Polka Dot Painting

You probably already know by now that polka dots are all the rage. 

My friend, Julie, just moved and wanted to make some art for above her bed. She was inspired by this blog and images on Pinterest. We started talking about a Polka Dot Painting and she told me her ideas. She wanted to do it on a canvas and we both agreed that working with potatoes stamps isn't usually successful for us. So we brainstormed and went on a trip to MICHAEL'S!

Juile picking up supplies

 At Michael's we found these amazing round sponges with plastic holders by none other than Martha Stewart. Each is a different size in the package but it had the size we needed. They are officially called "pouncers." Julie picked out acrylic paints in shades of gray, blue, purple and white for mixing.

The Cast of Characters appearing in this craft are:

Pouncer + Goomba helped with spacing

Pencil
A Canvas
Acrylic Paint
Circular Foam Pouncers (sponges)
Scrap Paper
Two Rulers or Measuring Tape
Paint Palette and Palette Knife (or could use plate, bowl, chopsticks, paper clips, etc)
Lint Roller (in case your canvas needs a little dust removal)
Painters Tape (optional)
Paint Brush (for touch ups)

First: After you have gathered your supplies and lint rolled your canvas, it is time to MEASURE! This Polka Dot Painting will have evenly spaced dots. Julie chose to have a 3" border and her dots 3" apart. With measuring tape and a ruler we made tiny dots or x's every 3" to tell us where the dots will go.

Bunny Tip: We lined up the measuring tape with a ruler and held it down with painters tape. This way we could quickly get an entire row done.  If you mess up, no worries. The pencil erases right off the canvas. AND the pencil doesn't show underneath the paint as well. 

Second: Mix your paint colors! We got a white paint to mix with the others to create different shades. Julie made each color as she went along. We tested the colors on scrap paper.

Third:  Stamp dots on the canvas! Stamp one color at a time and in random spots on the canvas. Make sure you eyeball where you are putting the dots so they are evenly spaced throughout.












Bunny Tips for using the Pouncer: 
Sometimes the paint didn't evenly spread across the sponge. Julie used her fingers or scrap paper to make sure it was evenly spread on the sponge and wasn't collecting around the sides. It isn't necessary to press the sponge all the way down, but you can. Paint will collect in the sponge so you don't have to reapply for each dot.

Some Pictures of the Process

With a few colors

Fourth: Finally, let it dry! 

The finished polka dot painting

Julie with her finished Masterpiece

Bunny Tip: When the canvas is dry, you can go over any little mistakes with white paint.

Lastly, I got a little inspired watching Julie dot away. I had a canvas laying around the house, so I tried making my own without even spacing. I randomly spaced some of the dots and clustered others close together.

A big "Thank You" to Mr. Hulse who took photos, brought us water AND washed our dinner dishes! 

I have the best husband ever.

United States of Magnets

The Puzzle

   Mr. Hulse and I were spring cleaning when we stumbled upon this United States puzzle. Some of the puzzle wasn't looking so great and Florida was missing. We tried to clean it up but it was beyond saving. THAT being said, some of the pieces were in great condition. And we decided to save some of the States to upcycle them into magnets!

I cleaned and dusted the pieces very carefully. With my trusty glue gun I attached a magnet to each state. (I had some magnets from a previous project and luckily they fit!) Here are the photos from the project. A few of these I'm keeping or giving to friends...but the rest will be up in the Etsy shop!

The salvaged pieces

States!

My Tools

Adding some glue!

Drying 

They came out looking so fun. New York and New England went right up on the fridge!

They fit right in!

Mailing the Hankie Invites

I've owed you this post for so long!

These are pictures and the "how" behind mailing
my wedding invitations.Or just where I got everything!

  
Envelopes~Paper Presentations 

  My favorite store on my favorite block (besides all my other favs on the block)!
I knew that I wanted something really simple in terms of envelopes. This way the Hankies would be the star. I spent hours at Paper Presentations looking for the perfect envelope and sleeve to hold the invite. I found some made with recycled paper and also bought inserts to line the envelopes.

        

Information Cards~Ruffled & Avery 

I made little cards to go the sleeve with RSVP information. 

Used a template on Ruffled (free download!) and Avery labels for the card.

We skipped Response Cards to help keep things eco-friendly. 

Calligraphy~ Briar Winters

Calligraphy on wedding invitations is beautiful! It wasn't really in our budget. I took a tip from The Groom Says and asked a Bridesmaid, Briar Winters, to pen addresses with her gorgeous penmanship.

Mailing them ~ Bunny Tip


These can be tricky to mail if they are very thick! I took them to the post office and had an employee helped me measure the envelopes thickness with the hankie folded. Normally they were 61 cents, but the thicker hankies ended up being over $1.

 

I was very happy with the way these turned out and my guests loved receiving them!
Are you making Hankie Invites too?

Necktie Rabbit Ears

   

 Have you ever been to Books of Wonder on 18th st. between 5th and 6th? Well, it is one of the cutest children's bookstores. I performed there on Saturday as the March Hare in Alice in Wonderland with Haberdasher Theater. I was very excited to work on my costume and put together some inspiration on Pinterest and Tumblr. I was wondering how I would get my hands on some ears UNTIL the director handed me a pair of ties to add to my costume. When I looked at those ties... I saw ears!                     

 Necktie Rabbit Ears

What you'll need-

2 Neckties

1 Headband

Glue Gun and Glue

Strong Wire

Wire Cutter

Scissors

Pen, Chalk or Fabric Marker

Seam Ripper

I bought two matching neckties from a thrift store. I picked very long ties for the extra fabric. I used materials that I had around the house for assembling these, but you could get as high or low tech as you desire. I made these ears quite quickly and took lots of photos!

First decide how long you would like the ears and cut! I cut them a little bit longer than I wanted them in case of error and for attaching. We are using the Front end of the tie for the ears.

With the small back end of a tie I covered my pink H&M headband. Great thing about this tie

was that I could just slip it on!

I hot glued one side of the necktie at the end for a secure fit. 

I left the other side free in case of error.

Next I wired the ears. I measured out a length of wire and trimmed it. I then threaded the wire through each ear. There are two ways to do this and I tried both. The tie lining allowed me to show the wire in the back or to not show it (keeping it hidden within the lining of the tie). I hot glued both into place.

Attaching the ears to the headband was the hardest part. 

With a marker I noted where the wire would attach and proceeded to rip the seams of the tie attached to the headband. I then pulled the ears through and was able able to twist them around the headband to keep them secure. I finished up with some hot glue on the wires and to seal up the headband.

And Ta Da! Here is how they turned out. 

What do you think??

Paper Heart Ornament

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today, I'm sharing with you this fun craft and our first ever video blog! Below are the instructions to get you ready to craft along with the video. Even if you aren't crafting, you can watch the video and see how I closed me sweater with a clothes pin...

What you will need to make the paper hearts above:

1) Stapler (OR glue and binder clip)
2) Scissors and paper cutter
3) Hole punch
4) Paper * - 12" strips x 2, 10" x 3, 7" x 3
5) string or yarn for hanging

* You can use any kind of paper: maps, comic books, sheet music, construction paper, etc.

Before watching the video you will need to cut out your paper strips. You can see above I used sheet music. Curbly.com has some great directions for making similar ornaments and different sizes. If you get confused, check out their website.

1) Cut two strips that are 12 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.

2) Cut two strips that are 10 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.

3) Cut three strips that are 7 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.

Below are a couple variations

Variation 1-
Omit the extra 7" strip.

Variation 2-
Omit the 7" Strip and do not tuck the strips into the bottom. Instead collect them all at the top and staple. This works well with heavier paper