DIY Tape Art

Seeing art hanging in a gallery or museum can leave you inspired to create some yourself.  However, painting with acrylics is time consuming and takes delicate precision.  But with a little help from a certain adhesive tape, you can make a simple piece of art that is completely mess free!

All you’ll need is colored tape, an X-acto knife and a sheet of plastic to stick the tape to while cutting it.  Eventually, you’ll want to put it on something like canvas, or another surface to hang/lean on a wall.

{Plastic cutting boards work well to lay the tape down on while cutting.}

{Let the tape hang over the edge a bit.  You might need to adjust things later}

{When everything looks just right, fold the tape over!}

{Finished product!}

Mason Jar DIY

It seems like Mason jars are being used for everything from drink glasses to pencil cups.  So instead of explaining just another way to use a Mason jar, you can make them look a little more original.  Any color and type of paint works, just remember to use a sealant on top (Mod Podge, etc) so the paint doesn't chip off.

{I ran out of painters tape and had to improvise.}

{Scotch tape worked just fine!}

Tip: Peel the tape off when the paint is still wet.

Valentine's DIY

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and the convenience store seasonal aisle is overflowing with heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  The cartoon character cards from elementary school were always my favorite.  But now that I’m older, I realize I could craft something cuter with better puns.

A great idea is to make cut-out cards.  All you need is some card stock, glue, scissors, a small paintbrush and loose glitter.  If you don't want glitter everywhere, make sure you put some newspaper down for quick and easy cleanup!

1. Fold the card stock in half and draw a heart on what would be the front.

2. Cut out the heart, and lightly trace another heart through it on the inside of the card.

3. Drop a large dab into the center of the drawn heart and use the paintbrush to fill in the heart.

4. Sprinkle glitter all over the glue, shaking loose glitter onto the newspaper or off to the side.

5. Let the glue dry and write your message on the inside!

Tip: Spray the heart with a sealer like mod podge to set the glitter before putting it in an envelope.

DIY Tuesday: Vintage Book Page Tree Topper

This week we've got another simple holiday DIY project for you. If you're looking to add a little vintage flair to your holiday decor, this tree topper is perfect!

Materials Needed:

-Several vintage book pages

-Three different patterned scrapbook papers

-Holiday scrapbooking embellishment

-Scissors

-Glue Stick

-Hot Glue

-A small piece of wide ribbon, about 6 inches long

How-to:

1) Using the book pages, follow the steps from our previous tutorial on how to make accordion paper decorations (each section should be made with half a sheet of book page).

2) After completing the book page accordion circle, use a small drop of hot glue to attach it to a slightly larger circle you've cut from one of the papers.

3) Repeat this step, attaching this circle to a slightly larger circle cut from the second paper type. Cut small triangles out of the entire edge to create a "sawtooth look."

4) Attach a final circle to the last one, cut from the third paper type.

5) With hot glue, glue a small ribbon loop to the back for placing the topper on the tree. Just make sure it's large enough to slide over your top tree branch.

6) Finish off the topper with a scrapbooking embellishment, placed in the center of the book page accordion circle.

Tradition Thursday: Family Baking Traditions

At The Baker's Bench

It's Tradition Thursday, but instead of a wedding tradition, today we're sharing a family Christmas tradition with you.

Baking together is part of many families' holiday traditions, and this recipe is always part of my family traditions at Christmas. In my grandparents house, my grandfather always does all the cooking and this is one of the recipes I associate with him most. These cookies are perfect for the winter season and I guarantee you will not be able to eat just one! They're great for giving to friends and neighbors, especially if you wrap them up in something festive like this...

Martha Stewart Crafts

Molasses Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup oil or melted shortening

1 cup sugar

Extra sugar for rolling

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cloves

Beat together oil, sugar, molasses and egg. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well and chill thoroughly. Form into 1" balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Do not flatten. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes.

Wedding Wednesday: Unique Wedding Altars

It's Wedding Wednesday and today we have a collection of really gorgeous wedding altars for you! Since one of the most important parts of your wedding day takes place at the altar, why not make it one of the most stunning things at your wedding?

The altar is a great place to set the tone for your wedding and give guests a glimpse at what the reception decor will be like. Additionally, it's a good place to reflect your personality as a couple. A unique altar can also add lots of visual interest to a venue that is more basic in style and color, like a hotel ballroom.

Fabric Chandelier

Bookshelves

Ribbon Ceiling

Paper Pinwheels

Furniture

DIY Tuesday: Christmas Countdown Calendar

We've got another holiday DIY project for you this rainy Tuesday! Here's a modern twist on the holiday advent calendar.

We found this little project via Country Living. It turned out to be ridiculously inexpensive and very simple to make, and would be a great project for doing with kids. It's really easy to personalize and could be easily altered for other celebration countdowns, like kids' birthdays.

Materials Needed:

-25 small matchboxes, matches removed (found near the grilling supplies in the grocery store)

-5 sheets of patterned paper, each in a different pattern

-Pen or marker or number stamps

-Scissors

-Glue Gun

-Small individually wrapped candy

-Optional: Scrapbooking elements, like stickers

1) Label the "drawer" of each matchbox, 1-25. Make sure the box is vertical before labeling.

2) Glue boxes #1-9, #10-16, #17-21, #22-24 together. Don't glue #25 to anything.

3) Wrap each glued "tier" in a different type of paper. You only need the top and sides to be wrapped. It doesn't take much hot glue to glue the paper to the boxes.

4) Glue tiers to each other in ascending order, #1-9 on the bottom with #10-16 glued to it and so on. Glue #25 to the top.

5) You can accent #25 with scrapbooking elements, stickers, etc. to make it stand apart a bit.

6) Fill each drawer with a treat!

Wedding Wednesday: Washi Tape

Pink Suede Shoe

If you've never heard of washi tape, it's time you heard about it! This paper tape from Japan feels fairly similar to masking tape, but it comes in tons of colors and patterns.

And it's not just for taping. It's a versatile material for all sorts of DIY projects and is gaining lots of popularity in the crafty world, especially for wedding projects. Here's some great ideas for using it...

Drinks Vases Tags Books Cake Favor Bags

Great online sources for buying washi tape:

Cute Tape

Pretty Tape

Happy Tape

DIY Tuesday: Holiday Yarn Wreath

We came across this Christmas wreath tutorial and thought we'd give it a try. It turned out to be really simple (though it takes a bit of time to complete). It's fairly inexpensive and is the perfect project for doing in front of the TV.

Materials Needed:

-Straw Wreath (available in the floral dept. of craft stores)

-1 skein of yarn

-Several sheets of felt

-Scissors

-Hot glue gun

For the wreath:

1) Leave the wreath wrapped in the plastic it comes in. This makes it easier to wrap the yarn around it. Wrap a piece of yarn around the wreath and tie it in a knot on the back side of the wreath.

2) Continue wrapping the yarn around the wreath until it is completely covered. Keep each piece close to the previous one, wrapping tightly. It won't be wrapped perfectly evenly, but this doesn't affect the overall look. Tie off the final wrapped piece in a knot.

For the flowers:

1) Cut a circle out of felt (bigger circle=bigger flower. Half of the felt sheet makes a flower several inches wide). Cut around the edge of the circle, making a waved look. Pick any point on the edge of your circle and cut in about an inch. Continue cutting it into a large spiral shape, ending up with a long strip of felt. At the end, leave a small oval.

2) Roll up the felt, starting at the point you started cutting the strip. Roll tightly in the beginning to keep it together, but you can loosen your rolling a bit as you go to create a more open-looking flower. Glue the back of the spiral onto the small oval that was leftover.

3) Glue the flowers to the wreath and add extra embellishments like felt leaves if you'd like.

DIY Tuesday: Easy Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Halloween may be over, but if you're like me, you've still got lots of pumpkins lying around. Today we've got a really simple project via Martha Stewart for repurposing those leftover pumpkins, using mostly things you've already got around the house.

Here's how you can turn them into a sophisticated Thanksgiving centerpiece. Try it out for your Thanksgiving celebrations and your dinner guests are sure to be impressed!

Materials Needed:

-Several small pumpkins (we love the look of the more unique colors like white)

-Utility knife

-Melon baller

-Adhesive putty (or our favorite, Zots, found in craft stores in the scrapbooking aisle)

-Tapered candles

-Pie plate

-Fall leaves

1) Cut a hole in the center of the pumpkin, then carve out a space for the candle with the melon baller. Repeat for each pumpkin.

2) If you want a stacked pumpkin look, stack two pumpkins (after doing step 1) and secure together through the holes with straight pins.

3) Adhere leaves to the pie plate with adhesive (turn the plate upside down first). Adhere pumpkins to the leaves. Place adhesive in the hole in pumpkin and adhere the candle inside.

DIY Tuesday: Lightbulb Terrariums

Ruffled

We love a good terrarium and just came across this gorgeous DIY project one crafty bride created for her own wedding and had to share!

Here's how you can turn a simple globe lightbulb into a beautiful mini-terrarium. This bride used them as placecards, but they'd also make great favors and would look just as beautiful resting in a dish as a home decor item.

Click here for the tutorial.

DIY Tuesday: Upcycled Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

We love Mason Jars and have used them for lots of weddings lately! But they're also perfect for tons of uses around the house.

Here's a simple idea via Country Living for upcycling any glass jar into a pretty soap dispenser.

It's as easy as these three steps:

1) Mark the center of the jar's lid.

2) Drill a hole approximately half an inch wide on the marked spot.

3) Fill the jar with liquid soap and insert a soap dispenser pump into the lid and trim it if needed.

Here's a resource for buying soap dispenser pumps in a variety of finishes. But you can also just use one from an old soap dispenser.

Looking for ways to add a little color to a clear jar's finish? Here's some tips for making jars antique blue or white.

DIY Tuesday: Paper Flower Garland

Here's an easy DIY project we found via the adorable kids' party blog Hip Hip Hooray.

Try making a collection of these paper flower garlands in different sizes or colors (or even use patterned tissue paper) and string them at different heights. They'd be a fun, whimsical addition to bridal or baby shower decor.

Materials needed:

-Tissue Paper

-Pencil

-Scissors

-Needle

-Thread

How to:

1) Draw 3" (or larger) circles on tissue paper. It's easiest to use something round as a stencil, like a drinking glass, to draw the circles. Cut out the circles.

2) Layer 3 circles on top of each other. Then fold this in half and twist it so it stays together.

3) "Poof" the layers to create a flowery look.

4) Use a needle and thread to string the flowers into a garland.

DIY Tuesday: Dressing Up Votive Holders

Here's some really simple tutorials for adding a little interest to any basic glass votive candle holder. A grouping of any of them makes for a unique design element to spice up any table or mantle and would look great for a dinner party!

Silk-Wrapped Votives

Project Wedding

Cornhusk-wrapped votives

Martha Stewart

Retro Dyed Fabric Votives

Wedding 101

Painted Votives

Once Wed

Stamped Glass Frosted Votives

Martha Stewart

DIY Tuesday: Wedding Templates and Downloads

It's DIY Tuesday, and here's something a little different. There's tons of great FREE wedding-related downloads and templates out there that you can use to make your DIYing a little easier. Here's just a few we thought we'd share, but get searching and you can find a template for almost any project!

All-purpose labels...use them on envelopes, for favors, placecards or dessert bar labels

Poppytalk

Favor Cones

Martha Stewart

Monogram Borders, just waiting for your initials

Inspired Bride

Fonts that look like hand calligraphy

DaFont

A whole downloadable invitation suite! Love the preppy stripes, and it's available in several colors.

J. Bartyn

DIY Tuesday: Fabric Invitations

Here's some great tutorials for making your own fabric invitations. These ideas aren't just for weddings, but would be perfect for shower or party invites as well. And several of them don't require any sewing at all!

Merriment Design

Intimate Weddings

Martha Stewart

Oh So Beautiful Paper

Two Brunettes

Fabulously Wed