Dog Silhouette

I made something similar to this for myself, and my best friend liked it sooooo I decided to make one for her for her birthday! The silhouette is of her beautiful Mini Australian Shepard named Hanna. 


What you will need: 
-a magazine
-scrapbook paper
-Elmer's glue 
-frame 
-spray paint 
-scissors 
-a pencil 
-white paper 


First you need to pick your picture: 

This is Hanna giving me kisses :) Next you need to get a sheet of white paper and trace the silhouette. 

Afterwards, check it to make sure it looks good! 

I added the zig-zags to look like fur. Next you will cut out your tracing
ADVISORY: Be sure that the size of the photo you have traced is appropriate for the frame you want to use. If you need to make a picture bigger you can hit Ctrl + or to make it smaller you can hit Ctrl - 


After cutting out the silhouette it should look like this: 

Now you can trace your cut-out onto the scrapbook paper you want to have as your background. After you trace it you want to cut the tracing out without cutting into the border of the scrapbook paper. You can do this by folding the paper and making a slit in the paper and then sticking your scissors into the slit and cutting around the tracing. 

After you cut out the tracing you should have something that looks like this: 

Now you are ready to make your background for the silhouette! Rather than use just another piece of scrapbook paper I decided to use scraps of paper from a magazine.

I picked pages that had lots of color and cut them into strips. 

I then arranged the strips onto a sheet of white paper. 

Then I glued them in place with Elmer's glue

ADVISORY: Elmer's glue will cause paper to wrinkle when it dries so after gluing be sure to put the paper on a flat surface and put some heavy books on to of it.  


While the glue was drying I spray painted the frame I was going to use. I started with a plain frame I got at the flea market for 3 bucks. 

Spray painting actually requires some technique. You can't just hold the nozzle down and go over the surface. You risk getting paint runs if you do that. Rather you should spray in quick spurts while moving the can along the length of the frame. Press down on the nozzle for about a second at a time and then let up as you move your arm in a swinging motion. After spray painting I had my frame ready: 

Once your sheet of paper with the strips of magazine paper is dry, place your scrapbook silhouette over the strips and find a good place to glue it. When you like where you have placed it, use your Elmer's glue to glue it in place. 

Again, since Elmer's wrinkles when it dries you need to place the silhouette on a flat surface and put heavy books over it OR you could use tape to prevent the wrinkles. 


Now it's time to place the silhouette in the frame and ENJOY! 

I 'Mustache' you a question!

                                                   

 So just like everyone else I have fallen in love with the mustache trend. I made this to go on my living room wall. 

What you will need: 
-a frame (this one is 4 x 6) 
-scrapbook paper 
-spray paint 
-pencil 
-white paper 

I started with finding the style mustache I liked online. I then traced it onto a sheet of white paper. I then cut out the mustache and made sure it would fit inside my frame. I picked out some scrapbook paper I liked, traced the mustache on the back and cut them out. 

Then I played around with organizing the colors in a way that I liked: 

I bought the picture frame at a local flea market for 2 bucks! I chose to paint it green. 

ADVISORY: I made the mistake of not sanding or priming the frame before spray painting so the paint beaded up. When it dried I decided I didn't hate it so I decided to leave it. Had I wanted to change it I would have had to sand the frame and try painting again. 

I used Elmer's glue to glue the mustaches down. 

ADVISORY: Elmer's glue has a tendency to wrinkle paper when it dries so after applying the glue I laid my paper down on a flat surface and put some heavy books on top of it. 

After everything was dry I put the paper inside the frame and looked for a place to hang it on my wall! 

Until next time, Happy Crafting! -Gracie 

Doiley Do Over part 1

I finally found a use for the crocheted doilies my mom gave me. They had a bit of an "old lady" vibe, so I decided to jazz them up and  turn them into wall decor! 

What you will need: 

-Crocheted doiley (the size is up to you, but mine was 12" in diameter)

-A blank canvas (this one was 14 x 18 I believe) 

-fabric dye (obviously I chose red) 

-paint 

-a pencil

-stencils (I got a pack from Wal-Mart for under 5 bucks)

-hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Since this is my first post I'm back tracking a bit and posting my previous crafts. I apologize that I dont have more pictures of the actual process. 

I started by picking what stencil I liked and chose this one: 

I made sure that the spacing between each of the stencils was even then began tracing them on the canvas in pencil. 

CAUTION: erasing on the canvas is tricky and ends up smudging more than anything so be careful. Test your stencil on a piece of paper to make sure you are comfortable tracing it and that you like how it looks. 


Afterward you trace all of the stencils your canvas should look something like this: 

Then comes the arduous task of painting each of these. I chose black paint because I like how black and red look together. Also, pick your brushes wisely and make sure that the size is appropriate for the stencil. 

After you finish painting all of the stencils, take a moment to CELEBRATE!

I dyed the doilies in the bathtub and followed the directions provided on the bottle (sorry for the lack of pictures!)


CAUTION: Remember the dye WILL stain your hands, clothes, and tub or sink so wear old clothes, use rubber gloves and have some bleach handy to clean the tub/sink while your doilies are drying. 


After my doiley was dry I placed it on the canvas and hot glued it on. I started in the middle and worked my way out. I also did one half of the doiley and then turned the canvas around and glued the other half from the middle out. Be sure to place glue on the doiley and then fold it down onto the canvas so you won't have glue showing through. 


Afterwards it should look something like this: 

Now find a place in your house that you want to display your canvas, pour a glass of wine and toast your creativity and a job well done!





Until next time, Happy Crafting! -Gracie