the edge of the crown in order to give it a smooth wider look.  Of course you can always just line it with the glue from the bottle. I like to use diamond glaze or this one.   I realized these are best for the glitter as opposed to Elmer's.  You won't get the glitter trail because they dry harder than Elmer's.   

Uuggg......Micro manager..........

So here I have started edging the crown with glitter..........

And here is with the rest of the glitter applied.  You can add more or less depending on your glitter tolerance factor.  Mine goes quite high.......

At this point I decide on the ribbon that will tie the back of the crown.   I suggest using wire ribbon that isn't shiny/glossy for the main ribbon.  I find the Offray "taffeta" style ribbon works well.  When tied it will hold the crown in place and not slip within the bow.

You then want to glue your ribbons to the back of the crown.  I find that a glue gun does a fast, easy, strong hold.  Because the ribbons will be pulled on when tied, you want to make sure the bond is secure.  (NOTE:  That green ribbon below is only for photographic purposes.  It would be to thick to tie with the other ribbon.  Unfortunately, I ran out of the usual ribbon I would normally use, such as a thinner sheer ribbon preferably with polka dots or a design on it. )

Here is the backside.  I like to fold over the ribbon so it looks neater.  You can also cover it with a bit of decorative paper.

And TA DA!  The finished crown!  Well, almost finished.....I still have to get the right ribbons to attach to it.  This one is going to be for my friend Hope (hence the H) for her 40th birthday. 

I hope that this was helpful to everyone.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Also, if you do one, take a picture and let me see.  I would love to see what everyone's interpretation and design will be. 

Crown Tutorial..........Part 1

Yes. Part one.  You read it correctly. Part 1 meaning there will be a Part 2.  Meaning, I was unable to complete the entire tutorial today as scheduled.  Oh, how Thursday morning began with such perfect promise. Everything started off according to my finely tuned and organized plan.  I dropped Carlos off at school.  Met a friend and her daughter at the park to properly wear out Andres for the upcoming crown frenzy.  Arrived home, and got right to work.  I accomplished quite a bit  before I realized that I needed to run up to the store and get some things for dinner.   I walked through the door with bags in hand and crying child in tow to the sound of the phone ringing.  It was my brother calling to tell me that he and my sister-in-law and niece were on their way to my house today instead of tomorrow.   As a matter of fact, they were just heading out of Camp Pendelton and should be here in 45 minutes.  Great. No problem.  See you when you get here.   Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...........I frantically looked around and tried to figure out what I should tackle first.......last night's dishes that were stacked with this morning's dishes?!?.......the piles of laundry scattered about the house?!?........the box of goldfish dumped in the middle of the living room from earlier this afternoon (hey, it kept Andre's entertained for at least a good 25 minutes), or the general stacks of stuff scattered about the house in a random yet purposeful manner.  I never moved so fast in my life.  It's amazing how quickly you can clean on a deadline.  Phew.

So, here is what was accomplished yesterday for today's tutorial.  I will post Part 2 on Monday......(The link is below)

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about the second bad news.....Here is what the "CEO of Tomfoolery" left on the conference table for us to enjoy during the tutorial.   No margaritas.  He said he had no idea what those were; but assured me that a juice box would be just as good.....especially if I ate it with Froot Loops. 

Here is the link in case you missed the meeting  CEO of Tomfoolery Crown Meeting Minutes

So, grab your refreshments and let's move on to the craft room.............

First off, I made a template for my crown. I used an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of heavy stock paper. Fold it in half and trace half of the design.  You can make the crown bigger or smaller than I did depending on what you prefer. 

For the crown itself, I like to use a 12 x 12 piece of heavy card stock scrapbook paper.   

I then start laying out my design and color choices to go with the body of the crown.  I like to first have a strip of decorative paper going across the base of the crown.  I suggest not using a heavy stock paper for this part because you don't want the bottom so stiff that it won't bend easily. 

I like to then play around with different papers and embelleshments.  At this point you want to decide your color theme and how you want to arrange things on the crown.  I decided to do a green/blue/pink theme.  As you can see, my playing around usually results in changes along the way as I switched the blue strip of paper along the base with a white textured one.

I then put a diamond in the middle of the crown and flanked it with butterflies.  You can also do hearts as shown here.   

At this point I start to do more embellishing and added little pink flowers and some rhinestones.  You can't really see it on the picture but the green paper I used for the crown actually has flecks of glitter on it.   If you use a patterned piece of paper for the body of the crown, you probably wouldn't have to use as many embellishment and can add glitter to the existing pattern like in these examples.

I print out a fun saying on a piece of heavier cardstock and cut it with some decorative edges

I usually will then glue the "It's my party" cutout on another piece of contrasting paper and then glue it to the band on the bottom of the crown.

Right about now is when it all starts coming together.   I like to flank the "It's my Party" with flowers on each side.  In this case I used some of my old flowers that I used to use back in the day with a pink fabric flower in the middle.  I like to decorate the side of the crown with some extra strips of ribbon or fabric.

I put another smaller diamond shape in the middle of the bigger diamond with a contrasting color and then topped with a glitter initial or star.

So this is as far as I got on Thursday afternoon.......When I return on Monday we will finish up with the rest of the embellishments, the all important glitter and the attachment of the ribbons.  I hope this makes sense. It's 11:21 right now and I have to go to bed.  But, please feel free to ask any questions in the comment section if I haven't been clear or missed something along the way.  See you on Monday!  Don't forget your glitter! 

Crown Tutorial Part 2

 

Crown Tutorial update........

Crown Tutorial Part 1 and Part 2

I received a memo written in highlighter and crayon (and smeared with peanut butter) from the guy in charge of crafting and chaos which said the tutorial will take place on Friday after his nap.  This is barring any meltdowns, tantrums or general crankiness that he may have on that day.  He was very explicit about not being able to guarantee or be responsible for any of his behavior.  He politely explained that a breakfast of Froot Loop and chocolate milk may get him off to a happy start. (although, I heard through the grapevine that HIS senior supervisor said absolutely not. It would be the usual oatmeal and bananas.)

As he outlined his demands for the day which included endless bowls of goldfish (the colored kind), juice boxes on ice,  nap breaks whenever the mood struck and full creative control over the design of the crown (ONLY Thomas the Train would be approved), I couldn't help but think he was appearing very familiar to me....... as if I had worked with these same sets of childish requests and general nonsense before.

Then it hit me like a ton of Lego's.........This was the same guy the Temp agency sent over to help me with the last two giveaways!    Apparently upper management never listened to my complaints about him playing with his trains when he was supposed to be picking names and had hired him on permanently.....and, to add insult to injury, with a title and his own office.   I have no idea how he managed to work his way up the ladder given that he doesn't even speak full sentences yet.  However, he must have razzle dazzled someone at corporate.   

Anyway, I have no other choice than to cooperate with him and do my very best to bring a crown tutorial to everyone despite having to work with someone who wears Higglytown Heroes pajamas to the office.   I told him that no matter what he says we were still going to serve margaritas..........I think we're going to need it!