DIY Easy Hand Painted Vases

I discovered this crafty blog,  Little Gray Fox, on Pinterest and saw these super cute vases and wanted to try this myself!

               I had these cheap florist vases and I got three bottles of acrylic craft paint

I just squirted the contents of two bottles of craft paint into my smaller vase and slowly and patiently swirled the thick paint around until everything was covered. You can help it along with a paint brush; I just used my fingers. Then I drained it into my larger vase; set it upside down for a few minutes and then wiped off the rim and set it upright to dry. I then squirted the last bottle into my big vase and repeated the process; draining it upside down on paper towels.

                                 
                                             Now I have some gorgeous vases !


Note: these are decorative vases; do not put water in them!  For a dishwasher safe version of this project see this great tutorial on this fun blog,  Sugar and Charm




Feel free to post links to your vase projects below; I would love to see them!

Easy DIY Earring Holder

Easy DIY Earring Holder for my unique earrings. Here is a nice clean modern earring holder I made from an old frame and a radiator grill I found at Home Depot. I got this cool idea form the blog, iheartorganizing

I wanted a more modern look so I used an old metal frame and cut the radiator grill to size with some scissors,  I ran some glue, E-6000, along the inside of the frame then put the grill in the frame and ran some more glue on the back of the grill to hold it in place. I left it face down with a small book on the grill  to dry.

I love how it turned out; it goes perfectly in my bedroom!  For my other simple DIY jewelry holder I use in my shop please check out:  http://blukatkraft.blogspot.com/2011/01/simple-diy-jewelry-organizer-get-your.html


As seen on this blog:

DIY Quick Easy Wall Art For Bathroom

DIY Quick Easy Wall Art For Bathroom. Here is a quick and simple way to get some wall art up fast!  I like the idea of fabric but in a humid bathroom or kitchen it is not very easy to keep clean so this works great! All you need is a frame and some scrap fabric that is about 1 1/2" bigger on all sides of your frame.  I love this Michael Miller damask.  I  ironed the fabric and just taped it on the back of the cardboard (you may want to add a piece of white paper  underneath if you have a light colored fabric) and slid it back into the frame! Now my husband has a stylish bathroom!

Here is my bathroom wall art:  

How to Easily Create Texture in Acrylic Paintings

How to Easily Create Texture in Acrylic Paintings.
Being a jeweler I am always thinking of textures to add to my paintings for more of a 3-D effect and interest. All you need is a lot of Gesso or an acid free "glue" like Collage Pouge found at craft stores in the decoupage section to glue various things like bubble wrap, string, hole punch paper, plastic bags, fabric, etc.

First, you want to glue your texture with the Collage Pouge or other acid free glue;  some people just use Gesso for this step but glue is much easier for string because you can just dunk the string in the glue.

Another way (a cheaper alternative to stuff you buy in the art store)  to add texture is to mix some Collage Pouge into some spackle until it is the consistency of frosting, then you can create an endless amount of textures with your hands, fork, stamps etc. Let this dry then add at least a couple coats of Gesso; letting it dry between coats.

Then you can add color! I chose a medium tone for this. After this is dry,  I did a wash of a darker blue and dabbed off the excess color to give more depth. After this was dry,  I used my finger to highlight areas with a lighter shade and then last,  I used a silver metallic powder for even more highlights.

For more tips and ideas for texture check out this website AristTerms.com http://www.artistterms.com/texturegallery.htm

DIY Simple Textured Wall Art with String!

DIY Simple Textured Wall Art with String!  

 

 This is a simple project, easy enough for kids.  All you need is a canvas, string, some sort of acid free glue, ( I used Collage Pauge decoupage glue I got at Joann's) Gesso and acrylic paint. Tools: large paint brush & scissors.

I  first thinned the Collage Pauge with a little water  in a container to make it drippy enough so it would run off the string, then dunked about a yard of string at a time into the Pauge, squished out the excess and then added the string to my canvas. Oh yes, it is good to wear some rubber gloves because this stuff is hard to get off of the hands!

When dry add 1-2 coats of Gesso. Let this dry.

 Then add color!

                    Simple wall art to brighten our dark corner of our new townhouse

Like this idea? Comments welcomed!

Simple DIY Jewelry Organizer; Get Your Jewelry Organized This Year!

I kept putting off making a jewelry organizer  because I didn't want to buy a bunch of screen or chicken wire which is used in a lot of the organizers I have seen.    I found some cheap utility mesh at a fabric store and just used my staple gun to attach the mesh to the back my old wood frame.  Then I just screwed in a few brass hooks and a picture hanger and 10 minutes later I was organized!

Check out my  modern earring holder made from a metal frame.