Ava by Melody Ross Patchwork Wooden Stool

In my effort to cover everything in the house and to overcome my inability to finish big projects, I stumbled onto this quick project.  Mom wanted something that matched her laundry room a little better than the tablestool I painted red.

White paint, 4" squares of each of 3 patterns, and some regular Mod Podge made this a beauty.

My First Garage Overhaul - My Workshop

A preview: My crafty worktable-top. 

I LOVE Pegboard. Everything gets stored vertically and lines up perfectly!

Tons of pictures of the overhaul process HERE:

My First Foray into Furniture - Red Wooden Table with Striped Top

With some of my mom's arrangements.
Aren't they lovely?

I found this small table (stool?) in my mom's laundry room, covered by a pile of newspapers, and I located some red paint in the cluttered (but not for long...) garage.  I used striped paper and Mod Podge to cover the top surface of the table.  I'm going to make several more red pieces using the coordinating paper.

It isn't perfect, but it's pretty darn cute for a free stool that I made using crap I found around the house.  I learned a couple of things that I already knew, like patience is a virtue, and if you are not patient you can cause flaws in your work, and then you'll be really disappointed in yourself because you should know better.  Overall it turned out pretty adorbz though.

Step-By-Step Photos after the jump.

First, I sanded her down with
my new sanding block.

The little tablestool that could.

Then I spray painted it red.  Two coats.

Then I attached the paper to the top
using Mod Podge, and smoothed for about
2 minutes to make sure no bubbles formed.
Then a thin layer on the outside of the paper.

A flaw caused by sandpapering off the edges
of the paper before the Mod Podge was dry.
I covered it with another piece of paper.

Second verse, same as the first.

Nearly finished - just need to add one
more coat.

Ava by Melody Ross Decoupage Lettering

I usually go to Michael's because it's bigger and closer to my school (and often go on my conference period), but the other day I stepped into Hobby Lobby on my way home, and I was so excited to see that they carried several different styles of wooden and chipboard wall letters, probably at least twice what Michael's had.  And for cheaper.  These are by The Paper Studio, and were 40% off their original low price of $1.77/letter (actually, for some reason a couple of the letters were $1.97... perhaps like on Wheel of Fortune some letters are worth more than others?

I used spray adhesive and my lovely new precision craft knife to cover these in the paper I absolutely fell. In. Love. With.  This gorgeous array of blue, green, and yellow is the Ava Collection by Melody Ross.

More Photos after the jump.

That's me!

3-Layer Paper Flowers

I got a little bit obsessed with these.  There is just so many different gorgeous combinations of paper and shapes.  I love it.

Step-By-Step Instructions with Photos after the jump.

First, choose your 3 papers, and cut into
3 squares of descending size.

The next step is to fold your flowers.  Lining up the edges of the square when you fold is not what is important.  What is important is to get smooth, even folds to make the flower as symmetrical as possible.  Don't worry about the edges of the paper being ragged or not matching up - you will end up cutting off the uneven edges anyway.

Now fold your squares.  Fold in half once.

Then fold in half again, making a square.

Fold in half once more, diagonally.

Then (holding the folded corner), cut a rounded
"petal" from the rough edge.

You can cut the petals to be squared, rounded, or pointy-tipped.  You can even give them fringe if you'd like.  Change up how you cut the flowers. That mixes it up even more.

Unfold, and voila!  A flower!

Decorative brads.

Layer the 3 flower parts, push a brad through the
center of each one, and fold back the tabs.
You're finished!

Tons of gorgeous 3-Layer Paper Flowers and the bulletin board they decorated here.

Paper Flower Birthday Card

These paper flowers are SO SIMPLE to make.  I'm a smitten kitten.  I made this card on the fly for my cousin's birthday, and it literally took me 5 minutes.

I picked 3 papers from a coordinating 5"x7" stack, and a blank card that matched.  Then I cut the papers into descending squares, and made the flower using the instructions from here.  Last, using regular old Elmer's, I glued the biggest layer to the card, then nestled the two smaller flowers, gluing in between each.  (I only put a dot of glue in the center of each layer so the petals lift up off the page a little bit, giving the card some dimension).  The final touch is a button for the center of the flower - any random button will do.  

More Pictures:

Peacock Decoupage Wooden Lettering

Val is my gorgeous red-headed sister

This is the 3rd set of letters I made, and I made 2 huge breakthroughs: I bought a Paper Studio craft knife and I discovered the joys of using spray adhesive.  That stuff is truly amazeballs.  Together they make covering things in beautiful paper a true dream.  Don't leave me at the house alone, or you may come back to see I've Podged the whole place.

This enables my insane need for perfection.

My newest love.

Choose the paper you want for each letter, and lay the paper face down.  Spray the adhesive on the back of the paper, then stick the letter on the paper, also face down.  Then, using the knife and a cutting mat, trim around the

edges of the letter and ta-da!

Be Like the Flower - Bulletin Board

Be like the flower, turn your face to the sun.

I saw a kids flower craft kit at Walmart, and from what I could tell, the flowers were made from 3 differing sized circles cut as flowers.  I chose a bunch of coordinating papers from my big pad (the same paper from this post), and cut it into 3 different sized squares using the big paper cutter in the teachers' workroom, and then I folded the squares three times (in half vertically, then in half again horizontally, then on the diagonal) and easily cut off the rough edge in a petal shape. Paper Flower Instructions here.  This is exactly how I did the snowflakes too, but this was much easier because the flower edges have less detail.

I used push pins as the flower centers, and you can use decorative brads if you are making loose flowers or putting a flower on a card.  This took almost no time to construct, and I can use the flowers later for another purpose!  I'm thinking of letting people take one if they want one or letting students take one to give to their favorite teacher.