Friday, February 25, 2011

Barn Star Turned Vintage?

Is it really possible to make a barn star look vintage? Join me in finding out just exactly how it's done, with the help of exhilarating Graphic 45 paper, and gorgeous May Arts ribbon.

Supplies needed: Graphic 45 paper
May Arts ribbon, 379-15-25 burgundy pleats
379-15-10 black pleats
3/8" SX10-black
3/8" SX25-burgundy
Barn stars, modge podge, acrylic paint, paint brushes, scissors, X-Acto knife, hot glue gun, ruler, and pencil.

First measure the edges of your star point.  You will need to compensate some extra on the measurements because it is raised in the center.  If you take a thin piece of scrap paper or computer paper you can press it over the top of one of the points and fold underneath to give you a better idea how much extra you will need to measure. 
Second make your self a pattern and trace it on the back of the paper you will be using.
The paper I used from Graphic 45 was from their Renaissance Faire Collection.
As you see in the above picture I chose to cut out my shapes from the corners.  The pattern on this paper is vertical-horizontal, so by using the corners you will have a more uniform paper look as you glue it to the star.
Third, brush modge podge all over one star point and place you paper on pressing firmly, but not so firm you push out all the modge podge.  Repeat for the other 4 corners and let dry.

 
Fourth, if your paper over lapped the edges you can using an X-Acto knife to trim once the modge podge is completely dry. 
Fifth, I painted some acrylic paint on the edges of my ribbon to give it a more vintage look to match the paper.  Use one of those cheap brushes where all the bristles are not uniform and there's space between bristles so that as you paint it on the ribbon it kind of streaks it instead of painting it solid.  This worn out brush comes in handy for washed looks and overlays.

Sixth, glue your ribbon with half underneath the star and half showing following the thread seam in the middle.  To make your corners simple fold and glue into a point.  I cut the ribbon the length of one star point so each of them can be glued on individually with the only fold at the actual point.
Last, I lined the edges with the 3/8" ribbons.  I cut the ribbon the length of the edge and glued just the middle of the ribbon.  Once all of them were glued I went back and cut the points and glued down.  It made it a lot easier to match the angles when glued and laying on top of each other.  I left the 3/8" ribbons their solid true color to give it the contrast.


I absolutely love how they turned out.  I've always like the stars, but not the rustic look although I do have rooms in my house that are decorated very rustic.  I think this gave the star the nice twist I was looking for.

Thank you May Arts and Graphic 45 for helping me to turn a barn star vintage.  I hope you enjoyed your visit today and will stop by frequently!

See you again soon!!
Project made for http://www.mayarts.com/blog/

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Fast and Fabulous!!

Hi Fans!!  Today I have a fast and fabulous project using some lovely May Arts Ribbon, and fantastic Glue Arts adhesive. 

Supplies include: art canvas sizes 5x7 and 9x12, craft paint, paint brush, flowers, brads, pinking shears, fabric of your choice, embellishments, hot glue and gun.

May Arts Ribbon: 372-5-17,1.5"
EN09 1.5" and 5/8"
ME17 3/8"
Glue Arts, glue glider pro with high tac adhesive dots.
First I painted the biggest art canvas a light shade of pink.  I also painted 4 hearts, two different sizes in yellow and pink.  While these were drying I cut the fabric to fit the smaller art canvas using pinking shears and ironed out the wrinkles.
At this point take your glue glider pro and put adhesive all over the front and two longest sides of the canvas.  Place your material on and press firmly. 
Turn canvas over and put adhesive on the back and press your material down.

The two shortest sides will be folded much like gift wrapping. Put adhesive on the top and fold in fabric. 
 Put adhesive on the back and fold down tabs. 
 Last put adhesive on the top again and back and fold down top flap.

Repeat for the other side and the back should look something like this.

I decided to add a little more flair to my hearts by adding this fun reversible ribbon, ME17 3/8".
Simply put adhesive on the back and press firmly.
Now turn the heart over and do the same to the edges and press down.


I chose to hot glue the hearts on since the back of the biggest heart was not flat anymore. 
Add adhesive to ribbons and embellishments and place as desired.


Fast and fabulous!!  It doesn't have to be a Valentine theme to do this just let your imagination run wild. I love using art canvas for all sorts of projects.   Thanks for joining me today!!

Project made for http://www.mayarts.com/blog/






Friday, February 4, 2011

"Music Box" Solution

Hi everyone!
I have a fast and simple project for you today, that turned out darling if I do say so myself.  Another hot spot in my house is the piano.  I have a piano in my bedroom where I keep all my books, but I've been teaching my children to play the piano, and they play other instruments as well so we've had issues with books being scattered and getting damaged since there isn't a bookcase by the piano in our family room.

I decided I needed a box, but of course wanted to dress it up a bit.  I got looking through my left over ribbon and came across this lucious ribbon from May Arts,
365-2-10 black/ivory 2" solid stripes.  Perfect to make it look like staff music.  I was so excited to put this together, and will now share with you the juicy details.

The box is simply a collapsible canvas type, you can find in the office section of the store or by the furniture that has cubby's that you can put these boxes in.
I used some Zips clear adhesive lines (high-tack, hot glue alternative) and lined the back of the ribbon.

This stuff is really sticky so I only uncovered half of the backing and pressed the ribbon firmly to my box, and then removed the other half in order to have it not stick to everything else but the box.
For the black pleated ribbon, 379-15-10 (satin pleats) love this ribbon, I actually put the adhesive right on the box just underneath the seamed edge amd then pressed the ribbon on. 


Next, I took a music stencil, traced and cut out the notes from some black glittered cardstock.  I traced them on the back side.  Make sure you turn your stencil over so when you cut them out your notes will be the right direction for the black side to face out.

I used Crafter's Pick, craft glue on the musice notes to glue them to the ribbon and the box.  It worked great.
I also used some glitter letter stickers attaching them to some ivory cardstock and then glued this to the black pleated ribbon for the finishing touch.
 There you have it, an adorable "Music Box" solution.  Whether or not you have this same problem, I'm sure you can come up with a simple box solution for another hot spot in your home. 
 Hope to see you again soon.
Project made for http://www.mayarts.com/blog/