Iron Craft Challenge - Week 8

This week's challenge was to create something inspired by the word "hometown". I have live in 9 different towns in my lifetime. That's an average of roughly 3.7 years per place. Therefore, it is hard to pick just one place as my hometown. So for this week's challenge, I came up with a project that pays homage to a few of the places I have lived.

Inspiration stuck when I found a stash of old license plates in my craft room. I decided to use them to create an art piece for my son's room, which already has a transportation-esque theme. First I gave the plates good scrubbing with some Bar Keepers Friend (that stuff is AMAZING) and water. Next, I painted a large 36" X 24" canvas (also stashed in my craft room) the same color as my son's walls. I arranged the license plates to form a large "E" (for Elliot) and affixed them to the painted canvas with duct tape and hot glue.  I thought about just sticking the license plates to the wall with command strips, but decided the canvas would look a bit more polished. I am really happy with the way this VERY simple project turned out.

I also like that the three states represented are of major significance in my life.

I spent most of my life in Virginia and actually attended part of elementary school, junior high, and one year of high school there. Its also where my husband and I got married, and its the state that both of my children were born in.

I moved to Colorado after college and only lived there for a year, but it was a life changing year! I met my husband and future in-laws Colorado, and started my career in the non-profit sector there. Because I now have family there, I get to visit Colorado at least once a year.

California is where my husband I lived before marriage and kids. We got engaged while we lived there, and spent our first year of marriage there. It was a wonderful place to get to know each other and fall in love.

Have you done anything creative with old license plates? If so, please post pictures on the namesake design Facebook page.

An Oscar Worthy Party

Update: As part of a segment on Live With Kelly and Michael, I've created free PDF's of the wine tags featured in this post with 2013 Best Picture Nominees. Click here for the updated tags. 

My Oscar's inspired cake toppers last week got me thinking about throwing an Oscars party. I don't know if I'll be able to pull it all together in time (the awards are on 2/27), but here's a little glimpse of what it might look like if I do.

1. Using some card stock and my printer I'd whip up wine tags with all of the nominated  movies on them. These wine bottles would be for display only and would be lined up a buffet or scattered throughout the entertaining space 2. I love these very elegant popcorn bags spotted on, Amy Atlas Events. It wouldn't be an Oscar worthy party without popcorn! 3. Jessica of How About Orange created this 2011 Oscar's Bingo card which can be downloaded here. 4. My Iron Craft Challenge cupcake toppers, click here for the how-to. 5. To dress up the table I'd use a couple of yards of black and white fabric as a runner. This great chevron is a steal at $6.98 a yard on fabric.com. 6. I love the look of these flowers spotted on For the Love of Design. I have two black urns, that I am always looking for an excuse to use, filling them with red flowers would really glam up the decor. 7. Speaking of glam. I may have to channel my inner diva with some sort of accessory like this feather headband by Lily Lady Blue. 8. Lastly, this party would be the prefect excuse to buy these vintage cocktail glasses, available via Vintage Revival Living, which I would use as votives.

Wool and Bloom - Fresh Friday

I work from home 4 days a week. I'd like to say that I get all gussied up for work every day, but I don't. In fact I frequently can be caught wearing slippers (but NOT PJs) at 4 PM. My house is cold and socks just aren't as comfy. These adorable slippers from Wool and Bloom make be the ticket to improving my work-from-home wardrobe.

*Fresh Fridays feature Etsy sellers that, at the time of writing, haven't had their first sale. Help them out, buy handmade.

Iron Craft Challenge - Week 7

This week's challenge called for a Midas touch. The only rule, use gold. It could be glitter, gold leaf, paint, beads... just make it gold. Inspiration struck while I was reading movie reviews, The Oscar statues are gold. I could craft something Oscar related. After a little bit of sketching and an assessment of available supplies, I came up with Oscar cupcake toppers.

To make your own you'll need:

-black card stock

-a pencil

-scissors

-double sided tape

-gold glitter

-mini craft sticks

-Modge Podge

I used this image for my template

Cast Your Vote

The week 6 Iron Craft Challenge will have a winner. Check out all of the great entries and vote for your favorite here. Of course I would love a vote for my Scandinavian inspired tote! Voting ends Sunday night.

Iron Craft Challenge - Week 6

This week's challenge was to create something crafty with a winter theme. To mix things up a bit, this week's challenge has a prize tied to it! Oh how I love a good competition. Although I could have gone over the top, I kept things simple and tried something I have been meaning to try since I started blogging, crafting with freezer paper stencils.

I carried over last week's Valentine's theme into my creation this week and whipped up a winter/love themed tote bag. The image is inspired by Scandinavian folk art and the word "Kӓrlek" means love in Swedish. I created the image in Picnik (which I discovered through Picasa). If you like it, feel free to use it to make your own stencil.

This project was very easy. First, I printed my image onto a piece of paper. I placed a sheet of freezer paper on top of it (glossy side down) and traced/cut the image with an exacto knife. The sharper the knife the better. I think mine was a little dull. Once the image is cut out, iron it on to your bag, shirt, or whatever you want stenciled. Use a stenciling brush to apply fabric paint. Allow your paint to dry throughly before pealing off the stencil. The canvas bag was not the smoothest surface which caused the paint to bleed slightly in a couple of places. I ended up liking the imperfections in the end, as it created a woodblock print effect. 

One of the images that I used for inspiration

stencil mid-cutting

I am looking forward to experimenting more with this technique so you can expect to see it used again. Have any of you tried freezer paper stenciling? Please share your tips, project ideas etc. in the comments.

King and Queen of Hearts

Apparently these USPS stamps were issued in 2009. I discovered them other day when I asked my friendly postal worker is she had any stamps with hearts on them. I love everything about these and will be using them for more than just mailing Valentines.

Year of The Rabbit

Sorry the blog has been so crafty lately. I haven't had much time lately for anything other than the Iron Craft weekly challenges. I promise there is more than just crafting on the horizon, including updates on house/decorating projects and more Fresh Fridays. Today's departure from crafting is a little collection of finds to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

1. Rabbit Taper - Anthropologie, 2. Rooster and Hare Pillow - Eristotle 3. Clutch - Brianna Edelman Designs, 4. Rabbit Notebook - ModCloth, 5. Rabbit Ring - Urban Outfitters, 2. Rabbit Hook - ModCloth, 7. Bodallo Pinheiro Sandwich Tray - Replacements, Ltd.

Iron Craft Challenge - Week 5

This week's challange was to create a valentine. The challenge invited traditional valentines, baked valentines, plush valentines - you name it! I have been wanting to try my hand at doll making for a while so I set out to make two Valentine's Day dolls for my kids. A monster for my three year old boy, and a rag doll for my 10 month old daughter. After lots of sketching and some experimenting I created my patterns and started sewing. Once again I only used supplies I already had.

Each doll (or creature) has a heart pocket to tuck a special valentines note in. Little Miss Doll's is on the front of her dress and Mr. Monster's is his the back. They are quite the odd couple, aren't they? If there is enough interest I'll create and post a tutorial, so comment if you are interested.

The hardest part about the rag doll was her hair. I sewed a little cap turned it inside out, cut out the felt to reveal her face, then whip stitched her felt hair to her head.



Mr. Monster has a removeable cape (thanks to black velcro). The "E" is for my son, Elliot. The striped material is from a jersey knit shirt of mine that had some small holes in it. I loved the shirt and was glad to be able to reuse it.