Hola, everyone. I have been MIA on my blog for the last few weeks.  It's been crazy fun with the family and all the activities going on in our crazy household, but now it's time for me to take a few minutes and show you a project I finished this weekend.  I found a similar project

on Pinterest and thought: How cute is that?  I couldn't find a tutorial but I will tell you, all you really need is a frame, some broadcloth or cotton white fabric.  I used a second layer behind the embroidered layer so that it wouldn't be sheer.  Just secure the fabric to the back of your frame with staples or adhesive of your choice when you are finished. I traced each family member's arm and hand onto copy paper, then I cut them out, and traced them onto the fabric using a fabric pencil.   I used a simple chain embroidery stitch to trace each family members hand and forearm in their favorite color of embroidery floss.  I wanted it to look a bit like a tree, that is the reason I traced part of our arms.  After you use the fabric pencil lines on your fabric to embroider, just use a damp wash cloth to remove the pencil lines.  You can include the year, which is free-handed and you could even include your family name along the top. 

I hope this inspires someone.  I will chat with you soon. C

Snow Day Roman Shades

Hey everyone! Today was a much needed snow day at the house.  I indulged and spent the day crafting.  With neighbors on the horizon, I knew privacy was a must for the kids' rooms.  So these are the first project in the remodel starting in both kids' rooms. 

These are roman shades made from fabric-covered mini-blinds.  I knew my sewing capabilites are not up to par for roman shades, so I used a mini-blind skeleton and went from there. Here are the results. 

 Little miss just loves the way the shades match her hot pink shag rug.  Next, I need to hang the curtains. (The new pic shows them.)  We are painting and adding wall decals very soon.   Big man loves the fact that he will get to sleep in a bit longer.  He wanted black walls in his bedroom, but the black shades are a compromise with darker green walls and camoflage decor.  Hopefully, this will all come to fruition before his birthday at the end of April.  We'll see.

 Here is the tutorial I used.  It is complete and easy to follow.
  365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-no-sew-roman-shades.html 

Keep on crafting and having fun doing it!!!  Today roman shades, tomorrow the world! :-)

I just updated this page and added the pic at the top of the page with the curtains in place.  My hubby told me I needed to show the finishing touches.  I think he was surprised and impressed with the results, although he would never say this. :-)  He supports all the crafting I do, so I take that as a big thumbs up.  I will update with a pic of curtains in Big Man's room when I find some camoflage curtains. :-)  Love ya'll.  Have a blessed night. 

Mod alternative to a wreath

Hola ya'll!! I hope you're looking forward to a fun weekend. I know I am. I just wanted to share a quick project with you before I began my weekend. This modern wreath hangs in my laundry room and I'll just admit I need all the motivation I can get to spend time in there.  



Here's a pic of the materials I used: Paint, a wooden letter from Hobby Lobby, wire pliers, a old metal mirror (I took out the glass part), ribbon, and a foam brush.

I painted the letter C and then spray painted the front and back of the empty frame.  It only took 15 minutes to dry each side.  I used Krylon silver matte.  I love the shine.  You can't see it in the pic of my final product, but it's there in real life!

I hot glued the letter onto the metal frame by just dabbing a bit on the back of the letter where it touches the frame.

Just tie your bow and you're ready to enjoy it.

Have a blessed weekend, everyone!  Leave me a comment or follow my blog if you enjoy the posts.
C.

Heart-shaped felt bookmarks

Hey everyone!  I hope you're having a blessed Tuesday.  I just made the cutest felt bookmarks, heart-shaped, of course, for the next upcoming holiday.  If you're looking for an inexpensive gift, please let me know. They are $3 for a pair.  One is slightly smaller than the other for a nesting look.  The larger one is approx. 3", the smaller 2.5".  I have four pairs of the neon green and fuscia and one pair of the turquoise and fuscia left.  I can always make more!!!  They are hand-cut and hand-sewn with coordinating embroidery floss.

Look at the cute way the fit over your book.   I just thought I'd see if anyone would like to buy them.  Just leave me a comment if you're interested.  I probably will just sell them until Valentine's Day.  Have a great rest of the day!  If you aren't local, I can send a pair to you for $1.99 to ship.
Courtney

Upcycle Christmas Cards into Ornamental Memories

Hola, ya'll.  At the Deco Verde household, we are very into reusing what we have and creating memories as a family.  I like to take all the Christmas cards we receive and make them into ornaments to enjoy for years to come.  It's pretty simple but there are a few steps, so let me know if I need to clarify anything.

First, you need to gather your supplies.  You'll need a 2'' circle template (stencil or something circular to trace), a equilateral triangle template( should fit into the circle exactly (you could just use a ruler, my triangle wasn't perfect), pencil, scissors, hot glue gun, a bit of ribbon (around 8"), and several Christmas cards. 






First, you need to take your circle template and center the circle on a focal point on the card. Examples include, a tree top, an animal's head, a snowflake, a person's face on a personalized photocard, an angels face and wings, a present, etc. Draw your circle on the back, so that your pencil marks won't show.  Notice my little sweetie helping out.  We love to craft together.  She is tracing the 2" circle on the inside of the card.

I cut out the circles.  Make sure you stay on the line or the circles won't fit together to make your ornament. 

Next, draw your triangle on the back of the circles (the white not the pretty cover).







Now you fold the lines of the triangle toward the front of the circle.  The flaps will partially cover the pretty pictures.  This is completely fine.  You'll unfold them a bit when putting the ornament together.  Once, you folded all the circles along the lines of the triangles, you now are ready to begin hot gluing the flaps together.




 Now, glue your flaps together, back sides together.  Make sure the flaps match and one isn't overlapping the other.  You can use white glue but need to give more time to dry.  When you are gluing, glue five circle/triangles together to form a point in the middle.

Important note:  Make sure you have five triangles around each point or your ornament will become mishapen.  Just continue, gluing until you have used all twenty circles with five circles around each point.  You should end up with a nicely rounded icosahedron (twenty-sided, three-dimensional polygon)


Now you're ready for the easy final touch, your ribbon.  Take your ribbon and tie a knot at the end.  Your ribbon needs to be fairly narrow to slide into one of the points in your icosahedron.  Once it's in, put a bit of glue on the point to hold your ribbon in place.

Let it dry, and voila' a upcyled masterpiece.  I love looking back at the family Christmas photos each year.  You can include your own pics and cards for a bit of change.  Enjoy your cards next year without taking up any table or closet space.  Just put them on your tree!!!

I hope you enjoy this craft.  Please let me know with a comment and don't forget to follow my blog if you're interested in more. :-)

C.

Monogram Madness!!!!

 Happy New Year, everyone!!! I hope you are all faring well in you own little piece of Blogland.  I wanted to share a project I just finished.  It's really inexpensive and easy.  It uses those oh-so-popular monograms from Hobby Lobby.  They are $1.50 at regular price, but if you dig around on their website, you can sometimes find some great coupons.  I bought the frame for $6.99 at Old Time Pottery.  The background paper is scrap paper I have on hand from scrapbooking.  Everything else, I had on hand as you probably do, too. :-)

Supplies need are frame, letter, paint for letter (your choice), foam brush, paper towel, a paper trimmer or scissors and a hot glue gun.  Here are the steps:

First, you need to paint the letter and let it dry.  

Add caption

 

Next, you simply take the paper backing out of the frame. Then place you choice of background paper on the front of the cardboard and center it, so that it covers the area you'll see.  Next, use double stick or transparent tape to adhere your background.

Here's a picture of how it should look.










Once your letter is dry, hot glue it onto your background paper.  After you've glued down your letter, then you just put the cardboard back into the frame.  It helps is there's a centimeter of so of room bewteen the cardboard and glass, just for the letter to fit well.  It you buy a matted photo frame, that should work! 

Happy crafting, everyone.  If you like my ideas, follow me and catch all my posts.  Have a blessed day!!! C.