White Spray Paint

By Rachel Scarlett

Spring has definitely sprung around here!! We've got daffodils blooming, trees full of color, and warmer weather! To help match the cheerful blooms outside, plus with Easter approaching, I decided to refresh a few area's in my house. Hopefully they will give you a little inspiration.

When realizing it was time for an update, I thought about several different ways to decorate for Easter. I had a hard time thinking of anything and came to the conclusion that there are a few things I don't like as far as decorations go. Bunnies, eggs, or pastel colors. Hmmmm. So I decided to go with the spring approach instead: birds, bright green, and plants. I also realized that white, while not literally 'colorful', is an excellent way to brighten up an area. I think having white spray paint was the key to this look... with a side of bottles, old frames, and scrapbook paper.

I didn't have to buy anything for this crafting adventure, but I also always save my glass bottle/jars, have a little stash of scrapbook paper, and always ALWAYS have spray paint. I removed the labels off the bottles and spray painted them white. The frames are a light blue, only because I ran out of white. And then I picked 'springy' looking scrapbook pages to put in the frames. The cute little glass birds I found a while back in Goodwill, I think I got them all for 30 cents. If you don't have anything like this, they have bird figurines at the Dollar Store that would look pretty cool spray painted white. Or even white bunnies... if you're into that sort of thing ;)

That square bottle above from balsamic vinegar, and the pickle jar to the right is filled with freshly cut greens. You can never go wrong with something freshly cut! The square, painted container below is from a floral arrangement, can you tell what I put in it? That's just plain old grass, folks. I dug up some grass from outside and made a potted plant out of it. Pretty redneck huh? I don't know, I think it looks pretty fresh ;)

The arrangement below is on my kitchen counter. The cake dome stays out for baked goodies, the cutting boards are used occasionally, and that fun print in the background is from a calendar. Overall this was a fun and simple little update. I hope it inspires you!

Thanks for reading!

Faux Leather with a Touch of Paint

By Rachel Scarlett

Hello there,

Often while working on bigger projects, I will pause to work on a smaller, faster one to keep my creativity alive. This bigger project I'm working on is a type of floor/mat mobile for my daughter's entertainment. The creativity has already been spent and now I just have to execute those plans... Which is the hardest part about bigger projects! It also involves a bit of sewing - not something that comes naturally to me - but more practice will help with that. (Practice.... also not always in my creative patience). I like to do things once and be done; on to the next project!! But if you want to make something quality, like a baby toy, practice and patience need to be nailed down! BUT I hit pause for an afternoon and did something else. So onward to reckless imagination!

I found a new purse at the Goodwill, leather and in pretty good shape (~$1.50). It's pretty nice but I thought it needed a little keychain for some personality. So I pulled out my scraps of faux leather, rummaged in my junk drawer, and drew out some ideas. This craft is made of cutting, painting, and basically stapling.

I cut these shapes with extra long 'necks' in order to make a loop for the key ring. The bigger rectangle off to the side with cuts on one side, is the piece for the tassel.

I used an eraser to stamp circles.

And a small paint brush to paint some simple geometric shapes.

Above you can see that I used wire to create a kind of staple. I first made the holes with a large sewing needle and then used my pliers to bend the backs over once the staple was in place. If you don't have wire, a large stitch with thread would work great right there as well!

I decided to make a tassel by cutting strips along one edge of the leather then rolling the whole piece up. I secured the roll with a piece of  wire, first piercing it with the needle. This is a little tricky because you have to make sure all the layers are aligned. After the wire is through, I just wrapped it around until I was satisfied with the look, and made an extra loop at the top for the key ring.

This was a happy and simple little project. A little effort ending in great results! I bet it would look pretty cool to do these keychains in different colors of faux leather, I'm sure they sell all different kinds. 

Thanks for reading!!!