Splatter Art Canvas

Hello my fantastic crafters!

Again this week, I am doing a double posting because I have been so busy doing things that need to get done that I have been slacking on posting! Anyway, today's craft is called Splatter Art Canvas. It is fairly simple and cheap to do and makes great decorative pieces if you are a student like me and can't afford to go out and buy art for my place.

Things you will need:
- Canvas (can get these cheap at a dollar store, sometimes in multi-packs)
-black paint
-different colors of paint that will be visible on top of black paint

Step 1:
Paint the canvas black. You may have to do this twice as sometimes you will still have white showing through after the first coat. Let it dry!

Step 2:
Take a paintbrush and a color. Get a bit of paint on your brush and flick it towards the black canvas. You may want to do this outside as it will get on more places then your canvas. Repeat this step with however many colors you want.

Step 3:
Let it dry and if you want you  can modge podge it so that it has a shiny protective layer on it! Also if you dont have a canvas that is stretched over a piece of wood, you will want to find some way of hanging it. I used some extra ribbon I had lying around and a hot glue gun to glue the ribbon on.

Hope this was as fun for you as it was for me. This craft could make a great gift for a friend or relative as you would have to use a black background. Play around with it and make it unique to you! Happy Crafting! xoxo

Paint Smudge Butterflies

Good Morning Crafters!

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday morning and isn't melting in this sweltering heat! Today's craft is something a little more kid friendly, so if you have young children or are in need of an activity for babysitting, this one is for you. They are called Paint Smudge Butterflies and are incredibly easy to do.

Things you will need:
-Various colours are paint (preferably bright, colorful ones)
-cardstock or computer paper (Computer paper is a tad easier to fold fyi)
-newspaper
-scissors

Step1:
Cut out a template for a butterfly ahead of time. It doesn't need to be detailed or perfect. A simple one will do. Also lay down newspaper as this craft can get messy, especially with children.

Step2:
Trace around the template on the cardstock or computer paper. Then either you or the child(ren) doing the craft can cut out following the lines you made while tracing.

Step 3:
Once the butterfly is completely cut out, fold it in half carefully. If the child(ren) are super young, you can do this for them.

Step 4:
Have the child(ren) or yourself put paint in the colors they want. Try not to use too much so the paint doesn't mix together and the butterfly doesn't turn completely gray. 

Step 5: 
Once one side is completed to satisfaction, fold it in half again so that the paint smudges onto the other half of the butterfly. Carefully open it back up and allow it to dry. 

Presto! You have a colorful and beautiful butterfly. These can be used to decorate a child's room, door, or another spot in your house. It's a good spring/summer type craft! Happy Crafting!

Popsicle Stick Birdhouses

Hello my fellow crafty friends! In honor of my mother, who just celebrated her birthday this past weekend, I thought I would share with you the gift I made her. This craft is time consuming, and not entirely as easy to make.

Things you will need:
-Popsicle sticks (a lot)
-a hot glue gun
-glue for the glue gun
-paint to decorate
-varnish or modge-podge to seal the paint

Step 1:
Make a square out of Popsicle sticks (approximately 11 sticks). Once you have 11 laid out and in a square take three more Popsicle sticks and glue them in a "z" shape across one side of the square. Do this again to make another two squares. This will become another wall and the bottom. For the other two walls, do the same thing as you did with the other three squares but make sure the square only has 10 Popsicle sticks. The side walls need to be slightly smaller than the front and back walls.
NOTE: Make sure you cut a hole for the bird to enter the birdhouse in the wall that is going to be the front wall. I did this before gluing that wall together as I found it to be the easiest way.

Step 2:
Once you have all your walls, carefully glue then together using a hot glue gun. Do this one wall at a time and not all at once, as you will have to hold them together until the glue hardens. once they are all together, glue the walls to the bottom of the birdhouse. Next cut off the end of a Popsicle stick and glue it in the inside middle of the front wall. (Make sure the cut half of the Popsicle stick is sticking out above the end on the walls). Do the same for the back. Next glue a third Popsicle stick to the two Popsicle sticks you just glued to the house. This is the start of the roof. Then glue a Popsicle stick to the corner of the front wall on an angle (see picture). Then, on the other side, do the same. Do the same for the back. After this, glue a Popsicle stick on top of the points made by the triangles in the back and front of the birdhouse.Next glue a Popsicle stick to either side of the one you just glued.

Step 3:
Next you will glue approximately 11 Popsicle sticks to make up the roof. You will have to determine how long you want the roof to hang over the edge and then cut each Popsicle stick to fit. Once you have cut them, glue the cut edge underneath the little ridge you made in step 2 (Not the one attached to the triangles, but the little one underneath it). The round pieces of the side walls will also have to have glue on them as you need to glue the roof to this as well. Do this over and over until both side of the roof are complete.

Step 4:
Once you have finished step 3, you will need to add the trim. Take a Popsicle stick and place it to form the bottom of the triangle. Mark where it needs to be cut and then cut there. Glue it into place. Do the same for the back. Once you have done that, make a ledge for the hole to the birdhouse. I just used an extra little piece I had from a Popsicle stick I had cut. If you would like, you can fill in the little triangle parts of the roof with left over Popsicle sticks. This is quite difficult, so you can choose to leave them open or to fill them in only slightly.

Step 5:
If you choose to fill them in. Take a Popsicle stick and hold it next to the one in the middle. Mark off the angle you need to cut and then cut it. Also cut the end off so you're not wasting Popsicle sticks. Do this as much as you like and then glue them into their proper places. *NOTE: This is really tricky and help may be needed.

Step 6: Once you have completed the birdhouse, you can paint it however you like. I did two coats of paint on the walls and roof. Once those have dried, you can decorate it. After that is complete and dried, seal it with varnish or modge-podge. (I used modge-podge because I didn't have varnish). I then sanded it after it dried to make it look kinda old. It also takes away some of the stickiness that modge-podge has when it has dried.

Step 7:
Once everything is dry, get a thick piece of rope and loop it through the ridge part of your roof. Then find somewhere to hang it and enjoy the bird who comes to live in it.

I hope you enjoyed this craft. It is a lengthy craft so you could even just buy a birdhouse that is already built at a dollar store. It might make it easier for kids to do. I gave this to my mom last weekend as a birthday gift.  You could give it as a gift or make it for your own backyard. Happy Crafting!

Initial Picture Frame

Hello All! So sorry I wasn't able to post a new blog last week. It has been a stressful and exhausting few days. This week I shall do two or three posts to make up for it. As I was looking for more ideas to post one night, I came across crafts I have done in the past, some are kid-oriented, others are more for adults. This first one is one I enjoyed doing a lot and it's super easy to do. It's called an Initial Picture Frame.

Things you need:

- a cute picture frame (I got mine at Dollarama)
-scrapbook paper of your choice (2 different colors or prints)
-a traced cut-out of your initial
-tape

Step 1:
Find a template of your initial you like and either print it out or trace it. Since I didn't have any computer paper at the time, I traced mine using a piece of sketchpad paper and my computer screen. I suggest it would be easier to use the printer. Make it the size and font (I used Arial in size 46) you want. It depends on how big your frame is. Trace it (or print). Once you have done that, cut out your template carefully.

Step 2:
Once you have your template, pick your scrapbook pages and cut them so you have two pieces that fit inside your frame. Choose one to be the background. They other will be your initial. You can play around with it as well to see which you prefer. Get creative! Once you have decided, tape your template to the piece of scrapbook paper you want as your initial. Remember to tape it to the front with the color or pattern, not to the white or plain back of the paper.

Step 3:
Once you have taped it to the designated piece, lightly trace around it. If you are using a piece that will show the pencil marks, carefully cut around the template instead of tracing around it. the pieces I used were dark and pencil showed up so I just cut around the template instead.

Step 4:

Once you have cut out your initial, carefully take the template off. Take some more tape and put it on the back of your scrapbook initial. Place it on the background piece you have chosen in the center of the frame. Then put the piece into the frame and close the frame. You now have an initial picture frame!

Hope you all enjoyed this craft. It's a neat and easy way to personalize a bedroom or a space in a home. I made mine for my old roommates I had before moving in solely with my boyfriend. They are some of my best friends and I really wanted to do something nice for them. So I got even more creative and made it so that all for frames are linked somehow. This is so that no matter where we go in life, we will always take each other with us. They make great little gifts! Happy Crafting!