Handmade Christmas Paper Straw Wreath

Paper Straw Wreath

This year,  I actually got to make sheet music decoupage ornaments and this easy paper wreath before Christmas! Being a jeweler, I don't get a whole lot of extra time for the fun stuff just before Christmas.   I was lucky to be able to fit some crafts in this year!

See my earlier post about making a fun flower burst wreath or paper straw wreath tutorial for directions.

Recycle, Reuse, Remake, Repurpose... Upcycle!

The original upcycled bottle cap mosaic

A repurposed blog post about upcycling upcycled art!  I just had some fun with photos of my upcycled bottle cap mosaic. See directions on my original post about  bottle cap art to make one of these yourself!



I took a bunch of photos and got this blurred one that is perfect for the background on my Tumblr blog! I am lucky I have a mac and just used iphoto to increase the saturation and reduce the noise to get an interesting effect.

The cool thing about 3-d art  you can take pictures at different angles that can be reused for various things or you can just frame it and hang it!

This one I used Gimp, a free photo editing program similar to photoshop, to posterize and play with the hues.  I really like how it looks but I am not sure where I'm going to use it yet!

So, whether it is a blog post, art or photo it is okay to upcycle or repurpose! How do you reuse or repurpose? Please share you ideas here!

Decoupage Christmas Ornaments DIY

I kept seeing these fun decoupaged ornaments on Pinterest. Since I had some sheet music left over from my decoupaged mannequin project,  I thought I would give a try even though I still have an ocean themed tree this year.

 I used  styrofoam balls; these are kind of expensive at $5 a bag!  Be sure to bring your Joann's coupon to save a bit or better yet,  find some super cheap plastic ornaments with the hangers already on them at a dollar store. You can find sheet music super cheap at thrift store. Some papers tear easily and others you may want to cut; about 3/4 to 1" strips.

I diluted some decoupage glue; 2 parts water to 1 part glue in a bowl then dipped strips of sheet music and wrapped them around the ball, it wasn't easy at first but when the ball is almost all covered you can smooth it with your hands.

 Or stick it in a plastic bag to smooth:

 Or roll it on a cutting plastic board:

Once they are almost dry you can smooth them more; rub the bumps with your fingernail  or roll on the board.  I added customized names I printed our on white paper ( you might want to test to see if your ink runs. If it does, you could seal it first with a light coat of clear acrylic spray.) Then paint a coat of the decoupage glue to seal them and sprinkle some glitter on and let dry.

For the hangers, I glued ribbon with a hot glue gun and stuck a few pins in to hold.

Right now they look great in a bowl but may have to get a second tree!