Creative ideas, and decorative items, and techniques that I have used in my home, or would like to use. DIY, and how to post and videos of things that I am working on in my own house. I also encourage all of you to share your own thoughts, photos, and projects.
Today we are doing a very easy DIY project. I have seen these around, but why pay for one when you can make your own?!?
The making of a Primitive Candy Cane Sign for Christmas. I had seen for sale on the internet, but why not just make our own out of leftover wood, and paint we already have, so it cost us nothing but very little time! This is a very easy project taking up little time to finish. I hope you try it out for your Christmas decor, and let me know what you think!
We start with out piece of wood.
Next we base coat it with black.
We move on to painting the candy cane, and lettering.
Finally we have sanded it all, for the aged effect, and we are finished! Wasn't that easy?
Get ideas, and inspiration to make your very most important welcoming point a Happy Place to visit! New ideas, and easy crafts for this year! Fun for the entire family.
Just in time!
A Summer to Fall Magical Makeover! Filled with ideas you can use to spruce up your home!!! We go through each room downstairs in the Old Haunted House, and bring it to Fall Life all in one video!
Fall Halloween Wooden Cats to decorate the home during the fall season. These are very simple to make out of left over boards, and so quick you won't believe it. #DIY #EasyCrafts #Fall #Halloween
Think of the delight on the faces of your guest when they see your new resident spirit haunting your house. It is not as difficult as you think, and will certainly bring in that Halloween Spirit.
You can either choose to watch the You Tube Video above, or read the step by step directions below, or both! If you have not yet subscribed to the You Tube Channel, please do. I need all of the subscriptions I can get since You Tube changed their rules.
The first thing we do is make a shape for our head. I used plastic bags. Everyone has those, and usually too many. Here is a chance to put them to good use, and do a little de-cluttering of the kitchen at the same time.
Next we need a body. Here I used cardboard, but if you have a large doll, that would work too. Just cover it with plastic first.
When you have the shape you desire for the body, you can
attach the head.
You might wish to try out your fabric on your shape to see how it looks.
I think we are getting into the "Spirit" of things here,
and can now move on.
Next we move on to the fabric stiffener. I would say, if I should do this again, I will get the spray.
I think we are ready to begin the process. We will be pouring the liquid into the bowl, and placing the fabric into the bowl to cover it with the stiffener. You must cover all of the fabric. This part was very messy!
You are now ready to drape your cloth on to your body.
As you can see, I will be doing this outside. I have covered it all in plastic so it will be easy to remove when dry.
We now have the fabric covered with stiffener, and placed on our body.
You will have to arrange the fabric to give you the
ghostly shape you are looking for.
When you have achieved the desired Spirit effect, you will then leave it overnight to dry. I left mind outside until I was ready to go to bed, and then brought it in, and sat it in a chair so it could dry the rest of the way. After just those few hours outside it was already pretty stiff.
Our new Ghost has found a favorite spot in the living room. I think she looks quite at home now. As you can see, it is a very life like spirit, and just the right size for a spectral apparition.
I hope you have found a little inspiration from this video, as with all of the others I have posted. Let me know how it turns out for you, should you decide try it out for your home.
Easter Decorating made easy. Primitive, and Stunning Easter Crafting in no time at all!
Looking for a not so typical Easter Craft Project that the entire family can take part in
Look no further, because here it is. Not only do these pieces look great, but they really are easy, and quick to do, and will certainly brighten up your home for the Easter Season. In fact they are nice enough to leave out all year long!
Though the video will explain everything you need to know step by step, I will also post some of the photos, and give a brief synopsis of what I have done to create these one of a kind little art projects.
After you have picked out your wood shapes, you can base coat them in black. Black is very important, because you will be uncovering some of that color latter in the process.
Dry brushed a little white on top of the black, tie a jute cord in the middle (if you wish it to look like two boards when you are finished). Next you can begin layering your colors. I chose brown, then beige, blue, and finally a little white.
For the birds nest, get a tool with a sharp end to scrape across the nest to simulate sticks. When you scrape it you will see the black underneath is what helps the nest to look like many separate sticks woven in to a nest.
Finally, spatter black on to the pieces with a tooth brush. Doing this will add depth to the piece, and believe me, it does a lot for the finished project.
Now you can remove the jute cord (if you used it) I also used 2 screws, and jute cord on the back to create a way to hang the boards.
I hope you will try this fun, and different kind of Easter Craft for your home, and please let me know what you thought of it!
Looking for an easy DIY Craft for you and the kids?
How about this primitive Rabbit? It looks great, it's very easy, and may cost you nothing to do. Also, if you have kids, it's simple enough that they will find it fun too!
A Primitive Easter Rabbit, or even for an everyday decoration in the home, that you can make by yourself in about an hour. This is a very easy no cost, or low cost craft that is fun, and quick for anyone to try out.
Begin by drawing your selected image onto the piece of cardboard. I know, it's cardboard, but don't worry, it's going to look great when you are finished. You won't believe your eyes.
Paint your image. Don't worry about the areas that show through underneath, it will only add to the "aged" look of the piece. After all, it is a primitive, and that is what gives them their charm.
Next you can add your shading, and spots of "wear" to the piece, and cut it out. Note: For me, cutting it out was actually the hardest part of the entire prokect. Now the fun part! It is ready for a little fancy decorating, as you see fit. I used a few twigs from the yard, Spanish moss, and left over ribbon for mine.
You are all finished, and ready to put it on display. These pieces are very fast, and also easy enough for kids to do as well.
Below are a few more Rabbits that I have added to my collection, and as you can see, they are wonderful, fun, and festive! I hope you try this project, and as always, if you do...let me know!
I welcome you to this unique Holiday House Tour for a very special time of the year. See all of the sights of Christmas in my home, and maybe even pick up a few ideas that you can use in yours. Take a few minutes to join in the fun.
It's beginning to look a lot like Vintage Christmas
The living room is dressed up in a bygone era with simple swags of greenery over the fireplace mantel, and doorway. Old pieces decorate the mantel, as well as large ornaments, and a pine swag. The wreath seemingly suspended in the air over the fireplace is accompanied by floating snowflakes that add to the magic of Christmas.
"Vintage" handmade Christmas Stockings hang from the fireplace, and a simple pine wreath was placed in the center, with additional embellishments surrounding the hearth. Last year the stockings hung on the front door, but you have to change things around from year to year to keep things fresh.
In the dining room a Christmas Cone Tree dominates the table, and that piece was also handmade. It's very easy to make, and if you wish to see that process you can Check out the Video on Youtube. I am certain you would be very happy with a few of these for your home.
The table is also decorated with flower filled vases, as well as old outdoor garden pieces, candles and bowls, and a hand painted raven by a local artist.
A little tree in the corner of the dining room.
Nutcrackers fill a side table in the dining room too!
On top of an old sewing machine is another vintage Christmas scene.
As you will see in the video, Snowmen fill the kitchen.
Even the bathroom downstairs gets into the Christmas Spirit.
I had some left over old lattice lying around, and wanted to put it to good use. I also needed new Christmas Decorations for the front yard, and I like that "Primitive" look, or rustic, whatever you like to call it. Anyway I had this lattice, and the idea came to me...Christmas Trees! As mentioned in the video the most time consuming part was painting the lattice, but other than the white paint (which I already had) the cost was really nothing. I reused old nails, and the lattice, so it really cost me nothing but the time, and you have to put your time to good use. Let me know if you like this, and the projects that you have done yourself. Who knows...I may get some ideas from you.
Below I will go through all of the steps that I took in the video to make my Primitive Christmas Trees.
1: I picked out the shape that I wanted for my Primitive Christmas Tree, and began to cut the lattice. I placed it going across a vertical piece of wood. and drew a line down each side, following a tree shape. I then Cut the pieces, and nailed them to the vertical piece of wood (the trunk).
2: I then chose the color that I wanted to paint the tree, and proceeded to go about painting it. This did take a little while, and since the lattice had been painted before I had to give it more than one coat, but I had expected that. I painted both the front, and back just to make sure that it would be sealed from the weather.
3: You may, or may not do this next step... I decided that where I was placing the Primitive Christmas Tree was too large for just one tree, so I made another one. This tree was made in a different way, but the set up is much the same. Place the lattice on your vertical piece of wood, and trim accordingly.
4: Again, after you have cut, trimmed, and nailed your lattice to the vertical piece of wood in your choice of tree shape you then paint it. I attached a picture hook on the back of each tree so they would hang up on the wall. and my trees were now done, and ready to decorate the front of the house for Christmas. This only took me a few hours, and cost nothing since I already had all of the materials on hand. Definitely worth the time spent doing it.
Here we are getting closer to Easter, and you want to have fun and easy things around the house to add to the festivities, but what to do??? Have you thought of ceramics? Not as popular today as they once were, but still available (even online) and in many situations they are a fast, and easy way to decorate your home.
First off, you will need the ceramic pieces, these (in fired form) are called bisque. Unless you have a kiln for baking it, you need bisque. The bisque is unpainted, and ready for you to decorate with acrylic paints, which are available in most hobby stores.
I like to put on a dark base coat, if there is a lot of raised detail to the piece. If you are just picking out plain Easter Eggs to paint it is easier, you just paint them however you wish.
As you can see, on the left, I have already started on the ceramic pieces that I wish to do. They have their base coat of black, and on one of them I have started dry brushing on the white paint for the bunny.
Dry brushing is done by dipping your paint brush into the paint (not very far), and using a paper towel, or something similar to take off most of the paint, and you then brush that on to your ceramic piece being careful not to get it into the crevasses. You will have to repeat this a few times until the paint covers the base coat on the high areas, but it is worth it for the detail that it brings.
On the left you can now see that the pieces now have their top coat, and you may also notice that detail that I mentioned. You would not get this if you just paint it the top coat color. It takes a little longer, but the end product is definitely worth it. Also, if you notice, I have 2 chicks in eggs in the photo. I have done these in the same manner, except for the eggs that they sit in, because they are smooth.
On the right we have moved on the the detailing, adding the eyes, pink to the feet, and inside of the ears. I also put blush on the cheeks just for the fun of it. On the chicks I have done the same, and I now move on to painting their eggs, and ribbons. After doing this step I also lightly dry brushed again with white paing to add highlights, and a littler more detail, and helps to cover up any mistakes you may have made.
Above you can see the finished bunnies. In all these, the other rabbit, and the chicks took about 4 hours. I don't think that's too long considering the money that I saved by doing them myself, and they are better than I could get in a store for a cheap price.
Easter Chicks finished.
Easter Rabbit finished.
Easter Egg finished. Are you ready to try it on your own. It really is easy.
