Winter = Crafting

I love this time of year.  It really makes me want to start crafting.  After a long summer of feeling like I should be outside doing something constructive, late fall and winter are a time to spend time inside working on projects that have been put off for too long.

It’s also a time to try out new craft project ideas for gifts.  I found a new website, www.pinterest.com, that has tons of wonderful ideas for DIY crafts.  Below is one that I found last week that I thought was worth a try.

Here are the ingredients:

A blank painter’s canvas, a piece of fabric, a staple gun, clear contact paper, a cricut machine, and black spray paint.

Start with the blank canvas.  I chose a 12 x 12 frame.  It was a good size to start with.

Select a piece of fabric cut large enough to cover the canvas. Quilter’s fat quarters work perfectly for this size canvas.  They are pre-cut and definitely make it easier than having to wait in line to get fabric cut.

Using the staple gun, cover the canvas tight with the fabric.

Now find a quote or saying that you like.  Due to the size of the canvas, it was important to find a short quote or saying in order for it to fit.  Using the cricut and the clear contact paper, cut out the letters and any other shapes.  Lay the letters and shapes out on the canvas to insure the fit.

Once the layout is to your liking, peel off the back of the contact paper and stick the letters and shapes directly onto the fabric.

In a well ventilated area (per the instructions on the can) lay the signs out and give them a coat of the black spray paint.

I found that it took two coats of paint.  I did not want to overdo it on the first coat and soak the fabric so I did two lighter layers, letting the signs dry for about 45 minutes in between the layers.  I also brought them inside for about 24 hours before the final step.

After everything is dry, peel the letters off the fabric.  I quickly learned that the contact paper letters tended to flake the paint off while I peeled. 

Tada, project complete.

Here are a few lessons that I learned from this project:

I used flat spray paint.  I think I would try a shiny finish next time.

Make sure that the letters and shapes are firmly pressed to the fabric to keep overspray from going under the letters.

This project took longer than I anticipated.  It was four days from start to finish with making seven signs at once.  I took about an hour and a half per sign to cover the sign, cut out the saying, and adhere the letters to the fabric.  It definitely was worth waiting the 24 hours to confirm that everything was dry before peeling the letters off.  Using the sale prices at the local Michaels craft shop, each sign cost about $5.00 a piece.

Now it’s on to the next project.  Christmas cards are coming out of my ears, but you can’t see them just yet.  I don’t want to spoil the surprise for anyone.

A Follow-Up

A couple of weekends ago I headed out of town for my annual scrapbooking camp retreat.  A group of us women go about 40 miles up the road to a boy scout camp and use the facilities for a scrapbooking getaway.  It is so much fun.  We eat in the cafeteria style dining room, scrapbook for 20 hours a day in a room that is heated by a woodstove, and sleep in cabins equipped with bunk beds.

This is no light packing trip.  It takes a while to get all my scrapbooking stuff loaded up.  You never know what you might need.

My main project for this trip was something I have been thinking about for a while.  For those of you that follow my blog, you may remember this little treasure that I found in Sumpter at the swap meet in May.

It took a while to decide what I was going to do with this old drawer.  It finally came to me.  I decided to use pictures from various places we had been, along with all the scraps of travel embellishments I have accumulated, to make a fun display.

The first step was to sort through all of the photos.

I also had to make the decision whether to remove some of the slats to make bigger openings.  I went back and forth on this until I actually sat down and looked at the drawer.  All of the slats were nailed in pretty good, and I was a little worried about damaging the drawer by trying to alter it.  I decided that I would work with the drawer exactly the way I found it.  This made it a little challenging to find some pictures that were skinny enough to fit in the openings, without cutting off our heads.

I went through our photos and laid out the pattern for how they would fit. 

After the photos were laid out, the next step was to go through the embellishments and find ones that would fit in the leftover openings. 

During this process, a few of the pictures got moved around based on embellishments that I really wanted to use.

This project took the better part of one day to finish.  That takes into consideration that I took three breaks for meals, and had a few distractions by the socializing side of this trip.

In the end, I am really happy with the finished project.

I love that the drawer comes from one of our adventures, and includes memories of other adventures.  Now the decision on how to display it.