Bits and Pieces of Little Projects.

I thought I would share some of the little projects I have been working on this past week! My husband and I share a birthday (it's coming up on February 4th). He's been telling me that he wants a walrus mask for an owl based on my masked owl series, so when I found a sketch he had made sitting on the table I tweaked it and stitched up a walrus mask for him. Now all he has to do is choose the colors for his owl!

One of the other things that I've been working on is updating my shop packaging. Mini clothespins covered in washi tape are one of the new components. It actually took more time than I expected to cover two dozen of them. Most orders that ship in a box will now include one!

There were a few paint chip circles left over from my last DIY project, so I covered a piece of paper by overlapping and layering them. I plan to hang it in the girls' bedroom as a small piece of "art".

I've also spent quite a bit of time working on a new business card design, and giving this blog a mini makeover. I had lots of fun designing new elements for the sidebar!

What fun projects have you been working on this week?

DIY Paint Chip Dry Erase Calender Tutorial.

First off, I have to apologize for the quality of these photos. Trying to take photos of marker on glass wasn't easy for me! Anyway, I've been seeing DIY dry erase calenders all over and thought I'd like to try my hand at creating one with my own spin.

SUPPLIES.          paint chips (or scrapbook paper)
             frame
             white paper
             paper punch
             Elmer's glue
             dry erase marker
             ruler, pencil, and good eraser(not pictured) 

When choosing colors, try to pick paint chips in two or three different colors with a variety of values. I chose corals and aquas with green and blue bases. You will need 37 circles to complete the calender (in case the 1st of the month happens to fall on a Saturday). My paper punch is 1" in diameter; I used an 11 x 14 inch clip frame I had in the attic that was large enough to accommodate seven circles across and six down with room left at the bottom for writing notes.

Begin by punching out circles from the paint chips using the paper punch. I always flip the punch upside down so that I can see exactly where I'm punching. 

Once all the circles are punched, arrange them in such a way that you can see all the colors at a glance. This will make it easier to put them in a pleasing order or pattern on the paper.

Cut the white paper to fit the size of the frame (I have a roll of white paper that I keep for crafting purposes). All of that blaring whiteness frightened me a little, so I lightly drew a grid in pencil which really helped me to space the circles evenly.

Play around with placement until you find one that suits you (the one above was not my final scheme). Arrange five rows of circles all the way across the seven days of the week, with the sixth row containing circles in the first two spaces only. Once the placement is set use the glue stick to adhere the paint chip circles to the paper. I found it better to put the glue on the background paper, as opposed to the paint chip itself. Don't forget to erase the pencil lines when done!

If you want some modern minimalist art, feel free to simply display your new piece without anything written on it.

Have fun playing with color and decorating your new dry erase calender! 

The sweet "I make pretty things all day" print pictured is from Yellow Heart Art. The little red riding hood owl is part of a set available in my shop.

DIY :: Paint Chip Garland Tutorial

Since we've recently had to pick out a couple of new paint colors for our old walls, there is a plethora of paint chips lying about the house. I don't foresee myself needing these particular chips again, and I didn't want to chuck them in the trash, so I whipped up a fun paint chip garland to hang on my soon-to-be freshly painted walls. I'm hoping to hang it near the homeschooling blackboard I inherited from my parents!

MATERIALS:   collection of paint chips
                     baker's twine
             craft punch
             hot glue gun
 

Begin by punching out the paint chips using your craft punch (I used a Martha Stewart 1" scalloped circle punch). Be careful to avoid getting any lettering or numbers on your circle if you can. In order to see what I was doing, I flipped the punch over so that I could see exactly where I was cutting.

Next, double up your baker's twine, and put a knot in each end to keep it even. I found it easier to start in the center of the twine and work my way toward the ends from there. If you start at the end instead, be sure to leave at least two inches between the end knot and the first paint chip circle.

To attach the circles, place a paint chip face side down and drape the twine across the center; dab the hot glue on top of the twine to secure and then work the glue to the edges. You want to be sure the glue is not applied too thickly. Place another chip, face side up, on top (this will make your garland double sided); press firmly to secure, being careful not to burn your fingers with the hot glue.

To finish, continue down the length of twine, leaving at least two inches on each end for hanging. I tried to place my circles so that I didn't have super similar colors right next to each, and so that the progression of color down the chain was pleasing to the eye: unless you want a totally random pattern, be sure to do this for both sides of the garland!

What other great uses have you come across for transforming old paint chips?

Note :: I needed eighty-eight paint chip circles to cover both sides of a four foot section of twine.