Princess Castle Photo Booth

With both daughters having birthdays in March it thought a Princess Theme would be great.

 Then my aging grey cells got a churning and I came up with making a Princess Castle out of...guess what.... Cardboard Moving Boxes, Poster board, Craft Paper, glue and the good old duck tape.

Start with a LARGE moving box

Cut in half

Then using Poster Board I strengthened the inside before sticking both halves of the moving box back together.

I used a Medium Moving box, cut into 4 and made a tower shape.

I used more poster board on the backside for stability.

Using one poster board make a fancy top. for the main castle

And a simple triangle for the Tower roof.

Duck Tape works wonders, don't you agree :)

I cut out a heart window

Made some simple cardboard stands from the cut off cardboard.

Glue the front

Cover with craft paper - trim all the edges

Let it dry over night.

Then came painting day.

The girls, had to help, it was for their birthday party after all!

And the final product!

I painted it to look like a castle, added glitter

 (which I'm still finding in the nook and cranny's of our home)

I glued on green leaves, flowers and butterflies I picked up from the dollar store

Then from Michael's I picked up clip on Butterflies to add the final touch.

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Antiqued Work Tote - re-vamped

During the Fall, I did quite a few wood projects, and somehow I forgot to post this project I did.

So here it is now :)

At the Odana Antiques Store, I found this cute tote. It had quite the crack all the way through, but it still held solid.

 

But, to me it sang out... Please.... Oh pretty please buy me, you know you want to!! Lol

And as you can see, I did.

Heres what I did to re-vamp it:

Firstly I gave it a good gentle wash, with warm soapy water. Then I used small tack nails to secure some of the areas that needed it. Then,  I gave a light coat of Arcadia blue paint, leaving it to dry, then using black acrylic paint, I mixed it quite thin and gave a quick wash over and wiping the excess off with a rag. Pictured above.

I have a Welsh Dragon Cookie Cutter, which I don't use for that, but more for crafts.

Taking some red acrylic paint, I place the dragon cookie cutter on top of the tray and dabbed the paint on.

Take away the cutter and I was left with this Dragon Stencil :)

The Welsh Dragon is part of our National Welsh Flag.

Next step. Using white glue and latex paint we are going to do the 'CRACKLE EFFECT'

I first brushed on the glue, and leave to dry until it's tacky to the touch.

Once the glue is tacky, load your brush with your paint, and in one sweeping brush stroke, apply the paint.

Don't be tempted to go back over the brush stroke you just made. Just load your brush again and paint where you left off. Continue till you have finished. Leave to dry.

The paint will look patchy, don't worry. You're going for that antiqued look.

What the paint will look after 5 minutes

Closeup of the paint 20 minutes into the drying.

How it looks when it's completely dry. I love how it looks. 

Iv'e transformed on old dull looking tote to a new 

Antiqued Tote.

You can see the Stenciled Welsh Dragon peeking through the white. I also used 2 packs of  Waxman Oatmeal square floor pads under the tote, to stop scratching and the gap in the tote widening any more.

And if you have little girls like I do, then you're Tote will end up holding their books :)

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Whimsical Wire Christmas Trees

How cool are these!

They remind me of the Movie 'The Grinch'

And you wanna know something..

They are so easy to make. In the picture above I used a mixture of different sized/plated wire, which I picked up from my local hardware store. Now for the copper wire, look for that in the plumbing aisle. The green & sliver wire I next to each other by all the other wires in different sizes.

Using a cone I purchased from Hobby Lobby, I used that as my shaper. ( You can make your own using poster board, made into a cone. But make sure you stuff the cone and seal the end. As the thick wire is harder to twist & will make dents in the cone)

Start to wind the wire around the cone, pulling tightly as you go.

Keep going till you reach the end, then slip off the top.

Do the same for your other colored wire

I had a cutting board that I wasn't using, so I used that for my base. Take some Ribbon, I stapled it to the underside of the board, Then position your whimsical trees.

My staple gun would staple the wire to the board - so I tied on some twine, then stapled that to the board.

Add some extra whimsical bits'n'bobs to your display & you are ready to show off your handy dandy wire work - plus once you have done one, you'll want to make more, just like I did.

Whimsical Wire Christmas Trees

Like I said once you made one - you'll make more and all different sizes too.

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