Decoupage Frames

Today I continued the Christmas crafting, and absolutely love how my project turned out! I was inspired by this Decoupage Harvest Frame at Brixton Lane and created my own little twist on it.

Here's one I made for Nana:



And another for a friend:



I got the frames at Michael's for $1 and had everything else on hand. Such an easy and adorable gift!

A Book Lover's Dilemma

I love books. Always have. Always will. During my years working at my college library, I learned how to break in the spines so they'll last longer. I never turn down corners or bend back covers. Signs of wear on my books are there only because I've read a favorite book over and over (like L.M.Montgomery's Blue Castle, my copy of which the cover is falling off).

So you can imagine my dilemma when I saw this project on a great crafty blog tonight:



On the one hand, I love it! It's beautiful and made of one of my favorite things. But...can I really destroy a book? Much as I love books, I have to admit that not all of them are brilliant literary works. The best part of this project is that you can't really read the pages once they're on the wreath, so I can find one of those less-than-inspiring books at a thrift store (no offense to the author who's poured his/her heart and soul into writing it) and make it more valuable with a little paint and hot glue. Meanwhile, my favorites remain unscathed!

Ooohhh...I wonder what it would look like with book pages printed in French or Italian? This is definitely going on my list of projects to try!

Domesticity

I know I've been absent from the blogosphere for awhile...but I'm making a comeback. Now that I've reclaimed my life and have only ONE job in addition to grad school, I've had time to rediscover life and hobbies (novel idea!). I've been busy crafting and cooking and have become completely addicted to crafty blogs.

I have a long list of projects to try, courtesy of all those creative domestic divas out there. Most of my projects so far are intended as Christmas gifts, so I can't share quite yet. But here's a gift I made for my Nana, inspired by Heritage Unwrapped's post HERE.



A 2x4, cut into blocks at Jerry's, some spray paint, a little Mod Podge and scrapbook paper, and voila! Fun little tip I discovered: to make the letters in "family" metallic and sparkly, I sprinkled silver embossing powder on the wet paint and then used my heat gun to set it.



More to come soon as I continue exploring my crafty side. =)