Lisa's Craft Blog: Christmas

Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Friday, November 30

Tutorial: Christmas Framed Fabric Art

It's the last day of November and I'm celebrating the Christmas season by making adorable holiday decorations for our new home!! I've been using those awesome Tulip Shimmer Sheets & Paints I received a couple weeks ago and I'm loving them!! If you missed the haul video, you can check it out HERE.

I haven't used fabric paints for over 15 years so I was so excited when I received the Tulip Shimmer Sheets & Paints!! Unfortunately, I'm not a very "fashion forward" kind of person so I knew clothes and even shoes were out of the question. With Christmas fast approaching, I decided to make some holiday decorations!!

Today I'm going to share how I made these super cute framed fabric-painted decorations for our new home!!

I found this clip art image online and was instantly inspired!! I love how these ornaments are kind of "wonky" and not perfect!!

Even though the tutorial is long, this project is really easy and actually pretty quick to make!! Trust me, you're going to love this project and you should definitely give it a try!!

Here we go....

SUPPLIES

Unfinished Wood Frame(s)

Chipboard or Grey-board

Canvas Fabric

Fabric or Tacky Glue

Cardstock (or Paper)

Pattern (optional)

Craft Knife (or scissors)

Paint Brush(es)

Foam Pouncing Sponge

Tulip Fashion Glitter & Bond adhesive

Tulip Fashion Glitter Shimmer Transfer Sheets

Tulip Fashion Fabric Markers

Tulip Metallics Dimensional Fabric Paint

Acrylic Paints

Sealant or Decoupage Medium

Water

Step 1: CREATE CANVAS BACKGROUND

Trace the back-piece from the frame onto a piece of chipboard (or grey-board from a cereal box) and cut it out.

Trace the frame's back-piece onto the wrong side of your canvas fabric and then cut it out too.

Using your fabric or tacky glue, attach the canvas piece to the chipboard piece.

Note: After gluing the canvas on the chipboard, it started to curl up a bit, so I just put it under a heavy book until it dried flat.

Step 2: ADD GLITTER ORNAMENT SHAPES

Click the photo above or click HERE for the shapes I used in this tutorial.

Either print the pattern or draw your own ornament shapes onto cardstock paper.

Using a craft knife, cut out the shape you want to use and tape it in place on your canvas background.

Pounce the Tulip Glitter Bond onto the canvas with your foam pouncing sponge. Make sure you get sufficient coverage so your glitter will stick really well.

Sprinkle Tulip Fashion Glitter onto the canvas until you get a good layer covering the area.

Note: I left my paper on while adding the glitter because I didn't want a bunch of excess glitter getting all over my canvas fabric. It worked well!!

Remove your cardstock paper template and tap the excess glitter onto a scrap piece of paper. You can then add this glitter back to the bottle to use again later.

Step 3: EMBELLISH ORNAMENTS

Cut out the template for the ornament topper. Using a pen, trace it onto the back of the Tulip Shimmer Sheet and then carefully cut it out.

Place the ornament topper slightly above your glitter ornament shape.

(Thank you to Brook for being the hand model for this tutorial!! hehehehe)

Cover with a thin fabric (muslin worked great) and iron on a low heat setting.

Note: Don't iron over your glittered ornament shape. I found that doing so changed the appearance of the glitter in the ironed spots.

Using a coordinating color Tulip Fabric Marker, draw a line around your glittered ornament shape. I drew my line approximately 1/4"-1/3" away from the ornament shape.

For my red ornament I used a red fabric marker for the line so it would match the glittered section. Also add a black loop to to the ornament topper.

Note: If you like the boldness of the fabric marker line, you can skip the next step. However, I found that it took away from the impact of the actual ornament.

Lightly trace over the fabric marker lines with Tulip Metallics Dimensional Fabric Paint in White. You should still be able to see the color of the fabric marker despite the layer of fabric paint.

Using a small paintbrush, add a thin layer of Tulip Metallics Dimensional Fabric Paint in White between the outside line and the glittered ornament shape. I like this part because it makes it look like the ornament is shining!!

Step 4: PAINT WOOD FRAME

Mix together paint, water, & glitter in a small cup or bowl. I used these proportions:

5 parts acrylic paint

1 part silver (or gold) acrylic paint

1-2 parts water

A few sprinkles of Tulip Fashion Glitter

After you mix the paint, water, & glitter really well, try a test spot on the back to make sure you're happy with mixture.

Paint the frame and let dry. Once completely dry, seal using a wood sealant or decoupage medium and let dry again.

Step 5: FRAME PAINTED CANVAS

Add your painted canvas fabric to your frame and you're....

FINISHED!!

This was such a fun project and I really love how it turned out!! My hubby is happy to have new Christmas decorations too!!

I found the Tulip Shimmer Sheets, Paints, & Glitter very easy to use so be sure to try them out yourself!! Don't forget to visit them online...

Web

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

If you want to see other projects using the Tulip Shimmer line of products, there's whole bunch of great tutorials at the end of this post!! They're awesome and you're going to love the different ways people have used these supplies!!

I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Tulip and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

Sunday, December 25

Tutorial: Christmas Card Book

Even though I said that the Elf House Ornament was going to be the last Christmas craft tutorial of the year, I thought you all would really enjoy this Christmas Card Book tutorial!!

This tutorial will show you how to make a really neat (and pretty) book of the Christmas cards you receive each year!! It even uses Christmas wrapping paper on the covers!!

At the end of the tutorial, I'll list some additional options for this project and ways you can totally change it up!!

GATHER SUPPLIES

Chipboard

Wrapping paper from this year

Coordinating cardstock

Coordinating 1/8" satin ribbon

Cover decorations

Crop-a-dial (or similar tool)

Eyelets

Hole reinforcing stickers

Glue

Step 1: PREP COVER SUPPLIES

CHIPBOARD PIECES

You will need to cut 2 pieces of chipboard for your covers.

To determine the size of your chipboard pieces, do the following:

- Measure the longest/tallest card you received and add 1/2" to that measurement; this will be your height.

- Measure the widest card you want to include and add 1/2" to that measurement; this will be your width.

WRAPPING PAPER PIECES

You'll need 4 pieces of wrapping paper to cover the chipboard pieces.

2 of the wrapping paper pieces will be about 2" longer and wider than your chipboard pieces.

The other 2 wrapping paper pieces should be 1/2" to 1" shorter and narrower than your chipboard pieces.

Step 2: DECORATE COVERS

COVER THE FRONT OF EACH COVER

Lay one of the larger pieces of wrapping paper face down and center chipboard cover on top.

Fold over the two longer edges and glue in place.

Fold in the corners as shown above.

Note: When using wrapping paper in this project, be very careful because the wrapping can tear pretty easily.

Fold and glue down the other two edges.

Repeat these steps for the other cover.

COVER THE BACK OF EACH COVER

Glue the smaller wrapping paper pieces in the center of the backs in order to cover the rest of the chipboard that's showing.

DECORATE

Decorate the front of the front cover.

Note: I just added a title and left it at that, but I may add more later.

Step 3: ADD HOLES

COVER

Using a Crop-a-Dile or similar tool, punch the following 3 holes about 1/2" away from the "binding" side of your covers:

- One hole should be perfectly centered.

- The other two holes should be 1/2" to 1.5" from the top and bottom.

Using the Crop-a-Dile or other eyelet tool, add eyelets to each of the holes making sure the "nice" side of the eyelets are on the outsides of the covers.

CARDSTOCK PAGES

I decided to add a piece of cardstock immediately inside each cover to protect both the cards and the wrapping paper. These 2 pages measure 1/2" shorter and narrower than the covers.

Line up the "binding" side edges of the wrapped covers and cardstock pages making sure the cardstock is centered.

Mark where the holes need to go by making a dot through each cover hole onto the page.

Punch them out using the same tool you used on the covers.

I added hole reinforcing stickers to each hole I punched in the cardstock so it wouldn't tear later on.

CARDS

Before punching the holes in your cards, you'll want to determine which side will go on the "binding" side of the book. I chose the folded edge of the cards and the tops of the photo cards.

Punching the holes in the cards is a bit more complicated and is different for longer and shorter cards.

Longer cards

Line the folded edge up with the cover as you did with the cardstock pages.

Mark where the holes need to go by making a dot through each of the cover's 3 holes onto the card.

Punch out the holes using the same tool as earlier.

Shorter cards (not long enough for all 3 holes)

Line the folded edge up along the "binding" side edges of the covers, but instead of centering the card, place it 1/4" to 1/2" from the top.

Mark where the holes need to go by making a dot through the cover's top 2 holes onto the card.
Punch out the holes using the same tool as earlier.

Step 4: BIND BOOK

Stack your covers, pages, & cards in this order (bottom to top):

Back cover

Back cardstock page

Cards (from tallest to shortest)

Front cardstock page

Front cover

Using 8" to 10" lengths of 1/8" satin ribbon, tie loose double knots and add bows.

FINISHED!!

Now wasn't that a fun project!! I had a blast making my book and I know you will too!! Here are the other ideas I had for the projects...

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

There are so many other items you can add to these little books and they have sooo much potential for other projects as well!! I'd like to take a moment to mention just a couple of the ideas I've come up with so far!!

OTHER ADDABLE CONTENT

There are so many other things you can save in this book besides just cards!! What if the title were just "Christmas 2011" rather than "Christmas Cards 2011"? You could add things such as...

*The card and/or newsletter you mailed that year

*Received newsletters & photos

*Handwritten memories from that Christmas

*Christmas Photos

and a ton of other memorabilia items!!

SPECIAL EVENT CARDS

This project could be used to save your cards from really special events such as...

*Birthdays

*Anniversaries

*Weddings

*Bridal showers

*Baby showers

*Birth of a child

and many others!!

CHILD'S VALENTINE BOOK

Children get a ton of adorable valentines from their classmates and this would be a great way to remember all of that cuteness!! You could even have your child decorate the covers!!

Thanks for reading!! Until next time...

I've submitted this tutorial to the...

Merry Christmas!! and a Preview!!

I just had to write a quick post to say "Merry Christmas" to each and every visitor, reader, and follower!! I want you to know that I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to visit my little blog!!

Although it's not much and certainly not nearly enough, I have a small Christmas "gift" for you over the course of the next 7 days, starting tomorrow. It's a pretty exciting schedule here at Lisa's Craft Blog so I'll give you a sneak peek!!

Monday, December 26th

Tutorial: Christmas Card Book

A great tutorial showing how to make a super simple book containing all of the Christmas Cards you received that year!! Perfect for the time between Christmas and New Year's!!

Tuesday, December 27th

Tutorial: Hand-Carved Stamps - Simple Images

A step-by-step tutorial on how to use a basic craft knife (X-acto knife) and a 15-cent eraser to make two 1"x1" stamps!!

Wednesday, December 28th

Tutorial: Big Zakka Owl Stuffie

A super fun tutorial showing how to make a 1-foot tall version of the Zakka Owls from the tutorial HERE.

Thursday, December 29th

Tutorial: Hand-Carved Stamps - Intricate Images

Another tutorial about carving your own stamps from erasers, but this time I'll show how to transfer really detailed designs, such as wood grain, to your eraser and then carve it out.

Friday, December 30th

Grand Re-Launch Fact Friday

A super exciting post with a list of all the contents in the 1st Place prize package for January's BIG giveaway along with photos of the contents of all 3 prize packages too!!