tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2287655232875439822024-03-05T23:21:01.554-05:00Pinter*MelPinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-67815171492051086552012-12-10T11:43:00.000-05:002012-12-10T11:43:17.757-05:00Pinter*Mel Christmas 2012 - SPOILER ALERT FOR FAMILY<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hey Everyone (except for family, because if you're reading this, then the presents currently sitting under the tree from me are no longer a surprise...however they might not be already because I've been posting quite a bit of stuff to Facebook, in which case, carry on.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This year for all the ladies in the family I decided to make my own version of the natural beauty box; a box full of lotions, lip balms, bath bombs, and linen spray all made by yours truly and only using all-natural ingredients. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I purchased all I would need to make these back in early October from a great online retailer called <a href="http://www.savonpopulaire.ca/" target="_blank">Savon Populaire</a> out of Montreal. Yes their website it completely in French, however if you're using Google Chrome their translate button will help you out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's the numbers I started out working with:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First of all I went to the Dollar Store and picked up some nifty little wooden boxes, which I proceeded to paint with watered down acrylic paint (acts like a stain so you can still see the wood grain), and then sealed with Polycrylic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I started into making lip balms. I used the kit from Savon Populaire, and purchased their vanilla flavouring. I found that the flavouring was lacking in the vanilla'y department, so I added the vanilla I had purchased for making bath bombs. I also made lip balms that are flavoured with the orange essential oil, and then another set with the peppermint essential oil that I also purchased from Savon Populaire. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(Sorry for the abysmal lighting, I took this with my smart phone during sunset.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was stupidly easy. Seriously. If you ever want to do this with your kid as a birthday party favour or something, they could totally do this with your supervision of course...because there's a stove and boiling water involved. Okay, upon review this might not be the safest thing to do...iirc I think I ended up burning myself. Forget what I said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, once they were cool and set, I minimalistically labelled them. Orange for the orange flavour, green for peppermint, and yellow for vanilla. The labels are basic shipping labels with Sharpie paint marker paint. </span><br />
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/12246_10152287979765207_1437027035_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/12246_10152287979765207_1437027035_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After that I decided to make Christmas cards because a) stationary was on for $1.50 at Michael's, and b) stamps were on 40% off, and then were on 'buy one, get one for a cent' sale!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had initially done the entire inside of the card in the hand-stamped letters; "To So and So, Merry Christmas, Love Evan and Melissa xoxo". However when I showed it to my fiancé he said it looked a wee bit ransom-note'ish, so I decided to just go with Merry Christmas and write the rest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Those were all sent out today...so if you're family and reading this, the surprise is now ruined. You'll get your card in 2-3 business days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On to the body butter. I made this from a kit from Savon Populaire as well. I made two different kinds; one was lavender/lime and the other was a scent called "Day at the Beach", which is a combination of grapefruit, bergamot, and coconut. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wine was needed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was also stupidly easy. It's impossible to mess it up. You melt the stuff they give you, add the scent, and then load it into the containers. Wait for it to cool/harden, then close'em up, wipe'em off, and label'em. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On to bath bombs. I made 5 different kinds this year. Vanilla, Day at the Beach, Lavender/lime, Lavender/chamomile, and then straight up orange for the littles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I packaged them all in individual cellophane packages with hand-stamped labels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And finally, I did the linen spray. Which is really just water, witch hazel, and the essential oil of your choice. I did 3 kinds; orange, lavender, and vanilla. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's it! Done. Not so bad, eh? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm not going to show you the packaged up version, because there has to be some holiday surprise! But needless to say all of the stuff went into each person's painted box with a list of all the ingredients in each product. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So that's it! All the ladies are done for Christmas! DIY styles! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What presents did you DIY this year?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Stittsville, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.2585131 -75.920776745.213840600000005 -75.9997407 45.3031856 -75.8418127tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-10756918717415551062012-11-23T09:30:00.000-05:002012-11-23T09:30:02.262-05:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #10 - Fun with Vintage Scrabble Tiles<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First and foremost, I'm sorry I've been kinda out of the craft blogging loop for the past couple weeks, BUT.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">WAIT FOR IT.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I GOT ENGAGED!!!</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So now all that creepy wedding pinning I do on Pinterest can be for real!!! Yay!!! So expect this blog to take a DIY Wedding turn come January 2013. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyways, back to the craft at hand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Inspiration: <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271107682070/" target="_blank">Scrabble Tile Family Signs</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First thing I did was hit up eBay for a killer deal on 500 vintage Scrabble tiles. Bonus; they were from Quebec, so a) I didn't wait 2+ weeks for them, and b) I didn't get hosed by US shipping. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then once I picked out all the tiles for the Scrabble tile family signs (which was more painstaking that you think, Y's are few and far between and extremely popular in pretty much all names), I moseyed over to my local purveyor of shadow boxes and emptied their stock (and for the record, they're still out). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I laid out the Scrabble tiles on the matting and centre them as much as possible so it doesn't look lopsided. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once satisfied with placement, I used Mod Podge Matte to affix the tiles to the matting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While waiting for the tiles to finish drying, I Windexed the crap out of the glass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then popped the matting back into the shadow box and voila! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But wait, there's all that blank space in the bottom right-hand corner, something needs to go there...something both my fiancé and I love....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">LEGO!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used Glue Dots and Mod Podge Outdoor to get these Minifigs to stay put. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yay!!! Much better. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My parents came up to Ottawa the day after we got engaged, so I decided to make them a Christmas ornament. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First I dug out the letters. J, also difficult to find! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I glued them to a piece of card stock using Mod Podge Matte. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After they were completely dry I cut them out using plain ole scissors, and my razor to get in the edges. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used a piece of ribbon for the ornament hanger. Cut a piece long enough to fit around a tree branch, glued it down in a criss-cross on the back of the ornament. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then to secure the ornament hanger I cut out another piece of card stock and stuck it to the back of the ribbon and ornament; making a ribbon sammich. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Trimmed off the excess using my razor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And there you have it! An adorable, personalized, Christmas ornament!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For all you crafty types who are looking for something ridiculously simple, yet awesome, to do with your children for Christmas presents this year, THIS IS IT. Seriously, paper, glue, Scrabble tiles, and some ribbon. That's it. You are only limited by your imagination! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you used Scrabble tiles, or any other game tiles or computer keys to make something personalized? If so, please share in the comments below, I'd LOVE to hear about your projects!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-52187125593395278732012-11-14T09:30:00.000-05:002012-11-14T09:30:00.357-05:00Official Pinter*Mel Project FAIL #2 OR How my intended bowl is now an awesome coaster. <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had a plan to make little bowls for Christmas present presentation this year. I thought a cute little bowl with an owl stamped into the bottom would have been a nice way to hold the homemade beauty goodies I plan on giving out as presents. This was the plan...it's a good thing I'm flexible, and willing to improvise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Inspiration: <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271107315837/" target="_blank">DIY Lace Bowl</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So my first mistake was buying <a href="http://canada.michaels.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-MichaelsCanada-Site/default/Product-Show?pid=C_gc2232" target="_blank">Sculpey Original</a>, not that there's anything wrong with the product, it just was the wrong version of this product for this particular project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You see, most of the DIY air-dry clay recipes call for 3 cups of white glue. I don't know if any of you have purchased white glue lately, but buying enough to get 3 cups worth isn't exactly cheap. Also, making this stuff is kinda labour-intensive. I wanted to see if I could make this pretty quickly to gauge if it was going to sink or swim for Christmas presents. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yay! Sculpey! (and an owl stamp) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I cut about a quarter of the whole slab off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then proceeded to knead the ever-loving sh*t out of it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I grabbed my trusty rolling pin and rolled it out...but not too thin; bowl thin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once I got it evened out, I grabbed one of my smaller bowls as a template. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then using a butter knife and the spatchula thingy from <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/10/whimseybox-1-pintermels-first.html" target="_blank">this post</a>, I cut it out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I evened out the edges a bit, and then pressed my adorable owl stamp into the middle of the future bowl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I gently pressed the circle-owl into the upright bowl I used as the template. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Remember how back at the beginning of the post I indicated that this was the wrong Sculpey product for this project, this became apparent to me at this stage. In order for this product to dry it has to go in the oven, it can't just air dry in the bowl. I needed an air-dry version of this Sculpey product. SO I FRANTICALLY looked around my house for a like-sized bowl I could repress my circle-owl into and then put in the oven. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alas, it was not to be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I did my best to form the edges while my over preheated to 275F. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While my bowl-fail/coaster-win was baking, I decided to use the left-over scraps to make some ornaments for Christmas. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the oven you go! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once my bowl-fail/coaster-win had cooled down enough, I threw on some paint. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then I threw a layer of Mod Podge Outdoor over top to seal it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>[Pro Tip: Skip this step. It made my coaster sticky, and now my mug sticks to it. Very annoying.]</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yay! Coaster-win!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Moral of the story - buy a clay product that will air dry, OR don't be a lazy ass like me and make your own air-dry stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span></div>
PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-41405735126912767682012-11-07T11:16:00.004-05:002012-11-07T11:16:26.237-05:00Handmade Harvest - November 3rd & 4th - Almonte Old Town Hall<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This weekend past I had the awesome opportunity to do some social media work for <a href="http://www.handmadeharvest.com/" target="_blank">Handmade Harvest</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For those of you who have never experienced a Handmade Harvest, it is emphatically the best craft show in the Ottawa Valley Region. This particular show had over 80 vendors spread out over two days, with over 2000 shoppers perusing and purchasing! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To get a sense of just how insanely busy it was over the weekend here's the two days condensed into a 45 second video thanks to timelapse technology! </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hhp6i0wbXKw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also! Apparently the Almonte Bank of Montreal stocked their ATM with $85K on Friday night, and by Sunday it was empty! Jinkies! That's a lot of handmade stuff being purchased! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Want to know when events are happening, or when calls for vendors go out? You can 'like' Handmade Harvest on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HandmadeHarvest?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and you can also follow them on <a href="https://twitter.com/HandmadeHarvest" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, which will provide get up to the moment information, and the play-by-play at shows! Also,</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> make sure you're on their <a href="http://handmadeharvest.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=e3b53dd6e8389eef724a97415&id=92c8c996d8" target="_blank">mailing list</a> so if you aren't on social media a lot you don't miss any important information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/m0ffleb0x/sets/72157631931888188/" target="_blank">link to all the photos I took</a> (and then subsequently tweeted) over the course of the weekend. So many awesome vendors; so many terrifically awesome people! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I can't wait to live-tweet the next Handmade Harvest (which is rumoured to be happening on December 1st in Carleton Place)! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Melissa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.2196395 -76.056612 45.3979975 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-60852989459719838302012-11-02T10:31:00.000-04:002012-11-02T10:31:32.198-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #9: Linen Refresher Spray<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'll admit, for YEARS I used Febreeze liberally around my house. Not unlike Sriracha, I put that sh*t on EVERYTHING. Then a wise friend pointed out that Febreeze is chocked full of nasty chemicals, and that I was only covering up stink with said nasty chemicals, and not getting rid of them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So at that point I phased out the Febreeze, and started just washing anything that smelled a little funky. I mean, usually something smells a bit off because there's bacteria lodged in there somewhere, and no amount of "anti-bacterial" Febreeze is going to get that out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyways, fast forward to this year, I share a bed with a dude and two dogs EVERY NIGHT. They all kinda stink (but not me, never), however washing the sheets EVERY SINGLE DAY is just not feasible...we don't own that many sets. So I started looking online for a simple fabric/linen refresher spray that I could make at home; and I was pleasantly surprised with all the super easy, and super basic recipes out there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.casasugar.com/How--Homemade-Linen-Spray-1891688" target="_blank">I used this one from Casa Sugar.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I grabbed a few 2oz bottles from the dollar store, and instead of vodka I used witch hazel in one bottle, and rubbing alcohol in the other in order to compare. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I pared down the recipe to fit with my 2oz bottle, mixed it all together, poured it in, and then let it sit for 48 hours to set. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My observations are that the witch hazel disperses the essential oil a little more effectively than the rubbing alcohol, however as long as you give the spray bottle a shake before you spray it's no big deal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spray liberally! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.2196395 -76.056612 45.3979975 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-84992232235976286502012-10-31T09:30:00.000-04:002012-10-31T09:30:01.429-04:00Whimseybox #1: Pinter*Mel's First Whimseybox Adventure<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There's this rad company in the called <a href="https://whimseybox.com/" target="_blank">Whimseybox</a>, (you may remember my blog post about founder <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/09/from-diy-craft-blogger-to-diy-craft.html" target="_blank">Alicia DiRago</a>) which will send you a box each month filled with items you'll need to complete an awesome DIY craft. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had the pleasure of receiving my very first box at the beginning of October. It's packaging was absolutely splendid. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the box itself is a VERY useful storage container for this project and the rest of my stamps. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The craft this month: Hand-carved Stamps. Within the box there were a set of instructions, a piece of rubber, ink, 5 cards and envelopes, a spatchula thingy, and a very nice carving gouge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First order of business was to find a design that wasn't too intricate so I could actually manage to carve it out of the rubber. Having never used a carving gouge before I was skeptical I could pull this off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I decided to go with my tried and true toilet paper roll flower, which I've done before <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/07/official-pintermel-project-1-diy-flower.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/09/six-squared-canvases-2-and-3.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Firstly I traced the rubber block on a piece of paper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I placed the centre of my flower using my trusty hole-punch and a paint sample. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I started tracing (must be with pencil!) the petals with a piece of folded toilet paper roll. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then you have to go back over all the lines with your pencil so they're really dark - this will help the design to transfer onto the rubber. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then cut it out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Place design-side down on the rubber and "burnish"...which after looking up I learned meant "hold down and rub vigorously". So yeah, do that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you remove the piece of paper, the design should now be transferred onto your piece of rubber! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now here comes the difficult part; and it was only difficult because I had never used one of these gouge tools before. It reminded my of my <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/09/official-pintermel-project-7-custom.html" target="_blank">first foray into using a razor</a> to cut out intricate design. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Start carving out all the negative space; so anything you don't want ink to get on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yeah, things got pretty messy</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>[Pro Tip: Clean up the mess before you get into the ink. You don't want chunks.]</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Take a spare piece of cardboard or a paper plate, the ink (provided), and the spatchula thingy (provided) and distribute an even layer of ink on the surface the size of your stamp. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Grab a couple spare pieces of paper to test on. Put your carved stamp design-side down into the ink, press firmly everywhere so make sure that the ink is distributed evenly and that any air bubbles get lost. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used the spatchula to apply ink to any areas on the stamp that may have gotten missed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then test! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Press down EVERYWHERE!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meh, could be better. I tried a few more times; trying to perfect the paint-to-stamp ratio until I felt comfortable enough to make a card with the cards provided! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yay!!! It worked! There were only a couple air bubbles/areas where I didn't press down hard enough, but overall I like the look, although I think I used too much ink. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once it dried enough, the this ink does dry pretty quickly, I took one of my pre-fab stamps and made sure everyone knew this was my handy work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tada!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I just have to decide who to send it to! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was a super fun project, and I can't wait to get my second <a href="https://whimseybox.com/" target="_blank">Whimseybox</a> in the mail in early November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If <a href="https://whimseybox.com/" target="_blank">Whimseybox</a> is something that appeals to you I highly recommend signing up! AND, they just dropped their monthly box price back down to $15! These supplies would cost you at LEAST that much at Michael's or Deserres, and you don't get a kick ass box at the end to store all your stuff in! DO IT!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Happy Crafting! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com6Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-8301530323850068422012-10-28T20:03:00.000-04:002012-10-28T20:04:30.961-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #8: Halloween Edition - Screwdriver Pumpkin Carving <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After recovering from the woe that was my <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/10/official-pintermel-project-fail-1-great.html" target="_blank">first attempt at a creative pumpkin</a>, I picked up this beauty from <a href="http://www.farmboy.ca/" target="_blank">Farm Boy</a> to carve. Of course I couldn't just carve a traditional jack o'lantern... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Inspiration: <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271107375964/" target="_blank">Carving a Pumpkin with a Drill</a> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My partner helped to scoop out the guts, and while he was doing that I separated out all the seeds and roasted them! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They can have guts on them, in fact it adds flavour, just make sure to remove any large chunks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to 300F. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mix pumpkin seeds, olive oil, salt, and garlic powder together. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then spread them out as evenly as possible on a cookie sheet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Throw it all in the oven for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so. Once they're done let them cool off a bit and enjoy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Okay back to pumpkin carving...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Firstly, I was forbidden by my partner to use the drill for pumpkin carving purposes so I had to improvise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amongst our tools, I found a screw, and a random drill bit that didn't seem to go with our drill set. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used a bistro chalk marker to draw the design on my pumpkin. I used the chalk marker because it's hella water soluble. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once I had my design plotted out I started to go to town with the screw and the hammer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I very quickly realized that this method was tedious and not producing the size of hole I needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I went back downstairs to the tool box to look for inspiration...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and I found it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">#2 Phillips Screwdriver to the rescue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I didn't even have to use the hammer. Just poked the screwdriver through the pumpkin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After I was done poking what seemed like a million little holes through the pumpkin, I grabbed three tealights to place in it to see if the holes worked as I'd hoped. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was mentally preparing myself to be dazzled...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and then this happened...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">WTF IS THIS SH*T??! Turns out when I pulled the screwdriver back through after poking it into the pumpkin the stringy side of the pumpkin pulled through too and covered the hole back up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">SO, I took the drill bit and threaded it through EACH AND EVERY hole in the pumpkin to make sure the hole was clean and free of pumpkin innards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I tried lighting it again....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It worked!!! Woot! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did, however, have to take the lid back off after about 2 minutes because not enough oxygen was getting to the candles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><b>PRO TIP</b>: If your partner forbids you from using the drill for pumpkin carving purposes, IGNORE HIM/HER!!! Use that drill FFS!!! </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have a safe and happy Halloween! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-63754194290793080822012-10-21T13:43:00.000-04:002012-10-21T13:44:21.485-04:00Christmas Prep Project #1: Bath Bombs & Shower Tablets<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last night I decided to take the plunge and start messing about with SCIENCE!!! (Prepare to be blinded!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I put in a massive order to a company out of Montreal called <a href="http://www.savonpopulaire.ca/" target="_blank">Savon Populaire</a> (don't worry all you non-French speaking folks, Google Translate does a great job of translating this site into English) last week, and all my goodies safely arrived this past Friday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So last night I decided to start playing around with two projects: 1) Homemade "Vick's" Shower Steamers, and 2) Bath Bombs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The shower steamers were dead easy, and I used the recipe from <a href="http://beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.ca/2012/03/homemade-vicks-vapor-shower-disks.html?m=1" target="_blank">Frugal by Choice</a>; seriously, baking soda, water, and a sh*t ton of eucalyptus (and lavender if you so choose). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They should look like paste, but smell like awesome. I left them out overnight to dry, however when I got up this morning they were still a little wetter than I wanted them to be so I popped them in the oven for 10 minutes @ 350F, and that seemed to do the trick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>[PRO TIP: Be mindful when taking them out of the oven, as they'll be ready to come out of the molds, and you could very easily end up with one in the bottom of your oven.]</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I tried one of the finished shower tablets in the shower this morning, and they dissolve pretty quickly, and I definitely want more eucalyptus smell. SO next batch will be bigger and have like 5x's as much eucalyptus in it (and maybe some peppermint, it's frigging STRONG). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next I moved onto bath bombs. Admittedly I have NEVER worked with citric acid before, so I had no idea how easily this stuff would fizz up when it was in contact with even the most minute amount of water. Hats off to people who make these for a living, it's an exercise in patience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used the recipe found <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/280275/how-to-make-bath-fizzies?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/bath-and-spa-gifts" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>Verdict:</b></u> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The orange ones (scented with orange and vanilla) in the top right-hand corner were my first attempt. I quickly learned that I had used too much water because it activated the corn starch which made them rise like a loaf of bread. I was able to still get a bath bomb out of them, however their fizz left a lot to be desired. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The green ones (scented with peppermint) in the bottom right-hand corner turned out much better as the measurements were much more balanced. However, I think I overdid it with the peppermint, as I'm certain that if you added one of those to your bath you would have clear sinuses for a month!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The purple ones (scented with lavender) in the middle are pretty awesome. They have just the right amount of scent, and in the kitchen sink test beat everyone hands down in fizziness. I can wait to try these ones out this week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The blue ones (scented with a mix called "A Day at the Beach" which is pink grapefruit, bergamot, and orange, with aromatic essence of coconut), are also completely awesome. I think next time I will use slightly more scent though as they're a little weak smelling for my liking, however they could be perfectly fine for other folk's senses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I now feel the overwhelming urge to make them pretty, by using ACTUAL molds and not muffin tins...that we use...for actual muffins. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So there you have it! My maiden voyage complete! Sorry for the spoiler family, but you'll be getting these and some other awesome handmade beauty products for Christmas this year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-35558596219382227212012-10-18T09:48:00.000-04:002012-10-18T09:48:19.317-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project FAIL #1: The Great Pumpkin Fail of 2012<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'd been perusing <a href="http://pinterest.com/m0ff/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> looking for alternate ways to jazz up pumpkins for a DIY Fall-look around the house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Inspiration: <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/63965257178752915/" target="_blank">Chevron painted pumpkins </a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I purchased this perfect teeny pumpkin at my local grocery store for 99 cents. I didn't want to invest big money in pumpkins until I knew what I was going to do, and that what I was going to do was going to work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I painted this cutie pie white. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>(PRO TIP: If you're planning on painting a pumpkin white, just get a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5i2_U7yCMf-CsJ8zv2ZMH-gLUrEVmxNYzV9uKit3hyfLV0cLnH9hGJFMSPPWjwCLc9sCx7ibe75_LOn0Dnd9sNOy-Q0p8myckifib0K0WRwHxn0MHmDDiiM0sbX1fFwDlbTtnzcxWUcY/s640/WhitePumpkins.jpg" target="_blank">white pumpkin</a> and save yourself about 3 coats of paint.)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I let this pumpkin dry for like 24 hours. I wanted to make sure it was good and dry before I started putting more paint on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I figured I'd tape a pattern on the pumpkin to paint. I wasn't talented enough to do chevrons, so I chose an easier pattern to start with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I was taping away, when I noticed that one of my pieces of tape was a bit off centre, so I started to gently pull it off to reposition it when THIS happened...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That piece of bastard tape took the paint right off my pumpkin. I thought maybe it was just an isolated incident, and proceeded to try another piece of tape on the other side. It happened again. It happened with every piece of tape I put on the damn thing. By the time I had taken all the tape off I was left with my original orange pumpkin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The moral of the story:</b> Put the tape on BEFORE you paint. Yes, you'll be relegated to orange as one of your primary colour choices, but you won't end up with a naked pumpkin. One that SHOULD still have three coats of paint on it. Alternatively, you could also just freehand a design or drawing on the painted pumpkin, just as long as you don't put tape on the actual paint you should be fine. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don't make the same mistake folks! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-88077866597073072002012-10-17T15:50:00.002-04:002012-10-17T15:51:38.838-04:00Six Squared: The Big Send Off<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So on Monday I lovingly wrapped my 6 canvases in bubble wrap, placed them carefully inside a Canada Post bubble mailer, addressed it, then sealed it up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I saw the envelope containing the submission form and my business cards laying on the table, because I forgot to put it in the package. There was no way that thing was going to be re-opened, whatever glue they put on these mailers could be used to hold aircraft together. So I ended up taping the envelope to the backside of the mailer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anywho, here are the pictures! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here they are all finished: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">BERBLE WRERP!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I made some "business cards" out of paint samples to hold me over until my actual profesh cards arrive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All wrapped up! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In ya go! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Addressed and ready to roll. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'll be heading down to Kingston for the Six Squared Gala on Friday, November 16th. Can't wait to see all the other wonderful submissions! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com1Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219516 -76.056612 45.398121 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-52369232221966040792012-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:002012-10-12T13:13:34.655-04:00Six Squared: Canvas 6<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well friends, we've come to the final canvas. Thank you for taking this journey with me, it's been a blast! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>Canvas 6: Put a Bird (Stencil) on it (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmLljk2t8M" target="_blank">YouTube video</a> from Portlandia for context)</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">First I painted the canvas - two coats, just like always. It wouldn't make any sense to paint the stencil on it AND THEN paint it. That would just be silly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I selected the awesome bird stencil to paint on it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I taped that bad boy onto the canvas to it wouldn't move around and mess things up, and selected the colours I wanted to use, and a buncha small/thin paint brushes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">PAINT ALL THE POSITIVE SPACE!!! (Note: I just totally made that up. Does "positive space" even exist? I know negative space does, because I spent an inordinate amount of time filling it in with ModPodge in my <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/08/official-pintermel-project-2-mod-podge.html" target="_blank">screen printing post</a>.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ugh, not to draw attention to it, but I totally borked the right side of the canvas by getting sloppy with my paint brush. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's all good. I got this. FIXED!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I picked up this tester kit of ModPodge at Deserres last weekend, and I couldn't help but notice that there's a SPARKLE MODPODGE (1st on the left). HOLY SH*T!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You better believe I smothered that canvas in glorious SPARKLE MODPODGE. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ohhhhh!!! Try not to look directly at it; you could be blinded by it's sparkly, shiny awesomeness. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">TADA!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Canvas 6: COMPLETE.</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com2Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.2194795 -76.056612 45.3981575 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-81773747136822761672012-10-09T10:47:00.000-04:002012-10-09T10:49:49.466-04:00Six Squared: Canvas 5<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Continuing with this series, here's canvas #5 for <a href="http://www.sixsquared.seniorskingston.ca/" target="_blank">Six Squared</a> in support or the <a href="http://www.seniorskingston.ca/" target="_blank">Kingston Seniors Association</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>Canvas 5: Who gives a hoot?</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As always, I begin with painting my canvas; two coats. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While that was drying I stenciled my favourite owl onto the back of some really pretty scrapbook paper I used last year for a Christmas present. I also cut out a branch for him to sit on from another piece of scrapbook paper too! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Used my scissors for the bigger, easier parts, but used my trusty razor blade for the rest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Branch! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I found that the branch wasn't as black as I wanted it to be, so I gave it a coat of black acrylic paint to sharpen it up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once that dried, and my canvas was dried it was time to bust out the ModPodge and glue the owl and branch to the canvas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's impossible to use too much ModPodge on paper crafts like this; put it underneath to glue it on, and then brush it on over top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And always do another coat all over for good measure (and shine!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finished product; TADA!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Canvas #5: COMPLETE. </b></span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-89154120617056303762012-10-07T14:12:00.000-04:002012-10-09T10:49:22.055-04:00Six Squared: Canvas 4<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week I finished up the remaining three canvases for <a href="http://www.sixsquared.seniorskingston.ca/" target="_blank">Six Squared</a> in support of the <a href="http://seniorskingston.ca/" target="_blank">Kingston Seniors Association</a>. Here's #4! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Canvas #4: Playing with Colours</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I bought this massive pallet of colours from <a href="http://www.wallacks.com/index1.php" target="_blank">Wallack's </a>last week, and absolutely couldn't wait to try them out! I decided to dedicate a canvas specifically to this endeavour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, I painted the canvas a warm grey to help neutralize the whiteness of the canvas. I also find that a primed canvas holds other colours much better. </span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/8063635116_ee6036caab_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/8063635116_ee6036caab_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once the base layer was dry, I grabbed a bunch of paint brushes and the lid of a big Tupperware container (because I'm too good for an actual palette, clearly). </span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/8063628694_a1b560b54c_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/8063628694_a1b560b54c_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Squirted out a glob of each of the colours I intended to use onto the lid. </span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/8063621774_8937833cbb_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/8063621774_8937833cbb_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">...and started painting free-hand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did two coats of each colour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the top of the canvas was done, I decided I wanted to do something with the sides. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Taped it off all the way around. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Played around with raw umber and white. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bottom first.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then a slightly different colour for the top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Waited for it to dry, and then pulled off the tape. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then sealed it up with ModPodge! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">TADA!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Canvas #4: COMPLETE.</b></span></div>
PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-79529913039854765792012-09-30T20:00:00.001-04:002012-10-09T10:48:52.899-04:00Six Squared: Canvases 2 and 3<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week I worked on canvases 2 and 3 for the <a href="http://www.sixsquared.seniorskingston.ca/">Six Squared </a>event in support of the <a href="http://seniorskingston.ca/">Kingston Seniors Association</a>. They are both paper-craft focused, and kinda girlie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>Canvas #2 - Paint-chip Flowers</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First I painted my canvas with 2 coats of acrylic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, once the paint had dried, I traced three circles randomly on the canvas using a toilet paper roll dipped in some gold ink I had from another project. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The I started painting the circles in with some gold acrylic paint. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did two coats of the gold paint to make sure I got full coverage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While these were drying I picked out the paint chips I wanted to use (yes, I have about a zillion paint chips laying about from artwork I did last year), and selected three different sized hole punchers to use. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let's make some flowers!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lay'em out...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mod Podge'em on...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now comes the artistic part; drawing some stems and leaves. If you suck at drawing like I do, just keep it as simple as possible. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, find a green marker. I use these markers because they're awesome. You can get them at <a href="http://www.wallacks.com/index1.php">Wallacks</a>. (I used the green one at the bottom.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh and add some grass in too, for effect. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once your drawing is dry, go over everything with a thin coat of Mod Podge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now let that beast dry, and you're all done! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>CANVAS #2: COMPLETE.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>Canvas #3 - Scrapbook Paper Flower</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Those of you who have read my blog before will immediately recognize this craft; it's an homage to my <a href="http://melephantintheroom.blogspot.ca/2012/07/official-pintermel-project-1-diy-flower.html">first official Pinter*Mel project</a>! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As always, paint the canvas! 2 coats! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While that's drying, take a folded toilet paper tube and a pencil and trace your flower petals on the back of the scrapbook paper you chose to use. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cut'em out, and lay them out on your canvas. I had some extra petals laying around from the first project so I used them to fill in some sparse spots. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you're satisfied with how they're laid out, start Mod Podging them into place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure to Mod Podge the overlapping edges of the petals down the sides of the canvas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Go over the entire canvas with a thin layer of Mod Podge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let the Mod Podge dry and you're finished! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>CANVAS #3: COMPLETE.</b></span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-54403141638791390612012-09-25T10:00:00.000-04:002012-10-09T10:48:15.511-04:00Six Squared: Canvas #1 of 6<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A few weeks ago I told you about a fundraising event called <a href="http://6squared.ca/6squared">Six Squared</a> in support of the <a href="http://seniorskingston.ca/">Kingston Seniors Association</a>. This week I started (and completed) my first 6x6 canvas! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>The Inspiration:</u></b> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271106758352/">Tape Painting with Metallic Paint</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So first off I painted my little canvas gold. I used a heavy body paint, so I didn't add water to it like I normally do to all my acrylics. I did two coats because I wanted it to be super shiny. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I grabbed my drafting tape (fancy name for skinny masking tape) and taped a random geo-design. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I decided to use a turquoise colour to paint the parts of the canvas not covered in tape. I mixed four shades of turquoise by mixing in a little white. Wanted to give it that ombre look all the kids are raving about. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did two coats of each blue and then let it dry for a few hours before pulling off the tape to see what I'd made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There were a few spots where the paint had bled through to the gold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I took a little glob of the gold paint and a fine tip paint brush and fixed it up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See! Fixed! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I really liked how this one turned out. I might make a bigger one for the house or as a gift for someone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Canvas #1: COMPLETE. </b></span></div>
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PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-85780639045273618092012-09-21T21:25:00.000-04:002012-09-23T12:32:24.193-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #7: Custom Family Sign in a Floating Frame <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="text-decoration: underline;">The Inspiration:</b> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271106730713/">Vinyl Letters in a Floating Frame</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>The Process:</u></b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I *really* liked the look of this project; a nice framed tribute to your family for the front hall. My brother married his longtime girlfriend last weekend, and as soon as I saw this project I immediately knew that I wanted to make it for them. The Pinterest post explains how to make the letters using vinyl and a <a href="http://www.cricut.com/">Cricut Machine</a>, I don't have one of these, so I did it the old fashioned way; with scrapbook paper and a razor. I'm hardcore like that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will need: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- A floating frame, size of your choice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- A razor blade</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Scrapbook paper x 3-5 pieces, design and colours of your choice</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Cutting board</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Scissors</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Mod Podge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Paint brush</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Letter stickers</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wasn't able to find stickers big enough and in a font and colour I liked enough to do the "The Flynn's" in, so I went on ye olde internet and sought out a font that would work. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's the size I picked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I printed it out to the size I wanted, and then begun cutting and razoring it out. I recommend cutting as much as you can with scissors, and then doing the finer work with the razor. You'll be a lot less homicidal; trust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Fun Fact:</i> Before this project, I had never used a razor for crafty purposes. It's harder than it looks, but once you get the hang of it you'll wonder how you did without! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: </i>Put the cutting board underneath BEFORE you start using the razor. Your table will thank you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you have your "The 'insert your family name here'" cut out, you're going to glue it to the back of the scrapbook paper you chose for it. Make sure you glue it on black ink side down, so that when you cut out the scrapbook paper letters they're the right way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let this dry for a couple hours. Once it's dry you can start cutting the letters out. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You want it to be completely dry so that it's a bit stiff.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Just as before, start with scissors and then move to razor for the more intricate bits. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now that your letters are complete, grab your frame, and Windex the crap out of the glass until it's clean. You don't want to do it after you've affixed the letters because a) that would be stupid, and b) the Windex will absolutely discolour and ruin your paper. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you've cleaned the glass in your frame, carefully layout the letters you made trying extra hard to not get fingerprints all over the place, and lay out the approximate location of the stickers you'll be using for the names of your family members and the est. date. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you're happy with placement, grab your Glue Dots and start sticking the letters you made on the glass. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you've affixed all the letters (as shown above), you can play around with embellishments if you like. I purchased a few different coordinated colours of scrapbook paper to do this with, and I had some different sized hole punchers from other projects, so I used those too. </span></div>
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/8010604390_f526a004e0_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/8010604390_f526a004e0_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Layout your embellishments on the frame and affix them with a few Glue Dots. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Author's Note:</i> Sorry about the overhead lighting reflecting. It was late, and my boyfriend and I had watched about 4 episodes of Dog: The Bounty Hunter. I just wanted to go to bed at this point. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you're happy with how things are laid out on the glass, put your frame back together, Windex the outside glass of the frame to rid of any fingerprints, and you're DONE!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Voila! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's now ready to be gifted!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm not going to go into a detailed breakdown of cost on this project seeing as it was a wedding present. The cost can really fluxuate based on the quality of the floating frame you purchase. Everything I used for this project I purchased at <a href="http://www.michaels.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-MichaelsCanada-Site/default/Home-Show">Michael's</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you done a project like this before? How did you do your letters? Did you use a Cricut Machine? Should I prolly just buy one?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Please leave your responses below, or tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa </span></div>
PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-45245744201947091062012-09-08T13:08:00.000-04:002012-09-23T12:33:13.121-04:00From DIY Craft Blogger to DIY Craft Entrepreneur<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">[soapbox] I want to live in a world where
craft companies recognize and reward those who a) use their products (duh!),
and b) dedicate time out of their busy schedule to be creative, let their inner
artist come out to play, and encourage others to do so as well! [/soapbox]<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It’s no secret that although DIY craft activity has exploded
since the massive success of sites like <a href="http://pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a>
and <a href="http://www.polyvore.com/">Polyvore</a>, being able to turn DIY
crafting into a profitable business has yet to be reliably mapped out. I mean,
how do you make money off doing something you do for fun, and mostly in your
spare time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Craft supply companies haven’t quite caught onto the DIY
craft blogger marketing freight train yet, especially when you compare how
companies like Nestle and Huggies/Pampers have sunk their hooks into the mommy
blogger marketing machine. Sure DIY
craft blogs have been around for quite a while; however the exposure has been
minimal up until recently (the last 2 years). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the time being, crafters who wish to exploit their
creativity and turn a profit, need to be equally industrious and have a knack
for entrepreneurship (or at the very least know someone they can rely on to
mentor them through the process)…oh, and have an original idea that will draw
potential customers in! <i>Fact: Coming up
with original ideas is HARD!</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I came across this <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-30/business/ct-biz-0830-confidential-20120830_1_demo-day-craft-store-excelerate-labs">article</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/aliciadirago">Alicia DiRago</a> owns <a href="https://whimseybox.com/">WhimseyBox</a> the DIY craft company she hatched
out of her DIY fashion blog <a href="http://www.dismountcreative.com/">DismountCreative.com</a>.
<a href="https://whimseybox.com/">WhimseyBox</a> ships a selection of craft
products to customers every month for $25. I just signed up and hope to get my
box of goodies soon! I can’t wait! The article takes us through Alicia’s pitch
day at <a href="http://exceleratelabs.com/">Excelerate Labs</a>’ 3<sup>rd</sup>
annual Demo Day, where she would be looking for $900,000 in venture capital to
grow her business. It offers a rare
glimpse into what it takes to go from DIY craft blogger, to DIY craft
entrepreneur. <i>The answer: A metric <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shitton">sh*t-ton</a> of dedication
and hard work, that’s what!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Perhaps it is a sign that DIY crafters are beginning to be recognized
as a profitable market, albeit slowly and with a healthy dose of reserved
investment, but recognized nonetheless. If
I had half the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lady+balls">lady balls</a>
this woman has I wouldn’t think twice about quitting my cushy government job and
pouring my life into a venture like this. Huge props to <a href="https://twitter.com/aliciadirago">Alicia DiRago</a> for making a
bulletproof business case and paving the road forward for venture capital providers
to begin investing in DIY craft start-ups. *high five*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I sincerely hope to see more of this in the near future! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Article: <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-30/business/ct-biz-0830-confidential-20120830_1_demo-day-craft-store-excelerate-labs">All
Business on Demo Day – Businesswoman Alicia DiRago, a former gymnast, fights
nerves by stays focused at Excelerate Labs’ pitch meeting with investors</a> –
August 30<sup>th</sup> 2012</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-16436976429145698962012-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:002012-09-23T12:31:20.595-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #6: Melted Bead Suncatchers<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Inspiration:</b></u> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271106730581/">Cheap Beads Melted into Cake Pan Suncatcher</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Process:</b></u> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The premise is simple enough; a single layer of beads poured into a cake pan, put in the oven on 400F for 20 minutes. Once cooled, flip out of the pan, drill a hole, string it up with ribbon. Bob's your uncle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will need: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- A cake pan, or disposable tartlet pans from Dollarama</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Cheap beads...emphasis on CHEAP (I'll explain why further down)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Washers or a drill (whatever your more comfortable wielding)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Ribbon</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Preheat the oven to 400F.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Put the pans on a cookie sheet and drop a washer into each of them. </span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8452/7940397416_c8175fcf60_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8452/7940397416_c8175fcf60_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At this point I realized that 6 suncatchers was a little overambitious considering I didn't even know if it was going to work. So I pared it down to 2. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lay a single layer of cheap beads into the bottom of the tartlet pans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you're using the washers instead of the drill make sure the beads touch the washer, but don't cover it, you want to be able to thread the ribbon through the hole they provide. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If the oven is finished preheating, throw those suckers in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Set the timer for 20 minutes. (I wasn't fast enough with the camera on this one.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, make sure to turn your hood fan on to at least low. It's not really stinky, but it definitely lets off a little odour. </span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/7940383548_9052e609cc_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/7940383548_9052e609cc_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After 20 minutes they should be melted and ready to come out. </span><br />
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<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7940378902_b2c059cf22_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/7940378902_b2c059cf22_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They should take about 10-15 minutes to cool down enough to flip out of the pans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hrmmmm, a little opaque, but they melted really well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At this point I grabbed my jewellry making supplies because I had some great beads from the <a href="http://www.thesassybeadco.com/">Sassy Bead Company</a> that I thought would work GREAT as a suncatcher. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The blue ones are the expensive ones that I used...I also decided to make two more of the cheap bead ones. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I put the expensive blue ones in the over on 400F for 20 minutes just like the cheap ones. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">20 minutes later I took them out...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Okay, I thought, they're expensive, maybe their expensiveness means they need more heat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Waited another 20 minutes and took them out...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Still nothing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then it dawned on me. They're made of FRICKIN' GLASS. They aren't going to melt unless I have a frickin' kiln. DERP!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Still have four mostly opaque (non) suncatchers though! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Instead of hanging each one of them individually, I decided to hang them in a vertical mobile-type thingy using a series of carefully placed knots. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the finished product...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Total Approximate Cost: Beads - $6, Washers - $3, Ribbon - $3. Total = $12</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>It's worth noting that I still have at least 12-15 suncatchers-worth of beads left, and at least 20+ washers. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you done a project like this before? What variations did you find worked best? Please comment below, or tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Melissa</span></div>
PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219653 -76.056612 45.397984 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-42882060150614737502012-09-05T13:39:00.002-04:002012-09-23T12:34:35.359-04:00Six Squared: A New Community Art Phenomenon <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What am I doing with these, you ask?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well I'll tell you! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://seniorskingston.ca/">Kingston Seniors Association</a> is holding a fundraising event called <a href="http://6squared.ca/6squared">Six Squared</a>, and I plan on submitting some artwork on these canvases in order to help them raise some much needed funds! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>What is <a href="http://6squared.ca/6squared">Six Squared</a>?</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Six Squared is a non-juried, inclusive exhibition and sale open to everyone from teens to seniors. The artworks are submitted to the Kingston Seniors Association as donations by the artist. The artworks will be sold at the Six Squared event for $20 each, and all unsold works will remain with the Kingston Seniors Association. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>What kind of artwork can I submit?</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All media, including photography, will be accepted as long as the artwork can be hung with a small nail or pushpin. Artwork must be original and measure exactly 6x6 inches (15x15 cm). Each artist can submit up to SIX pieces or original artwork. The artists will remain anonymous, so please do not sign your work, however at the time of purchase the artist will be revealed to the buyer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>When do I need to submit my artwork?</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Submissions will be accepted until <i>October 19th 2012</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, please fill out the <a href="http://www.seniorskingston.ca/images/stories/6squared/Artist_Submission_Form_web.pdf">Submission Form</a> (PDF), then deliver your artwork by one of the following methods: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. By Mail to: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Seniors Association Kingston Region</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> 56 Francis Street</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Kingston, ON</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> K7M 1L8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. In person, at the same address as above, during business hours (8:30am - 4:30pm, Monday to Friday). </span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56+Francis+Street,+Kingston,+ON&aq=2&oq=56+Francis+Street&sll=45.250157,-75.800257&sspn=0.579121,1.234589&t=m&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=56+Francis+St,+Kingston,+Ontario+K7M+2K5&ll=44.224782,-76.521835&spn=0.018452,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A&output=embed" width="300"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="https://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=56+Francis+Street,+Kingston,+ON&aq=2&oq=56+Francis+Street&sll=45.250157,-75.800257&sspn=0.579121,1.234589&t=m&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=56+Francis+St,+Kingston,+Ontario+K7M+2K5&ll=44.224782,-76.521835&spn=0.018452,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>When is the Six Squared Event?!</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Six Squared Art Gala & Sale is November 14th to 18th 2012. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>Still want more information?</b></u> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Please feel free to drop in at The Centre (56 Francis Street, Kingston) during normal business hours, or call 613.532.6222, or drop an email to <a href="mailto:info@6squared.ca">info@6squared.ca</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'll be doing a canvas every week starting on September 17th for this event, so please stay tuned! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-<a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">Melissa</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Update: Ottawa folks, if you're looking to submit works for this great fundraiser please let me know. I'll be heading down to Kingston the weekend before the submission deadline, and am more than happy to take your artworks with me to donate. </span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-16584397811667573772012-08-27T10:00:00.000-04:002012-09-23T12:37:26.616-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #5: DIY Cut-Out Photo Art<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Inspiration:</b></u> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271106929249/">DIY Cut-Out Photo Art</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Process:</b></u> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will need: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- one printed photo, an 8x10 would work well</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- one canvas, of either same or slightly larger size than the photo </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- acrylic paint in the colour your choice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 3-4 different sized circular items (i.e. drinking glass, hole punch, etc.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- pencil or pen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- scissors</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Mod Podge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 1 paint brush (for the paint)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 1 sponge brush (for the Mod Podge) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Firstly, squirt some of your acrylic paint into a little dish and add some water to it to thin it out a bit. This will help with even coverage on your canvas. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>**Note: the Pinterest link shows a wooden canvas (as opposed to the fabric one that I have chosen). If you have chosen to use a wooden canvas, I recommend either staining the wood so it's sealed, or covering it in a thick layer of Mod Podge (which will also seal the wood) before starting.**</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure to do two coats. The first coat shouldn't take too long to dry; maybe half an hour. Also, don't forget to do the edges of the canvas too! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While your second coat is drying, get out your 3-4 circular items for tracing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Start with the biggest circle. Flip your picture over and trace some strategic circles on the back of it. When I say strategic I mean that if there is a focal point in your photo you may wish to include this in one of the big circles. For example, in my photo the focal point is a big drop of sap, so I was sure to include at least a portion of that focal point in one of the big circles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then cut the big circles out! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure to place the circles on the canvas approximately where they were in the original picture. You want to be able to tell what the original picture was when you look at the final product. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now that your big circles are done, continue tracing with your smaller circles. You can cut out as many, or as few as you like. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My photo was pretty abstract to begin with, so I opted to use more circles. Next time I do this project I will use a photo that is less abstract to see how that turns out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The aftermath: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If your canvas is 100% dry, start Mod Podging your circles onto it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once you've Mod Podged them all into place wait about 30 minutes for them to completely dry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After they are all dry, go over the entire canvas, over the circles and all, with a layer of Mod Podge. (I did two layers, but that's completely up to you.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Don't forget to Mod Podge the sides of the canvas as well! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now let it dry to a beautiful, sealed, shine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's it! You're done! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ta Da! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Total Approximate Cost: 1 canvas - $6-$8, Photo Print - $1.00. Total = $7-$9</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(The paint and the Mod Podge I already had laying about from other projects.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you done a project like this? Did you do the wooden canvas version? What kind of photo did you use? Which ones work best? Please comment below, or tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span></div>
<br />PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-11181103793702363222012-08-20T10:00:00.000-04:002012-09-23T12:41:33.582-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #4: Wooden Letter Vertical Wall Sign<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Inspiration:</b></u> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271106749897/">Family Name Banner on a Ribbon</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Process:</b></u> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will need: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 2 paint brushes (one smaller for detail, and one bigger for larger surfaces)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Acrylic paint in the colour(s) you want your square wood pieces and wooden letters</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 4 pieces of scrapbook paper in the design of your choice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Mod Podge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Spool of 2 inch thick ribbon in colour of your choice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Spool of super thin ribbon in colour of your choice (optional)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 1 D-ring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Staple gun</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Start with painting the wooden plaque pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: Make sure to add some water to your brush, and a little bit to your paint. This will help the paint go on smoother and will give you much better coverage. Also, your paint won't run out as quickly.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Throw a second coat on for perfect coverage. Do the same to your wooden letters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let those dry for an hour or two. Acrylic really doesn't take too long to dry, but you don't want to mess up the paint job by being overzealous. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: While waiting for your paint to dry I recommend grabbing a quick nap, or taking a nice relaxing bath with a <a href="http://www.purpleurchinsoap.com/">Purple Urchin</a> bath cube dropped in. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once dry, you can start tracing and cutting out the scrapbook paper for your background. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Flip the wooden piece over so the raised portion is face down. Take your trusty mechanical pencil and get right in there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If the scrapbook paper doesn't fit perfectly just give it a little trim. Tracing isn't an exact science. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now bust out your Mod Podge and glue that paper to that wood! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Get that Mod Podge EVERYWHERE!!! On top of the paper, on the exposed sides of the wood. ALL OVER!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So now wait for all that Mod Podge to dry. It could take a little while, so take this opportunity to go do something else for an hour or so. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alright, now that everything is dry, we're going to bust out even more Mod Podge by affixing the letters to the middle of the wooden plaque pieces, and then covering the letters in Mod Podge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Voila! I let these dry overnight before I started attaching them together with the ribbon and staple gun. I didn't want anything to ruin that perfect Mod Podge sheen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alright here comes the technical and slightly dangerous part of all this fun; measuring and stapling your ribbon to the back of the wooden plaque pieces while attempting to space the pieces out evenly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First get an idea of how you want it to look once the ribbon is affixed to the back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pro Tip: If you're a kid, or just kinda accident prone, get another adult to help you to use the staple gun. It doesn't mess around. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Carefully flip the ribbon and the wooden plaque upside down. Start with the last letter of your word first, and make sure that you leave at least 6" of ribbon at the bottom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now carefully staple the ribbon into place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next, grab a measuring tape and measure out where you want to put the next wooden plaque. Use a piece of chalk to mark it. I spaced mine 3 inches. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Keep stapling and measuring until all your plaque pieces are attached. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure you leave about 1.5 feet of extra ribbon at the top, as you are now going to feed the D-ring onto it, fold it over, and staple the remaining ribbon to the back of the first wooden plaque piece. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now staple that remaining ribbon REALLY well because it's where the majority of the weight is going to rest once it's hung on the wall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a finishing touch, cut the bottom left-over ribbon in a V shape. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's it! You're done! Now go hang it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: Hang it on a stud, it's not light!</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Total Approximate Cost: Wooden Plaque Pieces - $5/ea, Letters - $3/ea, Paint - $4/ea, Paper - $1.50/ea, Ribbon - $5/ea, D-rings - $3. Total = $65</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was definitely the most expensive project I've done to date. It's worth noting that the wooden pieces were quite pricey, and had I done some shopping around first I most likely could have found them for much cheaper elsewhere. That being said, this was given as a gift to my future sister-in-law, and quality was definitely important! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you done a project like this? Where did you find your materials? Was it cheaper than this? I want to hear from you! Please comment below, or tweet me <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Melissa</span>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-40607198703535253422012-08-17T10:00:00.000-04:002012-09-23T12:42:53.777-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #3: Wooden Block Magnets<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Inspiration:</b></u> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/267893877805154915/">DIY Dishwasher Magnet</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Process: </b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Note: I deviated from the Pinterest pin in that I didn't use <a href="http://www.scrabble.com/">Scrabble</a> tiles. Unless I can get <a href="http://www.scrabble.com/">Scrabble</a> tiles easily and in bulk somewhere I like my <a href="http://www.scrabble.com/">Scrabble</a> tiles where they are currently; with my Scrabble game.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will need: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- small wooden craft blocks</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Pencil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.sharpie.com/enCA/Pages/Home.aspx">Sharpie</a> marker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.plaidonline.com/mod-podge/brand/home.htm">Mod Podge</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Magnetic tape</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.krazyglue.com/">Krazy Glue</a> (optional)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First I traced my letters onto the blocks using my trusty mechanical pencil. You don't *have* to do this, I did this because I didn't want to risk ruining a perfectly good cube with my sometimes horrific printing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After I finished tracing I then went over it with my Sharpie marker. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: Don't use a Sharpie Marker. It will bleed into the grain of the wood and distort your letters. Use letter stickers instead. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now start Mod Podging everything together!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: I recommend gluing them together in sections. That way you don't risk the blocks being misaligned. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once the Mod Podge is dry on your sections, glue them together to create you "Clean :)" and "Dirty :(". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once your two columns are dry, you can proceed to stick them together to create one column. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: Make sure you glue them together correctly, so that when you flip it around the word you desire is upright. Otherwise, this whole project is moot, and you end up with a bunch of blocks stuck together that serve absolutely no purpose.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now stick'em together, and cover it all with a thick layer of Mod Podge to seal the wood. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once dry, whip out your magnetic tape and cut two pieces just slightly shorter than the length of your wooden blocks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: Use the strongest magnets you can track down. The stuff I used was kinda meh, but it was super cheap. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now Mod Podge (or optionally Krazy Glue) those two magnetic strips to the back of your wooden blocks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: If you are using magnet that came in a roll you will have to hold down the two strips on the wood until the glue is almost dry otherwise they will curl and you'll have to start the gluing process all over again. Lame. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once the glue is fully dried you're finished! Now go stick that beautiful and useful magnet to your dishwasher!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ta Da! Now you know when the dishes are clean or dirty without having to open the dishwasher! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Total Approximate Cost: Wooden Blocks - $5, Magnetic Tape - $3, = $8</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(Everything else I had laying about already from previous projects.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had a bunch of leftover blocks, and felt that my fridge could use some lovin' as well. I used my <a href="http://www.sharpie.com/enCA/Pages/oil-based-paint-marker.aspx">Sharpie Paint Markers</a> for these, and they definitely bled less than the regular ole Sharpie. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, to seal them, instead of using Mod Podge on these ones I used <a href="http://www.minwax.ca/">Minwax</a> Polycrylic. This finish maintained a natural look on the wooden blocks, whereas the Mod Podge creates a gloss finish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then I Mod Podged them together, and stuck some magnets on the back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then once they were dry I stuck'em to ye olde refrigerator. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: (more like Derp Tip, but I digress) Make sure the glue is super dry before sticking your magnets to the fridge. Otherwise the glue will give way and they will come crashing to the floor, and you will have to glue everything back together again. Just sayin'.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you ever done a magnet project like this? What cool magnets did you make? Do you have any Pro Tips (or Derp Tips, I'm not picky, and knowledge is power) to share that could improve this project? Please comment below or reach me on the Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cheers! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa</span></div>
PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-45540652077102798922012-08-13T09:38:00.000-04:002012-09-23T13:41:41.320-04:00Future DIY Experiment: Your Input Requested!<iframe frameborder="0" height="1671" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dDdTSFNjY1NzeXh3ZjQ4RTdENTJrbHc6MQ" width="600">Loading...</iframe>PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-12220973593257035062012-08-08T13:26:00.000-04:002012-09-23T13:43:17.983-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #2 - Mod Podge Screen Printing<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>The Inspiration:</u></b> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/267893877805208518/">Pinterest - DIY Screenprint Tee with Mod Podge</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>The Progress:</b></u> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You'll need the following: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> - A piece of fabric to screen print onto (I chose a tote bag)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Your favourite acrylic paint (note: next time I'll use fabric paint to improve washability of painted fabric.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- 2 flat-head paint brushes (one bigger than the other - 1 for paint, 1 for Mod Podge)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- A cross stitch hoop</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- A Sharpie, or other quality marker/felt-tipped pen</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Nylons</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Scissors</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next, cut a piece of nylon (I used some old thigh-highs), and stretch it into the cross stitch hoop. Be sure to screw it in tightly or it will move around and mess up the image you'll be screen printing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Select your image and tape it onto the nylon. I used a stencil, mostly because I suck at drawing free-hand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Trace it with a Sharpie, or other felt-tipped pen/marker. Once you're finished tracing, remove the stencil. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here comes the most time consuming part of this DIY craft; painting the negative space with Mod Podge. Use the smaller of your flat-headed brushes for this task. If your design is more intricate use a smaller brush. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mod Podge doesn't take very long to dry, usually about half an hour. You'll know it's dry because the white will be all gone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now it's time to paint! I put a piece of cardboard inside my tote bag just in case the fabric decided to be super absorbent and leech the paint into the inside of the bag. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Place your screen print where you wish on the fabric, and with your bigger flat-head brush begin to blotch paint onto the nylon within your design. Pay special attention to the edges and make sure that you are using enough paint. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once completed, gently lift the screen print off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If needed, grab a smaller brush and fill in any spots you may have missed, or that need to be made a little crisper. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Voila! Let this dry for a few hours, and then you're good to go! If you wash your screen print you might be able to use it again. I washed mine, however, I haven't used them again yet. I'll report back when I do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I continued to do a few more prints on this tote: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Total Approximate Cost: Tote - $6, Paint (bought the green colour) - $4 = $10</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Everything else I already had laying about. If you had to buy everything it would most likely run about $30, however you would have enough supplies to screen print ALL THE THINGS!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have you done screen printing with Mod Podge? Do you have an EVEN EASIER way to screen print at home? I want to hear from you! Leave a comment below, or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Melissa </span></div>
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PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228765523287543982.post-45764098189202507952012-07-19T11:19:00.000-04:002012-09-23T13:44:45.608-04:00Official Pinter*Mel Project #1 - DIY Flower Wall Art<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u><b>The Inspiration:</b></u> <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/273312271106054871/">Pinterest - DIY Flower Wall Art</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u><b>The Progress: </b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We have a very lonely wall in our living room. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So, I purchased a 14x14 canvas from <a href="http://www.wallacks.com/index1.php">Wallack's</a>, and proceeded to paint it a neutral beige colour using Amsterdam Acrylic Paint. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Pro Tip: When painting your canvas you want to water down the paint a bit, otherwise you'll end up using the entire tube trying to get even coverage.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">While your canvas is drying, you can start tracing your stencil onto the paper you have selected to use. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Note: Please excuse the picture quality. I promise as this blog evolves that I will strive to take more centered and professional-like photos.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My ever-so high-tech stencil ended up being a piece of an empty toilet paper roll folded in half. It worked out perfectly! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The the time-consuming part of the adventure began...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">...and continued. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I believe when all was said and done I had cut out approximately 120 "petals". I had quite a few left over when I was finished, which I will use for another craft. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The important thing about this kind of craft is to lay it out before you start gluing it to the canvas. I'm a firm follower of the "measure twice, cut once" philosophy, and believe me, once you <a href="http://www.plaidonline.com/mod-podge/brand/home.htm">Mod Podge</a> something to a surface, you want to make sure you have it in the right spot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once you're satisfied with your design, the Mod Podging can begin! It's okay if some of the petals hang over the edge of the canvas. Once you're finished gluing all the petals onto the surface, you can turn your attention to those. Depending on your preference you can either cut them so they're flush to the edge of the canvas, or do what I did, which was fold them over the edge and glue them down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once everything is glued down, I recommend going over the entire thing with a thin coat of Mod Podge. It will seal the paper and canvas, and will ensure that nothing ever comes peeling off, which is especially important if you live in a climate that's not friendly to paper-based crafts. I use Mod Podge's Gloss product. It's excellent for this kind of art. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This shouldn't take long to dry, as long as you've applied only a thin layer that is. Once it's fully dry you're finished! Time to find a place to hang it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u><b>The Final Product:</b></u> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now our living room wall is lonely no more! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, being the perpetual fuss-budget I am, and having a pile of left over petals, I plan on making some accent pieces for this wall. The plan is to use three or four 5x7 canvasses, using the same method in this post in order to make this wall a little more artfully balanced. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I will update once I do this, with photos! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Total Approximate Cost: Canvas $13, Paint $6, Paper $10, Mod Podge (used) $4.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Have you done this project? Please post links to the outcomes in the comments section, or tweet me at <a href="https://twitter.com/PinterMel">@PinterMel</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u><b>Update: I've added two smaller canvasses to even the wall out. </b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Melissa </span></div>
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PinterMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02447222166059525066noreply@blogger.com0Kanata, Ottawa, ON, Canada45.3088185 -75.898683545.219481 -76.056612 45.398156 -75.740755000000007