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.

Potted Herb Centerpieces

Happy Wedding Wednesday! 

Wanted to share with you some pictures of coming up with my centerpieces. 

I had a very small budget for centerpieces and wanted to them to be "green."

We got the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings to use potted herbs. A potted plant is always 

a "green"choice (over cut flowers) and I wanted to make sure the containers were green as well. 

Bio-degradable planters!

Kmart had these very chic and sturdy bio-degradable containers...and you can see the sale sticker right there!! I ended up getting them in two different sizes in these three colors. I bought some in MA and in NY to make sure I had enough. 

Two days before the wedding my husband and I drove up to the Berkshires. We bought herbs and flowers at Home Depot/Walmart. Then we showed up at My Aunt and Uncle's house unannounced...where they so kindly fed us and got all the kids together to help us.

My family planting!

We had five generations putting together these centerpieces! We planted freely and then watered!

My grandmother-my Auntie-My two cousins-and my first cousin once removed 

(my first cousin's son). Here are some pics by my Auntie Merry!

The cutest gardener ever!

My cousin Marina

The groom...aka sticker remover

Another set of cousins drove the arrangements over to the reception the next day! 

 I was very happy at the end of the night to see guests and staff bringing them home. My friends and family kept telling me they used the basil, parley, oregano...all summer!

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!

Ode to Stamps!

Geek Confession: I love Postage Stamps. When I was in fifth grade I started collecting them. My Dad collects stamps too and started me out with a children's stamp collecting book. He taught me the basics about how to soak them to remove the paper envelope. I love stamps so naturally I strike up conversations about them at Pink Olive. I mainly struck up a conversation about these stamps:

 These are the exact stamps I would've LOVED to have used for my wedding! I thought about using Vintage Postage Stamps but didn't know where to get them (Psst-Etsy). Instead I used many current stamps from the Post Office... and they were beautiful.

  I'm stocking up on the Herb stamps above and will probably use them on my holiday postcards (since there isn't a .29 cent holiday stamp).  Here are a few more current stamps I'm loving!

Anytime Stamp

 
Stamps for Save the Dates or Wedding Invitations:

Stamps for Holiday Cards:

All stamps and Images belong to the USPS https://www.usps.com/

PS. USPS....I could use a Holiday Post Card Stamp..for next year...

Martha Stewart Living: Wax Seals

I saw these wax seals in Martha Stewart Living, November 2011.

They used them in gift wrapping but they would also be great
on Wedding Invites, Holiday Cards, etc.

The seal wax is made to go in a glue gun!!! SO EASY!!!

For more: http://www.marthastewart.com/857299/wax-seals

  Image from Martha Stewart Living, November 2011

Bea's Christmas Gift

I had a little help making Bea's Christmas gift back in November. And I have to say that crafting with loved ones and friends is much more fun than crafting alone!

I knew that she was going to send out Holiday Cards to a long list of friends and family...so I made her return address labels. I didn't post because they have Bea's address on them, but I will tell you how I made them. I used Avery Return Address Labels to post Bea's address on each label. I centered her address all the way to the left, leaving room for decoration. We stamped her initials on some, Santa on others and we also used Christmas stickers! They turned out really cute (you'll have to trust me).

As a bonus, I used larger Avery labels to make Book Plates! Printed them up with this:

And them stamped them to look like this:

Welcoming in the New Decade

Image from Vintage Culture.

Christmas has been a blizzard of activity as well as just a straight-up blizzard this year. My visiting family has turned into my stranded family, and my home feels crowded and crazy. I think this isn't an abnormal way to feel at the holidays, though. It is easy to become stressed with extra people and extra planning (not to mention extra pets, if they happen to be part of your family package), and one can forget to slow down and count one's blessings. My own frustrations with the blizzard and my crowded apartment lead me to stop and think about how I live my life.

The end of a year is always a time for reflection, so it makes sense that the end of a decade would be doubly so. This year, I would like to create a list of the parts of/moment from my life over the past decade that I am most proud of and the parts/moments I would have lived differently in hindsight. I think analyzing my past will give me a better shot at improving my future (as long as I take in what I need to and process it all without dwelling on anything - good or bad).

As I review my year, I also like to make my New Year's Resolutions. Though, the word "resolutions" has always bothered me, as it seems like I've just "resolved" to do these things, when really, I have usually been working on them for ages. It's not New Year's Resolutions so much as a restating of my goals. Anyway, here they are, and I've also included some tips and tools from other blogs I love.

1. Become an organized person: Always have goals and action plans to help reach said goals. Know where information you need is. Don't let your home become disorienting or muddled.

Suggested reading/tools: Sara Cottner of Feeding the Soil and 2000DollarWedding has the most amazing organization binder I've ever come across. And she was kind enough to put her downloadable templates online!

I also am loving Simplify 101 which sends email tips and has online organization courses. Give it a looksee.

2. Create daily: Continue writing and finding joy in writing. Collaborate often. Don't hesitate and second guess your creativity. Blog. Create things you can and will use. Make all the time, whether it's poetry, music, movement, food, or decor. Always make something.

Suggested reading/tools: Julia Cameron, the author of The Artist's Way, also wrote a book called The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life, which teaches one to turn off all the voices that say why we can't write and to pick up a pen and go at it. I love this book and recommend it constantly. You will write if you read it.

3. Be fiscally wise: Control spending. Manage your budget wisely. Build up a safety net. Pay down student loan and credit card debt whenever possible.

Suggested reading/tools: I've been using Mint to budget, though it is a little frustrating when I transfer funds from one account (checking) to another (savings), but it emails me a weekly report and keeps information in one place.

4. Love: Show the people you love how much they mean to you. Don't forget to tell people even if you think they already know you care about them. Be kind to strangers, animals, people you love, and even people you don't really care for.

Suggested reading/tools: Volunteer Match can show you tons of ways to help others, and you probably know lots of ways already.

That's it for my upcoming year and decade really. These are broad goals, yes, but I think the simpler ones are the steps within these, and they will certainly make appearances here on the Cozy Rustic blog.

Happy New Year, everyone!

-Bea